Weekly Meeting Topic : Understanding and Trusting PointsPlus

I have a feeling over the next few weeks our meeting talk will be mainly focused on the new program PointsPlus (as its being called in Canada).  There was supposed to be a structure to the meeting but it pretty much turned into a all around general discussion about the program, problems and feelings about it.

Did you know that 4 years of research went into the new PointsPlus system, testing it on various subjects before it was released this year?

There is more freedom and flexibility with this program, I really do think the free fruit is the main reason for this.  Did you know that all people can talk about are bananas lately?  See, on the old plan they were 2 points and a lot of people felt it was silly to spend 2pts on a measly, good for you banana when you could have a Cadbury Thin for the same number of points!  We all gravitate to the foods that taste best, now I have always LOVED bananas and both on the new and old plan I eat one every day.  I have to admit though with the change in fruit I sometimes find myself having two in a day.  So what I mean to say is with fruit being free there seems to be a few more points to spend elsewhere.  At least in my case there it.  It is interesting in the meeting to hear about how many people where restricting their fruits on the old program because they had points.  I had a banana and an apple every day before and I'll continue to have them now.

This program is designed for sustainable weight loss!  From what I'm hearing people who have been on the new program awhile now find themselves loosing a little more weight (especially those who were on the high end of their goal weight) and its staying off too!  Like I said on my last post, I still have high hopes for this new program I DESPERATELY want to loose my last 8 pounds!  Please!  I WANT to be a meeting leader (since WW won't even look at me despite my success, I will share my experiences here with you instead).

The key focus of this program is to eat high fiber and high protein.  I must admit I have been definitely focusing more on the protein side of things, and yes I am feeling fuller longer.  If I feel peckish I don't feel guilty grabbing that piece of fruit anymore.

Now here's the best information I got out of the meeting : eat all your points!  Yes you should eat all your daily points (the weekly and activity points are up to you).  Weight Watchers believes that if you eat your daily target your body will have all the nutrients it needs to loose weight and be healthy.  If you under eat your target it will cause you to be deprived and loose motivation.  Did you notice they don't talk about it stalling your metabolism anymore?  That's right they and the science doesn't feel that under eating your points causes you to go into starvation but that your body isn't getting the things it needs to function properly... to loose weight.  We were actually told DON'T OVEREAT TO MEET YOUR TARGET. (I found myself eating when not hungry to do this).  It is OKAY to under eat slightly (by a few points, not a lot) now and again.

Hey Canada!  If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, the WW app is now available!  I'm loving it!

This new program is a learning curve, we all have to take what we USED to know, throw it out and pretend we are all Weight Watchers newbies!

I wish you all the best of luck with you holiday food challenges!  Tonight I went to one last party, where I actually indulged and had a light beer (oh it tasted so good), and a few baked goodies.  My tip for parties?  Don't grab a plate!  No matter what you do or if you're offered one say no to the plate!  If you have a plate you are tempted to fill it up with so many goodies.  I other grab one item and step away from the table and eat that or put one or two items on a napkin.  Its a round about way to practice portion control, but it does work.  When I caught myself starting to mindlessly pick at food on the table I got a piece of gum out of my purse.  Its at least a little gross to eat food and chew gum at the same time.