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Showing posts from 2014

My First Weight Watchers Class Alone

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Image: Pixabay I feel I need to apologize right now. This blog has been left on its own for a while. I’ve had so much going on between my freelance writing and Weight Watchers leader training. It’s left little time to write on the blogs that I love. This is one of those blogs. I have wanted to share so much with you, but had so little time. But I’m sitting down and writing out this post for you all. You see, last night I took my first Weight Watchers class all alone. Up until now I’ve always had another leader around to get answers and support me. I’ve had someone there to help when I’ve completely lost the plot. That wasn’t the case last night. I covered for another leader—in fact, my own leader!—because she was ill. I got the chance to meet new members and hear all about their success stories. It is always inspirational to hear about the success stories in classes, no matter how big or small they are. It was nerve-wracking at first, but I had so much fun doin

Setting Small Goals for Christmas

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Image: Pixabay At Weight Watchers, this week marks the countdown to Christmas. With seven weeks to go, there is still time to lose half a stone or even a whole stone of weight! The whole point of this first week of the challenge is to set small goals for Christmas. Goal setting is a great way to stay motivated, but they have to be realistic. What Are Your Christmas Weight Loss Goals? There’s no point saying that you will lose three stone by Christmas. That’s extremely ambitious, not very healthy and setting you up for failure. Setting a small goal like 7lbs or 14lbs is much more realistic and achievable. Even with a bad week, you can still get back on track to reach the goal. So, what are your small goals for Christmas? Where do you see yourself in seven weeks time? There are lots of small goal ideas, and not all are scales related. You may want to: Fit in that sparkly dress a size down See inches off your waist Fit into that top that has been sitting

What Could Losing 5% of Your Body Weight Mean to Your Health?

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Image: Pixabay At Weight Watchers we like to focus on small targets before that big one. While Silver 7s are handed out for each half stone (7lbs) a person loses, there is also the focus on losing a certain percentage of your body weight. 5% and 10% are the two that you get small awards for. They sound like small goals, but they do so much for your health. 5% could be 7-14lbs, but you gain a lot of benefits from that small weight loss. Of course, it could be a lot more if your starting weight is higher. Working Out 5% of Your Body Weight To start with, you need to know what 5% of your starting weight is. I like to work in pounds, but you could work in kilos. When I started, I was 14 stone 4 lbs. That works out to be 200lbs in total. Five percent of that is 10lbs. So my 5% target was to lose 10lbs of weight. That would take me down to 13 stone 8lbs. It was so much better as an initial weight loss goal than saying I needed to lose over 3 stone. But What Does

Weight Watchers Recipe: Curried Butternut Squash Soup

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The cold weather is closing in. It’s at the point where we’re looking at soups, stews and dishes to make in the slow cooker. We need something hot when it comes to dinner time. Image: Pixabay We decided to do a curried butternut squash soup, and I’ve got to admit that it is absolutely delicious. It’s definitely one to try again. The best thing is that you can make it as mild or as spicy as you want. We used a mild curry powder because my husband isn’t a fan of very spicy food, and neither is my daughter, really. If you’re on Weight Watchers, the recipe is zero points once split between six (the number it serves) and great for the Simple Start/Filling and Healthy plans. The only downside is the cooking time. It takes an hour to cook because the butternut squash needs softening to get the good stuff out of it. I’m making it again tonight, so I’ll make sure there is a photo of my efforts this time. Curried Butternut Squash Soup Ingredients: 1 butternut s

Halloween Party Ideas to Lose Weight

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If you’re hosting a Halloween party this year, the idea of weight loss during this time can be daunting. Even if you’re not hosting the party, the thought of dealing with all the candy and chocolates can be terrifying when you’re losing weight. Here are a few Halloween party ideas to help you stay in control in the run-up and on the night. Have Some Healthy but Fun Snacks Image: Alexandria Ingham You don’t just need to get chocolates, candies and cookies in. Why not have some fun with some healthy snacks? I loved making some of these last year, and did mini orange pumpkins and banana ghouls.  I blogged about some fun Halloween party ideas last year, and you can find that blog post here . If you’re hosting the party, put them out for your guests. Even if they don’t want to eat them, you have something to enjoy. If you’re attending a party, take a platter of your creations with you and share with your friends. That can be your hostess gift. Set an Al