Jul 29, 2008

Weight Watchers Week Two: So far, so good

The best part about Weight Watchers so far isn't that I've lost weight (although that's pretty awesome) but that the way I'm eating now is a way that I can live with for the rest of my life. Weight Watchers says they're not a diet, they're a lifestyle, and it's true. In the last week, I've eaten chocolate, pie, and some absolutely heavenly soppressata and Spanish chorizo. It's all about portion control, and I'm learning to eat my favorite foods while staying within my Points allowance.

In fact, I'm now eating the way I've always known that I should eat: mostly fruit and vegetables, with some protein and dairy, and small portions of treats. I don't know why I needed to join Weight Watchers in order to make this change, but it's really working for me.

The greatest difficulty is preparation, because my family doesn't eat the way I do. The boys will eat the same fruit, and Marc will eat (most of) the same veggies, but the boys won't, for example, eat a salad for dinner. So I am spending more time in the kitchen. I'm not too happy about that, so I am trying to figure out ways to streamline the whole process of making two dinners. Sometimes the solutions are obvious, like when I made beef nachos - everybody else got the nachos, while I topped a plate of greens and tomatoes with some of the beef mixture and a quarter cup of shredded part skim mozzarella cheese. I'm working on coming up with more easily adjusted meals like this.

I can't really assess the impact of Weight Watchers on our monthly spending yet, because I haven't been buying much meat. I've had a pretty good stockpile in the freezer, which we've been eating for the last couple of weeks. I don't break my grocery budget down by category, so I'm really just going to keep an eye on the trend of my spending at grocery stores. It goes without saying that even as I eat healthier, I want to keep my spending in check.

One of the best things about joining an At-Work program instead of meetings at a regular Weight Watchers center is that I have a built-in timeline. The At-Work program requires a minimum of 15 paying members to continue each 17-week session. The group I joined just barely made it to 15 members for the current session, so there's no guarantee that there will be another session when this one ends right before the holidays. Because of that, I feel extra motivated to reach my goal weight by the end of this session, and fortunately, I don't have that much weight to lose so my goal is pretty realistic. I don't think the same motivation would be there if I'd simply joined regular meetings with no (forced) end in sight.

Right now, my plan is to keep doing what I've been doing since it's obviously working. I just need to make those adjustments in the kitchen so that I can keep up the progress without losing my mind.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This post is more encouraging than the first one you made. The approach you show now is great! For the different meals, what we do in my family is based on slight variations on the same theme. Some will use a spicy sauce (like tabasco) to change the taste of the food, while other will continue using the richer food. The idea is to minimize the amount of variation needed per person eating. We also try to avoid meals that can't do that. A spicy thai mean will only appeal to my wife and I, leaving the kids not eating. So we simply wait to the end to put the spices in only part of the meal. Living together is a compromise, so is eating together!

Nice to know the WW is working out for you....

Gina @ MoneywiseMoms said...

Great job, Cathy! I think you'll find easy ways to accomodate the changes as it becomes more of habit and less of a "new thing" for you.

Windy Gabbert said...

Yeah for weight watchers! I'm on my second round of weight watchers (after child number 2). After having met my goal 2 1/2 years ago and having become a lifetime member, I can tell you that Weight Watchers REALLY does work. It's not a hokey diet, it really is a lifestyle change in regards to eating and exercising. I'm down 10.4, and still have 15 to go, but I know that if I stick with it, it will work. Keep up the great work and stay motivated with your end goal in sight! Windy

Meegan @ The Harvey Circus said...

I think it's awesome that you can go to the WW meetings at work. It saves any umm-ing and aaaah-ing about whether to make the effort to go or not.

And I agree with Gina, it does get easier to make meals that the whole family will eat, saving you extra hours in the kitchen. For us, the WW cookbooks were a huge help and got my husband interested in what I should be eating more of.

Good luck at your next weigh in and meeting :o)

L. J. Lowe said...

Great! I'm so glad it's working for you. Hopefully, you can work some of the new foods into the rest of your family's diet a little at a time. I know how frustrating it is to have everyone eating something different. Good luck! I hope you make you're goal by the end of the 17 weeks.

Chief Family Officer said...

@Serge - Thanks, that's a great idea. I've been avoiding some of my favorite spicy dishes because the kids won't eat them, but maybe I'll try adding the spices at the end.

@Gina - Thanks! :)

@Windy - Wow, that's so awesome! Thanks for the inspiration!

@Megan - Yes, the at-work meetings are very helpful for eliminating excuses!

@ACL - Thank you so much!