A Second Honeymoon

2011 is there!!

This year for my New Year resolution I promise to eat no sugar, drink no wine, to work out 3 hours/day and to do absolutely everything absolutely on time!

What’s wrong with this picture?

How about setting realistic goals and figuring out a way to make them work, instead of making overwhelming promises that will be forgotten by January 15th?

With a new program to reenergize our weight management, it’s the perfect time to set a livable successful routine that will bring us to our goals and beyond. How does that sound?

Lets start 2011 with a plan and with the right tools to make it happen!

Tool of the Week

Consistent tracking is the best way I know of to regain control of our eating. It teaches us what works, what doesn’t, and where we need to put an extra effort to make sure we are reaching our goals.

Not only you can track what you eat along with your activity, but you can also add little notes, put down an action plan for a coming challenge, and keep track of your weight and measurement.

It really is a good mirror in which you can look at your plan and see what needs to be done to achieve your Winning Outcome.

In the Kitchen

I’m not that much of a red meat eater, but every once in a while I get an attack. This recipe turned out fabulous, and easy!

It’s delicious with roasted asparagus and roasted fingerling potatoes!

Pepper and Garlic-Crusted Tenderloin Steaks with Port Sauce
4 servings, 5 P+/serving

Ingredients
2 tsp black peppercorns
½ tsp salt
3 garlic cloves minced
4 (4oz) tenderloin steaks, trimmed (1 inch thick)
Cooking Spray
¼ cup Port wine
¼ cup beef broth
1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme

Place peppercorn in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Crush them using a mallet (or anything hard enough!)*. Combine peppercorn, salt, and garlic in a bowl; rub evenly over steaks.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with spray, add steaks, reduce heat and cook 4 minutes on each side or to desired doneness. Remove steaks from pan, cover and keep warm.

Add Port and broth to pan and stir to loosen browned bits. Cook until reduced to ¼ cup (about 3 minutes). Place 1 steak on each plate and drizzle with 1 TBSP of sauce. Sprinkle with ¾ tsp of thyme and serve.

• I cheat here and loosen up the gears on my pepper mill, it makes a huge ground, so it’s not quite as big as cracked pepper, but it’s much easier!

Source: Cooking Light 350 Calories recipes, hints tips, Oxmoor House, p. 30

Activity!

When I lived in Sonoma County, I used to go skating at the "Snoopy Arena" which is actually the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. I shamefully must admit I have not put on my skates since I moved back to San Francisco. That's almost 2 years ago!!!

So, I'm looking into it, and found this:

Yerba Buena Ice skating and Bowling center

This is downtown, they have a pretty extensive open skating schedule as well as adult only skating which can be nifty when you are not too solid on your skates. No kids to skate around.

There's also the Holiday Ice Rink at Union Square until January 17th! Now after the first of the year the crowds will be down, so it's a perfect time to go skating!

There is also an outside Holiday ice rink at the Embarcader center, but that one closes on January 2nd, so you've got to hurry up!

San Francisco not your hometown? There are ice rink all over Northern California!

Who would have thought that there would be so many Ice rinks out here? Outside ones even, in California! It's fun, it's good exercise (oooh! I used the "E" word!) and it's really not that difficult. Try it!

Have a good week!

This is my last newsletter of 2010, has it gone fast or what? I'm wishing you a fabulous New Year celebration. Enjoy the love, the friendship, the fun and the food!

May 2011 bring you everything that you need, and much of what you want. I'm wishing you health, love and strength!

I will see you in the meeting room, in the meantime, I'm only an email away.

Your leader

Melanie

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

~ J. Pierpont Morgan

0 PointsPlus Fruits and Vegetables… Freedom!

Most vegetables were 0 Points on Momentum, so having them 0 PointsPlus on the PointsPlus program was not really a shock, but fruits? Really? Bananas, apples, cuties, pineapple, all 0 PointsPlus! No need to count, to weight or to measure them? Really?

Wait a minute; I used to have to weigh my bananas to make sure they aren’t 2 Points, now they are 0P+? I can have an entire banana? Not only I can have it, but I don’t even have to count PointsPlus for it?

What happened to fruits? Did they change somehow? A lot of us are so used to being careful when eating fruits that we look at this fruit business with a bit of skepticism.

This week we will talk about why having 0 PointsPlus fruits and vegetables (most of them) not only works, but is a step toward better weight loss success.

It’s healthy, it’s delicious, it works! We’ll discuss the whys and hows in the meeting room. Bring your fruits and veggies preparation ideas!

What’s going on?

In the hustle and bustle of shopping and preparing along with the people visiting or us traveling is making our routine difficult to hold on to. It’s a fun time, but a challenging time also.

Make sure that you do a few things to be able to enjoy yourself without having to start all over again:

Plan ahead: Ok, this seems obvious, but prepare for what is coming, what might be coming, and for a few unplanned adventures. That way you are ready no matter what.

Pick your splurges: Yes it is the holidays, and there will be goodies that are just too good to pass up. There will also be goodies that are just ok. Pass those!

Move: Add a little bit to your daily activity. It’s good for your belly and for your brain!

Take care of yourself: We tend to make sure everybody has a good time. Don’t forget yourself! After the race to get here, it’s time to enjoy!!

Down time: In between the get-togethers and the parties make sure to have Power Foods on hand, and 0 P+ soup in the freezer so that you can keep your PointsPlus for the goodies!

Enjoy!

In the Kitchen

I like to roam the international sites, it’s fun to get ideas and inspiration from what other people are doing.

This I stole from the UK website and changed a little to make it lighter, and more to my taste.

Spiced Winter Fruit Salad
2 servings, 1 P+/serving*

6 medium Plums, halved and pitted
2 medium Orange
1 teaspoons Cinnamon, or 1 cinnamon stick
4 individual Cloves, Whole or Ground,
1 star anise (optional)
1 tablespoons Artificial Sweetener, powdered
1 medium Banana
1 teaspoons crystallized Ginger, minced very finely
6 tablespoons, Nonfat Greek yogurt

Put plums into a saucepan with 150ml (1/4 pint) water. Pare the zest from 1 orange with a potato peeler and add to the pan with the cinnamon (stick), cloves and star anise, if using. Cook gently for about 8 minutes, or until the plums are tender. Remove from heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, use a sharp serrated knife to remove all the peel and pith from the oranges. Slice the flesh into segments, removing all the membrane. Add to the plums. Taste, adding powdered sweetener, if needed.

