At my weekly weigh in I was pleased to discover that I lost 5 pounds in my first week on the plan.  I now weigh 230.2 pounds. That is a great start!

Weight Watchers® is not a plan for superfast weight loss.  It is not a fad diet where you will lose 10 pounds in a weekend.  Those types of diets are not healthy!  Weight Watchers® is a healthy way to lose weight.  On average you should expect to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.  Some weeks may be up and other weeks may be down, but over time you will see a steady decline until you reach your healthy desired weight.  Month to month results are more significant than week to week results.

Also, if you are new to Weight Watchers®, it will take you a couple of weeks to get comfortable with the points system.  You may make mistakes and may not see a loss right away.  Since I already knew the point values of everything I ate, I was able to see immediate results.

I ate 33 or 34 points each day this week and made my first goal of staying close to my daily point allowance.  This week I will concentrate on eating more fruits and vegetables and more “filling foods.”

Weight Watchers® has a new addition to their program called Momentum™.  With this you concentrate on eating foods that help you feel satisfied for longer periods of time so that you can avoid cravings that can endanger your weight loss plan.  They recommend at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.  I didn’t quite eat that many every day this week, so I will concentrate on that next week, while still staying within my points allowance.

Five pounds down, 45 to go!!

One thing I have learned from previous attempts to lose weight is that it is better to concentrate on one thing at a time, rather than to try to improve in all areas at once. Making changes slowly is better than trying to do all aspects of a weight loss program right off the bat. The reason for this is that if you make too many changes at once, it is hard to keep doing all of them well. You may feel overwhelmed or deprived, and just give up on the entire enterprise.

Weight Watchers® has many guidelines for healthy eating and a more active lifestyle. They introduce you to these over several weeks if you attend their meetings. This helps to make the changes habitual before concentrating on another thing you could be doing better.

I have decided that during these first couple of weeks I will concentrate on tracking everything I put into my mouth, and staying within my daily points balance. If you are new to Weight Watchers®, it will take you a couple of weeks to get comfortable with the points system. You will likely make mistakes at first. I remember once when I ordered a turkey sandwich for lunch from a chain that sells baked hams and turkeys. I figured that turkey was a low point food, so the sandwich on wheat bread should be reasonable. When I got home and looked at the nutrition information online, that sandwich alone was 16 points! Don’t let early mistakes discourage you, and try to find the point values for food BEFORE you eat it. After a couple of weeks you will quickly learn the point values for the foods you normally eat and will rarely have to figure them out before eating. If you are tracking your points (as you should be) you can simply look back in your tracker to find the point values for foods you have eaten since beginning the plan.

Once I make a habit of staying within my point limit, I will begin to incorporate other aspects of the plan, such as drinking more water (and less diet soda), increasing activity, getting healthy oil in my diet, etc.

I weighed myself on Friday and came in at a whopping 235.2 pounds. That is the day I got back on the plan. I am allowed to eat 35 “points” per day. That point level is based on my weight, my gender, and a few other criteria. As I lose weight that point level will slowly decrease.

What are points? Weight Watchers® has a formula that assigns point values to every food. Points are based on the number of calories in the serving of food, the amount of fat, and the amount of fiber. Foods that are low in calories and fat, and high in fiber have very low point values. For example, many vegetables have zero points. This means that you can eat as much as you want (within reason) without using your daily points. On the other hand, a big, greasy burger with mayo is going to use a lot of points. You can’t eat much of that type of food without quickly using all of your points up. The more you make wise food choices, the more you can eat. You may even find it difficult to use all of your points when you are eating right.

Welcome to my weight loss plan. I have been on this journey before, so I know that what I am doing will work. This time I just have to make it a lifelong commitment. You can do this too! Hopefully my posts over the next few weeks and months will inspire you to follow a similar plan and get you to a healthier weight and size that you can feel good about.

A bit about me – I am a 47 year old letter carrier who lives in Milwaukee, WI. I am married to my beautiful wife, Sara, and we have 4 children and 1 new grandchild (in the picture to the left). I have struggled with my weight most of my adult life and have tried dozens of diet and exercise programs. The program that has worked the best for me is Weight Watchers®. There are several things I like about Weight Watchers®:

1. Weight Watchers® is a healthy way to lose weight. It is slow and steady, encourages healthy well-balanced eating, encourages a more active lifestyle, and has built in rewards when you eat as you should. It keeps you accountable.
2. Once you learn the system, it is easy to stick with it. When done right, it doesn’t leave you hungry or leave you feeling deprived. In fact it helps you to feel better, begin to look better, and you can see real progress as you stick with the plan.
3. While the system encourages wise and healthy choices, you are not limited to certain foods. You can eat anything in moderation. And the better food choices you make, the more you can eat.

A few years ago I lost almost 50 pounds in about 5 months following this plan. At the time I was prepared to make healthier eating a lifelong commitment, but then my family and I went on a wonderful Disney cruise and vacation. I decided to “reward” myself for my weight loss by allowing myself to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted while we were gone. In itself, this didn’t necessarily have to torpedo my weight loss. I could have gotten right back on the plan when I got back home – but I didn’t. I quit tracking what I was eating, and my eating habits gradually became worse and worse until now I am right back to where I started a few years ago plus a few pounds.

This time I am determined not to let that happen again. If I find myself slacking off and gaining a few pounds, I am going to get right back to tracking, weekly weigh ins, and back on the plan!