A couple of weeks on Facebook a friend of mine mentioned that the teachers at her school started a challenge to see if they could exercise for 30 minutes a day for 30 days in a row. I was fabulously inspired and motivated by that idea and I put it out in Facebook land to see if anyone wanted to join me in such a challenge! I was so excited when I started getting comments from people that they wanted to do this with me and 8 days into our challenge, I am thrilled with the results!!!
We have an active group that posts their exercise on a daily basis and I have had friends say that without this group they wouldn't have exercised - I love love love the power of Facebook and group activities. I know myself that i can't remember the last time (ever??) I exercised 8 days in a row and I know its all because of the accountability of a group of people. And we have a range of people from my end (couch potato) to those that are significantly more active - but it doesn't matter what you do - just that we are moving our bodies in a consistent way that lots of us haven't done before.
I have never been shy of telling everyone that I need people with me, behind me and on the side of me to accomplish this losing weight thing and I am so appreciative and love our Facebook group. . .some people have emailed me and asked if we can continue past day 30. . .WOW! Truthfully, I hadn't even thought of that, but why not???
Another big change this week for me is that I am trying a new WW program called Simply Filling Technique. Basically under the traditional program, you eat within your points and with the exception of certain Good Health Guidelines (or GHGs as the world of WW calls them), as long as you eat within your daily and weekly points you are good and on program. But as time went on, I realized there as a bit more to it.
I know those of you that are already much healthier than me might be tempted to say "DUHHH'. . .but really, hold your comments. ..I didn't get to be pleasantly plump with making good choices, right?
One of the things I was noticing was that there were better food choices (power foods) and some less filing food choices and then of course, the not such good food choices. . .A 2 point Fiber One granola bar was a nice convenient quick snack, but not nearly as satisfying as some tuna on a piece of low calories wheat bread for the same 2 points. . .
I was also noticing that I was HUNGRY quite a bit. ..not starving, but always wanting to snack, never truly "satisfied". . .I began to look at my husband's diet and in awe of how he was no longer hungry and not snacky. The biggest difference? He was eating a lot more protein then I was. . .and he eliminated ALL PROCESSED FOODS from his diet. Whereas I was having a frozen WW lunch EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. We would sit down at a meal and have the same salmon for dinner and he was "satisfied" after 3/4 of it and I always ate the whole thing. . .not that there was anything wrong with that as I always weighed it and it was in my point allowance, but I had no clue (nor a care) if I was full or "satisfied". ..my points said I could have it and therefore I ATE IT. Always. Every.single.bite. . .I found I was "scared" to use my points earlier in the day, so I horded them til night. ..therefore, hungry during the day and having a big dinner (hello - isn't that the wrong meal to have as my largest??). I also decided for the amount of liquids I was drinking, i wasn't peeing enough. . .now, in the best of circumstances I retain water, but eating all this processed foods I am sure didn't help the situation. . .So, I decided that I needed to try to eliminate processed foods and eat more satisfying foods. . .or "power foods" as WW refers to them as.
WW refers to certain foods as "power foods" - those identified by Weight Watchers as having the ability to keep you full and provide good nutrition. Fresh and frozen fruit, the majority of vegetables, whole grains, non-fat dairy, lean meats, light breads and broth-based soups are all considered power foods. Choosing these foods can help you to feel full longer while staying within your Points Target. Although Power Foods are recommended on the Points Plus program, you can choose other foods that may be less healthy if you can fit them into your Points Target.
In addition to the typical Points Plus program where you track and stay within your points target, WW has another program called the Simply Filling Technique where PointsPlus values of those foods. Eat portions that feel right for you. Not so much that you feel too full, and not too little that you still feel hungry.
So, I decided to start that last Friday and see how it goes for about a week or so. I am still weighing my food to make sure I don't eat too much. ..but guess what? So far, I am truly not as hungry!!! I have stayed within my points every day and I am not nearly as snacky. ..Today for breakfast I had Light Yogurt (2 points) with bananas and 1/2 cup of Fiber One Cereal (2 points) and a banana (zero points) and i wasn't even hungry till I had lunch. For lunch I had 1/2 cup of tuna (2 points) with 2 pieces of Sara Lee wheat bread (2 points) and grapes. I had a Clementine a bit later and now I am eating Edamame as a snack (2 points ). ..and at 4:08pm I have only eaten 10 points and most days by now i have eaten anywhere between 12-16 points.
So, what I find interesting is that I have overall consumed less points, but much more satisfied. . .I think one of my big problems were the WW frozen lunches (and quite often breakfasts) were totaling anywhere between 11-15 points for both and they were not very satisfying and high in sodium.
Now, let's just hope the all powerful scale will show me some love this week and not have the new plan backfire on me. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment