WW (Weight Watchers) Chat #250: Decode Your Eating Pattern!

WW News November 2021:

Minor changes are coming to some WW lingo! Behaviors like eating non-starchy vegetables, drinking water and activities are indicated in your app and on social media and literature as a +1 or a blue circle with the number of points added. This terminology will be referred to as “adding / add / added” and will help us all understand when we see the + symbol that it is an opportunity to ADD points back to our day or week. You can still “earn” WellnessWins and Blue Dots, they just don’t “add” any points. Questions?
WW has developed a list of point friendly finds to keep your peepers open while you navigate the busy holiday season. Check out this list from Starbucks on your WW app with ideas from zero point cold brews to low point lunches. Did you know there are over 87,000 drink combinations possible at your local green mermaid location? I promise you won’t overwhelm your barista when you ask to make something as skinny as possible!
Good news! Many of the US bloggers have figured out a way to share their recipes so that you can get YOUR Personal Points value without having to add everything to the recipe builder. Bad news…it doesn’t work across borders so your favorites in another country will have to be manually entered. We will talk more about this later in the chat

The month’s theme is “The Personal Points Program” and we will spend the entire month exploring the new program, getting to know your personal points system, and learning something new…together!

Last week during Chat #249: 9 Ways to Put a Point Back in Your Budget we found out that being able to add points back when you’ve hit zero (or below) is a game changer on the new Personal Points Program. Gone are the days where I just stop tracking because I’m out of points and throw in the towel until the next day.

I am compiling a group of short how-to videos that will be featured on my YouTube Channel only. If you need some tips, don’t know where to start, or have no idea how something works you’re going to want to go Subscribe and Click that little bell to be notified as we post them!

I have used the +1 feature of Personal Points every day since we started and you know what it has done? Made me more optimistic about my day, influenced my decisions, created a desire to track (say what?) AND I lost 2.2 pounds the first week. And ended almost every single day at or above zero!

Ways to Put a Point Back in Your Budget

Water +1 (Adds to Daily, Limit of 1)

#1 – Every day you can earn 1 point back to your budget by drinking 60 ounces of water. The water can be still or carbonated but it must be just water. Don’t want to drink plain water? It’s just one point so don’t stress yourself out. Love water like I do? Change the setting on your app to track the amount of ounces you drink from your favorite container and track when you finish it!

Exercise +1 and up (Adds to Weekly, No Limit, varies by individual)

#2 – Go to Obe Fitness on your app and select from hundreds of low impact to high velocity workouts. The points will be added to your weeklies.

#3 – Sync your fitness device and let it rack up the points for you!

#4 – Go to the Activity Dashboard of your app and select a physical activity like Raking, Housework, or Shooting Hoops and earn points for just getting up and moving!

Non-Starchy Veggies +1 per cup (Adds to Daily, No Limit)

#5 – Instead of picking up chips, how about a cup of carrots, celery or cucumbers for +1?

#6 – Take a salad up a notch by adding extra leafy greens or micro greens and for each combined cup earn +1

#7 – Swap noodles or rice for spiralized non-starchy veggies or riced cauliflower for an extra +1 per cup

#8 – Take a soup recipe (like my white chicken chili) and #BulkItUp with butternut squash, baby kale, or other veggies to add some points back to your budget!

#9 – Even adding spinach to a smoothie or other blended recipe adds back +1 per two cups!

Your homework for last week was #GetThePoint. Find a way to add back +1 point one day this week and take a screenshot ….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!

Carol Lou measured out a cup of veggies and had it ready to add to her scrambled eggs AND she had her big water jug ready for a +2 point win!
Sandra got pre cut veggies from the store this week and went ahead and put them in +1 containers for an easy to grab win!
Lynn ordered from Aldi and pre-made three containers (2 cups each) of mixed salad and salad greens for +2 wins for the next three days!

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: Decode Your Eating Pattern!

I know what you’re thinking…we already talked about this Kelly. Yeah, kinda. Sorta. But this time we are on a new plan + an avalanche of holidays + prepping for colder weather and shorter days.

I don’t know about you but my eating pattern is significantly different December through February. Instead of incessant snacking on grapes my mind drifts towards cara cara and blood oranges. Soup is definitely on the menu, but thoughts of crusty breads start to invade my brain.

And my activity is definitely different which impacts how and when I eat. Getting dark at 5pm? I’m ready for snuggling on the couch with hot cocoa, not thinking about the veggies I prepped!

But recognizing those winter eating patterns (especially around the holidays!) can make the difference between a winter waddle and a sleeveless spring.

Decode Your Eating Pattern

Frequency

In the winter do you find yourself eating fewer or more frequent meals?

Waiting too long to eat can be a destructive shorter daylight pattern. Try snacking on a zero or low point smaller meal to keep from playing refrigerator roulette later
Find yourself snacking all day? Go ahead and pre-track your most point dense meal for the day FIRST so you know how many points you have to play with

Variety

When I think of large varieties of food my mind always goes to summer gardens. But the truth is there is a variety of fruits and veggies in season now!

Winter squash like: acorn, butternut, spaghetti, kabocha, and everyone’s favorite delicata!
Root vegetables like: turnips, beets, carrots and parsnips
Clementines, kiwi, grapefruit, pomegranate, dates, Cara Cara, and blood oranges

Preparation

With less hours in the daylight I don’t feel like coming home and making food, do you? Here are a few ways to prep without feeling like you spent a day in the kitchen

Hardboiled eggs: you can even make them in your air fryer using this technique. Leaving hard boiled eggs in their shell keeps them fresh and ready in the fridge for up to 7 days!
Soup: you really can’t go wrong with a warm bowl of soup. Plant Based Taco Soup, copycat Pasta e Fagioli, White Bean Chicken Chili….make them ahead and freeze the extra for later in Souper Cubes. Then pop one in the microwave or a pan for a quick delicious meal!

