Weddingbee boards

So, the first segment of what worked for me was all about my fitness routine!  And I told fi about the great response that I was getting from the hive based off that post (and how great it made me feel) and he reminded me that I was working out just as hard, if not harder, before I joined weight watchers with no results.  So, I want to give my little bit of advice for people joining (or current members of) Weight Watchers!

Obviously they give you the plan.  And the more you embrace the changes that the plan requires of you the better results you will see.  I've said this before, and I'll say it again, I had a complete diet overhaul when I started.  What I mean is I basically changed everything I was eating.  I didn't just change the portion size of what i was eating before, I became a million times healthier.

A tip I have since Points Plus has started - prep all your fruits and veggies that you buy the day you buy them.  I actually put mine in those green tupperwares that supposedly keep produce fresh longer.  When you get home from work/school/the gym the last thing you want to be doing is cutting up a melon.  If you take care of it ahead of time it's a lot easier to snack healthy.

And finally I will walk you through what I like to call my Weight Watchers Power Pack.  I decided I needed to have all the tools available to me wherever I was when the plan changed and I could no longer just look at the nutritional facts and get a general sense of what the points value would be.  So I literally carry this around with me almost everywhere:

I got the green faux-crock bag from Marshall's.  It actually came in this whole laptop bag kit that I now use as my laptop bag for work.  The lime green looks pretty sweet with my dark purple jacket, I'm not gonna lie! 

My lovely little green bag also happened to have loops on either side of the zipper that I was able to attach my 10% goal keychain (you get this when you hit your 10% goal if you go to meetings) and then I put my Goal Star (you get this when you hit your ultimate goal) on the keyring.  Eventually I'll get the Key (which you get when you maintain your goal for 6 weeks and are officially a lifetime member) and my Stay and Succeed (which you get after attending 16 meetings) on the key ring as well.

This is everything that I keep inside my lovely green weight watchers kit.  In my opinion, the Dining Out Companion and the Complete Food Companion are A MUST for any weight watcher!  Dining out has a bunch of chain restaurants and the points values for their menus and complete food complanion has the points values for ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE!  The pocket guide they give you at your first meeting and will go over it with you at your first meeting.  The points plus calculator you also have to buy, but is really useful if you have the nutrition facts and need to find out the points value.  You plug in the protein, fiber, carbs, and fat and it tells you how many points it is!  It can also be used as a regular calculator.  I have 4 colored pens because I love color coding.  I keep a copy of my before and after pictures in there for motivation (before I met goal it was just a copy of my before pictures).  And although you can buy a food diary from Weight Watchers, I just got a little notebook from Walmart to use so I could use it my way...

I am a young person (22), I use the internet for everything, I have a smart phone, but I still feel like actually writing what I eat down works better for me then using e-tools to track my points each day.  I like being able to hold this in my hand and flip through it if I need to check something.  Green is the date, pink is the number of weekly points I have left, purple is how many Activity Points I have left and I use purple to input my exercise, blue is the food I eat.  I add up everything that I eat and I total that at the bottom, if it is over my daily points allowance I adjust my weeklies/activity points the next day.  Oh yeah, on weigh in day, since I won't have any Activity Points accumulated yet (they reset each week) I put my weight for that week in that spot in purple.

And finally...

I had extra save the dates, and since my initial motivation to join was the wedding, I glued one on the back of my notebook as a constant reminder of why I was doing this.

So, just like "What Worked for Me" part one, that is a TON of information, and I'm sure I missed something along the way.  If you have any questions/suggestions feel free to add to them! 

And thanks again everyone for all the support you've given me!  All the compliments/words of encouragement along the way have really helped me get to this point!

@MissBoston: Go big or go home, right? Hahahaha. Just like anything else in life, the more you put into it the more you will get out of it!

@Jenn23: Thanks!  I like that if I didn't inform you that it's my Weight Watchers survival kit, you would never know, so I can carry it around everywhere!

@brittsnead23:  Remember, don't focus on what didn't work or what you didn't do in the past, focus on the healthy changes that you're making for the future!  If I could let you get a taste of how healthy/energetic I feel right now, I promise you would 1000% be ready to change your eating habits for good!  And good luck at your meeting!!!

@Scribbles: Go for that sticker! lol.  But seriously, their little rewards system really helped me!  Good luck!

@EleanorRigby: Thanks so much!  I'm pretty sure this is the healthiest I've ever been

And PS - I had applied to become a Weight Watcher Leader and I have my interview scheduled for next Saturday (the 15th) at noon, so everybody wish me luck!!!!

And I can just imagine it now..."I may not be that great at maintenance (I'm having trouble not losing weight - I blame my exercise regimen and my newly ignited metabolism) but I promise I can motivate people and give them advice!  Just look at weddingbee, my username is MandaMack" hahahahahahaha

I've used WW in the past and it defintely help me. Congrats on your progress and futuare plans. PS You and your hubby are so adorable.