BAGEL LOVERS BEWARE

After our normal Monday morning visit to WW, my wife and I wandered along to the nearby bagel store for a late breakfast.

I had an egg whites omelette with turkey on a wheat roll - all core and three points for the roll.

My wife knew she was indulging herself a little, but decided to go for it anyway - after all the next weigh-in was seven days away. So she had a sesame bagel with low fat vegetable cream cheese. Sounds a little extravagent, but not too bad.

Or was it???

She scraped off most of the unbelievable amount of cream cheese on the bagel and out of interest, brought it home. She reckons she ate around 2oz and when she weighed the excess in our kitchen, it was a further 5oz.

That means there was seven ounces of innocent-sounding low fat cream cheese on that bagel, amounting to 11 points. Add six points for the bagel and that was a total of 17 points.

Buyer beware. Check what you're eating ... carefully!

GREAT INSIGHT

I read this by Rick Warren, author of the best-selling self-help book, The Purpose Driven Life. He has been actively assisting victims of the California wildfires during this past week and says this about his own family's wildfire experience in 2003 -

We could see the flames from our backyard. During that fire, our own family was told to evacuate. We were warned a couple of hours in advance, so we had a couple of hours to think about, "What will we take with us and what will we leave behind.?"

You know, we didn't even fill our car completely. We packed up pictures, and some papers, and our bibles, and some hard drives, but that was about it. We realized that most of it was very replaceable. It is just stuff, that in the bottom line The greatest things in life are not things..

When disasters come along, we realize that our value is not found in our valuables, and that our self-worth is not tied to our net worth. It is in times like these that we realize there's a whole lot more important in life than what’s material.. The spiritual and relational parts of life are far more important.

RECOVERY MODE

I love Saturdays, but I'll admit that they leave me exhausted. After I've spent six hours at Weight Watchers, I go home, change and then go out with our church's mobile soup kitchen delivering hot meals and pantry bags to men living in rooming houses in the area.

So by the time I get done with all that, I'm shot - but it's a contented kind of tired. It has been a good day.

This morning at WW I referred to a scene in the movie City Slickers where three friends on a Wild West experience vacation are chatting around a camp fire. One of them tells the others that his life is actually a mess. He slept with a checkout operator at the supermarket where he worked and his wife had left him. His father-in-law owned the store, so he had fired him. His conclusiuon was that his life was over.

I think it was Billy Crystal's character who interejected that it wasn't over. He talked about how when they were playing as kids, if someone hit a ball into a tree, other players would shout "Do over" and they'd retrieve the ball and start that play again. "Your life isn't over", he said, "it's a do-over."

He could start all over again.

That's what I did when I walked into WW almost three years ago and 133lb heavier and that's what everyone in our Saturday groups has done - started a do-over.

I enjoy encouraging them through this new begiinning!

MORE ICE CREAM

Just got home from the supermarket with some more of the fat-free, sugar-free vanilla bean ice cream by Turkey Hill that I discovered last week.

Someone at WW mentioned to me that there are a number of other flavors available, but from what I saw tonight, you really have to watch the nutrition facts. This was the only flavor I saw that would work out at 2 WW points per cup.

Some of their other products are not totally fat-free and most of them do not have the 5g of fiber per portion that are in the vanilla bean. So as with everything, it's always smart to read the label well.

This is good stuff - had a bowl with some baked apples.

Guilt-free ice cream is a wonderful thing!

DIET PILLS

Waiting to pick up my wife's prescription at the pharmacy today, I was looking at the display for the new high promising diet pill Alli.

I cynically thought that here is something else that will come and go and found myself hoping it won't cause too much damage in the process like Ephedra did.

In our quick-fix culture, I am sure that thousands of people will already have tried Alli - and they have probably discovered that the side-effects, that almost make the wearing of Depends mandatory, are more than they are willing to live with.

There are no shortcuts - diet and exercise over a consistent period lead to sustained weight loss, while retaining bowel control!

SATURDAY REFLECTIONS

I do enjoy my Saturday mornings at Weight Watchers. We seemed to have a good time there today, with some really positive things happening.

Two regulars achieved Lifetime membership today, having reached their goal weight and maintained it for six weeks. One interesting factor for both of them was that it had taken quite a while - full marks to them for perseverance in a field where everyone is hoping for the quick fix.

Another member achieved the 50lb weight loss milestone, which is a great achievement. I loved passing out those awards. The bottom line is, that's why I'm doing the gig - I want to see people succeed.

SPEAKING OF ICE CREAM

Okay, I know we weren't exactly speaking about it, but I must confess that ice cream is one of my favorite subjects - though the practical application is far more fulfilling than talking theory.

I have great news!

