Week one on PointsPlus: happy, full and in control. Maybe even a little taller.

I'm just wrapping up my first week on PointsPlus, which for me started in earnest last Monday.  I went to my GSS on Sunday, but really, start a new program on a Sunday?  I think not.

So how did it go?  In short, great! 

Here's what I have to work with:  43 PointsPlus value for my Daily Target Points (DTP) plus the standard 49 PointsPlus values for my Weekly Points Allowance (WPA).  All these acronyms almost make the whole process sound a bit like a public works project, but what better way to show off to your friends than dropping a few well timed in-the-know alphabet soup references.

For those who have not memorized my normal breakfast (roughly 6 billion people), my standard fare is:

• Quaker regular oatmeal:  3 PointsPlus values
• Fage 0% plain yogurt:  3 PointsPlus values
• 1/8 cup Fiber One (mixed in w/ the yogurt):  1 PointsPlus value
• Grapes:  0, baby
• Banana:  0, baby
• Blueberries:  0, baby

That's a lot of babies and only 7 PointsPlus values.

My lunch (or I should say my most typical lunch)...

• Salad from Pump Energy Food that includes:  spinach, steamed sweet potatoes, balsamic marinated mushrooms, slow cooked turkey, shredded cheddar, fat free honey mustard dressing

+

• A cup of fruit salad

The Pump is kind of enough to have a groovy nutrition calculator when you build your salad online.  The total nutritional make-up of my salad works out to:  32g carbs; 36g protein, 9f fat and 9g of fiber, which calculates to 8 PointsPlus values.  The fruit is 0.

Snack:  usually an apple (0) and/or another Fage 0% fat yogurt for 3 PointsPlus values.

Therefore, my typical pre-dinner day has worked out to 18 PointsPlus values leaving me another 25 left over to cover dinner.

For exercise, I'm getting the following:

• Weight lifting (4X per week, 50 minutes per session):  + 5 Activity PointsPlus values (is that an APPV?)
• 30 minutes of stationary bike (time permitting on lifting days) at a pretty hard pace:  + 7 Activity PointsPlus values
• 50 minutes spinning on non-weight lifting days:  + 12 Activity PointsPlus values (nice!!!!!)

OK, so far all of this is great.  What about less pleasant surprises?  In a word, wine.  Holy Toledo.  The nectar of the gods has become a luxury in more ways than one.  In truth, the rampant inflation on the Weight Watchers price of wine is a useful reminder to me that one glass should suffice.  Aspirationally-speaking of course.

Dinners have also been fine save for the two flights to and from San Francisco.  When I tallied up the damage, I had blown 26 PointsPlus values on my flight from JFK to SFO.  My first day was a 52 PointsPlus day -- ouch!!!.  While I had enough AP's to cover it, it was still a bit of a wake-up.  I since made adjustments for the rest of the week, and I was able to comfortably stay within my range.

So my first impressions of being on the plan.  Fantastic (and I'm not just saying that because it's in my interest to do so).  Here is why this plan worked for me in week 1:

• I already eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, so this part of the math works in my favor
• Knowing the inflation on certain foods was definitely steering me toward better choices
• I'm liking the more favorable math on activity points
• Not once did I feel hungry or sad
• In general, I really loved my week and I particularly loved the way I lived my week.  Feeling healthy just feels healthy.  If you know what I mean.  

I weighed on Saturday AM, and I am back to within 2 pounds of my goal weight.  And I never weigh in on Saturday (for obvious reasons).  I'm happy to be tracking again, and I am feeling much more in control.  Changing over from old Points to new PointsPlus values was not a big hassle, and I'm enjoying seeing the interplay of carbs, protein, fiber, and fat in the way the new values come out.  Then again, I'm a WW geek (and proud of it).

[For those asking how much weight I lost during the week:  I don't know.  I was too chicken to get weighed after Thanksgiving despite attending four meetings last week.  Sad and un-courageous.]

What else helped me with the transition?  For starters, seeing four different meetings from four fantastic Leaders across the country helped me get my head straight.  Having access to eTools was a godsend.  Finally, I worked the iPhone app hard, and it performed like a champ. I didn't have too much trouble getting my eTools favorites ported over.  My DSW has had an account for about 10 years, and she probably has well over 100 recipes and user-generated foods on the system.  She indicated that it was a bit of a hassle to move stuff over, but she didn't throw a dish at my head knowing that I'm to blame for many of these changes.  Which was good.

BTW, my general policy is not to comment on official company business on this blog -- it's all Dave all the time around these parts.  That said, for all of you loyal Google supporters out there, I will say this:  it has not passed our attention that Android is growing like a weed, particularly over the past 6 months.  Doing a full blown app for that platform is not an overnight job (multiple O/S versions and platforms), and our talented and over-worked tech team has been completely slammed getting the launch ready (it's hard to describe the amount of work that's been happening behind the scenes).  We also don't want to give you anything half-baked.  So with caveats entered, all I can say is that we're on it (!).  Good things come in Spring...

This is the part where I now ask you how your week 1 went.  Some of you are going to say it went GREAT.  To you I say:  rock on!  For those who had a not great week 1, I say:

1. Please don't freak out.  It's a big change (there's a reason we haven't done this in 13 years)!  Give yourself time to get the hang of the new program and DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF (or me) UP!  
2. Check the website and your meeting for comments and thoughts on potential transition challenges.  Some culprits can include: a) eating a mango grove all at once, b) mixing Points values from the old and new program (does not work), c) having someone secretly put their toe on the scale when you got weighed, etc.
3. Ask your Leader for help if you go to meetings. 
4. Consider going to a meeting so you have a Leader to ask for help
5. Check the website.  There are a TON of resources around the site on helping people navigate the transition.  The message boards are also a good place to go for ideas.  

That said, how was week 1?

Cheers,

dk