Slice the banana into the mixture, then ladle into two serving dishes.

Stir the ginger (if using) into the yogurt and spoon an equal amount on top of each fruit salad. Serve at once.

Note: The fruit salad is best when served barely warm.

Adapted from (and image from): www.weightwatchers.co.uk
*PointsPlus Value counted by hand, does not include fruits.

At Work Corner

Since we are not going to be meeting between Christmas and New Year, I want you to know that there will be meetings at the centers and travelers in your area (unless otherwise specified on weightwatchers.com).

If you are in a series, you have paid already, just bring your weigh in book along with your series number (should be at the beginning of your book, email me if you don’t have it).

If you are in between series, you will have to pay the 13 dollars meeting fee. Still I think it is worth it to stop by and “check in”. It’s all about accountability isn’t it?

Here’s my meeting schedule:

http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

Stop by if you are in the neighborhood! ;o)

Have a wonderful week!

The weight Watchers centers and travelers will be closed on Christmas and New Year day. Check www.weightwatchers.com for meeting schedules in your area.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday break (be it a short or a long one!). Take time for yourself as well as your loved ones and have a thought for those of us who are away from our families at this time of the year.

As always I'm only an email away! See you in the meeting rooms!

Your leader,

Melanie Bourgeois

seamountains.net/mtg.html

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!

~Hamilton Wright Mabie

Now we are Living it!

How did the week go?

Last week I presented you with this exciting new program. I did most of the talking and this week it’s your turn!!

I am absolutely dying to hear all about your week and help you with any questions that might have popped up during this first PointsPlus adventure. So bring in your questions, the lessons you’ve learned the new food you’ve tried, anything you think will help you and/or all of us to live this new plan better.

Questions, victories and discoveries are IT at Weight Watchers this week! We are learning together and this is YOUR meeting!

Tool of the week

Most of you have bought the member kit already. Good idea! This will be enormously useful while we are learning the new PointsPlus Values of the foods we eat every day.

Along with the Food Scale and the Calculator (which is included in the Deluxe kit!) the Member Kits is an essential tool for success with the new PointsPlus Program. Don’t go without it!

What’s going on?

****Change of plans!! The Cooking event has changed name and date!! I pushed it one week because I felt there was enough going on with the new plan and all. Next week we’ll be good and ready to have fun together!

Quick Cooking with PointsPlus
Quick cooking on the new plan! Tricks and ideas to have tasty & healthy food on the table in minutes. Tricks, tips and humor is on the menu!
With Melanie Bourgeois (me! me! me!)

When and where:
Wednesday December 15th at 7:30pm
Stonestown Center
557 Buckingham way (right by the Stonestown Galleria)

Make Etools work for you
How to use Etools to its fullest for more fun and success.
With Joe Lagana

When and where:
Monday December 13th 6:30 pm
San Bruno, Bayhill center

Saturday December 18th 1pm
Stonestown Center

Take full advantage of those events! Bring your friends too!!

In the Kitchen

This is a hot and tasty chili that we use to do all the time. I reorganized my cookbooks a little while ago and found the Turn Around cookbook (2004).

I made it not too long ago and it’s going back on the menu this week!

Champion All-Beef Chili
4 servings, 4 p+/serving
(2 servings is 7 p+)

Ingredients
1 pound boneless, lean top round steak, trimmed and cut in 1 inch cubes
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 jalapeños peppers, seeded and minced (don’t rub your eye after handling these!) or ¼ cup canned chopped chilies *
1-3 TBSP hot chili powder *
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp ground cinnamon
3 cup reduced sodium beef broth
2 scallions, sliced (optional)

*These are “to taste” putting in the full amount makes this fairly spicy.

1- Heat large nonstick saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the beef cubes for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onions, the garlic, and jalapeños; cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, the cumin, oregano, and cinnamon; stir until the spices coat the beef and vegetables.

2- Stir in the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the beef is fork-tender, the broth is thickened, and the flavor are blended, 1- 1 ½ hours. Sprinkle the chili with the scallions (if using).

Source: Turn Around cookbook p. 81.

You can eat this after 45 minutes of cooking, but it’s better if it can go the whole time. I find it even better as leftovers!


At Work Corner

December is renewal time!! Make sure that all your friends know about our great group and how good we are doing. The more the merrier! We need new recruits!

City & County Monday meeting a 1 South Van Ness is starting the new series on December 20th

Farella Braun & Martel on 235 Montgomery is starting this Tuesday. We have enough YAY!! Please make sure to bring anybody who’s interested Tuesday, there’s always room for more!

City & County Wednesday at1145 Market street is starting this Wednesday! We were short a few last I heard. If you haven’t already, let Catherine Dodds know that you are rejoining and anybody who’s interested should contact her ASAP also. We need to keep this going, we are just doing too good to stop now!

Please feel free to give my email address to anybody who’s interested in joining but has questions. I will be more than happy to address any concerns about the Weight Watchers Corporate Solution.

Side note: I’ve got STUFF! If there’s anything you don’t find in your meeting room, let me know, I’ve got it! I’ll bring it for you. :o)

Have a good week!!

This is a very busy season for everybody. Remember that you do want to make some time to take care of yourself! That means eating well, exercising and coming to your meeting!

We want to be the ones who walk in proudly in the meeting room in January knowing that we enjoyed ourselves without forgetting about our goals. For that, you need your meeting and your meeting needs you. We’re in this together!!

See you in the meeting room.

Melanie

See my schedule

seamountains.net/mtg.html

Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.

~Marsha Petrie Sue

Finally!

We’ve talked about it enough without really saying anything, this week this is IT! We are introducing the new Weight Watchers program. Are you ready? Excited? A little worried? We’ve been dying to tell you all about it for months now.

This week we are bringing you a new complete, livable program that has been thoroughly tested for 3 years before we even heard about it! We know it works, we know it is a great program, and we’ve been living it for almost 3 months now.

Finally we can share it with you. You don’t want to miss your meeting, you want to get all the details and find answers to your questions. A Holiday gift for all of us! YAY!

