Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Brand Spankin' New WW Plan!

Well, if you've been following this blog, you've known that over the past few weeks, I've not been doing so hot OP. It's not that I've been binging or anything, just that I haven't been actively doing anything constructive towards losing the rest of my weight. So now I have a bit of a respite. I think part of the reason that I haven't been doing so well is because the program (any program) gets a bit rote at times. It's less exciting- more of a chore than an adventure, so to speak. The introduction of a new plan option will, hopefully, reinvigorate me to goal!

There's a lot of press about the new plan, this article has a nice simple explanation. I have a lot of questions myself about the details of the new plan, which I hope to have answered Thursday at my meeting... so I can't necessarily explain it all. Suffice it to say that the Core plan (it's officially called Turnaround(c), but I'm calling it Core) is based around certain core foods, which a weight watcher can eat to satisfaction. That doesn't mean eat unlimitedly, it means eat until you're no longer hungry, and are satisfied with your meal. Portion control is always a concern, for healthy weight as well as overweight people. What do you think this is, people- Atkins?! haas v' shalom.

The core foods include (amongst others) all lean meats, all potatoes (not fried), all fruits and vegetables (including starchy vegetables, but not fruit juices), whole grains (ie: barley, couscous, oatmeal, etc), whole wheat pasta, cheese, eggs, fat-free dairy products (skim milk, fat free sour cream, etc), tofu, fish, beans, broth and broth-based soups (not creamy) and fat free dressings. Those foods (amongst others) do not figure into the daily/weekly points. You get 35 "Allowance" points (did they really have to rename the 35 Flex points?) per week to spend on foods that aren't core. In addition, because the core foods don't figure into the points, as in they essentially count as zero points, WW thought that we didn't need to journal anymore (read: Becky says WW is capitulating to those who don't like journaling).

However, I need to journal. Personally I believe that if you don't keep track of what you've eaten, how do you know where you're being 'creative' with the plan if, and when, you run into a halt in weight loss? My biggest pet peeve about the new plan so far is that the online journal through ww.com no longer has a search-and-add function, and is strictly a notepad, with checkboxes for the 35 Allowance Points. I need to know where I spent those Allowance points, and if I'm counting stuff as core that shouldn't be. I made myself an Excel sheet to keep track, which I am happy to share with anyone in the same boat as me (I'm a geek).

Anyways, I've been on the Core plan for almost 24 hours now, and I'm very nervous. So far today, this is what my journal looks like:

Sugar Free Vanilla Soy Latte (16 oz)
2 Cheese Sticks
Turkey Chili from Sandwich Club
Grilled Marinated Chicken Breast
Steamed Vegetables
Banana
Skim Milk (16 oz)
1 single potato chip
1 Tbsp BBQ sauce
1 piece lettuce, 1 slice tomato

Everything on that list is core, except for the single potato chip (c'mon people!) and the BBQ sauce, and being machmir, I counted a point against my Allowance for them. Now, if I was following the Flex plan (as I was before), this all would amount to 23 points so far, and it's only 2 p.m. by me. I have another 10 hours of the day left! At 149 lbs, I only get 20 points per day under the Flex plan. I'm a bit nervous as to whether or not the core plan is going to do it for me.

Let me tell you, though, I've not been so shaky today. On the Core plan, you're supposed to stay within a 'comfort zone' of hunger. If 1 is truly hungry and 5 is stuffed, you should ideally stay between 2.5 and 3.5. Which means you eat when you're getting hungry- not truly hungry. That's going to be new for me- in the last year and a half, I have been in a pattern of waiting as long as my body can handle it before I eat, then eat something small (~4 points). Repeat. Now, if I think I'm hungry, I can eat right away- a cheese stick, a piece of fruit, a big glass of skim milk, stuff that will fill me up and sustain me. I feel a lot better as a hypoglycemic knowing that.

But still- I'm nervous... The thing I'm holding on to most right now is that I've been on 4 different incarnations of the Weight Watcher plan. I was on the plan about 10 years ago (yes 10 years ago) when you got X number of proteins, Y number of fats, etc etc (was that 1-2-3 Success!). I was on the original points plan with banking, the newer points plan with flex points, and now core- not to mention a brief stint on the short-lived Fat and Fiber plan. Weight Watchers, in all their plan incarnations, has never failed me. I will trust the new plan to not fail me- and if it does, at least I ate well for a while!


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