Moderation, not Deprivation!

As many of you that know me are aware, Im a Weight Watchers devotee! I had been on and off going for years. Just over 2 years ago, I joined once again, and this time I was for real! I've been successful over the  past 2 years, currently totalling 57 pounds of weight gone, and still going. (My goal is for 61) This is not to say that its been all sunshine and lollipops, because sometimes you don't lose anything, and sometimes you gain, and sometimes you have a great loss. The one thing I can say is that I've honestly NEVER felt deprived. Your mind makes you think that you need more food than your stomach requires. I believe that when your accustomed to eating such large amounts, your stomach is actually expanded, and requires more. But after a few days of eating "normal" sized portions, your stomach shrinks down, and you actually become less hungry. One thing I often notice, is that if I eat food late at night, I wake up STARVING, yet if I have nothing to eat for hours before I go to bed, I wake up and don't feel hungry at all. Sounds a bit off, but its true.
Anyway, not to be a Weight Watchers spokesperson over here ( yes I did briefly work for them ) But I love the program, the flexibility it has, and how it really just teaches you that you can still lose weight, while enjoying the foods you love. I also want to point out, that for anyone who is interested in weight watchers or is currently on the program, I am NOT on the new "points plus" program. I did give it a try, but was not a fan, and still use their old point system. *If you are to go to weight watchers now, the system they use is a different one than I do, but the idea remains the same. Please feel free to ask me about the differences if you are wondering about it*
 As they would always say, its not about deprivation, its about moderation. And its so true. I think that we all KNOW the basics on how to lose weight, and be healthy, its just sometimes hard to get there. I mean, really its just simple, you read it everywhere. Calories in vs. Calories out.
One of the major things I want to emphasize is that its completely 100% mental. ANY one can lose weight. I don't care what your situation is or how busy you are, anyone can do it. Whatever you believe will happen, will happen. A dear friend of mine once introduced me to the book "The Secret" I never actually read the book myself, but was told lots of the information from it, and the general idea is clear- YOU CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY. Positive thoughts lead to positive actions.
Take me as an example, Ive never been an exerciser. And by this I mean, you'll never catch me hitting up the gym for 2 hours a day 5 days a week.  But, this is not to say that I sit around all day. Im constantly on the go, running around and go for walks/jogs/hikes when I can. I virtually lost the entire 57 pounds without any legitimate gym-time. So that just goes to show you, there really is no excuse why you can't lose weight. If I can do it sans-gym, so can you. (note again, I was never sedentary, but my "exercise" came in different forms)
The basic concept of weight watchers is this: You are allowed a certain amount of "points" every day, which is based on a number of factors including your age, sex, height, current weight, and activity level. Once you are given this number, you are to stick to this amount of points each day. This amount is what you will eat to LOSE weight. Trust me, its not a starvation diet, in fact its not a diet at all. Its simply healthy living.
The other is tracking.
TRACKING TRACKING TRACKING.
Every bite I eat, I write down. I minus each item from my daily total, until I get to 0.
For times when you want to indulge, you are also given weekly "bonus points"  which makes the program even more livable.
Some people, including my own mother, believe its too much effort or work to write down what you eat. Trust me, as a busy person who has many things on the go, I can honestly say that it takes me about 5 seconds to write down what I just ate. I think that writing things down, as many others will tell you about losing weight, is that its crucial. You must be accountable for what goes into your body. It is so very easy to lose track of what you eat in a day, I think I'd forget what I had for a snack this morning if I hadn't written it down! Either way, it keeps you on track because you know exactly where your at with your points, and allows you to plan accordingly.
Planning is a whole other subject in regards to healthy eating, which I will get into later :)
Hope this gives you a bit of a intro on my WW terminology, so you won't be thrown off when you see everything referred to in "points" values :)

PS. The tools used for calculating points are these:
A points "slider" which is a paper that slides and calculates points based on
CALORIES, FAT, AND FIBER.
You can also download apps on your iPhone which will allow you to do these on your phone, discreetly. I believe mine is called iwatchbites
The other tool is a book which has all the points values of foods that do NOT have a nutrition label on them, such as apples.
Small-Med apples are 1 point each. Just sayin' !

Goodnight All!