Tool of the Week

New program means new tools, and we have them! First thing first, our new Calculator! It’s calculates your... P+ (ish! I don’t wanna say too much!), tracks your day, give you your daily target, everything!!


Not only that, but the first one you by is at a greatly reduced price!

Note: You get a FREE calculator when you buy a Deluxe Member kit. Something to think about.

What’s going on?

We have a few events coming in which will make your transition to the new plan smoother and easier:

Tasty and Healthy in no time
Quick cooking on the new plan! Tricks and ideas to have tasty & healthy food on the table at record speed.
With Melanie Bourgeois

When and where:
Wednesday December 8th at 7:30pm
Stonestown Center

Make Etools work for you
How to use Etools to its fullest for more fun and success.
With Joe Lagana

When and where:
Monday December 13th 6:30 pm
San Bruno, Bayhill center

Saturday December 18th 1pm
Stonestown Center

Take full advantage of those events! Bring your friends too!!

In the Kitchen

This is a soup that I found on fatfreevegan.com years ago and to this day I don’t think I ever followed the original recipe. It’s an awesome base for a very filling and healthy soup that you can modify endlessly. I have added sausage or chicken to it (even beef once), I changed the spices, I changed the grains, you get the picture.

With the cold this last week, I thought it was a perfect recipe to share! It reheats very well; you might have to add some brothe though, as the grains tend to soak up the liquids.


4 Grains Tomato soup
2 meals (5p+) or 4 starters (3p+)

2 tablespoons each: barley brown rice, millet, and bulgur wheat
2 cups canned, diced tomatoes w/ juice
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon onion powder and dill
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, basil, and salt
1 carrots, chopped (1 to 2)
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth

In a medium saucepan, sauté the vegetables in oil over medium heat until soft - 5 to 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to minimum, cover, and simmer for about an hour until grains are tender [pot barley takes the longest to cook]. You may need to add some extra water toward the end of the cooking time.

I have even made this with curry powder and added cumin. YUM!!

A week of change

This is it my friends! We are finally going to go over what's new and exciting for the 2011 version of Weight Watchers. I know not everybody is as excited by change as I am and that's ok. We will review this together, and I will be there to answer questions in the meeting room and by email.

Some of you might want to take a week to read the new plan and understand it before you switch to it and that's ok. The Momentum plan as not magically become a bad or unhealthy plan. We just have a better one now more in tune with what science has learned in the last 10 years.

Note that Etools will be changing to the new plan Monday (tomorrow) so most of you will have a preview of the new plan before you even come in the meeting room.

Take a deep breath, take time to read, note your questions and we will get this figured out together.

I am so excited!!!!!!

Have a good week!

As always I'm there for you. I will be bringing a lot of stuff in the meeting rooms, your favorites are back, new stuff is out, even a new cookbook!!

Email me if you need anything!

Mel
seamountains.net/mtg.html

P.S. I have re-faced my blog, added adjacent pages etc. Constructive criticism is absolutely welcomed!

"Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become."
~Unknown

I’m ready, I’m ready!

I have my food all planned out, I have put together strategies to deal with the stressful things (and people) who might have thrown me off course, I am ready!

Before we dive right in the Thanksgiving last minute preparations, maybe we can take a step back and remember previous celebrations we enjoyed since joining Weight Watchers. What worked? What didn’t work so well? More importantly, what have we learned?

Learning from experience is the best way there is to build up on that new lifestyle of ours, so we can find each “our” way to make this a true lifestyle change that will endure through celebrations and changes.

Tool of the week:

What better tool can there be in a food centered celebration than our Easy Measure spoon set?

Not only they are pre-measured serving spoon, but they actually look very nice! Nobody will know you are actually controlling your portions. You can be sneaky about being healthy! What’s not to love?

I have quite a few of those sets left, I'll be bringing them around. Let me know if you want one!

What’s going on?

Change is coming, can you feel it? You want to keep your eyes open and be part of the excitement!

We have great events coming in San Francisco that might just give you the help you need, not to mention that they are going to be fun! Not only you are invited, but any friends who wants to come and check us out is welcome to stop by too!

Cook healthy in minutes
With Melanie Bourgeois
Tips and tricks to have healthy food on the tables quickly and without fuss.
(It's my first time putting an event together, I'm having so much fun with this! I'm planning on keeping it simple and fun. Any quick food ideas are appreciated!)

December 8th:
Stonestown Center,


Make Etools Work for You
With Joe Lagana
Everything you need to know about using Etools.

December 13th:
San Bruno, Bayhill center

December 18th:
Stonestown Center

In the Kitchen

This recipe call for raw turkey meat, but I have done it most of the time with leftover cooked turkey (or chicken), just add it about 1 minute before the end to cook through.

It’s delicious, and it breaks from the “Thanksgiving taste” when you’ve been eating leftovers for a few days! ;o)

The second recipe is the Banana bread I've been talking about. I had it in last week's email which never went out. :o/

Turkey Mulligatawny
4 servings

Ingredients
2 teaspoon Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup Bulgur
2 teaspoon Madras curry powder (2 to 3)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
5 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small apple, unpealed and diced
1 pound bonless, skinless turkey breast cubed (3/4 inches)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 small tomato, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until golden. 7-10 miuntes. Add the bulgur, curry powder, turmeric and cloves. Cook stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.

Stir in the broth, bell pepper, and apple; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until thebulgur is tender, about 20 minutes.

Add the turkey and salt; return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered. until the turkey is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with the pepper, then sprinkle with the tomatoes and cilantro just before serving.


Adapted from: Weight watchers "In one pot" cookbook, p. 21


Banana Bread
8 servings, 4 pts/serving*

Ingredients
¼ cup Splenda
¼ cup bron sugar
2 TBSP butter
3 TBSP Apple Sauce unsweetened
½ cup egg beater
1 1/2 cup, white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 6oz carton fat free vanilla yogurt
¾ cup ripe banana (about 1 ½ banana)
¼ tsp vanilla extract
Cooking spray
(You can add nuts, almonds or raisins, whatever but adjusts the pts value!)

