My name is Crystal and I'm a Weight Watchers lifetime member currently over goal. I joined Weight Watchers in January of 2004 and I lost a lot of weight, which I kept off until I had babies. I am currently 0.7 of a lb away from reclaiming my "lifetime member in good standing" status, 2 .7 lbs away from my "official" Weight Watchers goal weight. For the full story (complete with before & after pics)
go here.
I posted my weight loss success story on Facebook and on one of my favorite message boards and since then I have been getting a ton of FB messages, e-mails and text messages from friends and family members asking questions about the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program. Questions like: "Do you have to buy their food?" "Do you count calories?" "Is it expensive?" "How often do you eat?" "Can you still have dessert?" "What do YOU eat?" etc etc etc.
No, you don't have to buy their food. You can buy whatever you like, though you'll find you get a bigger bang for your buck when you make healthier choices.
You do not count calories per se, but you do count points values, and points values vary depending on the amount of fat, fiber, carbohydrates and protein a food contains.
Is it expensive? Well, that's relative. Personally, I think it's a small cost when compared to what many overweight people spend on cholesterol and blood pressure lowering medications, insulin, hospitalizations, doctors visits, etc. I think health should be a priority and I look at it as great preventative care, so no, I don't think it's expensive. If you pay for a long time in advance you get a better deal than if you pay weekly. When I attended meetings I did the monthly pass option, which was a great deal since it included E-tools (the online tracker and all of the bells & whistles that go with it.)
As far as frequency of meals, I eat three planned meals a day plus a snack or two depending on how my day goes. Everyone is different. Some prefer to eat mini meals every 2-3 hours, some just eat the big 3, some skip breakfast (which I do not recommend.) There is no WW rule regarding this, but I find that I do best when I have 3 meals and 2 snacks. I try not to go too long between eating so that I never feel ravenous.
Yes, you can have dessert! You can eat anything you want, but moderation is key. You get a daily "points target" plus 43 "weekly points" that you can spend however you want, but like I said, you'll quickly learn that smarter choices equal more food and therefore more satisfaction. I still eat dessert, often! After doing Weight Watchers for so long I have figured out substitutes for a lot of my favorite sweet treats, and I have learned lighter baking techniques. I also read a lot of food blogs with made over recipes, or I make up my own. I'd say I probably have dessert at least five days a week. I have a major sweet tooth and I need treats to make this program more livable for me.
And to answer my favorite question of all, I eat a variety of different things. I typically make up dinner menus two weeks in advance (making changes if sudden cravings come up) and I grocery shop to those menus. I always eat within 20-30 minutes of waking up to get my metabolism going, and most days I eat breakfasts high in lean protein. Egg whites are my favorite thing! I buy them in cartons for convenience purposes. I also really love refined carbs, a terrible weakness of mine, but I try to limit how much I have in a day. Lunches are usually big salads with lots of veggies, whole wheat wraps or dinner leftovers if I have them. Dinners usually consist of some kind of protein, a starchy something and half a plate of veggies or salad. That's just how I roll. My snacks tend to be fruit since they are "free" on PointsPlus, sometimes with protein like nuts or cheese.
The purpose of this blog is to show inquiring minds what I eat on a daily basis, the good, the bad, the ugly (but hopefully mostly good). I plan my days in the mornings while I eat my breakfast. I sit down at my computer and pre-track my food for the entire day at Weight Watchers.com and then stick to my plan as best as I can. Sometimes I end up making changes, but for the most part, if I plan it I stick to it. I track breakfast, then dinner, and plan lunch and snacks accordingly. If dinner is point-y, I may not have enough points for dessert, or if I splurge at breakfast I may have a lighter dinner. It all depends!
My WW week starts fresh every Monday with a brand new set of weekly points (what used to be called flex points.) That's also when I weigh in. I lost 2 lbs last week, according to my Wii Fit board. I am a WW online member, so I weigh in at home. As soon as I can reclaim my lifetime membership status I will walk into a meeting and do so, but for now I am happy doing it online.
I will be back later with an update about what I actually ate today, every bite, lick and taste, or "BLTs" as they call them in WW meetintgs. I am about to make myself breakfast and have some coffee. The only thing I know for sure is that we'll be having Skinny Taste's
steak & cheese sandwiches for dinner along with 3 oz of baked shoestring fries. This is on the heavy, carby side of things so my goal is to kick back on carbs the rest of the day, or at least choose whole grain ones. I will figure it all out once I decide what to make myself for breakfast. I shall be back later. Thanks for reading!
