I'd initially signed up for WW back in October and hadn't been able to stay on program. So, I started on WW (again) on Monday and did my initial weigh-in: I'm up 4.6 pounds.
So, I'm back on track and trying to stay focused. This week (which I'm thinking of as Week One) has been okay. I'm on program and have managed to track my points every single day, both in my paper journal and using the WW online tools.
I've had some salads and other light snacks (even have some apples at work so I can snack on them instead of Skittles)... but now comes the weekend.
Weekends are the worst time for me.
During the week I can mostly stay on track because I'm at work in the office and I find it easier to focus on what I'm doing. But at home, where things are more chaotic, I find I forget to track Points and am much more prone to eating bad stuff, or overdoing portions.
This weekend I'm just staying at home, so it should be a little easier... but I must admit that this will be the first real test of my newfound resolve. I predict that the hardest part will be not having a few beers tonight, or to go out for Mexican food. It's been a long, stressful week and I've got some of my favorite beers in the back fridge. Yup, it's definitely going to be a big challenge.
Congrats on deciding to recommit to WW. That's a big step in the right direction! A lot of people, myself included, find weekends to be challenging. There's more opportunity for eating, and there are more food-centered events going on usually. I tend to allot myself a good chunk of my flex points for the weekend so I have wiggle room. Whatever I do, though, I don't stop tracking - write everything down, even if you end up going way over your points for the day. Don't lose the habit of writing it down. Even if you have to estimate portion sizes.
You can definitely accommodate the beer into your day if you plan it in. There's nothing wrong with enjoying a couple beers at the end of the day! Just make sure you keep your health in mind, write down the points, and don't use the drinking as an excuse to overeat, you're golden.
Good luck with this weekend, and be sure to let us know how it goes! If it helps, come here and write down everything you eat so you can be held accountable for it.
Thanks Jamie! Alas, I really can't do a few beers without going overboard. I don't mean from the alcohol, but I've learned that it can act as a trigger for me to overeat and not focus on portions. I think this first weekend I should steer clear of the brewskies!
Like I said, my main goal is to make myself track all weekend. If I can do that I should be able to face the Monday weigh-in without fear.
Like I said, if it'll help, there's the Menus/Planning/Accountability thread here where you can post what you eat. Some people find that it really helps them stay on track if they plan their meals out in advance or know they have to come post about it later.
Buzz,
Weekends are also hard for me. I feel pressure from my family to go out or to relax my eating habits.
So far as your beer goes, I would (gasp) throw it away. My philosophy is that if it isn't in my house, I won't eat (or drink) it.
I know that is drastic, but it works for me!
Good luck!
Hi Buzz-
Welcome Back, great choice to recommit. Someone told me baby steps, instead of looking at the whole weekend, maybe break that down into each meal. Planning ahead is also a great tool I use, make sure you do write it down, like Suite said, good or bad, that's very important. Good Luck on your weekend, let us know how it went
Weekends are tough for me too. I try to save most of my flex points for the weekend and that helps a lot. Just try to keep healthy things around & track! It really hold you accountable.
yup yup about the weekends. i think you're right about abstaining for the first few weeks, and see how you feel. jaime is right that you can work in some beers, but it may be simpler just to skip them until you feel on firmer ground with your eating.
either way, good luck and keep posting!!
s
Replying to your mexican food comment... I adore mexican food.. I could eat it every single day.. If you make it at home, it's actually surprisingly low in points. A few weeks ago I made a huge salad, with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, hot pepper, tons of fresh cilantro, but I find the salad dressing usually screws me for points. So I poured salsa on the salad (because it's 0 points!) and added 2 or 3 tablespoons of fat free sour cream... so my entire salad was only 1 point! And with all the mexican kick to it, it was satisfying, and I felt like I was having a big 'treat'... you can also stick it in a low-point tortilla and make a wrap. I also made fresh guacamole and it's surprisingly low in points. Good luck this weekend, and don't stress!
Thanks all. So far, so good. Friday night was a Chinese buffet, and it really didn't go well. I cut back on things, ate fish (which I don't really care for), skipped the rice, picked the peanuts out of the Kung Pao... and still spent 25 pts at dinner! And it was NOT worth it. I left feeling more than a little depressed because I spent points (and only went over 7 for the day (just used some Weekly Points), by the way) and didn't enjoy it as much as if I had just had what I wanted (another 10 points) and really enjoyed myself. All in all, it was blah.
One thing that I'm bad about, and part of it is that I'm a man who does not like to cook, is that I don't really "plan" meals. My wife is not on program, so we eat different meals. Sometimes I just grav what's on hand (frozen WW dinners, often) and eat what's there. Tonight, though, I did actually cook, and was marginally happy with the results. I used the wrong flour and my one-pot dish got a little goopy, but other than that, the Artichokes, Chicken and Hot Cherry Peppers came out nicely. Very spicy and not high in points (just 8 because it's mostly veggies).
Michele: Pour out $45 worth of beer? Yaaaaaagh! The horror, the horror! :-o
No, it's tempting, but I can resist for a long time. Fortunately it's in the back friedge. What's more tempting are the yummy leftovers from last week that I don't want to throw out until Tuesday (that's when they do garbage pickup -- I don't like to leave food outside in the trash cans because it atracts bugs and critters). Right now I've got meatloaf and hot wings back there, plus some of my wife's Mexican food lunch from a few days ago.
Ahhhhh, Mexican food. I'm in Texas and we have great Mexican food everywhere. Mamba, like you I enjoy putting salsa on my salad (although you have to check the points if you use LOTS of it -- it can add up to a point with large quantities).
