A Breakfast to Keep You Full

I used to eat cereal for breakfast because it could be low in points, tastes good, I am a total carb addict and most of all I thought it was faster than anything else.  I would be hungry an hour later and have to have another snack by 10am.  My friend suggested eggs.  I thought too many points, and too much time.  After thinking about it some more I came up with the following:

Egg = 2 points
3 Egg Whites = 1 point
2 WW Bread  = 1 point

A 4 point breakfast is pretty good and I am not hungry until lunch.  If I am going for a workout I add a cup of Source Yogurt for 1 point to give me a little more energy.  Both Eggs, Egg Whites and Yogurt are good proteins to keep you full.

500 Calories Success

Since I joined the gym back in February I have complained that I wasn't seeing the results I wanted but I have broken through.  At first I only did a 30min cardio and weight training combination and this was not bringing in the results I wanted.  I remembered what they always told us at WW, as long as you burn more calories than you consume you will see results.  So I started doing 500 calories of cardio every workout and weight training when I had time.  This takes me about 52 minutes of a combination of run/walk on the treadmill and eliptical trainer.  At first I didn't see huge results but then I started using half of my ACTIVITY points on a protein at no more than 2 hours after my workout and it worked! 

Now everyone is saying how great I look and finally noticing how much weight I have lost.  14lbs to go!  Good luck!

Cost of Meetings

Depending on how much weight you have to lose and your finances, you will have to decide what package you will purchase.  For me if I have to lose 25lbs or more I buy at least 6 months.  This is also the cheapest of the options.

Registration is usually $25 but there are alot of times you can find free registration.



Weekly (Pay as you go) $15.24
12 Week Pre-paid Plan $166.67 = $13.89

Sometimes they have a 6month package which works out to approx. $12 a week.

Tricity Weight Watchers Meetings

All regular meetings are 30 minutes but express meetings are only 15 minutes.  Meetings start at time posted but weigh in and registration starts half an hour prior to regular meetings and 15 minutes prior to express meetings.

*Express meeting.

POCO INN AND SUITES
1545 Lougheed Hwy.
Port Coquitlam, BC V3B 1A5

Thursday  9:30am, 12:30pm, 5:30pm, 7pm
Saturday  8:30am*, 9:30am, 11am

ST ANDREWS CHURCH

2318 St. John'S Street
Port Moody, BC V3H 2A9

Wednesday 9:30am
Thursday  6pm

GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH

1504 Sprice Avenue
Coquitlam, BC V3J 2P6

Monday  12:30pm, 6pm

RAMADA COQUITLAM

631 Lougheed Highway
Coquitlam, BC V3K 3S5

Saturday  8:30am*, 9:30am


PITT MEADOWS FAMILY REC CENTRE

12027 Harris Road
Pitt Meadows, BC V3Y 2B5

Thursday  6pm
Friday  8:45am

10% - Yeah!

I have finally got to my 10% and it ONLY took me 6 months.  According to the schedule I set for myself I am way behind.  I was supposed to have been at my goal weight of 165lbs by April 23, 2010 and it being April 9th today there is no way I can hit my initial goal.  So I have to reset, now I am aiming for 165 by Labour day.

I am so happy that I have finally completed my 3rd goal and I have 4 and a half months to lose another 16lbs.  Good luck. 

Let me know about your progress.

Working out = Plateauing Blues

In previous posts I have mentioned that I have joined a new gym and it has been about 5 weeks and I am still really enjoying it.  I go 4 days a week and have been slowly tweeking my routine trying to make my body burn as many calories as possible and I thought this would make me lose the most weight.

So this is where it gets tough for me.  I have plateaued and I have for weeks.  It has been particularily bad due to the fact that I have been working out at the gym 4 days a week starting around when I started this plateau.  What makes it worse it that I was only 3lbs away from my 10% when it started and now in 5 weeks I am .4lbs away. 

I hear that when you start exercising this can happen because fat is transforming to muscle.  I have been told to monitor my measurements instead of my weight but that is impossible if you are a weight watcher and have to weigh in every week.  I am going to give it 3 more weeks and if I see no results I might consider getting a trainer.

Emotional Eating

A lot of us do this and there is nothing in the WW plan to account for this when your stressed or sad.  Right now I am having this problem.  The only thing I can suggest is stock your pantry with many low point snacks or snack instead of eating a full proper meal.  So far I have been doing this but it is really hard not to go into my kids treat box and eat all their chocolate, lol. 

