WW Freestyle Revisited
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| The author and her husband before Weight Watchers Mother's Day 2016 ____________________________ |
After
months and months at a standstill, WW Freestyle has started working for me again.
This
is not a random occurrence, for I have made two significant changes:
(1) I have re-evaluated how Freestyle can
work for me specifically.
For example, I have
accepted the fact that some zero foods cannot be zero points for me, such as
corn. I have gone back to counting it.
Also, I am very careful
about how much I use as 0-points food.
After three small servings
of fruit, I now start counting any additional fruits.
I weigh all fish, chicken
and beef and limit them to 2-3 ounces at lunch and 4-5 ounces at dinner, less
if it’s beef, salmon (or any high fat fish), or ham, then it’s no more than
2/4. I count points for additional ounces of fish and chicken (Except steamed
shrimp – I will eat up to six ounces without counting points).
Like many people prone to
gaining weight, I have never had a problem with overeating protein, so this was
not a difficult change. In fact, I tend to eat too little protein, so I have
added protein shakes or other sources of protein. But here’s a caveat: a lot of
the shakes found on the grocery and pharmacy shelves are high fat and/or sugar
and, shockingly, low protein, so I have learned to read labels.
My problem has always
involved sugar and carbs, mostly of the junk-food kind, so I have had to cut
back on this kind of food, even the low points versions.
I do eat unlimited lettuce
and other raw green, non-starchy vegetables. For my “sinful” treats, I enjoy an
Enlightened Bar each day. I really like them, and they satisfy that need for
something dessert-y.
I also enjoy a product that
tastes sinful like a candy bar: Built Bar protein bars, which has taken the
place of Quest Bars in my diet.
These bars can be used as
a meal replacement (with a side salad or fruit) or a snack -- so much better
nutritionally than the WW snack bars sold at the meetings – bigger, too: at 53
grams, almost 2 ounces.
I also like Quest Bars,
but they are higher in calories (180-200) and points (4-5, depending on
flavor). In terms of flavor, they are less satisfying and sometimes causes
bloat.
My daily points remain at
23. It may seem a stricter version of Freestyle, but I find it necessary to put
the brakes on my eating. It’s just the reality of being older.
(2) I changed my Probiotic supplement.
I’m now using an Ultimate
Probiotic-10, containing 25 Billion Active cultures, 10 Probiotic strains. It
contains Lactobacillus, which can help with appetite control, calorie “harvesting,”
and eliminating belly fat (too soon to tell about this so-called benefit,
though – I’m always skeptical about claims made).
The brand I’m now using: “Nature’s
Truth” – it was on sale (BOGO), so this was an accidental discovery. For what
it’s worth, I am not a brand-loyal kind of consumer. But what I have learned:
when it comes to supplements: use what works best, not what’s cheapest or the brandiest.
This
is what seems to be working for me right
now.
I’m
not advocating these specific changes
for anyone else – just that we must sometimes tweak and personalize our own diets
(and not just the weight-loss kind) to that which works best for us.
I’m
just grateful that after months and months of not working, WW Freestyle has kicked
in again.
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