Just getting into my attic and dusting off some old blogs. Looks like this one fell off track after less than 2 weeks. That's how hard it is to try to go a year without eating sweets. At this point I would say it's downright impossible and no one should even try.
HOWEVER! It just so happens that this particular January, the month of resolutions, I find myself 1-week in to the Weight Watchers program and feeling pretty good about it.
This blog is not an attempt to promote Weight Watcher's and I am not being paid for this. This is just my way of tracking my progress and sharing it for those it might help.
I am definitely what you could call a typical yo-yo dieter. My weight has been going up and down all my adult life. But I don't feel I've ever been really happy with how I look. I'm very good at brushing off my chubby lines as "pleasantly plump" or "average" because I know that many others struggle with their weight as well.
My resolution for this year is to be happy with my life and do what I want to do. You'd think that would lead me to eating myself into a hole. But the truth is, although it's odd, it's definitely on my bucket list to be smaller than a size 8. Something I have NEVER been, not counting child sizes.
Anyway, I asked my mom to explain how to do Weight Watchers and I figured I'd just piggy-back off of what she had done in the past. She decided to just pay the $56 for my first 3 months (entry fee waived if you buy 3 months).
So here I am after 7 days of logging in to the online Weight Watcher's program and noting every single thing I put into my mouth. And I can already see why this is such a smart program. I double-think everything I eat, but it's not like "Oh, I can't eat that." It's more like, "I wonder if there's something better I can eat." So instead of having a cupcake, I might have half of a gluten-free brownie. Because I can eat all the fruits and vegetables I want, I find myself pigging out on that stuff and it's actually starting to taste good.
HOW THE WEIGHT WATCHER'S PROGRAM WORKS:
The basic outline is, based on your weight and your weight-loss goals, you get a certain amount of points that you can eat each day. The online system very easily can tell you what the points are for any item. So you enter it all into the computer and voila!, you know how many points you have eaten and how many you have left. I find myself working out in advance all the things I can eat that will fit into my daily points and it works great.
There are also some weekly bonus points. These are the "oops, I messed up" points. If you tend to cheat on diets, this is your back-up plan. Rather than feeling like a cheater, you just dip into your reserve points. As long as you stay within your daily and your reserve points you'll be fine. At the end of week one, I had barely used a quarter of my reserve points. I think I went over by a few points a couple of days, but it's very easy not to.
There is a weight-in once a week, so you're not freaking out about it every day. The computer also keeps track of your weight loss and adjusts your points accordingly. There are a ton of other little gadgets which I need to get into and will explain over time. But that's basically what it's all about.
I know some people try to do Weight Watcher's without using the online program, but I don't think I could track it nearly as well without it. Also, if you are at all an "online junky" who likes playing games on FB or catching up on the latest social activities, doing the online program is going to be much more fun for you.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU LOSE?
Weight Watcher's claims you should lose 1/2 to 2 pounds per week. After week 1, I find myself 6 pounds lighter and with looser pants. I'm assuming right now it's mostly water weight. Because I lost so much, Weight Watcher's took away some of my daily points so I'm eating a little bit less than last week, but barely.
So that's the basic story.
If you are wondering if I get hungry....well, yes, I do. But I really think that's just because I'm like a "baby" having to learn how to eat again. Now when I'm hungry, I find myself reaching for a points-free apple or carrot instead of a bag of chips. It's a bit painful, to be honest. But I'm getting used to it. I don't think there's a way to be skinny that doesn't start out painful. But here's to hoping it will get better....
And here's my next challenge:
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