I have a track record of some pretty unhealthy diets. I’ve lost weight before and gained it back, and then lost it again and gained it back again. Whenever I get into losing weight, I become obsessed with counting calories and the number I consume per day drastically decreases with every minute because it turns into a game of ‘how much can I not eat today.’ I don’t want to do that anymore.
Exactly one week ago, I started Weight Watchers as a push to start eating healthier and to stop obsessing over calories. As I start week 2, I thought it would be interesting to share with you all what Weight Watchers is actually like. Especially because no one actually knows and I don’t feel like explaining it again.
Basically – you get a certain amount of points to eat per day (I get 30). Each food is worth a certain amount of points based on it’s nutritional value (like saturated fat, protein, calories, etc). You get an extra amount of points to mess with throughout the week (I get 35), so you could use those on for example a Saturday where you’re binge eating/drinking with friends OR you can sprinkle them throughout the week to give you extra points each day.
Here is my timeline of the past week below with a summary of weight lost, points used, and starvation struggles!
Day 1 (Monday)
8am: Wake up energized and ready to take on this new diet. Put 1/2 cup of Hood cottage cheese with peaches into a bowl and eat that as my 4 point breakfast.
10am: Get my go-to grande skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks for 4 points. I have this drink as a meal and also to help me go to the bathroom (we all do this, don’t lie).
1pm: For lunch I have Chobani’s simply 100 vanilla yogurt for 3 points with Kind gluten-free granola for 5 points and an apple for 0 points.
2pm: I am still starving so I have a few (5) tortilla chips for 1 point with Trader Joe’s guilt free guacamole for 1 point.
330pm: I literally shake from hunger, but know I need to be careful with my points so I have a white cheddar rice cake for 1 point to hold me over before barre. I then panic that I am going to be too hungry to work out.
4pm: Hit up Pure Barre and find out I am not too hungry to work out.
530pm: Have another rice cake because #hunger.
730pm: Have roasted brussels sprouts for 2 points with 2 grilled chicken breasts for 4 points. Have ketchup with the chicken for 1 point instead of honey mustard because I realize that would have been triple the points! Somehow, I start feeling hungry 10 minutes after I finish dinner.
9pm: Literally about to cry from being starved. I have an 100-calorie bag of Pop Secret popcorn.
11pm: I go to bed hungry and sad, and realize I need to go to the grocery store to get fruits and veggies so I can snack on stuff for 0 points.
TOTAL POINTS: 30
EXTRA POINTS USED: 0
FIT POINTS GAINED: 6
Day 2 (Tuesday)
8am: Have the same Hood cottage cheese with peaches for 4 points.
11am: Get the grande skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks for 4 points.
1pm: Have Chobani simply 100 vanilla yogurt with Kind gluten-free granola for 8 points. Also have some apple slices for 0 points which somehow make me super full for the rest of the day. This makes no sense to me because the day before I had eaten double the amount of food and was still hungry, but I don’t complain.
4pm: Pure Barre.
6pm: I have some tortilla chips and Trader Joe’s guilt free guacamole for 3 points and a string cheese for 1 point as a pre-dinner snack. Sure I could just eat dinner, but I usually eat with my boyfriend and he gets back from the gym late.
8pm: Have a veggie burger (Amy’s Sonoma) for 4 points (no bun or cheese – just the burger) with a side salad. The salad has blue cheese, craisins, and Ken’s light options olive oil and vinegar for a total of 6 points. I then sit back and watch ‘Pretty Little Liars.’
830pm: Still hungry so have an 100-calorie bag of Pop Secret popcorn for 3 points.
930pm: Still hungry so have a white cheddar rice cake for 1 point.
TOTAL POINTS: 34
EXTRA POINTS USED: 4
FIT POINTS GAINED: 6
Day 3 (Wednesday)
8am: I have the same breakfast – Hood cottage cheese with peaches for 4 points. I decide that I have to get fat free cottage cheese and sugar free peaches at the grocery store to cut these points in half!
930am: I go to Pure Barre’s cardio class Platform and die for 60 minutes.
11am: After class, I stop at Starbucks for a grande skinny vanilla latte for 4 points.
1pm: For lunch I have Chobani simply 100 strawberry yogurt for 3 points and forego the granola to have other stuff worth the 5 points instead. Today, I have 15 tortilla chips for 3 points with Trader Joe’s guilt free guacamole for 1 point. I also have carrots for 0 points with french onion veggie dip for 4 points. I realize I need to get fat free veggie dip to cut these points in half!
3pm: I’m super hungry still so I have a white cheddar rice cake for 1 point and a string cheese for 1 point.
530pm: Before meeting a friend to get my nails done, I have a snack because I am still starving and know I won’t be home until 8-ish. I have another white cheddar rice cake for 1 point and a diet ginger ale for 0 points because it’s kind of filling.