I ran into a lady from one of our Saturday WW groups this evening and she told me (this might be history to you, but it was a revelation for me) that Turkey Hill make a non-fat, no sugar added Vanilla Bean or Chocolate ice cream that is 2 Points for a cup.

You can't get that anywhere. Most of the double churned, light, fat-free, etc, etc, brands are 2 points for a half cup.

So with Turkey Hill you get twice as much!!!

I went straight to Waldbaums and looked for the pink container (it's 1.5 quarts, not a half gallon) and was delighted to find it's on sale for $2.49.

I imagine the sale ends tomorrow night, so figured I'd post the good news immediately. And now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for dessert!!!

APPLES GALORE

It's that time of year again when apples, in addition to being your friend, are dirt cheap too. I was very happy to see them for 39c per pound down the road at Best Yet, so never being one to pass up on a bargain, I came home with a substantial stack of them.

In all honesty, while I love to cook, baking is not my strong point so my apple repertoire is very limited. I sliced up quite a few, layered them in a dish with some Splenda and a little cinnamon (or is that cinammon - or even cinamon?), sprinkled some oatmeal on the top and baked them in the oven.

Should be a good and healthy dessert for this evening.

Core of course for you WW-types!

HALLOWEEN CANDY - THE DAMAGE

Here's how one here and one there will add up - the complete list of points values for Halloween candy. Well, pretty complete anyway. Okay, well it's probably the most complete one you've seen in a while -

HALLOWEEN CANDY # OF ITEMS POINT VALUE
3 Musketeers, 2 fun size bars 3 1/2
1000 Grand, 2 mini bars 4 1/2
Abazaba, mini, Each 1
ABC Fruit Chomps, 7 pieces 3
ANDES Creme de Menth Thin Mint , 8 pieces 5 1/2
Animal Crackers, 11 crackers 3
Almond Joy, 2 snack size bars 4
America1s Original Bubble Gum, 4 pieces 1 1/2
Atomic Fireballs, Each 1
Baby Ruth, 2 fun size bars 4
Big Hunk, mini, Each 1
Bit-O-Honey, 6 pieces 4
Blow Pops, Each 1.5
Bubble Gum, super, 2 pieces 1
Butterfinger, 2 fun size bars 4
Butternut Mini Bar, .75 oz 2
Candy Corn, 22 pieces 3
Caramello, 2 snack size bars 4
Crispy Caramel Fudge Bar, snack size, Each bar 2
Caramel & Peanut Butter Crispy Bars, snack size, 2
Chocolate Toffee Crisp Bar, snack size, Each bar, 2
Crunchy Peanut Butter Bar, snack size, Each bar, 2
Double Bubble Gum, 2 pieces 1
Heath Bar, 5 snack size bars 6
Hershey's Bar (plain), 2 snack size bars 5
Hershey's (almonds), 2 snack size bars 5
Hershey Kisses, 8 pieces 5
Hershey Kisses or Hugs, 3 pieces 2
Hershey Miniatures, 5 pieces 5
Hershey Tastations (any flavor), 3 pieces 1
Hershey Sweet Escapes 2
Hi C Juice Fillers, bag (5 candies) 2
Hot Tamales, Each snack box 1
Jolly Rancher, 3 pieces 1
Jolly Rancher Mini Stix, Each 1
Kit Kat, 3 (2 pc) snack bars 6
Kit Kat, Each mini 2
Lemonheads, Each box 2
Life Saver Five Flavor Candy, 4 1.5
Life Saver Gummi Savers, 2 rolls 2.5
Life Saver Pops, Each 1
M & M (plain), Each fun size pack 2
M & M (peanut), Each fun size pack 2
M & M Crispy, Each pkg 5
Mars, 2 fun size bars 4
Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses, 6 pieces 3.5
Maynards Wine Gums, 1 roll (44 g), 3
Mike & Ikes, Each snack pkg 1
Milk Duds, 4 fun size boxes 4
Milky Way, 2 fun size bars 4
Milky Way Lite, minis, 5 pieces 3
Milky Way Lite, regular bar 3.5
Mounds, 2 snack size bars 4
Necco Wafers, Each roll 1
Nerds, Each box 1
Nestles PB Mallow, Each 3.5
Nestles Baby Ruth, Each 4.5
Nestle Crunch Fun Size, 4 bars 5
Now & Later, 3 mini bars 3
O'Henry, 2 fun size bars 5
Peter Pan Peanut Butter Cups, 4 pieces 6
Pumpkin Pop, Each sucker 1
Raisinettes, 3 snack size boxes 4
Red Hots, Each box 2
Reese's Crunchy Cookie Cups, 2 snacks 4
Reese's Miniature Peanut Butter Cups, 5 pieces 5
Reeses Peanut Butter Bites, 3 pkgs 5.5
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, 2 snack size 4
Reesesticks, 2 snack size 4
Skittles, small pack 3 pkgs 4
Skittles (regular), 2 packs 3
Smarties, 3 rolls 1
Smuckers Fruit Fillers, Each bag (5 candies) 2
Snackwells Nut Clusters, Each piece 1
Snickers, 2 fun size bars 4
Snickers, minis (4 pieces) or 2 fun size bars 4
Spree Candies, 8 pieces 1
Spree Twist, 2 rolls 1.5
Starburst, 3 fun size pkgs 4
Starburst Fruit Chews, 8 chews 3.5
Sugar Babies, 2 snack size pouches 4.5
Sugar Daddy Pops, 3 3.5
Sweethearts (Necco), Each (1 1/8 oz box) 2.5
Sweet Tarts, 2 rolls 1
Tootsie Hot Chocolate Pops, Each 1.5
Three Muskateers, 2 fun size 4
Tootsie Roll, 2 snack bars 2
Tootsie Roll Midgees, 6 pieces 3.5
Tootsie Roll Midgees - small, 11 pieces 2
Tootsie Roll Pop, Each pop 1
Triple Chocolate Wafer Bar, snack size, Each bar, 2
Twix, (mini size) Each 1
Twix, Each snack size bar 2
Twix, Regular Size, Each (2) pack 7
Twizzlers Pull-n-Peel Cherry Candy, 3 pieces 2.5
Twizzlers Strawbery Twists, 4 twists 2.5
Werther's Original, 3 pieces 1
Whoppers Malted Milk Balls, 2 snack size pouches 5
Wonka Nerds Gumballs, Each 1
Wonka Shock Tarts Gumball, Each 1
Wrigleys Chewing Gum, 5 pieces 1
York Peppermint Patties, 3 patties 3