Feel free to leave me suggestions if you have any. Cheers.

Cooking with Cookware

I love to cook which is probably part of the reason I have to go to WW in the first place, lol.  In the past 3 years I have been using the BEST knives in the world.  3 Christmases ago my MIL bought me a Cutco cheese knife and for a full year I used that knife for everything.  The next Christmas I asked for another knife and I used that and the cheese knife for everything. 

I really believe when you use great cookware and utensils it makes the job so much easier and more fun to cook healthy foods.  I found out recently that Cutco is now making Pots and Pans along with their awsome knives and utensils.  I use Cutco but find what makes the job fun for you.

Cutco Canada
Cutco USA

Good cooking!

Eating out with Weight Watchers

For me eating out is a weekly occurance but finding low point options.  There are many ways to do regular eating out but the 2 I subscribe to is one eat low points for the rest of the day and splurge at the eand of the day or look for very low options on the menu.  Below you will find a list of restaurant websites and restaurant selection websites. I will keep adding so check back.

• Dotti's Weight Loss Zone  This one has a Canadian option.
• Fatabase from Vancouver Sun
• Exercise 4 Weight Loss

Choosing a Gym

I was going to wait to join a gym till my 2 oldest were both in school this coming September 2010 but I have been struggling with losing as quickly as I would like.  I started researching gyms in my area including my local community centres.  In my area there are 4 community centres, 2 ladies only gyms, 3 co-ed gyms with women's only sections and many Curves centres, one right around the corner from my house.  Now all the Curves were ruled out due to the lack of variety and they don't have childcare.  1 of the co-ed gyms was ruled out because they don't have childcare and that one and other co-ed gyms were ruled out because they were heavy lifting gyms.  The community centres just didn't have variety of each type of cardio machines and some didn't even have alot of space and all were co-ed. 

That left me with 3 gyms, Fitness World (co-ed with a ladies only section Coquitlam), Fitwells (ladies only Coquitlam) and Good Life (ladies only Pitt Meadows).  All were approximately 15min from my house, all had childcare, all were $40-$50 per month membership and around $35-$45 per month.  So you can see that not only were they comparable they were going to be quite a pricey endevour.

This week I tried out Good Life.  Monday I took all 3 kids and put them in care, Thursday I went on my own while my MIL took care of the boys and Saturday I went after my WW meeting by myself.  And after 2 gym visits this week I lost 3.2lbs.   I will you keep you updated once I have tried the other 2 gyms...

So I never did give the others a try but I did go on a Sunday and took a tour of each.  And after putting together my handy dandy spreadsheet of comparison I decided to go with the cheapest option.  It didn't have the best childcare or staff but it was good enough and it was my 2nd choice and it was $15 cheaper a month including childcare for the first 2 years and then the 3rd year the price drops another $15.  I am not happy with all aspects of it but I will make suggestions on how to improve it and hope they get the point, lol.

2 Point Snacking for Less

WW use to offer 2 Point bars but in the last 2 years they have stopped.  Now they offer tiny little 1 point bars and 2 point snack chips which are quite pricey at $9 for 12.  I need my snacks so I have found alternatives.  Thinsations and Special K bars are my favorite an most of them are only 2 points and you can get them on sale at 2 boxes for $6 at Save-on.  It works out to about .15 cheaper but the bars are bigger and tastier.  Other 1 or 2 point treats:

• Angelfood cake with 3 tbsp of Ultralight Cool Whip (2p)
• Butter Toffee Rice Cake (1p)
• Skinny Cow or Breyers 100 cal Ice Cream Sandwich (2p)
• 2 rice cakes (1p)
• Breyers Frozen Fruit bars (1p)
• 1 Nature Valley Granola Bar (2p)
• Welches Fruit Snacks (2p)
• Sun Rype Fruit bars (1p)
• 2 packages Apple Chips (1p)
• 4 graham crackers (2p)
• 1c Source Yogurt (1p) (some are really yummy)
• Of course most fruits are 1 point

Breakfast, the meal most forgotten

A lot of people who have weight issues are usually prone to forgetting to eat breakfast. I have to be honest I don't use many of my daily points on breakfast but I always eat breakfast. If you don't eat breakfast to risk the chance of eating in excess because you are so hungry you aren't thinking straight and you will thoughtlessly stuff anything in your mouth.


