Sometimes you just need to step back and assess. On any diet, this is an important step: Ask yourself, “What’s working?” “What isn’t?”
When I found myself going over my Weight Watchers Points allowance two weeks in a row, I decided it was time for a change. Looking around my room, I realized I had a surprising amount of sweet and salty snack foods. Mixed nuts and Dole fruit parfaits aren’t so bad once in a while, but when Sunday night comes around and I haven’t done any homework for the week, my anxieties take over and the mindless snacking begins.
I still need to work harder at using those handy emotional and spiritual tools I talked about earlier. However, I can’t rely on my own devices all the time, and counting Points on the Flex Plan has gotten old. So I’m going to switch to the Core Plan. On Core, you can eat as much as you want from a list of foods that are low in energy density, as long as you pay attention to hunger levels. You may have heard of volumetrics or a similar diet theory. The point is to eat foods that are low in calories relative to their weight: A handful of grapes will fill you up as much as a handful of raisins, but at a lower caloric cost. Everybody wins!
Then again, my Lifetime Member friend Janna claims the Core plan is more expensive because you’re buying whole, fresh foods, and it requires more cooking. But something tells me that avoiding pre-packaged, processed snacks will be better for me. I also want to learn how to feel my body’s hunger signals and to plan my meals better on my own, without the crutch of a point system. I hope that by fueling my body with wholesome foods, I can jump-start back into some serious weight loss: I’ve been holding steady at 160 and change for a while now.
It won’t be easy. To give you an example of how serious Weight Watchers is about having you stick to this plan, here are the foods I currently eat that aren’t on the special list:
- Cheerios
- Raisin Bran
- Special K
- rice cakes (are they serious?)
- mixed nuts
- Lean Cuisine frozen dinners
- light english muffins
I have a small number of Flex points to use throughout the week to indulge in such forbidden foods, but I want to save those for treats only. So what does make the list?
- skim milk
- eggs and egg substitute
- Canadian bacon
- salsa
- frozen brocolli
- Crystal Light
- canned black beans
Well, I definitely need to go grocery shopping. And that is actually a refreshing thought. My advice to the average dieters who are not on Weight Watchers, but are feeling restless or tired about their plan? Switch it up! Throw in more fresh foods and satisfy sweet-tooth cravings with fruit, sugar-free Jello, or delicious pudding made with skim milk. If you crave salty foods, pick up a healthy brand of microwave popcorn (the only salted food on the Core plan).
Giving up so many foods that I am accustomed to eating — including bread, as it’s not a Core food — seems like a big sacrifice just to avoid tallying up points. But life is full of trade-offs and choices, so I’ve decided to make the switch and see how it goes. The good news is that if after two weeks I’m not feeling it, I can switch back to the Flex plan. So, on that note, I’ll let you know when I get tired of soy burgers.