Dieting Differently

This go round with my diet, I'm doing a couple of different things.  You know, besides the obvious: trying to actually follow the WW plan.  I'm eating real cheese that melts like it's supposed to and half and half that doesn't have any partially hydrogenated oil in it.  Fat free half and half is an oxymoron anyway, and I have little tolerance for morons.  Instead of relying on foods that are created as "diet-friendly" (many of which have added sugars to compensate for the lack of fat), I'm trying to eat a realistic diet.  If this is supposed to turn into a lifestyle, it needs to be full of foods that I enjoy eating.  And believe me, I find no joy in fat-free cheese.

Don't get me wrong, if it's a naturally fat-free item, I don't have a problem with it.  I'm just trying to eat generally healthier.  I'm not doing away altogether with processed foods either, but I'm trying to choose more carefully.  

Conseqentially, I've been doing a lot of cooking for myself lately, and also a lot of dishes.  (Note to self - contact apartment management to fix the garbage disposal!)  I'm making more frequent trips to the grocery store for fresh produce, and actually eating most of it as opposed to my old habit of forgetting that it exists and finding it in altered states in the bottom of my crisper.*

I've discovered that my preferred cooking method for fresh broccoli is tossing it in some olive oil and roasting it in the oven, which really brings out the flavor.  I've discovered that trying this same cooking method with fresh eggplant doesn't quite work the same, as those little buggers are like sponges and soak that oil up before you can coat it at all and ends up burning to the bottom of your pan.  It still tastes good though.

I'm learning to enjoy oatmeal that doesn't come pre-sweetened and packaged.  I've started eating it as a snack...though I still prefer it with some pure maple syrup (1T = 1PP).  It even keeps me satisfied for a while.

Yes, I realize this simple eating plan of mine is not a very revolutionary idea.   It's definitely do-able, and I think encouraged, on the Weight Watchers plan.

The other thing I'm doing differently than in the past is related to the 49 extra weekly PP that each WW gets.  Previously, I would horde all of these points and give myself a "free" weekend.  That meant I wouldn't track my foods on the weekend and I'd allow myself to basically eat any crap I wanted.  Somehow I was fooling myself into thinking that my splurges were within my points, though they may or may not have been.  Obviously, that wasn't really following the plan, and is most likely the reason that I was not losing weight on the diet.  (Because I wasn't really following it.)

No more.  I am tracking 24/7 now, weekday or weekend.  If I've used my minimum daily PP allowance and am still hungry, I will eat something else using my Weekly PP.  That's what's they are there for.  If I don't use them, I don't worry that they've been "wasted."  Using the plan this way (as intended), I am not left feeling hungry.  What a concept, right?

Now, I hope this all becomes habit and I can keep it up.  I think my mindset is where it needs to be for success right now, I just hope it stays there.

*Clarification:  the veggies are in an altered state, not me, just in case there was any confusion.