I haven’t been to Weight Watchers in a very very long time. Not only that, I completely dropped the plan. Some habits have stuck – drinking lots of water, cutting out some things I don’t love enough to eat like bread baskets and dessert, choosing the salmon over the fried chicken and staying away from most fast food. But that’s about it. On Thanksgiving I ate turkey skin and drenched everything in gravy. That weekend I ate two pieces of pumpkin cheesecake and washed them down with two glasses of wine while I was sitting alone in my living room watching Bravo. Yeah, those sorts of things. So when I got on the scale last night and saw that I gained four pounds I wasn’t surprised in the least. I hoped it would be more like two pounds, but I think a big number like four was just the kick in the pants that I needed.
The meeting was, as always, really helpful. I usually get there and think this is a waste of my time. I could be home with my family, I could be returning that dress to Target, I could be writing a blog post for tomorrow. But then I calm down, settle in, and learn something. As always, it seemed as though Weight Watchers knew what the scale would say to me, and made the meeting fit around it. On the board was written:
How do you use the weight you get at the scale?
Good question. How do you react to a gain? Do you curse the scale and get frustrated? Do you choose to give up, or fight even harder? How about a gain? Do you high-five yourself, or do you stop to think about what was different that week and how you can keep up the good work?
When I first saw the gain of four pounds, I was sad. Disappointed. Frustrated. But then as I settled into the meeting I realized I had no reason to feel that way. I totally dropped the plan all together and gee… what did I expect to happen? I can’t be disappointed if I didn’t put forth any effort. I am going to use the gain at the scale as a warning of what can happen if I don’t stick to these new life habits through Weight Watchers. I don’t want to go back to when I felt as though I was a stranger in my own body.
The next topic we discussed was:
How have you made the plan uniquely yours?
People discussed how they never use Activity Points, even though they regularly work out. Another woman said she never uses her extra points until the weekend, and then keeps them for going drinking with her friends. Another woman said that if she dips into any extra points, she never removes weight so she adheres to her daily 29 – no more, no less. It really showed how Weight Watchers is customizable – you don’t have to eat the same breakfast every day to remove weight, you don’t have to be stuck with rice cakes and celery stalks. You can eat birthday cake and get drunk with your girl friends on the plan and still be successful.
So my plan is to get back on the plan. The past couple days I have stuck to standbys – oatmeal breakfast, 6” turkey subs at Subway, Progresso soups, fish and salad for dinner. But this weekend I am pretending to be a new member of Weight Watchers, reading up on it, getting the proper food in my fridge, tracking on a daily basis.
Weight Watchers 2012:
Note to those who are doing Weight Watchers on their own – eTools has updated where if you were at 29 daily PointsPlus, you may now have a daily value of 26, 27, or 28. Weight Watchers also updated the plan for 2012; from an email I received from them today:
Come to your meeting:
- Learn more: Pick up your new Meet PointsPlus 2012 booklet
- Recharge your efforts: Stay for a PowerStart® Session with a new PowerStart tracker filled with a week’s worth of preTracked meals.
- Learn ways to personalize your plan: Options for greater flexibility.
- New weekly PointsPlus activity goal: To help you move more.
Check out our site and see what’s new:
- New site design: Find what’s relevant to you, faster
Coming Soon:
- New tools: Calculate and track at the grocery store with the new Barcode scanner app
I went to check out the new Weight Watchers site – they now have it set where you can access your eTools from any part of the site.
As for Weight Watchers as a whole, they are more strongly promoting “Simply Filling” which is a plan very similar to Weight Watchers Core of yore – you have certain low-carb/high-protein “Power Foods” that you don’t have to track. I did Core many years ago and liked it because I didn’t have to measure and track as carefully as classic Weight Watchers. However with the new PointsPlus I think both are easy, it’s more about what is best for your personal tastes and lifestyle.
While my leader has always encouraged us to stay after the meeting for the new member Getting Started meeting for a refresher, Weight Watchers 2012 is taking that a step further with PowerStart. From the Weight Watchers site:
PowerStart is a three-part introduction to the PointsPlus program, over three weeks, with your Leader. This is an interactive session during which you’ll practice living with the PointsPlus program. You’ll ask questions, take part in practical exercises, exchange ideas with other Weight Watchers members and get a week’s worth of meal ideas that help you on your way to success.
Each of the three PowerStart sessions starts with a quick briefing on the program essentials, and then dives in to different skills you’ll use to succeed. No matter what week you start, you’ll learn valuable skills that will see you through your first week on Plan. In weeks two and three, you’ll add to that solid base, with the opportunity to ask follow-up questions with some time on Plan under your belt. At the end of the three weeks, you’ll get another book, Living PointsPlus, that will help you keep going all the way to your goal.
Most important of all: You can attend these sessions any time. If, after your first three weeks, you’d like to review what you learned in week 1 with the benefit of three weeks’ experience, then you’re more than welcome to stay. If you’ve been on Plan for weeks, months, even years — join in and really master the basics! Not only might you learn something new; you might also teach something to those around you.
I am looking forward to learning more about the changes to Weight Watchers and I will be sure to share it with you.
So how have you been with your weightloss journey? Any successes? Setbacks? New tips or recipes you would like to share?
