Weight Watchers Chat #322 Eat Out, Stay on Track!

News and Reviews

Website guru Jessica had a beautiful baby girl ON MY BIRTHDAY! How sweet is that? We are extremely happy for Jessica, dad and baby and appreciate your patience while Casey takes up the slack
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

Last week in Chat #321 How to Handle Changes In Your Routine, I asked you to raise your hand if this summer will be zero disruptions in your schedule.

Ok. You 7 people who aren’t going on vacation, don’t have kids or grandkids home for the summer, don’t have more hours of sunlight than you have points in the day, go ahead and sit over there and we will bring you back in for the second half.

Of course I’m kidding, but if you’re thinking “only school teachers and people with kids have their routines disrupted during the summer” you may still want to listen up.

Summer Disruptions Don’t Just Happen to School Teachers

Family vacations. Fellow employees being out from work. Longer days without more points.

The world around you just runs on a different schedule and sometimes at a different pace during the summer. Recognize that when your environment changes that your behavior might change too

Control What You Can, Let Go of What You Can’t

Most of us actually function better with some kind of routine. Some of us thrive on our daily plan so much that a change can throw us off the track! We were asked this week if we are driving the car, riding in the car, or feel like we are in the trunk. If the disruption in your routine has you in the trunk find something you CAN control (walking on the beach instead of on your treadmill or being in charge of the menu for your family vacation when you can’t eat at home)

Stay With The Plan as Best as You Can

Doing a little of something is better than a lot of nothing.

Can’t or have decided not to track every meal? Ok how about you track just the meal you control. Or only track snacks.

Not in your usual space for exercise? How about checking out a local park or going out dancing instead.

Too many hours in the long summer day and not enough points? Have you considered intentional maintenance or temporarily raising your points

Your homework was #RoutineRescue. Tell us one thing that will be disruptive to your routine this summer and then how you will rescue it from putting you in the trunk! Then type it, snap it, share it however you like, and then tag me for your next cool badge!

Judy says when your routine is at risk of being disrupted…attend a workshop!
Julie is a teacher and this week she has gone back to tracking everything AND posting what she eats to get back in her school year routine!
Mindi is a recently displaced WW leader (talk about a routine disruptor!) and to get back in her routine she has kept touch with her previous members AND hosted a series of challenges so they can all keep their routine together!

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: “Eat Out, Stay on Track!”

If you look at your family and say “hey, let’s eat out tonight” what comes to mind?

The act of eating out or dining out simply means eating away from home. Which is a routine disruptor for those of us trying to keep our weight loss sanity. Dining anywhere besides our “safe space” is removing us physically from possibly the one place we have control of our food. Or does it?

At Work or School

If eating away from home means dining at your place of work try these tips:

It seems so rudimentary but pack a lunch. Having your meal ready and on hand whether you work at a desk or driving a vehicle significantly increases your odds of staying on track
Keep it out of the community fridge. I’m not kidding. The kitchen shared by everyone can be a dangerous place for a couple of reasons:
- Someone steals your lunch, then where does that leave you?
- You can’t see it, making it easier to “forget” you packed it
- Do you have to pass an evil table of snacks, free food, vendor presents if you head in?
Invest in something that will keep your food and your head cool like an insulated lunch box or even one of these super cute mini fridges that even plug in your car cigarette lighter!

Know Before You Go

Whether you are going out, going to a friend’s, or just going to your desk – know before you go. Check a menu, scan some ingredients with your WW app, find out who is coming and if you have any fellow eaters paying attention (could be WW, might be someone with dietary restrictions, maybe a vegetarian at a bbq) and see if you can buddy up to bring something you can both enjoy!

Rear View Rescue

This summer isn’t your first rodeo. You have experienced surprise meals, lost lunches, offers you can’t refuse. Look in your rearview mirror and think back on those past experiences and decide NOW how you will handle the situation next time NOW!

This Week’s Homework: #RearViewRescue

Your homework for this week is #RearViewRescue. Find one of those moments from your rear view mirror and jot down how it can save you the next time your routine is distrupted! 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 #RearViewRescue 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: Zero Point “Pasta” Taste Test

We won’t be doing a recipe, but we are reviewing some items and seeing what we think! We all know how last week’s taste test went lol. I put on a brave face… but I couldn’t do it. This week, we are trying something I’m a little more excited about! I was asked to review Heart of Palm pasta, so we are putting it up to the test against two more pasta substitutes!

The Heart of Palm I chose is Palmini angel hair pasta. We will be tasting it against Green Giant veggie spirals spaghetti squash and Tattooed Chef zucchini spirals. All three of them are zero points, so you can’t go wrong with any of these! And the sauce I will be using for all three is a favorite of mine! It’s from John’s friend Darius, and it is the official sauce of the Cleveland Browns! It’s called Mid’s Sausage sauce and it has 5 pts for ½ cup. It’s a fantastic sauce, so it’s well worth the points for me!

Tattooed Chef Zucchini Spirals was up first! They come in the most adorable little nest of spirals, and the microwave instructions were really simple. I mixed them in the sauce and the taste test was delicious! The spirals were a little tough because I didn’t cook it twice like the instructions said, but overall it was really good!

Green Giant Spaghetti Squash Spirals looked… iffy. There seemed to be more ice than squash, so I was skeptical about this one.This one did not impress when I got them out of the microwave. They came out more like a frozen lump than actual spirals. Real spaghetti squash is delicious, but I’m not too sure about this one. Even with the sauce, it was just ok. Maybe save your money and don’t buy this one.

Lastly, the Palmini Heart of Palm Angel Hair Pasta! The directions are a little more detailed than the other two, but this one really looks like pasta. I completely forgot to reheat them and they were still DELICIOUS! It tastes exactly like real pasta. I am really happy with this, and thank you so much to everyone who recommended them!

Palmini is the CLEAR winner! Tattooed Chef came in second place, it was pretty good. Green Giant was disappointing and I would rather make my own squash spirals.