I love iphone....

A few months ago, Lesli bought me the cutest spiral notebooks to track my points with. Unfortunately, they are so cute, I started using them for work instead of points tracking! I have really tried to make a better effort at writing everything down. My recent gains have me really focused on making sure that I am doing all the right things to keep my weight going down instead of up. I have an iphone.....and naturally I LOVE it. I found the perfect application to track my points and activity for the day. I ALWAYS have my phone on me, and it takes just a second for me to plug in a point or exercise value. I also have an application where I can plug in the WW formula, and figure out how many points something has. I have only been using it for a few days, but it is SO helpful. The name of the app I got was iWatcher. Has anyone else found an application that they would suggest?



DESCRIPTION:

iWatcher is the perfect app for keeping track of your physical activity and food intake.
iWatcher is for everyone. It is for those who are training, those who are on a strict diet, or those who are simply watching their diet to lose weight regardless of your diet method.
iWatcher has many features and built in tools. Some of these are:

Activity tracker—iWatcher will help you track your activity, its duration and the calories used during this activity.

Food intake tracker—Since all fields are optional, you get to choose what parameters of your food intake to track. iWatcher will automatically track Calories, Carbs, Fats, Fiber, and Protein based on what fields you choose to fill out.

Dashboard—View showing today's totals and your set targets as well as the most recent actions taken. View will also show your total calories consumed minus those used.
Favorites—Ability to set and use Favorite foods for quicker access and use. Ability to set and use Favorite activities as well.

Activity Based Calories Calculator—Simply choose your activity type and its duration and iWatcher will calculate the estimated Calories used. Points Calculator: Has a built in automatic Points Calculator.

Daily Needs Calculator—Has a built in Daily Calories Needs Calculator using your determined BMI.

Foods Database—Provide the means to set and quickly access your favorite foods database for quick look-ups.

Views—Recently, daily, and historical weekly views for your activity and food intake. Recently and daily views shows item by item details. Weekly view provides the data sums for the parameters you most care about such as like Carbs, Protein, Fats, Sugars, Points, activity duration, and Calories burned. As well the ability to access any week's daily details.

Pizza, Pizza!

Many people think they can't lose weight, because they'd have to end their life long love affair with their food. Admittedly, I was maybe one of those people before I started WeightWatchers, but I have LOVED finding WeightWatchers~friendly versions of my favorites. I'll be the first to admit when the WWF version does not measure up to the old one, but let's face it ~ there is no alternatives that taste quite like REAL cheese & REAL butter & REAL cream. Now, let's GET OVER THAT and move on! Done!

This, however, is a fantastic alternative. Who doesn't love PIZZA? Honestly, of all the people I've ever met, known & loved in my life, I've NEVER met, known or loved anyone that didn't like pizza.

My fellow Fat Chicks & Fabulous Dieters ~ meet Kashi Pizza

This is the Thin Crust Roasted Vegetable Version which includes: Broccoli, Artichoke Hearts, Roasted Red Peppers, Onions & Garlic, Mozzarella & Provolone Cheeses with a Tomato Pesto Suace on a Stone Fired Crust made with Kashi 7 Whole Grains & Sesame with Flax Seed.

Coming in at:

Serving Size = 1/3 of Pizza
Calories: 250
Total Fat: 9g
Dietary Fiber: 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 5 per piece or 15 points total

Justin and I have a little secret tradition and I'll confess it... we like to eat pizza on Biggest Loser night. Now I can join him and eat my Kashi pizza and not feel bad for one minute! My other tradition is to run on the treadmill for the first hour of the show, so that racks up activity points and I can enjoy as much of my pizza as I want! I'll be honest, I prefer the original crust, and other fantastic varieties include ~ Roasted Garlic Chicken, Mediterranean, Five Cheese Tomato, Mushroom Trio & Spinach, Tomato Garlic Cheese! YUMMMM!

Want the stats on Justin's pizza?

Serving Size: 1/3 of Pizza
Calories: 400
Fat Grams: 26g
Dietary fiber: 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 10 per piece or 30 for the whole pizza!

He's very lucky to be 6'1 and skinny as a rail! The rest of us will happily stick to our WeightWatchers & exercise!

Weight Watchers Check Up.....

Hello everyone! Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Aren't you so glad that light green beer is only 2 points???!!

Many of us are on the Weight Watchers plan and monitoring it either online or on our own. My first attempt at weight watchers, i attended meetings, and truly felt the benefit of that. I think if mentally i was ready to take the weight off, i would have continued, because i truly enjoyed the information and encouragement i got from them.

