I spent several posts talking about nutrition before, during and after workouts, but what about the rest of the time? Here I will break down how weight watchers has worked for me. Like with anything, your results may vary but this system works for me better than many things I’ve tried and has so far been more sustainable (keto, vegan, anti-inflammation cleanse, etc.). Diet is critical, I was working out for 30 minutes or more, twice on most days while “trying to eat healthier” and not losing weight. When I started weight watchers, I immediately noticed that I was eating too much unhealthy food and started to lose weight. Overall I’ve been training for a bit over 3 years and lost 80 pounds, I’ve been following weight watchers for 7 months and have lost over 50 pounds.
General on Points
One of the big things that attracted me to weight watchers was that it seemed like a simple alternative to counting calories. You have a fixed amount of points for the day and for the week, at the end of the day or week, those points reset and you start fresh. Each item has a unique point value, many of which can be found through searching or even using the barcode scanner found in the app. Not only does the point system make the math either, it also gives you more or fewer points depending on how healthy an item is considered, regardless of the actual calories. This means there are many options that are filling, but have 0 or very few points. Lean meats, vegetables and fruits are 0 points for me, though you may have a slightly different selection if you’re diabetic and/or in menopause.
Weekly Points
Every week, you’re given some extra points to use. What’s even better is that these points increase based on your activity and your daily steps when you connect this to your Garmin or similar activity tracking ecosystem. I like to use these points for treats, we generally go out to eat on Wednesdays where I will dip into these. I will also use them Saturday or Sunday when we’re spending time with friends and family and I am likely to eat more foods that are higher in points than I typically would. You pick the reset day for these which is nice. For me, I choose Monday to align with TrainingPeaks and how I view my training plans, this also gives me the weekend to enjoy some extra points and means I start the week fresh with a weigh in.
Losing Weight
Weight watchers changes the point levels with you, as you lose weight, you get fewer and fewer points. While this may sound like a struggle, it makes sense when you consider you should be burning less through everyday activities. I also like to consider that I am getting adjusted to healthier eating and more skilled by having a better understanding of your points.
Cheating
The weekly points cover most of the ‘cheating’ for me. This gives me some extra points to go out to eat or to eat some things that wouldn’t normally fit within my daily points. Since starting the program, I have gone over on a few occasions. When I was first starting, I started to make better choices, but still didn’t have a grasp of the types and amounts of items I should be eating. When I went on a cruise, I didn’t count points, but certainly went over. When I am traveling, besides a cruise, I will count points and try to make healthier choices, but I am also going to enjoy myself and not worry about going over points.
Experiment
You will have to see what works for you. The app has a lot of recipes, many of which are delicious with only a few points. I generally make one of these each week to do meal prep for the week’s worth of lunches. Be sure to try low point foods i.e. Sugar Free Fudgesicles. Are they as good as ice cream, no, do they fill the same void in many cases, yes. In my opinion, some light products are fine and there are some you don’t want to cut corners on. I also like to try recipes before adding extra points. For instance, I was following a non-Weight Watchers recipe for pinto beans in the crock pot, the last step was to mix in an entire stick of butter. I tasted the beans before this and thought they were great, why would I add the butter. The same may be true of things like cheese, sour cream or condiments.
During Longer Workouts
During longer workouts, I relax the rules. When workouts are over an hour I let myself have something before going out and something every 40 minutes without counting the points. During workouts over 2 hours I give myself the same as above, but a bit more flexibility by letting myself go out to eat and get something without counting the points. I do try to make better choices, i.e. I will get a “Biggie Bag” instead of a large combo. So far, this works for me, but takes some self control, I cannot go all out and so far I’ve been able to trust myself to do so, without taking advantage and still see results on the scale. If this works for you, that’s great, if it does not, you may need to count everything or pivot the rules for yourself to allow certain items or quantities.
Summary
While I’ve been training for years, I had very mixed results until I got my everyday nutrition under control. While I am far from perfect, Weight Watchers is the tool I feel like I needed to put a system into place that has helped me be successful with weight loss to this point and I intend to continue as long as it’s effective, potentially for years to come. I believe that many diets will work, as long as they are sustainable for your life. Weight Watchers has empowered me to make better choices while enabling me to have my guilty pleasures when I really want them. I will leave you with a thought that helps me remember to not sweat the small stuff but instead focus on slow lasting changes.
It’s not what you eat between Christmas and New Year’s that counts, it’s what you eat between New Year’s and Christmas.