8pm: After nails, I decide I have to go food shopping or else I will continue starving all week. I stop at my favorite salad place, Sweetgreen, for dinner before with my boyfriend and get a custom salad with mesclun and spinach (which are both 0 points). I add the following to the salad: sweet potatoes (2 points), quinoa (2 points), apples (0 points), raisins (3 points or more – IDK!), feta (4 points), roasted shrimp (2 points), and balsamic dressing (5 points). This salad totals 18 points and I die on the inside, regretting the raisins. They ask if I want bread I say FUCK NO. Just kidding, I didn’t say that – and they didn’t ask if I wanted bread. They ran out. But I would have said no.
1030pm: I am FUCKING STARVING. Again. I question what is wrong with me and have another white cheddar rice cake and string cheese to end the day 13 points over my daily allowance. Tomorrow I assume will be better as I got low fat/fat free foods to replace the fat-full products I had and a bunch of zero point fruits and veggies.
TOTAL POINTS: 43
EXTRA POINTS USED: 3
FIT POINTS GAINED: 17
Day 4 (Thursday)
11am: I forget to eat breakfast and get a venti skinny vanilla iced latte from Starbucks for 4 points later in the morning because the temperature was above 45 degrees.
12pm: My brother is taking a class by my apartment so we meet at Panera for lunch. I get a classic salad with chicken and an apple for 9 points. I only ate half of it at lunch, but I finished the rest of it later.
4pm: Head to Pure Barre.
530pm: I have a post-workout string cheese for 1 point. Can I make this a thing?
730pm: I make 3 egg’s worth of scrambled eggs with Egg Beaters for 1 point. I put mozzarella cheese in the eggs for 2 points and have ketchup with it for 2 points (this isn’t weird, a lot of people do this). I also have 2 slices of Udi’s Gluten-Free bread and Smart Balance buttery spread for 10 points. I realize bread + ‘buttery spread’ are probably not going to be something I can continue eating. I sigh.
9pm: I curb late-night hunger with my favorite 100-calorie bag of Pop Secret popcorn for 3 points.
TOTAL POINTS: 32
EXTRA POINTS USED: 2
FIT POINTS GAINED: 6
Day 5 (Friday)
8am: I have my new low fat cottage cheese with sugar free peaches in it for 2 points.
10am: I head to Starbucks and get a grande skinny vanilla latte and drink half of it for 2 points.
12pm: It’s time for Pure Barre’s cardio class, Platform. Again, I literally die for 60 minutes.
130pm: For some reason, I get home from barre and have string cheese for 1 point instead of actually eating lunch and idk why.
330pm: Have a late lunch of Chobani’s simply 100 vanilla yogurt with banana slices and strawberries for 3 points and an apple for 0 points.
5pm: Mid-day hunger hits so I have 1 oz of The Good Bean sea salt chick peas for 3 points.
8pm: Since I had a shit ton of points left, I ‘splurged’ on dinner. I cooked my favorite Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta and mixed it with Ragu cheese creations sauce and wood chips Kraft parmesan cheese for 16 points.
10pm: I end up staying in and binging ‘Fuller House’ with my boyfriend. For a snack, I have some grapes for 0 points and a white cheddar rice cake for 1 point.
TOTAL POINTS: 28
EXTRA POINTS USED: 0
FIT POINTS GAINED: 17
Day 6 (Saturday)
1030am: I forget to eat breakfast and head to Pure Barre hungry. I am still sore from yesterday’s cardio class so it sucked.
12pm: After class, I get a skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks for 4 points. I then go home and have Chobani’s Simply 100 Vanilla yogurt for 3 points with banana slices and strawberries in it for 0 points. I also have an apple after for 0 points.
130pm: I go on a 5.2 mile walk with a friend. We walk to Benefit Brow Bar to get my brows on fleek (can I still say that? could I ever say that?) and then we stop at a coffee place. The coffee place does NOT have sugar free syrup so I get a small vanilla latte and forget to order skim milk. I have no idea what kind of milk they use, but I count it as 9 points even though it probably wasn’t that many points.
4pm: I have some grapes as a snack for 0 points before getting ready for a friend’s birthday party.
7pm: For dinner, I have a salad with feta cheese, grilled chicken, and Ken’s light options olive oil and vinegar for 6 points. I also have 2 slices of Udi’s bread with Smart Balance ‘buttery spread’ for 9 points. It’s a lot of points, but I feel like I need to eat carbs before drinking.
9pm: I put 18oz/13 points of wine in a plastic water bottle and head to the party.
Midnight-ish: Finish the 18oz of wine (duh) so I have some chardonnay and champagne because #class which I count for 5 points, even though it was probably more.
