Weight Watchers Chat #382: “Your Own Best Pattern For Eating!”

News and Reviews

Today is the start of the “Work Out, Move It Challenge!” challenge hosted by Julie over on the If You Have an Egg Facebook Group. It’s not a competition, just a great way to challenge yourself and get some extra encouragement!
Another recall I think worth mentioning this week:
- The owner of Lactaid (HP Hood LLC) has voluntarily recalled five varieties of their dairy free product sold in 96 oz containers in 27 states. No health issues have been reported, but because even trace amounts of nuts could be a potentially deadly allergen they have erred on the side of caution and pulled the product. According to Prevention Magazine the recalled products are five varieties of their 96 oz containers: Lactaid Whole Milk; Lactaid 2% Milk; Lactaid 1% Milk; Lactaid Fat-Free Milk; Lactaid 2% Calcium Enriched Milk. The products were shipped to retailers in the following 27 states: AL, CO, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, TX, VA, WI, and WY. If you believe you have any of this product in your kitchen you can return it to the store for a full refund or call Hood Consumer Affairs at 800-242-2423. The line is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET. For more information see the article from Prevention Magazine here https://www.prevention.com/health/a62366756/lactaid-milk-recall-2024/
We will be chatting about some new WW news and also some app updates in the second half. Please hold down the chatter while we finish the first half of our chat, pretty please 🙂

(just a reminder, as an Amazon Affiliate I will receive compensation for any purchases you make with my links. I am also an affiliate for other companies who may be linked in this post for which I may be compensated with free or discounted product and in some cases monetarily. We appreciate your continued support!)

Last week was Chat #381 “Why Weight Training Is So Good For You!”

I don’t know if you noticed but under the Discover Content tab where we usually find the weekly topic it now says “Technique Library”. I’m not sure what that means going forward but we talked about weight training last Tuesday with Gwen so that’s what we are talking about!

I’m not excluding the boys by a long shot, but let’s dig into some unique strength training benefits for women!

What is it?

When I hear strength training I immediately think body builders and bulky muscles. Strength training is simply a category of exercises designed to build strength and also endurance by forcing muscles to work against an opposing force or resistance. This opposing force could be your body weight. Or the resistance could be bands or weight machines. Squats and countertop pushups count!

Uniquely You

According to UH Hospitals, being a woman creates these unique opportunities through strength training.

“Building and maintaining muscle is important for post and peri-menopausal women to combat the loss of muscle mass that often occurs with aging.” says Corinne Bazella, MD, OB/GYN with a special interest in menopause. “And given that muscle tissue is highly metabolically active, strength training may help prevent common metabolic diseases like diabetes and help prevent the weight gain commonly experienced in menopause.”

In addition to enhancing general quality of life, strength training in midlife women may offer the following benefits:

Reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease
Improved joint and muscle pain management and physical functioning
Slows bone loss and prevents osteoporosis
Lowers risk of certain cancers
Increased range of motion and mobility
Improved balance and reduced risk of injury due to falls

Start at The Beginning

To build muscle strength, choose a weight that allows you to perform 8-15 reps for 1-3 sets while maintaining proper form. As you become stronger, you can gradually increase the weight and the number of reps and sets.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the goal for most women should be two 15-30 minute strength training sessions per week coupled with either 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise (running, swimming laps, aerobic dancing) or 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week (brisk walking, biking, swimming, yardwork).

Your homework was #StartWithASquat. If a squat’s not your thing, start with a countertop pushup. Or maybe some soup can arm curls Tell us what you will start with for your uniquely you strength training

Deanna has been doing both countertop pushups and squats!
Karen has become so strong and flexible doing pilates that she has been able to pick up a few Barre classes!
Carol Lou has upped her strength training by using her exercise bands and she even dug out her ThighMaster!

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: Your Own Best Pattern For Eating!

You’ll have to imagine for a moment how hard it is to prepare for chats now that the weekly topic is no longer published in any WW format other than attending an in person workshop. More about that in the second half…but for now, hang on and let’s try to figure this out together!

[insert YouTube link here]

Is weight loss a one size fits all (no pun intended)? Let’s dig in!

Fact or Fiction?

Are these statements fact or are they fiction?

You have to eat breakfast each day in order to lose weight
Three meals a day is the only way to keep your metabolism in check
A pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat

Right Way or Wrong Way?

If I start my meals with a small breakfast about an hour after I get up and you start yours at noon, which one of us is right?

If you make sure you have a vegetable at each meal and I eat all my vegetables at one meal, are you right and I’m wrong?

If I eat 3 meals a day plus a snack, and if you eat 2 large meals a day, is one of us not doing this right?

