"Hi! My name is Tony."

Okay, well that is how a meeting is supposed to start. If you have been to any of my meetings you already know it doesn't always happen that way. I get excited, I talk too fast, I talk to slow (less often), I lose my train of thought, I verbalize parenthetical thoughts, I crack jokes, and mostly I try to have fun. I generally make it impossible to believe that I am a shy person. Yes, just not as shy as I use to be. More importantly I love Weight Watchers and hope that shines through past everything else.

Today when I went to WeightWatchers.com I noticed a side bar called "Ten Things You Should Know About Meetings". I hadn't logged in yet. I read the ten things, thought to myself, "Duh!", and continued to log in."DUDE, STOP! That's for newbies, info-gathers, you know, new members!"

It also dawned on my that they deserve repeating. So for your reading enjoyment, the ten things as discovered on WeightWatchers.com. These are ALWAYS true, all other evidence to the contrary and additional comments in brackets are exclusively mine.

10 Things You Should Know About Meetings
1) Each weigh-in is confidential [up until the point where you start screaming and dancing on the scale, please refrain from PDA's, slobber is not kind to electronics]
2) Meetings work for both women and men [Believe it...ipso facto]
3) There are no required foods...eat what you like []
4) Meetings are dynamic, diverse and fun [See above introduction]
5) Leaders have lost weight with Weight Watchers [I just realized I never posted my before pictures to the new site, coming soon]
6) You don't have to talk if you don't want to [Just give me the "deer in the headlights look" and I'll pretend I never saw you]
7) It's easy to find a meeting near you [Talking about the meeting finder tool at the website...look for "Alfred A L."]
8) There are lots of meeting times to choose from [See number 7]
9) Weight Watchers eTools is available [eTools are awesome, I added "Pan Fried Fish Sandwich" to my favorites just today]
10 There are many flexible payment options to choose from [Plus free registration through March 14]

Link: http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=4&art_id=34711&sc=808

January 2009 has arrived, and with it, weight gain and resolutions. Is that as bad as it sounds? Maybe not.

According to Karen Miller-Kovach in an article titled "Holiday Weight Gain and the Benefit of a New Year's Resolution" (WeightWatchers.com search term "resolutions") although it is a popular belief that an average adult gains between 5 to 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and new years studies show the average to be a little less than a pound. What is true is that study participants who did have weight gain of 5 pounds or more, were more likely to be overweight than those who gained less. Additionally, without corrective action, the weight gainers tended to gain additional weight throughout the year with the majority coming from that initial 6 week period. So can resolutions help? It seems so. After six months, 46 percent of the resolution makers were successful compared to just 4 percent of the people who did not make resolutions.

So, What is your Resolution? Write it down, talk about. Resolutions are another way of saying Winning Outcomes and goals so don't forget the guideline we discussed in our meetings. (By Member Request. Link to url may require e-tools subscription. Want more information about Weight Watchers/eTools? CLICK HERE.)

You asked for it and here it is. The Basic Tomato Sauce Recipe from the Weight Watchers TurnAround food plan Getting Started Week 1 book. I put the recipe into the recipe builder to confirm the points value and that it is a Filling Food. The recipe is in pdf format. Buon appetito!

So, yesterday I ate 42 grams of dietary fiber. That is from my food, no additives or capsules involved. My breakfast alone had 28g, I do love Fiber One! I am use to it. The first program I really liked was called "Fat and Fiber" after all. In an article on WeightWatchers.com entitled "Why Fiber Is Your Friend" by S. Kirk Walsh we are told:

According to the National Academy of Sciences, the recommended intake for adult Americans is 25 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams per day for men. Currently, the average American consumes about 10 to 12 grams per day, less than half of the recommended allowance.

Want to learn more search for "fiber" on weightwatchers.com or try this ecourse on about.com called "Basic Nutrition Lesson Two - Fiber". There's a quiz at the end. I scored 13 right out of 14, 92%, and I didn't read the eCourse !

Link: http://www.weightwatchers.com/plan/apr/index.aspx

It's out! Well if you are a Monthly Pass member or eTools subscriber. In an email I received today we were introduced to the new food plan! Login to your account to start learning about it today. Not a Monthly Pass member or eTools subscriber? Click the link above for a preview. As the email reads, "...arrives at your Weight Watchers meeting on Sunday, December 7, 2008."