WW (Weight Watchers) Chat #232: Hooray for Healthy Meals!

WW News July 2021:

KNOXVILLE GIRLS! IN PERSON Workshops are changing rapidly, currently you can attend any of these (keep checking Connect for W Knox, Thompson Lane and Franklin to stay up to date for middle and east TN). Please note: MASKS ARE OPTIONAL FOR THOSE FULLY VACCINATED
- Central Baptist of Fountain City Church (Knoxville)
  - Mondays at 5:30pm with Gwen R
- Beaver Creek Cumberland Prespyterian Church (Powell)
  - Tuesdays at 9:30am with Gwen R

Beginning this Tues, July 20th Tuesdays at 6pm with Gwen R

- Community Studio at Beaver Dam Baptist Church (Halls) (please note: fees must be paid up front in 12 week series)
  - Mondays at 5pm with Kristye G
- WW Studio Kingston Pike (Knoxville)
  - Mondays at 12:15pm with Gwen R
  - Thursdays at 9:30am with Sandi P
  - Thursdays at 12:15pm with Sandi P
  - Saturdays at 8am with Sheryl M
  - Saturdays at 9:30am with Sheryl M
- Community Studio at Fairview Elementary (Heiskell) (please note: fees must be paid up front in 12 week series)
  - Thursdays at 5pm with Kristye G
- Maryville Church of Christ (Maryville)
  - Saturdays at 8am with Sandi P
- First Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Oak Ridge)
  - Tuesdays at 5:30pm with Kristye G
- American Legion Post 104 (Sevierville)
  - Mondays at 5:30pm with Sheryl M
  - Tuesdays at 9:30am with Sheryl M
- Community Studio at Pigeon Forge Community Center (Pigeon Forge) (please note: fees must be paid up front in 12 week series)
  - Tuesdays with Sheryl M
- Central United Methodist Church (Lenoir City)
  - Mondays at 5:30pm with Sandra P
Wellness Check-Ins (no workshop, just check in)
- Cedar Bluff Main Location (9208 Kingston Pike)
  - Thursdays 10am – 11:30am as of April 22
  - Saturdays 9am – 11am
- Powell( Beaver Creek Cumberland Church)
  - Tuesdays 8:30am – 9:30am
- Maryville (Maryville Church of Christ)
  - Saturdays 8am – 10am
To find a wellness check in: Go to WW → Connect → and find the Kingston Pike – W Knoxville, TN group for more info. You can also join me on Sunday afternoons at 2:30pm eastern in this same virtual workshop with hostess Gwen, my fave WW’er and the inspiration for the name of our group If You Have an Egg! East TN Lifetime Members who were in good standing when COVID started have had their membership extended again until the end of June 2021. You will need to attend a Wellness Workshop during the month of June to continue those privileges.
The month’s theme is “Finding Joy” and focuses on reminding us how some “feel-good fuel” can help with our weight loss and well journey!

Last week during Chat #231: Make Time For Things That Make You Happy! I alerted everyone to my love affair with this week’s graphics showing little pieces of fake paper fake-taped to a fake calendar… raise your hand if you have a mental (or even written) list of activities you enjoy doing and are having trouble fitting in.

Sure, we all do! A prime example for me is my WW in person workshop. I have guarded Tuesday nights for over two decades…I didn’t allow anyone to plan anything for me, there was no expectation I would be home for dinner, even my employees knew not to ask for anything late on a Tuesday. But stupid COVID messed all that up ad took away my Tuesdays. So for the last 18 months Tuesday has been a free for all. It stopped being “my time” the day our workshop closed.

But now that our redefined workshop is re-opening in just over a week, what do I do to recapture that time? What do YOU do to make sure you have time for things that make you this happy?

Make a list: I prefer post it notes so I can move them around but make a list of a few activities that make you happy like volunteering at you local food pantry, getting your toenails done, taking a walk or reading a book, or attending your first in person workshop since the pandemic to name a few
Check your calendar: Take a look at your schedule and see where you could realistically fit this activity this week. If Tuesday is already booked I can’t put my meeting on there, if you’ve freed up Saturday morning maybe you can get those toes done
Match ‘Em Up: Pair up the activities with the suitable time slot and go ahead and put it on your calendar. Literally. I will be marking Tuesdays at 5:30pm on my physical calendar and on my phone to make sure nothing gets in that spot

Your homework for this week was #MakeHappyTime. Write down just one activity you want to fit in to make you happy this week. Then check your calendar, add it in PEN (not pencil) or add it digitally and share with family, coworkers or friends…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!

