Weight Watchers Chat #331 “Stop Emotional Eating in 5!”

News and Reviews

I missed you all sooooo much last week while I suffered through a second (maybe third?) round with an abscessed tooth. This time I did go ahead and make the big girl decision to have it extracted a week from Monday rather than risk this happening again. Stay tuned in tonight’s second half and again next while we prepare food for my recovery.

Product Review: I’m already eating mostly “soft foods” so that I don’t mess up my chances of being infection free and ready for extraction next week. Today I grabbed a new Gardein Ultimate Plant Based Bowl – Sweet & Sour Chick’N from the frozen section. Check out my Insta in the next day or two for my in depth review!

Review Last Week: Last week was Chat #330 “Track It Like You Mean It!”

This week’s WW topic was in my opinion…lackluster. I mean I get it. We need to view activity in a different way to keep us motivated and moving. But that topic is good for an every other year repeat list, am I right?

Instead I decided we are going to re-revisit this stuck, stuttering and sputtering topic.

Show of hands:

Who’s weight loss attempts feel “stuck”?
Who could describe it better as “stuttering”?
Now who’s with me in the “sputtering” category?

My desire is there, my ability is strong, my ability to make any significant weight loss the last few months just feels like…well an engine that needs a little gas and is sput-sput-sputtering.

I made a list of things I’ve done in the past to get some gas in my engine. Things like:

Salt and MSG free spices
Walking 6 days a week
Adding more veggies
Tracking
Tracking honestly
Tracking like I mean it…

Three Fast Facts from WW:

Give it to Mikey, He’ll eat anything

At times we are all Mikey aren’t we? Sometimes we eat things other people would send back or push away. “Civilians” have a tendency to stop eating when something is the wrong temperature, wasn’t prepared well, isn’t what they asked for, or just doesn’t taste good. Research shows that sometimes we eat food we just really don’t like!

Simon Smells

I know, I know it’s Simon Says. But have you ever just smelled something and suddenly you know you better leave the area or there will be trouble? For that very reason I marketed peppers and onions followed by baked cookies at our fall festival for Casey’s elementary school. Even people who attended thinking they weren’t going to eat ended up buying one or the other (or both). It is a fact that just seeing or smelling a food can make you more likely to eat it.

To Grandma’s House we go

Did just saying we were headed to grandma’s house stir up any special feelings about food? WW nailed this fact, certain situations and the way you remember, think about, dream about a food can prompt you to eat.

Your homework was #TrackItLikeYouMeanIt. Even if it’s just one meal this week I want you to track it like you mean it. That may mean being honest about the points or it may be not worrying about a blue dot. 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!

I think Deanna got all the bravo stickers for the week. I was dealing with my abscessed tooth and yet managed to track all but two days plus start prepping for when my tooth comes out. Deanna has been dealing with a sinus infection & a swollen eyelid (weird right?) She tracked like she meant it 80% last week. The 20% were just foods she wanted but didn’t want to figure out the points (Andy’s, Buccees chamoy candy etc). She walked on the treadmill once but then decided she needed to do some self care, heal, get rid of headache & get back to sleeping at night & staying awake all day

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: “Stop Emotional Eating in 5!”

It’s been a long day at work. No one who was supposed to be there showed up, you feel so _______________ (fill in the blank)

You arrive at a celebration of family and can’t wait to introduce your clan to the special people you grew up with and feel so ____________________ (fill in the blank)

This week you were up and down all night, every night. You forgot to try the WW topic from last week and just didn’t get any rest at all. You feel so __________________ (fill in the blank)

No matter what you answered I already knew before the chat started none of you filled in that blank with “hungry”. So why in these emotional situations (angry, happy, exhausted were my answers) is food often the first thing we go to?

Three Fast Facts from WW:

Habits die hard

Whether the emotion is happy or sad, emotional eating is a learned behavior over time that becomes a habit. I see the Noom commercials where people seem surprised at this realization. I’m here to say WW has been reminding me for years that I learned how to eat in response to certain emotions and that does not make me broken. It makes me human.

Recognize and Redirect

When you can recognize that the answer to the question isn’t food (I’m feeling so _________) you have already given yourself an opportunity to redirect and do something besides eat in response to that emotion.

Stop For Five

If we can retrain our brains to stop for just five minutes rather than reach for food a few things happen:

The neural pathways in your brain start to train themselves to go to another answer besides food when an emotion happens
A new habit forms the more times you take that 5 minute break
If you’re like me you’ll forget why you were waiting five minutes 🙂

This Week’s Homework: #StopForFive

Your homework for this week is #StopForFive. Let’s go ahead and decide how you will stop for those five minutes NOW so that you have a plan for later. Will you set a kitchen timer? Will you ask Siri to set a timer? Will you find a YouTube Video that is a five minute timer? (this one I found even has soothing ocean waves and a pretty picture.)

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 #StopForFive 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: Soft Food Diet on Weight Watchers

As you already heard, I spent last week eating super soft, no way to aggravate it, foods for my abscessed tooth. Originally it was out of necessity because the entire side of my head was about to come off my shoulders.

The rest of the week I continued to eat soft-er things in an effort to not reaggravate it prior to my date to ditch it, and next week I’ll be going soft again during recovery.

While I was making my meal prep plans I realized we have a lot of members with similar situations or who are facing other soft food diet decisions while on WW. Let’s spend tonight and next week exploring some of those sanity saving options!

I don’t want to get off of the WW track while I’m recovering from dental surgery, so these are some easy things that I’ve collected to have ready!

Fair Life 30g Protein Shakes: 3pts per shake
Simply Delish Sugar Free, Plant Based Gelatin + Diced Pears: 0pts
Scrambled Eggs with Wholly Guacamole Mini Cups: 1pt
Spaghetti-O’s: 5-6pts for half can (depends on which kind you get)
Annie’s Mac and Cheese Cups: 8pts per cup
Idahoan Mashed Potatoes Cups: 5-6pts per cup (depends on the flavor)
Pinto Beans: 0pts
Minute Rice Brown Rice & Quinoa: 6pts
Tofu (Extra Firm & Chickpea!): 0pts
Green Giant Riced Veggies: 1pt per serving

Now, what else can I have that will satisfy the need for “real” food and keep me happy AND full? I tried 2 different ways of making pudding!

My mom “Vegan Nana” went vegan later on in life because of health reasons, so this first way was inspired by her. All you need are 1 cup of oatmilk and 3 tbsp of Jell-O brand pudding (whatever flavor you like). It is delicious, its vegan, and it is such a creamy, yummy way to make pudding!

The other way is from Melissa in my Tuesday meetings. We are using a Fair Life protein shake and 2 tbsps of the pudding mix. Melissa’s way is much fluffier, and I have to admit… I think I like it better than Nana’s way! Sorry Mom. This way is NOT vegan, it does have milk in it.

I also prepped some sweet potatoes in the instant pot for a final quick recipe. I cooked 2 lbs of sweet potatoes in the steamer basket on high pressure for 8 minutes and a quick release. All I’m adding to the sweet potatoes are 2 tsps of Land O Lakes light butter with canola oil and 2 tbsps of sugar free maple syrup. I also dashed some pink Himalayan salt to really amp up the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. Mash them up and the potatoes are ready to eat!

What new items have you decided to add to your diet? Are you on a soft food diet and found new things to try, or are you just looking for even more foods to help you along your WW journey?

Let me know!