I spent 5 days on WW and haven’t died yet
Breaking news: I have completed five full days of Weight Watchers and have neither died of hunger nor thrown a temper tantrum. Yesssssssss! I hate to say it, but I think I’m getting used to this, kind of. Today I went grocery shopping for the upcoming week with the WW guidelines in mind, and I think I actually did ok. I have no idea if what I bought will last me through the week (because it doesn’t seem like very much!), but we’ll see what happens. Here are my observations thus far:
- Whipping out my WW points finder thingy in the middle of a crowded supermarket wasn’t as embarrassing as I thought it was going to be. Ok, it was kind of embarrassing, but I didn’t notice any strange looks or anything, thank god. I just went about my business reading the nutrition labels and calculating the points and either throwing stuff in my cart or, sadly, putting stuff back on the shelf. I survived. Go me.
- Nearly all the groceries I bought went into the fridge (fresh produce) or freezer (lean meat). Anything that didn’t go into the fridge was ridiculously high in fiber and low in calories. For example, I purchased something called “unprocessed bran.” Sounds delicious. Ha. I intend to mix it into my yogurt tomorrow morning for breakfast. If nothing else, it’s gotta be amazing for my digestive system, right???
- The key to this whole WW thing is planning. I’ve noticed over the past few days that if I plan out the entire day in advance, I actually wind up with points leftover after dinner, which I can use for a little (and I do mean little) indulgent snack (peanut butter! cheese!) or for a drink other than water.
- I’ve pretty much drunk nothing but water for five days in row. This is highly unusual for me, since I am a huge fan of fruit juice and drink it pretty much all day long. I’m not thrilled about drinking water with breakfast, but what can ya do.
- I’ve been getting low-grade headaches over the past few days, but they seem to be dying out (hopefully) as of today. At first I thought it was hunger, but now I think that it was sugar withdrawal. How sad! In fact, last night I had one of these headaches and had a few points leftover after dinner, so I made myself an itsy bitsy P&J sandwich to get my sugar fix. Note: this made the headache a LOT worse. WTF??? Obviously I don’t know anything about nutrition because this made absolutely no sense to me. I’m slowly climbing up the learning curve here… and I guess I’m learning the hard way.
- I’m not sure I really understand what’s going on with this WW program. Why is it that eating eggs and Canadian bacon is better than eating whole-grain cereal and fruit juice? Am I retarded or what? I just don’t get it. Is it the sugar/carbs thing? But don’t eggs and bacon have a ton of cholesterol???
- I’ve basically eliminated snacking. Part of WW is that you have to write down everything you eat, and dude, this really works. I find myself really, really wanting to grab some pretzels or something but not doing it because (a) I don’t want to write it down, and (b) I don’t want to waste points on a snack when I need to save them for dinner. BTW, this has also induced a massive pretzel craving that I have yet to satisfy. Who knew I loved pretzels so much???
- Macaroni and cheese is just not going to happen. I am crying a single tear…
- Apparently normal human portion sizes are a lot smaller than I thought. For example, tonight I slapped together a WW-recommended recipe that involved 3 ounces of lean ground beef. Little did I know, but 3 oz. of beef is just about enough to feed my 4-year-old nephew. And how did I measure out my bird-sized portion? I bought a little kitchen scale which was humiliatingly called a “diet scale” on the package. I hate thinking that I’m on a “diet.”
- I’ve noticed that although my brain is telling me that I want to eat, my stomach is telling me that I’m already full. This is a very weird feeling, but I think this is the whole point of WW. I’ve been eating foods that are supposed to fill you up without a lot of calories, and I’ve noticed that I’m full about 90% of the time. Seriously. This is highly unusual for me. I’ll get really hungry right before a meal, but most of the time I’m just totally full. I just need to figure out how to shut off the part of my brain that says that eating is so much fun that I should be doing it all the time, whether I’m full or not. Hahaha. This is so weird!
- I tried a cup of non-fat, non-sugar yogurt. It was totally gross. I refuse to try non-fat cheese, low-fat peanut butter, or anything other than whole milk. I’d rather settle for really small portions of these “indulgent” types of foods that actually taste good than decent-sized portions of stripped-out, artifically-sweetened garbage. Yuck. I’m sticking to my guns on this one!
These are just a few of my many initial observations. This whole thing is so weird, but I’m getting the hang of it, and I really hope it’s working. I keep checking myself out in the mirror hoping to see the magical transformation (after 5 days, ha)… but as far as I can tell, my butt is still the same size, and my pants aren’t any looser. My next weigh-in is on Wednesday, and god damn it, if I haven’t lost a few pounds… well… let’s not even think about that! I just hope this is working. Wish me luck with the unprocessed bran tomorrow. : )
Eggs are a tricky thing. Long ago, everyone was like “eggs are high in cholesterol, don’t eat them.” Next it was “Just eat the egg whites.” (They ARE low in calories.) Now it’s “the yolk is the healthiest part, and some cholesterol is good for you!” As with everything, “everyone’s an expert.”
