Day 6

Of course I would go over my points on the day before my weigh in. 'Cause that's how I roll.

10 am: yogurt (I had to go to the dentist this morning, so I didn't get to eat sooner) 4 pts (25)

12:30 pm: beef nachos (cinco de mayo, so of course the office provided nachos. I can only hope I am overestimating the serving size) 13 pts (12)
1 sugar cookie-- 3 pts (9) Ugh!

6 pm: instead of going out to dinner, we went to big boss's house for dinner. He grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. I had....
1 hamburger patty-- 3 pts (6)
1 hot link sausage-- 6 pts (0)
1 serving potato chips-- 4 pts (+4)

I went 4 points over on my points today. Boo. This wouldn't be an issue (I'm allowed to go over 35 points a week), if I didn't have my first week weigh in tomorrow!

Way to sabotage, Heifer.

Day 5

8 am - Weight Watchers blueberry muffin-- 3 points (26)
Coffee with cream and sugar-- 3 points (23)

1 pm - 5 oz boneless skinless chicken breast (grilled)-- 5 points (18)
2 slices low cal wheat bread-- 1 point (17)
1 serving reduced fat wheat thins-- 2 points (15)

6 pm - 1 smart ones meal (chicken and broccoli)-- 5 points (10)
1 slice low cal wheat bread (my daughter at the other piece)-- 1 point (9)

8 pm- 2 chicken and mushroom roll up.... things (also from Smart Ones. I really stocked up on the frozen meals. I know, it's more expensive, and it's probably not as healthy, but it takes a lot of the thinking out of the process.)-- 4 points (5)

Total for the day: 24

Hubby just informed me that we are going out to dinner tomorrow night, with some clients from his company. I normally love going out to dinner, but on the night before my first weigh in... I'm scared.

I think I've been losing weight. I hope I've been losing weight. Even going out to eat on Sunday, I think I've been doing ok.

I hope I don't blow it tomorrow.

Day 4

8 am Ham and cheese scramble—5 points -- 24
Coffee with cream and sugar—3 points – 21

(I had 5.8 ounces of chicken breast that I was intending to have for lunch today… but I left it at home. Drats. Luckily, there’s a Subway near by)

1 pm: 6” turkey on wheat with all the veggies (no cheese or mayo) – 5 points – 16
1 oz bag baked lays – 2 points – 14

6 pm: round steak, 4 oz -- 5 points-- 9
1 cup broccoli-- 0 points-- 9
1 T soy sauce-- 0 points-- 9

(we made beef and broccoli from scratch at home, and I just mixed cornstarch with the soy sauce to thicken it up. My husband had his over rice so he didn’t feel deprived. I don’t love rice, and I thought I was going to need a beer later after my bad day at work, so I decided not to waste the points.)

8 pm: 1 serving reduced fat wheat thins-- 2 points-- 7

And no beer!

Total for today: 22

I’m going to a meeting on Thursday to weigh in. I’m sure I’ve lost weight, although I don’t know how much. I’m worried that the instructor is going to say I’m not eating enough, but damn! I want this to work and I don’t want to go over.

Day 3

Here's what I ate today:

* 2 pieces low cal bread-- 1 point (no butter!)
* 1 egg-- 2 points
* 1 tsp oil-- 1 point
* 1 cup blueberries-- 1 point
* 2 pieces low cal bread (again)-- 1 point (no mayo or mustard!)
* 2 oz turkey breast lunch meat-- 1 point
* 1 cheese stick-- 2 points

I really watched my points because I knew I going out to dinner tonight. I took my mother out to dinner as an early Mother's Day present. We went to a mom and pop Mexican restaurant. I ordered the chicken tacos: Delicious! I ate the tacos, and then 2 or 3 bites each of the rice and beans, and maybe a total of 10 tortilla chips with salsa. No alcohol.

There wasn't any nutritional information, so I had to guess on the calories and the amounts. I tried to over-estimate.

