SELF CONTROL - CAN I DEVELOP IT??

Hi Everyone,

Self control - is it some elusive quality that we have or don't or can we develop it???

The answer is YES!! We can find both inner (mental) techniques and external (physical) behaviors that we can practice to strengthen self-control.

So where do we begin? Self control can be improved by paying attention to what's worked in the past, reconnecting to it and practicing it before challenging situations. What was happening in the past when you have felt in control. What can you learn from those experiences to use the next time. Last week we talked about Mental Rehearsing - walking through a coming situation in your mind and watching yourself succeed. Did you try it this week?

There are physical things we can do also. Taking care of our bodies' needs by making sure we don't get too hungry, keeping our environments Weight Watcher friendly and attending our weekly Weight Watcher meetings can help to strengthen our self control.

Our Week 4 book, Habits of Successful Members, suggests many techniques to help us strengthen our self control. Read through it again. Take the quiz in the beginning of the book and work on one or two of these techniques this week!!

APRICOT UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Makes 6 servings - 4 points per serving

6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice
1 (16 ounce) can apricot halves in juice, drained
6 refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (from a 7 1/2 ounce can)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Spray a 6 cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
2. Combine 5 tablespoons of the sugar, the lemon juice, and pie spice and in a small bowl. Spoon the sugar mixture evenly into the cups. Place 3 overlapping apricot halves, cut side up, in each cup. Then add 1 biscuit to each cup, gently pressing it along the side of the cup to adhere. Sprinkle each biscuit with 1/2 teaspoon of the remaining sugar.
3. Bake until the apricot mixture is bubbly and the biscuits are golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let the cakes stand in the pan 5 minutes. Invert the cakes on a large plate and serve warm.

See you at the meeting.
Lorraine