Weight Watchers Nation

It has recently come to my attention that practically everyone I know has done Weight Watchers at some point. Mention "Points" and people immediately know what you mean. This is kind of reassuring. It seems like a secret underground society that more and more people belong to. When I tell people "I'm doing Weight Watchers." it's like I'm revealing a secret tattoo on my shoulder only to find my friend has the same one. I've seen no less than 3 Facebook posts about WW lately. The camaraderie is nice, I must say, even though I'd prefer to be in the "I'm a hardcore athlete who stays naturally thin due to my extreme exercise habits" group of women. Oh well.

Last night I was at a friend's house for dinner, and as she started to serve me some sauteed chicken sausage with peppers she asked me how much I wanted. I answered in a kind of exasperated voice, "I don't know, 7 points worth." And the funny thing is that she then edited what she had put in the bowl to what she intuitively guessed would be 7 points worth - I agreed with her estimate and ate it, pretty happily. It was so comforting for her to understand my frustration (what is 7 pts??) and solve my problem. I humbly (and hungrily) sat down to eat while she called the kids in. Since she's 34 weeks pregnant I probably should have helped her first, but I was too hungry!! At first I was kind of depressed at eating such a small portion, but by the time I got home I was happily full so I really had nothing to complain about.

The funny thing is that this person has been kind of a hard-core Atkins type as long as I've known her (actually she's been pregnant most of the time I've known her but that's another story). We discussed the differences, and the differences in our personalities. She REALLY likes rules and structure, but doesn't like denying herself things so with WW she said she tends to eat M&Ms, use up all her points and then eat popcorn all night long because she has no points left for anything substantial. So she ends up feeling gross and unhealthy. But with Atkins she just knows sugar and carbs are off-limits, shuts them out of her brain (like I said she likes rules) and ends up eating a broader variety of foods.

I, on the other hand, don't like rules at all, and also don't like denying myself things (who does?) so I need the flexibility of WW. Even living within the constraints of WW points is challenging for me, but it's working so I comply.

What I fail to understand however, is why people go on and off of Weight Watchers. I can't see adding more points to what I'm eating now. I'll just gain weight. I'm eating an amount that is relatively satisfying, and if I eat what I really want, I'll just end up huge. Maybe I'll add a point or so, but I can't see changing things too much. Perhaps someone can explain this to me.

Food log, I'm at 21 points now

breakfast

egg frittata with tinly bit low-fat feta, 3 pts

whole wheat bun 2pts

coffee with milk 1pt

lunch

chicken cubes 2pts (3pts?)

cottage cheese, veggies 1pt

oatmeal with water 2pts

(I really must go to the grocery store)

snack

low-fat Greek chocolate yogurt 2pts

dinner

chicken sausage with sauteed onions 7pts

exercise

treadmill 25 min

sit-ups - until Alex called me away...