About a week or so ago, I expressed my disgust with my inability to really buckle down in this whole weight watcher’s thing. I debated the different routes I could go to keep myself on track, including telling you all what I had for breakfast, something I’m sure you all would really not care to hear.

Basically, there are 2 plans that one can do on weight watchers. You can do the Flex plan, or you can do the Core plan. The Flex plan is what I was doing last year – in fact, it was the only one availabe at that time. A serving of a food is assigned a point value based on the amount of calories, grams of fat, and grams of fiber. Who knows what formula it uses, but roughly, it’s 50 calories = 1 point with some leeway for bad things (more fat, less fiber=more points) and good things (less fat, more fiber=less points). On the flex plan, you have a certain amount of points you can eat per day depending on your current weight, and then you have 35 Flex points that you can use over the span of the entire week. After your weigh-in day, the week begins again, and your 35 weekly Flex points resets for the new week. It’s a good system with a lot of flexibility built into it (you can eat whatever you want, even use those 35 Flex points all in one day, but then you have to stick to your daily points and nothing over that the rest of the week), but heavy on journaling, which I am not good at.

I should also mention that both plans have daily requirements that one is supposed to have. A vitamin, 5? 6? (I don’t even know *cough* don’t ever make it) servings of dairy, 6 glasses of water, 6 servings of fruits and/or vegetables. One is supposed to include these in their daily intake for a healthy diet. The water is super important – if you don’t drink the water but have a perfect week otherwise, you might not see anything on the scale. Who knows why, it just is. It’s hard to do the water for me, but it’s the easiest thing on the daily requirements. I never get the milk in. I just take a calcium supplement at night instead. Fruits and veggies… Yeah, that also is rare. I have some fruit usually every day but I could go a few days without any veggies sometimes. Sad but true. Back to the plans.

The Core plan is what I was attempting. There is a core list of food which you can eat whatever you like, using your own hunger as a gauge (if you are full, don’t eat! how fancy! how innovative!) You get 35 Flex points per week which you can use on whatever foods you like that aren’t on the core food list. The Core list is made up of healthy, non-processed foods. It is really getting back to a more natural and wholesome way of eating. Bread is not on the core list, you would have to use some weekly flex points for that, but you can have potatoes or rice once a day – they limit it because those foods could be a trigger food for someone looking to snack. Lean meats, non-fat dairy, and of course all the fruits and veggies you could shake a stick at are on the list. Soups, as long as they are broth based and not cream based get the OK as well.

The problem with the core plan is unless you cook all the time, you start cheating. (I should stop saying “you” all the time. It’s me the one doing this, not you.) I do pretty well with the cooking a lot, but it takes preparation, and if I don’t prepare, then I’m going out to lunch during the week and I’m making guesses like, “Well, the turkey breast should be core and all the veggies are ok so I probably just have to count points for the honey oat bread on that sub and they only use lighte mayo so ……” It just goes on and on. I never actually count the extra points, I just figured it was low enough to be within my weekly flex points. The yo-yo weigh-ins told the truth about THAT little myth.

Well this was a long story, but a few people have asked me how weight watchers works, so I thought I’d fill in some of the blanks. The point is, I’ve switched to the Flex point plan this week, and to help me in my efforts, I enrolled in the WW Online E-tools which basically has all the foods you could ever find in a database already assigned their point values and I just have to search for it, and enter it into my online journal. No paper and pencil and looking it up in little books or using the little slide-rule calculator to find the point values. Online does it all, I just have to remember to DO it.

So anyway. That is what I’ve done to get back on track and I am feeling pretty proud of how I’ve done this week. Since I missed last week, this week will be a biggie – I’m sure I gained over Thanksgiving, so I’m hoping I’ve lost what I gained and then some for an official loss this week. I’m looking at that 20 lb goal by New Years, and this is my first big step. Honestly, even if it’s a disappointing weigh-in, I feel like I’m doing well, I’m ontrack and on top of the situation instead of being all, “Oh it’ll work out!” which is never true.