1- Preheat over at 350F
2- Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, beat with a mixer at medium speed until well mixed, add apple sauce and beat a little more. Add eggs beater slowly while mixing well.
3- Sift flour and baking soda and spices together and add to the wet mixture alternating with the yogurt. You want to start and finish with the flour. Do not over-mix! The more you mix, the denser it will be.
4- Fold in the banana and vanilla extract (and whatever else you decided to add) and pour the whole thing in a 8X4 inch pan that you pre-sprayed with cooking spray.
5- Bake for about 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

*The original recipe was 10 serving which would be 3 pts here. To me those slices are too thin. I want a REAL slice!

Adapted from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2007 p. 407 (November 2007)

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Weight Watchers will be closed on Thanksgiving day, but we are open all day Wednesday and Friday (with very few exceptions*). If you feel the need to stop by a center or a traveler, please do so!

*The century Club is closed Friday morning and the LGBT will be closed Saturday in observance of the Thanksgiving celebration.

I will be on vacation from Wednesday evening (after my meeting at Stonestown) to Monday morning. I will read and answer emails then. :o)

I hope you have a great time this weekend! Enjoy yourself and your loved ones.

Your leader,

Melanie

willow@seamountains.net
seamountains.net/mtg.html

"Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become."
~Unknown

17 Sleeps to Thanksgiving!!! Can you believe that?

This meeting is a tradition at Weight Watchers, the “Thanksgiving meeting”.

Come to see how to make Thanksgiving a successful AND an enjoyable day.

We’ll talk about what to eat, how much to eat, how to keep the focus without losing the fun! How does that sound?

If you have recipes or ideas that you want to share please bring them in!! The more the better!

Tool of the Week

Do you have any of the Weight Watchers Cookbooks? Those are great resources for healthy delicious recipes both for your family and for company!!

I will bring around any cookbook I have left; they are 50% off right now too!!

What’s going on?

Are you excited yet? The week after Thanksgiving is IT! I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

In the meantime we are gearing up and preparing for party season.

No matter if you are partying with 150 people or just by yourself, remember that the focus should not be so much on shopping, cooking and stressing out. It’s party time!

In the middle of spoiling and pampering your loved ones, remember to put yourself on the top of that list. You deserve it!

In the kitchen

This recipe is in the Healthy & Happy Celebration cookbook. This book is fabulous, full of great recipes for entertaining.

I made this for an event I had this weekend, and it was a hit too! So it’s not just me. Even my husband loved it and it’s not “his kind of stuff” as he says himself. I know it’s a lot of celery, but it absolutely works! Delicious!

Apple Celery and Herb Salad

12 servings 1 pt/serving

Ingredients

1 bunch celery, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced (I cored and ¼-ed the apples before slicing)

3 Tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup lightly packed flat leaf parsley leaves

2 Tablespoon chopped fresh chives (diagonally is prettier)

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves

zest and juice of 1 lemon

4 teaspoon olive oil

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I used whole grain, it's prettier I’m fuffy that way)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1- Combine celery, apples, orange juice, parsley, chives, and tarragon in a large bowl.

2- Whisk together lemon zest and juice, olive oil, mustard, and salt in a small bowl. Pour dressing over celery and apples mixture and toss.

For 3/4 cup: Cal 56, fat 2g, sod 160mg, Carb 10g, Fib 3g, Prot 1g, Calc 46mg

(from Healthy & happy Celebration p 145)

At Work Corner

As always, let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to find it for you. I’ve found a few pocket guide/Journal covers. I’m bringing them around.

I also have cookbooks left. Those will go from meeting to meeting until I run out. If there is any you are interested in, grab them. They are going soon.

Otherwise I’ve very low on products. I am trying to find some more, I have a big order coming for end of November. It’s only a few weeks!!

As always, if you can’t attend your weekly meeting, you are welcome to attend any traditional meeting. You can find my schedule at:

http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

You have paid for attendance already, it’s included in your series.

Have a good week!

Email me if you need anything, I’m there for you!!

A little planning ahead can make this Thanksgiving a successful and enjoyable one!

Your leader

Melanie


“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”
~ Oprah Winfrey

Master your Metabolism

Have you ever heard yourself say one or more of these? I know I have!

“I can’t lose weight because I have a slow metabolism.”

“As you get older, losing weight becomes near impossible.”

“I’m not losing weight because I’m not eating enough. My body goes in starvation mode.”

We’ve heard those statements (or similar ones) so many times that we ended up believing them! There are so many myths about metabolism, and sadly they have made their way into the mainstream knowledge. We use them as excuses; marketers use them as bait to sell magical weight loss potions.

What is metabolism really? This week we will demystify the concept of metabolism and see how it can help us, not hinder us, in our weight management efforts. It’s not a magical pill for weight loss, but it can help.

Want to know the coolest part? You can totally do something about it!

Tool of the week:

Have you taken a look at our fitness kits? We have 2: Punch and Belly Butt and Thighs.

Punch has weighed gloves (3/4 lb each) and Belly Butt & Thighs has an exercise ball. Those come with work outs (on DVD) and are a great way to get your moving on at home!

I have the Punch one and use the glove sometimes just as I do my daily routine. ¾ lb might not seem like much, but after an hour… and I lift weights regularly!

Ask me about them, I’ll bring them in for you! Perfect for those who don’t feel at home at the gym.

What’s going on?

Halloween marks the beginning of party season really. Next thing you know we are getting ready for Thanksgiving and then it’s madness until mid January.

This can be a scary time for us members if we don’t take a little time to put together a master plan. In this down time before the party starts take time to think how you want to sail through the holiday season. Here are a few things to remember:

Attending your meeting every week will give you an anchor, and bring accountability in a time when distractions are the rule. It’s also the perfect place to learn all those tricks and ideas which can really make navigating the season a breeze.

A little planning ahead goes a long way. Being prepared takes out the stress and let you truly enjoy the time you have with friends and family.

You have the tools, use them! Etools is a great resource for Point Values certainly, but also for inspiration, ideas, information, everything! You have plenty of other very useful tools: Your food scale, your journal, the companions, the Point calculator, the Point clicker… Find the right tool for the situation you’re facing and use it!

This is also a great season to give back. Look around your community and see where and how you can do your own little part to help those in need. Every little bit helps!

In the Kitchen

This is a fall favorite of ours. I like to make big batches for parties in the crock pot, or individual ones in the microwave (using ground spices). Honestly, the microwave version doesn’t taste nearly as rich.

