Weight Watchers

As much as I liked the simple structure of the basic diet plan I had outlined, I had no drive to follow it.  So... I signed up for Weight Watchers Online (three months for $50) with the thought that maybe paying for it will provide more incentive to actually follow it.  The basic structure does remind me of a free site that I had used for awhile (Spark People) though that tracked calories and WW tracks points.  I have a certain number of points to use each day (each food is given a point value based on calories and nutrition) but I also have a weekly allowance of 35 points that I can either dip into each day or save up for a special outing or two.  That way I never feel like I'm cheating as long as I stay within my weekly allowance. 

The other thing I like is you can earn points by doing activities.  The best part of that is all of the activities on my Wii Fit Plus that I love, like Skateboard Arena and Yoga, are all assigned a point value!  If I do fifteen minutes of Skateboard Arena (which I know is a good workout since I end up dripping from sweat) I earn one activity point.  If I choose to I can exchange the activity point for one food point.  I'm not planning to do that, but it's nice to know that option is there.

The rational, logical part of me (yes, I DO have a rational, logical side, stop laughing!) knows that this is all just a gimmick, just a trick to keep me interested and hopefully willing to stick with it longer.  But then I just say, "So what?"  I know that out of all the options out there, WW is ultimately the healthiest, teaching how to focus on appropriate portion sizes and making good choices, without designating any foods as "bad" or, even worse, "forbidden."

I am writing this at a local Starbucks, as I drink my tall soy Chai Tea Latte, no water, no foam (three points).  It's not a splurge.  I'm not cheating.  Three points out of twenty-three is manageable.  Soon I'm going to order a Chicken on Flatbread with Hummus snack plate (five points) for dinner.  And after the kids are in bed I'll probably have a bowl of cereal.  All that and I'm still okay within the confines of the WW plans. 

Now let's see if the scale starts going in the right direction.