Weight Watchers: One Week Complete.

Today begins week two. I started Weight Watchers one week ago in hopes that I will finally lose the 10-20 pounds that have been following me around for ten years. I did Weight Watchers back in high school and lost about twelve pounds. Since then, I have probably put back on about four of those pounds. I work out very diligently so I am able to maintain without a problem. When I injured my tendon, I was unable to work out but was eating the same foods I had been eating before: A bag of peanut mm’s as an afternoon work snack from time to time, Tostitos and Queso when the mood struck and lots and lots of bread. Change was needed!

Working full time was the worst thing to happen to my waistline since they came out with double stuffed Oreos. I work in a building with many sales executives who host client meetings 3-4 times a week. They always have the meetings catered and there are always lots and lots of leftovers. Many of the choices are healthy – side salads and fruit, but for breakfast there is an assortment of muffins and bagels with cream cheese (I would always grab half of a multigrain bagel with cream cheese thinking, “It's multigrain, how bad can it be?”) and for lunch sandwiches with who knows what would be available to pick at. Mind you, I would usually already have eaten breakfast or lunch and then there would be more. Saying no to free food has been difficult, but this last week, I have done so well just taking the fruit. No more bagels (10 pts?!), no more corn muffins (a trillion pts.) and no more sandwiches after already eating lunch.

Weight Watchers is such a good system. You can eat whatever you like, but you have a set number of points you shouldn’t go over in a day. Never fear – if you do, you have a bundle of “flex” points to last you the week as well. You can literally have your cake and eat it too, just not three days in a row. I had no idea how much I was eating on a daily basis until I was forced to calculate it. A 6-inch subway sandwich and baked BBQ chips puts me back 11 points for lunch (a solid meal), but a bag of peanut mm’s has the same amount of points as the Subway sandwich does (8). When I realized I could eat a healthy dinner and use the same amount of points as the candy, they became much less desirable. Fresh fruits and veggies are zero points – I can eat as many of those all day long as I would like. Of course, this isn’t fool proof. Sodium is not calculated and we all should be watching our sodium intake, and fruits have loads of carbs, so eating three bananas a day is probably not the best option. But it’s good to know what I should be eating and what I should be staying away from. It’s been an eye opening beginning.

Now we are on to week two. I weighed myself this morning and the number went down, so I know it’s working…slowly but surely (sorry, I won’t be reporting the results – that number has always been for my eyes only.) The box my new scale came in had a picture of the scale reading 124.5. How rude – but I guess it’s something to strive for? Maybe? I’m a very competitive person, so competing with myself will be a blast. How much food can I eat today without going over 29 points? It’s like the ultimate challenge. Tina Fey lost thirty pounds when she was in her twenties just starting out in comedy on Weight Watchers, and Jennifer Hudson lost, what, eighty?! Success is possible and I’m determined to win this battle once and for all. Wish me luck!