Weight Watchers is changing the way I approach my fitness

[Tricia]

I am back on the wagon and things are going in the right direction. I have found that this works best for me if I weigh every day. A decrease is positive motivation to continue and an increase is a subtle kick in the a$$ to follow the program.

Yeah, me too.
I weigh daily for the same reasons. Its just a part of my routine.
We had a lot of yucky weather, rain, lightening, wind, which derailed our long walks with Gypsy, which set me back, then we had Tyler here for the weekend, sticking to the house, avoiding crowds and spending some quality family time. That also means making a lot of his favorite foods, and celebrating his birthday with a requested home made apple pie.
I'm up a bit, which is the subtle kick in the a$$ I need to recommit.
As a part of accountability, I'll own every bit of the 140.1 today.

One of the things that helped me early on in this thread was the contribution of tips, tricks and recipes that help us mix things up.
On that note, I'll offer up something that has been a low point healthy treat. I hope you all share something you're enjoying too.

I found these flour tortillas 2 points, some part skim mexican cheese for another 2 points, and mix it up with jalepeño pepper rings or salsa, or (pick your zero point pepper or veggie) and have a great quesadilla

 

[Jilly]

Sounds like we all had enough and was time to get on track. I've only gained about 3lbs, and I'm sure once I get my hair cut that will be gone.. But time to get on track and get rid of that last 10 lbs...

 

[Coach13]

I love what I hear here from @Nancy Hummel and others regarding sliding backwards for a bit, then redirecting back to healthy eating/living. That may sound odd but imo that’s what this is about. That is, being mindful of your living/eating habits and monitoring and redirecting your actions based on your results or lack there of. The only other alternatives are complete perfection (and who meets that definition) or complete failure, which I think is near impossible if you’re mindful of your actions and redirect when necessary.

 

[Tricia]

I've continued to bounce between 138 and 140 for the past several weeks.
The positive part of it is, I'm not feeling fatter and I don't feel bad, just know that I need to jump start a bit and be extremely consistent with tracking everything.
With the market for bikes being so hot right now, we sold our bikes because someone made an offer we couldn't refuse. So now we are waiting for new bikes to come in so we're not getting bike rides at the moment, only hikes about 4 days a week.

This is my 8 SP lunch on Blue
I probably don't have to count the whole roll because it was leftover from burger day last week and was pretty stale so I abandoned it part way through and just ate the egg salad.
Kaiser roll 4
1 Tbs maynnaise 3
Aunt Nellies pickled beets 1
Eggs 0
Diet cranberry 0

 

[Tricia]

Yesterday marked my one year anniversary of joining WW!!

 

[Tricia]

I made the mistake of asking a donut question in the "Asking for a friend" thread. #183
Now all the talk about donuts has me craving a donut.
When I joined WW June 9th 2019 I promised myself I'd get on track but not deprive myself if something was important to me.
I haven't had a donut in over a year, mostly because I've made choices like. "There's a box of donuts sitting there, is it worth it, or would you rather save your points for (example) a margarita with your tacos?"

How do cravings for things work for you all? Do you indulge or do you put it in a holding pattern for a day or two to see if it passes?

 

[VickieH]

I try to put it on hold 'til a future date. Right now, my target is Father's Day. Eat the way I should for the next week and a half and have an indulgent meal on Father's Day.

 

[Coach13]

I made the mistake of asking a donut question in the "Asking for a friend" thread. #183
Now all the talk about donuts has me craving a donut.
When I joined WW June 9th 2019 I promised myself I'd get on track but not deprive myself if something was important to me.
I haven't had a donut in over a year, mostly because I've made choices like. "There's a box of donuts sitting there, is it worth it, or would you rather save your points for (example) a margarita with your tacos?"

How do cravings for things work for you all? Do you indulge or do you put it in a holding pattern for a day or two to see if it passes?

I usually try to put it off at 1st. If not, I indulge and get on with things as normal. Perfect doesn’t exists imo so I don’t kid myself that it does.

 

[Tricia]

I put it off and now the urge for the donut has passed. Whew!

I had a reality check about cravings in the past few days.
There is a difference between something that is a real craving and a passing urge.

If its a real craving, there is a possibility that my body needs something. Usually its something savory or salty and that means my body is in need of something that food provides, like potassium, iron, or salt.

Passing urges are more about the bad actor.
Now, when I had my birthday cake with my family last year THAT was something I sincerely looked forward to enjoying.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

This is an evolving skill. I am trying the ignore the craving first. If that does not work, I am trying the one bite or extremely small measured portion.

I also give myself a bit more leeway on the weekends than during the week.

 

[Tricia]

@Nancy Hummel my take is similar, which is why I gave it time to pass, and it did. I'm not so sure I would have enjoyed it like I used to.

Sidenote: I am finding that my taste buds are becoming heightened. The slightest sweetness is too sweet these days.

Phil made a smoothie for both of us. I took two sips and gave it back to him because it was too sweet. There were no sweeteners in it other than the fruit and the vanilla light n fit yogurt.
Likewise, he made something for dinner with friends and I thought it was too salty. Everyone else eating it thought it had just the right amount of salt.
This may or maynot have anything to do with diet, but its probably a good thing for my health in the long run.

 

[Philpug]

I am coming up on one year myself. At one point, I was down (almost) 30lb...and hit sub 180lb. I stopped counting my points and went into maintenance mode and mentally tracking 30ish points a day, that kept me in the low 180's...and my goal was to stay sub 185lb. Recently, I have been in the mid 180's and even hit 190.2 one day. Ironically, originally 190 was my initial goals when I started. Again, I am a year in, if I was told that by doing WW, in one eyar, I would be 190, I would have said "Fantastic, where do I sign". But now I am not satisfied with with that. Since going over 190, I pushed back and got down to 186. Now I need to keep going and get down in that low 180's..and stay there.

