Thank you to everyone who encouraged, advised and supported me last week when I announced that I had decided to join Weight Watchers. I signed up on Monday and will attend meetings for the next 17 weeks. (The At-Work program is a 17-week commitment, but there are two Monday holidays during this session.)
This first week is a time of adjustment for me. Having never been on Weight Watchers before, I had to learn about the program and decided whether to do Flex or Core, and then figure out how I was going to track things. The Flex program is what most people seem to choose, and what you hear people talking about. Each food has a Points value, and you have a daily Points allowance that you are supposed to stick to.
I briefly but seriously considered the Core program, which in a nutshell allows you to eat as much as you need to feel satisfied from a list of permitted foods. I thought it would be easier to just eat off a list than to keep track of points, and figured it would actually be healthier anyway. But then I discovered that our family regularly eats foods that aren't on the list (like pasta), so I didn't think it would work for our lifestyle at all.
So I chose the Flex program and have been learning the Points values of different foods. The At-Work program includes the Weight Watchers E-Tools, which has an online Points tracker. I decided pretty much immediately that I would track my Points online, and am already dependent on E-Tools. I particularly like the Recipe Builder, which allowed me to input my granola recipe to determine the Points value. The initial results were frightening, but I tweaked the recipe a little bit. It didn't make a huge difference in points but it's a little lighter and makes an acceptable breakfast now. I'll share the revised recipe with you next week after I make it over the weekend. So stay tuned!
4 comments:
Can I just say - Thanks! I've been so curious about this system and you are teachimg me. I just wanted you to know that your posts mean something. :-)
I wish I had a friend locally that could/would do this with me. But I'm not that persuasive I guess.
I'm so curious about all this "point" stuff. Everywhere - even Hungry Girl talks about points. I know absolutely nothing about these mysterious points.
Good Luck. Everyone in our neighborhood is a ww follower. Most have reached their lifetime goal. My DH and I are still working on it. We follow the flex plan and the meals that I cook are fine and our 3 girls eat them too. I work really hard on keeping healthy snacks around the house. This program has us all eating healthier! I look forward to seeing your progress!
@Dedicated - Thank *you*! WW's points plan is their trade secret. It's calculated based on the number of calories, fat grams and fiber grams. You get allotted a certain number of daily points based on your age, weight, sex, etc., plus weekly points that you can "spend" however you want. I think it helps to know someone who's doing it, just so they can help you when you first get started. I'll write more about this as I get used to the plan :)
@Janelle - WOW! A WW neighborhood, that sounds amazing. Talk about support! What kind of snacks do you eat? So far all I've been eating is fruit and veggies because I'm so afraid to go over my points. Thanks!
Great news CFO. I look forward to seeing the recipe. Granola is one of my favorite treats. I like to warm it up in the mornings with milk. Yum. I don't buy it often because it's so calorie dense.
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