I’m sure I’ll let you all know how it went tomorrow – as well as how my pitiful Southern Living party went as well. I bought some stuff for the party, the makings of some mimosas and bellinis, along with a couple of shrimp plates (very weight watcher’s friendly, btw!) Tomorrow I need to tidy up and vacuum but I’m not going to kill myself over this one. Yes! I have children which means messy house and my walls are bare! BITE ME!

That’s a good motto. I smell bumper stickers.

amy loves toasty socks straight out of the microwave.

To all those desparately awaiting the answer to the relative hard or softness of Plantation Lane… The judge knelt, felt, and proclaimed it to be hard. This was some time after the initial conversation, so unfortunately, the amount of interest in the road’s hardness had cooled considerably. In fact, he was a little confused why I was draggin him out into the road, and even expressed concern for getting hit by a car. As if his mother would let him get hit by a car! Now feel the road, dammit, the Internet wants to know!!

UNFORTUNATELY, the ride after the feeling of the car was hellish in OH so many ways. First, as soon as we were in the car, Ethan started to list several complaints about his body. In fact, he wasn’t even complaining, just informing me.

“Mommy, my ears hurt.”

DING DING DING DING!

“I’m coughing a lot, Mommy.”

“My eye is all goopy, Mommy.

Kid, you had me at “my ears hurt.”

I had the doctor on the phone, a SAINT of a woman whom I now love and adore more than anything. I asked if we could come in, and on hearing the affirmatived, informed her we’d be there in 20 minutes, about how long it takes to get from Ethan’s school to the doctor.

There are basically 2 exits off of 66 to get to our abode, and one of the exits have 2 routes one could take. So all in all, 3 possible ways to get to the main street that has all the developments on it. We took one route. It was WAY backed up by an accident, so then I, so cunningly, so COYLY, scootched over to a backroad which would take me around all the traffic, PAST the accident, and sail us on down to the main drag. All that intrigue, and it was for NAUGHT. The accident, snafu, whatever it was, was still past where we came out, and the cop directing traffic was turning EVERYONE AROUND. Including us.

I will spare you all the rest, but basically, it took us an hour to get to the doctor, with a stop to “water the grass” (IN THE RAIN!! I made sure we were standing DOWNWIND) and a stop to fill the gas tank (No euphemisms there, we really had to fill up with gas, it just sounded like it was slang for something nasty and dirty, but it wasn’t! totally clean here!)

So, finally, at the doctor’s office (who WAITED FOR US, BLESS HER HEART!) we discovered that Ethan was on sick boy.

Ear infection. Conjunctivitis (that’s pink eye, folks) (apparently, these two things often go hand in hand. Who knew? Not me.) Swollen glands. Swollen tonsils. Sore throat. Snotty snotty snotty nose. Slight fever.

My poor boy. After spending forever in the car, and then visiting the doctor, we then wended our way to Target and settled in to wait for his prescriptions to be filled, which was really starting to put him way past his bedtime. Then home, a snack, medicine, eye drops, and bedtime.

Anyway. I spent yesterday at home with Ethan, and James stayed with him today. I couldn’t today, because I got *cough* had to go to DC for some more training, and thus.. sigh… hand to forehead, I just HAD to go to perfect pita. Damn I love that place. I also finally met up with a friend of mine from the place where I temped for a month, and that was nice too. She’s the kind of gal who even when we first met, it seemed like we’d known each other for years, and we talk and the time zips by until I have to skedaddle back to training or be LATE!

Ethan seemed a lot better tonight, still a lot of coughing, and now it has turned all wheezy, which I wonder if I should be concerned about or not. His eye is much better as well. Tomorrow, BACK TO SCHOOL!

I’ll try to update again tomorrow, because this weekend, I am hosting another dreaded party, this time, of the Southern Living at Home, variety. This time, it looks like it’s not going to be that great of a showing, either, which makes me wish the earth would crack open and swallow me up, because you know, throwing a party and having no one come is never a happy thing. Ugh. I’ll be so glad when it’s over. I’m never doing one of these again.

EVER.

amy melts in your mouth, not in your hand.