Greetings Fiercelings! Exciting news, I joined Weight Watchers Beyond the Scale Program. I had my first meeting with a Weight Watcher’s coach. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a little nervous, but not really. I filled out an assessment online, so she knew a little about my weight loss history. I lost over 40 pounds with Weight Watchers back in college, thought I was finally “cured” and gained it all back…plus some. Then years later I lost about 50 pounds with a hospital weight management program. It was so expensive like $400 a month, so I couldn’t keep up with it. I’ve done all sorts of things from then until now that you can read about in my archives.
But I have made MAJOR progress in the realm of fitness, I now work out regularly (about 4 times a week) because it feels good afterwards. I no longer work out just to burn calories or punishment for eating something “bad.” Working out has become a part of who I am. But eating healthy on a regular basis is something I have yet to master. My coach Vickie has lost 80 pounds and has kept it off for over 15 years! She was able to get inside my little warped diet mind quite quickly during our 30 minute phone call. She explained the new program, it’s similar to the old weight watcher’s plan, yet quite different. Now, they have 24/7 chats available if you have a 2AM cookie crisis and need someone to talk you off the ledge.
Most of Vickie’s perspectives on food were different from mine. Essentially, you have a meal and count the smart points, and then you make each meal more filling by adding fruits and veggies as they have a zero point value. When I went to Weight Watchers in college, an apple was the same amount of points as a mini snicker, so…. sometimes I would just eat the snicker instead. I think the new approach promotes much healthier plant-based eating. I told her about how I freaked out that I salad I ate yesterday was a whopping 16 points. She didn’t say, “Silly girl! That’s so ridiculous that you thought that was a healthy salad.” Instead she asked,
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes.”
“Was it filling and satisfying?”
“Yes.”
“Ok great, then you should have your 16 point salad, just track it and eat what satisfies you.”
Huh? Here I was about to throw away the second “bad” salad I bought. I have so many concepts of “good” and “bad” food based on ingredients and our no carb culture, that I tend to ignore what feels good and bad to me personally and physically. She said, “For example, oatmeal is really filling to some, but leaves others hungry. So you can’t universally say oatmeal is good or bad.” Hmmmmm…..She encouraged me to find what foods physically feel satisfying to me throughout the week.
I typically “do too much” in most areas. So she set small goals for me. She gave me a goal of 5 pounds to lose. “Are you comfortable with that?” she asked. I was thinking, um yeah! Now THAT I can do, it’s the other 100+ pounds I’m worried about. She told me to schedule my next session and that she would put some notes on my “dashboard” not sure what or where that is, but I guess I’ll find it. Weight loss for most people is SO much more than calories in calories out, and I think so far, Weight Watchers has done an awesome job of addressing the complete aspect losing weight, far beyond…the scale.
P.S.
Oprah is their new spokesperson, so yesterday I got to listen to a live call with her and other Weight Watchers. I told everybody, leave me alone! I’m on the phone with Oprah. LOL!
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