Weight Watching

As you probably know, hubs and I welcomed our baby girl into the world almost 11 months ago. (Read: I put on a LOT of weight 11 months ago.) I was obviously overjoyed to have our little one in our lives, but I was quite miserable to be carrying around what was probably an extra 40 pounds or so that I certainly didn't need. When I finally couldn't take it anymore, I joined Weight Watchers Online.

Since then (about 5 months ago), I am happy to report that I have lost 25 pounds! I'm feeling much better, am more active, can keep up with LO better and just have a much-improved overall sense of well-being. I'd still like to lose another 15 pounds and will be sure to keep you all informed on my progress.

Anywho, the main reason I'm writing this post is just to share with those of you out there that are considering dropping a few pounds that Weight Watchers is an effective way to do it. Now, I didn't totally jump on the bandwagon or go waaay crazy--in fact, I never even attended a local meeting. The basic principle is to track everything you eat and drink!! It's that simple! Once I started to see how much junk I'd been eating (and drinking--durn sodas!), I realized that I really needed to focus on eating healthier foods and limiting the sweets, sodas, etc.

Now, you may not be interested in paying for a service like Weight Watchers (about $20/month). I'll admit, their online subscription gives you access to lots of tools, recipes, etc. But ultimately the main goal is to track what you eat. I highly recommend Prevention's Health Tracker as it allows you to track your food and beverage intake, as well as track your weight (unfortunately you'll have to step on a scale once in a while to make sure you're going in the right direction!) and exercise (sorry, this actually entails more than sitting on the couch reading blogs--you gotta get up and get active!). And the best part--it's FREE! Check it out! I chose to stop my Weight Watchers subscription at the end of this month and switch to the Health Tracker. The best part is you don't have to worry about calculating points--just balance your calorie, fat and protein intake!

Here's a pic of the "Foods Eaten" section of the Health Tracker (click the image to see it larger:













So that's it! That's my take on Weight Watching. If you decide to drop a few extra pounds--whether by Weight Watchers, using the Health Tracker, or any other means--do keep me posted! I'd love to provide some encouragement to my reader--er, I mean, readers?!