Weight Watchers Chat #290: Simplify Your Journey – Take Charge Meal Prep!

News and Reviews October 2022

It’s October! FYI…in case you hadn’t done the math you have like 21 days to figure out how you are going to handle Halloween candy. Visit my Halloween Candy database for some scary info on your favorites!
Souptember was a hit! If you haven’t had a chance to check out all the great recipes yet, it’s not too late. Check out Joan’s Pointed Plate on YouTube for the entire list of great recipes and YouTubers who participated! And just like that, “Crocktober,” also hosted by Joan, is on its way! Join us Sunday, Oct 16th at 9am for another round of great recipe videos!
It really shouldn’t tickle me this much but guess what? WW is changing their name back to Weight Watchers…and I for one am sooooo happy it’s almost not right LOL

The month’s theme is “Simplify Your Journey” and we will spend the entire month learning how to find ways to keep this simple and our lives sane!

Last week during Chat #289: Take Charge Tracking I asked why is tracking so important? If you’ve been doing WW for a day or a decade you know that the plan works if you work the plan. And part of working this plan is knowing what you did eat, what you are eating, and what you will eat? But what does that look like for YOU?

All-In Tracker

I know many of you who are really really into planning and recording – let’s just say you are the scrapbookers of the Weight Watchers world. You’ve got color coded notes, charts and graphs, and probably a binder with your favorite go to foods, meal plans, and recipes. If that’s you, keep at it! And tracking isn’t just for food…Scott in our IYHAE Facebook Group tracks his weight loss on the cutest “calendars” you’ve ever seen. I think that’s a creative and fun way to know how you are doing and keep yourself motivated to keep going!

Digital Tracker

Some of you were around long enough ago to use paper trackers and actually turn them in to your leader each week to be “graded”. Now tracking is at your fingertips with the powerful WW App for scanning, recipe building, and adding favorites. You can even alter a recipe to make it fit YOU before you make it, track your water, add back points with veggies, track activity, and more.

I Got This Tracker

The rest of you fall into what I will classify as pro-level tracking or “I Got This” tracking. You know what you eat, when you eat it, and already know the points…most days. If that’s you, simply use the WW app to:

Save meals or foods to track with Siri
Save (favorite) frequently eaten meals for quick tracking
Use Quick Add and enter the points for a food or meal without searching each item

Your homework for last week was SimplyTrackIt. This week I wanted you to tell us if your tracking style is “All In,” “Digital,” or “I Got This” and why that style works for you….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!

Stacy in our in person group is a Digital Tracker all the way. She has let her app simplify her life to the tune of a little over 35 pounds now just by tapping a few icons!
My fearless leader Gwen is an “I Got This Tracker”…she uses the Quick Add feature faster than anyone I’ve seen and her most frequently tracked meals are never more than a tap away!
Deanna is as you all have guessed already an All In Tracker. Her journals, attention to detail, and creativity in the kitchen are definitely “all in” if you ask me!

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: Simplify Your Journey – Take Charge Meal Prep!

So after I named this week’s chat “Take Charge Meal Prep” I realized it’s really more about just taking charge of your meals. Some prepping might be involved, but with the week I have coming up I just need to take charge of the meal, whatever “it” is or what food it involves. Raise your hand if you have had (or are having) a week like that!

Whether you are prepping or not, what are some great ways to simply take charge of those meals?

KISS (Keep It Simple Silly)

This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the KISS method for this journey. When you think about meals sometimes keeping it soooooo ridiculously simple it’s, well, ridiculous! Think of things like string cheese and an apple. A frozen meal with some veggies added. My most KISS meals are ones that the grandkids love anyway!

Make a list and check it, twice!

Ok you don’t have to check it twice but do make a list! You may remember the index cards I used to have you all do (for a true blast from the past watch one of those chats!) Things I record on index cards and keep handy

Meal ideas that were easy, fast, satisfying, but I may not remember
Simple recipes that I need to take out in a pinch
Cheater notes of favorite eating out spots and point values

Phone a friend

Sometimes you just need someone in your peer group to chime in ya know? During this week’s in-person workshop someone asked about Cracker Barrel and we had an informative and helpful 5 minute discussion about how to order, where to find the points, and some surprising lower point options. If you don’t know, just need some advice, or can’t decide just pick up the phone (or Facebook group)!

This Week’s Homework: #SimplyEatIt

Your homework for this week is #SimplyEatIt. This week I want you to tell us how you keep your sanity with what you eat….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 #SimplyEatIt 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: #ZeroFoodWaste – Leftover Potatoes Edition

We are headed into the “hunker down” colder months and it’s a great time to clean out your freezer and pantry! When we say “zero” waste, it may not be perfectly zero but the goal is to reduce your food waste as much as realistically possible.

Tonight’s #ZeroFoodWaste is for those of you who love potatoes. I was given quite a few pounds of potatoes and I don’t know about you, but when I have potatoes I try to use them as quickly as possible before they start to grow eyes. So here are a few inventive ways to use up those extra potatoes in your pantry to be sure they don’t go to waste!

As a base for all of the recipes we look at tonight, we’ll be using diced, air-fried potatoes. Simply dice potatoes (any variety) into 1” cubes, spritz with oil, cook in the air fryer on 390 for 20 minutes. Then, use any of the following options (or create your own!) for a quick and easy meal that saves on food waste:

Add turkey kielbasa, a few sweet peppers, and DAK’s Red Mountain Rub seasoning to your air fryer and cook on 360 degrees for 15 minutes. Once that mixture is fully cooked, add diced potatoes, stir, and serve.
Serve your air-fried potatoes alongside scrambled eggs (or your favorite way to cook an egg) for a hearty, delicious breakfast.
Potato salad is another great option – especially if you like to leave the skins on your potatoes for potato salad! Mix your potatoes in with light mayo or nonfat plain Greek yogurt, add your favorite seasoning, add a little bit of cooked bacon into the mix and you’re good to go!
You could even make mashed potatoes from these same potatoes! Simply reheat them, add your mix-ins of choice (I like to use a little fat-free half and half to get mine creamy) and you’ve got mashed potatoes ready to go.
Potato soup is another great option. A lot of you all make homemade potato soup and that’s excellent but I love a good cheater soup that doesn’t take quite as long to make since I tend to be limited on time. So, I’m going to be using a canned Harvest Potato Soup from Aldi as a base, adding some small-diced potatoes, pre-cooked bacon, frozen corn and peas from our summer garden, and a little bit of shredded Velveeta cheese and cooking in a slow cooker to make a really delicious loaded potato soup.

What are your favorite ways to use up potatoes? Let me know in the comments!