2014 New Year, New You Challenge: Week 4
Welcome to 2014! Here's to a new year and a fresh resolve to set yourself up for long-term success. Hint: It's easier than you think.
Article By: Elly Trickett McNerney
Couple eating soup
With its cold weather and post-holiday anticlimax (not to mention uncomfortably snug pants), January is not the kindest month. Why, then, do so many of us also spend the first few weeks beating ourselves up about what we ate and drank in December? Right here and now, we are officially declaring the holidays Behind Us, and are ready to help you focus on your goals for 2014. Whether you’re new to Weight Watchers, or simply looking for help you recommitting or sticking to the Plan, we’ll help you succeed.

Your goal might be a sizeable one, or it might be just a few pounds away. Whichever camp you fall into, contemplating a whole year stretched ahead of you can feel overwhelming. Instead of worrying about the next 12 months, take our Challenge to get a far more manageable set of activities, ideas and motivation. Head to the Community to participate in the Challenge with others looking to start the year off right.

Week 4

If you've checked off the previous weeks’ food challenges, then you’re planning meals ahead and trying new ingredients and recipes. Fantastic! But for seasoned cooks and kitchen newbies alike, it can sometimes feel like you’re spending a whole lot of time in the kitchen. You are worth it, but everyone needs a little help — and fun — from time to time.

So, here’s another way you can bring a sense of newness and reinvention to your daily life: Invite your spouse, kids, best friend, mom, anyone, into the kitchen with you. Especially someone who doesn’t normally get involved. If you’re lucky, they’ll be your sous chef, taking care of the less glamorous tasks like peeling vegetables, deboning a chicken (if they’re ambitious) or cleaning up after you (if you’re really lucky). But even if they’re a passive presence, while you’re working away, talk about what you’re cooking, what memories the food you’re preparing has for you, and if you’re with the kids, take the opportunity to give them a science lesson as well as a cooking one. If they know what the seeds actually do in a fruit, or why vegetables have roots, they’ll be much more inclined to eat it when it’s put in front of them at the dinner table.

You could take cooking with friends one step further by starting up your own meal-preparation club. Pick a half-dozen Weight Watchers recipes, list all the ingredients you’ll need (remembering to multiply quantities by the number of portions you want to make), figure out who has the herbs and spices you’ll need, and divvy up the shopping list among you to buy the rest. On the day itself, put on some music, set up an assembly line, maybe even pour a glass of wine and get cooking!

We hope this 4-week Challenge has started you off on the right foot this year. Remember to visit our Community for more great Challenges.