MONDAYS ARE "DO-OVER" DAYS

I'm weird. I love Mondays.

Mondays are a chance for re-birth. It's "do-over" day. How often do we get a do-over?

If we slipped on the weekend we simply say to ourselves, "OK...this is a new day and a new week. This week is going to be a little better than last week. I am going to do it over again and do it better".

The exception, of course, is if last week was a great week, but it would still be a do-over week. It's just a different perspective. If you had a great week you still want a do-over, because you want to do it all over again. Right?

I would perfectly happy if this week ended up being the same as last week, but I would be even happier if I refined it a bit. The question becomes: If I could refine it, what would I refine?

What would I do differently if I had a "do-over?

1) I would not have had the Chocolate Bar and Potato Chips and Dip Saturday night
2) I would have made better choices at our BBQ Sunday.

I was full of good intentions at the BBQ and did make smart alcohol choices, but I didn't make the best (or the worst) food choices, and my friend Diane and I both commented that we just felt uncomfortably full when it was over.

What would I keep the same?

1) I would track at least as much as I did last week
2) I would exercise
3) I would totally have the Fish and Chips and Beer on Saturday night (or something similar).

So today is the start of a new week. It is a time for rebirth. What will you do differently this week?

Have you started the May Challenge? How are you doing? It is never too late to start. Click below to read my May 1st blog if you need to review the May Challenge:

May Challenge

Let's do this!

Alan

CONFESSIONS OF A WEIGHT WATCHERS LEADER

I didn't track my Weight Watchers Smartpoints last night.

The truth is I didn't plan to track last night...on purpose. I even went so far as to declare that I was not going to track on yesterday's blog post.

There is good news and bad news surrounding this decision.

The good news is that I didn't track because I knew I really didn't need to. I was nearing the end of my week (I start my tracking week on Mondays), and still had daily points left, plenty of weekly points left, and fitpoints I could use if I needed them.

So the reason I didn't track was because I had tracked so well all week I already knew I didn't need to. All would be fine...and it was...almost.

We went to the local pub and I had Fish and Chips (the beer battered kind) and a couple of beers (not light). I did it because I could, and I wanted to, and I don't regret it for a second.

There were two learnings last night though.

1) I was happily eating away until my friend Diane, who had ordered the same thing, said : "I can't eat anymore. I'm full". It wasn't until she uttered those words that I realized I was half way through my meal and I was full too. I set the rest of my meal aside and felt good...but I also knew damn well that if she hadn't uttered those words I probably would have powered my way all the way through it. I wasn't even remotely paying attention to anything.

2) Walking home we all seemed to get caught up in the moment. I think someone said "who wants ice cream?" and the next thing we knew we were in a corner store. I didn't get any ice cream but I did scarf down a snickers bar, and then went home and ate potato chips and dip. WTF?

Point "2" above was not planned and I do regret it...but I am going to let it go.

I suppose I could sit down and back track how many points I actually ate, and then determine if I had gone on or off plan but what is the point? Today is the last day of my week so no matter what the result is the answer is the same: Just make today a "normal day".

It's not quite as easy as it sounds as we are having friends over for a BBQ today, but I can still eat healthy options and drink my Smirnoff Ice Light (it's only 7 Smartpoints for a whole litre!).

I love Weight Watchers because of its flexibility and forgiveness. When you fall off the saddle you just get right back on and keep on riding.

One more thing...I must really be getting myself "beyond the scale" because I totally forgot to even tell you I was down 1.7 pounds at my weigh-in last Friday.

Here is to the wonderful week that lies ahead!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there! 

Alan

I NEED HELP

My partner has told me I need help for years. He's right. I do.

I need serious help...but who doesn't?

If I have learned nothing else on this journey it is that I am totally and utterly incapable of doing it on my own.

There are many times I have thought to myself: "For goodness sake Alan, you are not a child...buck up and just do it". Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but it NEVER works long term if I try to do it on my own.

