You probably guessed by how I said "supposed to be" that I was not successful in sticking to this plan for even one week.
Why? I'm not sure. I think that it may be because I've become pretty addicted to simple carbs, which are almost always high in points even if they are not high in calories. So, midway through the week (Tuesday, actually...) I switched back to calorie counting because I was all out of weeklies.
For those of you who have not tried Weight Watchers PointsPlus and/or didn't read my blog back when I was faithfully following the plan, here's the basic rundown of how this plan works:
First of all, I am given a daily PointsPlus target. For me, it is 32. It takes into consideration gender, age, height, weight, and I think a couple of other things...
The PointsPlus are calculated using fat, carbs, fiber and protein. Usually the first two of those macros make things higher in PP, while the latter two make things lower. And there are some "freebies"/zero PP foods, most of which are fruits and vegetables. Most fruits and vegetables are zero PP, but there are some tasty exceptions: potatoes, avocadoes, peas, and plaintains are a few examples (all of which I love and wish they were zero).
I get to eat 32 PointsPlus per day, plus however many zero-point fruits and vegetables I am hungry for, plus a few "bonus" points. Everyone gets 49 weekly points, to be used whenever and however you want throughout the week. You could use 7 a day (beer!), all 49 at once (entire pizza, anyone?), and anything in between. Or not use them at all (masochists). The other "bonus" points are earned through activity and are appropriately called "activity points". Every time you move, you can earn these jewels, and I earn anywhere from 5 to 14 per day, depending on how long or intense my workout is.
OH YEAH, the Good Health Guidelines. I almost forgot about those... In order to make sure that your weight loss is healthy, and that you are not, say, eating all of your points in donuts and Ruffles, WW has the GHGs, which all members are supposed to follow. They consist of the ones that you have heard about forever (eat at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies, drink at least 8 cups of water) and some that are exclusively WW (2 teaspoons daily of "healthy oil", daily multivitamin).
So with all these hundreds of PointsPlus every week, and with no restrictions on what types of food I am allowed to eat (outside of getting in the GHGs and PP), why would I have such a hard time sticking to such a reasonable plan?
The truth is that I don't know. And I plan to try again next week. This week I am back to My Fitness Pal and a bit of intuitive eating. I was an intuitive eater over the weekend and have been back to MFP since yesterday.
Last week, I had three days of WW, 3 days of MFP, and 1 day of IE. Plus I exercised very intensely most days. And I lost 3 pounds, more than I've lost in a week EVER. So I guess that combo works for me? Or I confused my body? I don't know for sure, but I plan to try WW again on Saturday and give it my full effort because after writing about the plan, it seems very reasonable again. Sometimes I just need to take a step back.
Weight Update
week two start weight: 203.0
end of week two weight: 200.0
total weight loss for week: 3 pounds
total weight loss since 28th birthday: 4.4 pounds
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