How Weight Watchers Changed my Life

Happy Humpday! I actually posted did a guest post a week ago at Chits and Giggles, but I thought I should share this with my readers too!

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Didn't you know it was rude to ask a woman her weight? Well, I just saved you from rudeness because I'm just gonna go ahead and talk about it here! No one likes to admit it, but the freshman 15 (or 40) is real! When I started college I was a tiny 110 lbs and I ate absolutely whatever I wanted. They aren't joking when they say all that eating is gong to catch up to you someday. That someday was mid-way through my junior year of college. Super stressed with my upper-level classes, a not-so-pretty breakup, and being the vice-president of my sorority, I would indulge myself with an entire bag of sour patch kids every study session. And by entire bag of sour patch kids, I mean the big one...that's meant to be shared. I didn't even notice when my I needed to buy new clothes to fit myself until the end of my junior year. Something needed to change! 

My mom has been in Weight Watchers for as long as I can remember, and she's a lifetime member which means she achieved her goal weight and can participate in all the meetings and programs without paying a dime. So I gave it a try and it seriously has changed my life. 

Without digging too deep into the program, I'll highlight my favorite parts about WW.

I didn't need restrict eating certain things.

Yes, you read that right. I could still eat pizza, I could still drink sodas, I can still have carbs. The only caveat here is that you need to watch how it pertains to the rest of your day. For example, I could definitely eat a slice of pizza but then I would have to figure out what else I would eat for the rest of the day. Eventually (and without making me feel deprived of certain foods) I just started deciding that it wasn't worth it to have that pizza and eat veggies the rest of the day. Also, if you have a "cheat day," which I think everyone should, you have extra flex points for the week accounted for. 

It taught me how to meal plan.

As you know, I'm a big foodie. I love to go out to restaurants and I love my wine. So if I knew I was going to go out to a restaurant, I would plan ahead to see what they have on their menu, how many PointsPlus that entree was, and how much a glass of wine with dinner would be. They also make it easy because so many restaurants are on their app and website. You could just type in "Ruby Tuesdays" and most of their menu would already be on there without needing to calculate the PointsPlus values. The only app I found that is just as good (or maybe a bit better) is My Fitness Pal. 

It motivated me to be active.

Do you realize how much more you can eat when you workout?! I guess I shouldn't be thinking that way, but seriously, it's amazing! Your activities points can really rack up. Nothing is more motivating (at least to me) than being able not feel guilty about having that glass of wine with dinner. 

It taught me how to be healthier in general. 

Right now, I'm not on WW. I actually haven't been on it for about two years now. I've kept off every single pound that I lost when I was on the program and continue to use their techniques that they taught me every day. My favorite is their handy (no pun intended) quick measurement guide.

I'm always striving to be healthier and to make sure I'm treating my body right. I'm not saying I'm 100% where I want to be (probably because I'm a perfectionist) but I'm pretty damn proud and happy of where I'm at now. 

And just for the sake of it. Here's a before, middle, and after. It's swear when I gain weight it's all in the face.

Linking up here: Humpday Confessions & Secret Blogger Club

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