I found my old WW notes from meetings, and wanted to share with you/encourage you to do a little checklist to make sure you are getting everything that they suggest you have each day. At meetings, they always stress the importance of completing every part of the plan on a daily basis, so that your body is getting everything it needs to give you the maximum weight loss.

• Fruits/Vegetables - We should all be eating at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day
• Milk: We should be getting in 2 milk/dairy products per day (skim milk, cheese, egg, etc.)
• 2 oils: We all need 2 tablespoons of healthy oil each day. This includes, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Canola oil, etc. (this includes cooking with these oils)
• Make sure you are eating whole grains each day
• 6-8 cups of water each day
• Activity: You should be exercising 3-5 days per week. (If you are on the flex plan, on the days that you exercise, you should eat the points that you work off on the same day, to keep your metabolism active)
• TAKE YOUR MULTIVITAMIN EVERY DAY!!!!

Why Weight Watchers?

Raise your hand if you've tried the cabbage soup diet? The heart surgery soup diet? The Atkins Diet? The South Beach Diet? There's a good chance you've tried one of them, because I have tried all of them! Typically I need lots of pounds gone very fast because I needed to shimmy into a black dress for a wedding or a Christmas party. Once the festivities began I'd find the closest mashed potato bar and richest chocolate cake and bury my face. All the weight lost was back with a vengeance before I could drag my spanx out of storage.


Here's the deal with weight watchers ~

For me it's about Portion Control! If I put it on my plate then I will eat it. I hate to be wasteful and I never run out of room. You know when you eat a huge meal and the waiter comes by and says, "Will any of you be having dessert?" And there's a collective OH GOSH I AM WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TO FULL TO EVEN CONSIDER DESSERT sung round the table? I'm never too full! There's always room for dessert and I suppose I get it from my father... if I've eaten a meal I want something SWEET! With WW I can have my cake and eat it too! I just need to make adjustments in all other areas of my plate.




It's also about Smaller Numbers! Not just on the tags in my closet, but in my head. To get your eating under control you have to be able to count calories, right? Well then why is it that mostly WOMEN are driven to lose weight and MEN are better at math? That ain't fair, right? However, I can count and add to 20, so a points system is much more manageable for me to keep up with in my head. The beauty of it all is that the internet is like the best friend you've always wanted and needed, because now-a-days every morsel of food has been point calculated so you never have to wonder!



Finally, it's about not being That Girl! There's nothing worse than going to a party or a family dinner or out to eat with That Girl. You know the one... the one that can take a bit or pick a place to eat without reminding you that she's on DIET! Or that girl that walks around feeling like she would kill big bird if it meant she could have fried chicken for dinner. Eat what you like just understand what you're eating and how much your eating. If you are a person who works better with restrictions WW does have a plan that gives you an eat this, not that rundown.


So, I'm wondering ~ what eating plans are y'all following? Oh, and if you're on the fence about trying WW don't worry ~ now-a-days you do not have to feast on FISH BALLS!

Lesli ~ Week 1 ~ I'm a Weight Watcher!

Oh. My. Gawd. By far one of the scariest and bravest things I've ever done is strip down to my sports bra and tell my husband to snap a picture. When I opened this picture in photo shop to put the text up top I had to zoom in on the picture for correct spacing and THAT replaced the actual taking of the picture as the scariest thing I've ever done. I suspect the bar will raise in the morning and I'll be too scared to get out of bed this morning for fear that you've all used the comment section to point out every last roll and flaw.

I knew that I had to put my picture out there for several reasons. Number 1 being that my mind plays major tricks on me when I'm standing in front of a mirror with all my clothes on, but the camera just don't lie, sister! Number 2 being if I put it out then you'd prob check back for results and I do not want to disappoint my other 3 fat chicks or you!

Now, now, don't go expecting or demanding that the other 3 fat chicks put their pictures out there, because I've learned through this process that our weights are as different as our needs and wants. What works for me isn't necessarily going to work for everyone else and that's ok! The point is, we're all in this together and it's about picking our stagnate asses up off the couch and changing our lives for the better!

Collectively, we have decided to eat according to the weight watchers plan to change our portions and eat healthier rather than get into a crash diet that will show quick results. While exercise is not necessary with weight watchers, I personally would like to see a toner and more fit me, so for now I am working on Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Repeat after me ~ HOLY COW! She is freaking intense, and I'm thinking that from now on I might start playing the biggest loser music in the background for added incentive. What have you done today to make you feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel proud?

Thank you for pulling up a chair at our girls table! We welcome any and all encouragement, tips and of course recipes for a lifetime of success!