Thursday, August 10, 2017

Back to WW... Here's the recap of my week.

I know, I know... Why did I do this again? Honestly, I NEED structure/accountability/help to stop the gain; and was impressed with Enz's successes and there are others... Always hoping that this time will be different?!


- August 1, 5 p.m. meeting.  Starting weight 194.4 

The diet really has changed. Yes, it's points; but they're based on percentages of protein/fat/carbs and not calories or fiber or fat... They encourage good fats, while discouraging sugar and processed foods. It's definitely more in line with my eating style.

I chose an early evening group. I felt I'd find more working women my age; people I identify with versus new mom's or senior citizens. However, the key for me is the leader.

The leader of past experiences fit a typical WW leader stereotype:  a salesperson who lost 20 lbs after pregnancy 30 years ago and knows nothing about nutrition or exercise; BUT feels herself empowered as leader to give advice regardless... Famous past quotes include "Clearly you're exercising too much..." "I think you're not eating enough points..." "Muscle weighs more than fat so you should probably cut the strength training"...  In the past, leaders were pushers of WW fake food... and/or they'd brag about creating recipes like a mock pound cake out of "WW popcorn bites, fat-free half and half and and Splenda for just 2 points!" I have no interest in FRANKENFOOD!

So far, I like the leader. She is not perfect, she struggles, but has maintained a 40-ish loss for 6 years. She is sarcastic and can cut off the talkers with ease. Overall, the group (after one week) is not annoying. In the past I have found meetings to be Senior social hours... health/weight loss is secondary to talking about grand kids and vacations... OR the group filled with "special flowers" who monopolize the hour to lament that NOTHING is working, and nothing suggested could possibly work for them... OR the person who wants to negotiate or argue about the points for X food or recipe OR become an infomercial for awesome new varieties of  SMARTONES! These are hours wasted that I can't get back of whether it could be that her apples were larges instead of small or if extra large eggs should be 2 or 3 points.... I want to SCREAM... an egg, a banana, or a very large apple is not the reason you are overweight!

I'm following this plan. I ate within my points Tuesday. And then yesterday, I did not and learned that I will actually need to change how I'm eating and what I'm eating... A Siggis coconut 2% is 9 points vs 3 for non-fat peach. I will have to be careful with alcohol and anything containing sugar... I'll have to plan for nights out because even healthy eating adds up fast.

We went to dinner and a show. Over the course of 6 hours I had 3 vodka sodas. For dinner I had fish with a veggie medley in broth and a risotto cake. I had a half dozen raw oysters with lemon/tabasco and for desert panacotta with strawberry sorbet/fresh strawberries and 2 small beignets. These were all good choices AND it was too much food... by a lot! All my "weekly points" gone in a night... It's hard to go through week and into the weekend knowing I'd be in the red for my first weigh-in. Baby steps, figuring out what works...

Sunday I was supposed to be home for the entire day but my sister and brother in law invited us to lunch at the Indian Buffet. I didn't over eat, again made good choices; but still managed a hefty point total in the end... I decided I would eat veggies and fruit - zero points for the rest of the day, but went to the store for blueberries, bananas, and almond milk and added CORN BREAD - 2 servings!!.. So much for plans. Why? I totally regretted that choice!! Perhaps I was slightly hungry; but that wasn't it. The DH went for a bike ride and I ate it secretly; even burying the packaging at the bottom of the trash? There were 2 servings and I ate them both with a big glass of almond milk. It makes me mad. This is week ONE and I am sabotaging myself! I should be totally motivated and paying more attention to details... UGH! - Moving on there are many lessons to take away from this week. There will be crazy weeks; eating out weeks, lots of moods and there is no perfect time to start a diet AND - above all -  weight loss means eating less -- yes, a little deprivation!

AND I REFUSE to fall into my old WW trap... start out well, fall off wagon, eat nothing and weigh in. I am going to adhere to points today, tomorrow and what the number says is what it is....

I refused to fast all day until my 5 p.m. weigh in. I ate yogurt, peanut butter, a banana and a bowl of gazpacho for lunch with a grilled chicken breast.I went to my meeting and I actually talked to the girl next to me and we've agreed to check in next week for extra accountability. My weight was 193.2 a loss of 1.2 pounds. I'm good with that.

I accept that I didn't follow the plan perfectly this week. However, I made better choices and was thoughtful. I logged my food in the WW app and learned how I have to alter my eating in order to stay within my points AND lose weight. Yesterday was a good day. I ended it with points to spare. I aim to have a similar day today and better week 2!

3 comments:

Enz said...

I feel much about WW the same way you do. The leaders know very little and are basically rah-rah people and I don't need that part. I do need the structure and the rules. I was raised a good little Catholic girl and if I have rules I follow them! It works for me. It's not a perfect plan. Healthy fats are way too high in points, for example....but it's a good broad base of generally good nutrition and paired with what you know about your own body and your exercise, you will take the best of the plan and make it work for you.

I am looking forward to your success :)

Anonymous said...

Interesting week! Good on you for mixing things up and seeking out a new approach. And, your description of the WW types was hilarious! LOL.

You've mentioned corn bread before. What's up with that? I don't find it very delicious, but I guess you do - ?

Here's to a better week.

MyStalkerIsFat said...

I like structure and rules too. Throw in some charts and tracking something, too! I liked WW when I was in it about a year ago. I like the idea of evaluating food based on more than calories. Good luck with WW!