This Week’s Homework: #SoupsOn

Your homework for this week is #SoupsOn. This week’s homework earns you a badge and everyone else a new favorite winter recipe! Post your favorite soup recipe (bonus points for sharing the link so we can open it in our own recipe builders) ….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 #SoupsOn and tag me when you share on social media!

Instagram tag @ifyouhaveanegg
Facebook Page tag @ifyouhaveanegg
Facebook Group tag @Kelly Green Milligan
WW Connect tag @ifyouhaveanegg

Extra Credit: 5 Holiday Eating Sanity Tips!

How many Thanksgivings did you have this year? We had three! The new Personal Points system allowed many of us to enjoy the day(s) without losing our sanity while still eating many of the things we would have felt guilty about on other plans.

But turkey day is really just the beginning isn’t it. We are sledding downhill fast into Hanukkah, Festivus, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, New Years…there is even a national Cookie Day and Cupcake Day in December! Our family celebrates Christmas, Casey’s birthday, Alyssa’s birthday, and New Years all in one week alone. We are doomed….or are we?

Here are 5 simple tips for keeping your Holiday Eating Sanity (this list is as much for me as it is for you!)

Holiday Sanity Tip #1 – #BulkItUp: List your five favorite go to zero point non-starchy veggies on a note card or post it note and put it where you are most likely to search for food. You know what I mean by “search”…don’t look at me like that. A well meaning sales rep drops off those famous lemon cookies or mini bundt cakes and you manage to avoid the break room. But then you get home and start the search…something that will replace that tiny cake that you thought about the rest of the day. Posting your top five favorite zero point foods will remind you that this is one season, you can plan a tiny cake another time, they aren’t that good anyway, and you are so worth this that you took the time to make yourself a little reminder of just how awesome you are!

Holiday Sanity Tip #2 – Pass the salt: Really. I mean it. Pass it. To someone else, to the other end of the table, out of your house altogether. There will be plenty of holiday foods with a sodium content that you can’t control so now is not the time to be adding it yourself. Check labels on canned veggies for hidden sodium and use no sodium / no msg seasonings like fresh herbs or Dak’s to keep the sodium low and the flavor high.

Holiday Sanity Tip #3 – Re-assess: Retake the assessment if you need to. At the beginning of your week (as in the beginning of your week and lasting through that week or through the entire season) retake your assessment to include things you know will be served more often right now. If you know you are going to have turkey three times this month maybe change your protein from fish to poultry (remember, only turkey BREAST is zero, not a big leg like you’re walking around Disney looking for Gaston). Potatoes on the menu? Swap out grains or beans and enjoy! I will be having more “out of my control” meals this season so I chose zero point foods that will be things that other people will serve (like chicken, turkey, potatoes, eggs) and left out things they won’t like tofu and avocados. I can change back when I am back in control!

Holiday Sanity Tip #4 – Color your world: It’s hard to think of colorful plates in the winter time after all the leaves have fallen and the skies are gray. Eating more whole foods in an array of colors will keep your eyes happy, keeps your plate fun and festive and of course the nutrients found in a wide array of colorful foods are the best for your body! According to Shape.com these colors are the best for “eating the rainbow” and no they didn’t mean Skittles 🙂

RED – vegetables and fruit that are red contain lycopene and many flavonoids that are beneficial to prostate and breast health. And lycopene is actually enhanced through cooking so how about some roasted tomatoes and red peppers?
BLUE AND PURPLE – blue and purple are touted as the ultimate brain food colors. Blueberries are a tiny powerhouse of free radical fighting superheroes that help with memory, cognition, depression and protect you against environmental toxins
GREEN – you really can’t go wrong nutritionally with foods that are green. High in Vitamin K, packed with potassium and isothiocyanates which cleanse the liver and may protect against cancer
YELLOW AND ORANGE – yellow and orange foods fortify your bones and teeth thanks to their vitamin C, potassium, and folic acid. And bonus, there is some information to back that these same vitamin packed fruits and veggies can actually clear your skin and give you a natural glow from the inside!
WHITE – yes white is a color too! Many white foods like cauliflower, bananas, celery, mushrooms and even potatoes can add potassium and even fiber to your diet

Holiday Sanity Tip #5 – Be PREP-ared: You know I’m not personally a big prepper, but the holiday season is unsurvivable without some of it. For those of you who can plan, shop and prep all your meals for a week on Sunday Bravo! I’m just not there and will likely never be. These easy preps keep me from getting bored, are easy to grab and go, and wow they keep these short daylight days from getting me in the pantry searching for cereal for dinner

Hardboiled eggs – I make mine in the air fryer and then leave them in the shell for up to 7 days. As a snack, in salad, added to another meal, or as egg salad. They are literally the perfect food!
Bagged salads – these are higher in points than making my own but the flavors vary widely, I can make one bag last 2-3 days for lunch with some added micro greens or other veggies, and I don’t find soggy baby kale in my crisper bin if I forget about it
Soup. Soup. Soup. – you can’t go wrong with a big slow cooker of soup except when you’ve already had it three days in a row. Use something like these Souper Cubes to pre-divide up your leftovers into 1 cup or 2 cup servings, freeze and then transfer to a freezer bag for flat stacking rather than taking up so much room with bowls or plastic containers