I Have a Secret . . .

It's no secret that I have a weight problem.  It's also no secret that because of it, I am now a diabetic.  I hate both of those things about me.

I tried to diet on my own and I did very well for awhile.  I went to a dietitian, had a couple of appointments and thought I had enough of a basic overview that I could do it on my own.  I picked the few things that were good for me that I could eat and I ate the crap out of them.  I ate two spinach salads a DAY for a YEAR.  I like raw spinach.  I used to like raw spinach.  Two spinach salads a DAY for a YEAR.  I took a lot of good food out of my diet and ate a small variety of food.  I lost 63 pounds and was very proud of myself.  Unfortunately, this was not a diet I could stay on for the rest of my life.  Buying two pounds of raw spinach a week at Sam's Club just got depressing.  Once I quit eating like this, I gained 30 pounds back.

I decided to go on  a real diet.  I wrote about the food binge before this diet!  I was scared to death, thinking again of the spinach salad fiasco and thought of all the food I'd never be able to eat again.  I have been on this new diet for four weeks now, since February 2nd.

Here's a sampling of what I've been eating in the last four weeks:

• 1/2 of a frozen DiGiorno cheese pizza
• Thai Food
• Mutt & Jeff's
• Pete's blueberry pancakes
• turkey spaghetti
• Klondike bars
• baked potatoes
• Thai chili stuffed peppers (stuffed with sausage)
• kielbasa
• lasagna
• Barbecue potato chips
• Dijon mustard pretzels

Ok, I am not trying to be a commercial.  In the last four weeks, I have had one spinach salad, and put some raw spinach on my turkey sandwiches.  That's only because I really DO like raw spinach, just in moderation.

By the way, on a diet that includes, but is not limited to, the food I've mentioned, I have also LOST 10.4 POUNDS in four weeks!  For real!  Eating stuff that is NOT two spinach salads a day. 

I was debating on how much I wanted to talk about this subject, and while I know it's only been four weeks, I am starting to believe in this process.  A process that I've said from the beginning will never work.

I have joined Weight Watchers.  I have always thought Weight Watchers was like a cult and never thought I had a cult like mentality.  This part is hard to explain, so let me try to start at the beginning.

Weight Watchers works on what they call their "Points Plus" system.  I have come to learn that life is about points in one way or another!  First the food.

Most foods have a point value in the Points Plus system.  The point value is based on some mathematical equation based on the quantity of fats, carbs, fiber and protein value of a food.  This took me awhile to get down pat and I'm not there yet.  I am still learning this.  There are etools on line to help you figure out a points plus value of an item plus a cutsie Weight Watchers calculator that will easily figure out the points plus value of a food based on the four criteria I've mentioned. 

Each individual is given a points plus allowance that they are supposed to hit every day.  Your points plus allowance is calculated for YOU based on your age, height, weight and gender.  This number will be anywhere between 26 and 70 points per week.  Again, somehow this number is mathematically calculated and it has been found that if you eat all of your points in a week, you will lose more weight than if you try to hold back and eat less.  I am truly eating so much freakin' food, it's ridiculous!  The secret is, I'm choosing better foods to eat most of the time.

In addition to your calculated daily points allowance, everyone is given an extra 49 points per WEEK to spend as you'd like.  These 49 points are the only optional points.  You can use them or lose them.  You can use some or all of them.  You can use them all on one night or you can spread them out over a couple or all of the seven nights.  These 49 points are totally up to your discretion.  One person I've met chooses to use all 49 points as their weekly alcohol consumption!  (5 points per 1-1/2 oz of alcohol, or 5 oz glass of wine or 12 oz regular beer.  Light beer is 4 points!)

In addition to points plus system for food, there are also activity points.   You earn activity points by getting off of your fat ass and moving.  Sounds simple, right?  Most people in Weight Watchers (me included now) wears a pedometer.  5,000 regular steps in a day is about 2 miles for my steps and 5,000 steps is 2 activity points.  Aside from these simple points just from my daily walking, I'm still working the treadmill a few days a week.

The good thing about activity points is that after you go through your daily allowance of points, if you don't eat more food that will cut into and eat up your activity points, you will lose weight.  Plain and simple.  Eat your daily allowance and up to 49 points more per week, put activity points into your day and you WILL lose weight. 

The final result is simple.  Healthy eating and exercise.  It's not a pill, it's not a spray, it's not a magic stone.  It's making smarter choices and getting off my ass and moving.  I'm hitting the treadmill, I'm parking farther away from where ever I'm going to up my step count in a day, if I'm in the store, I will walk up and down a couple of extra aisles again to up the step points.  Every little bit helps.

There are activity points in almost all you do.  Laundry?  Yep.  Cleaning?  Of course!  We start joking about it!  There is so much chewing involved in eating celery that there SHOULD be activity points included!

Speaking of celery, that is one of the easiest parts of this system.  Most fruits and veggies have ZERO points.  I don't do too much celery and peanut butter, mainly because I can't swallow the celery without the peanut butter and peanut butter is high in points.  However, I've been eating a lot of other zero points veggies that I really like, such as brussel sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, sugar snap peas, beans and asparagus.  That's a good healthy way to add more food to your diet without having to take any points for it.  My veggie steamer has been going full time, for sure.  Being a diabetic, I have still had to try to remember the diabetic principles along with the Weight Watchers principles.  So for me, I try to have more veggies than fruit in a day since fruit is high in carbs.  I have to do a few little tweaks like this in my day.

Now for the three hardest parts of this "diet".  Butter and cheese.  There are a lot of points in butter and cheese.  Man, both of these items have been their own food groups in my house.  Ok, I've cut back on the cheese and thank heavens my friend Robert told me about Butter Buds Sprinkles.  I couldn't find Butter Buds here but I did find Molly McButter.  Does it taste like real butter?  No.  But for zero points, it's good enough!  I have to have me some butter on my steamed veggies and on my baked potatoes.  I have to.

The last of the hard parts is the tracking.  You have to write down every morsel you put in your mouth.  You can't count the points in your head, you really do have to write this stuff down so you can see it in front of you and you know exactly where you are.

I  know this is a long post but I want to mention the meetings.  Again, I always thought this was a cult.  I still kind of feel that way but I also feel that this is so something I need.  First there is the accountability at the scale.  I can lie to myself and not track everything I eat but the scale won't lie.  I go stand on the scale once a week and learn how I did.  I am not getting on a scale during the week, just at my weigh in.  The weekly meetings are always informative and there is an open discussion with the people there.  You are in a room with 50 other people facing the same problem and challenge you are.  There is something comforting in that.  During the open discussion, people can get up and say what they're struggling with and there are 50 people to offer encouragement or suggestions on how they have overcome the same obstacles.  It is inspiring.  When people have had a bad week, people are there to help you get back on track.  Certain metrics are talked about in the open and people clap for you, praise you and you get an "atta girl".  I need that encouragement.

Before you think this is totally rainbows and sunshine, this good health comes at a price.  Weight Watchers is NOT cheap.  I got a little break joining through my insurance company but it's still expensive.  Just sayin'.

So there we go.  My name is Ree and I am in Weight Watchers.  And in four weeks, I've lost 10.4 pounds!!  I can eat whatever I want, as long as I stay within my daily point allowance and my plus 49 points.  This truly is the easiest diet I've been on.  Here's hoping the next four weeks net me what my first four weeks did.  You know I'm going to be blogging about it!