WHOA BREAKFAST!!!

My friend Celeste recently posted a recipe for Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal. I am going to have to try it, for my husband loves oatmeal AND peanut butter, so baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal sounds like the perfect marriage of flavors.

However, I discovered a recipe in the October Costco member's magazine Connections. The recipe? WHOA BREAKFAST. And for me, it's the perfect marriage of two of MY favorites: my crockpot...and steel-cut oats. Not only was it perfectly easy AND fast...it stayed with me for over 4 hours. I ate it at 8 a.m. and around 1 pm. I still hadn't had a hunger pang. That's called "satiety." When a food satisfies you for a LONG time. In WeightWatcher lingo, it's called a "Filling Food." You want to choose foods to eat, that will fill you and satisfy you for a long time, and be low in calories [so you don't gain weight eating them.]

Here is the recipe for WHOA BREAKFAST.

1 1/2 C. steel- cut oats [or old- fashioned oats]

3 c. water

2 c. peeled and chopped apples

1/4 c. chopped almonds, walnuts, whatever

1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

Combine all, and cook in slow cooker on low for 8 hours. Makes 6 servings.

**[ I put mine on at 10 pm, and checked it at 7 a.m. when I awoke.

It was crusty around the edges of the crockpot...and I just dug it out, and ate it like a cookies.

My husband loved this dish.

And I loved it that it satisfied me for so long.

I would add a packet of sweet n low, or a 1/4 cup of brown sugar Splenda next time.

I like things a little sweeter.

Enjoy! And let me know what you think!

Shuron Sunglasses!

I found out the answer to my earlier post on sunglasses. The cool glasses Malcolm McDowell wore on MENTALIST were Shuron's, an American frame maker since 1865, right in Greenville, SC. Steve McQueen wore them, Malcom X wore Ronsirs, Buddy Holly wore the Freeways, and MacArthur aviators were made for the U.S. Air Force during WW 2. Kevin Costner and Shia LaBoef have both worn them in movies. They can be made as regular glasses or sunglasses. My son Nate, who is obsessed with Aviators, just has to get a pair of MacArthurs. Cool Hand Luke.

CBS, The Mentalist: Brett Stiles' character'S SUNGLASSES

Did anyone watch THE MENTALIST last week? Malcolm McDowell's "Brett Stiles" character wore the coolest sunglasses! Here's a picture. The first one to tell me what Brand and style they are gets a....well, you get a ....What WOULD you like?

Magazines: Please Use Stickers

I love magazines. I love to browse through them, and get ideas on women's and men's fashion, home furnishes, gardening, books, etc.
There's one magazine and one magazine feature they use, that I wish ALL magazines would use. And that's LUCKY magazine, and their use of STICKERS to tag your favorites' pages.


Dear EveryMagazine: especially ones that feature clothes, furnishings, books, etc: Could you start adding the STICKERS feature to EVERY MAGAZINE? It would make REMEMBERING for shopping so much easier.
I HEART MAGAZINE STICKERS.

LOSE FOR GOOD, PART TWO

Today is Lose-A-Palooza – a one-day social media event to help raise awareness and encourage participation in the Lose For Good® campaign! For every accepted mention of “Lose For Good” made on Facebook, blogs, Twitter and check-ins via foursquare, Weight Watchers will donate $1 – up to $60,000* - as part of the Lose for Good® donation.

LOSE FOR GOOD

Calling all Weight Watcher members. WW is holding an event called LOSE FOR GOOD. For every pound you lose, donate a pound of food to the food shelves set up at WW centers, and WW will donate up to a million dollars to match the weight lost, and food given. It's a WIN -WIN. As you lose, others will gain. Help stamp out hunger. LOSE FOR GOOD.
Check out this website for more info: WeightWatchers.com/LoseForGood.

I'm Back!!!!!

