Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Annie: weigh-in week 44

Oh, it's so close I can smell it.


Looking at the pattern over the last few months, while it's close, I know the big number is likely at least a month away. But I can actually see it on the horizon!


This last week was a challenge because I was away from home for most of it, staying with my parents. Neither of them is a Weight Watcher, and my mother is a wonderful cook, so their kitchen is full of all kinds of "good stuff" that could have the potential to throw me off... if I were in a mental place where I could be thrown off. But I'm not, because I understand I have to live in a world full of yummy food -- something I think I'd have a harder time with if I had taken the approach of banishing all non-WW-friendly foods from my home, office and life. If the presence of cookies means you're going to eat cookies, good luck living outside your own kitchen.


My Mum went out and specifically picked up things to help me out: WW-brand bread and bagels and low-fat mayonnaise, for example. And as a reader of this blog, she kept asking "can you eat..." and then catching herself: "I'm sorry! I don't want to be that person! What I mean is, would you like..."  We'd laugh about it every time, but I understood then how difficult it is to live with a Weight Watcher like me. She didn't want to say "can you eat this?" because I'd blogged previously about how that drove me nuts -- but if she said "do you eat this" or "are you willing to eat this" or some other variant of that, it would make me sound high-maintenance, which she didn't want to suggest (even though we both know it's true!).


Mum: see the scoreboard below for the fruits of your efforts. And thanks for all the yummy, Points-friendly meals, not to mention the support!


My Wendie Plan day


The last time I successfully lost weight on Weight Watchers, we followed the "Winning Points" program (this was around 2002/2003). That version of the Points program gave you a range of Points you could use each day based on your weight, and you had to eat at least the bottom of your range every day -- any Points between the bottom and the top of your range that you didn't eat each day went into a "bank" that you could withdraw (and eat) before the week ended, with some limitations. This was before there was ever a "Flex" Points bank or a "Weekly Points Allowance" -- you had to save it before you could eat it. 


At that time, on the Weight Watchers online bulletin boards, there were rogue posts about the "Wendie Plan," which people used to bust through plateaux: it took the number of Points you were allowed during the week and re-distributed them so you had low-Points days with one very high-Points day in the middle of the week. The theory was that getting your metabolism out of its regular rhythm actually kicked it into gear, and people who'd tried it swore it helped them break through long loss droughts.


I think the introduction of Flex Points showed that Weight Watchers saw its value.


At any rate, this week I also did my own version of the Wendie Plan, on Wednesday. It was my last day at home, and we took out our family's favourite submarine sandwiches for lunch. Mum and I de-constructed the sandwich, and it came up to (hold on to your hat!) 28 PointsPlus! Seriously! And that was without the full-fat mayo that usually comes on it! Well, I love those subs and can't get them where I live, and it was my last day. So I decided to take advantage of my Weekly Points Allowance, which I almost never use, and my Activity Points, which I never use all of, and enjoyed every bite. The one sub took care of almost all my regular Points for the day... and then we went out to dinner. I'll spare you the delicious, gory details, but that was another 30 Points.


Did I have indigestion that night? You'd better believe it, but no guilt. I vowed not to eat any of my Activity Points or go over my daily Points allowance for the rest of the week, and kept my promise to myself -- so in the end, I finished the week with all my Weekly Points restored and a spare Activity Point left in the bank.


And a big loss - though the calendar says I might have had that coming anyway. Either way, I didn't pay for it at the scale.


The bottom line for newbies: don't let a high-Points day throw you off -- it can be part of a successful loss program. Just make sure you follow it up with a return to lower Points consumption and lots of activity.


Loss this week: 5.6
Lost so far: 95.6
Still remaining: 4.4
Activity points earned this week: 35
Weeks to go: 8

1 comment:

  1. Zowee!! I was hoping I'd be there for your finish line but I suspect you'll make it there before I arrive! Awesome, Annie!!! I'm glad you enjoyed your sub guilt-free, you sure deserve to.

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