News and Reviews
- Today is the first day of the “Healthy Habits Week!” Challenge hosted by Julie over on the If You Have an Egg Facebook Group. Hop in any time, it’s not a competition with anyone but yourself!
- Thank you for all the birthday wishes! WE had a great day filled with love and way too much cake 🙂
- Last but not least, we need some help.The budget cuts continue, this time Casey had had to pick up a part time job with her church and has been working extra hours to get both that and the YouTubes and Chats done for us. She’s a little behind so we appreciate your patience and continued support! If you find a food or gadget you’d like me to try out for everyone please use the address at the end of this chat to send a sample, a coupon or even a tiny gift card to purchase it. I’ll be checking into some ways to help support our efforts financially and will let you know what I come up with. For now, keep sending those Stars during live chats, keep watching those YouTube videos, and I sooo appreciate you using my affiliate links to purchase from Amazon! <3
Last week was Chat #367 “How to Build a Satisfying Meal”
There is nothing worse than getting to the end of a meal and thinking “why didn’t somebody tell me there was ham on the other side of the bar?”
Not telling my dad there was ham on the other side of the bar is a story John will never live down. My grandmother was in the hospital. We had to eat Thanksgiving out that year. We were all having a “didn’t know about the ham kinda day” but it can mean alot of things on any given day! Too many points. Not enough food. Food wasn’t good. Wasn’t something you would have chosen if you’d known. Or you find out after you’re done that the one thing you were looking for was just on the other side of the serving line and you didn’t see it.
Pro tips for building that satisfying meal:
What’s On Your Plate?
Draw a plate on a piece of paper, section off a paper plate, or if you have an already divided plate for this exercise even better. What will be on your plate for this satisfying meal?
Protein? – how much, what will it be?
Veggies or Fruit? – one kind, multiples? How much of the plate will they take up?
Carbs or starchy veggies? – is it something you can’t live without or regret not having later? Will the points fit with your plan?
The food isn’t on there yet so you can make as many changes as you’d like. I always tell my countertop customers “we can make as many changes as you’d like until it’s cut”. So make as many changes as you’d like until it’s on your plate!
Mind The Rum (and you might want to keep an eye on Arnold Palmer too)
In the famous words of Jack Sparrow “Mind The Rum!”. Of course he was worried someone might spill a drop, but during the summer especially at social events it may be a matter of minding the points too. A few ways to enjoy those festive beverages and keep your meal even more satisfying are:
- New to me this summer is Chick Fil A’s “Sunjoy” a ½ to ½ mix of unsweetened tea and diet lemonade for only 1 point versus a virgin Arnold Palmer at 4 to 6 points
- Hungry Girl boasts a Perfect Pina Colada with only five ingredients and 3 WW points!
Or use fun, delicious, zero calorie cocktail mixes to make mocktails or keep your festive adult beverages lower point! This 20 flavor mix from Thoughtfully Skinny Cocktails includes Peach Bellini, Lemon Drop, Blood Orange Margarita, Mojito, Sydney Sunrise and more. Each zero-calorie cocktail mixer is sugar free, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, nut and dairy free! And if you use my link here I will earn a tiny affiliate fee which helps fund all of this fun!
Summer Savings – Decision Time!
Choosing not to decide is still a decision. Let’s say you are going to a family cookout and you know there will be store bought potato salad, deviled eggs, watermelon and Sharon is bringing her famous coconut cake
Store bought potato salad is approximately 6 points for ½ cup
Deviled Eggs are approximately 1-2 points for a half egg or one deviled egg
Watermelon is zero!
Sharon’s famous coconut cake at about a 2” x 3” slice is unknown territory. The best you can do is look up something close so let’s call it’s 16-20 points
You can decide to have all four items for approximately 26 points. Or you can leave off the store bought potato salad that you can have literally any time and spend 20 points. Or you can decide you won’t decide until you get there but wow, what a decision! I don’t know how that plays out for you but I end up eating all of it and then being disappointed in myself. Or I skip the thing I want and live regret until I see Sharon the next year.
OR! I can decide to have cake and count it and be happy with my decision. OR EVEN BETTER, I can decide to enjoy a half a piece, eat it soooooo slowly and savor every single bit with no regrets and a few points left in my day!
