Changing it up...

After being at the same weight for multiple months now, I am starting to think that this is more than a plateau.  What I am doing doesn't seem to be working anymore.  I don't know if this is because I am being less strict, or if I am not eating enough, or if I am eating too much, or what.  Therefore, today, I am going to make a change.  Today, I am going back to Weight Watchers.  I have an unexpected day off of work (although I might have to work four hours later today), and there is a meeting at 10 AM at my closest meeting location.  I have done a little bit of reading up on the new PointsPlus program, and I really like the bones of the program.  I like that there is a focus on fat, fiber, carbs, and protein and how best to balance those.  And I love that veggies and fruits, for the most part, are free.  I did Weight Watchers when I first got married, and I was really successful with it, and I lost a good amount of weight.  Of course, I gained it back because I really was still relying on processed foods and "low points" foods, and that just wasn't feasible for the long term.  With my switch to cleaner eating, I feel like this new program will really work for me.  And I think it will actually encourage cleaner eating because I am really going to want to get the most bang for my bucks, points-wise, and cleaner foods are the better way to do that.  The good news is that after losing the weight I have this year, I now weigh just about as much as or even slightly less than I did the last time I was at a meeting.  So I don't have to go in there with my tail completely between my legs (which is not the way anyone there would make me feel...the people at Weight Watchers are nothing but supportive, and I have never felt judged or ashamed, even at my heaviest, by anything they have done or said, although sometimes in my own head I have felt like I was slinking back to the fold after doing something "bad").

I was a little concerned to stick my Larabar into a PointsPlus calculator and find that it comes out to six points.  I am interested to go to the meeting today and see what my daily allotment is.  I will report back later and let you know how I come out!

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Several hours later...

I went to my first meeting!  The leader was one of the women I remembered from when I used to go to WW meetings, and the meeting room was packed!  They are also in a new, much nicer location that has a parking lot, which is nice, as the old location had on street parking only.  I got my new program materials, and I also bought two of the PointsPlus calculators, as I like to keep one in my purse at all times and one handy to use.  And this way, I have a back-up, in case I lose one.

The new calculator is really nice, as you can calculate points on it and also do some tracking of your points on it.  And the program materials look like they are really well done, although some of them are out-of-stock at my meeting location right now, so I will have to wait a bit to get my hands on them.

My weight was up a little from what my scale said yesterday, but I know that all scales are different, and I am excited to have a place to officially weigh in every week.  The next meeting that I will probably be able to get to is Thursday evening, so I will weigh in again then.  I get 36 points per day, along with the 49 flex points for the week.  I also am noticing that my usual hour-long workout at the gym (which I gauge to be a moderate intensity, for the most part, with some higher intensity thrown in) equals seven additional points to work with.  I will be interested to see what a week of eating this way brings my way in terms of results!

I have been having some back issues that seem to be related to my sciatic nerve, so I have not been to the gym this week.  I am planning to head back there on Monday to get back into the swing of things though.  I did go to yoga this week because it was our last class until January, but other than that, I have just been trying to give my back some rest to feel better.  I really miss my time on the StairMaster and elliptical, and my reading of books has suffered a bit as a result of the break!  My goal is to read 100 books this year, and I have about seven to go, so I have to get to that!

Make it a great day, everyone!