Hello everyone! Welcome to this week's discussion!



This is for anyone who wants to contribute. If you have something to say, large or small, share it with the rest of us! It benefits everyone.

This week's topic: Keep it simple. Keep it sustainable.

The Weight Watchers plan is about two things. Keeping it simple, and keeping it sustainable over a long period of time.

In order to keep it simple there are two things to keep in mind. Choose & Track. Choose filling foods. Track what you eat. How do you make it easy for yourself to choose filling foods? How do you make it easy for yourself to track?

To make sure we can sustain the program there are many resources Weight Watchers has available.

The filling foods. To keep us satisfied.
The Good Health Guidelines. To keep us healthy as we're losing weight.
Tools for Living. To help keep us in the right frame of mind, and to deal with situations and our environment.

How are you keeping your program simple? How are you keeping it sustainable for yourself?

Keeping it simple...

I keep my tracker with me all the time. I write down my foods before I eat them. I have a large number of different foods I eat, but I've memorized portions & points for my favorite foods so that they're easy to write down.

Keeping it sustainable...

I'm choosing fruits & vegetables more often than before I began WW. I eat Whole Wheat grains, breads, and choose brown rices. It keeps me fuller for longer. And this is something that... it's not temporary for me. I know that this is sustainable because I've been living it for so long.

I do know that I need improvement in getting in all of my Good Health Guidelines. (Daily oil and multi-vitamin mostly). So there are a few things I can work on this week.

Simple:
I also write it down, before I eat. I even try to plan out all my meals at breakfast, this way I don't leave it to chance that I will get in all my healthy guidelines, like dairy. {I'm not a fan of milk}

I think for me writing it down is The Key, I have such a great day, when my day is planned out.

Sustainable...
Before WW, I never would of chose baby carrots as a snack, and instead of chips with my lunch, I can now enjoy carrots and celery, and not miss the crunch. Not to mention, I really do feel fuller longer, it's not just hipe, filling foods are going to help you in so many ways.

What a fantastic meeting topic. I really enjoyed my meeting today (it helps that I lost, but ya know, the topic was good too ).

One thing my leader said that really stuck out was this:

Don't do anything to lose the weight that you aren't willing to do to keep it off.

It's so simple, but so true. This is lifestyle change. Must be simple and sustainable. This I think is actually a very powerful concept that a lot of dieters miss out on. They go on crash diets, they deprive themselves for weeks on end, then crash and burn spectacularly and put all the weight back on.

This week, I am going to focus on the second of the "seven steps for success" (outlined on p 3-4 of the pocket guide) - Choosing filling foods first. This one thing is simple, and it is the one thing I know is sustainable for me as I love eating that way. I need to focus on it for some time to make it habitual.

And I completely agree! I feel pained when I hear people talk about eating nothing but cabbage soup for a year and then the weight will be off... Ugh.

These are all things I have done in the past. This why I try and just be patient because now I am doing it the right way. I am not willing to give up anything or add anything that I am not gonna to commit to forever. I still drink on the weekends (not nearly as much since WW) and I still eat wings for the Sunday Game. The key is that I just plan ahead and WRITE EVERY SINGLE THING DOWN, if I am over my points or not. I must be able to hold my sellf accountable for a lose or a gain.

To keep it simple: I have a lot of the points memorized & used the set points feature when possible. I use it mostly for fruit, chicken, eggs etc. Things I eat often. So when making food for multiple people I don’t have to weigh & measure everything. If I’m having chicken, I count it as 5, if I’m eating a fruit salad made w/ yummy fresh fruit, I count it is 2.

I also use tons of zero point veggies for salads & when I’m making a salad I’ll weigh out 3-4 servings of the toppings that have points (cheese, dressings, nuts, fruits) & put them aside for another day. That way for my next salad, everything is pre-measured & calculated already.

Sustainable: if I want something, I find away to have it or a lower points version of it. I never tell myself no. I also know that this is going to take forever. I have set a very reasonable & reachable goal for myself to lose 2 lbs a week. I also allow myself the occasional off day, if I am at my goal weight for that week & really just need a break from planning, weighing and measuring I’ll take a day off

One way for me to keep it simple this week was when I went grocery shopping over the weekend, as I was putting my groceries away I took a sharpie then calculated & wrote the points on each thing as I put in in fridge/cabinet. Now I don't have to calculate so much through the week! I figured this will be a huge time-saver for me.

To keep it sustainable I am always trying new things. One problem I have is that I get bored very easily so if I'm always trying new things it's not as easy to get bored. When I made my grocery list I try to have 3 new items on it, whether they are snack ideas or meal ideas.

"One way for me to keep it simple this week was when I went grocery shopping over the weekend, as I was putting my groceries away I took a sharpie then calculated & wrote the points on each thing as I put in in fridge/cabinet. Now I don't have to calculate so much through the week! I figured this will be a huge time-saver for me."

This is a good one!

Oh I love this tip! I use this, too. And I find it also makes it easier for me to work out a good dinner plan when the points are written right out there on the packages. I can say "I need something 3 pts to complete my meal" and grab something that fits.

erynn1010~ That is an awesome idea!!! I often portion out certain things when I bring them home from the grocery store, specifically pasta. That way I only make or take one serving at a time.

Keep it simple~ I track everything and make sure to plan all of my lunches the night before. I keep lots of lt. soups and Lean cuisines on hand, so if I have to make a last minute dinner I have something on hand...

Sustainable~ I don't force myself to eat anything I don't want and I make sure to eat the foods I do want (making sure to save bonus points or regular day points for when those urges surface). I constantly try new exercises and only do those that I like...

"Sustainable~ I don't force myself to eat anything I don't want and I make sure to eat the foods I do want (making sure to save bonus points or regular day points for when those urges surface). I constantly try new exercises and only do those that I like..."

Yay! This one made me thing of last nite.......I'm really trying hard w/ the fruits & veggies this time around. I try to eat a new fruit/veggie each week. Last night I tried grape tomatoes for the 1st time. SO GROSS! I spit it out in the sink.

I really hate tomatoes. Don't think I'll ever get over it & I'm not going to force myself to eat something I don't like. Thanks for making me realize that this is okay.

I love that you're trying a new fruit/veggie each week! There are many ways to try them, too.

I see sometimes people trying to force themselves to eat something they hate because they think it's healthy (cottage cheese as an example), but I think that if someone has tried something a few times, and really doesn't like it, why force it?

I try grapefruit almost once a year just to see... still don't like it. Probably never will. I'm not giving up on it completely, but I'm not going to force myself to eat a grapefruit a day. It would make eating healthier miserable.