DON'T QUIT

Here's a bit of culture - or something - from the WW staff site -

When you've eaten too much and you can't write it down,
and you feel like the biggest failure in town.
When you want to give up just because you gave in,
and forgot about being healthy and thin.
So what! You went over your points a bit,
It's your next move that counts....So don't quit!
It's a moment of truth, it's an attitude change.
It's learning the skills to get back to your range.
It's telling yourself, "You've done great up till now
You can take on this challenge and beat it somehow."
It's part of your journey toward reaching your goal.
You're still gonna make it, just stay in control.
To stumble and fall is not a disgrace,
If you summon the will to get back in the race.
But, often the strugglers, when losing their grip,
just throw in the towel and continue to slip.
And learn too late when the damage is done,
that the race wasn't over and they still could have won.
Life-style change can be awkward and slow,
but facing each challenge will help you to grow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint in the cloud of doubt.
When you're pushing to the brink, just refuse to submit.
If you bite it, you write it.
But Don't You DARE Quit!

SATURDAYS

This has been my fourth Saturday of leading the Weight Watchers groups in Selden and I have to say that I'm loving it. It's an early start - I have to be there for 7.15 - and from then on it's non-stop with back-to-back meetings at 8.30, 9.30, 10.30 and 11.30, but man it's fun.

At this time of year we seem to be averaging 220-230 people in total each week, so as you might appreciate, it's taking me a while to get to know everyone. If you bear in mind that everyone is not there every single week, we could probably be talking about a pool of 300+ different individuals.

I know that I'm only one part of the jigsaw, a small cog in the whole machine, but if I can encourage and motivate some of these great folks toward their goal, then I will be more than happy.

I think we're getting beyond the stark contrast of having a new leader who is male instead of a brilliant woman who had been doing the job for years. I could never take Lynn's place, but hopefully I can build on the great work she did for so long.

What I do on Saturday mornings is quite different from what I'm about all week, but in some ways it's also very similar.

It's about enabling people to see their full potential, equipping them to move towards it and encouraging them to keep going.

Did I say I am loving doing it???

STEAK, EGGS, BACON, CHEESE & CREAM

Yes, you got it in one - the Atkins Diet.

Had lunch with a friend today at Applebee's - enjoyed a 5 Points meal from their WW menu. He had a good looking salad but discarded the croutons and the garlic bread. I recognized the signs and he later confirmed my thoughts - today he started the Atkins Diet.

As diets go, I think this is one of the best. I lost 50lb in three months a few years ago, eating steak, eggs, bacon, cheese and other high fat foods. I even followed his guidleines and poured heavy cream into my coffee and over jello for a dessert at night.

Lunchtimes were great with the crustless quiche made with half a dozen eggs, cheese, heavy cream and loads of bacon - and it worked.

I lost the weight and lowered my cholesterol.

