The weekly weigh in, week 18

Last night, I just drug myself to the Weight Watchers meeting. This flu has kicked me squarely in the fanny, and I've done little other than sleep and take my medicine all week. I knew the lines would be long and the meeting room standing room only crowded. However, making the meeting is part of the discipline, and well, mine still feels a bit shaky. It's not that I didn't manage my food well this week. I stayed within my points allowance, but I did have to work to do it. A few weeks ago, this was just feeling habitual and natural, and the only way to get that feeling back is to keep up the habits until they're almost unconscious.

I've noticed that some of these behaviors are really asserting themselves. I've become an avid label reader in the grocery store. Weight Watcher points are determined on a formula using the dietary fiber grams, calories and fat grams in food. When you begin the program, you're given a book that lists the points values of many foods. You also receive a sliding scale called a Pointsfinder that lets you find the points value of foods that aren't listed. It's much easier than breaking down, say, the olive tapenade that I like to use on sandwiches, into its ingredients, olives, oil, peppers, celery, etc, and checking each in the book, then adding them up.

45.2 lbs!!

Many people on Weight Watchers shop with their Pointsfinder in hand. I'm not at that point yet but see the value in it. While I may not calculate points in the grocery aisle, I do estimate them to make better decisions about the food in my house before it sits in my cabinets calling me. You can purchase additional books, The Weight Watchers Complete Food Companion and The Weight Watchers Dining Out Companion that list the points value of foods by name brand and restaurant menu items.

I've actually found counting points to be easier than counting calories or carbs. With calories, the numbers got too high to calculate quickly in my head. With carbs, the problem was not counting them. I felt my choices were so restricted that a little slip up would make me toss the diet out for the day.

Noticing my shopping behavior when I didn't have a prepared list this week showed me that I'm really learning. Stepping on the scales last night was my reward. After last week's small loss and the previous week's gain, I had really been hoping for about a two and a half pound loss so I could hit a nice, round 40 pounds. I actually lost 7.6 pounds, making my total loss 45. 2 pounds! I haven't been this size in a decade, and I'm loving it.

weight loss, diets, Weight Watchers