There is a debate about how often someone trying to lose weight should weigh themselves.  Is it better to weigh yourself once per week or everyday? People hold strong opinions on both sides of the issue and insist that their way is the correct way. Weight Watchers recommends weekly weigh-ins, and actually provides this service at their meetings.  This is probably the best option for most people. Because of the way calories are burned and food is digested, there are daily variations in a person’s weight.  One day you may weigh more and the next day you may weigh less, and this has nothing to do with how well you have been following your weight loss plan.  From week to week, however, you get a better snapshot of how you have been doing, and if there is a gain from one week to the next, that is a better indicator that you may need to change something.

Having said that, I personally prefer to weigh myself every day, realizing that a one day gain is not necessarily significant. For me, if my weight is up 2 or 3 days in a row that tells me that I need to change something.  If you are a person who retains water, gains like that may be quite normal and not signify a problem, but for me it is often an indicator that I have gotten sloppy in my points tracking or have neglected some other aspect of the plan.

The key is not to let a gain discourage you, rather it should be motivation to stay on track or to make positive changes such as increased activity, more fruit and vegetables, drinking enough water, etc.

Weight Loss Update: I gained 2 tenths of a pound during Thanksgiving week, which is less than I feared.  But I immediately got back on track and have already lost 1.2 pounds  since Friday

This week was a difficult week for me eating wise.  I went over my points allowance at least 2 days and on Thanksgiving I allowed myself to indulge a bit.  I weigh myself tomorrow morning and I may see my first weekly gain.

I think this is a common problem for many people around the holidays.  There are so many tempting foods that are readily available, and you often may not eat at home where you can control what is served.  This makes it more difficult to estimate points values.  You may even allow yourself a few indulgences.  For me today it was cheese and crackers, dinner rolls, and pie.

I will know tomorrow how much damage was done (occassionally I am surprised that even when I expect a gain, there is a loss – we will see).

The key to this is not to give up.  Tomorrow I will go right back to strict tracking and staying within my points allowance.  One bad week does not need to undermine the program, and in my case it will not!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It seems counter-intuitive.  If you eat more often than you used to, shouldn’t you gain rather than lose weight?  But one of the keys to weight loss is not to allow yourself to become too hungry.  When you don’t eat enough, you are almost certain to go on an eating binge at some point.  And when that happens, it is usually with high fat, high calorie foods -  like cookies, chips, ice cream, etc.

By eating good, filling foods frequently, you are able to stay satisfied and not give into cravings. Here is how I do this:

Pack a bag of filling, low point foods and take it with you to work, or wherever else you go for a long period of time.  Any time you start to feel hungry, eat some fruit or raw veggies, or a light snack from your bag and drink some water.  This will usually keep you satisfied until your next meal.  If you are still hungry, wait about 20 minutes and slowly eat something else in your bag.

Some of the things I pack from time to time are apples, pears, grapes, baby carrots, light yogurt, fiber bars (but watch the point values on these – they are not all the same!), string cheese, fat free pretzels, etc.  I also pack  one or two low point “junk foods” such as a Weight Watchers® Brownie or cake, or a 100 calorie bag of cookies, crakers or chips.  These “junk foods” help to keep me from feeling deprived, but they are not very filling and you can’t eat a lot of them.  Eat fruits, vegetables, high fiber, or low fat dairy foods whenever you can.

I also take 2 bottles of water to work with me every day.  When I feel hungry, first I will drink some water.  If that doesn’t satisfy me, I’ll eat something from my bag.

If I have an urge to snack in the evening, I will pop a bag of 94% fat free popcorn, eat it slowly and drink some water.  That usually satisfies me until bed time. If not, I’ll eat another piece of fruit or occasionally a low fat frozen fudge bar to satisfy a chocolate craving.

I write down everything I eat during the day and I stay within my daily points allowance.  By eating filling foods throughout the day, I never get too hungry or too full and I am able to stay on track.

At my weekly weigh in on Friday I weighed 223.6 pounds.  This is a loss of 3 pounds from the previous week and a total loss of 11.6 pounds since starting Weight Watchers 3 weeks ago.  I am already23% of the way to my six month goal of losing 50 pounds in 6 months.

This is a little misleading, because as I lose more weight, the pounds will not come off as fast.  Still, it is a great start especially since I have not yet used my secret weapon, which is moderate exercise. I’ve done this so far without much, if any increase to my daily activity level.

As you may recall, I am making gradual changes one at a time until they become habitual.  This prevents getting overwhelmed with drastic changes and being tempted to give up all together.

The most significant change I have made to this point is tracking (writing down) everything I put into my mouth, calculating the Weight Watchers points value for it, and staying within my points allowance.  This alone will lead to weight loss, especially if your eating habits were poor and you have a lot to lose.

11 pounds down 39 to go!

If your family is anything like mine, you may get food from a restaurant (usually fast food) almost as much as you eat at home.  Between work, school, sports, drama, choir, band, and other activities that kids and parents are involved in, you may not be home long enough to cook, eat, and cleanup many nights of the week.  If you are like me, the solution is often the fast food drive-thru.

But how do you eat so much fast food and still stick to your weight loss plan? It isn’t always easy, but here are some tips on how I stay within my points limit and still eat at the drive thru:

1.  I get a side salad instead of fries. I usually use my own fat free dressing or if that fails, I get the low fat dressing at the restaurant.

2. Grilled Chicken instead of beef. I will often eat grilled chicken items and stay away from the burgers.  But on grilled chicken items, make sure not to get mayo or other high calorie, high fat sauces.  Regular mayo is very high in fat, calories, and points.

3. If you have a real craving for a burger, get the regular burger and not the 1/4 or 1/3 pound one. If you can get lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, etc.  on it, so much the better.  A slice of cheese won’t kill your plan (you need some dairy), but stay away from regular mayo.

4.  Some fast food restaurants have things like baked potatoes and chili. I will often get a small chili and pour it on a plain baked potato, and get a side salad with it, for a good filling meal.

5. Subway is my friend. At subway they have several sandwiches that are low in fat that you can get on 9 grain whole wheat bread.  You can load these up with veggies and a low fat sauce (I like honey mustard) for a filling meal.  They also have side items like apples, yogurt, or even baked chips if you have a craving for chips.

In general, eat small portions, get a salad and/or fruit side item (or a low fat soup), choose chicken over beef when possible, and stay away from the fries (an occasional small fry is OK if you love french fries)

On Friday, I completed my second full week on the plan and was down 3.6 pounds from the previous week, for a total loss of 8.6 pounds.  Some people new to weight loss might be a little disappointed at this point.  I lost 5 pounds my first week, but “only” 3.6 pounds my second week.

But that is not the way to look at it at all.  In fact, if anything, I am losing weight too fast. One to two pounds per week is the ideal healthy way to lose weight.  At that rate, you will lose 25 to 50 pounds in 6 months and it will be easier to avoid plateaus.   Of course, if you have a lot to lose, you can lose a little more quickly at first without negative effects.

The important thing to look for is a consistent weight loss.  In fact, you may even have a week that you are up a pound or two, but month to month you want to see consistent downward progress until you reach your healthy weight goal. At my weight, I like to see a loss of 8 to 10 pounds per month.  That goal is easier to reach now than it will be in a few months when I don’t weigh as much.

This past week I was much better at getting my five servings of fruits and vegetables in and getting more fiber in my diet.

My goal for the coming week is to continue what I’ve been doing and to work on drinking more water (and less diet soda).