I’m not a huge fan of change (the type of change that I, myself, don’t initiate, that is). Of course, I can accept change but it usually takes me a while to come around to it. When I was working, I hated when changes were made to my department; I hated when changes were made to the line-up of people I supported. I hate it when changes are made to programs or websites I use. But, I get over it eventually and just deal. So, having said that, you can imagine my annoyance when Weight Watchers rolled out their new “Freestyle” program – especially when I’d been doing so well on the previous version (I believe they’d termed it “Beyond the Scale”? I don’t really pay attention to that sort of thing. I like to get right into the meat of the situation or plan or…whatever).
While I was willing (albeit reluctantly) to go with the flow, I read many comments on WW’s version of social media (called “Connect”) from people who were really disgruntled. In truth, the new program did throw a few things out of wack. One of the big mistakes I believe they made, which I’ve noticed lately is not used as such a big selling point anymore, is saying that you didn’t even have to count/track all these 0 point foods. That was, in a word, dumb. Tracking what you eat is a huge part of losing weight – studies have shown that tracking your food intake is very beneficial. At the very least, keeping a food diary/journal helps you see what you’re putting in your mouth and gets you to realize that you’ve been eating a lot more crap than you should be. While I’m not a fan of tracking calories or macro and micro nutrients – God, no!!! That’s why I joined WW; they’ve done all that for me – I do swear by keeping a food journal, both on the WW site and in a paper food diary. Well, folks were really taken aback by WW’s notion that you didn’t have to track the 0 point foods. I, for one, want to see what I’ve been eating and I often refer to my diary when I’m looking for some lower point meals I’ve had in the past. For anyone who lives and dies by keeping track of their food intake, that was a stupid thing to use as a selling point to the “Freestyle” program.
The second issue most people had (in many cases, it was the most important issue) was the recalculation of everyone’s daily points. While I understand why they did it – now that there were so many 0 point foods, you didn’t need as many points – it was still a bitter pill to swallow. A lot of people swore that WW only took away a max of 7 points. Wrong. I lost 11 points and I read where some people lost as many as 13. This was huge for me. While I never gave up tracking just about everything I eat, losing that many points really put a damper on things. (I admit that there are a few things I don’t track – a random slice of cheese, an extra slice of bread, and the occasional tumbler of chocolate milk. I’ve been drinking chocolate milk since forever, and it’s not something I’m willing to give up. I have it a couple times a week, instead of every day like before, with 2% milk, which isn’t all that great in terms of points, much to my horror, but skim milk is basically water with coloring so 2% it is. Besides, my son prefers 2% to 1%, as do I, but I don’t have a big enough fridge to fit two kinds of milk. FYI, for one cup (8 oz.) of milk, whole is 7 points, 2% is 5 points, 1% is 4 points, and skim milk (fat free) is 3 points. Three points for skim milk! You would think that would be much lower, if not 0 points! Anyway, since there isn’t that much difference point-wise between whole, 2% and skim milk, I’ll stick with 2%. After all, I don’t believe you can maintain a weight loss program without letting yourself have a treat now and then. Denying yourself the stuff you love is a sure path to destroying your program. Having it every so often isn’t going to kill you or undo your progress. And yes, it should be tracked. Great, I just shamed myself into tracking my chocolate milk.)
Anyway, back to losing my points to the new “Freestyle” program. At first, I was pissed. I was finally in a rhythm with how I worked my points. I had it figured out in terms of what I could eat and how much and how often I could have it. While I do tend to eat mostly chicken, having the 44 daily points meant I could vary my meals more, have some red meat from time to time or maybe a slightly more decadent dessert than Greek vanilla yogurt or pineapple or berries. Coming down to 33 points a day threw me – while I’d gotten to the point where I almost never used all of my 44 daily points and rarely got into my weeklies, now I had to scramble to figure out how I was going to make 33 daily points work with the rhythm I’d established. Don’t get me wrong, I love chicken, turkey, eggs and lots of different types of seafood and yay for them being 0 points now, but most of the new 0 points foods were all types of veggies, which is great as peas and corn used to cost you, and all sorts of legumes, most of which I don’t care for. But the foods I had been used to eating and was successfully losing weight with were worth the same points as before (and I believe some may have gone up in points). How the hell was I going to make this work now? Since “Freestyle” came along, I find myself using up my weeklies like never before. WW says they encourage you to use your weeklies but I was never a fan of doing that. Since “Freestyle” rolled out in December, I’ve gained and lost the same damn six pounds. It’s not really moving the scale for me like it has for some of the people I follow on Instagram. That’s frustrating, very frustrating.
Of course, to be fair, I haven’t been well since I was hospitalized briefly at the end of November. And I’m still not sure if my meds, particularly the Trazodone I take for my insomnia, is screwing with my system. I’ve read that Trazodone often causes loss of appetite and weight loss in its users but, of course, I’m not that lucky. I find myself hungry a lot more than before I started taking it, and, obviously, I’m not losing weight as much as before. Not sleeping well also has a lot to do with it although I think I’m finally getting a handle on that. I’ve slept six hours or more each night for the past three nights (yay me!). So, there are a few reasons why I’m not doing as well on “Freestyle” as I was before the rollout, but I am still not comfortable with the program and the fact that I often find myself using my weeklies more that ever before.
In conclusion, what do I really think of the “Freestyle” program? I like that chicken, eggs, turkey, fish and other types of seafood are 0 points. Chicken, eggs and turkey are the easiest and cheapest options to have – I really can’t afford to buy seafood (other than tuna fish) so that’s off the plate for me (no pun intended). I don’t like that I don’t have as many daily points to work with and that I often have to dip into my weeklies. All in all, I don’t think I have a handle on it yet. Because of my health, I haven’t really been exercising and I know that usually helps curb my appetite so once I start working out and walking again, that will be a big help. I’m also trying to get used to the meds and get my sleep cycle back to normal, so there’s that. So, jury’s still out. I’m a firm believer in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and that’s how I felt when WW rolled out this new program. But, WW has worked for me thus far and, overall, it’s a program and lifestyle I’m comfortable with so I’m sticking with it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get it together soon and get back on the road to onederland.
Until next time, remember: every day is a chance to hit that reset button…
The Reset Button: A WW Journey 