Weight Watchers

Okay, so I was skeptical, but Weight Watchers totally works (and, as I learned this weekend, so does a nasty case of food poisoning -- talk about weight loss!!)

I have never really been one to stick to structured diets. But, my work offered us 13 free weeks of Weight Watchers AND we get to skip out of work for an hour to do it... So I went. (On a side note, I don't get my workplace at all. They encourage us to live a healthy lifestyle and offer free Weight Watchers and stop-smoking clinics and free gyms, etc. But, they also give us 2 free cases of beer each month. No joke -- 48 bottles/cans a month. They tempt us into getting beer bellies and then offer us free Weight Watchers and tell us to work it off. Crazy.)

Anyway, the system is pretty simple. Everything is based on points. So, if you weigh...
Less than 150 = 20 points per day
150-174 = 22 points per day
175-199 = 24 points per day
200-224 = 26 points per day

And so on. The point is to eat exactly your allotted points per day (or as close to that amount as humanly possible but no less than 20 points no matter what). You can determine how many points everything is by going to sites such as dietfacts.com and looking it up (you can search by food brand or by restaurant). It's really shocking. I always ate pretty healthy but now I can see just how bad some things really are.

So, you keep a record of everything you eat each day and tally the points. You can eat whatever you want, but you need to stick to your allotted points. Of course, you're supposed to drink lots of water, eat fruits and veggies, etc. But, the points are the most important thing.

You also get additional food points for exercise. So, if you do light to moderate exercise for 30 minutes you get an extra food point for that. The number of points you get for exercise increases depending on the level of activity and duration of exercise. But, you never get more than 3 food points from exercise. And, anything under 30 minutes doesn't count.

Lastly, you also have 35 extra points that you can use whenever you want throughout the week. So, if you go to a BBQ and overeat by 8 points or something like that you can check that off your 35 extra points for the week. However, you REALLY shouldn't use all 35 extra points or else you won't lose that much weight. I try not to use any except on the weekends. And, it's worked for me -- I've lost 8% of my body weight since starting 6-7 weeks ago.

Oh, and another big thing is portion size. You really have to pay attention to that. You might say "Oh, this is only 4 points." But, then you look and see that if you eat the whole thing it's really 2 servings so that's really 8 points. We eat too much and don't even know it!

So, an average day for me might look like this:
Coffee (w/cream & sugar) = 2 points
Oatmeal = 2 points
Frozen Meal = 7 points
Carrots = 0 points
Light Yogurt = 1 point
Skinless Chicken = 5 points
Lima Beans = 1 point
Granola Bar = 2 points
TOTAL = 20 points

I'm not going to lie and say it isn't hard -- it is. But, it's totally doable. I can still eat pizza or whatever -- I just need to eat less and plan my day so that I have enough points for it.

Give it a try and see what you think.

Ugh

So i gained a pound, i have my period which makes me bloated and if you've read my blog you're aware that my blood pressure is that of an 800 pound man. I'm going to the Dr's in the morning to sort that all out and get a true reading. My lifestyle is most likely going to change. Maybe this is what i need to get my ass in gear. I'm not keen on having a heart attack at 28, wish me luck tomorrow.

Boo-yah!

I lost something like 7 pounds that I gained last week. I'm back at my the lowest weight again. I worked my ass off this week, I didn't even let Ash and PP's visit this weekend, or my visit to the Potato Festival, or the picnic we had at Toronto Island, or a huge family BBQ dinner with ribs and pasta salad and Camembert burgers, deter me from losing that weight.
I'm going hard till my birthday, taking a break for all you can eat sushi, then going hard till the NDP convention.

I really AM a loser!!

Went to the Weight Watchers weigh-in yesterday. I lost 3.4 pounds this week!! Well, actually it was 3.4 pounds for the last 2 weeks (I didn't weigh in last week b/c I was on my way to Boston).

At first the weigh-in lady told me that I lost 8.4 pounds and I basically told her that she was on crack. It turns out she was doing her math wrong. Still, 3.4 is AWESEOME, especially considering that I ate like a piggy poo in Boston (though I did walk a trillion miles -- though I doubt that totally made up for it).

Anyway, I am compiling all my Weight Watchers tips for you guys now and I will share those in my next post. I think it really works, but you have to keep yourself in line.

people think i am hot stuff

Ok these are true events that have happened since this past weekend:

First, as you know I am back in the lovely ‘burbs. So I went to my hair stylist from 6 months ago – a Ukranian immigrant. Poor woman cant speak much English but knows how to cut hair. Guess what she says to me,

She: you look smaller than before
Smaller to her means thinner; don’t get ahead of yourself.
Me: you mean I was fat before?
She: no no no, you just look more small than before. You lost weight.
Me: I love you.

And then today, gosh, I cant even believe it. I am going to the kitchen at work and one coworker sees me and says, hey you look like you have lost some weight, you look great. I was like whaoaaaaa….but then as I am coming back from the kitchen to my desk, ANOTHER coworker sees me, comes to me, takes hold of my bicep (not in a gay manner) and says, you look great, you been working out?

I guess the routine is working out after all.

Today we celebrate by drinking then……….

I will post my results for the week later this evening.

Shitty shitty shitty

I gained a lot. Boo! The burger and beer diet obviously didn't work. Back to the old fashioned way.

Its just me baby

This is my new routine. Feel free to comment or insult:

Workout routine (at the work gym):

Monday - max out biceps and triceps
Tuesday - run 30 minutes on treadmill, nonstop, cover 3 to 3.5 miles - target is 5 miles some day; then 100 bicycle crunches.
Wednesday - max out chest and back
Thursday - run 30 minutes on treadmill, nonstop, cover 3 to 3.5 miles; then 100 crunches on medicine ball.
Friday - shoulders and legs

Saturday/Sunday - optional run for 30 minutes

Food:

Low carb, low fat - lots of salads and non starchy food - may replace breakfast with a protein bar or shake.

Been on this routine over 2 weeks now and am feeling superb. I am not really tracking my weight. I just feel better and look better too (I hope).

Yeah! I'm a Loser Too!

Thanks for letting me join! I won't let you down. I've been doing really well on my Weight Watchers diet (more on this topic later) UNTIL I went to Boston this weekend. I started out good but it slid downhill quickly. It's so darn hard to be good when you eat out every meal. I did walk about a bazillion miles though. We'll see during weigh-in this week!!

I Lost yayayayayay!!!!!!

FINALLY!!! I guess going to the gym does pay off, damn! I went to the gym 5 times this week, mostly on the treadmill but i did hit the weight room once and voila, i have lost 2 pounds. Unfortunaltey these cannot be counted as weight lost as i had gained back 6 when i went through my ravenous poutine eating days. So now i have 4 more to lose before i can count new weight lost. It feels soooo good to see some results and makes me want to try even harder now. Yay for me!!

Add SS to the club

Hey Jenni, could you add SS to the club. She could replace berly. Please do so. Thanks.

SS is 90 lbs and 5-10 tall (just a dream).