* 2 chicken tacos-- 10 points
* 1/4 cup refried beans-- 1 point
* 1/4 cup spanish rice-- 2 points
* tortilla chips-- 3 points
* salsa-- 1 point

TOTAL FOR TODAY-- 26
.. and I drank 3 24-oz bottles of water!

How to figure out your daily point value

If you can’t join weight watchers, but want to follow along, this is how you figure out how many points you can have each day:

First, take the first two numbers of your weight. I weight 229, so my starting number is 22.

Add 2 points if you’re female, 8 points if you’re male.

Now, for your age.
17-26………….. 4 points
27-37………….. 3 points
38-47………….. 2 points
48-58………….. 1 point
no points if you’re older than 58.

I’m 36, so I add 3 points.

Now, add in your Height:
Under 5’1” ………….. No points
5’1”- 5”10………….. 1 point
Over 5’10” ………….. 2 points

I’m 5’11”, so I add 2 points.

And now for your work day. Do you spend your day….
Mostly sitting ………….. No points
Mostly standing, but sitting sometimes ………….. 2 points
Mostly walking………….. 4 points
Hard manual labor ………….. 6 points

I work in an office, sitting at a desk all day. No points for me.

So, if your math skills are as bad as mine, you’ll have to break out your calculator and see that I am allowed 29 points a day. Of course, as you lose weight or get older or if you get a different job, your daily point value will change.

Every food has a point value. Some foods are 0 points. Yea for broccoli! Some foods are high in points, like pizza or potato chips. Boo to those foods. But if you want to eat those, rock on with your bad self, as long as you stay within your points total. That means if you want to have two slices of pizza and a beer at dinner, you’re not going to be able to eat anything all day before then, or else you’ll go over your points. Who wants to do that? Not fun!

You’re also allowed 35 “bonus points” each week. That means if you want to eat a piece of cake at a birthday party, or go out to a nice dinner for your anniversary, you can. You just dip into your special going out reserve points. The Weight Watchers people say that you will still lose weight even if you dip into your reserve, just not as quickly as if you don’t.

I prefer quicker, thank you.

Day 2

Here's what I've had to eat today...

Starting points: 29

8 am- a smart ones breakfast meal. I ate the cheesy scramble with hash browns-- 4 points (25 left)
coffee with cream and sugar-- 3 points (22)

10:45 am- yogurt-- 4 points (18)
bran sprinklies to go over the yogurt-- 1 point (17)
(I've also had 48 ounces of water so far today-- go me!)

1:30 pm- a smart ones entree. This time is was salisbury steak with mac and cheese-- 6 points (11)
I think I'm on my 5th 24-oz bottle of water. I've been peeing all day. But I feel very full.

5:30 pm- 6" turkey sub on wheat (with no mayo or cheese)-- 5 points (6)
Baked Lays potato chips-- 2 points (4)
caffeine free diet pepsi-- 0 points

8 pm-- sugar free chocolate pudding-- 1 point (3)

Total for the day: 26 points

I think this is pretty awesome. Now, this was a special day-- I worked in my office most of the day, and then my husband was gone in the evening so the kids and I went out for sandwiches-- but I still count it as a win! Now, the real test will be when I'm with my husband all day and I have to deal with his cravings!

Why Weight Watchers?

The secret to losing weight is not all that complex. Eat less, move more. It’s not rocket science. And yet, very few people are able to do it. My theory is that food tastes too good and the couch feels too good. So, we need help. So we join Jenny Craig, Nutrasystem, Weight Watchers.

So, why Weight Watchers? Well, there’s a couple reasons. I really like the meeting aspect of it. You go to the meeting each week, you weigh in, you get rewarded if you do well. You get to hear what’s working for everyone else, and you get to hear if something isn’t working, and hear suggestions for how to do better. And then you get a lesson on the life change we’re all making.

I like the structure that the system provides. I need someone to tell me exactly what to do, and exactly when to do it. But at the same time, I like the flexibility of the program. If I want to eat a cheeseburger, I can.

But the main reason I chose Weight Watchers was because I’ve had friends lose with it. If they can do it, I can do it.

And if I can’t do it, I’ll pray every night for my friends to become fat.