Making Meals and Snacks More Satisfying

Dear Weight Watchers Friends,


It's a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon, but I feel cozy and warm as I sit at this computer to write to my dear WW friends! Plus, I'm feeling rested because I got an extra hour of sleep last night--and that's always a good thing! Did you use your "extra" hour to get more sleep?


Highlights from this week's meeting:
This meeting's topic was "Making Meals and Snacks More Satisfying." We had a wonderful discussion (thank you for all of you who shared thoughts/comments) about the things that create a satisfying meal. Some of the ways to make a meal/snack more satisfying are to improve the visual and/or physical satisfaction.




For example, visual appeal may occur when you:

• Use good dishes (treat yourself like "company").



• Remove clutter from your eating area and make your mealtime a peaceful, enjoyable experience.



• Eat from smaller plates/bowls (e.g., serve dinner on salad plates)



• Drink (even water) from your fancy glasses/goblets, and garnish with a twist of lemon/lime.



• Display many different colors (foods, tableware, cloth napkins).



• Treat yourself to flowers and candles on the table (leave no room for tempting serving bowls!)



• Put your snack serving on a nice plate--put the package away.



• Be creative with meal presentation ideas (solicit help from family members).



• Try new or unusual foods.



• Serve bigger portions of low energy dense foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables).



• Choose high-fiber snacks (popcorn, whole-wheat pretzels).



• Offer several courses, such as salad, then broth-based soup, entree, then follow-up with a healthy dessert, such as fresh fruit.

Physical appeal may occur when you:

• Choose foods that are filling because of the fiber, air or water content (low energy density).



• Incorporate the Good Health Guidelines that will add feelings of satisfaction/fullness, such as: fruits and vegetables, whole-grain foods, milk products, healthy oils, protein.



• Eat a balance of foods from different food groups, which adds to feelings of fullness. For example, instead of having whole-wheat toast for breakfast, top it with some reduced-fat peanut butter and half of a banana. Your breakfast may "stick to your ribs" longer.



• Chew more, drink less. Liquids often don't feel as satisfying as foods that require chewing.

Avoid unsatisfying meals and snacks. When you're not satisfied, you'll likely find yourself searching for more food to satisfy you, which may cause you to spend POINTS unnecessarily or cause you to eat extra portions.

Finally, we had our first BRAVO drawing. We had 17 winners (small gifts--a simple gesture to let you know that you ARE being successful, even when the results don't always show up on the scale). I will return the BRAVO cards to you that were turned in for our drawing so you can continue to collect BRAVO stickers on them or retain the full cards for future drawings, increasing your chances of winning. Congratulations to those of you who won.

Next week's meeting topic: "Vote 'Yes' for Yourself."
When you find ways to feel satisfied from meals and snacks, you are demonstrating your ability to care for yourself. During next week's meeting, we'll be discussing the Take Care of Yourself habit. You will want to attend the meeting to cast an important vote for YOURSELF!

AWARDS!
Congratulations to each of you who earned an award (or 5-lb. star) this week. Specifically, Kelly and Herbert (16-week "Stay & Succeed"), Candice Garfield (10%), and Lauren--YOU REACHED YOUR GOAL! Congratulations to each of you.

Recipe:

Linda--thanks for sharing the following Pan-Seared Chicken recipe. It sounds delicious!

PAN-SEARED CHICKEN WITH CITRUS-HERB GREMOLATA

Gremolata is a garnish usually made with parsley, grated lemon peel and garlic. This tarragon-orange version is simple, but incredibly flavorful. Try it on fish or shrimp, too.

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

¾ teaspoon coarse salt, divided

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

½ teaspoon minced garlic

Sprinkle chicken with ½ teaspoon of the salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook chicken 8 to 10 minutes or until browned and no longer pink in center, turning once. Combine all remaining ingredients, including remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, in small bowl; sprinkle over chicken.

4 servings. PER SERVING: 170 calories, 6 g total fat (1/5 g saturated fat), 26.5 g protein, .5 g carbohydrate, 75 mg cholesterol, 360 mg sodium, .5 g fiber.

Motivational Thought:

I recently heard the following quote (by Michael Jordan) and just loved it. I know some of us get so discouraged when we fail, but it's SO important to stick with the things we want to achieve. Never, never, NEVER give up. Michael Jordan says, "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Be sure to vote early so you'll be able to attend our meeting! I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday night.

Finally, our wonderful friends, Linda and Art, will be leaving next week for Africa. We're so excited for you and we'll look forward to hearing about your experience when you return. We hope you'll be able to attend Tuesday night so we can bid you farewell! Oh, and you'll want to chat with Nancy, one of our wonderful Tuesday night receptionists. She has been to Africa and will be returning there again soon (she'll be gone for a few months). I love the fact that WW brings people together who would've otherwise probably never met.


Take care, my wonderful friends,


Debra