Project MILF: What's Your Secret

Lately I've had several people ask me what my weight loss secret is.

When I tell them Weight Watchers it's almost like they're disappointed.

Like they were hoping I was going to tell them I'd found some magic weight loss elixir.

Nope.  Sorry.

My "secret" is eating healthy, making better choices and watching my portions.

Why is that not enough for people?

Everyone wants a quick fix, I get it. 

I'd like to blink my eyes and magically lose weight too, but it's not going to happen.

So here you have it people....my weight loss "SECRETS!!"

 

1.  MEASURE.

Not a meal goes by where I'm not weighing or measuring something. And it's not always because I'm worried about too much, a few weeks into this journey I got a food scale and realized the opposite was sometimes happening.  You'd be amazed at how much 3 ounces of turkey is!  I was totally cheating myself.  It's also super helpful with things that are hard to count out, like chips for example.  By the time you get to the bottom of a bag there aren't a lot of whole ones left so then you're just guessing.  The scale takes the guess work out because 2 oz is always 2 oz no matter how broken they are.  In fact sometimes, I like to pick out the smaller ones because then you "get more."  Eight small fries seems WAY better to me than four big ones.  It's really a mental thing sometimes!

 

2.  TRACK

Every.single.day.  It amazes me at my meetings when the leader will say to challenge yourself and try tracking at least 4-5 days this week.  At least??  Isn't the whole point of this program tracking your food??  So why wouldn't you do it everyday??  I'm not as fanatic about it as I was in the beginning where I would pre-plan my day so I knew I wasn't going to run out by dinner.  Now I usually don't enter in my breakfast and lunch until the evening....but as a creature of habit I usually eat the same things so I know I haven't gone over.  By the end of every day, it's all accounted for.  How else do you know?  When you actually write it down, it's a lot easier to avoid temptation.

 

3. DON'T CHEAT

I don't want to sound all cliche....BUT....if you cheat, you're only cheating yourself.  WW is such a flexible program there's honestly no reason to cheat.  Want to eat that cookie?  Go for it.  But only eat one.  Want to go out to eat?  No problem.  Just eat lighter the rest of the day.  Want some fast food?  Get the kid sized portions.  It's always just enough to satisfy my craving.  Have I splurged a time or 2 since I started?  Sure.  And every single time I feel guilty about it and wonder why the heck I gave in.  Usually, whatever it was wasn't even worth it.

 

4.  DON'T BE A FOOD NAZI

Ok.  So I know I said don't cheat and always track, but you also have to be flexible.  Those 49 flex points they give you are there for a reason.  USE THEM!  I was so rigid for so long that one day I just broke and went on a crazy binge.  I've now learned to allow myself one meal a week where I eat what I want and use my extra "flex" points.  Not one day, not one weekend....one meal.  Usually since I weigh in Thursday, I splurge Friday or Saturday night for dinner.  It's really helped me resist temptation the rest of the week.  And sometimes, I don't even need it.  

 

5. DON'T WEIGH EVERYDAY

I only weigh myself once a week at my meetings.  I purposely didn't even weigh myself at home before that first meeting so I wouldn't know if my scale weighed differently than theirs.  Now?  I don't even want to weigh at home.  The only scale I trust is the one I've used since the beginning.  What's the point of stressing over gaining a pound after the weekend if by the time you weigh on your regular day you've lost it and then some!  Ignorance is bliss!  

 

6. PLAN AHEAD & NEVER ASSUME

If you can, check out the restaurant menu before you get there.  Most of the time, I know when and where we are going out to eat so it's easy to plan.  Otherwise, you will get there and think you're making a healthy choice, only to track it later and discover that HALF sandwich you just ate....was 49 points.  {FYI, I usually eat 30ish points in an entire day!!}  And the side salad?  9.  Yep.  That happened.  I ate a 58 point meal that I thought was a good choice.  And the soup you didn't get because you thought it would be high points...only had 6.  It's been eye opening to discover the nutritional facts on some restaurant foods!  In a few cases, a salad was more points than my entire daily allowance.  A salad.  That's insane and makes it easy to understand why so many Americans are fat.  Even the supposed "healthy" stuff isn't all that healthy! 

 

7.  GO TO MEETINGS

I know some people hate the meetings and would rather go it on their own, but for me, there's nothing more motivating than having to step onto a scale in front of someone else.  Seriously.  Nothing.  I've also gotten a ton of great food finds and tips that I otherwise would have missed out on.  The cheesy camaraderie and fanfare when you reach a 5 pound milestone is also kind of fun.  I like celebrating the little victories!  It does help to have a great leader too.  I had to go to a different meeting once and the leader was a total dud.  So if you have the chance to try out a few, I say do it!

 

Now I realize everyone is different, and I'm by no means an expert, but these few things have really helped keep me on track!  And just for fun, here's some pictures.  Because fitting into jeans I haven't worn since our engagment pictures in June 2008 definitly needs to be shared!!

 

Now it's your turn to spill your dirty little weight loss secerets!

What are some things that work for you??