Over on YouTube, Rosie didn’t let losing the live feed for our chat get her down. Instead she made some happy time by re-watching later on YouTube while painting her nails AND she made time on her calendar to go to her local Farmer’s Market!
Lynn scheduled time to have lunch with a great friend for the first time since the pandemic. She even put it on her digital calendar. They had to reschedule to next week but you know what? Now that it’s on her calendar they WILL DO THIS…and at least it’s next week and not next year!
Melissa (Mel) had a former neighbor over for lunch and put it in PINK on her digital calendar. No way was she forgetting that one!
Carol Lou’s schedule was jam packed coming off a birthday week trip out of town…but she scheduled time to leave work early and have her hair done – now that’s some happy time!
Marlene used a post it note and marker to make sure she couldn’t miss her Turtle Painting time at the library. She gets zero-point brownie points for the use of real paper and pen 🙂

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: Hooray for Healthy Meals!

This topic couldn’t have come on a better week. I am less than 72 hours away from putting my bottom in a chair again and in case you can’t tell…I literally couldn’t be more excited! If you’ve never been to an in person workshop and have an opportunity to go, go. If you ever get a chance to go to one of Gwen’s workshops, GO!

Our impending return to one more normal thing has me so giddy I’ve planned for, purchased for and started preparing for the first 4 days of meals. And I even made a STAR goal to help!

More about my STAR goal later, but did you know just adding a little something special to a meal actually MAKES it more special?

Break out Grandma’s china: Even though I hate washing them (ok I don’t hate, just really dislike) real dishes can make the difference between a dine-and-dash situation while you stand at the counter going over your to-do list, and a slow down sit down experience. You may even slow down enough to taste what you’re eating! Something simple like using my favorite “half bowls” adds some fun without taking up much space in your cupboard
Give it a name: Waldorf Salad sounds like so much more fun than yogurt with some fruit. And That Man’s anything gets everyone in my family excited!
Find your colorwheel: I don’t know about you, but a colorful plate just makes me happy. No, I don’t mean the plate (although those can be fun too!) I mean the food! My Taco Tuesday Power Bowl features red, yellow, green, brown, and black to make each food “POP” off the plate…and right into your happy mouth.

This Week’s Homework: #MakeHappyMeals

Your homework for this week is #MakeHappyMeals. Last week we made Happy Time, this week we are making Happy Meals. No, not the golden arches – something way more happy than that! I set a STAR goal for my happy and healthy meals this week that I hope will inspire you to do your homework. See my STAR here and then make your own…and then type it, snap it, however you want to share it and then tag me for your next cool badge!

Kelly’s #MakeHappyMeals STAR goal for this week:

(S)pecific: I will prepare AND eat happy meals 4 days this week
(T)ruly Doable: The meals I’m making are easy and I’ve already purchased the ingredients
(A)ctionable: I am making healthy meals (doing something instead of not doing something)
(R)elevant: This is my first week back to in person workshops so it just makes sense to celebrate by eating something happy!

Don’t forget to do your homework #MakeHappyMeals 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: WW “STAR” GOAL: #MakeHappyMeals

In the first half of this week’s chat we talked about making happy meals. As you’ve already heard me say probably 20 times by now, we are returning to in person workshops this week and I am already happy! So making happy meals just seems like the next best step.

If you don’t know, STAR goals for WW are goals that are (S)pecific, (T)ruly Doable, (A)ctionable and (R)elevant. To keep my goal specific, truly doable, actionable and relevant I chose to keep it to 4 days. It’s been almost 16 months since the last time I sat my bottom in a chair…to say I will do all 7 days is a little ambitious starting out of the box.

I also am choosing meals / food items that are easy for me to access the ingredients, I already know how to make them (and have done so many times), and they are foods I don’t mind eating more than one time a week.

The evening snack I’ve decided on reminds me of my Mom. This will be the first time I’ve attended a WW meeting since my mom passed away. She was a lifetime member and as you know encouraged me to make my healthy lifestyle choices earlier in life than she did. More about that later…here’s my lineup! (All point values are on the Purple plan)

Breakfast