| Product: |
General Weightloss & Healthy Eating Tips |
| Date: |
02/01/03 (1032 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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It's that time of year again when we all decide to make elaborate New Year's resolutions that nobody really intends to keep. Ok, maybe for a week or two, or a month if we are feeling very motivated. In all seriousness, does anybody ever plan to persevere for a whole twelve months?? Probably not! But why let that stop you making more resolutions this year!
One of the most common New Year's resolutions - and my personal favourite - is to loose weight. I've probably attempted this one every year since I was about 15. You know how it goes - you jump into it head first with amazing determination. You only eat two ice cubes the first day. The second day you stretch to a chopped carrot and a large glass of celery juice. Then comes the third day, when you start off good with a glass of orange juice for breakfast and one slice of dry toast for lunch. But then on the way home from work (you decided to walk home for that extra bit of exercise) you get a waft of that unmistakable aroma of extra greasy chips. You can't resist and suddenly get a burst of energy and run the nearest chip shop. Next thing you know you are gorging yourself with two large bags of chips (with extra salt and dripping with vinegar) as well as battered fish and a burger, all of which are washed down with an extra large coke. As if that wasn't enough, you skip that night's gym session to watch Eastenders while stuffing your face with the last of the Christmas Roses, Quality Streets and Sour Cream & Onion Pringles. You decide that diet malarkey isn't for you after all.
Why does this happen? Simple - starvation diets just don't work. We all love food too much to deprive ourselves of it. Everybody has their favourites - whether it is chocolate or crisps (the latter being my own!!) - and nobody can live without them for any sufficient length of time. Does this mean we have to resign ourselves to a life of being overweight, unhealthy, and unhappy with our a
ppearances? No it doesn't! What we need is a diet that's easy to follow, allows us eat the foods we enjoy and yet loose weight at the same time.
Until recently I didn't think such a diet existed. One day in November, I mentioned to a friend that I was trying to loose weight but that I wasn't having any luck so far. She mentioned that her Father had been going to Weight Watchers and had managed to loose more than four stone in just over a year. I knew that I had nothing to lose (except pounds!) and decided to attend my local Weight Watchers meeting.
Weight Watchers is the world's number on diet program, which has been in existence for nearly forty years. Weight Watchers classes or meetings are held on a regular basis in practically every town and city throughout Ireland, the UK and far beyond.
Weight Watchers is not just about food. Members are encouraged to take on all aspects of a healthy lifestyle including exercise and personal well-being. Weight Watchers incorporates group support and weight loss maintenance into its system. This is seen as the key to loosing weight and keeping it off. On joining, members are weighed and given a "Pure Points book", a points calculator, a food tracker and a weight record card. A new Pure Points book is given to members for each of their first ten weeks.
The Weight Watchers "Pure Points" system is very easy to follow. Basically, every food is given a point value, which is calculated on the food's number of calories and amount of saturated fat. So for example, a banana is 1 point and a jacket potato is 2 1/2 points. There are also a number of no point foods, such as most vegetables and diet fizzy drinks. As mentioned previously, you are given a Pure Points book with a list of points for foods and drinks, and also a points "calculator" which allows you to work out the number of points in all other foods. On joining, you are given a daily allocation
of points, which is based on your sex and weight. The average amount allocated would be about 20 points.
Using your daily allocation of points and the list of points per food item, you can plan what you are going to eat. Your weekly "Tracker" - which you use to record everything you eat - is very useful because it allows you to look over what you have eaten to see how good or bad you have done. This can encourage you to try harder and to be motivated during your low periods. There is no restriction as to what foods you eat or when you eat - it's all up to you. If you over indulge in one meal, you can make up for it by using fewer points for another meal. Essentially, you are given the freedom to adapt the "diet" to your own lifestyle and tastes. For example, I don't eat meat and find that most diets recommend that you eat white meat every day. With Weight Watchers I can stick to the greens!! Also I often prefer to graze rather than eat three regular meals so it suits me perfectly.
If you are the type of person who needs more discipline and less flexibility, each Pure Points book comes with seven daily meal plans. Once you have gone through the ten books, you can simply start again with the meal plans in book one. Each day's plan is quite varied which means that you never get bored of eating the same foods.
If you enjoy exercising, you can earn "Bonus Points" for doing so. For instance, 15 minutes aerobics earns you 1 1/2 bonus points and 15 minutes running earns you 2 1/2 bonus points. These bonus points can be used for extra food or can be put towards extra weight loss.
Weight Watchers members attend a weekly meeting and a "Weigh-In" session. During the meeting, the leader and other members share hints and tips with each other. The meeting can be very handy for finding out about foods that you never ate which happen to be low in points. It is also useful for learning about foo
ds to avoid - for example, a whole coconut is 42 points - double most people's daily allocation!
Because of the flexibility of this diet, I have found it very easy to stick to. In the first two weeks, I managed to loose 7 pounds or 1/2 Stone! The weight loss hasn't been as dramatic since, but has continued at a healthy, consist level of 1 to 2 pounds per week. I've never felt deprived on this diet. For example, one day towards the beginning, I ate the following:
Breakfast:
Rice Krispies
Two slices of light bread with Laughing Cow Light spread
Lunch:
Stuffed Mushrooms
Mashed Potatoes
Dinner:
Mushroom Soup
Two slices of light bread
Two burgers
Two slices of cheese
Snacks:
An apple
Slice of bread with butter
Toffee Ice cream
Diet Coke
This might seem like an awful lot to some people, but I actually used less than my allocated points that day! That particular week I lost 5 pounds. I rarely find myself hungry on this diet and if I decide to pig out one day, I can just be extra good the next day to make up.
Of course, Weight Watchers does have its disadvantages. One that particularly annoys me it the amount of over priced merchandise that's in your face at the meetings. For example, they sell Weight Watchers Fruities (fruit gums that are 1/2 point per packet!) in packs of three for about EUR3.00 - twice the price of an ordinary packet of fruit gums! The second aspect that I dislike is the penalisation system - if you miss a week, you still have to pay. This has affected me on one or two occasions when I couldn't make it due to college commitments.
Weight Watchers is an easy to follow diet that has proved successful for millions of people around the world. It's a diet that you can easily stick to for life. You can eat all the foods you like and loose weight at the same time. I've already lost 1 stone and am half way towards my
target
weight. This is the first New Year in recent memory where I haven't started a new diet - I've even stuck to it over Christmas. I would recommend it to anyone who needs to lose weight - no matter how much or how little.
For further information and for details of your local meeting, log onto www.weightwatchers.com
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sidneygee - 28/01/03 There are born "Managers" and those who are "Born to be Managed" - and may even be willing to pay for the priviledge..... |
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