Crystal's Plan of Action

As I hinted to in my earlier post, I am following Weight Watchers Points Plus program.  This is a new program they rolled out in December of 2010.  I am not one for change so it has taken me a while to come to grips with this new plan.  I have been a Weight Watchers member since January of 2001, so 10 years.  You would think after these 10 years I wouldn't be where I am today and would have more money in my pocket.  The fact that I pay the monthly membership fees and it's just going down the toilet is wasteful.  But as I was doing my grocery shopping today I ran into another WW member.  She said to just think of how big I might be if I hadn't been coming to WW all these years.  She's right!  No matter how many times I skip a few weeks here or there, I always go back.  I know that eventually it's going to click for me and it's going to work.  So, I'm going to explain a little (to the best of my ability) about the Points Plus Program and I am in no way an expert on WW...obviously, but these are a few tips I've picked up and am going to be using in my journey.

With Weight Watchers I get a daily points allowance based on my weight.  This can fluctuate from week to week based on my weight.  Right now I get 37 points per day plus a weekly allowance of 49 extra points to use if I go above and beyond my daily points target or if I have a day that there is a party or special occasion.  I can also earn activity points, but I do not plan on using these.  For example today I earned 5 activity points for my walk, but I am just banking them for the positive side and not using these extra points that I earn.  It's like making a deposit into my savings account.  The one thing I am excited about is that most fruits and vegetables with the exception of corn, potatoes and peas are 0 points.  This is one thing I did not do on the old program because I didn't want to "waste" my points on fruits and veggies.

Some tips of Weight Watchers:

• Eat all of your points each day
• You are given a daily points # and this is how many points your body needs to fuel it and lose weight at a healthy rate
• Do NOT "roll over" unused points
• Either use them or lose them
• Use your 0 point fruits and veggies in place of chips and sweets
• They don't cost anything and most of the time you're craving something sweet a piece of fruit might do the trick and sometimes the crunching on fruits and veggies can curb the craving of crunching on some chips.
• Use the optional 49 weekly points sparingly
• The daily and weekly points work together so that if you have a "bad" day or a special occasion you don't have to starve or deprive yourself all day to use all your points at once.  That is what those 49 points are for, those "extras" like a piece of birthday cake
• Do be active
• At least 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days per week or 20 minutes of high-intensity exercise 3 days per week
• Try in the beginning to earn 2 to 4 activity points
• As you progress try to earn 4 to 6 activity points
• Try not to earn no more than 6 activity points at a time to prevent injuries
• You can use your activity points, but I am choosing not to (savings account)
• Do track what you are eating
• This has been my mistake over the last 10 years.  I haven't tracked enough.  Perhaps if I would have tracked all this time and realized what I was putting in my body I wouldn't be where I am today.
• My WW leader says, "If you bite it, write it"
• That means all the bites, licks and tastes
• They all count!!!
• Don't deprive yourself
• If you want a donut, eat a donut...just make sure you count it!!
• Learn to recognize your hunger signals
• Are you eating out of boredom, stress, anxiety, etc...or are you eating just to eat
• Make sure you are truly hungry and not just "grazing"
• Don't wait until you're too hungry or you'll eat everything in sight
• Don't stuff yourself or you'll be miserable
• Do make sure you get in all the good health guidelines everyday
• 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day
• 1-2 servings of lean protein
• 2 servings dairy
• Whole grains
• 6 glasses of liquid (milk, juice, seltzer, diet drinks, coffee or tea) try to stick with water
• Take a multivitamin
• 2 tsp of healthy oil a day (olive, canola, safflower, sunflower or flax seed)
• Be active
• Watch your intake of sugar and sodium

Like I said this is the program I have chosen, it may or may not be for you.  It's what I'm doing.  That's the whole point of this whole blog, to do what works for you.  Everyone is different, every one's body is different and what works for some may not work for others.

I will be posting, no matter how boring it is, my food journal for each day the following morning.  Try not to judge to harshly what I'm eating, I'm in the experimental phase of what works right now for me. 
~Crystal