Your Own Best Pattern for Eating

We just spent several minutes busting some myths and deciding if one of us is right or wrong about the times we eat, methods of eating, how many times we eat, etc etc. Good news! WW is not one size fits all. This program does not put us in a little food prison that we spend all of our time trying to break out of like so many other programs (liberties taken from a long time WW leader!). Your own best pattern for eating is the one that is best for YOU!

YOU pick what time is best for your first meal of the day
YOU pick how many meals a day you will plan
YOU pick how to spend your points

This Week’s Homework: #YouPick

I’ll make this week’s homework so easy that you can’t not do it! You pick what time you will start your meals for the day and let us know. That’s it. That’s all. But picking is making a first step towards figuring out your own best pattern for eating. So do it! 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 #YouPick 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

The Amazon Wish List is UP and I so appreciate your support. This will provide a way for us to continue testing products for you, trying out new gadgets and recipes, and refilling the IYHAE pantry since it doesn’t look like the budget cuts are budging. If you don’t already know, it costs more than $100 per week to provide this free content to you and that doesn’t include my time. Your support really does help keep us going!

Amazon Wish List can be found here: If You Have an Egg Support Wish List

Extra Credit: WW News & App Updates

I appreciate that so many of you did NOT go into a frenzy about what is going on at WW right now. We will be discussing that at the end, but I did want cover some updates to the WW app beforehand.

Now you may have to do what I did and force an update on your app. I had to log completely out and back in, and there are a few changes I wanted to point out!

When you first load up your home screen, there is a new section that says “Meal Inspiration,” “Simple Recipes,” and “Big Flavor.” What they are doing here is basically tracking you like everything else seems to be these days. But don’t panic! They are trying to recommend things for you to enjoy and eat, all while keeping yourself on track. You can even let them know if they are doing well or not by rating their suggestions.
If you go to your account (the picture up in the corner) and go to settings > health settings. You can adjust your settings if you are diabetic or taking GLP-1 medication and it will help curate your app to your medical requirements.
Now, this one I am not happy about. If you go to your icon and go to Discover Content… the Weekly Topic is not there. You used to be able to get it from there, but it has vanished. There is a Technique Library where you can find the old Weekly Topics, but as of the beginning of September there are no Weekly Topics anymore. It seems that they are transitioning it back to a physical paper, which is not great for people who cannot go to an in person meeting. I spoke to a representative on 24/7 Chat and was disappointed with the answer.
Let’s say I’m at Aldi and I want to scan a barcode. Previously, you had to scan it and get your numbers, and then get completely out and back in to scan another one. But now, you can scan and get your numbers and just KEEP SCANNING! That made it so much easier and quicker to find the item that has the right amount of points that I want.

Now the part that everyone wants me to talk about.

Friday into Sunday morning, I was bombarded with messages about the WW CEO. They ranged from “Did you see that the WW CEO stepped down?” to “OMG WW is going down! The CEO is gone and you need to pick a new system to follow!”

If you didn’t know, Sima Sistani stepped down from her position as CEO and her place on the board. If you are part of a business that has levels, there are a COO and board members that are still in place. CEO just means that you’re in charge, it doesn’t mean that you are the sole person holding the business together.

Just like a few years ago when we switched systems, everyone panicked. But I want to talk to you about a few things before you start to panic too.

Just breathe!
Have you ever been in the news? Not in a good, heroic way… but in a story that was twisted around to paint you in a negative light? I have. We had been doing some charity work at Casey’s school when she was little. One mom did NOT like what we were doing, and she decided to call the principal, health department, and a bunch of other departments. By the time we got to the school, there was a News crew dragging buckets of something that we did NOT use out of the gym. It had been twisted out of proportion, but that is simply what News people do. They are paid to make things dramatic and interesting. It has to be a good News story, or no one would engage with it. This is something that is totally normal for a company/business.
If you don’t think that WW is a for-profit business, here is a little history lesson for you:

1963: WW was started by Jean Nidetch because she was disgruntled with other weight loss plans where you couldn’t get together, share, and talk with the other members.
1964: WW started franchising
1966: Published their first cookbook and sold 1.5 MILLION copies!
1973: Jean resigned, and WW did not close
1978: Sold to HG Heinz for $7.2 Million
1999: Sold for $735 Million
2001: Became a publicly traded stock

They are a for-profit business whether you like it or not, whether you agree with me or not. They have to make money or we cannot be doing any of the things we get to enjoy/discuss to this day. It’s not going away anytime soon, and change is necessary. It’s all a sign of the times, and we just have to learn how to adapt and change along with it.

Just breathe and we will all figure it out together.