As I mentioned ever so briefly a couple of weeks back, I joined weight watchers on line.
My goal is to look as amazing as some of the ladies who come into the shop. They are all doing WW and look fabulous. Oh - you know who you are! I have never done an actual "program" to lose weight. But with my 50th birthday hanging out there, it was time.
So, I mentioned I had joined. Then I studied the whole points thing. Then I got into the habit of logging my meals, etc and adding up points. And then, as you might recall, I had some concerns about the robustness of the weight watchers website. I was being very good about logging my points but I was planning a move, getting kids through the end of the school year and the rest. I felt I needed certain things and the fact that these things totaled 630 points a day just could not be helped.
Since I knew my food consumption wasn't going to change anytime soon, I worried about crashing the Weight Watchers website. I mean did they honestly stress test the thing before they rolled it out? I have had some experience with new system roll outs and,well, we'll just leave it at that...Did they consider the person who would join on her 49th birthday with the best of intentions and then stress eat her way through the next 4 weeks? And while the exercise thing got off to a roaring start, pinched nerves have a way of slamming on the breaks when it comes to activity points.
They had to consider a honeymoon period, right? First you have to begin to think "points". Then you have to get into the routine of tracking your points. After all that, you see how many points you have left for the week. Well, the way I have always worked the weight thing is day by day. If I blew my calorie intake for a given day well then the diet just starts tomorrow. And c'mon - if I am starting my diet tomorrow then I should hurry up and eat tonight. Right?
Take my past logic and apply it to points...If I already ate my points allowance through 4th of July weekend, then I am not losing any weight any time soon. If I am not losing any weight then I might as well just eat. But since I know at some point I will be out of the hole points wise, I want to continue to log points each day and get in the habit of tracking food. This way I will be ready to roll when my profile says I'm back in the game. The fact that I enter in numbers that may be outside the parameters of their algorithms does worry me. Sure hope their systems folks were thinking outside the box that day and considered champion, highly decorated, stress eaters people like me.
After all that rambling, here is some solid information for you: The points thing does work. Well, you knew it would right? I mean anytime you put less food in your mouth, really wonderful things will happen to your butt. That is a fact every woman knows.
When I stayed within the numbers, I lost 2 pounds. When I ate mexican food twice in one day, I gained it back. I am getting the hang of the system now. And since it took me a few weeks to really get it, I thought I would share. Its not just about the number of points. its about planning. Its about thinking ahead and sticking to a plan. No sane woman would plan to eat tortillas for lunch right? Well, sure she would...but then you add in the goal: to still be able to see your toes by the time you are 50. Then the Math goes something like: lunch+seeing toes = chimichanga salad.
So if you are avoiding that bathing suit with as much enthusiasm as I am...oh who am I kidding? I haven't put on a bathing suit in 3 years. I basically avoid any piece of clothing that is missing arms or legs. Yeah and if you find yourself choosing your social events based on what clothing you can still fit into, I highly recommend the planning thing. Go ahead. Join WW on line. Sign up. You can even have an off week or 2. Its okay. I stress tested it for you. The site will still be there tomorrow. :)
Oh Pam, this is hilarious. I especially like the avoiding any piece of clothing that is missing arms or legs! You have such a gift!
BTW - I promoted your website on my hub on HubPages, so hopefully it will drive some traffic your way. If you'd like to read it, here's the link
http://hubpages.com/hub/Yarn--Knitting-Needles--and-Socks--Oh-My
Posted by: Lynda Pleckan | July 01, 2009 at 05:27 AM