WW (Weight Watchers) Chat #270: How to Become a Snack Pro

WW News and Reviews May 2022:

• It’s May! Stay tuned for a fresh topic for the month 🙂
• Next Sunday is Mother’s Day. I’m planning on being here…are you?
• New Volunteer Group has been formed! As you all know I have been hosting and financially supporting If You Have an Egg for six years now and have done most of the work on my own. While Casey is invaluable with our YouTube and Homework Badges, as well as Jessica who keeps all your fave recipes formatted and notes from chats in a printable format, we just simply can’t do what I think we need to as a 3 (wo)man team. So in true Egglette form, the following ladies have stepped forward to help keep you engaged, answer questions, challenge all of us (yes, including myself) and provide some good fun on the way. Please join me in welcoming the 2022 Inaugural Egg Carton Team! Lynn, Carol Lou, Cynthia, Karen, Debbi (volunteer at large meaning I volunteered her hahaha), Deanna, Sylvia and Jennifer. More fun news from this group to come soon!

The month’s theme is “Internal and External Hunger” and we will spend the entire month finding out how to know if we are eating because of internal hunger or if there is an external force at play. There IS a difference!

 

Last week during Chat #269: How To Eat More Mindfully, we recognized this is not a new topic and you can probably find several IYHAE chats that will correspond. 

I really did like the graphics last week and hope you will go back and check them out, but I want to take our chat this evening and play a game with you!

Gwen had such a great participation lesson during our in person workshop that I thought I would carry it through to tonight’s chat. I’m going to show you a few food items and without looking at the points you’re going to decide – is this worth it?

The senses

Your senses will be the first things that alert you to the need (or want) for food. Think to yourself:

1. Can you smell it?
2. Can you see it?
3. Can you hear it?
4. How does it make you “feel”?

Is it worth it?

You’re on a road trip and you need a little something to keep you going. You stop at a convenience store and see a smoked turkey and cheese lunch kit. Is it worth it?

You’re out with friends and see someone order an iced caramel McCafe coffee. You think about ordering one for yourself. Is it worth it?

Your kids went for an Easter egg hunt and brought home a bag of Peanut M&Ms that they’ve offered to you. Is it worth it?

In your freezer there’s a pint of light mint chip ice cream. You’ve been working out in the yard and you’re hot, tired, and ready to cool off. Is it worth it?

What about now?

Most people won’t say yes on the lunch kit and it was roughly 10 points. The rest of the options are surprisingly only 11 points! Is it worth it now?

Your homework for last week was #WasItWorthIt. Think about a time you ate something because of what you saw, smelled, heard or felt about it – was it worth it after you looked up the points? Would you eat that same thing again given the same situation? Let us know  ….and then type it, snap it, share it however you like, and then tag me for your next cool badge!

Let’s see how you did!

• Lynn has been moving and didn’t have anything in the fridge. She decided to swing through Wendy’s and was going to add a Jr Frosty when she saw that it was 11 points…she passed on it! #knowbeforeyougo
• Deanna just reached her 25 pound milestone (whoop!) and had to decide between an “old friend” fully loaded ice cream from Andy’s or a small cone for 9 PP. Bet you can guess which one she decided was worth it!
• Alyssa (yes, the 4 year old) was having another “I’m too hungry and tired” day and had to make some tough decisions during her grocery trip with me. She touched every candy option, all the LOL Surprise balls, and some icing filled cookies in the deli. She decided a bag of apples and a small box of unicorn snack cakes was totally worth it!  And because the snack cakes are individually wrapped I knew her mom would have a much easier time controlling them than an open bag of candy or deli cookies 🙂

Bravo, you did it!

 

This Week’s Topic: How to Become a Snack Pro

Snacking is probably our #1 most repeated chat topic. Don’t believe me? Go to YouTube and search “snack” in our channel.

 

In several of those chats we have discussed a “snack” versus a “treat”. I looked up the word snack in five different dictionary sources and they all basically said the same thing. A snack is a small or light meal eaten in between other meals. If you eat five meals a day and three of them are larger while two are smaller in between, the smaller ones are snacks. If you eat breakfast and are hungry before your regularly scheduled next meal, eating a small hold-me-over is a snack.

Using a cake batter bowl and a ladle to eat ice cream in front of the tv before bed is a treat, not a snack. There is a difference. See Chat #210 Snack Attack for the definition of snack versus treat…but for now we are talking about those small meals in between a larger meal.

See this week’s WW Weekly Graphic by selecting the Discover icon in your app…you know I love lists and this one is a great example of how to start one for times you just need a little something!

 

 

 

This Week’s Homework: #PracticeSafeSnacks

Your homework for this week is #PracticeSafeSnacks. In the second half of tonight’s chat we will be discussing some ways to be prepared and practice some safe snacking.  Pick a sweet, or salty, or crunchy go-to snack idea to share with us.  Let us know what you picked ….and then type it, snap it, share it however you like, and then tag me for your next cool badge!

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

• Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on Instagram
• Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on our Facebook Page
• Tag @Kelly Green Milligan in our Facebook Group
• Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on WW Connect

 

Extra Credit: Practice Safe Snacks

We’ve already defined the difference between snacks and treats, so how do we make sure that the line between the two doesn’t get blurred? During the day, I find the need to snack between meals and some of those snacks come individually packaged but others require me to make good choices and snack in moderation (which can be difficult for any of us).

Some of my favorite “safe snacking” tip include: 

Pair with protein: Whether this comes from a hard boiled egg, lean meats, chickpeas, or another source, protein will help fuel you and keep you going until your next meal.

#pursecheck: Stop and check your purse right now – is there an emergency snack there and ready for you? If not, be sure to pack one!

Wash and have ready or buy pre-packaged: You’re more likely to make a good choice if there’s no prep work involved!

Track it: Just because it’s a small meal doesn’t mean you shouldn’t track it – be sure you know what you’re putting in your body

 

We all have our favorite snacks for road trips, soccer games, late night cravings, and more! One of my absolute favorites for a road trip is That Man’s Turkey Tenderloin, but you all already know that. Here are a few more of my favorites:

 

 

 

 

And since we’re talking about sensible snacking, it only makes sense to talk about treats too! Even if you choose to have a treat, it doesn’t mean you have to go off the deep end. In tonight’s chat I’m making strawberry cheesecake chocolate dipped frozen bananas that are both a snack and a treat!

 

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