But you can't live on Atkins. Like all good things, it comes to an end. And when it does people revert to their old bad habits and whack the pounds back on. I did - and some.

If you want a diet, I recommend Atkins - it's useless long term, but it's a fun way to lose weight before you regain it.

If you want a healthy lifestyle, no one can hold a candle to WW, which is not a diet, it's a way of life.

MORE FROM MICHELLE

Here's a tasty-sounding recipe Michelle told us about at last Saturday's WW meeting.

One pack reduced fat crescent rolls
One apple
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Spread out the pastry on a kitchen surface and cut the dough for each roll into two.
Dice the apple finely and mix into it the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Spoon a small amount of the apple mix into the center of each piece of pastry and fold the sides over the top.
Bake according to directions on pack.

1 Point each

ASPARAGUS

For the first time in ages, asparagus hit a semi-reasonable price at our local supermarket this week, which is a good thing.

Here's what we do with it - spray a pan generously with pam, throw in plenty of crushed garlic. Add the asparagus, sprinkle generously with garlic salt and fry until very well done.

This is not good for people who have to watch their sodium intake, or for those weighing in the next day (all the salt will help you retain way too much fluid!).

But for he rest of us - it's a delicious side dish!

FRIENDLY'S

There are some places I avoid because even what looks like a healthy choice on their menu really isn't. Friendly's is one of those places, but I ended up there for lunch today.

My grandson had fallen after church and hit his head hard on concrete - there was quite a lump and the poor kid was hurt and scared. To cheer him up I suggested we go eat at Friendly's, which I know he loves, so that was where I sat looking in desperation over the menu.

I tried, God knows I tried!

I thought their turkeymelt sandwich sounded half reasonable, especially as I declined the fries, but when the order eventually arrived I was dismayed to see the sandwich had been grilled, which back home in the UK we used to call what it actually is - fried!

I was hungry, so I went with it and decided to just go very careful for the rest of the day. My grandson left happier, so vigilance in eating for the next twelve hours was a small price to pay, I guess.

And I was reminded to steer clear of Friendly's!

EVENING GOODIES

There is something to be said for leaving a few points hanging for the end of the day, because you never know what the evening will bring.

This evening it was some friends with home-made English-style scones - complete with chocolate chips. She reckoned they were 3 or 3.5 points and when I checked on http://www.dwlz.com/, I found she was dead right. I rounded it up to 4 points, but then again I could do that as I had more than that left from my daily allowance.

A big mug of coffee with plenty of Skim Plus, the best scone I have tasted in years and am I glad I didn't blow it all earlier in the day.

Always keep something in reserve just in case scones arrive for the evening!

PRO PORTIONS

Gill ate a good lunch today with some ladies from the gym, so she announced she didn't really want dinner. Since it was all ready anyway, I suggested we leave it for tomorrow and I go down the road to ProPortions to get myself something.

I don't know if ProPortions is local to this part of Long Island or nationwide - I suspect the former - but I do know it's very convenient to have one right next to our WW location less than five minutes from where we live.

It's great to walk into a place that has everything on the menu pointed out and of course they're very friendly people too.

I took their broccoli and cheddar quiche and a huge side salad. The whole thing was only five points and trust me, there was nothing wimpy about the quiche - they give you quite the serving.

While I don't eat dinner from there too often - though I'm a regular when Gill is out of town - I eat one of their apple raisin muffins every evening with a cup of coffee. Four points for the lot, including a generous amount of milk in my coffee.

I love ProPortions. I wish they were a chain as it would make life a whole lot easier.

MICHELLE'S MAGIC

I got this simple yet delicious dessert recipe from a great person I'm getting to know in one of my Saturday morning Weight Watchers groups. It's ideal for people like me who would rather skip the main course and have two desserts instead.

Ingredients:
I 16oz container of fat free sour cream
I can crushed pineapple in pineapple juice, drained
I packet fat free, sugar free vanilla pudding mix

Method:
Mix all ingredients thoroughly, pour into four dessert bowls and refrigerate

Consumption:
Remove one from fridge and eat

Damage:
WW - Core or three points per serving

It is outstanding!

EXERCISE

There have been a load of interruptions to my regular routine lately, but this looks like being a good week with very few interruptions.

Now that I'm leading the Saturday morning Weight Watchers groups, I'm switching my regular day off from the gym to a Saturday, as I'd have to be there at some unearthly hour if I wanted to do my workout, get home and shower and still be at the center for 7.15. A smart move methinks!

So I'll run Tuesdays instead.

I try to do five mornings a week and Sunday afternoons, logging a minimum total of 42 miles, which sounds weird for someone who was seriously out of breath just climbing the stairs.