Weight Watcher's

I guess I've made it clear that I use Weight Watchers.  I have the South Beach Diet book and cookbook too as tried that in the past, which is similar to Atkins, which I have always done.  For me personally, W.W. works the best only because it's not much of an adjustment back to "real life" as it basically just teaches you to eat in moderation.  You can eat whatever you want as long as you stay in your point system which isn't hard because they give you a pretty good range.  For instance, my range is between 18-25 points so if you're somebody who doesn't get terribly hungry you can linger around the low end but if you need a bit extra then you can use them all.  I know most of you probably don't really know what the point system is so for instance, 4 oz. of salmon is around 4.5 points, 3 oz. of chicken is 3, bread is different because the more fiber in it the less points are in it.  I make w.w. bread so a 2 oz. piece is 2 points.  Most fruits (depending on their size) are usually 2 points as well.  A TON of vegies (broccoli, onions, carrots, zucchini, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, gr. beans, etc.) are 0 point so you can eat as much of those as you want.  I like to dip some of those in hummus and you can have 1/4 c. of that (which is more than you'd think) for only 2 points.  I like it because I don't have to deny myself anything, if I want a cookie, I eat a cookie, I just have to decide if it is worth it to give up that many points.

The one thing about W.W. though is it's kind of a slow and steady thing, it's not one of those where you lose a ton of weight the first couple of weeks as like I said, I think the most I've ever lost my first week is 3 lbs. but the more you have to lose, the more those results are too.  The first time I ever used it, 3-4 years ago, it took me a little over 3 1/2 months to lose 20 lbs. but until this last holiday season, I'd been able to keep the bulk of that off by doing the proportion thing better.  However, I really partied this year so needed to lose 11 lbs.  versus the 5-6 I usually have to at the new year.  Gotta love that divinity!