WW (Weight Watchers) Chat #240: Overcome Obstacles – Emotional Eating

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WW News September 2021:

  • Mindi found a new group in Connect…the WW Diabetes Coach! This is a group of registered dietitians and diabetes educators that have formed a group to help members with diabetes reach their goals. My mom would have loved this group! To find it log into your WW account → go to Connect → in the search bar enter @wwdiabetescoach and follow along!
  • WW has 50 new workouts from Obe Fitness! Cardio, HIIT, Strength, Stretch, Yoga, Low Impact and more.Go to the WW app on your phone, tablet or log in on your computer for more info
  • Oh. My. Gosh. WW now offers the same Food Huggers we have at KC Kitchen Center! I knew they were a great idea when I saw them and now weight watchers everywhere will too!
  • Did you know there is a filter feature already built into your WW app? I can’t believe I’ve never noticed this and it took technology-challenged leader Gwen to show me how to get there. On your WW app go to:
    • My Day
    • Use the “explore recipes and food” toolbar
    • Type in any word like “apples or Applebees”
    • Next to the header Food Items, a blue Filter option pops up
    • Touch Filter and choose
      • Sort by SmartPoints
      • Food Type
      • How Many SmartPoints?
      • Dietary Preference
    • Hit apply and you are ready to go!
    • Done filtering or need to try a different filter? Hit Clear in the upper right hand corner and apply again…all set!

The month’s theme is “Obstacle Breakthroughs” and will help us find a way to recognize our obstacles, face them, and crush them!

 

Last week during Chat #239: Overcome Obstacles with Music! we found out that music can change a mood…snap! Just like that.

Last week I was walking Dusty on the main drag in downtown Knoxville and could hear music literally blaring from somewhere down the street. Heads were turning, frowns were forming, and then suddenly…up rode a huge guy, on a huge Harley, covered in tattoos and a t-shirt that said “I Hate People”. But for an entire block I could see heads bobbing, toes tapping, and I couldn’t help but start singing along. The image was “I’m a rough and grumpy tough guy”…but Stephen Perry bolting out “Don’t stop…believing…hold on to that feeling…street lights people” changed the mood!

Music does just that. Whether it’s soft jazz calming your soul or hip hop getting your groove on, music can boost your mood, remind you of fond memories, and even make you exercise faster or longer.

So how can you add music to your weight loss routine?

  • Make a playlist of songs for:
    • Relaxing
    • Exercising
    • Mood lifting
  • Find a service that works best for you like:
    • Spotify
    • ITunes
    • A real CD player
    • Amazon Music
  • Decide when and where you will listen to that playlist:
    • Walking (did you know you can look for music that is a certain BPM beats per minute to match your pace or pick it up?)
    • Cleaning (I hate cleaning but man it goes by faster if I have on some good tunes)
    • Relaxing 
    • Distracting yourself  

 

Your homework for last week was #PlaylistPlan. Make a plan with your playlist! Find a few songs, make a playlist, name it and tell us when you will use it!….and then type it, snap it, however you want to share it and then tag me for your next cool badge!

Let’s see how you did!

  • Barbara has her playlist on Apple Music and used it to keep herself moving while she was cleaning this week!
  • Marlene uses iHeart Radio to find her faves from the 60’s like the Beach Boys to keep her moving!
  • Mary Ann uses Spotify to “relax and clear her head”…I think that’s an awesome use of music don’t you?

Bravo, you did it!

 

This Week’s Topic: Overcome Obstacles – Emotional Eating

As Gwen reminds us every time this topic comes up….experiencing emotions is not a character flaw. Actually, not showing emotions could mean you are a sociopath…so having and more importantly “feeling” those feelings actually means we are clinically normal human beings!

 

The issue at hand is that we are trained from a very early age that some feelings equal food. It wasn’t the same in every home and some families had other emotional “fixes”. Do any of these sound familiar in your childhood?

  • Skinned knees = crying/sadness = lollipop
  • Classes/homework = stressed out = cookie dough
  • Breaking up with boyfriend/girlfriend = sadness/anger = ice cream
  • Being alone = boredom/loneliness = bag of chips

So adult feelings that get fed is just a normal habit that we’ve been practicing for our entire lives. Great…so now what do we do?

Take 5 minutes. Seriously, 300 seconds may be all it takes to break that loop. You may still circle back to the food after you wait it out but it will be a conscious decision and not a blur of forks and food this time.

 

This Week’s Homework: #Take5Minutes

Your homework for this week is #Take5Minutes. The next time you feel yourself headed to the fridge because you are feeling (fill in the blank) and you know trouble is coming:

  1. STOP
  2. Set a timer for 5 minutes
  3. After the timer goes off decide if you still want whatever you were headed for
  4. If you don’t, great!
  5. If you do, it’s a-ok…at least you know why you’re eating it and can track or plan how to handle that feeling next time. 

….and then type it, snap it, however you want to share it and then tag me for your next cool badge!

Don’t forget to do your homework #Take5Minutes and tag me when you share on social media!

 

Extra Credit: It’s Always Time for Coffee!

Casey is t-minus who knows how long before Pistachio makes her grand appearance. Due to Covid restrictions, who knows where I will be and what the coffee situation will be when I get there. I am #2 on the depth chart as backup support while the rest of the team makes sure Alyssa is well, fed, gets to and from school, and is rested and ready to meet baby sis when it’s time. Trust me, it’s going to take the other three grandparents to keep her from Facetiming mommy 100 times 🙂

 

Since I don’t know where and certainly don’t know when, I’m breaking out all my coffee backup options to be sure I’m caffeinated and ready to roll when called!

Per the coffee experts in my life (Andrew and Ashley Mzr…unpronounceable last name so we will just call them Mr and Mrs Pedal Java) this is how you should scoop.  

Mr Pedal Java says most coffee-to-water ratios should be by weight but because I’m not an official barista we are winging it with the ratios by mass chart he gave me!

Regular drip coffee pot like a Mr Coffee – use one 2 oz scoop per regular mug sized cup. For a 10 cup pot Andrew uses about 9 of the 2oz scoops

Pour Over: 2 -3 heaping scoops per regular size coffee cup. Mrs PJ uses two heaping, Mr recommended 3 each 2oz scoops and experimenting with a “nest” or “swirl” for maximum extraction

Bodum Cold Brew: Mr PJ says 8-9 scoops per 51 oz of water. I always use 9 and I let it sit overnight for 18 – 24 hoursMoka Pot: Fill the top of the filter basket but do NOT tamp it down like a normal espresso maker

 

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