There’s the “right way” to do this, and there’s the “oh c’mon, I don’t have the rest of my life to do this” way. Pick your own ;o)

Hot spiced cider*

16 servings 2pts/serving

1 gallon (4 quart) apple juice

3 + sticks cinnamon

1 TBSP whole Allspice

1 tsp (or less) whole clove

1 whole orange cleaned and sliced (peel and all).

Nutmeg to taste (I love nutmeg!)

If you wish put the spices in a little teabag or make a little pouch with cheese cloth and put them in. I don’t bother because I like to see whole spices floating around. If young kids will drink this, I would make the teabags, just to be safe.

Put the juice in the crock pot and put on high for 30 minutes or so to warm up. I sometimes cheat and warm up the juice in the microwave.

Add the spices and the orange slices and let sit on low (or even warm if your crock pot has that setting) for 1+ hour.

If you have it on warm, you can leave it on all through the party. If it’s on low, I would turn it off after 90 minutes or so.

Let people serve themselves (it’s part of the fun!) and put whole nutmeg with a grater close by for people to add it at will.

I get this going before I start cooking, that way the whole place smells wonderful and it really gets us in a Holiday mood. :o)

*Some people who shall remain nameless have been known to add rum to this. I’m not saying that I encourage drinking, but it’s the holidays… safely and in moderation… Dark rum would work better for this I believe. Obviously you’d add the Points for the rum. ;o)

At Work Corner

As always, let me know if you need anything and I will do my best to find it for you. I’ve found a few pocket guide/Journal covers. I’m bringing them around.

I also have cookbooks left. Those will go from meeting to meeting until I run out. If there is any you are interested in, grab them. They are going soon.

As always, if you can’t attend your weekly meeting, you are welcome to attend any traditional meeting. You can find my schedule at:

http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

You have paid for attendance already, it’s included in your series.

Have an awesome week!

Email me if you need anything, I’m there for you!!

Remember that a little bit of thinking ahead can make all the difference between “I did it!” and “Shoot, I got to fix this now”. ;o)

Your leader

Melanie

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

~ Oprah Winfrey

Trick or Treat!

Oh, this is SO my favorite time of the year. I get to disguise myself, hide behind the door, and scare little kids to death before handing them candies. How fun!

The challenge though, is not eating all the candies myself. Not only that, but there’s candies everywhere! What do I do? Should I hide? Avoid any Halloween get together?

No need!! You can navigate the Halloween fun without letting it lead you away from your goal. Let's get together to plan a good start to the party season.

Tool of the Week

If you’ve ever taken a peek in my bag, you surely have seen a little pack of Fruities hiding among my stuff.

Fruities are a perfect little taste fix. A whole pack is 1 pt!! They are the perfect little taste when only a taste is needed.

P.S. I discovered this week that they work pretty well as cough drops too! HA!

What’s going on?

The Lose for Good campaign is over and we did beautifully. I’m taking this week to compile all our losses and will report to you next week.

What have you learned through the campaign?

Halloween starts the Party Season and it’s time to start thinking about what the plan is to enjoy the good times without ending up feeling guilty and defeated comes January.

There is 10 weeks to go before January 1st, isn’t that scary? Make sure to come to your meeting whenever you can during those 10 weeks. It’s the key to staying on track!

In the Kitchen

I did these for a Halloween party a few years back and they were a hit. The Point value will vary depending on the brand/recipes you use and the serving size, but it’s a lot of fun to put together!

Wormy Mud

You need:

A package (or two) of brownie mix. I used the No Pudge to cut down on pts

A pack (or two) of gummy worms

A large shallow bowl

Cook the brownie mix following the package directions, let cool enough to handle. Crumble the brownies in the large shallow bowl and mix in the worms.

Add-on: You can use a handful of FiberOne cereal to throw in. They look like twigs making the “mud” look more realistic.

Funky Eggs

You need;

Hardboiled eggs (shells on)

A glass bowl with enough water to cover all the eggs

Green food coloring (other colors work too, mixes can make some really interesting eggs)

Once the eggs are cooked, crack the shells by rolling the eggs between a hard surface and your hand being careful not to squish them. Do not remove the shells.

Once the shells are good and cracked all over, put the eggs in a bowl of water to which you have added 20-25 drops of food coloring. Let soak 10-15 minutes.

Remove the eggs and peel off the shells. The results should be eggs with a marble effect in green.

Creepy Punch

You need:

A bowl of fruit punch (I like to mix pineapple, pomegranate and tangerine juice).

A clean rubber glove.

2+ cup of orange juice.

Fill the glove with orange juice, tie the wrist securely and put in the freezer.

Just before serving take the glove out of the freezer and peel off the orange juice “hand”. Put the hand in the punch bowl.

It looks creepier as it melts!

There are tons of ideas like that floating around on the web. These are very simple ones that I used in a party for adults!! Can’t be too old for a little fun. :o)

At Work Corner

I know, I know, supplies are low! I’m doing my best to try and carry everything around so that all my group get as much as possible in food and cookbooks and whatever else I’ve got left to offer.

If there is a particular thing that you want, let me know and I will try to get it for you, but it is a time of transition and we are product challenged just now.

On the other hand, when your favorite run out, it’s the perfect time to try something new isn’t it?

Have a good week!

Please don’t be afraid of emailing me if you need anything. I’m there for you!

If you can’t make your regular meeting you can find my schedule at:

http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

Have a skinny week!! See you in the meeting room!

Your leader

Melanie

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

~ Oprah Winfrey

Outsmart the Supermarket

Here’s the situation: It’s 7pm, you had a long day, you are starving, there’s nothing prepared yet for dinner and you’re out of milk. You stop by the Supermarket on the way home.

The place is crowded; all the quick fixes (roasted chicken for example) have sold out, you went in to get milk, you come out with $75 worth of groceries, some of it (or a lot of it!!) foods that you would normally avoid buying, but today they seemed just too tempting to pass up.

Sounds familiar? Sure does to me!

This week we’ll talk about why those situations happen, and what we can do to avoid them. If you go grocery shopping before we meet again, look around and see if you can identify helpers, and traps within your favorite grocery store. We want to hear all about your discoveries!

Tool of the week

Computer out of reach? Cell phone out of battery? HA AH! A book never goes out of power, now does it?

The Complete Food Companion has a generic list of food and a list of food by brand that helps you find the point value of anything you are eating very quickly!

