As a chef’s wife, I am constantly having to raise the bar on nightly dinners. Not that chefs are hard to please; quite the contrary. A little known secret about fancy-schmancy chefs is that because they spend their day cooking gourmet food, when they come home, really, all they want is a sandwich and a cold beer.

However, I’m competitive, and I like showing off in the kitchen. So imagine my surprise when looking for recipes using pomegranates (which are in season right now and are gorgeous, not to mention full of anti-oxidants), I found a fantastic recipe on Weight Watcher’s website! Using POM pomegranate juice, which I love; fresh beets, which I always want to get but am flummoxed by what to do with them; and citrus (on sale right now-Yes!), this side dish is only 5 points, and extremely satisfying. In fact, I found very little variance from how a chef would prepare this dish, and the recipe, other than that a chef would probably add Extra Virgin Olive oil and some crumbled goat or feta cheese at the finish, for a mediterranean flavor.

Don’t worry about the quality of the port wine that you use in the recipe, just get the least expensive. But do get the Ruby port, and not the Tawny. “Tawny” refers to the winemaking method whereby the port is aged in wood, so when the wine reduces (cooks down) in the recipe, you could be left with some bitter flavors. “Ruby” is always what you want to look for when buying port wine for cooking. And note that cooking wine eliminates the alcohol, which reduces the calories!

I’m off to go have fun in the kitchen! Catch up with you later……

Check out more healthy Weight Watchers recipes here.

Have you ever gotten in your car and started driving, not really sure where you were going? What happened? Did you just drive around aimlessly, wasting gas and precious time? Well, that is what trying to lose weight without clear goals is like. It’s a waste of time and precious resources, all at the expense of your weight loss confidence.

A great acronym to remember is S.M.A.R.T. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Trackable. When setting any kind of goal for yourself, compare it to this checklist. Here’s an example.

“I will never eat chocolate again”. Specific? Yes. Measurable? Uh, maybe, depends on if you keep a food journal. A piece of chocolate, once consumed, is easily forgotten in a matter of minutes. Attainable? Sure, as long as you make sure to never purchase chocolate again, even if your family begs. Realistic? Hmmmm, not so much. What happens when it’s yours (or someone’s close to you) birthday? What about that never ending candy bowl at work? Vending machine calling your name? Okay. So the goal fails the test; how can we reshape it?

How about “I will enjoy chocolate as a once-a-week reward, and will reduce my fat intake on that day to compensate….” This reshaped goal has all the markings of being S.M.A.R.T., and by tracking the intake, whether on your to- do list, your journal or even your checkbook register, you have now implemented one of the most important, yet most overlooked, success strategies for life-long weight loss management; setting goals is your road map to success!

Just try and say that five times fast! And when you’re done, start doing it, as all kinds of diet programs vouch for the success that writing down your food intake can bring. Bodybuilders do it, Jenny Craigers and Weight Watchers do it, and now there are programs cropping up that are nothing more than journal support groups. How does writing it down work? Let’s take a look.

When you need to get something done, do you write a note to yourself? Of course you do! So why not put at the top of that list “lose weight” or “maintain weight”? Isn’t that just as important as picking up the dry cleaning? In fact, why bother picking up the dry cleaning at all if you can’t fit into it? Making healthy weight management a “to-do” sets the wheels in motion.

So now you are cruising along, you’ve started your program, and things are going great. You’re motivated, you are feeling lighter, and you are looking forward to reaching your goal. Wanna know a secret? Professional athletes of every sport take the time to write down DAILY what they did that day to develop their skills, how they felt, how they slept, and yes, what they ate. Why do they do this? One, because their trainer teaches them and tells them to, but two, because they know that by writing it down, they are creating awareness for themselves as to what is working and what is not. Even athletes have a strong inner-critic; in fact, that inner critic is probably what drives them to great success. But the difference between you controlling the inner-critic and the inner-critic controlling you, is writing it down, analyzing the situation, and closing the book until the next meal, allowing you to focus on other important areas of your life.

There is a reason why CEOs have an accounts payable department. If every CEO could just write checks willy-nilly, rather than having to ask AP for a check, he/she would easily overspend the cash flow. A successful dieter needs to be their own accounts payable, and before they “spend” their calories on something they are about to eat, they need to ask themselves “can I afford this?” . Use your journal as a “check book”, to keep a check on your food choices. If you don’t like doing it, well, experts say you are probably the person who needs it the most. Need more encouragement? It’s free, and it works.

… and I can’t help it. I bite pencils, I bite my children (not hard, more like a love nip), and I love foods that I can bite into, like crisp carrots or chewy licorice. And I’m not alone. Time and time again, today’s dieter is demanding a wider variety of healthy snacks to supplement their menu plan, while satisfying the need to chew. If you are a biter too, then you need to bite into Glenny’s snack line. Made in New York with only the finest ingredients, you can find chips, oven baked fries, bars and brownies which not only support your weight loss program, but they are healthy and delicious. I love having healthy snacks around for my boys to grab, and nothing about Glenny’s screams “diet”, making them perfect for the whole family.

The marshmallow treat is gluten-free, dairy-free (vegan) and certified kosher. I’m particularly impressed with the company’s committment to source non-genetically modified soy, a hot topic that many “healthy” snacks seem to ignore. Check them out here, and let us know what you think.

I’m one of those spring cleaners who get an early start, as in, as soon as the kids are back in school. So there I was cleaning out a tote bag, and lo and behold, I found my iPod! I was afraid I had lost it, so when I found it again, it was like finding a $20 dollar bill in the dryer.

As a 40-year old mother of two, I struggle to find time for physical activity. However, today was a different story. Since I found my iPod two days ago, I put it in my messenger bag, which I take with me everywhere I go. Then this morning, just like every other morning, I took my 8-year old to school via the public bus, dropped him off, and then picked up my morning coffee. As I was paying for the coffee, I saw the iPod, got excited, and put in my earbuds. Immediately, the sweet sounds of Prince filled my head, and my mood lifted. I smiled at a perfect stranger, and had to suppress my urge to dance. As I moved towards the bus stop for the return trip home, I heard a voice in my head say “let’s walk instead!”, and I listened.

Two miles later, made effortless by the dulcid tones of Tom Jones and Sheryl Crow, I’m home and I’m pumped, realizing that had I not had my iPod with me, I would have missed out on the perfect opportunity to burn about 250 calories. To find out how you can rekindle your iPod romance, click here.