Keeping it off
Long-term weight maintenance is possible for everyone. That's almost one of the first beliefs that should become your weight watchers mantra (the first being that you believe you deserve the weight-loss.) Because without believing that this will work for the rest of your life, you're more likely to believe that this is only temporary. It cannot be and should not be temporary, that's why it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.
In order for this to work you should remember to eat wisely, be active and regularly attend the meeting. If you're like me, I knew that I wouldn't keep true to attending the meeting, so I decided to get hired by Weight Watchers and become a leader. This way, I'm accountable to a lot more than just myself.
Try and think about what has lasted for a long time in your life and ask yourself what helped to make it endure. Was it persistence, paying attention to it and giving priority? Think about what has made it last and if there is any correlation to how you can make the weight loss last.
For some people it is difficult to keep the weight off long term, but long-term weight maintenance is possible and you are worth it. Weight Watchers Lifetime Members report that they have maintained an average of 87% of their weight loss two years after completing the maintenance phase, and 72% of Lifetime Members maintained a 5% or greater weight loss after two years.
Remember too that for every 1 lb of weight loss it's 3lbs of pressure relived from your knees. ;)
Strategies for successful weight maintenance will not stray far from what you are doing right now. Eat wisely, make movement a part of your life, stay connected to support systems (like blogs), maintain a positive outlook, adjust behaviors (you should examine your successes and slip ups), track your weight and attend meetings. Combining all of these strategies are the basic tools you need to keep the weight off for good.
All too often I see members lose the weight, only to stop attending meetings and then rejoin once they put it all back on. It's the members who have really embraced the lifestyle and continue to come to meetings once a month who I find are the most successful. For them, it's the coming to the meetings and holding themselves accountable to others
and themselves that ultimately allow them to keep the weight off long term.
Smart Snacking
Although overeating between meals might have contributed to our being overweight, snacking can actually be very valuable during weight loss. Smart snacking is part of eating wisely on the TurnAround(r) program.
There are some benefits to snacking: Curbs hunger between meals, prevents subsequent overeating, and you get to enjoy your favorite foods. When snacking it's in your best weight-loss interest to identify:
- When you tend to snack
- Where you tend to snack
- What you snack on
Ask yourself those questions and determine what is and is not working out for you. Half the time we aren't even thinking about this stuff, and rather we're just doing it. Sure we try for the carrots or celery sticks, but sometimes they just don't cut it. That's why we have to think about What we snack on. What are we getting from it. When I snack on a handful of M&M's, it's because I love chocolate and need a sugar fix.
What we need to concentrate on is focusing on those snacks with low energy density. We should look to the foods that don't have a lot of calories per serving. That means for the same weight potato chips versus grapes, the grapes have the lower energy density. Ultimately they should be more satisfying. Giving snacks a nutritional priority will also help. Look to your Week1 books for those suggestions, but I bet you can think of plenty of them.
The decisions will be up to us what snacks to have, and we have to decide that we're worth it and deserve the weight loss.
The Red Meat Cheat Sheet
Article By: Jeffery Lindenmuth Print Email
What’s in those delicious 3 ounces of lean beef, on average?
51% of your daily value of protein*
Important for building muscles, organs and bones
38% of your daily value of zinc*
Helps maintain your immune system and heal wounds
37% of your daily value of Vitamin B12*
Produces red blood cells and helps maintain your nervous system
14% of your daily value of iron*
Especially important for red blood cell production and carrying oxygen to blood cells and tissues, such as your muscles
* Based on a 2,000 calorie diet. You Got Game?
Aside from the novelty of throwing a nice moose steak on the barbie, game meats—both wild and farm-raised—are generally lower in fat than traditional beef. Based on 3 oz. servings, just the meat (not the bread or fixings).
Meat POINTS values
Bison (Buffalo) 3
Venison Steak 3
Elk Tenderloin 2.5
Sometimes, a big salad and another breast of chicken just won't cut it. Sometimes, you need meat. Red meat. A sirloin strip or filet mignon. These tips will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about beef—and then some.
Start with portion size.
You want a 3-ounce serving of red meat, about the size of a deck of cards. Yes, that's way smaller than the 12- and 16-ounce slabs the local steakhouse serves. Which is why their regular patrons can't see their feet.
See the fat, lose the fat.
If you can't trim away the excess fat with your knife, it's the wrong cut for you. That means choosing top sirloin steak over ribeye, or any meat that's described as "marbled" (which is a euphemism for, "the fat's mixed inside the meat"). For example, 3 ounces of filet mignon has 7 POINTS values but if you can cut away a lot of visible fat, that drops to 4 POINTS values.
The De-greasing of America
Beef is about 20 percent leaner than it was in the early 1990s, according to the National Cattlemen's Association.
How lean is "lean?"
Beef can only legally be called "lean" if it has less than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 3-ounce serving.
Kinder Cuts
There are more than two dozen kinds of beef that qualify as lean or extra lean according to labeling definitions by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Lean cuts to look for at the market or a restaurant are listed at the top of the page. All are 3-ounce servings.
Glazed and Confused
Tell the waiter you want your steak without butter glazing. Line chefs pour butter on it right before serving to give it that glistening look of still-sizzling meat.
Supporting Roles
Ordering side dishes in restaurants are dicey because most restaurants saute their vegetables in oil or butter. To save POINTS values, your best bets are a large baked potato without butter for 3 POINTS values and steamed vegetables with a POINTS value of 0.
Holiday Success
In order to survive the holiday and the all of the temptations that surround, you need to first recognize the challenges that will come. After that, develop some strategies for over coming those challenges.
In the past have you ever felt the only meal you could 'do' on a holiday was celery, carrots and water with lemon? This kind of restrictive thinking most likely caused you not to be successful with that holiday, or even future ones. Perhaps, even causing you to make those decisions that you knew where not helpful to your weight loss effort. Eating wisely on every special occasion may give you the upper hand you need to get through the meal.
Ask yourself, what is going to be challenging for me this holiday? Foods available only once a year? Pressure to eat? Portion control? Knowing how to count traditional foods? Preparing lighter alternatives? What ever the challenge, the key to getting through is to have a strategy or plan to meet these challenges head on. After all without a plan how can you possible succeed in the long term?
After you've focused on one (remember you don't have to conquer every scenario at once) formulate the plan or strategy to cope. It could be to look up the points of foods before hand, focus on core foods (even on flex), save on weekly points, plan ahead for favorite dishes, use Weight Watchers cookbooks for great recipes. Try to focus on the occasion and people.
Imagine that the holiday meal is already over and you've handled it without abandoning their weight-loss efforts. Remember to eat wisely and face the challenges with a plan that makes sense for you and is something you can and WILL do. You can handle holidays and lose weight all at the same time.