The Dining Out Companion is the same thing but for restaurants. It has all the main chains in the US and Canada. That one lives in the dashboard of my car!

Let me know if you need the Companion, I will bring some extras!

What’s going on?

The Lose for Good Campaign is still going strong! We are losing it! Literally!!

Keep coming to the meetings and add your weight loss to our super total. Remember that Weight Watchers is giving $1 to Share our Strength for every pound we lose up to 1 MILLION.

You are doing absolutely wonderfully well, keep going!!

Food drives:

For the travelers (JCCSF and Century Club) and the At Work meetings. I will be bringing my super Matrix around all week to carry donations back to the centers this week.

Please make sure not to put in any glass bottles, and if you could use a box if you have more than 2 items, that would be helpful also!

If you can’t bring your goodies to the meetings, stop by a center or donate to your favorite charity. It’s all about sharing the goods!

In the Kitchen

This recipe is from a Weight Watchers cookbook from a few years ago called Simply Bueno. I haven’t made if for a while, but I came across it yesterday and will surely do it again soon. It’s delicious and so easy!

I use plain non-fat yogurt instead of half & half just because fat free half & half sounds spooky to me. If you like it use it!

Here it is:

Spiced-up Pumpkin Soup

6 servings, 2 pts/serving

Ingredients

2 limes

2 tsp olive oil

1 large Spanish onion, chopped

2 tsp ground cumin (roast and grind yourself, so much better!)

½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne (I put more)

5 cup vegetable broth

2 cans (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin puree (not pie filling!!)

½ cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 TBSP sugar

¾ tsp salt

3 TBSP fat free half & half (I use fat free plain yogurt)

Zest one of the limes, then squeeze enough juice from the limes to equal 2 TBSP. Set zest and juice aside.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until golden about 6 minutes. Add cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool about 5 minutes.

Transfer the onion mixture to a food processor and add 1 cup of the broth; puree. Return to the Dutch oven; add the remaining 4 cups of broth, the pumpkin, the apple sauce, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, about 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved lime juice.

Ladle the soup into 6 bowls. Drizzle each with ½ TBSP half & half (or yogurt) and swirl lightly with the tip of a knife. Sprinkle with the reserved lime zest.

That soup is truly delicious and keeps well for a few days!

At Work corner

Supplies are getting low my friends! If there is anything you need, let me know and I’ll bring it. If you don’t email me, I don’t know you need it.

That’s what we talked about last week, if you don’t ask, you don’t get!! ;o)

Have a successful week!

Never be afraid to email me if you need. I am there for you!

If you can’t make your regular meeting, check out my meeting schedule and stop by somewhere. We have a good Momentum going, keep it going! Together we can do anything!

Melanie Bourgeois

Leader

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plan.”

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

You don’t know until you ask!

Do you have support from people around you? Or do you feel that your weight loss journey is one that you have to take alone?

It is true that our weight-loss efforts are our own, and that the responsibility of it can not be passed on to someone else. This being said, that doesn’t mean people around you can’t give a helping hand here and there along the way.

Asking for help can be challenging. For one thing, I don’t know about you but for me pride used to get in the way. I used to feel that asking for help was a sign of weakness, a sign that I’m not good enough to figure things out on my own. I know, it’s silly, but still that’s what I thought. I know differently now.

It’s all in “how” and “who” you ask; there are ways to get people around you on board without starting a war within the family or your group of friends. It just takes a little thinking about it.

Tool of the Week

Cookbooks! What can I say? I love them, all of them!

The recipes are delicious, easy, and family friendly. I learned to cook with the Weight Watchers cookbooks (I could not cook eggs when I got married and this is the truth!) and have never found a recipe in them I couldn’t cook.

Make your life easier, and your plate inviting!!!

What’s going on?

Lose for Good:

The campaign is still on!!!

For each lb we lose Weight Watchers is giving $1 to Share Our Strength!

There are Food Drives at the Weight Watchers centers, share what you can. Somebody somewhere needs your help!!

Next week ( Sept. 26th to Oct 2nd) I will be bringing my car close by for my At Works and Travelers so that I can gather food donations. If you are planning to bring a large amount of food, please drop me an email so I can prepare for it. :o)

It would be greatly helpful if you could put your donations in boxes, to make carrying them around easier for me.

The campaign will go on until October 23rd.

In the Kitchen

Ok, usually I go for useful, healthy “meal” recipes. I figure everybody can easily find treats anywhere, right? No need to tempt people. Well, this is different!

This recipe is a mix of a recipe that has been doing the round at Weight Watchers dot com for years, and an idea I saw in Food Network Magazine this week. It’s a little labor intensive, but I think it’s the perfect treat for the Fall!

It is 6 pts, you can save 2 points by skipping the Graham crumbles, or you can turn this into 6 servings. You know, there’s always a way. I think it’s worth the 6 pts!

Pumpkin Mousse Parfaits
Makes 4 parfaits, 6 pts each

15 oz can of pumpkin puree
3 cups cool whip free, divided
1 cup skim milk
2 small boxes of sf/ff vanilla pudding
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (to taste)

1 cup Graham crumbles (divided in 4)

Mousse:

Beat pumpkin, milk, pudding mix and spice together with a whisk. Fold in 1 cup of the Fat Free Cool whip.

Putting it together:

Brush the bottom of each of your parfait glasses with butter substitute (ICBINB or something like that). Pour in each ¼ of the graham crumbs and pour out whatever doesn’t stick.

Delicately put in 1/8 of the pumpkin mousse, add ¼ cup of Cool whip (try not to mix it up so it looks cute), sprinkle with ½ of what’s left of each ¼ cup (after you coated the bottom of the Parfait glasses) of Graham crumbs, then add 1/8 of the Mousse again.

**I cover and refrigerate at that point for about 1 hour to let it set, and finish it up just before serving so it looks prettier.

Just before serving: Add ¼ cup of the Cool whip again and sprinkle with the rest of your Graham Crumbs. I stick a cinnamon stick in there to make it look fuffier. :o)

At Work Corner

If you need anything, let me know! The best way to get to me is always to drop me an email at willow@seamountains.net I will read everything and answer as soon as I can.

If for any reason you can't make your meeting at work, you are more than welcome to attend a meeting at any center - traveler. You have paid for it already!

