Over a period five months last year, from roughly January to June of 2010, I lost 40 pounds. The weight loss was conscious, though I didn’t sign up with any particular program. I implemented a Weight-Watchers-meets-South-Beach-meets-Stop-Eating-Double-Cheeseburgers-and-cook-more-from-home sort of conglomeration.
It worked (probably more due to the Stop-Eating-Double-Cheeseburgers portion of the plan than any other part of it)…
… Until I got lazy.
A few weeks ago I could no longer deny the fact that the weight was starting to creep back up on me, and though I hadn’t yet gained everything I’d lost, it was getting to a point where it was more a matter of when I’d top back out at my heaviest, not a question of if.
Plus, I knew I still had more weight left to lose.
For this reason, I signed up for Weight Watchers. The focus on lifestyle change is what really attracted me- this is something I can do for the rest of my life, and be healthy doing it. I’ve been doing the Points Plus program for 3 weeks now, and I’m happy to report that I’ve lost a total of 11 pounds (or, more to the point, I’ve lost all the weight I was previously starting to gain).
Sounds good, right?
This morning, however, after weighing in, I found myself disappointed. I mean, yeah, at Weight Watchers they promote healthy weight loss- which means no more than 1-2 pounds a week, and I get that… but seriously?
1.1 pounds?
I hail from the “go on a diet and lose 50 pounds in 10 days” kind of world. I get that’s not even a little realistic, let alone healthy, but still.
Stubborn thoughts don’t die easily.
Ugh.
My main struggle of late seems to be with my Weekly Points, and what in the world I’m supposed to do with them.
Do I use them?
Ignore them?
I’ve tried to research this issue on the internet, and the answers I’m finding are confusing and contradictory. Officially, Weight Watchers says that I should use all my weekly points, in addition to my dailies, and that in doing so, I will continue to lose weight. This is attributed to the fact that the weeklies are built in to my plan, so I should enjoy them, as they don’t carry over from one week to the next.
Trolling through forums and discussion groups, however, I’m getting a different reaction. Some seem to think their weekly points are the devil, and swear to never penetrate them (these are the bitches people that tout, “I get sooooo many points in a day, I couldn’t possibly use them all, let alone my weekly allowance too!”).
I decided to ignore those freaks.
Next, we have the people who claim to use their weekly points, religiously, and still lose the weight. These people say that before they started using their weekly points, they would find themselves either stagnant from one week to the next, or losing ridiculously small amounts of weight- .5 here, .3 there (or say, 1.1 pound *Cough*). It wasn’t until they started using every single one of their points that the weight started to drop- religiously- 1.5 to 2 pounds per week. The theory seems to be that the more you eat (healthy food, natch), the higher your metabolism, the more fat your body burns.
Kind of makes sense…
… But…
Eat more to lose more?
Huh.
I’m not convinced yet, so I’ve settled on a compromise. Rather than eat all of my weekly points, I think I’ll try to think of them as Overdraft Protection, like a bank account. They’re there if I want a treat, but aren’t for normal, every day use.
We’ll see how that tips the ol’ scales, and take it from there.
Here’s to another week, and another (or a couple!) pound.
Yup.
