I keep a small notebook with me at the meetings - the Bravo stickers go on the outside, and notes/recipes etc go on the inside. It's much easier than keeping up with weekly handouts! There's usually one or two things that are said or shared that ring true with me, or is something that I otherwise don't want to forget!

This week, we talked about power foods and cravings. Our leader said "Don't listen to your taste buds, listen to your stomach. If you are craving carbs, your stomach wants grains or beans - not chips. If you are craving sugar, your body needs naturally occurring sugar in fruits and dairy, not Oreos." She says eating junk will not satisfy the body's crave, it will only satisfy the taste bud craving - and we'll keep craving until we give the body something that it can work with.

How about you? Anything good you brought home this week?

What great advice! I don't go to the meetings anymore, but I still need the support. It really helped to read what your leader said about sugar and carbs. Going to buy a big bag of apples now.

Thank you!

That is a great way to look at the whole craving issue!!! I need to ingrain that in my head somewhere!

Wow, that's awesome advice regarding cravings. I'm going to have to remember that and keep a short list of items that will fulfill the needs in a healthier way.

I find that when I am not eating enough protein, my sweet tooth will rage. Seems odd, but helps to work on curing the root cause.

Good thought about grains/beans for carbs, I will keep that in mind! Thanks for sharing.

Oh gosh, yesterday was chock full of info. I wrote as fast as I could, but I still missed some things:

First of all, the leaders had their annual meeting - for those of you that are collecting stickers for attending meetings, we got a sneak peek at the gym bag - it's nice. It's black, and has Weight Watchers written on the side - it's the size of a small gym bag - If you use a bigger gym bag or don't use one at all, it looks like it would be a good overnight bag.

Also, we heard that there will be no changes to the points system for 2013!! All the same formulas but they will be printing new materials for 2013. All current food points will remain the same.

They are coming out with something called Active Link - I didn't get too many details, but it sounds like a Body Bugg. It's a 24 hour tracker for your activity levels, which will upload to your e-tools. As far as I know, it will calculate your activity points for you and add them to your allowances. Nice! I don't have a cost or a date.

Here are my holiday survival tips from the leader - I posted in the holiday thread, but will copy:

For us, yesterday's meeting was supposed to be all about the Active Link, but my area was one of the test areas for AL, so we've had it around since the summer. Because of that, my leader talked about Active Link for a bit since it was the nationwide release of it and she had to, but then she segued into some Thanksgiving survival tips as well since our meeting is on Saturdays, so it will happen after Thanksgiving.

I think the most important thing that I took from yesterday's meeting was scoping out the holiday dinner and use my points accordingly. In other words, if I can have rolls whenever, I can skip the roll and use those points on something that doesn't show up as frequently....like a small piece of dessert It made sense though!!

Hahahaha, I like the "it's a holiday not a holimonth."

I'm making dessert this year, mini pumpkin cheesecakes. They are made in muffin tins so great single serving option. And I'm definitely planning on going for a run Thursday morning

This past week was all about holiday parties and family gatherings. A lot of it didn't pertain to me because I'm self employed and won't be subjected to big potlucks at work, and gee, I can't remember the last time I went to a party that wasn't family. But here is what stood out to me:

Don't drink alcohol with dinner. Save it for dessert, or a social drink afterwards.

If drinking, stick with light beer and wine, or simple cocktails - avoid big sugary drinks like Mudslides, Margaritas, etc.

Bring healthy dishes - we've all heard this one but still good to remember, and STICK WITH when planning what to bring. (I'm talking to myself here - my most requested holiday favorites are through the roof in points!)

Walk around and look at the food first, and then go back with a plate and a game plan. Get small amounts of what is important to you, and try and fill the rest of the plate with lighter point foods. Your plate will be healthier if you just look first.

Decide what's more important - dinner or dessert, and plan accordingly. If people notice that one plate is small, just say 'I'm saving room for a big dessert' or 'I'm stuffed from dinner, so just a small dessert for me.'

Leave the crust behind on pies - in some cases, that can cut your points in half!

If the focus is too heavily in to food, lock yourself in the bathroom and read a chapter of your favorite book. (I thought that was funny to see in the weekly circular.)

We have two work parties, one is this Saturday the other is in a few weeks and both are buffet/pot luck style. I definitely walk around and look at food first, but the rest is really good advice, too.

We talked about what our living spaces and cabinets looked like and how the can either contribute to a healthier life or contribute to weight gain, depending on what we had in them. This is so true. A couple weeks ago I went on a binge and was dreading weigh in, but the scale was only up .8 of a pound. When I thought back to what all I'd eaten I realized I had binged on what was in my house, kale chips, sweet potatoes and dry oatmeal (i can eat the whole canister of that stuff). So although I was up, it wasn't as bad as it would have been if I'd had crap in the house and binged on that instead.

Tikanique, that is great that you were only up a little. Hmm, never tried dry oatmeal alone. I like it on yogurt, though! Do you eat it all by it's lonesome?

I eat it dry. I'm really pitiful with dry oatmeal. It doesn't make sense to pour a bowl of dry oatmeal so I end up eating it by the handful throughout the course of the day. After a couple trips back and forth to the cabinet, my top is sprinkled with oatmeal dust. :-)