MOVIE REVIEW - "SNOW WHITE" - **SPOILERS**

 **Movie Reviews are my own opinion and may be different from yours.  All reviews contain spoilers, so read at your own risk**

Where to begin with this one?  I'm all about taking the old Disney cartoon movies and making them live action; but can we just do that????

Snow White is the classic tale of a young princess, hated by an evil step mother, who finds her prince.  Pretty simple, huh? Not in this day and age.

Snow White isn't a damsel in distress here - she doesn't even find a real prince (oh she finds true love, just with a commoner) - after all this Snow White is a "I am woman, hear me roar".

Oh it has all the characters the original does, but it almost seems like they thought they had to have them.  The seven dwarfs were left out of the movie title because that would be offensive and at first, Disney thought it may be time to change the dwarves to something else or leave them out all together.  Good thing Disney realized they were a big part of the story! They CGI'd them....it was hard to tell them apart.  Dopey looked like Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman - and once you see that, you can't get passed it.

Disney seems to think that making Snow White not a damsel in distress; that she'll empower young female children.  You know what those young female children want? They want the fairy tale.  Stop spoon feeding then reality and let them be kids!

This movie just didn't flow as well as some of the others; it just didn't.

2 out of 5 stars.

On The Right Track

 So Shapa today has me in the Teal - which is great!

Still not feeling the greatest, I get tired quickly without really doing anything active.  Just sitting at my desk at work exhausts me.

I'm looking forward to Kickstart starting again, but there's a few weeks for that yet. If you're interested you can sign-up or get more information here:  KICKSTART, it's FREE to join.  If you want, you may purchase their journal for it: Kickstart Journal, but you do not need to...any journal or a plain notebook will do; you may find that you do not need any type of journal or notebook.

I hate to keep talking about Kickstart; but I do find it to be a useful tool.  It gives me some structure; which I'm missing from no longer having any meetings; it just keeps me on track.

I think I'm going to start to do some movie reviews on the blog.  I see a lot of movies, at least one a week, so I have lots of opinions!!

Back in the Gray

 Shapa put me in dark gray today.....that's the worst you can get.

Then I woke up feeling sick again.  Hubby has it again and passed it on to me. 

And, of course, the weather has started to be nicer and I've no energy to walk.

I always feel like I'm always going back to square one!  Why can't I get passed that?

I'm still looking forward to the next Kickstart which begins April 28th.  That's still a way off!

I just need to pull through this cold and keep trying.  Move towards getting Shapa to at least the light gray area.

Calories Finally!!

 This afternoon the calories finally appeared in my Weight Watchers app.  No update, it was just all of a sudden there!  So it is coming out; if you don't have it yet keep looking on the app down where the macros are listed (protein, carbs, etc) when you see the plus ( + ) sign, click it and you can add calories.  That area will let you add or delete what you want.  I kept calories and protein and deleted the others (they aren't deleted forever, you can always add them back).

So we'll see how it goes.  I'm resetting my start day to Fridays again.  I just always like having those weeklies for the weekend!

I am still using my Shapa scale and it has me maintaining in the green!

Where Are Those Calories!!!

I still don't have the calorie option on my WW app.  I've gotten several updates and none have brought me the only update I want!

It infuriates me!  I have never understood why, if I'm part of the beta group, I don't ever get any of the "new" things to test before everyone else?!  What's the point of beta? And, before you ask, yes I have left beta and downloaded the regular app only to still be met with no calorie option.

I do not understand how the app store can provide the update to some members and not others.  I don't understand! Now it seems that the update may not be out to all until mid-March.  Yes, I know, that's only another week or two.

I only rejoined WW because of this update.  When I used Healthi, that information was available, and it made a big difference in my weight journey.

A few posts back my Shapa scale had me in dark gray - the worst place to be.  Over the last week or so; it got me to light gray, green, teal and blue.  Today I'm in green, which is basically maintaining.  I can live with that!

Kickstart Ends and An Update!

The last post I made was actually the last day of Kickstart - I hadn't even realized it!  Put I did have 100% participation - it is never necessary to get all commitments in everyday; you just track what you did daily.

The next Kickstart starts April 28, 2025.  Come join us ***HERE***   Again, it is totally FREE and you do not need to purchase the Kickstart booklet if you don't want to; any journal or plain notebook will do!  I discovered that though I did start out with the booklet, over the weeks I stopped using it entirely.  I have an app to track my meals (WW) so it just seemed like work to write it all down; the app also tracks my weight and I took a photo of my commitments so it wasn't necessary to write them down for each upcoming week.  You may find the booklet useful (many do) but I think I'll just use **This One** next time around.