As you will read repeatedly about my addiction to carbs, so that is my go to meal when I am not dieting, cereal, bagels, etc but if you want your breakfast to hold your hunger at bay till your first snack, go protein. This transition was not easy for me but I changed to a 4 point breakfast consisting of 1 egg, 2 tbsp egg whites, 2 pieces of WW bread and a tsp of light strawberry cream cheese and a cup of green tea.

If you Bite it Write it

Journalling is a crutial part of the WW program.  They suggest if you take a bite of anything write it in your journal but I do something else.  I write down only the foods that have a point value to save time.  Whichever choice you make make sure you DO write it down or you will forget what you have eaten.  There is also the choice to do the QuickTrack recording method and I have tried it but then I look back a couple hours later and I can't remember what I had recorded.   There are many online journals and points calculators if that makes it easier for you.  But whatever form you choose, live by the concept "If you bite it write it!" and you will see more consistent results.

Losing Sizes

For every 10lbs you lose be prepared to go shopping.  You will probably see one dress size go for every 10lbs you see go but don't wait to lose 3 dress sizes before you hit the stores or you will look like you are drowning in your clothes.  My general rule is if you have to use a belt to hold your pants up, get a new pair.  Don't buy expensive because you don't want to be donating brand new guess jeans to charity.

Small Successes; Setting Interim Goals

After you have set your goal weight it can seem overwhelming and that can cause you to give up before you attain it. The way to avoid failing is to set small attainable goals. WW suggests setting interim goals such as 5% and then 10% of your starting weight. For example if your starting weight is 200lbs then your first goal would be 10lbs and your second goal would be 20lbs. WW also celebrates every 5lbs weight loss and so should you. Try and find new and interesting ways of rewarding yourself without food. Let me know what you come up with.

Activity Points; Get Moving

Activity Points are the points you get from exercise, housework or anything that gets your blood pumping ;). I probably underestimate the amount of points for the same reason I try not to use my weekly points, I am convinced I lose faster that way but I also don't get much of an opportunity to exercise with 3 kids 5yrs and under. I do plan on joining a gym in September when my oldest goes to school and my middle goes to preschool and I only have the baby to put into childcare because it is $35 a month to put all 3 in the gym care program.


This is my theory for activity points...you earn approximately 1 point for every 15 minutes of activity. If you earn 1 don’t use it but if you earn 2 or more points, use half towards a food high in protein. For example if you go to the gym or do housework for an hour you will earn 4 points. Use 2 of those for any egg, milk or 1/2 a Detour Protein Bar. Also include 250mls of water per 15 minutes of activity. I heard if you don't use your Activity Points your body will start to store fat instead of burn it. It’s called starvation mode. Of course you can use all the Activity Points you earn, it’s up to you.

I have started dancing with my kids in the morning or putting on music I like but playing a workout video on Mute. Start by doing butt crunches or suck in your belly at stop lights or spend commercials doing sit-ups or arm curls. Whatever you do get moving.

35 Points Weekly Extra Points

I have opposing opinions on this. I try to not use these because I want to lose faster but I don’t know if it actually helps or it is a hindrance to my diet. Am I actually losing weight faster because I don’t use more than half of those points per week or does it make a difference?

You can split the 35 points over the week with 5 per day or use them for special occasions only or not use them at all. I use them mostly for Friday/Saturday night take out and I see about a pound per week loss. Is there a better solution?

Calculating Daily Points Value

Most people trying to lose weight usually have a daily points value between 20 to 30 points per day.  On your first meeting you will be given a book and there is a calculation to determine your actually daily points value.  It is based on your starting weight, sex, activity level, etc.  Every time you drop to another weight grouping you lose a point.  For example when I weighed 190lbs last week I had 27 points and this week I dropped to 189lbs I now only have 26 points.  I will have 26 points till I weigh 179lbs and it will stay at that number till I get to 169lbs.  Make sure you drop that point if you want to continue seeing a loss.  If your weight loss has seen a decline in rate go back and recalculate your points as your might be consuming more points that you are suppose to.

Setting YOUR Goal Weight

The WW goal weight is set based on the Body Mass Index (BMI) which of course is very admirable and healthy. A 25 or lower BMI is medially advised but I have to be honest, for a person with a life of weight problems, getting to a comfortable weight that I can maintain for a lifetime is more important. I am not saying that it will be easy to get to or maintain but it will not be impossible. So for this fact you have to choose a weight that is not easy but achievable and maintainable long term. I am aiming for 165lbs.

What are you aiming for?