My life in points

As I have mentioned before, I officially started Weight Watchers online almost two weeks ago. My decision to do this online rather than the meetings was not an easy one. Since I have a great support system at home, I did not feel that I needed meetings, especially since they were at least double the price of online. What I wanted was something for ideas, the message boards (if I use them), recipes broken down in points, and something to keep me motivated. For some reason paying money makes it more real and keeps me on target.

I know that the Weight Watchers point system works for me. I unofficially did Weight Watchers when NHL was about 6 months old. By his first birthday I had lost about at least 50 pounds. When I started teaching again, I weighed less than I can ever recall. I felt wonderful and could finally shop for clothing in any store. I made a mistake part way though the year. I stopped journaling what I was consuming. JL and I were not eating as healthy and our portions slowly increased. Then when NHL was almost two and still not walking, my world fell apart. I was faced with stress at school and not knowing what was wrong with my little boy. The daily offering of goodies in the faculty room were calling me, and I the will power slowly declined.

I know I should have started back on Weight Watchers before this point, but I was afraid. I partially blamed myself for sabotaging my milk supply when I was nursing NHL. I did not want to jeopardize this for JSL. When we made our reservations for Disney World something clicked in my brain. I did not want to be uncomfortable walking there, I wanted to fit into the rides, and I did not want to be heaview than I was on my honeymoon there almost eight years ago.

Starting Weight Watchers in the winter is not easy, I have done this twice now. The fruit and vegetables available are not as good, and oh my are they expensive these days! In addition to this, many of the comfort foods of winter that keep you warm are high in calroies and fat. Being healthy is far from cheap and definitely not easy, especially in these economic times. However, I know in the long run that better health will save us a lot of money.

JL and I have found some snacks that fulfill our need for "junk" food. Kashi and Fiber One products have been amazing. We have also tried several recipes from the Weight Watchers website and have a few more that are ready to go. After my first full week, I lost two pounds. Sure, it is not a ton of weight like the Biggest Loser contestants, but losing 15 pounds or more in a week seems so unhealthy to me. I know that if it comes off gradually it is more likely to stay off.

Do you have any great healthy recipes to share?

I would love to have some more suggestions to avoid repeating the same items over and over. We keep a kosher kitchen at home, so we tend to eat mostly vegetarian style meals. This does include kosher fish like salmon and tilapia. From time to time, we  make chicken or turkey. We use a lot of Morning Star burger crumbles, and other soy based "meat" products.

TheAngelForever

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  • Soup! Home-made soup is the answer. I, too, have been watching what I eat since the new year. The three pounds I wanted to lose four years ago morphed into the ten pounds I want to lose now (I’m only 5 feet tall, so every pound shows!).

    What helped: 1) Carol Lay’s new book, The Big Skinny: How I Changed my Fattitude. Now huge revelations, just one woman’s story along with weight loss tips and nutrition info, etc. I guess I read it at the right time and it felt empowering.

    2) Soup. DH and I are making huge pots of healthy soups loaded with tons of veggies (barley is a good filler too- more fiber than noodles). I let myself eat as much of this as I want, whenever I want (though I have stopped eating after 7:00 at night).

    3) Gum. I’m chewing lots of sugar-free gum to keep my mouth full and busy.

    4) Tangerines. I’m eating Clementines and Cuties like they are candy. Again, maybe it’s not so calorie conscious, but i let myself eat as many of these as I want. It’s certainly healtlhier than alternatives.

    5) High-quality dark chocolate. I’m allowing myself one expensive 70% cocoa bar/week. If I need chocolate and, let’s face it, I sometimes do! I break off a tiny square. At $3.00 a bar I’m gonna make it last!

    Wow, I might turn this into my own post.

    Good for you for taking this step. I’m sure you will start to feel better and you eat healthier and exercise more and you are right, that will make for a better family trip.

    (BTW, I’m giving away a $50 Photoworks gift. cert. on my review blog- great way to make a post-Disney photo book on the cheap.)

  • Nancy Talan says:

    Most of our recipes don’t fit within your requirements but I’ll look and see what I have. I downloaded a black bean soup recipe from the WW forums that I really want to try soon.

    My tip: stick to the filling foods. I’ve had a hard time with this and have to make a conscious effort – this morning I had shredded wheat with low-fat milk and strawberries, instead of my usual work-at-home breakfast, which is 2 whole wheat low-fat nutrigrain waffles with 2% cottage cheese. Both are 4 points, but the cereal and strawberries are filling foods.

    And I also need to write down everything – if I don’t lose, it’s because I didn’t journal.

  • Stefanie Gracia says:

    Hi B,

    I started WW again right before Christmas but didn’t really do points until 2 weeks ago. But since tracking points, I have lost 7.2 lbs!!

    So far, I am just keeping track of the points really wellfor breakfast and lunch and then wing it with smaller portions for dinner. I’ve been eating a lot less which I can tell is working. It’s crazy when you journal, you really realize how much you ate before tracking. I would eat just to eat and now I think about it first.

    Stefanie

  • I’m one of those odd women who has never dieted before. Not to say I don’t exercise and try to eat well, but I have never actually participated in any kind of diet regime. I think that’s great you’ve lost weight already though. Considering the eating habits of my family I could only dream of changing out meat for soy products. Never gonna happen around here.

    Mom has dieted a lot and one of her little tricks is to eat nuts. Almonds mostly. High in protein and can curb the appetite fairly quickly. :)

  • Damselfly says:

    Good for you! This is great. If after I’m done nursing baby #2 I still need to lose some weight, then I would definitely look into WW online. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.

    One “recipe” I picked up before Fly was born and I was doing South Beach (for the health of it, not really for weight loss), was to mix plain couscous with chickpeas and chopped-up tomatoes. Sometimes I substitute beans for chickpeas. You can add garlic or other herbs, and then drizzle with olive oil. I still eat that for lunch a lot because it’s healthy and filling. You could probably substitute rice or bulgur or something else for the couscous if you wanted.

  • Katie says:

    B, I do not have any good tips because I have never done WW but I want to say Congrats! I think that it is great that you are doing it. I know that it is not easy but you should be proud of yourself. I can not wait to hear updates about your progress!

  • Aaron says:

    Hey its your cousin Aaron…I have a suggestion for you. I keep a lot of frozen fruit around…blueberries/strawberries and eat these like a maniac at night and when im just chillin around. 50 calories in a whole bag so they are pretty much just fiber….just a suggestion for your diet…and they taste great…not to mention blueberries have some of the most high quality antioxidants in the fruit kingdom!

  • Congratulations for taking the first step to lose the weight. I try to post my Five Point Friday every week which is a recipe that has 5 WW points or less. Also, do you know about Roni? She has Green Lite Bites which has tons of recipes and she is a great inspiration for WW losers. Visit her at http://ronisweigh.com/ and Green Lite Bites at http://greenlitebites.com/. You can do it!!