Slim People in Progress

Low point tacos from Trader Joes

Always on the look out for low point alternatives, my latest, favorite low point meal features all ingredients from Trader Joe's.

2 mini corn tortillas - 1 point

2 tablespoons of fat-free spicy black bean dip - 0 points

2 oz. of lean ground turkey - 1 point

2 tablespoons of Corn & Chile Tomato-less salsa - 1 point (my new favorite salsa!)

Split the ingredients on to the two tortillas which you have warmed up.  Makes two mini tacos for 3 points. And, they're really yummy with a bit of a bite.

Buddies

Buddies was the theme of my weekend. At Saturday's Weight Watchers meeting, a woman asked for help with motivation after putting on 10 pounds. I won't get into my amatur psychological assessment of why I think she never loses weight (in the 2 years I've been going to the same meeting), or why she gained weight. But she asked for help and others willingly shared their tips.

I asked her if she had a friend who was in a similar place, overweight and diabetic. She said yes and I suggested she ask her friend for help. 

This is the single most important factor in my success with Weight Watchers.  I have a buddy. We go to the meetings every week together. We work out together. We talk about our challenges and successes.  We cheer on the good days and give pep talks on the difficult days. I could not have done it without my buddy. I still need my buddy for when I lapse (which is a lot lately).

Gratitude Dance

One of the topics occassionally covered in Weight Watchers meetings is to look at what you have vs. what you don't have; what you've accomplished vs. what can't be changed that happened in the past. To that end, it's a good idea to dwell on gratitude once in a while. 

Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't go in for the motivational platitudes and pep talks, but there is something to reflecting and ackledging all the wonderful things you do have in your life.  By way of the Wellness Coach blog, I found this funny video about doing the Gratitude Dance.

I'm grateful for: my family, my wonderful supportive friends, my WW buddy, my running buddies, my good health, my cats, having a roof over my head, being able to work at home doing what I love everyday, my business partner, being an American and being able to disagree with my government and not getting thrown in jail for it, the Internet.  There's more but I'll stop there for now.

What are you grateful for?

The Biggest Losers Can Keep it Off

I love watching The Biggest Loser.  It's inspirational to see these people lose so much weight and look so fabulous, in addition to the health benefits losing weight can bring.  My concern and the big question is, can they keep it off?  As the new season starts, there's lots of articles and publicity to increase viewership.  Here's a great picture gallery by Yahoo that shows it is possible to keep it off.

Ten of the Biggest Losers are pictured with tips from trainer Jillian.  Click here.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Stops by Westside TNT

On Labor Day weekend, our Westside Team in Training group was graced with a visit by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger while he was out for a leisurely day in Santa Monica with his wife Maria Shriver.

Their home is in Santa Monica or Brentwood and apparently they were out for a drive, saw our TNT group and stopped by for chat and some water (that's the day it was so hot I didn't think I would make it back).  I missed them since I'm a slow-poke and was still running.

Our team manager, Susan (lower right) is going to follow up with Governor Schwarzenegger since he said he would make a contribution to our team goal to raise $300,000. I have just under $500 left to raise to meet my personal goal of $4,000.