About Scott

I've been on the Weight Watcher Flex Point plan for just over 9 weeks now. My wife and I decided to go on the diet a few months ago because we needed the help in controlling our portion sizes and regulating our food intake. I've got to admit, after about two-three weeks, it felt less like a diet, and more of a lifestyle. It's been great doing this with my wife too. We hold each other accountable and we're both very supportive of each other. So far, I am down 24 pounds in almost 10 weeks. With an average of 2.4 pounds a week, I plan on hitting my second goal in the next month or so. To hit that, I will need to lose about 12 more pounds. I hit my first goal of 20 pounds a few weeks back and am chugging right along.

If I were to name a few of the benefits that come to mind, I'd probably say...

• Being able to eat "any" food I want, even if in moderation
• Structure and setup is easy to follow
• Finding smart foods to eat is very simple
• Weight loss is gradual rather than overnight, leading to long term weight control

Now, it's not all peaches and cream though. There are some definite disadvantages too. First and foremost would be grocery costs. Where it is true that you don't spend as much on the back end at restaurants, you can still walk out of the store spending a lot more than you are used to. This is where you have to get creative and find new ways to shop for things. For instance, being it's now summer, I spend Saturday mornings at my local farmer's market buying the onions, peppers, and other fruits and vegetables that I will consume over the next week. It's much cheaper than store bought produce. I also find myself looking for bulk frozen stuff where I can. This weekend, I plan on going to a Stouffer's outlet to stock up on some frozen dinners and meals. My wife and I have a deep freezer in our basement so we can fill up on stuff when we have more money so that we have plenty to eat in times when we are low on money. Another thing we've been doing is going to our Schwebel's outlet store to buy our bread and buns. It's much cheaper than going to any other store. If you are looking for a good alternative to hot dog or hamburger buns, the Schwebel's Lite brand has 1/2 point buns at a very cheap price. A loaf of bread is under $1.00 and they're only 35 calories a slice!

Another disadvantage I can think of right now is variety. It could be very easy to fall into a trap of eating the same stuff over and over because you are familiar with its point value. If you're not careful, you could get burned out on certain foods. This is another place where you have to get creative. I'm amazed at how many ways I've prepared meals using the same 3-4 ingredients over the last few weeks.

The biggest hurdle to overcome is a mental one. Walking through your local grocery store and looking at what you typically buy might depress you a little bit. I know my first weekend was rough on me. It was like saying "goodbye" to some of my favorite things. I was afraid it would be 6 months or more before I ate some of those foods again. Turns out, I am eating them again already. Small portion controlled amounts of my faves sure hits the spot once in a while. The way I look at it, if I don't treat myself to something once in a while, there will be a day where I go way off the wagon and have too much. Another aspect of the mental hurdle is telling yourself that you will feel full after you eat the meal you are staring at. It doesn't look like much, but trust me, you've been overeating for far too long.

It's been nine weeks now since I've eaten a meal and felt like I needed to take a nap or go lie down and watch television afterwards. That's an incredible feeling. I have way more energy now than I remember having in the past. I sleep better, I feel more creative, my skin feels cleaner and my moods are more even keeled. I guess I could have listed them up at the bullet points too.