More About WW Simply Filling

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Read previous Skinny Saturday posts here.

We are 8 weeks into 2014.

What does that mean to you?

For me, it means we’re past the excitement and novelty of the New Year, and it’s time for me to evaluate how I’m doing on the goals I set at the beginning of the year. This year, the goal I set was to simply relax about food and eating. I want to find a way to not let food be a controlling factor in my life– be in in the form of extreme dieting or extreme eating.

I want to enjoy food, I want food to nourish my body, and I want food to energize me. I also want it to be something I continue to enjoy crafting, creating, and displaying for blog projects.

But I do not want food to:

• be my friend or my enemy
• be my comforter
• help me pass the time
• be a punishment or reward
• be the center of a social experience (including time with my husband)
• be something I am deprived of and long for
• be a barrier between me and a good day

So far in 2014…

I’m doing okay. I have good days and bad days, but overall: I’m doing okay.

I still have pretty serious weight loss goals, because my body isn’t at a healthy weight– I can recognize that. But I’m okay with losing it VERY slowly, or possibly not even at all this year.

This year is more about recovering from 2013– I lost and gained 20 lbs TWICE, which isn’t good for your body (especially your heart). The dangers of drastic weight loss and gain happening so quickly and close together are real. My stomach lining, a couple of joints, and my self-image were all casualties in last year’s yo-yo extravaganza, and they need time to heal.

Whole grains, leafy greens, enough sleep, a decrease in fats and sugar consumption, and plenty of low impact strengthening exercises. That’s the game plan. And so far, so good. I’ve got the sugar, fat, exercise, and whole grains pretty under control. There’s quite a bit of room for improvement in the sleep and leafy greens departments– but I suppose that’s what the remaining 44 weeks of the year are for, right?

I’m still loving the Simply Filling plan from WW.

I haven’t made this an official goal for this year, mostly because I don’t want to set myself up to fail. But I’d love to see myself stick to ONE eating plan this year. Just one. Last year I went through low carb, hCG, WW Points Plus, Classic WW points, calorie counting, juice only,  annnnnnnnnnnnnd, of course: just not trying at all.

But there’s something about the Simply Filling plan that I am loving: it’s totally sustainable.

I know I’ve already told you about the plan and how I’m making it work for me, so I won’t bore you with those details again. But I have made one change since that post. At the start of this year, I decided to allow myself two treat days each week, and I was working that into the Simply Filling plan (which allows for 49 points per week of “non-plan” foods).
However, I discovered that it was leading to MAJOR binging. I allowed myself to feel somewhat deprived 5 days a week, know that I was “allowed” to eat whatever I wanted on treat days. I would buy crazy treats at the store throughout the week (that I normally wouldn’t have eaten anyway) and save them to eat on my treat days. By the time Thursday or Sunday rolled around, I had piles of candy bars and snack cakes piled high on my dresser. And I’d eat them all in that day, on point of principal really. I was exceeding (by a lot) my weekly limit of 49 points allowed on the Simply Filling plan.

But worse: I was perpetuating the exact behavior (deprivation/binge) I was trying so hard to overcome.

So I’ve made a move to eating 7 treat points per day (as WW suggests). Interestingly enough… it’s working out. With 7 points a day, I easily get in a great treat each day that I really enjoy. I still have the freedom at the grocery store checkout to buy a candy bar if I want. Or I can grab frozen yogurt with Emma and enjoy the toppings I like. Or I can have a bowl of ice cream in front of the TV at night. There is so much more flexibility in 7 points than I thought there would be.

And as a result: I haven’t felt deprived. And my weight is starting to budge. Which is cool too.

I’m considering starting a second blog.

Is that crazy?

It is. I know it is.

But I’m really loving this Simply Filling plan, and I’d like a platform totally dedicated to telling other people about it– with recipes, of course.

It would be simple– not even a fraction of the time dedication I give to this blog.

It’s just a thought that I’m floating out there… I’d like to actually live the plan for a few months before I start preaching it to people, so it wouldn’t be happening anytime in the immediate future.

Thoughts?

A boring post…

I know this has been a boring post. If you’ve made it through to the end here, I’m impressed.

But the fact that this has been boring and uneventful is a great thing. It means nothing extreme is happening to my body or in my mind. And, honestly, I could live with some boring this year. Especially if it means I’m feeling a stable and on the mend.

So… I’ll take boring. Yes, I will.

Happy Saturday, y’all!