You can find meetings close to home or to your vacation site at:

www.weightwatchers.com

Here are my meetings:

http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

Fall is there!

Can you believe it? Summer showed up and in came the fog, the cold, right on June 21st. Now Fall is there and we have a heat wave coming. Ha ha! I love San Francisco!!

Never be afraid to email me, I’m there for you!

See you in the meeting room!

Melanie

“Knowledge is power and enthusiasm pulls the switch.”

Steve Droke

Somebody stop me!!

The Lose for Good Campaign is on!

Did you find, or solidify, your goal for the remaining weeks of the campaign? What did you do this week to make sure you would show a loss at the scale?

This week we are discussing the importance of apprec

iating all losses, big ones surely, but also small ones. Every step, big or small, will take you toward your goal. It’s important to keep your eyes on the ball because those small losses really do add up!

Think about it, if you lose 0.3 lb, you have lost abo

ut a bar of soap! Who wants a bar of soap hanging off their body? Lost a lb in the last few weeks? Doesn’t seem like much huh? Well you have lost a whole can of Fat free refried beans!

Ain’t that something?

Tool of the Week

This week our tool of the week is a favorite of mine. AGAIN! The member kit is all that you really need to follow the program in one neat package!

The Complete Food companion and the Dinning Out Companion have the point value for pretty much anything you can think of. It’s all in there!

The 3 month journal is a great tool to track your food intake in a format that you can take anywhere, and work your own way! No need to wait for a page to load, you just turn it! How ingenious is that?

There are all sorts of other nifty tools and information (and savings!) in the kit. Ask us about it at the meeting, we’ll show it all to you!

What’s going on?

Oh my, so much!!

Success Stories Live!

Sunday September 19^th at 5 pm at the Stonestown center:

Jump start your motivation with a night of inspiration!

Learn from members who have successfully lost weight.

Free Registration, Give-aways, and Door Prizes.

Vendors of WW-friendly food and samples!
Bring a friend and you get a free box of 2 point snack bars plus your name will be entered into a raffle to win $100 worth of Weight Watcher products.

Lose for Good:

The campaign is still on!!!

For each lb we lose Weight Watchers is giving $1 to Share Our Strength!

There are Food Drives at the Weight Watchers centers, share what you can. Somebody somewhere needs your help!!

The campaign will go on until October 23^rd.

San Bruno

I’m sure that by now everybody has heard of the disaster in San Bruno. We have both staff and members who live in the neighborhood affected by the explosion. Friday I spend the afternoon in the San Bruno center and the stories I heard were heartbreaking. Yet the strength and resilience of the people of San Bruno is humbling.

I know that many of us want to help out. The Red Cross was saying Friday that they could not accept food and clothing anymore because they didn’t have the resources to deal with the overload of donations. Please keep an eye on the news and the Red Cross website for update on that front.

Here’s what you CAN DO: Donate blood. The word we got Friday was that the best way to help was to donate blood. As I learn more about what can be done, I will share with you in the meeting room.

More than anything though send strength, positive thoughts, anything to the people of San Bruno. It’s a very close knit community; everybody is touched by this tragedy.

In the Kitchen

Ooohhh I was looking for a quick and easy bean-ish salad for lunches and here’s what I found. It’s super simple, but it has the great advantage to being totally adaptable.

You can make it as is, or you can doctor it in thousands of ways! It’s a Rachel Ray recipe. I know not everybody likes her, but I’m not the one who’s going to snob somebody ‘cause she’s a little hyper right? ;op

I found the recipe in a cool little blog I’ve found:

http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com

Rachael Ray’s Chickpea Salad
Makes 6 enormous side servings

(I make 8 servings, 3 pts serving (2 pts/serving if you cut the oil down to 2 TBSP))

2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
A few ribs celery and leafy tops, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or grated then grinded into a paste with salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons rosemary, finely chopped, a few sprigs
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, mix vinegar and olive oil. Whisk to combine. Add all other ingredients. Stir to coat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving *
TOTAL: 1443 calories, 50.5 g fat, $4.27
PER SERVING (TOTAL/6): 240.5 calories, 8.4 g fat, $0.71

* http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com

At Work Corner

If you need anything, let me know! The best way to get to me is always to drop me an email at willow@seamountains.net I will read everything and answer as soon as I can.

If for any reason you can't make your meeting at work, you are more than welcome to attend a meeting at any center - traveler. You have paid for it already!

You can find meetings close to home or to your vacation site at:

www.weightwatchers.com

Here are my meetings:

http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

Onward and Downward!

Have a good week! If you need anything please drop me an email. I’ll be more than happy to help you any way I can!

See you in the meeting room!

Melanie

“Knowledge is power and enthusiasm pulls the switch.”

Steve Droke

Lose for Good is here!

Hello out there! I finally caught up with myself and am up and running!

It’s that time of the year again. For the 3rd year Weight Watchers is launching the Lose for Good Campaign. For the next 7 weeks our weight loss will not only benefit us, but the children in need all across the US.More about that at your meeting this week.

Helping can take many forms, we will see what we can do to help however we can. There will be food drives at all Weight Watchers Centers, where you can bring your donation any week of the campaign.

For the Traveler locations we are still working the details, but I'm thinking of having our food drives on the 4th (Sept 26th to Oct 2nd) and the 7th (Oct 17th to Oct 23rd) week of the campaign. This remains to be confirmed, but if that stands I'll be able to plan on having my super Matrix to carry the donation on those 2 weeks.

Unfortunately, I do not have the ability to carry donations around from my At Work meetings. I’m strongly inviting you to just donate to a charity of your choice or to stop by a center to drop your canned goods in the donation barrels.

Remember that Lose for Good isn’t only about donating food! We can also give by LOSING WEIGHT. How cool is that?? Step by step we can help ourselves by helping others. What a concept! Be there!

Tool of the week:

The food scale!

Ok, have I ever mentioned that I love the Weight watchers food scale? I do!! It does everything but track for you. It’s easy to use, easy to clean and will save you time and energy.

You know what’s even better? It’s on sale! $24.95 instead of $39.95!

If you want to buy one let me know, I’ll carry extras.

P.S. If you would like a demonstration let me know. I know that thing inside out, I use it every day!

What’s going on?

Obviously the Lose for Good Campaign is taking center stage.