 

[SBrown]

I made the mistake of asking a donut question in the "Asking for a friend" thread. #183
Now all the talk about donuts has me craving a donut.
When I joined WW June 9th 2019 I promised myself I'd get on track but not deprive myself if something was important to me.
I haven't had a donut in over a year, mostly because I've made choices like. "There's a box of donuts sitting there, is it worth it, or would you rather save your points for (example) a margarita with your tacos?"

How do cravings for things work for you all? Do you indulge or do you put it in a holding pattern for a day or two to see if it passes?

Doughnuts don't agree with me for some reason, but I do get cravings for them occasionally. I just have to remind myself how crappy I feel after I eat one and that usually does it. So that is generally what works the best for me ... I start associating the food with the way I feel after I indulge, which isn't usually all that great, and it makes it go away. I recently was having a frosting craving (no clue why), so finally I bought a piece of cake -- ie, not homemade -- and it tasted like crap. Two bites, craving gone, cake in trash. Basically, I bought it because knew it would taste bad.

This works for most things for me. It isn't just for "bad" foods, it is how I avoid overeating. I hate that feeling of being full (sick full, not happy full), so I just visualize that before grabbing the third slice of pizza, or whatever it is. At restaurants I almost always eat exactly half of my meal so I can take the other half for leftovers. This one hits the $$ part of my brain. (Depends on the restaurant, too -- SOP at Mexican or Italian, not so much with a salad.)

 

[Tricia]

I bought it because knew it would taste bad.

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking about with the donut craving. I figured if I waited a day and still had the urge, I'd buy one and it would be too sweet and most would go in the trash.

RE: Store bought cake. I just can't! This is the reason we did the tres leches cake instead of a traditional cake for your birthday. I can do store bought tres leches and tiramisu.

 

[Philpug]

Doughnuts don't agree with me for some reason, but I do get cravings for them occasionally. I just have to remind myself how crappy I feel after I eat one and that usually does it. So that is generally what works the best for me ... I start associating the food with the way I feel after I indulge, which isn't usually all that great, and it makes it go away. I recently was having a frosting craving (no clue why), so finally I bought a piece of cake -- ie, not homemade -- and it tasted like crap. Two bites, craving gone, cake in trash. Basically, I bought it because knew it would taste bad.

This kinda happened with us and eatiing past 7:00, we feel awful and in most cases just can't sleep. Our big meal for the day is usually lunch now. I do recall buying something to eat because I knew I woldn't eat the whole thing because I knew it would taste bad...I forget what it was. I do now if I can get past the craving stage, (usually 2-4 hours) I am fine...except sushi. I can always go for sushi.

 

[Coach13]

@Nancy Hummel my take is similar, which is why I gave it time to pass, and it did. I'm not so sure I would have enjoyed it like I used to.

Sidenote: I am finding that my taste buds are becoming heightened. The slightest sweetness is too sweet these days.

Phil made a smoothie for both of us. I took two sips and gave it back to him because it was too sweet. There were no sweeteners in it other than the fruit and the vanilla light n fit yogurt.
Likewise, he made something for dinner with friends and I thought it was too salty. Everyone else eating it thought it had just the right amount of salt.
This may or maynot have anything to do with diet, but its probably a good thing for my health in the long run.

You mention smoothies which I love as a treat, but it reminds me of something our WW leader tells us often. The same fruit that is zero points when eaten In their natural form (ie, bananas, strawberries etc) has an increased point value when blended into a smoothie. The premise of this is that in smoothie form the tendency is to consume a greater volume of that same fruit. I find that amazing but it makes sense when you think about it.

 

[Tricia]

You mention smoothies which I love as a treat, but it reminds me of something our WW leader tells us often. The same fruit that is zero points when eaten In their natural form (ie, bananas, strawberries etc) has an increased point value when blended into a smoothie. The premise of this is that in smoothie form the tendency is to consume a greater volume of that same fruit. I find that amazing but it makes sense when you think about it.

I understand the points difference between smoothie and fresh fruit, but I will say, I get full on a smoothie really fast!
The biggest battle I have with @Philpug is popcorn.
His take is, corn is 0 points, so popcorn should be too.

 

[Tricia]

Lets talk rewards. Have any of you cashed in your Wellness Wins points?
What have you cashed in on with your Wins?

Early on, I got a makup bag, which was nice because I had my essentials in a ziplock.
I've also received the cooler and recently cashed in to get the stainless steel straw pack with cleaner.
These things are really nice.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

You mention smoothies which I love as a treat, but it reminds me of something our WW leader tells us often. The same fruit that is zero points when eaten In their natural form (ie, bananas, strawberries etc) has an increased point value when blended into a smoothie. The premise of this is that in smoothie form the tendency is to consume a greater volume of that same fruit. I find that amazing but it makes sense when you think about it.

A good friend of mine is a nutritionist. He is helping me with my fitness and weight goals. He told me that grinding up fruit destroys the fibers and allows the sugars to be releases into the bloodstream faster, thus generating an insulin spike. (This is my understanding of what he told me so it may be off). He encourage me to eat fruit in whole form and simply make a protein shake with protein and almond milk.

I thought I was putting fruit into the smoothie was a good thing but apparently not.

 

[Philpug]

A good friend of mine is a nutritionist. He is helping me with my fitness and weight goals. He told me that grinding up fruit destroys the fibers and allows the sugars to be releases into the bloodstream faster, thus generating an insulin spike. (This is my understanding of what he told me so it may be off). He encourage me to eat fruit in whole form and simply make a protein shake with protein and almond milk.

I thought I was putting fruit into the smoothie was a good thing but apparently not.

Do you dunk the whole fruit in the vodka then? Asking for a friend.