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Making Weight WatchersWork
Ever since I posted my success story a few months back, I’ve gotten comments and emails about how it worked for me, and what tips or recipes I’d suggest others try. To me, it sounded like the perfect excuse for a blog post.
How WW Works
Weight Watchers works on a point system. Everything you eat is assigned a points value based on the fat, fiber, and calorie content of the item. Depending on your personal circumstances (age, current weight, daily activity level), you are assigned a daily points target. Mine started at 29 and is now down to 21 as I’ve lost weight. Everyone gets a standard 35 ‘bonus’ points to use any time during the week.
The fewer calories, fat grams and the more fiber in a food, the less points it ‘costs’. This encourages you to choose higher-fiber, lower-fat foods. For example, whole wheat pasta may be 4 points for a serving instead of the 7 or 8 for regular pasta.
Every exercise or activity you do can earn you extra points as well. Walk for 40 minutes? That’s 2 more points. Run a half marathon? I earned 19 points that day.
The key to Weight Watchers is writing everything down, either on paper or online. Although you can still do the traditional weekly meetings and weigh ins, I opted to do the online-only version instead. I don’t have time to go to meetings, and am not the kind of person to be motivated by other people. I have always been my best motivation.
What I found
The strength in the system, at least for me, is the ability to not deprive myself of favorite foods, while being encouraged to make smarter choices and understand portion size a little better. I found, over time, that I was naturally making these healthier choices – and enjoying them. Instead of always getting a grilled cheese for lunch, I started choosing salads with grilled chicken or boiled egg. More filling, less points, and decidedly healthier.
The earned points system from activity became a kind of challenge for me. I hate going to the gym, so being able to see the points earned from just walking to and from work was pretty encouraging. And, as I started running this summer, they’d add up quicker and quicker.
Some Tips and Tricks
- Find low-point foods and recipes that you absolutely love. Put these into your diet more often and they’ll feel like treats rather than hardships.
- Sometimes, the low-fat or low-cal food options are worse choices than regular ones. For example, while you could have a cup of light shredded cheese for 4 points, I preferred to choose a much smaller quantity of a stronger cheese, such as an aged parmesan. I got more flavour for fewer points.
- Like to drink? Choose wine over beer whenever possible. Beer has more points, but also can make you crave salty foods, which makes you retain water. Plus, it’s way easier – and more natural – to make a glass of wine last.
- When eating out, I made a rule with myself that I could order whatever I wanted, as long as it was something I really wanted. If I wasn’t craving anything in particular, I tried to order the healthiest thing on the menu. Why spend the points on something that’s not worth it?
- Make compromises whenever possible. If your favorite breakfast place offers egg whites, use them in your omelet instead. Go for the side salad rather than fries when you want that cheeseburger. Eating better is all about balance. Making compromises helps you from feeling deprived.
- Losing weight got significantly easier once I found ways to get more active. Just by walking to and from work a few days a week, it started dropping off. And, I was a lot happier with some physical activity. Find something that you enjoy, and it’s easier to work it into your routine.
Two Recipes
Here are two of my go-to recipes for eating well with few points.
Black Bean / Sweet Potato Wrap
Heat a can of black beans, drained, season with chili powder, salt and pepper. Mash slightly. At the same time, boil one peeled sweet potato, cut in chunks, until soft. Mash with cinnamon and nutmeg, or a little low-cal maple syrup. Take one whole wheat tortilla and spread with equal parts black bean and sweet potato mixture and top with a tiny bit of shredded parmesan cheese.
Breakfast Yogurt
I’m hungry in the morning. Really hungry. And if I don’t eat right away, I get cranky. This is my favorite breakfast on WW that keeps me happy enough to not buy that donut at Tim Horton’s.
Take a cup of sliced fruit – I like strawberries or blueberries – and top with 1/2C fat free vanilla yogurt and 1/3C of low-fat, high-fiber granola or cereal. This feels like dessert to me!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:05 am
1. Great post! I think you’ve inspired me to drag myself back on the WW wagon–I’d fallen off for a while.
2. My anti-spam word was alpaca. Love it!
November 10th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I am going to have to try it again. Maybe I can get my cousin to try it with me as a long distance buddy. She wants to lose weight but needs a buddy.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Excellent post! I’ve found that WW really works for me. Such joy when you find a 1 or 2 pt. snack that you like. And activity points made me positively giddy.
November 13th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Amen, amen! The thing I love most about WW is that it’s giving you tools to deal with the real world and with real food. No wholesale forbidding of entire groups of foods, no special diet foods that need to be purchased, no mumbo jumbo.
I’ve done well on WW this year myself. But the really tough part is maintenance. Best of luck to both of us on that…
November 19th, 2009 at 5:15 am
OMG I’m totally using these food suggestions. Love the variety!
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Agree that this is a great post! Can’t wait to try the black bean/sweet potato wrap. The breakfast yogurt is my favorite too. Good luck and keep being an inspiration!
November 30th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Thank you for this. I love black beans and sweet potatoes so I really look forward to trying the wrap.
I have been slacking on my tracking and WW in general. You may have helped me get back on the horse.