Stop the Eat-a-Thon

No matter how committed we are to our new lifestyle, we all splurge from time to time. Perfection is not of this world, and those little slips are easy to make up for.

For some of us though, those times can really get out of control. Out of control eating (OCE) is when we just eat and eat and eat without being able to stop ourselves leading to feeling of guilt, and usually to weight gain.

There are strategies that can help us regain control over those munchies attack. This week we will discuss those strategies and see if we can come up with an action plan to stop those OCE attack, and prevent their return. Don’t miss it!

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.

The 3 Month Journal is a great tool because 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 (at the beginning!).

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.

What’s going on?

SF:
We still have the Catch the Wave promotion going on until the end of August, make sure to come in and get your star for the week so that you can get in the drawing on August 31^st!

There are talks of a team being put together for the Step Out Walk for diabetes. The walk is on October 1^st, a Friday, at noon. More to come on the subject. I am not putting the walk together this year, I simply don’t have time, but I am sure going to walk it! Stay tuned!

Petaluma:

If you are in the City on October 1^st, come and walk with us!!!

I was thinking of putting together a smoothie tasting on the first week of September to celebrate the return of our routine. It’d be fun to get together and try a few different recipes done with our fabulous Weight Watchers smoothies. If you have recipes, suggestions, a blender that could be used, drop me an email.

We have time to put it together I just wanted to put the idea out there ahead of time to see what we can come up with.


In the Kitchen

I am not vegan or even vegetarian, but I like to eat vegetarian meals rather regularly for variety if nothing else.

I’ve discovered Vegetarian Magazine a few years ago and find it to be very “real” contrary to many high and mighty vegetarian cookbooks and magazine I’ve looked at in the past. I don’t want to be preached at, I want food ideas!

This salad is a good sample of what I like about that magazine; it’s simple, healthy, delicious and looks fabulous. I like to use it at get-togethers and serve it in my pretty salad bowl (well, I did before it broke, ahem… life with a kitten!!).

Height-of-Summer Tomato Salad
6 servings, 2 pts/serving

Note: You want to make the dressing ahead and have it sit overnight in the fridge for better flavor.

Ingredients
Dressing
2/3 cup fresh basil leaves (plus more for garnish)
3 cloves garlic minced (1 TBSP)
2 ½ TBSP olive oil (I cut it down to 1 ½ TBSP, but I wouldn’t put less than that)

Salad
12 oz. Heirloom or other peak-season tomatoes, cut in different shapes (I get creative here, takes me forever!)
1 medium cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced
¼ small onion, thinly sliced (I like to use shallot myself)
1 ½ oz. ricotta salata, crumbled (don’t use it myself since I don’t eat cheese)

Directions
1- Puree basil and garlic with ½ tsp oil in the food processor. Stir in remaining oil.
2- To make the salad: toss together tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and ricotta salata in a large bowl. Pour dressing over mixture, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with basil leaves.


See? Simple and easy. You can fuffy it up with a pretty bowl and creativity while cutting the vegetables or you can keep it simple and just enjoy the fabulous taste of peak-season tomatoes.


At Work Corner

Some of my groups are getting close to renewal time. Please bring your friends and have them check us out at your meeting! Also keep in mind that anybody can join our series at any time. I just need to know a little in advance so that I can bring the necessary paperwork and material.

I still have a large number of food scales, Easy Measure (the spoons!) and cookbooks. If you need any of these, let me know! I also found 2 cases of the Roasted Almond bars. If you want some extra of these let me know. I need to sell them before my husband eats them all. HA!

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
Have an awesome week!

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

Have a wonderful week! I’ve heard rumors that the sun might make it to San Francisco this week. There is hope for us!!

Melanie


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