Yep...It's been 3 months. Why, you wonder? Why, I wonder!!! Well...it doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm posting TODAY!
And what I'm posting about is Brian Williams, newsman for NBC Nightly News. He is the best dresser on any nightly news channel [minus Julie Nelson on Kare 11, 6 pm news....but she doesn't count.] Brian, hands down, is the best dresser.
Women, if you want to know how to dress your man for a fancy occasion, take notes from Brian. Especially his ties. Tonight he wore a lavender with black, or navy blue stripe. It was gorgeous. He's a better dresser than Obama or anyone in his cabinet. The White House should take notes on him. Press Secretary to the White House, Robert Gibbs, also should take note of how Brian Williams dresses.
Men: here's your role model for 'dress' man-fashion: Brian Williams. Amen
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#38437569

My Apologies

How does it happen that you lose your way, and forget to write on your blog. Writing is one of my favorite activities. How do I let this happen to myself?

And I have so much I want to write about. And then I do my knee therapy exercises, eat, clean, and then it's time to nap, and then exercise, and then my day is over, and time to start dinner.

Oh the dilemma. I am going to try to be more faithful with this. O Blog, I do miss thee.

Nate and Sarah are Engaged!

Nate and Sarah are engaged. The illustrious Chris Knox took this engagement picture.
We are beyond excited about their wedding, July 23. One of my favorite things about weddings is my family will come visit. Weddings are the only things that can attract them to Minneapolis. After Nate gets married, I will have one more son to marry off. One more visit by my family. I wish I had ten more children. Oh well, I will be content with three visits from my family. Family, I look forward to seeing you July 22, hopefully, for Groom's Dinner. Hopefully at the Riverboat Grill. See you then! Bring some Off, to fend off the Minnesota State Bird.

Weight Watcher CEO David Kirchhoff, sweet story...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Note to self: put it all in perspective
I will admit to the fact that I sometimes throw myself pity parties (sometimes even bashes) when I think about the hard work of staying on program. I have SO many obstacles and SO many derailers to sticking with the program: e.g., endless travel, lack of good food choices at Bob's Big Boy, etc. Then I meet someone who helps me put it all in perspective, and I use it as an opportunity to shut up and quietly get back to living happily in a healthy way.

(Jean & I with her new book)A couple of weeks ago, I went down to Boca Raton, FL to attend a book signing and joint interview with Jean Nidetch. She's 86 now, and she still has the energy of 86 people. I've had the chance to read her new book (available in meetings), and I recommend it HIGHLY to all who have the chance. It is an excellent reminder as to why the soft stuff is what ultimately matters in successful and sustainable weight loss, and it is an excellent reminder as to why meetings rock. Effectively all of the profits of the book sales go to Jean, so I have no ulterior motive in supporting it. But I digress (as I often do). The book signing event in Boca was attended by a bunch of local area Leaders and Receptionists from our meetings. In many cases, they brought a member or two so they could meet Jean. One of the Leaders, Vicki Thomas (on the left), brought a very special member by the name of Kimberly Marino (on the right). Kimberly is special for a variety of reasons: she's a joyful, kind, energetic, hard working and enthusiastic person. At age 34, she also happens to have the developmental disability of Down syndrome.
I did not realize that people who have Down syndrome are statistically much more likely to suffer from an overweight or obese condition. It seems that this is primarily due to the fact that people who have Down syndrome also tend to have a lower basal metabolic rate. With this in mind, some of our local staff in the Palm Beach area worked with the local Goodwill to begin providing Weight Watchers for people who have developmental disabilities including Down syndrome. The effort has been funded by the State of Florida, and 24 people have now gone through the program. Kimberly was one of those people. At a relatively young age, Kim had to have a total hip replacement which disallowed her from doing an exercise for a long period of time. At only five feet tall, her weight jumped to 157 pounds. To help with the recovery of her hip operation, Kim's mother had her enrolled in the Weight Watchers program so she could learn about better food choices and proper portions. Kim attended regular Weight Watchers meetings and had the immediate support of all the members in her meeting. During her first week, she lost 5 pounds to the wild cheers of her group. She was hooked. She has since gone on to lose 52 pounds and keep it off for two years. She has done so despite having a second hip replacement operation. Today, she loves to shop, and she is a regular exerciser. She regularly puts in 10K steps EVERY day, reportedly while signing Celine Dion loudly. She approaches her healthy life with joy and enthusiasm. She is a reminder to me about why I love to work for Weight Watchers, and she is a reminder to me that a healthy life is a gift, not a punishment. Kim. You rock hard and successfully.Cheers,David

Good Health for the Family

Now through February 15, LIFETIME FITNESS is waiving the enrollment fee for family add-ons.* Add a family member to your Single, Couple or Family membership for $0 enrollment fee. Lifetime is a great place to do family and friend festivities: date nites, play times with kids, friend-fitness fun. Many of the centers have outdoor pools, and there's nothing better in Minnesota winters, than looking forward to summer, sun, water, lazy river, water slides, sand volleyball, reading a book/ while giving yourself your Vitamin D [it's really tanning, but who cares] and working off the pounds doing aqua-run in the lap lanes. Summer, here we come!

