I sit in my 2007 Ford Mustang and enjoy the breeze, and the sun peeking in!  It was raining earlier.  Julie, LeAnne and myself were practically running to our cars after the Weight Watcher meeting.  We had 47 members today.  43 members stayed and supported each other; gave one another ideas of how to get their fruits and veggies in.
     I was the green bean and corn girl.  "Tomatoes make you sterile" was a message I received from my college boyfriend Jim.  Mushrooms are fungus!  Onions are slimy.  Cucumbers get bitter.  Celery gets stuck in my teeth.  Carrots make your lips orange.  Green peppers haunt me all day.  Remind me over mom's stuffed peppers and the years I would throw up on them because my gag reflux worked on DEMAND.
     Blanche, bless her heart, was my Weight Watcher leader.  I would boo hoo to her when the scale didn't move in the right direction.  She not only had her weight to worry about but I made her worry about mine too.  It took my broken heart to be able to soak up her counsel in the cracks.  When I was doing good, I didn't need to listen.  I needed to talk.  When I did "bad" I was super quiet in the group and that is when the lessons soaked in deeper than before.
     Blanche had done the program about 20 years by the time I tip toed into the weight watcher meeting at St. James Square.  I looked up to her, even though she is only about 4'11 or possibly 5'0.  She was the grandma I didn't have.  She took me aside and suggested that I broaden the horizons on 0 Pt foods.  What??  Veggies?  I do.  I eat 1 or 2 cans of green beans a day.  Iceburg lettuce and I are friends with about 1/4 cup of homemade ranch dressing.  Blanche, if you tell me I can't have ranch I will walk out this door and you will NEVER SEE ME!  She assured me I could in moderation, and make my own, just thin it up a bit.  Now I use 1 1/4 cup Fairlife skim (2SP per 8oz...13grms protein and 8 sugars instead of skim milk 13 sugars 8 proteins), 3/4 Cup Real Hellman's Mayo, and 3 Tbls Ranch dry (sometimes the fiesta ranch dry) and voila!  2 SP per serving.
     I took her advice.  I started putting veggies on my Subway sandwich.  I mean anything with bread and cheese is doable.  Here was my foot long turkey:  wheat, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, pickles, banana peppers, black olives, extra lettuce, and SPINACH leaves!  eeekkk!!  don't forget provolone cheese with ranch!  YAY!  It was basically a 20 Pt sandwich.  I had them to use.  I only ate a cup of oatmeal for breakfast!  or maybe a bagel with some FF cream cheese.
     Boy...have I learned so much more than that!  I suffered.  I plateaud forever.  I even gained, and was totally frustrated.  I wasn't doing anyone any favors.  BUT I DID try new veggies.  Now with Smart points fruit is also 0 pts.  I do find myself grabbing more and more fruits and veggies these days.  That is a key to a Healthy BMI for the rest of your life!  One of the routines we learned in WW 360 was to have produce with every meal and snack.  I teach that now!  Why?  Because its essential, and its a real struggle for most people.
     Produce with every meal and snack= SATIETY, VITAMINS, MINERALS, PHYTONUTRIENTS,  FIBER, FILLING, ENERGY, LOVE!  When you blend your fruits and veggies you lose the Fiber:Soluble and Insoluble.  You will get nutrition, and sugar.  Our bodies need to chew!  If you do choose to blend, you have to count the fruits and veggies into your Smart Points and if you are simply filling, you have to take them out of your weeklies.  I'm just the messenger!
     Come and visit more often and I will give you some more Holistic Self Care ideas.  Mind:Body:Spirt!