Getting Back On Track

As a child, with nary a pang of guilt, I used to easily find the wrapped Christmas presents hidden in an obvious (to me) closet or under a remote piece of furniture.  My mother usually started wrapping and squirreling them away shortly after school began in September.  I became quite adept at sliding a small finger softly, gently, under a hastily taped flap, lifting, oh so carefully, so as not to tear the paper or lift the underneath design off with the tape.  Sometimes special precision equipment was in order  – a small paring knife to slide cleanly under the folded flap.  Viola!  The Santa imprinted paper was lifted just enough to reveal the identity of the contents.  The tape was then pushed back down, light pressure applied, and the package returned to its carefully noted exact position – and no one was the wiser.  No one but me.  I learned to cover my misdemeanor pretty well as I exclaimed rapt surprise on Christmas morning.

I am like that with everything.  Still a little kid inside, I just can’t wait for things and I don’t mind not being surprised.  I wanted to try to hold out for a week, get on the scale and become ecstatically happy as the scale number diminishes by leaps and pounds. So it is little wonder that although I decided that my Weight Watchers weigh-in day would be every Friday, that I weighed myself on Saturday, Sunday and today as well.  I lost a pound and a half.  I may be joy jumping to premature conclusions, but I am encouraged.

I am getting the hang of the new point system, which basically encourages the choices of fruit and vegetables (all 0 points), lean proteins and  “power foods” over refined or processed products. Power foods are determined by the energy density of a food as well as the nutrient content. They are the healthiest and most filling choices within a specific category of foods.  All good, all doable.

The Weight Watchers on-line member site is awesome.  It includes your personal info, plan and preferences pages, PointsPlus tracker, activity tracker and of course, points calculator.  And all this is accessible on the app that I downloaded to my iPod Touch.  There is a list of probably at least one million foods and their point values.  There are recipes, recipe builders, recipe finders, cheat sheets, articles, success stories, community features like groups and message boards, blogs, a science center, a huge fitness section, healthy living, wellness and beauty, challenges and a store. Plus, probably more that I just didn't find yet.  And I joined under a promo – $53.85 for three months!

I’m psyched.