Wanna Lose Weight? Come to Weight Watchers!

Weight Watchers Unite! Every Saturday in February, EVERYWHERE in the US, Weight Watchers will be hosting an Open House. ALL ARE WELCOME! This is free, risk-free, non-commitment way to check out Weight Watchers. Bring a friend; share with a colleague, or forward information to all 'your people.'

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO THE OPEN HOUSE AND YOU'RE COMING TO THE RIGHT PLACE FOR WEIGHT LOSS! Saturday's in February, from 1-4: Get a mini- meeing: Learn all about how to lose weight: perks: Goodie bags, raffle for prizes, learn about Body Mass Index range calculatng, and more. Moms: lose that baby weight. Young people, get that body ready for summer. Older people: get your health managed. Don't miss it, if you're interested in Weight Loss.

Trivia: Did you know that in Nanjing, China, on Saturday January 16th, there was a Weight Watchers Open House and they had 7 enrollments and now have over 150 members in a brand new center! And no one know about Weight Watchers yet in China.

Fashion and Christian Dior

I found a favorite website of my fashionable niece, Teen Fashionista. On her Twitter, she tweeted about one of her favorite blogs to follow: Unabashedly Prep. Out of curiousity I linked it, and though I didn't groove on the sight like Casey does, I did find a great quote by Christian Dior. "It isn't money that makes you well-dressed; it is understanding." Now, the quote is wonderful, but so is this blogger's page. Check out this darling font, and way to comment. I could comment all day in this fun venue.

Pray for Haiti

Dear Friends, I appeal to you to pray for Haiti, today, this week, this month, this year. They need help, but NOW, more than ever. Turn to a news channel, let your heart be touched. It is not a coincidence that Evergreen is collecting money, to pack food, for starving children in Haiti, simultaneously with this great tragedy in Haiti. God allowed the earthquake for a reason, and Now, we can be the hands and feet and pockets of Jesus, and join Him in how He wants to show Love and Relief in Haiti.

If you've joined Evergreen in the desire to raise $200 by appealing to 'your people' to GIVE, then be faithful to finish the job. [I'm talking to myself here, too! I'm not done raising my $200.] And make sure you invite your people to join you in the packing of the food, in February. Your people, honestly, would LOVE to do this. Be strong and courageous. The battle is not yours, it's the Lord's.

And pray the 'Africa prayer' , by inserting the name 'Haiti.' God Help Haiti. Pray it often. It's easy. When your thoughts turn to Haiti, send up a 'God Help Haiti.' James 5: 16 says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." It's true. As Nike says, "Just DO it." God Help Haiti! And God help us raise $200 each, and get our people to Evergreen to help us pack. Just imagine what a wonderful manifold effect it would have on your people. Imagine. It could be life-changing.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY! What a great God, that He lets us...He invites us, to join HIM in what He's doing on this earth. It's truly humbling. Rock on!

Half-Price Gifts: Buy now for those White Elephants!

After Christmas clearance! Gotta love it! My son came home the other day with a find he was proud of: a darling burnt wood Tic Tac Toe game, coffee-table sized. The perfect stocking stuffer cried out: "Run to Starbucks now, and buy five, for all those parties next year, where you're asked to bring a White Elephant gift."

Really, do your shopping now, for all those stocking stuffer, white elephant needs you'll have. There are gems galore, just waiting for you. Just make sure your storage closet is big enough, or that you have enough storage bins. Or better yet: run to Home Depot, or The Container Store and be a good boy/ girl scout, and be prepared.

75% off all Coldwater Creek

If you like Coldwater Creek, through today, Jan. 6, they have 75% off all product on their on-line site. I just discovered this on my WW staff site. Happy Shopping!