Get Unstuck

Ever get stuck in traffic? You know that helpless feeling of "no matter what I do, I'll be sitting here not going anywhere for a while". I hate that feeling!

You see, patience is not one of my strong point*s*, and that's an understatement. Whatever I am doing, I want to be done now. Wherever I'm going, I want to be there now. You can imagine how well (not!) I dealt with plateaus on my weight loss journey. Not pretty!

Still, like a majority of people, I did have to deal with the scale ignoring my impatience, and refusing to budge even a smidgen for weeks. Plateaus are a normal part of the weight loss process, and as exasperating (and lets be honest, scary) as they are, you can work your way through them and even learn great lessons in the process.

This week we will discuss how we can get past a weight loss plateau to get ourselves back to losing weight.

Tool of the week

My first go to helper when I'm struggling is my food scale. I know I talk about it all the time, but really, I don't understand how one can do this program without this easy and useful tool.

The Weight Watchers Electronic food scale is not only easy and quick to measure foods, but it also has a lot of healpful features:

• Food bank: Give you the PointsPlus value of the food you have on there quickly and easily.
• Integrated calculator: Permits you to calculate the PointsPlus of any food that might not be in the original food bank by entering the nutritional info and serving size.
• Add: Permits you to calculate the PointsPlus value of additional foods in the same dish and keep a running count of the total PointsPlus Value of all ingredients added

You can also add new foods to the original food bank, zero out the scale after you put your dish on it... It's just a great tool! What can I say?

In the Kitchen

This recipe is a creation of mine. I was looking for a good fennel salad, and was tired of my usuals, so I experimented. I'm not beyond bragging, this was really good!

I've shared it on Facebook already, but thought I'd share it here for posterity (HA!)

Apple -Fennel slaw
6 servings, (recipe builder says 1p+/serving, but that counts the apple and fennel. I protest!)


2 granny smith apple, thinly julienned
1 fennel bulb, cored, thinly julienned
2 TBSP lemon juice (or so)
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar, divided
1 (generous) TBSP dijon mustard (I use whole grain, it's prettier)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 packet stevia (or 1 tsp sugar)
1/2 TBSP (or more) poppy seeds
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix 1 TBSP of the vinegar with the lemon juice and pour over the apple juliennes as soon as they are cut (to keep from browning). Put in a big bowl

Mix the mustard, the remaining vinegar, the oil and the stevia in a little bowl, pour over the slaw. Add poppy seeds, salt and pepper and toss well.

Source: My own brain, please credit said brain if you're going to reuse ;op

Loose for Good

The Lose for Good campaign is starting next week. We have done wonderfully well the previous year, but we can do better! Get involved, get inspired, lose for the good cause! Get involved by:

Losing weight

How cool is that? Weight Watchers will donate 1 dollar for each pound lost up to a million. We want to pass last year's total of 4 million pounds lost. We can so do it!!

Plug in for Lose-A-Palooza

It's happening September 19th. Find information here: loseapalooza,com

Connect with the Lose for Good Community

Look them up for support, inspiration and motivation: weightwatchers.com/loseforgood

More to come as the campaign takes off. Keep your eyes peeled cause we're on starting August 28th!

Activity

While I was on vacation, I found myself on the grounds surrounding the port at "L'Etang du Nord". I was waiting for my Mom to be done with a meeting, and had nothing with me but my camera, my MP3 player and my walking shoes.

Instead of just sitting around, I decided to go wander around to take pictures. I started the music, and just took off, stopping to take pictures when something caught my attention.

Now, I'm certainly no photograph, don't even know enough about it to be a wannabe, and my camera was an ok one... 8 years ago! I had the best time!

"What on earth does that have to do with activity?" you ask... Well, I walked (with frequent stops that's true) for well over 2 1/2 hours.

Moving is moving right? Who knew that you could burn calories taking pictures? HA!

See the Move it! blog to see some example of my attempt at photography! He he he!

Have a good week

Don't let slow downs and plateaus turn you away from your goals. Those are normal, and happen to everybody. The first step to getting ourselves back on the losing track again is to keep coming to the meetings so that we can find solution and remain connected to what we are trying to do.

As always I'm there for you, never be afraid to ask! See you in the meeting room.

Be good n stuff!!!

Melanie

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.”
~Frank A. Clark