Weight Watchers

A lot of people don't like the new program, but I do. I can have sweets such as apples, Blueberry, and Protein steak chicken. I also learned I like fish (which I never ate before WW) and I'm beginning to see I can have beans and chickpeas (zero points) and I'm losing weight. I do monitor myself. It’s very important for me that I do. Even though the diet is written no food is off limits you still have to be careful. For example, I had to give up a free food called grapes. I was eating the whole bag. Yes it's zero points but I want to lose weight and it still has calories and carbs. On Amazon I bought Flex Protein chips 24 hips (1 oz is 2 points) 1 bag of Doritos around one oz is 5 points. The whole bag flex protein chips is 9 points (5oz) so if I eat the whole thing I won't get in that much trouble. I have found if I keep the whole bag in bed with me, I will eat the whole bag. So I put the bag back into the kitchen (after taking my oz) and that worked better.

I'm a man that loves pizza, pasta, cookies and chips and meats. With this diet I can stay away from food that they offer at customer service appreciation week at work or the muffin my roommate offers. I have nice alternatives tip steak, London Broil, mesquite chicken, fish I buy at Sam's club, Blueberry's, Strawberry, and I can have equal with it, tilapia, all the shrimp I want (3 lbs at Sam's club $14.62). The wonderful thing about this diet I don't feel deprived. Sure, I'd like some pizza and one slice is 11 points. But I like the fact I feel healthier (I have a ton of energy now and I’m losing weight). I want that more for now. One day after I lose ½ my weight I’ll treat myself to pizza or find an alternative beforehand.

WW is big on giving a lot of points to condiments. I can have more quantity if I get let’s say low fat mayo. But I don’t want to feel deprived so I put on ‘REAL MAYO’ one teaspoon is (1 pt) a tablespoon is (3) pts. So I can have my Ever roast Boars head Chicken sandwich on 1 slice of bread (2 points) with all the chicken I want 2-4 oz (0 points,) tablespoon of real mayo (3 points). Guess what I’m happy I had real food for lunch and it's only 5 points. On this program if you are in a rush you can have a Whopper jr sandwich with cheese for 11 points and value onion rings for 5 points for a total of 16 points and I'm happy. (I only did that once because I know me) For burgers I usually have 8 oz burger (90%) lien (12 points) 1 slice of bread (2 points) teaspoon of real Hellman's mayo (1 pt) a total of 14 points and I had triple the meat real mayo and less carbs (which also helps for weight loss.) and I'm full for hours

I love this diet but again you need to customize it for yourself. Yes they have zero point food and low point food but that doesn't mean you can over eat. They have stuff on it like candy cookies and ice cream. Can you handle it staying in your budget? if you can't then yes you need to stay away. Addiction is addiction whether it's sugar, drugs or alcohol no program can solve that but you can put it in arrest by staying away and having other things you enjoy but not addicted to. To conclude I’ve lost 13 lbs in a month. I feel great on this program. I wish everyone luck on it. Remember it’s not perfect but for me it’s the best one out there.

I watched my mom struggle with her weight all my life, and not from lack of trying. Exercise, diets, nothing worked. I was her first born and never saw her healthy unless it was in old photos before she was pregnant with me. She developed diabetes and was on the Atkins diet only by necessity and had no weight loss. She finally lost 70 pounds by the time I was 21. The lap band surgery was what finally gave her what she'd wanted for two decades. It was stunning, but costly to her. It never taught her better habits that got her there, only forced her to eat much slower and much less at once. When the food inevitably got stuck above the band, it had to come back up. The constant acid up her throat damaged much of her vocal cords. My mom's singing voice was one of our family treasures. She was heartbroken at losing her ability.

I was gifted with a similar talent. I struggled with my own weight gains. I was terrified that I would have to give up my own singing voice in order to reach my previous state of health. Back to seeing that WW option. For free. I remember my grandma tried it and did well. She was the only person I knew who had. If my employer was willing to waste their money for three months when nothing happened and still pay part of my premiums, I felt I had nothing to lose. I had built confidence in myself that didn't rely on how I physically looked. It couldn't hurt to try it.

January 12th, 2018 I was 247 pounds. April 12th, I had lost 19.2 of them. That week my employer gave me an email thanking me for sticking with all three months. The same email informed me they were paying for the next nine months of my membership. I'd become convinced of the program's benefits a month before and was planning on paying it myself at the end of the three months. I was elated at this reward!

