Newsletter - May 2012 for Barnstable & Plymouth Counties
Area Captains
Newsletter May 2012 for Barnstable & Plymouth Counties
Barbara Pacheco...7
Autumn Way Bourne, MA... 508-833-8805... e-mail
bptops@aol.com
It's a petition to have chocolate reclassified a vegetable
WHERE
DO I SIGN????
Hope all is well with everyone. By now your chapter should have elected
and installed their new officers or in some cases the "old officers".
If your chapter has not sent in
the L-001 officers chart and or the maintenance fee please do so
immediately. Any questions ...please call
I want to thank those of you who attended our IW on Saturday April 21st.
We had 100 people. As long
as you keep coming Gail and I will be there.
Next event is
SATURDAY MAY 12, 2012.
A walk along the Cape Cod
Canal. There will be a registration table and water. Directions from the
north are: Route 3 take exit 1A before the bridge down ramp left side,
first set of lights take a left, next set of lights take a right, follow
road past Friendly's to Sagamore Recreation area. If the paved parking
lot is full go to the next opening there is parking on the lawn.
Coming down Route 495 to 25 take exit 3 route 6 (Bourne, Hyannis)
(Follow signs that say Sagamore Bridge) halfway around rotary you will
now be on Scenic Highway (which
runs along the canal). Follow signs that say Scusset Beach 3 North.
Intersection before Dunkin Donuts take a right at the lights follow road
past Friendly's to Sagamore Recreation area. If the paved parking lot is
full go to the next opening there is parking on the lawn.
I would like of all you who have access to a computer.... go to
matops.com. This is a new MA website created by Dave Lavigne from 485
Chicopee. Lots of
information and a great way to
stay in touch for upcoming events and TOPS news.
Thanks Dave for a job well done
and much appreciated.
As always, send me any chapters news, recipes, contests, that you would
like to share with other chapters. We are all in TOPS for the same
reason to support and encourage our fellow members as we take and keep
off pounds sensibly.
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH:
The life you live... is the lesson you teach
I would like to share an article that I recently read by Caryn
Welz-Ritchie. Read this to
your members and when you are through ask them what their thoughts are.
Are you
headed in the right direction to reach your weight loss goal?
As I was doling out my morning pills, a task that increases in time
every year, I dropped one of the pills on the floor. I stepped back to
find it and realized that as in life, sometimes you need to step back
and look at the larger picture to find what you are looking for. It
is very easy to get bogged down in the small details
of our daily lives. When this happens you lose sight of your true
goals. I encourage everyone to live each day in the present but also
have at least one...one
year goal and one... five
-year goal. How do you know where you are heading or when you have
gotten there if you don't have anything in mind?
Time seems to pass so quickly that months and sometimes years are wasted
floundering because you don't have a plan. Saying I will get to it
soon isn't really a plan. Goals don't have to be huge; they just
need to be something you want to accomplish. The goal can be as
simple as
adding
more
vegetables
to your diet or
as
complicated
as planning
your
retirement. The
key
is
to
be
able
to
plan
while also
living
your
current
life. What
helps
me
plan
is
visualization
and
motivation.
I
visualize
what
I
want
to
make
happen and
then
I
research
as
much
as
I
can
about
how
to
achieve
that. Research
can
be
merely
talking to
your
friends
and
family
about their
ideas.
First,
take
a
step
and
figure
out
the
purpose
of your
goal.
Enlist
the
help
of others
to
support
you
in
achieving
it.
Write
down
the
path
you want
to
take
and
any
obstacles you
might
face.
Always
leave room
for
additional
obstacles. Set
aside a time
every
day
or every
week
to
review
your progress.
You
need
to
keep
your goal
current
and
alive
in
your mind, but
you
do
not
want
to obsess
about
it
so
that
you
are not
living
and
enjoying
each present
day.
In
order
for
us
to grow,
our goals
need
to
constantly
change
and
adjust.
Deciding
when
the right
time
to
pursue
a
goal
is very
important.
Goals
keep us
focused
in life.
They
force
us
to
look
at
our past
and
use
those
experiences
to learn
from.
They
take
our
present
circumstances
and use
them as
building
blocks
and
they
help
us to
dream
about what
we
want
for
our
future. It
really
is
up to
us
to
make
our
life
all
we
want
it
to
be.
You
can use the following article for a program
Find out which healthy-sounding foods aren't actually good for your
health.
Many
foods sound
healthier than they really are. You can avoid being fooled by health
halos if you know what to look for. Here are some of the worst offenders
for "healthy" foods that really aren't.
ENERGY BARS
Energy bars
usually contain protein and fiber—nutrients that help you feel full—but
also may be loaded with calories. That’s fine if you occasionally make
one a meal, but most of us eat them as snacks. You might as well enjoy a
Snickers, which at 280 calories is in the same range as many energy
bars.
LESSON LEARNED: If
you need something to tide you over until dinner, look for a
calorie-controlled
bar with about 5 grams of protein (e.g., Balance 100-calorie bar, Promax
70-calorie bar).
GRANOLA
Granola sounds
healthy.
But it’s often high in fat, sugar and calories. Don’t be fooled by a
seemingly reasonable calorie count;
portion sizes
are usually a skimpy 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 cup. Low-fat versions often just swap
sugar for fat and pack as many calories as regular versions.
LESSON LEARNED: Read
granola labels carefully and stick with recommended portion sizes (which
are teeny), perhaps as a topping on fruit or yogurt.
SALADS
“Salads trip up many of my clients,” says my friend Anne Daly, R.D.,
director of nutrition and diabetes education at the Springfield Diabetes
& Endocrine Center in Springfield, Illinois. Most of us could use more
vegetables—so what’s not to love? In a word, toppings. The pecans and
Gorgonzola cheese on Panera Bread’s Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (580
calories, 30 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat) propel it into
double-cheeseburger territory. A McDonald’s
double cheeseburger
has 440 calories, 23 grams fat, 11 grams saturated fat.
LESSON LEARNED: Before ordering a salad, check its
nutrition information
plus that of the dressing and all add-ons (often, they’re listed
separately).
SMOOTHIES
Smoothies may seem like a tasty way to help get your recommended fruit
servings—but studies show that beverages are less filling per
calorie
than solid foods. And added sugars can make some the equivalent of
drinking fruit pie filling: the smallest (16-ounce) serving of Jamba
Juice’s Orange Dream Machine weighs in at 340 calories, with 69 grams of
sugars that don’t all come from orange juice. You’re better off with
fresh-squeezed juices; orange juice has 110 calories per cup.
LESSON LEARNED: Some
smoothies
pack as many calories as a milkshake. Look for those made with whole
fruit, low-fat yogurt and no added sugars.
YOGURTS
Yogurt is a great way to meet your calcium needs, but not all are
created equally. Some premium whole-milk yogurts can give you a hefty
dose of
saturated fat.
Shop around: many low-fat versions of these products are every bit as
creamy. Enjoy a fruit-flavored low-fat yogurt, but understand that the
“fruit” is really jam (i.e., mostly sugar). Or opt for low-fat plain and
stir in fresh fruit or other sweetener to suit your taste; you’ll
probably use less. My favorite, a tablespoon of Vermont maple syrup (52
calories), provides all the sweetness I need.
LESSON LEARNED:
Although they are still good sources of calcium, some yogurts can be
closer to dessert than to a
healthy
snack. Don’t let fat and added sugars spoil a good thing.