After I held my two Weight Watcher meetings this morning I drove out to Newmarket (almost an hour drive) to meet with the sellers of a house I will be listing for sale and then started to head home. As I was driving home a funny thing happened...a big grin came over my face. It was then I realized I was thinking about the meetings I had held in the morning.

I don't know if either the Friday morning Weight Watchers group I attend as a member, or the Saturday Morning meetings I attend as a leader know this, but I REALLY need you.

You are the reason I have kept my weight off, for the most part, for 12 years...it is plain and simply other Weight Watcher Members that keep me ticking.

I love the brutal honesty that we are able to share in our "safe zone" and the familiarity that we find in each other's struggles. I love the fact that I can talk to you about everything from a great dish I prepared, to my purchase of new underwear. You are an amazing group of people.

So to those people who think like I used to think, and get frustrated because they think they should be able to do it on their own I say the following:

1) Why should you be able to it on your own? Is there a rule somewhere I don't know about?
2) Even if you could, why would you want to?

The meetings I am at are bright spots in my week every week.

If you are a member and you don't feel that way about your meeting (and I say this EVEN if your meeting happens to be a meeting I lead), find another meeting. You need to be somewhere where you feel connected. Just don't do it on your own.

Doing it on your own doesn't make you an adult. Recognizing and accepting support when you need it makes you an adult.

Sometimes we still want to be a child though. I am going to be a child tonight. I'm going out for dinner and drinks tonight and I am NOT going to count my points. So there!

Tomorrow I will be an adult again :-)

Alan

PREPARING FOR THE WEEKEND

Weekends are a busy time for me.

I lead my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday mornings and then I am off and running doing my real job as a Realtor. If I am not prepared it can create real challenges from a food perspective. This is particularly true when you combine it with the desire to have fun on Friday and/or Saturday nights.

This week I will resist the temptation to have fun Friday night, (tonight) anyway, as we are having people over for a BBQ on Sunday and I want to enjoy myself then.

I know I need to be prepared but the question is always: How do I do that?

I think I figured out breakfast last week, with my home made Muesli and Berries I'm good. It's easy to make but I need to remember to make it on Friday night so it is ready for the morning. :-)

The question becomes: What about the rest of the weekend?

I have a leftover pasta and veggie dish in the freezer I will take for Saturday lunch but I am going to try out a new theory.

My theory will hopefully solve another issue and that is "recipe leftovers".

I'm not talking about leftover dishes, but all the vegetables etc. that pile up in the fridge. When I buy a bunch of leeks but only need two in my recipe, the rest of the bunch sits. This starts happening with a lot of things until you end up with a fridge full of stuff you don't know what to do with.

So this is my theory:

1) Take it all out and chop it up


2) Put it in a pan and stir fry it up (I also added a can of diced tomatoes)



3) Freeze half for another time and then put the rest in the fridge.

My plan is to use this as my vegetable "filler" so I can make things fast and on the go.

Need an omelet: Put some filler in it.
Need a vegetable? Use the filler
Want some soup? Add broth and used the filler
Want a chilli? Add beans and use the filler.

Yes I may get tired of the filler by the end of the weekend but then I can move on with the knowledge that I was healthy. It will feel good.

If I still have leftovers after the weekend I can easily make a vegetable soup with what remains and freeze it.

I'm feeling like I've got this!

Alan

FINDING GOOD JUNK FOOD

Let's be real. Most of us want to be healthy but we also want to eat some good old fashion junk occasionally right?

My "thing" is often a Burger and Fries. I love it! The problem is there are just too many Smartpoints in them (perhaps because it isn't actually healthy...just perhaps) . A whopper at Burger King (no cheese) for instance is 22 Smartpoints, and a small Fries adds on another 7. If you add only 1 tablespoon of ketchup to the fries, that is many people's entire food budget for the day gone in one sitting.

I still WANT the Burger and Fries sometimes though, and yesterday was one of those times.

