Today was my weekly Weight Watcher's meeting, and my weekly weigh in. I'll get the weigh in over with first. I lost 3.2 pounds for this past week, for a total of 8.6 for the past two weeks.

I realize that this is very good progress, but I was a little disappointed over it, as I was hoping for a larger loss. That however, is a dangerous thought process, as this will kill your success, as any loss in weight is a success! So I will celebrate with my dinner of two cups of 5 bean chili over a sweet potato with mushrooms. It's actually not too bad.

The meeting was a good one with some really good losses among the group. The married couple was there and they both lost over 5 pounds each while on vacation! Kudos to them! Our challenge this week/month is to eat 3 different colored vegetables/fruits a day for the month. It should be an easy one for me as I tend to really pile on the veggies and fruits.

Other than that, it was a good week, and a good day. One lesson learned is that I need to start exercising more than I have been. I would like to lose another 5 for the next week. My 5% goal is in sight and that 10% goal is within reach. After that I'll talk about my ultimate goal.

Have a blessed evening.
Eric

So it is now the end of day one and I survived. I even did everything I could to watch my portions, and made sure I wrote everything down. Of course writing it down meant using the online tools they have for men and women. (Yes the tools are separated.) I will definitely will have to do a post on the tools alone, as they are well worth the price of admission per month. That said, out of the allotted 44 points per day I have, I still had 3.5 point left over for today.

I even have 3.5 activity points for the day. I did 17 minutes on our treadmill and did a very high activity exercise on it. (Meaning I was going about 3.0 mph on average, with an incline of 10 and warm up and cool down.)

All in all, not too bad. I need to plan out my meals now, and snacks as well, and I need to make sure I time my times to eat. That way I am not hungry all the time.

It is late and I have a conference to go to for the next two days. Since I will have to eat out those days, we'll see how that goes.

Have a blessed night.
Eric

Well, guys, if you are looking for a place to meet women, then this is the place. Out of the 20 or so people at the meeting last night, there were two men there. Me and another married guy who was there with his wife. (DISCLAIMER...I am happily married and not looking. Just making an observation.)

I have to say, that the WW meeting was part WW grocery store, part pep rally, part motivational speaking and part contest. How you say?

As I walked in, the first things I noticed was the three ladies at the counter who greeted me. (After waiting outside for a while because the website was wrong on their meeting time, but that is another story) In front of the counter were scales. Now the scales look like they could hold a small elephant up if necessary, but the actual readout of the scales are behind the counter. You have to take their word for it. I am not sure I really like that, but oh well, not my rules.

Now after the scales, you turn and see the grocery/book/utensil sections. Here is all the WW foods, books and utensils you could ever hope for. They are very proud of their items, as the price reflects. I would highly suggest that you buy the food at Walmart or somewhere like that, the books at a used bookstore or online and as for the utensils you can find equivalents elsewhere. Some of their merchandise is expensive!

I weighed in, at 350.8 and so from now on, Tuesdays will be my official weigh in date. After weigh in I went in and waited on the meeting. Ah yes the meeting. That was the interesting part. I did get a lot of good advice from that meeting. Some things that I had not really thought of, such as putting the point values on the outside of packaging, that way you know just how much that candy will cost you if you so desire it.

The leader talked to us about planning ahead, which is a good topic. She had quite the bubbly personality and when it came time to hand out stickers for achieving certain goals, like showing up for your second week and for losing five pounds, she became both a dancer and cheerleader, playing MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" and handing out the stickers.

I felt like I was in my youngest daughter's class for a while.

Don't get me wrong, I know why this is done this way, but I am saying that I am not that Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah type of guy. Not yet anyway. (For you youngsters out there, look it up.) But overall, I think this will be the challenge I need to get my lazy butt off the couch and into weight loss mode.

Oh, and I went with the forty dollar a month plan, with unlimited meetings and the online option as well. Now the Online option is definitely worth it! (again, another post.)

So that is it for now. I am "Officially" doing WW now, and not just on my own.

Have a blessed day!
Eric

I have been talked into it, sort of. I am going to be going to my first Weight Watcher's meeting this afternoon. I am hoping I am not the only guy there.

I'll let you know how things go.

Oh, and I weighed in this morning at 348.2.

But that will be the unofficial weigh in. The one that counts will be the one at the meeting today.

Have a good day.

Eric

I have decided to share my thoughts on some of the foods I tend to eat and since I eat at my desk at work, to save time and save money, I tend to eat either leftovers or Weight Watchers Smart Ones meals. In doing so, I thought "What the heck, I'll let the whole world know what I think of them."

So for better or worse, here is my review of Weight Watchers Smart Ones Picante Chicken & Pasta.

After cooking and stirring, the first thing to notice is the smell. The smell is very nice with the various ingredients blending quite nicely. So nicely in fact that one of my co-workers wondered where I went for take out. He was impressed by the smell alone and has decided to try it this week.


Visually the meal is pleasing as far as a microwaved dinner can be. I was not that impressed visually.

However, after tasting it, I was hooked. Overall, the dinner was slightly spicy, yet not spicy enough to take away from the dish. The various ingredients blended well. The chicken was tender and not overcooked as I have had in the past with frozen dinners. The beans were done just right and the pasta was not mushy.

The meal is 5 points, with 260 calories and 4 grams of fat.

I give it 4.5 forks. I will definitely buy it again. I would suggest you try it as well and let me know what you think.


Here is the nutritional information:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size:255g
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 260 Calories from Fat 35

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 4g 6%
Saturated Fat 0.5g 3%
Monounsaturated Fat 1.5g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 25mg 9%
Sodium 480mg 20%
Potassium
Total Carbohydrate 32g 11%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars <1g
Protein 23g
Vitamin A 6%
Vitamin C 15%
Calcium 6%
Iron 8%

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

There are times when a husband need's to acknowledge that his wife is wise and caring, and thank God for her. This is one of those times for me.

For those who are following my journey, you might remember reading that I was following the Buff Dads plan, as outlined in the book by the same name. I am still following part of that plan, the physical fitness portion, but I have dropped the meal plan portion after discussing it with my wife last night.

Her argument was that the book offered a 4 week plan, and nothing for maintenance. She pointed out that with the amount of weight I have to lose, it will take me way more than a single month to do this, and she is right about this. Also, she pointed out the limitations on meal and product selection. Weight Watchers wins on that argument. One of her leading arguments is the fact that our kids like to bake with my wife. Under the Plan, there really is no room for an impromptu item like that. Weight Watchers does allow for it.

So after thinking about it, for all of I believe 5 minutes, I told my wife, that I would follow the Weight Watchers Flex Plan, which is the points plan. I have figured up my daily points for my weight and all that (44 points) and to me that seems like a lot, so I will be trying to keep it at around 38 or so for now and see how that goes.

I am not planning on going to meetings, but I may do the online thing with all the tools and gimmicks they offer. If you have been on this plan before, I would really like to hear from you as to what you think, and what your experiences have been.

For now, that's it. Just another major change for my weight loss journey.