Believe!

"My goal for 2012 is to get this weight loss thing back on track and finally make it to goal! No resolution, no promises to be perfect every day of the year, I have set a realistic goal, and I will make it happen!

Sounds good but I'm not sure I actually can make it happen. It's not like it's the first time I try, I'm not sure what I can do for it to work this time. What if I can't have my wine? My chocolate? I don't want to eat carrots and lettuce all year. I'm not sure I can give up all the foods I love, all my social engagements. 

I've done this weight loss thing before, maybe I've been at it already for a while and well... I'm not exactly melting if you get my drift. Why make all those effort to hardly lose anything?"

Does this sound familiar? Do you find yourself sometimes setting a goal, determined to make it happen but not altogether confident about actually achieving it? You are not alone!

This week we will use the knowledge of the PointsPlus 2012 program, along with the lessons of our past weight loss experiences all wrapped up in good old common sense to dispel our fears and realize that YES each and every one of us can achieve our goals.

Hear me loud and clear: You can achieve your goals! The first and most important step is to believe...

Member's Corner

This week  was a tough week for weight loss. It was the week of Christmas, Yule (the solstice), and Hanukkah!  Still we have lost! Those of us who have kept going through the holidays are now ahead of the game for January!

Tuesday at the San Bruno Bayhill center for the 6pm meeting, 17 members weighed in. We managed to lose 4.4 lbs! That's 0.26, or about 1/4 lb per person! Good job!

We had no award, but Nancy, who couldn't make it to the meeting, left me a note to say that she DID add a walk on the weekend like she had promised to do on the 20th! Go Nancy!

Wednesday at the Stonestown Center, also a 6pm meeting, 23 members weighed in and we lost 8.6 lbs! That's about 0.37lbs/member or a little over 1/3 of a lb!

Elissa and Jen both passed the 20 lbs milestone, and they both, along with Ruth, earned their Stay and Succeed award for being there for 16 weeks.

Look at your weight record, and plot your way to your next milestone. What will it be? Another 5 lbs? A percentage? When he made one of his milestone, 5% I think, Rich, a member at Stonestown explained that he felt he had to stick to this, and go the extra mile so that he wouldn't let the team down. That's what we are, a team, and everybody is an important player!

My Healthy Lifestyle

Most of my cooking during the holidays has been quick and uninspired. We spent our energy on relaxing, going outside and watching cartoons. Don't judge us, we are nerds and proud of it!

I did make an experiment in mid-December that turned out quite well! I had this recipe for banana bread that I spent some time fine tuning, and when my friend gave me a bag full of pineapple Guava, I decided to experiment! See the result of my experiment here: Pineapple Guava Bread.

I baked this all by myself! Two of them actually, for real!

This next breakfast recipe is an old one that I just trotted back out this week. In my family, we call it "Mushed-up egg half sandwiches" the name evolved from my bad English and our enjoyment of silly sounding names. It's a simple thing which, I'm sure, we aren't the only one cooking, but it's a favorite of mine, and makes me feel like I'm cheating. See what it's all about here: Mushed-up egg half sandwich.

Mushed up egg half sandwiches!

Other than cooking, I've been walking quite a bit, and thinking. Now that all the partying and celebrating is done and that I had some time to myself, I finally had the time for some much needed sitting back and thinking things through. For over two years my energy has been all over the place, and I have been feeling for a while like I was hanging on my weight loss by a hair. It's time for a makeover!

My first step was to realize that somewhere over the years, my focus had shifted and not for the better. I decided to put the focus back on setting significant goals, and achieving them, rather than focusing on the process itself. It's not about how many times I go to the gym, but rather about why am I wanting to workout? Why do I want to eat right? What am I working for?

See how my whole reasoning went, and how refocusing can really help you prepare for success here:  Not  Resolutions, goals.

You know what though? Goals aren't only helpful if they are worth the effort to you. It's also important to understand why you want to achieve them, and to know that you actually CAN achieve them. It's work, but it's worth it! I sort of worked it out for myself here: Here we are!

Lets get this year started!

It's 2012 my friends! Lets get this year started the right way with a goal, a plan, and a lot of want power!

Remember that there is a meeting of the Recipe Club on January 11th at 7pm at the Stonestown center. The theme for January is Soups, Stews, and Chilis. We are warming up for winter!

Never be afraid to email me, I'm there for you! Starting on January 2nd, I will be back to my usual available self (we're running out of cartoons to watch, HA!). I will see you in the meeting room. Lets get this weight loss thing going and going strong!

All the best,

Melanie

Leader

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right."

~Henry Ford

Melanie Weekly 2012!

Hi everybody!

I hope the Holidays are treating you well and that you are getting ready to enter 2012 with a spring in your step. I know I am! There has been a lot of changes to my schedule, and to my life. A lot of you now have a new leader, whom I KNOW is doing a great job because those who were chosen to replace me are just that great!

The Melanie Weekly Blog is coming back!

This blog has been very quiet through the Holiday season, simply because I needed to focus my energy elsewhere and so did you I’m sure! It is not dead though, the Melanie Weekly 2012 will be a little different, but it will be there! Here’s how I want to make it work so that it’s easier for me to put together, and still give you what you really need to have:

The Weekly itself will be simplified. I’m keeping my little “Topic of the week” section, because it’s fun to know what we’ll be talking about before you get there, right? I want to put in a “Member section” where I can report on how my 2 groups are doing, and maybe brag about people’s milestones? Wouldn’t that be cool? I will also have a little “Lifestyle” section where I will link to anything I posted that week on my Lifestyle blog and the attached Recipe blog. Those blogs are more related to my own journey on this healthy lifestyle of ours, and on what I learn and try out for myself. Hopefully that way I can still share and encourage you to try and have fun with this without having to put in extra research to “have something new” for the Weekly. Finally, I plan on keeping you posted on what’s going on at WW in the Bay Area but in a less formal manner than having an “Events” blog, or an “On sale” sections.

Any comment, suggestions and/or ideas on how the Melanie Weekly blog could be better, more useful, or more insightful is greatly appreciated! I want to note that the “Body and mind” blog is going dormant for now. It never quite found its focus, and I am keeping it in reserve for a possible Personal trainer career (if I ever get to it!). I also want to note that all of my blogs, the Weekly included, are put together by me, not by Weight Watchers, and reflect my opinions and ideas and only mine. Furthermore, only the Melanie Weekly blog is written with my Weight Watchers members in mind. The other blogs are a reflection of my personal ideas, and my sometimes twisted opinions and sense of humor. Readers be warned! ;op

2012 is knocking at the door

I want to take a minute to thank you my members and my friends for being there week after week through 2011. This year has been great, this year has been difficult. We have seen success together, set backs, joy, sadness, inspiration and frustrations, and yet here we are, good and ready to get started all over again.  I intend on taking the good, the smiles, the lessons, and the victories of 2011 and use them as fuel for my efforts during 2012. The new year is full of promises, of possibilities and opportunities. Take them, step ahead and grab whatever it is that you want for 2012! We are not making resolutions, we are setting goals, and already we can plan ahead and prepare for the steps that will lead us to those goals. We’re in this together, and as long as we stick together, not much can stop us!

I wish you a wonderful year 2012, full of love, health, success, smiles, lessons and victories. I am proud and honored that you have chosen me as your leader and will be looking for you in the meeting room!

Thank you again and Happy New Year!!!

Melanie
XXX