Points, again
Dec. 18th, 2010 11:52 pmSo I lost four and a half pounds in the last 8 days - not bad, especially considering I didn't actually count my points (or POINTS PLUS, which is what the new points are called to distinguish them from the old points) more than about half the time. And I am all awash with Weight Watchers fervour now that I've actually lost weight, and I bought the "member kit" that has the big books with all the points in it, so I figure this gives me something to rattle on about. I also bought the specialized point calculator. The old system had sort of a slider thing that you could calculate points with (although the calculator was available for the old system too), but the new system has four things to input instead of three (that is, fat/carbs/protein/fiber, rather than calories/fat/fiber in the old system) and that made it too complicated to be able to use a paper slide thing. Which is another thing some of the old members are disgruntled about.
Now bear in mind that I am an old member, in the sense that I've been going to Weight Watchers off and on for years and years. Let's see - my mother lost a lot of weight on it in the early 70s, when it was this ungodly stringent thing where you were supposed to eat liver once a week and most people made their own WW spaghetti sauce from scratch. I never really considered joining until they loosened up - I guess I first joined in 1986, which was the year I ended up back in Houston living with my parents (long story) and also the year I eventually met Rob. My mom and I went to Weight Watchers all that spring, and I lost, I think, about 25 or 30 pounds. (I've always thought that might have been a factor in my getting together with Rob - not the weight itself, really, so much as the fact that I was feeling really confident at the time. Confidence has always been an issue for me.) Of course, by the time we got married the next year I had put a good bit of that weight back on again.
That's been the pattern for me - I stay on WW really well for three or four months, maybe - then I start backsliding. The way this plays into the controversy about the new vs old point system is that the old system wasn't really working for me, so well, and thus I'm not so averse to changing it. I really feel like the emphasis on fruit in the new system gives me a better shot at hanging in there. I like fruit. I don't much like vegetables, and I'm not going to try to make myself eat vegetables quite as much as I usually do every time I try this. Some, yes, but not as much - because I think that's been another factor in why I keep quitting.
( Keep reading )
Now bear in mind that I am an old member, in the sense that I've been going to Weight Watchers off and on for years and years. Let's see - my mother lost a lot of weight on it in the early 70s, when it was this ungodly stringent thing where you were supposed to eat liver once a week and most people made their own WW spaghetti sauce from scratch. I never really considered joining until they loosened up - I guess I first joined in 1986, which was the year I ended up back in Houston living with my parents (long story) and also the year I eventually met Rob. My mom and I went to Weight Watchers all that spring, and I lost, I think, about 25 or 30 pounds. (I've always thought that might have been a factor in my getting together with Rob - not the weight itself, really, so much as the fact that I was feeling really confident at the time. Confidence has always been an issue for me.) Of course, by the time we got married the next year I had put a good bit of that weight back on again.
That's been the pattern for me - I stay on WW really well for three or four months, maybe - then I start backsliding. The way this plays into the controversy about the new vs old point system is that the old system wasn't really working for me, so well, and thus I'm not so averse to changing it. I really feel like the emphasis on fruit in the new system gives me a better shot at hanging in there. I like fruit. I don't much like vegetables, and I'm not going to try to make myself eat vegetables quite as much as I usually do every time I try this. Some, yes, but not as much - because I think that's been another factor in why I keep quitting.
( Keep reading )