Tools, Tools, Tools

Today’s meeting focused on tools.    Our leader made a very good analogy to stress how we all need tools to get the job done.  She said when her husband needs to cut the grass he uses tools – lawn mower, edger, and blower to clean up afterwards.  He couldn’t do a proper job of mowing the grass without these tools.  We can’t do a proper job of losing weight without some tools as well.

Weight Watchers offers all kinds of tools to help us.  Whether you prefer paper (Complete Food Guide, Dining Out Companion, tracking diary) and a calculator, using eTools or the WW apps on a mobile device – with these tools at your disposal you can’t help but succeed.

eTools has several sections I find helpful but my favorite section is the Recipe Builder.  You can look up ingredients or if you have the nutritional information you can enter that into the calculator and then tell it how many servings the recipe make.  eTools will calculate how many points in a serving.  You can then add it directly to your tracker online.   As our leader reminded us the other week – it is important to remember that when you cook fruits or vegetables it changes the molecular structure of them and therefore the points change.  The recipe builder takes that into consideration.  It has been very helpful for me as some recipes I thought I had weren’t as “healthy” or low point as I first thought.  By using the recipe builder I know I’m getting a more accurate point tracking than I would if I didn’t use it.

A member at our Saturday meeting said she liked the Cheat Sheet section of eTools.   Cheat Sheets can help you realize how where you are spending your points – the salad bar, pizza, breakfast, Mexican, and even cocktails.  You can either drag and drop items and watch the points add up or use comparisons to see what you like compared to healthier options.  I think this section is very big eye opener.  Everyone thinks salad is not only a healthy choice but one that probably doesn’t have many points.  You’d be surprised when you start adding things like avocado, croutons, cheese, grilled chicken just how quick those points increase.

Another member said she really liked all the great recipes.  I agree.  You can find recipes in the Food & Recipes section or in the Recipe Swap under Community.  You’ll never run out of options for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks.

I personally love eTools and still haven’t discovered everything it has to offer.  I’m sure there are more tools there that will help me with my journey.  So if you have a monthly payment plan you have access to eTools – so add it to your healthy toolbox!

“One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop.” – G. Wellacher (the quote that ended our meeting today – just had to borrow it)