As for me, cereal works for me so long as it doesn’t have a cartoon character on it. Low fat peanut butter isn’t bad. I don’t drink soda, so I don’t miss that. But 1% milk, ugh so disgusting….it’s 2% for me or bust.
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May 4th, 2009 at 12:53 amOh, DD, this is so my topic! I am actually about the same size and weight as you are right now, and used to weigh about 20 pounds less for a long time. But somehow, after endless diets (and yes, not those stupid 300-calories-diets, but also WW) which worked really well, I always put my weight back on
May 4th, 2009 at 3:10 amI am just not under control when it comes to maintenance, but am really unhappy with my shape right now. Unfortunately, I just can’t muster up the courage to go on a diet AGAIN, because I just feel awful doing it – I am always tired and cold. Plus, I just moved into a new house and have two great new roommates and have started drinking a lot more than I used to … This is not working out for me either
But anyways, I am sure you can do it – WW actually is a very fun diet. Also, I hope you can write more about it and maybe get me to go on it again, too.
Nadine
Clearly I’m of the opposite sex and my opinion is essentially worthless at this point, but some of the things you said are very indicative of why we should all just eat whatever the hell we want. I realize the value of looking good and feeling good, and I’m all for this ww thing if it makes you feel better in the end. But it’s almost like you’re fighting nature. Either way, good work, keep it up and don’t forget to stay active. I’ve found that even if it doesn’t necessarily keep weight off your bones, it does make you feel better to be getting consistent cardio.
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May 4th, 2009 at 12:22 pmGood luck! Honestly, the FF salad dressing doesn’t taste that much different than the regular stuff. I like the non-fat yogurt (not sugar free though, that’s just gross). WW has some good yogurts too. I drink skim milk and FF creamer in my coffee, but I recently switched to green tea in the morning.
I’m with you on the full fat cheese and peanut butter though! Some things you just can’t cut out!
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May 4th, 2009 at 6:13 pmVirgin – Yeah, I’d really like a scientific answer on that – are eggs good for you or not? Can I eat eggs for breakfast everyday, or just once a week? And is the sugar in fruit juice really bad enough to cancel out all the other good stuff in there? Dude, I’m confused!
Nadine – Oh man, you are the same size as me and were 20 lbs. less? I would be skin and bones at 125! Anyway, it’s different for everybody, obviously. I certainly share your feelings about “dieting” – it kind of sucks and is NOT something I would want to do long-term. I guess I’m trying out this WW thing to lose a few lbs., but haven’t yet figured out what happens next. Right now I’m just focused on bikini season. : )
Simon – I couldn’t agree with you more. I definitely don’t take too much stock in the WW diet because it just doesn’t intuitively make sense to me. I’ll try it out and see what happens, but I still feel more comfortable with my regular diet from a health perspective. Also, I’m totally with you on the cardio thing – it’s so good for you, regardless of whether you’re seeing results or not. Good thing tennis season is upon us… : )
OC – Exactly! I love my whole milk and peanut butter just too much to cut them out entirely. I can’t deprive myself! Also – green tea is delicious and so good for you, but I can’t drink it because of the caffeine (I don’t drink any caffeine at all – gives me headaches/jitters/etc.). Too bad because green tea is so yummy.
May 4th, 2009 at 9:30 pmHey DD,
WW rates the eggs and bacon higher because of the protein content.(Bacon is a horrible thing to eat IMHO.) Cereal and fruit juice is a lot of carbs/sugar with very little protein.
Always eat carbs with a protein, as this will help to slow down the absorption of the carbs.
I’m not a big fan of weight watchers, because It can promote people to not eat all day, and save up points for less than desirable things, yet still make weight. On the other hand, most people need structure and a vantage point to start from.
You have to be aware of not losing muscle as well. Creating a caloric deficit through diet and not working out is a good way to do that. You don’t use it, you lose it.
It would be much better to create a caloric deficit through weight training, cardio, and eating smarter most of the time. You can be less strict on your “diet”, and the muscle you have built will burn calories even at rest.
The Virgin is on point! Yolks are supposedly not as bad as they were once thought to be. You need some cholesterol to produce testosterone, which helps build muscle.
The nutritionist at work says 4 yolks a week, if you have a history of high cholesterol in your family. If that is not the case, there is no specified number. Just remember that they are calorie dense.
I eat one yolk per 7 whites, but I don’t have a history of high cholesterol in my family, and I’ve never had it.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:24 am