My husband and I decided we needed to get healthy. So, a few weeks back we started Weight Watchers. Since, I’ve been getting asked about my experience so far, I decided to share 10 Things I Learned My First Week with Weight Watchers.

Now, I want to mention that I am NOT a professional nor do I claim to be one. So, what I am about to tell you comes from personal experience (not a professional one).

I am just an average everyday mom, wife, and entrepreneur.

Over the years my husband and I have built multiple online businesses and were able to bring him home just over a year ago. During that time, we have become more sedentary than we both like.

Sure, it’s great working from home because hello, freedom! But, it also means that unless we are working on household chores, running errands, photographing new inventory or recipes, we are sitting in front of a computer writing and working.

All of that equals some unhealthy eating habits and of course, a less active lifestyle. In return, we gained quite a bit of weight.

With this year being the first year we felt we truly had this whole “working from home” thing down utilizing schedules, we decided it was time to focus on our health and well-being. That is where Weight Watchers has come into play.

We officially started on 2/10/18. My husband and I both hovering around 200 lbs.

As of the date of this post (3/8/18) I have lost 11 lbs. while my husband has lost 13 lbs.

It’s working!!!

It’s so exciting to see how far we have come in just over 2 weeks. Something we are planning to continue doing. But, I really wanted to share a few things I quickly learned in that first week. Things nobody tells you about.

Hopefully sharing these will give you a bit more information on what to expect during your journey with Weight Watchers!

10 Things I Learned My First Week with Weight Watchers

Sugar-free foods make you have to “go” more.

In case you didn’t know, diet drinks and sugar-free drinks contain artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame and Sucralose (there are more but these are the most popular). Consuming too much of these sweeteners, can cause you to head to the bathroom to conduct #2 way too many times. A hard lesson we learned from drinking too much sugar-free coffee creamer!

You feel more hungry (at first).

So, the hardest part of week 1 for me was that I felt like I was hungry all the time. I quickly realized that while I was eating more protein, vegetables and fruits, my body and stomach was used to the junk food and “fillers”. I used to overeat so by eating healthier, my body had to adjust. Also, I think smaller portions are part of the key to weight loss in general so you have to train your body to be full and happy with what you feed it.

It’s a real eye-opener to foods.

Part of the experience of Weight Watchers is that you get a handy app that you can download to your phone. You can then use this app to scan all sorts of products in the grocery store as you shop.

It’s an eye opener to see how many points foods are and how you really have to sacrifice one food so you can have another. Now, when I say “sacrifice” I basically mean, you can eat that Krispy Kreme donut but that is 8 points of your day taken away for 1 donut. That means, your other meals have to use less points and you are making comprises for that food choice.

Just because something seems healthy doesn’t mean it is.

It’s crazy to see what you once thought was “healthy” really isn’t. I think that is part of why so many of us try to diet on our own and fail. We are tricked with “low carb this” and “low-fat that” and in reality, sometimes those are the worst foods for us. So, taking the time to scan and research every food is super important to success with this program.

Energy increases.

With my insane schedule I am always tired. And to this day I still am. However, my husband and I used to nap, a lot! So much in fact, that my own mom would come over and say, “Are you taking your old people nap today?”.

Naps are great but think of all that time we waste napping and then sleeping. But once we started eating better and staying with the Weight Watchers program, our energy increased and our “old people naps” have been cut back drastically. What was once a daily thing, we do it 1-2 per week now.

It’s really hard if you love food.

I am a firm believer in being honest and I will tell you, this program is NOT easy. But what in life is? Besides, it’s not meant to be easy or everyone would do it. It’s going to be filled with some tears, some “why’s?”, some frustration, but most importantly, filled with happiness and goodness for you and your family.

If you love food (like me) then it’s hard not being able to grab and eat whatever you want, whenever you want. As I mentioned above, you compromise, you sacrifice, and you have to be diligent. It gets easier with time.

You have to be honest with yourself.

Remember, BE HONEST. Not just with others around you but be honest with yourself. It’s easy to talk yourself out of doing something (because there always seems to be a million reasons why not to) but you really only need 1 reason to do something. For you, maybe joining Weight Watchers means you get to chase your grandchildren around or maybe run that 5K marathon.

For me, I want to be here as long as I can for my kids and future grandkids. You have to look at your situation and be honest with everything you do. Don’t cheat on your points, don’t lie when you are having a bad day. Let it all out and be honest and free. It’s truly amazing when you do that.

It truly doesn’t cost more to eat better.

Okay, one of the common myths (I even believed) was that healthier foods are more expensive. Ugh, I bet you haven’t heard that at all, right? *eye roll*

In reality, you actually SAVE money. Let me explain…

Since I love food and all, I’d fall victim to those emailed weekly coupons from our favorite restaurants like LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, etc. We’d eat out at LEAST 3x per week. Those meals for a family of 4 is average $100.00. So, we are looking at $300 per week (minimum).

Now, we go to the grocery store 1 time per week (sometimes 2 if we forget something) but we have a plan. We create meals for the week then create a grocery list and try our best to stick to it. We spend about $100-$150 per week at the grocery store feeding a family of 4. Mostly lean meats (turkey and chicken), vegetables, water, fruits, etc. Which means we’ve cut our spending in HALF!

Now, we still go out every once in a while (and we do save up our points for that) but overall, we are spending less so don’t let the fear of cost stop you from doing this.

You can enjoy good food despite being on a diet.

Most diets out there eliminate certain foods. Some are cutting out carbs, cutting out sugar, cutting out calories and they all have one thing in common – you miss out on all the good stuff.

It’s no secret that unhealthy foods taste better (hello sugar and additives) but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them in moderation. With Weight Watchers you can eat all that good food but you pay for it in points. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little but you are not deprived from your favorite foods.

For me, if you tell me NOT to do something (or in this case not to eat something), I’ll do it anyways. So, I no longer say “NO”, I just say,  “how much can I have?”

This truly works.

Look, I know how overwhelming it can be to just have the first thought of starting a weight-loss program. It seems like there are a billion ways to lose weight and a million options out there.

I’ll tell you that I’ve tried a lot of them. For different reasons they all failed but with Weight Watchers I truly feel like this is it. A few reasons for my conclusion:

• Tracking points is basically like a food journal. You get to see your goals, keep track of what you eat (totally cool to see for the first time) and you basically have something to report to.
• It’s already working. I’ve been on diets where I didn’t see results for weeks or even months and when I did see them, it was minimal. I’ve seen results already and it’s been less than a month. That is pretty incredible.
• It’s highly recommended. I know many women (and men) that have tried the program with success. After my youngest son was born, even my OBGYN recommended Weight Watchers so I know I am in good hands.

So, I hope this helps you all learn more about the Weight Watchers program. If you do have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer them for you!