Changing the Changes
Jun. 20th, 2014 07:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_gneechYesterday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lythandra and I mutually decided to abandon South Beach and switch over to Weight Watchers instead. There are various reasons for this, but in my case it was because the "practically no-carb" phase one of SB was leaving me constantly starved and headachey. It was also leaving me craving Starbucks like a junkie and was just setting me up for "deny, deny, deny, BINGE."
The WW approach, of "You can have whatever you want, but you have to pay for it..." is much more likely to be effective for me. The gamification of the points budget, even if it feels a bit corny, really does boil things down into an easy-to-handle program that still gives you wiggle room.
Using the food tracker also makes for some eye-opening moments. A giant plate full of grilled shrimp? 1 point. A blended margarita? 11 POINTS. O.o After a few such moments, you quickly learn what in your diet is actually causing you to go over. My small bowl of mixed nuts, which I thought was a pretty sensible snack, was 12 friggin' points, my biggest hit for the day!
Laurie has actually been on WW for a while now and has been seeing results, a fairly steady reduction in her weight as long as she stays "on the wagon," and I have a good feeling about it in my own case. There are only a few things in my diet that I actually WANT, and everything else is negotiable. If I have to "pay" for those things in the dietary budget, I can do that.
Now if you'll pardon me, I'm gonna finish my morning mocha.
-The Gneech ("Aaaaaaah.")
lythandra and I mutually decided to abandon South Beach and switch over to Weight Watchers instead. There are various reasons for this, but in my case it was because the "practically no-carb" phase one of SB was leaving me constantly starved and headachey. It was also leaving me craving Starbucks like a junkie and was just setting me up for "deny, deny, deny, BINGE."The WW approach, of "You can have whatever you want, but you have to pay for it..." is much more likely to be effective for me. The gamification of the points budget, even if it feels a bit corny, really does boil things down into an easy-to-handle program that still gives you wiggle room.
Using the food tracker also makes for some eye-opening moments. A giant plate full of grilled shrimp? 1 point. A blended margarita? 11 POINTS. O.o After a few such moments, you quickly learn what in your diet is actually causing you to go over. My small bowl of mixed nuts, which I thought was a pretty sensible snack, was 12 friggin' points, my biggest hit for the day!
Laurie has actually been on WW for a while now and has been seeing results, a fairly steady reduction in her weight as long as she stays "on the wagon," and I have a good feeling about it in my own case. There are only a few things in my diet that I actually WANT, and everything else is negotiable. If I have to "pay" for those things in the dietary budget, I can do that.
Now if you'll pardon me, I'm gonna finish my morning mocha.
-The Gneech ("Aaaaaaah.")
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-06-20 10:38 pm (UTC)Find some veggies that are low-carb, tolerable snacks. If some lowfat dip or dressing helps, pick a good one. Have you tried roasting spaghetti squash? It honestly gives something that you can swap in for pasta rather tolerably.
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2014-06-21 12:37 am (UTC)I went strictly calorie tracking, which I've probably mentioned before. It took a year to lose 50 pounds. But 4 years later and I'm still within 3 pounds of my initial goal weight. I stopped actively tracking years ago but have a decent grasp on how to eat now. I weigh in a couple times a week to make sure I'm not creeping up without noticing.
no subject
Date: 2014-06-21 08:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-06-22 06:38 pm (UTC)