Your homework was #SummerSavings. As much as John’s new paycheck is freaking me out I’d love for the saving to be talking about money….but I’m talking about points LOL. I know you have a summer event coming up where decisions will need to be made. Decide on ONE food (or drink) you know will be at this event and tell us how you’ll save. It might be deciding to skip it, taking a half portion, or maybe bringing your own skinny cocktail mixes!
- Always one to do her homework no matter how busy she is, Deanna says she has a couple of concerts coming up and will choose a low point dinner & add a few more steps so that she can enjoy an adult beverage at the concert
- I knew my bday was going to be FULL of sugar and love so I had nonfat plain greek yogurt and fruit (zero points!) for breakfast, then cucumbers and hummus for lunch to help offset some of that lovely cake!
- Speaking of my bday, Kelsey was sweet enough to swap out some nonfat plain greek yogurt for other higher point ingredients, keeping an eye out for the old boss!
Bravo, you did it!
This Week’s Topic: “How to Build Overcome a Setback”
Alyssa has been trying to pull a tooth for two weeks now. We’ve tried everything, she’s gotten suspicious of anytime someone gets near her mouth. Rather than say forget it, give up, never gonna happen we just kept encouraging her to try.
A few days later Alyssa and her sister were wrestling and Beau basically roundhouse kicked Alyssa in the mouth, shooting the loose tooth across the room and overcoming the temporary set back. Now we know our setbacks won’t be resolved as easily (or as painfully LOL) but it doesn’t have to be that hard either!
Pro tips for resolving a setback:
Short Term or Long Term?
The first thing you need to decide is do you think this set back is short term or long term.
In Alyssa’s wiggly tooth scenario it was definitely a short term setback for her. Keeping her from eating her favorite apples, and temporarily changing her normal 6 year old diet
If you don’t see an obvious end in site like we could with Alyssa, you may have a longer term setback to deal with.
Recognizing that can make a big difference in how you face the setback!
Count The Ways
It’s my favorite time of the chat….list time! Now make a list of things you’ve done in the past that helped you overcome a setback, any setback. Things like:
- Tracking
- Increasing Steps
- Attend a Workshop
- Meal prep
- Consider a Non Scale Victory
Ready. Set. Action!
Now, take your list and circle up to three (and only three) that could apply to this short term or long term solution. It may be a different list depending on which one you are experiencing so choose carefully.
This Week’s Homework: #ReadySetAction
Your homework for this week is #ReadySetAction. Hopefully you were making your list while we were chatting tonight and it will be easy to choose 3 actions that have worked before AND WILL WORK AGAIN to overcome this setback! Now DO YOUR HOMEWORK because I promise there is someone who needs the idea you have already rattling around in your head. Whatever it is let us know, I promise your decision to participate this week will help you AND someone else! 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 #ReadySetAction 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: Custard Squash FIRST TRY!
We were discussing how to handle and overcome setbacks.
The setback that I’ve been struggling with is how to overcome John’s pay cut from work and not being able to try new yummy foods from the grocery store.
Some of you have really helped me out and sent me a few things that I’m really excited to try!
The first thing is something that Kelsey brought me from her rival garden. She’s 2 weeks ahead of me, so she has some things that are already ready to harvest. The one she brought me is a patty pan custard squash! She recommended to slice it and remove the seeds, and you can eat the skin just like a zucchini! I cut it into squares and we are throwing it in the air fryer. In the bottom of an air fryer safe pan with ghee cooking spray and a little sprinkle of DAK’s spices, I put it in the air fryer for 10-15 minutes on 390 degrees.
The second thing is a couple different flavors of Crunch Master crackers. I’ve heard lots of good things about them, and since they were on sale when I got them, the lady behind me in line had like 12 bags in her cart!! Crazy!
The three flavors I have are Avocado Toast Chili Lime, Multi-seed Rosemary & Olive Oil, Avocado Toast Guacamole. Each of them is 4 points per serving, which is pretty good for crackers!
- The multi-seed was a really good flavor. The flavors are really strong, and I love how crunchy they are!
- The guacamole one would be amazing with salsa. Its a good guacamole flavor.
- The chili lime smells really spicy… but the lime really packs a punch! It tastes like a fresh lime with just a tiny bit of spice. Yummy!!
At the end of the chat, it was finally time to try the custard squash. It was SO GOOD! I highly recommend these, and I can definitely see many many patty pans in my future!
Would you try a custard squash? If you’ve had one before, how do you cook them? Let me know in the comments below!
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