May 3rd I reached 25 down. In September, we had the first anniversary of our wedding. I was 38 down. April 5th, 2019 I was under 200 pounds. I hadn't seen that for at least 7 years. My husband woke up thinking something happened when he heard me yelling that morning. A month later I reached 50 pounds down. My dog's bag of food weighs 50 pounds, and I struggle to carry it.

My journey wasn't a total straight declining line. Whoever named them plateaus was a liar. Should have named them nauseous roller coasters. I've had FOUR of them... so far. At those times it boiled down to a waiting game and finding new ways to keep my physical confidence in myself high. I'm not ready to call it done. If I could choose an ultimate weight goal, mine would be 160 - the same as when I was 18. I don't have any baby weight to lose as I've never been pregnant. I'm only 35 pounds away as of May 19th. I've become a fan of my local thrift shop. I'll probably keep going there even after I no longer have clothes outgrowing me.

I finally found the contact info for those amazing souls who offered me the first three months on them. I'm working on sending them a big thank you. My husband has been in love with me and my body years before I started. This month he picked me up for the first time. He grins every time his arms wrap tighter around me than before. I see my face in the mirror and have found a long lost friend. Most of all, my biggest non-scale victory: I can still sing.

That's when I first went to Weight Watchers. I made slow, steady progress, and hit my goal weight, 116, a 6 months later. By then I had started running too - and losing the extra weight really helped my race times. I stayed within 5 pounds of my weight for several years. Then, as I trained harder for races, long simmering digestive problems started to make me miserable. Going off dairy and gluten had a huge impact. For the first time I could get through a half marathon without having to stop. And then the pounds fell off like crazy. At my lowest, I began to look gaunt - down to 106 pounds.

I began to think I could eat anything without gaining weight. But after a couple of years, as I turned 66, I started to see my weight tick up again. Slowly but steadily. When I got to 117, I could feel it in my running. My clothes didn't fit. So I decided not to let things keep going and downloaded the WW app. I started the program again - and within 3 weeks was back down to 113. But most important, I was reminded about the basics: portion control, healthy eating and mindfulness. I still want to get back down to my running weight (between 107 - 109), although that's below what WW considers "healthy." So I'm going to keep at it. I feel great when I'm really thin and my strength to weight ratio is high.

Now... in actuality, living "well" is a lifetime commitment. Life constantly throws at us "trials and struggles". Of course eating STILL happens THROUGH these challenges... and the workshops provide support with many ideas of how to stay well THROUGH these hardships. I learn something new almost every week! I learn of new recipes that break the boredom syndrome which results from overuse of normal meal plans. Even in Lifetime, EACH workshop brings something motivational, interesting, and encouraging to me. Living well is a lifetime commitment... so WW allows for lifetime accountability and encouragement from others (at no extra cost)... and even continues to reward you. If one does not care for the reward options, then one is welcome to donate their wins to someone in need. THAT is not a worthless reward but one with REAL meaning and more value than ANY of the other options combined!

WW is also a place to "give back" encouragement and help others along to "wellness" as one attends weekly workshops. If one follows the WW plan as taught, and "tracks" and eats as encouraged, plus follows through with other topics discussed in the workshops... like drinking minimally 6 cups of water, getting plenty of sleep, staying positive (which is encouraged in the workshops), exercising several times per week, eating plenty of protein-rich foods, and keeping accurate tracking of points in foods... then one will certainly be on their way to wellness that works! I'm am MORE than thankful for the WW program. It has CERTAINLY worked for me... Follow the program (meaning that you GO to the workshops and actually follow-through with what the coach encourages), and it WILL work for YOU!!!

I would love to see the WW website Connect feature to become as fully functional as the phone app. Not all people live on an iPhone or android phone, and some actually prefer to use a personal computer. It would be nice to have the same "clickability" on the website for features such as looking up a particular Connect member, following and UNfollowing other Connect members, etc. It would simplify the experience.

As far as the WW program itself and the change from SmartPoints to Freestyle, I do see the struggle that has resulted for two groups in particular: Those who struggle with portion control. The zero points foods which are more calorie dense (chicken, fish, eggs, Greek nonfat yogurt, beans, corn, etc) can become problematic for those who struggle with controlling portion size. Free doesn't mean zero calories. I believe, from reading Connect posts, that many people have found their weight loss stalling on Freestyle.

Perhaps a workable process might be to have the healthy, yet calorie dense foods be zero points for a first serving, and have points when more than 1/2 cup, or 3 oz (for example) is consumed. Don't know if that complicates things too much. Those are my thoughts!