Weigh In

About three years ago, Jim and I decided it was time to put an end to our daily mantra of "eat whatever we want and worry about it later." We joined Weight Watchers. At the time, when people found out we were going to WW, they thought we were crazy. Neither one of us was significantly overweight, we just wanted to gain control of our eating habits and loose a few pounds.

Weight Watchers works. The plan is simple, all food items are measured in "points" and the points are tallied based on several factors such as fat grams, calories, and fiber content. Depending on your weight, height, and activity level you are allowed a certain amount of points a day. If you stay within your point range, you should loose weight (or should I say, remove weight. The WW meeting leader Dawn, always said if you loose it, it can come back. Let's remove it!)

In addition to your daily allowance of points, there are weekly bonus points, which can be used all at once or spread throughout the week. So my daily point count was 18. An apple is a point, a yogurt is a point or two depending on the variety, a chicken breast around 5 points and so on. I have to say, it was pretty easy to understand and not too tough to adhere to. We went to WW religiously every Friday morning, weighed in and stayed for the half hour meeting. I lost around 10 pounds while Jim lost around 20!

So three years later, how are we doing? I'm still around my goal weight, within a couple of pounds. I've seen the scale creep up a couple of times, but with the basics of WW under my belt, it's pretty easy to get back on track. Jim is doing well too. A few pounds here or there, but he's never too far off base.

Between WW and going gluten free, I feel like we're eating pretty healthy. I love Sarah's humorous advice on a cheap scale, but I have to say, we have a really nice scale, and I love it. In addition to weight, it also lets you know how hydrated your body is and your fat percentage. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment?

Jennifer