News and Reviews November 2022
- Thanksgiving is over, now onto the barrage of other holidays coming up! Which ones do you celebrate? Any particular challenges?
- Not really news but….a warning. If you are easily made queasy or upset by the mention of injuries and specific details (no pictures) then you may want to excuse yourself for the first 10 minutes of the second half of tonight’s chat. I do hope you will tune back in when I give the “two thumbs up” sign that I will not be discussing any specific details after that point
Last week in Chat #296: Staying On Track While Eating Out we chatted that Thursday was US turkey day and hot on it’s little heels are a plethora of festivities, holidays, get-togethers, and other reasons to consume food “out”
You might think of traditional eating out as going to a restaurant, but anytime you are not eating at home or in your controlled space is “out.” Whether it’s at an office party or your mother-in-law’s endless buffet, here are a few ways to keep your sanity when you aren’t in control of the food choices.
A quick review of last week:
Scenario #1: You know what’s on the menu
- Pre-track what you can if you know or can get ahold of the menu
- Save up some weeklies and/or roll over points
- Eat a low or zero point meal or snack ahead of time so you don’t go into the event hungry
Scenario #2: You’re going in blind
- Check out what is being served to see if you can find some zero point options to add to your plate before you dive in to the desserts or drinks
- Avoid descriptions like “creamy”, “buttery”, “smothered” and instead look for things like “grilled”, “broiled”, “lighter fare”
- See if you can get your hands on a smaller plate so it looks fuller and you aren’t tempted to fill up a giant dinner plate to the edges
Scenario #3: Curveballs. And how to dodge them.
- The “Well Meaning Aunt” – we all have that family member or friend who feels the need to make sure we are eating. Ways to avoid her are: making sure you have a drink in your hand or empty plate with a napkin on top in your hand, oooohing and aaaahing over how delicious everything is even if you didn’t eat it, rubbing your tummy and tugging at your waistband so she thinks you are stuffed.
- The “But It’s A Party” Buddy – you are likely to experience between 2 and 10 other “parties” this season so perhaps corner that person before this one begins and explain you need their support and not an excuse to feel guilty later.
- The “I Love You With Food Friend” – I had this friend and it was bad. Her literal love language was making you food and then watching you eat every…single…bite. After pleading with her for years to stop (and making her cry a few times), I finally found a way to break the cycle. When a special occasion was coming up (or it had just been too long in between) I would find a point-friendly, completely normal human looking recipe, print it out, bring it to her and beg with pleading eyes that she would make it for us. Goodbye food pusher, hello friend again!
Your homework for last week was #BackOnTheMenu. This week I wanted you to tell us something that is “back on the menu” for you with this new Weight Watchers Program. For me it’s fish. I hadn’t been including fish as a zero point food because I just ate too much chicken and turkey. I’ve already had tuna 4 times this week because it’s back on the menu. Find something that is back on the menu 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!
- Ramona is loving sharing recipes again and adding back beans, peas, corn, and lentils!
- Debra’s got popcorn back on the menu and even kicked it up a notch by adding shredded velveeta and microwaving for about 20 seconds for only 2 points!
- Anita is taking back her health and is happy to have beans, potatoes, and popcorn back on her menu!
Bravo, you did it!
This Week’s Topic: Take Charge of Unhelpful Thoughts!
You did it, you survived another turkey day.
With this one holiday checked off your to do (or maybe to don’t!) list how are you feeling about how you handled it? Taking charge of potential unhelpful thoughts can keep you on track and in charge this holiday season!
Plan it, track it
- Even if you go over your dailies and dip into some weeklies (or alllll the weeklies in my case) planning for that special meal and then writing it down can help you feel victorious instead of normal holiday guilt
Christmas to Thanksgiving
- As my in-person leader of more than 25 years likes to remind us, it’s not what you eat from Thanksgiving to Christmas that brought us here. It’s what we eat those other 10 months from Christmas to Thanksgiving! Remind yourself it’s a season, and this too shall pass.
Just because it’s a thought doesn’t mean it’s true
- Another great visual during our in person workshop that I want you to try with me. Let’s imagine we have what seems like an insurmountable issue staring us right in the face. I will make it non-weight-related and say we are in charge of a broccoli salad for the holiday meal and arrive at the store only to find they are completely sold out of fresh broccoli. Put your hands in front of your face and imagine yourself standing, helpless in the produce aisle realizing you are a failure because you waited too long and it’s all sold out. The holiday meal is ruined because of you….
- Now pull your hands out a little and say out loud, the meal isn’t ruined. Other people are bringing lots of delicious foods.
- Now pull them out a little more and look around…you might see shredded broccoli slaw in another area. Or maybe you could change it up a little and use Napa Cabbage or fresh cauliflower this year!