Today, though, I did fairly well and DID track everything. That's a major accomplishment for me.
Tomorrow, though, will be the test. I have an event at a Pizza Shop and am worried that the smell may really get to me. And I'm not trying to be rude, but please... no one suggest that I get a salad at a pizza place. Yes, I know I can get one, but yuck. Those places almost always have mediocre salad bars with just iceburg lettuce and a few watery tomatoes. They're just so blah... and I'll have to bring my own dressing (Kraft Zesty Italian is great) and I really do NOT want to explain to people why I'm not eating anything good or why I brought my own dressing.
:-(
Oh well, I'll get through it and I won't eat any pizza. And again, I probably can't stop at one or two pieces, and those wouldn't be filling anyway, so why squander the points on fatty foods the day before my first weigh in? I'm not going to blow a week of dedication on a few slices of pizza.
Oh well, sorry for being such a grump. I'm tired and I've got another big challenge in front of me tomorrow.
Hey Buzz-
Do wish you well, but don't give up just yet. About the pizza shop, are you ordering off the menu, or is it buffet? Off the menu does not have to be your downward spiral to despair. Before you go have a huge salad with your fav dressing, so when you do go to the pizza shop you will not be so hungry that you give in to temptation, remember YOU are in control, repeat that to yourself, over and over. Then special order one slice of pizza, maybe with lots of veggies and lite on the cheese, ask for a large glass of water, hey, maybe they can bring you a pitcher of ice water, and just eat as slowly as you can. As far as the beer, if you can forget it's there, that's awesome, but...with that said, sometimes the best plans go awry. Do you have a best buddy that you could give it to.
As far as cooking for yourself, the only thing I can suggest is to look for easy recipes, you can even make it up as you go along. I know WW has a lot of recipes on their web site, you can even find some on this web site. Yes, it does take a bit of planning and research, but it's so much better for you than those frozen dinners, they have so much sodium.
Good Luck at your event today, and remember that you are going for the event, and Enjoy yourself
there has to be a way to plan and fit all of this stuff in. There HAS to. I had chinese last night AND 4 glasses of wine AND ... 2 vodka diet cassis when I got home... I used my saved and activity points from the week AND I still had a loss on the scale this morning!
So, a few questions...
1) Does your wife support your efforts? Can she cook WW style for both of you?
2) Are you active during the week, earning activity points?
3) Are you willing to cook for yourself/ plan ahead by bringing your own food/ eating prior to certain events?
Believe me, get me around pizza and beer and I would most likely be a goner. And Mexican food... let's just say in that respect I'm lucky that I'm away from all of that stuff (I'm originally from New Mexico and there is NO decent Mexican food in the Netherlands, trust me I've looked everywhere!). If you know that these things are triggers for you, maybe it's a better idea not to go to those events for a short period? Or can you eat something beforehand, fill up on some veggies and fruit or low-point snacks, some low-point soup, so that you just are able to have the minimum (for the taste enjoyment) without going over your points?
Would you consider alternating beer and sparkling water/ diet coke/ whatever else you like?
If you are tracking, that's the first step. No need to try to be perfect on all accounts. You are human and let's face it, this journey isn't always easy!!
Good luck with your challenges today Buzz.
I have to say-- I hear ya about Mexican food in Houston. I am from Houston (but now living in CA) and the restaurants are to die for, especially the Mexican. The portions are so much bigger in Houston at restaurants than in CA. I truly believe it is a much harder city to lose weight in, but it is possible.
And your Chinese meal. I totally know what you mean. When you spend a large number of points and you aren't satisfied with what you've had, it can be very disappointing. However, as long as you are tracking, you will be learning. It is good to go back through your tracker after you've been on the program for awhile and look at your days. See which days you stayed within points and which days you didn't. See what you ate those days. I find that I am much happier when I've spent my points "wisely". I only get 21 points a day now and those points can get used up in a hurry so I have to budget them.
Also, on cooking-- I agree-- there are many wonderful and easy WW recipes out there. I wasn't much of a cook before started WW. My dh cooked most of our meals. Now I really enjoy cooking because I can make meals that taste great for the whole family, are easy to make and are healthy. It has given me a new attitude about cooking. Dh still loves to cook but now we have to fight about who is going to cook each night! And he knows if he is cooking, it better be healthy with tons of veggies and lean meats.
One of the biggest problems I have with cooking is that my morning and evening commutes are more than an hour (I live in NW Houston and drive to the Galleria, which is sort of central and very hard to get to because of the traffic). So I wake up at 6:30 and don't get home some nights until 7 p.m. or later (average time to get hom is about 6:15 p.m.). The last thing I want to do, after fighting all that traffic, is stand there and cook.
On the weekends we get a little shopping done and I have enough time to work on a few things around the house to keep it from falling apart. Giving up a whole day to prep meals for the week? I shudder at the thought. I don't enjoy cooking (I'm 43, if it were likely that I would enjoy cooking I think I would have discovered it by now -- and it's not that I'm bad at it, I just don't like doing it).
Oh well, here I am complaining again. The truth is, I'm always in a really bad mood the first week or two -- after that it will lighten up. But, today is NOT something I am looking forward to.
BUT: You guys have inspired me to go in with a PLAN. I have printed out the point values of a whole variety of Pizzas (got 'em from Dottie's Weight Loss Zone) and I'll bring it with me so I'll have an idea of what I'm gettin into. A few slices of thin crust won't be so bad if I can mix it with some salad.
Thanks everyone -- I'm sure I'll cheer up in a week or two. Actually, if tomorrow's weigh in is okay, I might cheer up a bit then.
Week 1 - So far so good, but....
