Weight Watchers Chat #321: How to Handle Changes in Your Routine!

News and Reviews

Couple of things:

Tuesday is my birthday!! 56 trips around the Sun and still going strong 🥳

Also, our website guru Jessica may be having her baby soon! Prayers for mom and baby, they’ve been waiting on Cate to make them a family of 3 and it’s finally happening!

Bad news: I reached out to my “dealer” this week to check on corn, blackberries, peaches…there are no peaches!?!? He says the weather was too mild this winter and South Carolina and Georgia are suffering a major peach shortage. I don’t know about you but that breaks my heart!

Last week in Chat #320: No Mo’ Oh No!, What if I never lose all of this weight? Worse yet, what if I lose it all and then gain it all back plus some???

My fearless leader Gwen calls unwarranted thoughts of doom and gloom “awful-izing”. Instead of visualizing the positive, thinking things like “what if my house burns down while I’m at work?”, “what if the cruise ship sinks while we are too far out to sea to swim back?”, “what if Chris Hemsworth or *gasp* Jason Momoa showed up at my door and I haven’t lost any of this weight??”

Yeah, none of those are likely to happen but “awful-izing” can make any of these keep you up at night and worse, that kind of thinking can derail your weight loss efforts!

WW Fast Fact #1 – Your brain is hardwired to protect you

Feeling anxious or even pre-worrying about a potential situation is your brain’s way of saying “whoa there big fella, are you sure you want to do X, Y or Z? You might get hurt, might be disappointed, (fill in the blank) so how about we just stay safe over here by not trying that ok.

WW Fast Fact #2 – Doubting can lead to inaction

Having even just a little doubt about whether or not you can do something can actually lead you to inaction. Imagine if you were an Olympic Diver and your coach said “I don’t know guys, we will probably lose but let’s just suck it up and go out there and try not to do a belly flop in front of millions of Americans ok?”. Even if you are the best of the best having that kind of awful-izing session would probably keep you from even going up the ladder

WW Fast Fact #3 – Best case scenario thinking (no matter how unlikely!) can lead to increased confidence!

Think of the wildest, absolute best case scenario for some weight loss concern that you’ve found yourself awful-izing. Something like:

“I’m at my goal weight but I’ll never be able to keep it off. What if I gain it all back and then some??”

Replaced with “I’m at my goal weight so what if I did keep attending meetings and make WW give me free e-tools for life!”

And you’ve got yourself saying No Mo’ you awful-izing Oh Nos

Your homework was #WhatIfIDid. Identify one “awful-izing” phrase you’ve said to yourself and replace it with “what if I did” and something so outrageous you would have to be crazy not to run towards it! 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!
- Johnna said “what if I did my meal planning AND kept my daily sanity”?
- Phyllis said “what if I did lose and had more energy?”
- Mary Ann said “what if I did talk to my doctor and have him lower my goal weight? It would take the stress off!”
- Nancy said “what if I ate better and my health actually got better as a result?”
- Sarah said “what if I did lose these last 12 stubborn pounds? I’d be in my happy place!”

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: “How to Handle Changes to Your Routine!”

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

This Week’s Homework: #RoutineRescue

Your homework for this week is #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!

Don’t forget to do your homework #RoutineRescue 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: Super Snack Time

When we talk about rescuing our routines, snacks can be a great part of that! Snacks are real food or “mini meals” that help us fill in between fuller meals throughout the day. I always keep snacks on me, and here is a list of some of my personal favorites!

Out of my purse, I always have a bottle of water and a bag full of snacks. This is a #PurseCheck moment! It could be a purse, a backpack, or a desk… wherever you keep your things on a daily basis, that should be where your snacks are!

Today I have:

Apple (0 pts)
Spicy Thai Chili Tuna Pack (2 pts)
100 Calorie Almonds & Walnuts (4 pts each)

Traveling is always a tricky time to keep up with meals and not stray off course. Especially on the road with the millions of fast food places tempting you! I try to carry a sturdy snack container like our camping snack container that I repurposed from a laundry pod container.

Our container currently has:

Pack of Crackers (8-9 pts)
Trader Joe’s Fruit Snack Bar (3-4 pts each)
Hot Buffalo Tuna Pack (3 pts)
Salmon Pack (1 pt)
Annie’s Gummy Packs (3 pts per pack)
Craven Beef Sticks (1 pt each)

Other snacks that we keep around the loft:

Skinny Pop Popcorn (4 pts)
Skinny Pop Kettle Corn (4 pts)
Pirate Booty Popcorn (4 pts)
Quaker Chocolate Rice Cakes (2 pts each) – Alyssa recommended!
Suzie’s Thin Cakes (1 pt per thin cake)
Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb Cheese (1 pt per wedge)
Yo Quiero Guacamole Cups (2 pts per cup)
Sugar Free Chocolate Jello (2 pts)
Sims Turkey Snack Sticks (1 pt per stick)
Light and Fit Lime Yogurt (2 pts)
Light String Cheese (2 pts per string cheese)
Grapes (always 0 pts!)

So. The other part of this eggstra credit is something I’m not excited about. Orlando Debbie tried to convince me that I would like this recipe. I don’t like cottage cheese. I don’t even like thinking about it. But Orlando Debbie promises I won’t die, so let’s get started.

You start with about a cup of fat free cottage cheese in a blender. Then you add 1 tbsp of regular hidden valley ranch seasoning packet, a tbsp of nutritional yeast, and some DAK’s Spices Ranch seasoning. Blend that all together until it is creamy. You may have to take it off the blender and mix it a few times by hand until the consistency is right. This results in a ZERO POINT DIP! But did I like it?

The results are in… it’s not bad! If you like cottage cheese, you will love this. I’m giving it 3 out of 5 Eggs. It isn’t horrible, and I will finish the batch I made. But I doubt I will be making it again lol. Thanks Orlando Debbie for making me step out of my comfort zone and try something new!