This Week’s Homework: #JustAThought
Your homework for this week is #JustAThought. This week I want you to find a common holiday thought that you have told yourself over the years (or maybe it’s new) is true just because you thought it. But when you pull your hands back, you realize it’s really just a thought and how you changed it! …. 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 #JustAThought 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: Egg Lady Labs – Safety In The Kitchen
WARNING! For those of you who are squeamish or easily disturbed by vivid discussions of bodily injury this is where you want to take a potty break or go check on tonight’s football game. You’ll know it’s safe to come back when I give two thumbs up. For the rest of you, we need to talk.
Three weeks ago I ignored an extensive safety discussion given by some very dear friends who let me borrow their mandoline. They made sure I had all the safety equipment followed by a 10 minute cross your heart and pinky promise you’ll use them. Well, a careless moment a few hours later and I can no longer pinky promise with that hand.
The kitchen is a dangerous place and we need to chat about how to keep you and me safe. Shortly after I announced my “accident” I heard from sooo many of you that I decided we needed this chat.
- I sliced off the side of my pinky and was literally a fingernail away from losing the entire end of that finger with a mandoline.
- Cheri opened a can of soup and pushed down on the lid only to wind up in the ER with 5 stitches in her thumb.
- Valerie took the tip off her pinky not once, but twice with a mandoline.
- Gail has a couple of odd shaped fingers thanks to her mandoline.
- Paula lost her nails but luckily no fingers after sticking her hand in a Vitamix blender to “encourage” some kale to go on down.
- Patricia grated off part of her thumb on her box grater.
- Our neighbor Jacci went to culinary school and she regaled John for 30 minutes about missing finger tips, lacerated hands, missing fingerprints, burns, stitches and more. And they are “professionals”. Trust me, we need this chat.
It’s two thumbs up time! For those of you have muted during the bodily harm portion of our discussion you are safe to come back in!
I used to lead or help lead all of our OSHA safety training meetings for a small international company and then continued that with our two businesses. Do you know what the absolute top 3 reasons for injuries are? You may be surprised…
- Absolutely #1 – complacency. It doesn’t matter how educated you are, if you are or become complacent about something you are doing you can get hurt. Thinking things like “I got this,” “I do this every single day,” or “I’m too smart to get hurt” don’t fly.
- Impatience – being too busy, too rushed, not taking enough time to do it right or safely.
- Not using your tools – most things come with warning labels and safety equipment, but do we read or use them?
Here are some safety warnings and tips I found without even looking very hard. I’m talking to myself as well here, let’s avoid my top 3 and take just a few minutes to chat!
Safety Tip #1 – A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one. If your knife is dull you tend to apply more pressure and I know in my case assume I can hold the item in my hand while cutting
Safety Tip #2 – With items like mandolines becoming more popular in the home kitchen, the NY Times reports that the mandoline slicer, the immersion blender, the meat grinder, and the food processor are just a few of the gadgets that are causing more frequent trips to the emergency room for people who rush things in the kitchen or don’t know how to handle the devices properly. Check out their article for more info
Safety Tip #3 – If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Literally. Some top ways injury from heat can be avoided:
- Turn pot and pan handles away from the front so that you and the little ones don’t accidentally turn a boiling pot over on yourself
- Making sure your air fryer (and other heated gadgets) have all their parts especially locking devices to keep them from coming apart when pulling out hot food
- Knowing how and having on hand something to put out even a small kitchen fire. I watched a fire bomb go off in a small employee kitchen one time because they threw water on a grease fire!
- Everyone thinks of hot grease or boiling water as the only way to burn yourself when working in the kitchen, but hot peppers (capsaicin) burns can be just as painful or irritating. Best practices are to wear gloves, wash the area thoroughly when you are done and above all else don’t touch your eyes or nose.
Safety Tip #4 – Some kitchen tools just don’t seem dangerous right? But every year emergency rooms and urgent care clinics see injuries from such simple things as:
- Box graters
- Citrus zesters
- Kabob skewers
- Under pressure whipped cream dispensers
- Hand blenders
- Bare feet…yes, I said bare feet
Safety Tip #5 – Improper use or just flat out not using the safety equipment that came with a tool or the brains that God gave you is a recipe for disaster before you can even get the meal to the table. I’m preaching to myself before you get your panties in a wad, ok? Things like:
- Oven mitts
- Veggie and fruit holders
- Blender or Vitamix poker-inner thing (what is this called anyway?)
- Cut resistant gloves
- Instruction manual
- Plugs…we used to teach a thing called “lock out tag out” which meant some pieces of equipment could not be worked on until someone had locked out the power AND tagged that they locked it out. Before you wash anything with a blade and power (think immersion blender, blender blender, stand mixer, etc) UNPLUG it.
Comment below with your best safety in the kitchen tip, I love hearing from you! And please remember to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel and share with a friend – most of our new group members got here because someone took a few minutes to share this with them 🙂
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