Visualize Your Success...and Stay Positive!!!

I hope that your work week went well this past week.  I apologize for the tardiness of this week’s issuance, but I had some minor surgery on Wednesday and had to take a couple of days of downtime to recover.  I am fine, and everything went well.  The only thing I seem to be struggling with is some annoying lower back pain, which ironically manifested itself when I woke up on the morning of the procedure!  So, the surgery didn’t cause most of the discomfort…it was my stupid back!  Yeesh!  It’s always something.

Well, as I let everyone know, last week began the Days of Awe.   Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, began last week, and ends ten days later at sundown on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement this week.  It’s a time for both celebration and reflection.  Although I attended services for Rosh Hashanah, I wasn’t able to attend for Yom Kippur due to my recovery.  I think that the man upstairs will forgive me though.

I just found out that my writings both through this newsletter and through my blog online at http://elissasweightlossjourney.blogspot.com have inspired yet another person to take charge of their health and get back on track.  She joined Weight Watchers on 9/11 and has lost  3.6 pounds so far.  So proud of her! I know this journey isn’t easy, but I know she’ll do great!  Love the fact that I even got a shout out! LOL…  Another friend let me know that she bought a pair of jeans last year as a ‘target’, and had been trying them on each month to see if she could get back into them.  She tried and tried to get them zipped, with not much success…but when she tried again this weekend, not only did they zip, but she had room to spare!  What an accomplishment.  See? Not all victories have to have scale ties to them.  Take what you can, be happy, and CELEBRATE!!!!

I am looking forward to getting back into my regular routine, which includes the weekly beatings by Coach Dwayne.  I just need to take things a bit easily, and be mindful of the twingy back!  Ugh!  It stinks getting old.  I celebrate the big 43 this Wednesday. We’ll see how that goes. Speaking of birthdays…the wonderful husband gave me a great early birthday gift.  He didn’t want me going into my surgery on Wednesday totally stressed, so Tuesday night, he presented me with a very familiar ‘Tiffany’ blue box…when I opened it up, there was a silver ‘Return to Tiffany’ heart tag charm bracelet inside.  It actually made me cry.  I think I’ll keep him.  I really wanted this!!! He’s a pretty great guy. I plan to keep him!

The meeting topic last week dealt with being positive and visualizing your weight loss success.  We need to step back and appreciate the losses for what they are, no matter how big or how small. We are also human, so we should take those gains or slight ups in stride too.  Use that as feedback to show what didn’t work so well for you in the past week!

If you break down your goals into smaller steps, you’ll find that what might seem like a long journey becomes more manageable.  You can even make some pit stops along the way to celebrate how far you’ve already come!

Step 1 – Choose your destination: Ask yourself where you ultimately want to be.  Make sure your goal is specific, positive, within your control and a good fit with your life! It helps me to write it down too.

Step 2 – Determine your starting point: Wherever you happened to be, take stock.  We all may be at different points in our journey.  Think of people in your life who can help (or hinder) you, as well.

Step 3 – Watch out for detours: Along the way, you’ll probably face roadblocks and diversions.  Get ready for this by coming up with solutions before you need them.  If you should take a wrong turn? No problem.  Make a U-turn and get right back on plan!  Celebrate milestones with non-food rewards; this can make it easy to stay the course!

Step 4 – Keep on trucking! Get support from your friends and leaders. Track everything and revisit your goals.

…and remember…

“Slow and steady wins the race”

~ Aesop

RECIPES

Peach Cobbler with a Cinnamon Crust

I had purchased a flat of delicious juicy peaches from Costco last week.  Thanks to my friend Sonya for turning me on to these juicy gems.  We worked through most of them, but there were five left and they were going to meet an untimely death unless we did something with them.  I turned to my trusty friend... http://www.myrecipes.com/ for inspiration.  Lo and behold! I found it and here is what was done with them...

Some people think the crust is the best part. This recipe has plenty of it. It's baked separately and laid on top of the peaches--unorthodox, but crispy and flavorful nonetheless.

Yield: 10 servings at a POINTS® Value of 5 per serving. 

Ingredients:

1/4  cup  all-purpose flour

1  cup  sugar

3/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon, divided

6  cups  sliced peeled fresh ripe peaches or 2 (16-ounce) packages frozen sliced peaches (I used 5 large-ish peaches from Costco, blanched them quickly in boiling water, slipped the skins off, halved them, popped the pits out and sliced them)

Cooking spray

2  tablespoons  sugar

1/2 of a  (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury) This right here was worth the price of admission!!!

1  large egg white, lightly beaten

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Place the peaches in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with sugar mixture; let stand 30 minutes.

Combine 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Unfold 1 pie dough, reserving remaining dough for another use. Brush with egg white; sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Cut the dough into 16 wedges. Place the dough wedges, coated sides up, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden brown; set aside.

Bake peaches at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Arrange crust over peaches. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information:

 Calories: 236 (22% from fat); Fat: 5.7g (sat 2.4g,mono 0.1g,poly 0.1g); Protein: 2.1g; Carbohydrate: 45.5g;  Fiber: 2; Cholesterol: 4mg; Iron: 0.3mg; Sodium: 86mg; Calcium: 8mg