I’ve been planning and plotting to organize little get-togethers in my various groups. Keep an eye out for invites, we might just have something planned for you!!

Labor Day marks, for a lot of us, the return of the routine after the summer slow down. Are you ready? How’s your work out routine? Your food planning?

Bring your ideas, discoveries, challenges to your meeting. We want to hear all about it! We’ll be eager to either help you, learn from you, or both!

In the Kitchen

I have a boatload of recipes that I’ve used forever and that I have no idea where they come from. The history student in me always feels very guilty to pass on a recipe without giving the origin of it, but this time I have no idea!

I’ve done this soup (or different versions of it) many many times and we love it a lot. It’s one of my many “I don’t have time to cook!” recipes. Everything in there is cooked already, except the onions, you just throw it in, warm it up, DONE!

I know it’s a little bit early for Pumpkin recipes, but I eat them all year round so there!

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 TBSP olive oil (could use spray)

1 medium onion finely chopped

3 cups canned or packaged vegetable stock

1 can diced tomatoes in juice -- (14.5 oz.)

1 can black beans drained -- (15 oz)

2 cans pumpkin puree -- (15 oz)

1 cup evaporated skim milk

1 TBSP Curry powder

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

Directions

Heat soup pot over medium heat. Add oil and Sauté onion 5 min.

Add broth, tomatoes, beans, and pumpkin. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med. Low and stir in cream and spices.

Simmer 5 min.

How much easier can this get?

At Work Corner

Please please if you need anything, let me know! The best way to get to me is always to drop me an email at willow@seamountains.net I will read everything and answer as soon as I can.

If for any reason you can't make your meeting at work, you are more than welcome to attend a meeting at any center - traveler. You have paid for it already!

You can find meetings close to home or to your vacation site at:

www.weightwatchers.com

Here are my meetings:

http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

Have an awesome week!

Never be afraid to email me at any time. I’m there for you!!

Have a wonderful week! Now that summer is fading all across the North, we are getting ready for ours in the City. How cool is that???

Melanie

P.S. If you want to receive my note by emails let me know at willow@seamountains.net

“Knowledge is power and enthusiasm pulls the switch.”

Steve Droke

Bending with the Winds of Change

Last week I had a meeting on the 14th floor of a building in San Francisco. It was a very windy day and I could feel the building moving under my feet. Not a good feeling! Of course I understand the theory, if a building does not have a certain amount of flexibility, it will absorb the pressure for a while and then suddenly break and fall.

In some ways, it's a good image for our weight loss efforts isn't it? This week we will see about setting goals that permit a certain amount of flexibility so that we can better deal with the pressures and the setbacks that sometimes come from all around us.

The winds of change might make us bend a little, but they will not break us!


Cookbook Sale!!

This week we are starting the cookbook sale!! The Cookbooks are all 50% off! Real, healthy, AND tasty foods for every day cooking, for the grill, to entertain friends and family, for all occasions!

I'll be carrying them around, If there is a specific one that you need let me know and I'll see if I can find you one.

Note: I found a few of the crockpot cookbooks while doing my inventory today. Perfect time to grab them! Those are the last ones!


What’s going on?

Almost back to school time already. Get out there and soak up the summer! Ok, in the City we haven't seen it yet. It will come I'm sure!

Before the fall routine sets in, it's time to start thinking about what we want the routine to be right? What are you going to do differently?

How about exercise? Will you add to your routine? Will you try something new? Will you change it up? It's a good time to sit back and think about your exercise routine. What is working, what isn't working so well, so that you can make the necessary adjustments.

How about your eating habits? What about packing lunch? Cooking ahead? Shopping smart? You want to think about how you can plan ahead in a manner that will work for you so that you can stay on plan and still be flexible.

It's time to get ready, the race is starting soon!


In the Kitchen

I had several request for my Hummus recipe, and I keep forgeting to bring it in, so I figured I would put it in here. Now I did not come up with this recipe, I got it from somebody on a ww.com message board, who got it from a magazine, who probably got it from wherever. You get the picture!

It's a delicious hummus, and rather low Points. Easy easy too! It's been a favorite in my house, and in every party I bring it to for years now. I never get tired of it. I actually have frozen it also, the texture does change a little bit, but it's still as good!

Mediterranean Hummus
15 serving, 1pts/serving

Ingredients
1 can 14 1/2 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1/4 cup roasted red peppers
2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
3 T lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Blend in a food processor, scraping sides occasionally. Serve with raw veggies.

13 pts total


At Work Corner

I will be out of the country from the 13th to the 25th, I have fills lined up for every one of my meetings (you will luv them!) and am bringing in the necessary paperwork and goodies this week (wheeeew I need a truck instead of my little Matrix!). If there is anything that you need, please let me know before your meeting so I can grab it. I'm on a very tight schedule this week, advance warning is very appreciated!

This week was inventory week! Everything is counted and organized!! I have found all sort of goodies and many cookbooks!!! Remember those are 50% off right now. How cool is that??

If there is anything that you need, please let me know and I will gladly bring it for you. If I know ahead, I can grab whatever I don’t have from a center (shhhhhh!) and bring it to you.

If for any reason you can't make your meeting at work, you are more than welcome to attend a meeting at any center - traveler. You have paid for it already!

You can find meetings close to home or to your vacation site at:
www.weightwatchers.com

Here are my meetings:
http://seamountains.net/mtg.html

Something to think about

"The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible."

Positive Self Talking is more than a tool, it's a way of life! It's habit forming and contagious, practice it and pass it on!

Look what Catlin is up to:

http://operationbeautiful.com/

I say we can do the same thing, to ourselves, and to the people around us! Share the positivism!! I bought a few pack of tiny post it notes at Walgreen, I'm planning on using them.

More than anything, learn to direct your positive thoughts to yourself. People who learn and practice positive self talk are proven to be happier, more confident, more assertive, to have more energy and drive and ultimately to be more successful.

Imagine what a gift it would be to yourself and to your loved ones to have an energized, happier you?


Have an awesome week!

If you need anything just email me, I’m there for you! I will be checking emails from time to time during my vacation, I don't promise a quick answer, but I WILL answer!

Have a grand week!! Be good, but not too much! HA!

Melanie


“Knowledge is power and enthusiasm pulls the switch.”
Steve Droke