Maintenance

Now that I hit my goal weight (180 pounds), I’ve started a maintenance program so that I don’t gain it all back again. Weight Watchers is quite sensible that way and it really helps you plan for the long-term. Obviously I can’t go back to the way things were, pre-weight loss, and I have no intention of getting rid of all the new cloths I just bought. Believe me, that would suck. I’ve pretty much had to replace my entire wardrobe since going from a 38 waist to a 32. That was a tad expensive and something I hadn’t really thought that much about. As far as the maintenance program goes, things are pretty good. Once I started maintenance I got 28 points added back to my weekly allowance.

Wait a minute, I didn’t explain the whole Weight Watchers point thing did I?

Points are kind of like food credits. Certain foods equal a certain amount of points based on a combination of calories, fibre, and fat. It sounds complicated, but it really isn’t once you get used to it. When you start the program you get a daily allotment of points based on your weight that you have to use up and you also have a weekly allowance of 35 points that you can spend however you like. A lot of it’s common sense. A banana would be 2 points and a donut could be around 10, depending on the kind, and most vegetables don’t cost anything at all (like carrots and celery). Don’t even ask what a Big Mac would be, you really don’t want to know.

Ok, so back to the maintenance program. Once you hit your goal weight you automatically get 28 points added back to your weekly allowance of 35. The maintenance program lasts for 6 weeks. Each week you weigh-in like you do during the normal program and if you gain more than 2 pounds, 14 points get taken off your allowance; if you lose more than 2 pounds, 14 more points get added on. Once the 6 weeks are up you should have a good idea how much you can eat to stay at your target weight, within a 2 pound range of course.

So anyway, I weighed in this week and it turns out I lost another 1.2 pounds, which is a bit nuts, but there you have it. If I lose anymore next week I’ll get another 14 points, but we’ll see what happens.