CC's mother passed this week unexpectedly.  She was in the hospital and had been in rehab prior to that, but we weren't expecting her to die!  A friend had visited her the night before and she was mad that they didn't bring her onion rings.  The next day, the hospital called CC and told her they felt she should come in because her Mom was not well.  She died that evening.  I hope 2024 isn't continuing into 2025!

Update!

 I'm finally beginning to feel better - just in time to get back to work tomorrow!

I did relose the weight I had gained back and Shapa has me back in the Teal zone again!  Since my appetite is returning, I'm sure I'll have a slight gain again before I'm back in weight loss mode.

I still don't have the calories on my WW app yet.  I read somewhere that we should all have it by the end of February.  

I am still doing Kickstart though I haven't got all my commitments in each day.  The only thing I'm doing regularly is Kickstart, Shapa and tracking.  I guess 3 out of 10 isn't too bad.

Heading to the movies this afternoon, I need my popcorn!

Sickness and Something Funny

 I've been sick with a horrible viral head cold since Saturday and haven't been working.  I went to the doctor's today and they put me off work until Monday.  Feeling a little better but get tired very quickly.

When I got home from the doctor's, I grabbed the mail from the mailbox on my way into the house.  I notice a 8 x 10 envelope hand addressed to me with no return address and the stamp indicated it was mailed from overseas.

I began thinking if I had ordered anything; but couldn't remember and then questioned if I should even open it as it was flat and didn't feel like it had anything in it. But I opened it...

...and, out came two photographs of the actor Stellan Skargard autographed to me!!

I almost choked laughing....

Back in 2008, after the movie Mamma Mia came out; I became a fan of Stellan Skarsgard and found a small online group of women similar in age who were also fans.  Stellan didn't seem to have a website, fanclub or anything at that time and the one lady told each of us to send a photo or two of Stellan to her with our addresses on the back and she was going to mail them all in together to his management company hoping for autographs.  I sent my two, never heard anything, and lost contact with those ladies some time ago.

You caught that date, right?  2008 - SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO!  And my autographed photos arrived today!!!! 😂😂😂

It's not like they've been lost in the mail, it was postmarked February 11, 2025.  He's one busy man!

Quick Update

 I've been off track for about 2 weeks; have gained back my lost weight and the Shapa is still in the gray - I even had 2 days in dark gray which is the worst you can ever have!

Turning around and moving forward....

Using baby steps; instead of diving in all at once and failing again...I'm taking it a little at a time but making healthier choices along with it.  It's the only way for me to keep moving forwarded.

Let's Talk Restaurant Points

 I see a lot of people ask about how to calculate points for restaurants not in the WW database.

This is one of those things where people tend to make things more difficult then they are.

There are several ways to do this:

The most obvious (and most suggested) is to use the camera option on the WW app.  In case you didn't know, you can take a photo of your meal and the app will translate it to points. Now, let's be honest, this isn't perfect and if I were you, I'd double check what it lists to make sure it is what is on your plate!  I, for one, wouldn't trust this; however, it may be okay if you don't eat out too often.

The next would be to find similar options in other restaurants.  I use this method quite often. Say I have spaghetti at a local Italian restaurant; I'll use Olive Garden's point values for their spaghetti.

Another good option (especially if you can't find something similar) is to break down the meal by ingredients.  I often get a certain burrito at a local Mexican restaurant, but it's name does not show up in the database.  So I start putting it in ingredient by ingredient.

None of these are perfect, but it isn't necessary for it to be perfect - just honest.  Remember, restaurants are not using fat free or reduced fat items nor sugar free items.  So you have to take those points!

A Reflexation

Still no calories on my WW app.

Shapa scale had me in light gray this morning.  That means I'm doing bad.  And, quite frankly, I am.  Ever since my birthday, I've been off track,

Time to get back on track.  And I really mean that I need too!

Weight Watchers is Getting....Wait, What?

 If you haven't been online in a WW group lately....

Calories are coming to WW! Yes, you read that right! A select group already has them and they'll be    s l o w l y   rolling this out.  So don't expect it immediately; just like the macros, you'll need to wait your turn.

If you attend in person (or virtual meetings) don't be surprised if a leader says this isn't true...because it is.  Remember, sometimes the leaders don't get the information right away.

I don't have it yet, those that do, have posted photos in groups (they weren't aware until they happened to see it there).

As Expected....

 As expected, I did have a slight gain this morning.   .8 (point 8)   Which considering birthday donuts, birthday ice cream cake, birthday Mexican dinner, birthday movie popcorn....I must say that isn't too bad.

Time to get back on the water intake and daily walk.  I really think those two things are what is helping the most.