I decided to see how Smartpoint friendly I could make it and wow did I learn something. If you aren't a WW member, the "point" discussion that follows won't mean a lot to you but I still think you will find the information interesting.

Please keep in mind that in my evaluation I am going by the nutrition labels on the actual package in the supermarket (which is the most accurate) and not by the more generic on-line database of Smartpoint values. I was at the Loblaws in Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

What I really wanted to do was figure out the best option for my meat. They didn't have ground Turkey, so I looked at Extra Lean Ground Beef and Lean Ground Chicken. The nutrition labels were for 100gr but I knew I would eat more than that so I doubled the amounts and entered the nutrional information into the app on my phone. Both came in at 8 Smartpoints.

Since there was no difference I thought: "I'm going for the beef!" :-)

It was then that I saw it...out of the corner of my eye I saw ground "something" in a green package. It was calling my name.

I looked at the package and it said the words: "Extra Lean High In Protein Meat". What was it? Ostrich!




I wasn't sure if I had ever had Ostrich before but it intrigued me enough to turn the package over to look at the nutrition label and I was truly shocked:



If you can't read it is says that in a 4oz serving (112gr) there are 110 calories, .2gr of Saturated Fat, 0 Sugar and 27g of protein! I checked out the company, Natural Frontier's, website and they say their products have no antibiotics, added hormones, or steroids. They also say: "All of our semi-wild species are given plenty of room to roam freely so that they can thrive and maintain overall herd health and quality."

After getting it home, weighing the actual meat (there were 280gr in the package ) and entering the adjusted figures for a 140gr burger (so we could have one burger each) it came out at 1 Smartpoint for a burger. That is right...I said 1 Smartpoint!!!! It also had 34gr of Protien per burger!

If you go to the online database it will tell you 5oz of Ostrich meat is 3 Smartpoints (still good), but this specific package is extra lean ostrich meat.

Now the packaging says it is "juicy" but I know enough about meat to know that if there isn't much fat there isn't much juice, so I employed a trick a WW member taught me once, and that is to put chopped celery inside the meat of the burger before making it. The celery releases water which helps keep it moist. I actually put celery, onion, garlic, and pepper in the meat.

I cooked the Burger on the BBQ so I didn't have to cook in oil, used my Actifry for the fries so there was only 1 Tbsp of oil (tracked as 1/2 Tbsp each), and ended up with a Burger and Fries calculated as follows:

Ostrich Meat: 1 Smartpoint
Bun: 4 Smartpoints
1/2 Tbsp of oil: 2 Smartpoints
Potato (I actually weighted it); 5 Smartpoints
Celery, Onion, Garlic, Pepper, Cucumber, Watercress, Tomato, Mustard: 0 Smartpoints

So the Burger and Fries came in at 12 Smartpoints! Awesome.

I'm not going to lie, I added a few extra toppings as follows, but they are choices you don't necessarily need to make:

Cheese: 3 Smartpoints
Ketchup: 2 Tbsp (for fries): 2 Smartpoints



It was really good. I wouldn't say it was "dry" but I would have liked it a little moister. I think I will put mushrooms inside the meat before cooking next time. That will hopefully add some more moisture.

This is my new "go to" for Burger and Fries night.

There is a little catch. The Ostrich isn't cheap. It was $12.49 Cdn for 10 oz of meat. My first thought was: That's crazy! My more rational afterthought was: That works out to $6.25 a burger. I would easily pay that for a burger at a fast food restaurant. Why wouldn't I value myself enough to pay that here and be healthier?

So good, friendly, junk can be found. You just have to look! :-)

Alan

CONTROL. IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE WHEN LIFE SUCKS?

As a Weight Watchers Leader I often talk about being "in control".

A prime example of losing control can occur when a significant incident happens in life that throws you off track.

When something bad happens the easiest thing to do is to throw in the towel. After all, the "incident" is more important. 

