Lose for GOOD

Dear Weight Watchers Friends,

Welcome new and returning members! It's been so wonderful to watch our meeting grow. You are an amazing group of people and you've made it so I absolutely LOVE Tuesdays. It's my new favorite day of the week!

Some of the highlights from this week's meeting:

• The topic for the meeting the week of August 31-Sept. 6 is "Lose for Good." I'm one who LOVES words and their meanings (I'm kind of a grammar freak, too), and I especially love words or phrases with multiple meanings. So, naturally I love this topic. As you discovered when you attended the meeting, "Lose for Good" can mean many things. Two of those meanings are: "lose permanently" and "lose for the benefit--or good--of others." From Sunday, Sept. 7 to Saturday, Oct. 18, Weight Watchers will begin its first ever "Lose for Good" campaign (a fight against hunger). Here's how it works. For each and every pound lost by Weight Watchers members participating in the campaign, Weight Watchers will donate an equivalent weight in food to two great organizations: "Action Against Hunger" (an International organization) as well as "Share Our Strength, No Kid Hungry" (a National Organization). Weight Watchers hopes to be able to donate ONE MILLION DOLLARS' worth of food to these organizations. If you're interested in participating, you'll receive a booklet that will provide a detailed explanation about the campaign, as well as a "Pound Tracking Card" that you'll need to turn in to Weight Watchers after October 18th.
• So, we're helping internationally, and nationally, and we're also going to help our local food banks. To do this, Weight Watchers is suggesting that you build a "food monument" representing each pound of weight you've lost (or will lose during this 6-week period). For example, if you lose 5 lbs., you could create a monument by placing a 5-lb. bag of sugar (or multiple canned items with a total weight of 5 lbs.). This is a very motivational thing to do. When I'd lost 37 lbs., I filled a grocery shopping cart with 37 lbs. of beef and took a picture. Unbelievably inspirational! If you want to participate (completely voluntary) in our local food drive, we ask that you bring your food monument to Weight Watchers and we'll donate it to our local food banks. Get rid of it--FOR GOOD!
• The other part of the "Lose for Good" topic had to do with the fact that losing weight "does a body good" (hmmm ... sounds like a milk commercial I've heard). We had a great discussion in our meeting where members shared that losing weight not only helps us feel better--physically, mentally, and emotionally--but it can reduce health risks. It helps us save money (we can all use this) on medical costs (doctors and prescriptions), and clothing (no need to buy bigger sizes). Okay--admittedly, we may need (want) to buy smaller clothing sizes, so maybe that's a wash ("wash"--ha--another word that has a double meaning)! We have fewer sick days at work and can, most definitely, use "PTO" for more enjoyable things. In addition, our families (and pets) benefit because we have more energy to do things with them--and we live longer! There are hundreds (possibly thousands) of wonderful benefits associated with losing weight and being healthy. What are some of the benefits you've been experiencing (or are looking forward to experiencing)? I like being able to tie my shoes and climb stairs without huffing and puffing!
  
• Speaking of smaller clothing sizes--and since we're on a roll (doing LOSING-FOR-GOOD things) one of our wonderful members (after the meeting) suggested that we might want to also donate our clothing that gets too big for us. She would be happy to provide her truck and help deliver items to "The Road Home." We'll talk more about this in our meetings, but be sure to let me know if you're interested in participating in a clothing drive.

Next week's meeting:

• The topic for the meeting the week of Sept. 7-13 is "If a Food Has a POINTS Value of 0, Can I Eat All I Want?" You'll want to attend the meeting (it'll be a very helpful discussion) to see why too much of a good thing isn't necessarily a good thing!
  

Upcoming Events:

• We're quickly approaching the October 11, 2008 "Making Strides for Breast Cancer" walk/run at Liberty Park. We received overwhelming endorsement last week for our team name of "Weight Walkers," so that's what will be printed on our T-shirts (thanks, Megan, for coming up with that great name). I've started taking orders for shirts and for those of you who still want one, I'll need your order for shirts, including sizes (and money--$6 each) next Tuesday. I hope you're going to be able to participate in the walk. It's really a wonderful experience--and for another GREAT cause! And don't forget, you're welcome to invite friends, family, etc., to join us and you're welcome to order as many shirts as you want. We want to see a "sea of blue" at Liberty Park on October 11th!

I saw many successes this week on the scale--and many of you earned 5-lb. stars! CONGRATULATIONS. For those of you who might have gained, please don't let it get you down. Remember, that number on the scale is just a number. It's information. It's feedback. When you see a gain on the scale, it could be caused by many things. But the best thing to do is to review the previous week and see if there's anything you might have done differently that would have brought you a different result. Pure and simple. It's feedback--NOT failure.

A big THANK YOU to Peggy for e-mailing the recipes we talked about in our meeting. The first two recipes (below) come from Peggy and the others are "Core" recipes that come from a member in another area. ENJOY!

Recipes:

1 Point Fiber Cookies- No Baking Necessary!
2 1/4 cups Fiber One cereal

3 Medium-sized Hershey's Chocolate bars
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
Melt chocolate bars and mix with other ingredients. Place approximately 12-15 per cookie sheet. Place in fridge for 20 minutes before eating.

1 Point Spice Cookies
1 Box Spice cake mix
14 oz. canned pumpkin
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Mix all ingredients together.
Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Chicken with Broccoli and Garlic Sauce (Serves 1)

1 tsp. olive oil Pinch dried thyme

½ tsp. minced garlic 1 c. frozen broccoli florets

4 oz. boneless skinless ½ c. chicken broth

chicken breast cut into 1 c. cooked brown rice

1-inch pieces salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, sauté one minute. Season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper, add to skillet. Cook, stirring frequently until browned, about 3 minutes. Add broccoli, cook 2 minute. Add broth, cover and cook 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Spicy Mexican Corn Soup (Serves 8)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. minced garlic

2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded & minced

1 ½ c. frozen chopped onions, thawed

1 ½ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground turmeric

½ - 1 tsp. salt, or to taste

½ tsp. ground pepper

1 ½ c. diced roasted red pepper

3 ½ c. chicken broth

2 c. water

4 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed

¼ c. chopped cilantro

Heat oil in a large pot. Add garlic and jalapeno pepper and sauté for about 45 seconds. Add onions, cumin, turmeric, salt & pepper and sauté until soft. Add 1 cup of the roasted pepper, the chicken broth, and water. Cook for 15 minutes. Add 3 cups of corn and cook for another 15 minutes. Using a blender, puree the soup until it’s smooth. Return to pot. Add remaining cup of corn kernels, remaining ½ cup of roasted pepper and cilantro for garnish. Freezes well.

I had a hard time choosing ONE thought today, so you get two!

Motivational Thought:

Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes up his mind to do. We are all capable of greater things than we realize.
Norman Vincent Peale

I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.
Mikhail Baryshnikov

Do the best YOU can do. Don't compare yourself to others. Just keep improving your abilities, and don't put limits on yourself. We ARE capable of accomplishing far great things than we realize. Have a marvelous week--and I'll see you Tuesday night.

Debra

P.S. We ran out of the motivational cards--so I'll print more and bring them next week. I have a few extras from the first two meetings, too, if anyone wants them.