anyone on WW??

[Susan Otcenas]

Thanks ladies! I'm glad that sharing my story has helped. But believe me, it's definitely been a struggle sometimes. It's a daily test of willpower to keep it going and not succumb to a craving or temptation. *Most* days I'm very successful at that, but every now and then..... Yesterday we celebrated two birthdays @ Jeff's folks' place - Jeff's and his sister's. Jeff baked a chocolate orange cake for Tricia, and Tricia baked a banana cream pie for Jeff. Plus his mom put out a Mexican burrito buffet for lunch.

Well, I'd like to tell you I resisted it all, but......Of course I had to try both the chocolate cake and the pie, both of which were amazing. And the mexican food was awesome. I dutifully counted up all my points at the end of the day (I never skip that step, even when I've had a "bad" day) and just about fell off my chair.

One thing I've taken away from all of this over the last 3 months is that it's OK to have a day like this now and then. I've learned not to sabotage myself *after* the fact by saying - "well, now I've screwed up my whole week, so I may as well also have x too." Instead, today I'm right back on the plan and eating my daily 19 points. I went for my run this morning, as scheduled. Basically, I've found that if I don't let myself have a day like yesterday every now and then (say, once every 4-6 weeks) then I end up feeling too deprived. What really matters is how I work the plan every day, not the very occasional day when I let loose and eat a piece of cake.

I'd like to thank all of YOU for keeping me on track, too. Part of what works for ME is being accountable to other people, so being able to check in here and on the Jan/Feb weight loss thread really helps me alot.

Susan

[uforgot]

19 points is all you get? Wow, doesn't seem like much. Maybe I need to recalculate, I'm at 24.

Congrats on making it a way of life and not a diet. That's probably what will make it a success in the end. The fact that we can't go back to our old ways, but have to learn to incorporate those "days" when there is just great food around.

[Susan Otcenas]

19 points is all you get? Wow, doesn't seem like much. Maybe I need to recalculate, I'm at 24.

Yup, 19. I started out at 21 points when I was 165. Somewhere in the high 140s I dropped to 19. NOw I'm at 144. If I'm not mistaken, the lowest is 18 points. I'd imagine I'll hit that when I'm in the 130s.

In all truthfulness, though, I rarely eat that few points. I exercise 4-6 days per week, and I always eat my activity points (on the day I earn them). It's very important to eat to fuel activity, so I never skip those. Besides, the APs earned only work out to about 1/2 the calories burned in any given activity. So you can eat all your APs and still lose weight.

In fact, you SHOULD eat your APs. If you don't eat enough, your body goes into starvation mode. Basically, your metabolism slows down because your body thinks it's in a famine (because it is). Give it enough calories and it will freely burn them. Starve it and it will try to conserve them by slowing the metabolism.

Besides eating my APs, I usually eat some (but rarely all) of my weekly 35. 10-15 is pretty typical for me.

I believe that "diets" don't work. Eating healthily and in moderation, along with a regular exercise regimen, is the only way to sustain a healthy body weight. It's one of the reasons I never eat "prepared" diet foods like Lean Cuisine or the packaged WW products. One needs to learn how to cook healthy, low fat, low calorie meals to be successful long term. JMHO, of course.

Susan

[Zen]

I joined WW about eight years ago and lost a buttload of weight, figuratively and literally.
If I keep reading this thread i may have to go back, but I'd only be eating about 19 or 20 points
I still have all the little books and calculator.

As soon as i finish these butter cookies i made.
Hey- what else was I going to do with butter?
Why do I have butter anyway? I can't remember why I bought it

[Susan Otcenas]

Mmmmmmm, butter cookies......

[ASammy1]

Ok, so I had some issues with the hunger scale today... I just think I wasn't paying attention.

So here's what happened... After lunch when I clearly wasn't hungry, I waltzed into the breakroom only to find leftover meeting food. Chicken salad, potato salad, cous cous salad, etc from the local deli. YUM! So naturally, I fixed myself a plate... Ate it... And then the guilt set in. Please keep in mind that I was still well within my point range, so technically I could eat it. I just didn't pay attention to my hunger signals...

How do you handle these types of situations?

[Possegal]

My sister's WW leader tells them that when there are things out for the having at work, to just keep telling themselves - not my food. My sisters says this usually works for her. Not sure if that would work for me, I make a point to stay away when I hear that there are donuts or something at a certain place within the office. But my sister says she just keeps repeating - not my donuts, not my donuts, and that works.

That doesn't answer the whole eating when not really hungry thing. If I had an answer to that, I wouldn't be trying to lose weight. Sorry!

But now I'm hungry for potato salad.

[uforgot]

Ok, so I had some issues with the hunger scale today... I just think I wasn't paying attention.

So here's what happened... After lunch when I clearly wasn't hungry, I waltzed into the breakroom only to find leftover meeting food. Chicken salad, potato salad, cous cous salad, etc from the local deli. YUM! So naturally, I fixed myself a plate... Ate it... And then the guilt set in. Please keep in mind that I was still well within my point range, so technically I could eat it. I just didn't pay attention to my hunger signals...

How do you handle these types of situations?

Sammy- that is the whole point of weight watchers. You were well within your point range, so once in a while you can indulge! It's an eating plan for life, not a diet. If you enjoyed the food, then just go on. Stop the guilt. If you start denying yourself a little pleasure every once in a while, that's when it becomes a diet and not a way of life. Now if you had scarfed down 10 pounds of potato salad and said "what the heck, I blew it, I may as well eat the rest of the day", then you would be in trouble. Sometimes ya just gotta enjoy. Note I said "sometimes".

My leader said something interesting at our last meeting. She recommended that if you are ever at a gathering with lots of good food, take a spoonful (about tablespoon) of each thing you want and count 1 point for each. Some are 0, some are 1 and some are probably 2 but it should average. That way you are enjoying, but not denying, and learning to control. Anyone ever heard this before?