Sometimes the situation can be so severe that you just don't care about anything, and I mean anything. So who cares if you give up on yourself? 

In fact I can almost guarantee you that if you tell your friends you're going to eat whatever you want right now because you have bigger things to worry about, the majority of your friends will support you and encourage the behaviour. After all, there will be plenty of time in the future to go back to focussing on your health. Right? They aren't trying to sabotage you. They are just trying to be good friends...and they can probably relate. 

Perhaps a loved one is sick or has just passed away, or you have our own health issue, or your new medications are causing weight gain.

Whatever the incident may be, it is important to recognize that you are at a critical juncture. 

You can choose to stay in control of one thing. It might be the only thing you control right now. Only you can decide that you will stay in control of your own health.

It isn't easy to decide to stay healthy...it is necessary.

Whenever someone says "you can't help others until you help yourself" there is always universal agreement, and yet when something happens and a person gives up on "self-focus" in order to help another, or get themselves through a difficult situation, it tends to not only be understood but supported. Why is that?

I think we all know what really needs to happen.  No matter what the scenario, we need to stay in control of ourselves.

What does that even mean though? Am I telling you that you need to make sure you track everything you put in your mouth while sitting by a loved one's bedside in hospital? Of course not.

I'm simply saying that staying present, and aware, is more important than ever.

I am speaking from a place of knowledge. Many of you know both of my parents and my sister have passed away, and I am currently working through the health issues of a loved one (who will be fine). I have dealt with my emotions by eating too often in the past. I will not allow it to get me this time. I am better than that.

Here is the thing:  None of us are perfect. I don't even want to be perfect anymore. 

If you find yourself in a situation where food is becoming your medication, and/or friends are bombarding you with comfort dishes to make you feel better, ask yourself if eating it is the right decision in the long term. Don't ask yourself if it is the right decision "right now" because the devil on your shoulder will feed you the wrong answer and you are probably weak enough to listen.

Find the strength to stay strong. If I can do it, you can do it.

Alan

P.S. I normally post pics of my food from the day prior. Although I do have them, and I ate well, I don't want to diminish today's message by reducing the blog to "what Alan ate yesterday". 

HOW DO PEOPLE WITH WEIGHT ISSUES BUY CLOTHES?

I joke on my main blog page about how I realized in horror that I am wearing the same underwear in two pictures of myself taken five years a part. Kudos to the underwear manufacturer anyway!

In a way it is symbolic of me though.

Those who attend my Weight Watchers meetings may have noticed that I alternate two pairs of the same pants for my meetings. They aren't that different and they are both the same colour of grey.

I don't wear them because I love them. I wear them for two reasons:

1) I don't make enough time to do something for myself (like go clothes shopping)
2) I don't like clothes shopping because I never know what I will weigh next month.

The last point is actually a really big problem. I have an entire closet full of clothes that don't quite fit. They are all too small.

A week and a half ago I emptied the entire closet, threw them on a bed in another room, and said: "Right: I am going to go through these and I am going to give to charity anything that I know will never fit again".

At the time it seems like a good idea, but then I started the blog and that reinvigorated me.

Yesterday I went to go through the clothes and thought.: "How do I know these will never fit again?"

The clothes are all back in the closet.

So I'm once again stuck. This is not the first time I have done this.

The clothes I have are too small and I don't want to buy new clothes because the ones I have are actually nice and they might fit again soon.

I'm not really sure how to resolve this other than hoping it will resolve itself, but I do promise you two things:

1) I will get some new pants this week.
2) I will get some new underwear this week.

Hey...it's a start! Baby steps :-)

My food journey yesterday:

1) Mostly veggie Omelet for breakfast (with a little bit of cheese and bacon) :



2) Tuna Wrap for lunch:



3) Rosemary Chicken with Pears and Leeks ( from the WW Year Round Fresh Cookbook) for dinner:




I had some fruits as snacks during the day too.

It was a good day.

Get out there and enjoy the sun today!

Alan