I did WW and have a few pointers:
and congratulations by the way, good for you for taking active steps for improving your health!
My best pointers:
- plan ahead, make up little baggies of veggies and fruits for snacks in premeasured portions in the fridge ready to go. Pop some in the fridge at work or in your bag so that you never go hungry.
- make the WW soup, it is delicious and good to have as a starter course or for a meal when you don't have time to cook and would otherwise make less than ideal food choices.
- gear up to drinking water slowly, this was the hardest thing for me and still is.
- baby steps - it's much easier to reach success if you plan to make changes in baby steps. So many people fall off the WW wagon because it so different from what they are used to doing and thus get discouraged. Even if you say, "this week I will drink all my water" or "today, I will eat all my vegetables first" or what have you, then you can 'baby step' your way to success!
Here is an article I saved about baby steps:
"About Small Eating Changes"
**Water, water, water, water. (Your skin will look great, too!)
**Order half portions at restaurants, or share a full portion with somebody. Or ask for a to-go container when you order your food, and pack up half the portion before you even start eating.
**Cut back on butter and mayo.
**Limit fried foods to once or twice per week.
**Use less or no sugar in your coffee or tea.
**Replace ground beef with Boca products or turkey.
**Try at least one new food every week. If you're bored with what you're eating, you're more likely to give up.
**Eat fresh, raw veggies instead of chips with sandwiches.
**Measure your portions until you're sure you know what a cup, a half-cup, and a tablespoon look like. This way, you can be sure you're accurately counting your POINTS®.
**Try not to drink your POINTS. Save them for food, so you feel fuller.
**Dip your fork in a side of salad dressing before each bite, instead of pouring it directly on your salad. You'll find that you are satisfied with much less than you usually put on.
**Find the lowest-POINTS alternative to all your favorite high-POINTS foods.
**If you don't really love it, don't eat it.
**Never eat out of a bag or box. Take out a measured/counted quantity of food and put it in a bowl. This way, you know exactly how much you're having.
**Always eat something for breakfast.
**Read food labels. Check serving sizes.
**Add vegetables to everything.
**Plan meals in advance; use that information to make out a complete shopping list.
**Give guests food to take home.
**Make sure your Journal is easy and always accessible (like the online Journal that WeightWatchers.com subscribers get).
**Record foods and their POINTS values in your Journal before you eat them.
About adding veggies to everything, my favorite breakfast on the weekends is sauteed spinach or greens (with just 1 T of oil for 1 large bag frozen spinach or 2 bunches fresh greens, sliced garlic, S&P), and serve a poached egg over the top. With a great slice of toasted 1 pt bread (I found some 5 gram fiber bread at Whole Paycheck - Ezekial's), it is a wonderful and filling breakfast that everyone will enjoy and no one will ever think they are watching their points or portions. I've made this and skipped the bacon or sausage and no one noticed. And if you are really hungry just have more greens which are relatively 0 Pts! PS - bacon has less points than sausage so that's good to know.
Gee, after rereading this article I feel motivated to getting back on track too!
Best of luck to you!
