Weighty Matters

Several weeks ago, a member stopped by our center for a weigh-in. She was visiting from Pennsylvania (if memory serves) and stopped in on her way to Florida. During part of her brief moments with us, she told us about a place in Pinehurst NC that does gourmet specialty olive oils and vinegars. I told some of my buddies about it and we laughed and said, "ROAD TRIP!!!" (Pinehurst is about 6-7 hours or so from here?). Alas, no road trip awaits. At least not 6 or 7 hours in cars with my coworkers. Instead, we may make a 30 minute trip. There is a similar store RIGHT near us. Dear Upstate SC friends, I present to you: Palmetto Olive Oil Co. They were at the Upstate Spice of Life Expo this weekend. I stopped by there on the advice of a fellow WW staffer. I walked out a little lighter in the wallet but with a TDF bottle of strawberry balsamic vinegar. Some of the same made its way to my salad tonight. Oh yum. I could have bought one of everything. It was that good. I also liked the...

I received some shocking news earlier this week. My best friend lost one of her close high school friends earlier this week to breast cancer, just a few weeks short of her 42nd birthday. I had the pleasure of meeting Laura just a few times in the 20+ years that I have known my best friend, and she was always a beautiful person. My BFF and I were talking about how many of our generation who are leaving us way too early. In just the last two years we have lost two fraternity brothers way too soon (ages 39 and 41). We have both lost dear friends to breast cancer: mine at age 36, hers at 42. I have another friend who is bravely documenting her battle against breast cancer -- age 42. My BFF's own brother (whose birthday would have been today) passed away at 30 from cancer. What is going on here? Not just with cancer but with an entire generation falling to diseases that should not have even been more than a fleeting thought until we hit our 60s. Now, I have my theories -- and while I...

Lately, I have been completely digging the Derek Trucks Band, especially their 2009 release Already Free ... and the song that is my go-to song has been this one: It was playing in my CD player as I got out of the car at work this morning, and somehow it was appropriate: inspiration ended up being a personal theme over and over. I had someone thank me for my gift of singing. We had someone who hit a milestone today and she was SO good to hear. There were two new enrollees during my open hours who help me remember my own first days of membership -- and how scary and yet empowered I felt to get this new lease on life. And then there was Cassandra -- yes, dear, I am calling you out by name! Cassandra is a member of one of the weekday meetings, and she stops by sometimes on Saturdays to pick up some snacks for the week ahead, or to just say hi. We spoke for a while today about the Walk-It Challenge , and I mentioned some of the discussions that helped me formulate last week's post, es...

3 Ways Exercise Feeds Your Brain AWESOME article! Please read!

If you haven't figured it out now, I love to cook. Well, perhaps even more to it, I like to experiment. On the way home from work, I had the idea that I might like to make myself a Chicken Tostada for lunch. So I stopped off to get fat-free refried beans... couldn't find those but I did find relatively low-fat bean dip. Okay, that would work. While I was there, I saw that they had Frank's Red Hot Sauce on sale too. SOLD! I had no sooner gotten to my car when the little light in my head went -- DING! WAIT! And the idea was born for my Buff Chicken Tacos! These are gonna be pretty simple, yet pretty tasty too! Ingredients 2 6-inch (fajita-size) corn tortillas (I used Great Value brand from Wal-Mart) 2 oz diced chicken breast (I used the Tyson prepackaged stuff, but .....) 1 wedge Laughing Cow Light, Blue Cheese variety Frank's Red-Hot Sauce to taste (I'm guessing I used 2 tsp, roughly) Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Very lightly spray a baking sheet with co...

(and long-time readers and friends will shrug and go, "What else is new?") Okay, so I was thinking about some things from both my own regular meeting (as a member) and at other ones where I work or attend just if I need a boost. And one of the things that I occasionally hear is the lack of support that people get when they're trying to make healthy changes for themselves, or even little steps for a healthier family. Spouses or kids who throw up roadblocks, their own self-defeating tape loop in their brain..... That first one, I don't have much experience with as a "confirmed bachelorette" (which sounds far better than "old maid"). But I definitely have experience with the second one. I have it far less these days, and much improvement over the old self-talk about my body, but it's still there. My favorite self-description is "I'm a doofus" or "I am such a geek about...." (insert favorite weird hobby). Today, as I was str...

Last night, our meeting was focused on the 2011 Weight Watchers Walk-It! Challenge …. If you are a member, or friend of a member, or complete stranger and want to take part, WE’D LOVE TO HAVE YOU!!! It’s a way to get started on activity/exercise if you’re not doing any right now – or to have a goal to work toward, if you’ve never done a 5K. I saw a factoid last week which stated that walking is the one activity that people are least likely to quit or give up on. Well, why not? It’s free! Truly, all you need are two working feet – and as a grandchild of two disabled people, trust me, I don’t take that requirement lightly. It does help if you have a good pair of walking shoes. You don't have to have the highest-priced shoe on the market, just something with the proper support. But really, that’s it. There are lots more bells and whistles you can get, but that’s really all they are (says the girl with the closet full of workout gear – all being used, but that’s not the point). When I...

I've heard friends rave for years about fish tacos but somehow I never bought into the idea. Shrimp tacos, oh yeah, bring 'em on, I'm all there. And then I saw that some of the ones available at restaurants were fried fish. Well, uh, NO! But today I had a couple of pieces of leftover baked grouper, and got the bright idea to get some corn tortillas while I was in the grocery store..... and some shredded cabbage for coleslaw later this week. And an idea was born: I took 2 corn tortillas, put in 1/4 c of the shredded cabbage in each, then divided up the two small pieces of grouper (4-1/2 oz total), and 1 Tbsp of peach-pineapple-chipotle salsa in each. Folded them over and nibbled away. Oh. My. Goodness. YUMMY!!!! And only 5 PtsPlus for both. The one suggestion I have is to warm the tortillas. I didn't and ... they weren't bad but yeah, they would be better warmed. (And dry-warmed, not steam-warmed in the microwave). Toaster oven or quickie minute or two in a small ski...