Weight Watchers Report 1

I joined Weight Watchers about a year ago because I was frustrated that I wasn't losing any of the baby weight and I was somehow gaining more weight. I didn't have much luck with it the first year, but I have redoubled my effort in the past two months and I'm starting to see results! I also had my Mirena removed, which has greatly improved my physical well-being. It took me almost two years to figure out it was the culprit for so many issues I thought were just part and parcel of life after having a baby: severe anxiety, depression, weight gain, bloating, swelling, fatigue and achy joints. It has been three months since I stopped any form of hormonal birth control and I feel so much better than I did before. I am more motivated to take care of myself and I'm not using food to soothe anxiety or give myself a treat after a rough day.

I fell off the wagon last week and did not track at all, and even went overboard with some of my favorite binge foods. However, in the two weeks prior, I managed to lose six pounds and my clothes are starting to fit a better (even a little looser). I started noticing the weight loss most in my upper body, which has never been a place I've gained weight. My upper arms are slimmer and my poor boobs are finally shrinking back to a more manageable size (I was still wearing bras I bought when I was six months pregnant). My waist is slowly returning and I feel less puffy everywhere. Six pounds doesn't sound like much, but I'm just not built to carry extra weight well and the loss of six pounds is actually kind of a big change in my appearance. Lane, who barely notices when I chop off my hair, noticed.  Those six pounds are serving as a huge motivation to keep going.

Here are my current stats:

Starting Weight:  170
Current Weight:  163.4
Goal Weight:  125

So today I'm starting again and I'm really hoping to keep going through the move. It is going to be tempting to fall back on binge eating as a coping mechanism, but Weight Watchers has helped me be more mindful of what I eat and I'm able to weigh the cost of a binge or even just over-indulgence by reminding myself that I won't feel super great if I do go off the rails. Eating well on Weight Watchers is actually very easy. I always thought that Weight Watchers pushed tons of low-fat, processed junk, but they've made some changes in the last few years and the points system really rewards you for eating healthy, whole foods. I'm using the Simply Filling technique for tracking these days. I find it's a better fit for how I eat and having a pre-defined list of foods that I can combine really takes a lot of the work out of meal planning for me. It's also very manageable for vegetarians and I never feel unnecessarily limited in what I can eat "on plan." I started a Pinterest board for useful links and recipes for vegetarian Weight Watchers here.

Here's what I'm eating today on Simply Filling:

Breakfast: 0PP
 0% Plain Greek Yogurt with 1/4 cup Fiber One cereal
Coffee with whole milk

Snack: 0PP
Peppermint green tea
Banana

Lunch: 6PP
Leftover Sol Food vegetariano plate (black beans, rice, savory fried plantain)

Snack:  4PP
Ak-Mak crackers
Babybel Light cheese

Dinner: 5PP
Two poached eggs
Mixed greens with vinaigrette
Whole wheat toast with garlic and herb spread

This is actually a fairly high points day because I'm having leftovers for lunch. My weekday lunches are usually zero points (hearty black bean soup, giant salads, etc.), but the great thing about Weight Watchers is that there is plenty of flexibility and you don't have to beat yourself up or deprive yourself if you want to splurge a little. I don't do well with restriction and depriving myself usually leads to crazy binges. On Weight Watchers, having a fried plantain for lunch is no big deal -- it's possible to eat well for the rest of the day and not worry about "undoing" anything.

My weigh-in day is Friday, so I'll be checking in again on Monday to share how my week went and how I did over the weekend.