WW (Weight Watchers) Chat #251: Move Your Way to a Better Mood!

WW News December 2021:

Lots of news and updates for December!
You can now join more than one challenge at a time on the WW app! Previously you could only do one at a time, just go to the icon that looks like a gift → WellnessWins → Join a Challenge → Browse all!
TRACK FOOD has changed! Now you can look under either RECENTS or LISTS when tracking food. Obviously Recents is a list of food you have recently tracked…Lists is a quick way to find Saved items, My Food, Scanned Foods, Your ZeroPoint Foods, Non-starchy Veggies, and Restaurants!
Check out the new CREATE section on the main header bar under Track Food (hint: it looks like a pot with a lid and a pencil) to even more quickly create a food, a recipe or a meal. You can still access the WEEKLY PLANNER and WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE from My Day
And a super cool new feature I’m still playing with is MULTI-TRACK. You can track multiple items at once instead of hunting for each one and tracking them separately. Just tap Multi-Track → Choose a mealtime → and click away!

The month’s theme is “Find Balance” and we will spend the entire month finding ways to change the “all or nothing super overwhelming” holiday season into a “balanced and say yes to what you really want” season to enjoy!

Last week during Chat #250: Decode Your Eating Pattern I knew what you were 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!

Your homework for last week was #SoupsOn. Last week’s homework earned 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!

Let’s see how you did!

All of this week’s Live Chat bravos go to ladies over on WW Connect who knocked it out of the park this week!

@lifeslittlepleasures bought soup mugs last week and then shared a yumm Skinny Taste recipe Beef, Tomato and Ancini de Pepe Soup. She even shared the link to the Recipe Builder!
@vzinma did #soupforbreakfast with Lentil & Black Bean Soup with Smoked Chicken Sausage!
@25thinhawaii shared that she loves Andersen’s Original Split Pea Soup when she’s in their restaurant but says they share it with all….just Google for an easy, vegan, warm meal!

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: Move Your Way to a Better Mood!

Shopping. Decorating. Deadlines. Family coming over. Travel. There are lots of things to get done and a lot of excuses to be in a foul mood about them.

If you’re sitting there polishing your halo and telling me you are happy all season long, well…for the rest of us even just a little movement can bust that bad mood or even clear a little brain fog when you need it!

Brain Fog

You know what I mean, you’ve been making lists and checking them twice or a work deadline before your holiday vacation is keeping you tied to your desk. If your brain has reached “fogged in without a red nose reindeer” status try this:

Move your laptop or card list to a different spot and try standing while you work on it for 15 – 20 minutes. You might feel so good you stand there longer!
Take the dog for a quick walk. He will enjoy it and your brain will too.
Get away from your work and do toe touches, stretch, or even get in a few countertop push ups.

Hallmark Movie Mood

Whether you love or hate the boy meets girl, girl avoids boy, we all have a wonderful life movies invading our airspace right now, the sappy stories can sometimes create moods of sadness, loneliness, I wish it snowed every day and all the men looked handsome without a shirt while shoveling snow and holding a puppy-ness. If the holidays get you down try:

Taking a stroll around your neighborhood looking at the lights with a friend.
Organizing those family photos that have been sitting in a box.
Find your favorite kid and build a snowman or have a snowball fight!

Can’t do it all so why did I sign up for this mood

This one is a bugger. You said yes to every party, even offered to make some of the food. Your holiday card list is longer than the hours you have left to hand write each one. The best intentions were there but now you’re more Grinch than Cindy Lou today. Try this:

Set the cards for the friends who love you most aside (they will forgive you!) and walk a handwritten card to an elderly neighbor or two. I promise you will be just as blessed as they will be.
Take a laundry basket and make a quick trip around your home. Find an object or two in each room that doesn’t belong there and put it in the basket. When you are done, decide if you even need those items and make a giveaway box of the ones you don’t. Decluttering your home also declutters your mind!
Walk in place for a few minutes while you scroll through the channels and find a favorite holiday movie or music. It will make your project move so much faster and your mood so much better!

This Week’s Homework: #BustaMood

Your homework for this week is #BustaMood. This week’s homework earns you a badge and a better mood! Figure out what small thing you will do to move and bust a mood this season ….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 #BustaMood 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: If Potatoes are Zero!

When you took your WW Assessment there were many opportunities to choose some of your favorite whole foods as a zero point option. Before Thanksgiving I retook my assessment and chose potatoes as one of those. With family gatherings and quite simply the ease of finding options using everyone’s favorite spud, it just made sense for me during this season.

If you chose potatoes then the second half of this chat is for you. If you didn’t choose them this time, don’t jump off…you may find a season where you need them and we have a chat for that!

Here are 5 ways to include spuds in your budget:

Baked: Whether you go for russet or yukon gold or sweet potatoes, baked potatoes are an excellent choice! And they’re even better (and quicker) when you make them in an air fryer. In just 35-40 minutes you’ll have a fluffy, restaurant-quality potato and you’ll never want to make them another way!

Roasted: When I roast potatoes I go for smaller potato varieties (think about the size of a brussel sprout). They’re great roasted in the air fryer or on a sheet pan in the oven. You can even #bulkitup with other zero point veggies alongside your roasted potatoes.

Soups: Another great way to use those smaller potato varieties is to quarter them and add them to your favorite soup recipe! Frozen potatoes are great for soup as well.

Fun Finds:

Diced or shredded hashbrown potatoes – be sure to check the ingredients to be sure that oils and other point-laden additives aren’t there.
Ore-Ida Homestyle Steam ‘n Mash potatoes – perfect for making mashed potatoes in bulk for the holidays!

Recipes: IYHAE World’s Easiest Mashed Potatoes (regular or vegan!), SkinnyTaste Scalloped Au Gratin, Pound Dropper Creamy Potato Cheese Soup, and this super easy Air Fryer Potato Omelette Bake!