TOTAL POINTS: 48
EXTRA POINTS USED: 18
FIT POINTS GAINED: 15
Day 7 (Sunday)
2am: Technically it is Sunday, so I count these points for Sunday and decide to lay off eating the next day, lol. Drunk me is the worst, so I eat a bunch of tortilla chips, which I count for 9 points and have 3 pieces of Perdue’s ‘simply smart gluten-free chicken breast tenders’ for 5 points. Drunk me also haaaad to have honey mustard with the chicken so I count that as 5 points. The total for the drunk eating was 19 points — almost a whole day of points for me! EEK.
930am: I wake up feeling gross because of the food I ate while drunk, but still hungry which I do not understand at all. I eat some low fat cottage cheese with sugar free peaches for 2 points.
11am: I go for a 4.5/5 mile walk with a friend on a beautiful 60-degree February day in Boston (global warming is real you guys). We obviously end the walk at Starbucks and I get a grande iced skinny vanilla latte (surprised?). #IWalkForCoffee
1pm: I arrive home starving so I put some light ranch veggie dip on a plate for 2 points and have carrots and cucumber slices with it for 0 points. I also have some strawberries for 0 points. I tried to bite into an apple as well, but I wasn’t feeling it. I was still hungry after so I had a 100-calorie bag of SkinnyPop popcorn for 3 points.
3pm: I do an hour-ish hike near my hometown with my boyfriend. During the hike, I get very hungry and therefore cranky. He hates me.
5pm: I arrive home and have string cheese for 1 point because I love me some cheese.
8pm: Have maybe 3 chips while making dinner. I’m not counting points for those because I suffered enough with the over-pointage during my drunk eating spree. Make 4 eggs worth of scrambled eggs from Egg Beaters for 1 point. Eat the eggs plain with ketchup for 2 points. It is literally the most disgusting thing ever, but I was lacking points and I didn’t feel like grocery shopping.
9pm: Have a bag of Pop Secret 100-calorie popcorn for 3 points during the madness that was live tweeting the Oscars.
TOTAL POINTS: 38, which is pretty much nothing considering the fact that 19 of those points were used on a 2am drunken eating spree.
EXTRA POINTS USED: 8
FIT POINTS GAINED: 13
In total, I used all of my 30 daily points every day except one of them. And I used 35 out of my 35 ‘extra points’ I can use whenever during the week. I didn’t go over my points at all – which is pretty good.
I also racked up a total of 80 fit points out of my goal of 45. ACTIVE 4 LIFE.
With all of that, I lost a total of 2.6 pounds in 7 days, which isn’t bad considering how unprepared I was for the new diet and the drunken eating spree that took place Saturday night. It’s too early to tell if this diet is endgame, but tune in next week for my roundup of week 2.
11 Comments
Reading through this it seems like you’re not eating enough at all, no wonder you are so hungry! I did WW years ago, and I know the program has changed, but I stopped because I couldn’t handle the point system. It seems like now fruits and veggies are 0 points (thank goodness! they weren’t always which just confused me) but I still think “junk” food gets rewarded. For example you mention above getting fat free cottage cheese & sugar free peaches to cut your points in half at breakfast. Neither cottage cheese or peaches are terrible foods! This is a good example of how the point system is a little screwy, in my opinion. The best long-term success I’ve found is by focusing on eating whole foods (aka without labels).
I hope this comment doesn’t come off too judge-y (curse text for not having tone). I really do wish you success in your weight loss goals!
This couldn’t be less healthier for you to do.
I love that you’re writing about your journey in ww! I have done it on and off for years and it’s the only thing that actually works for me and I recommend it to people all the time! I always quit once I think I don’t need it anymore but once I had kids I really couldn’t have done without it! I’ve lost 55 of the 65lbs I gained with my 2nd kid in about 8mos. Also once you have the mindset it really sticks with you even if you quit paying for the plan, like if mayo is your whole days worth of points why would you not switch to mustard?! The main thing that saves me from being hungry is to eat tons of fruit and veggies which depending on how you cook them (use Pam instead of oil or butter for ex) basically don’t count! Good luck girl! I can’t wait to read about next week!
The first few weeks are the hardest. When you entered your weight & stuff at the beginning for it to judge how many points you get, did you say you were super active? There’s a chance you may get a few more points because of that. The few times I’ve been successful on WW (major weight yo-yo-er here) I found that drinking a TON of water helped me. Like try to drink at least 8 ounces before you leave for work. And then just continue to drink as much as you can during the day. Week 2 and 3 will be easier though. If you can get through the end of week 3 you’ll be feeling great! (It takes 21 days to form a habit.) Good luck! Reading this makes me realize how I really need to go back on it!
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I am dying laughing beacuse I return to Weight Watchers every spring and usually do quite well…UNTIL they changed the program once again. I am always hungry and I eat plenty of protein as my leader tell me to do. I feel like this new program mimacs The Atkins diet. The higher the carb and sugar content is, the higher the points. Glad I am not the only one.
You’ve made some poor food choices and that is why you are hungry. And, no, we do not all need a coffee to poo.