LTL - Monday 9/12/16

crewahl

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday -- crewahl / Charlie
Tuesday --60in2017 / Millie
Wednesday -- minimyzeme / Kim
Thursday -- MICHGOLFER2 / Jane
Friday --Jimb376mfp / Jim

Today's topic: breaking the rules

We all have things we do that are "off plan", and we're generally okay with "our" version of the rules. How do you decide when it's okay to break the rules and when it's not?

88olds

When losing, I would (rarely but I did it) give myself extra WPA.

My logic- OK, I made a mistake. Lost it at 1 meal, something I thought was low pt, turned into pt bomb, whatever. Today is Thurs, Sunday WI. Nothing left but dailies. DW & I are going out Saturday, under my current plan I'm 10 Pts short. 2 choices, redo plan & stick 2 dailies, earn activity.

I am really depressed over this. I'm considering starting over Monday. I've seen bus loads of WWers do that. Not a good idea. I could eat 100 extra points between now & Monday. I've already decided not to trade food for activity. Unless I want to lie to myself, 10pts would require hours at the gym in addition to what I do now. I sure don't want an injury.

Putting 10 more points in the WPA account seems like the least bad option. Keeps my eating plan in place, avoids injury, avoids notion that I have to punish myself for mistake, keeps me from eating 50 or 100 extra points, keeps the journal going. Writing it down is more important than a handful of points.

leeless511

I follow SmartPoints now...with this program sugar is heavily penalized from a points perspective. If I eat a dessert or sugar centric food, I track it but I break the rules by looking at the calories associated with the food I consumed and factor that in, to decide how much damage I really think it caused. It is a mental/attitude thing, if I only had one item the entire week, I really don't adapt to much to accommodate it even if it were to take me over my WP. I do take the sugar penalty seriously if I am eating high point sugary foods regularly, which SmartPoints has helped me not do. The other sugar related rule I break is not tracking ketchup.

lowbar31

I just got off a cruise but we won't go there.

For the last few years I've been following the IM plan. I think that is a major rule breaker.

DavidKuhnsSr

Way back, when I was losing weight, the only rule I broke was in never, ever using WP. I consumed activity points, but only on the day I earned them.

In seven years of intuitive maintenance, the only rule I have is to pay attention to my weight.

Kramti386

Before I never counted a spear of dried papaya I would eat every night. And a few other dried fruits.

Now getting back on the plan, I have to refocus, so staying strict to the plan is a must for me.

Rachel0778

I don't weigh anything. My thought process behind this is that I don't plan on pulling the scale out for the rest of my life so I need to learn how to portion control without it. I just use the old estimation way of tablespoon=thumb and 3oz=palm of hand. It's been working pretty well.

gadgetgirlIL

I generally don't eat at bedtime nor in the middle of the night. But if I'm having trouble sleeping due to a combination of a body part(s) hurting and I'm ravenous, then I will get up and have a small snack.

podkey

Using activity points any time during the week works great even though WW at one time allowed one to only use them the day earned. It really is about the calories consumed for the whole week in terms of weight loss.
On average I earned at least as many activity points cycling over 100 miles each week as I had allotted in weekly points. I found that many weeks using one group of these points was enough for hunger and special foods and didn't often eat both groups of points. Sure at times I ate them all and then some.

So on some outdated WW plan that only allowed using APs the day earned I "broke the rule" and went in to the red some weeks. Was glad when they dumped that one.

I am not exactly breaking the rules per say on the new plan with it's additional carb and sugar penalty but would be using a lot more of my activity generated points than routinely in the past.

In the beginning I gave up all alcoholic beverages for a few weeks but then figured out how to add them back in.
I don't formally journal except to try out new versions of WW when they come along so in terms of "tracking" I am not using paper or electronics. I still eat the same foods and amounts (memorized during a year at lifetime) which is the important thing.
As usual I didn't really answer the question. Oh well. Sorry Charlie.

podkey

In answer to your question I feel it is fine to tweak the rules as long as I am either losing or (if desired) maintaining my weight.

Jimb376mfp

I'm lazy about weighing and measuring. In my mind I justify it by telling myself I know my portions are smaller than I used to eat. Examples are bowls of cereal, chicken breasts, and salad dressings.
I know I should measure but don't. Maybe it's time I do?
Personally I hate the term Cheat Day, it seems like s cop out to me, but this LTL Topic makes me realize I'm giving myself "cheat moments". Time to change that.

Calvin2008Brian

I know I do my best when I weigh and measure and track like a neurotic bean counter, so I try not to allow very many cheats. One that I'll readily cop to: every piece of fruit I eat is medium-sized. I refuse to weigh an apple!

On a related note, this season's Zestar! apples are now available. Zestar!®. "CRUNCH INTO ZESTAR!"™.

MICHGOLFER2

On one of the previous WW plans, as podkey mentioned, you had to use activity points on the day you earned them. I routinely broke that rule. I was more strenuously active at that time, and I usually wasn’t hungry on the day of the activity (leaving unused points), but I was the next day. So I would back-track parts of my meals over the course of the week, filing in the days where I had left over points. Breaking that rule didn’t hurt my weight loss. Now, I don't even track Fitness Points, let alone use them. I'm active, but not active enough to need extra points.

For me, that’s the key – what the scale is saying. If I am breaking or bending rules, and not losing weight, then whatever I’m doing is not okay if I want to lose weight.

podkey

Yeah me too. I sometimes wasn't that hungry after a long bike ride but needed to eat more the next day.

I spent over a year at goal weight before changing from point tracking to simply filling technique. I was mostly eating the SFT foods anyway. I would return to point tracking if needed for sure.

countcurt

I'm an IMer as well. I decide by what the scale says.

If I'm in a zone of comfort, I guesstimate everything. If I'm in orange or red, I tend to toe the line.

Although I don't weigh food either. The only time I ever weighed food was when I was buying Fage in the bulk container and I wanted to distribute it evenly over 5-7 servings.

goldenfrisbee

I left the WW plan and am just using MFP to do my tracking using calories instead of points and using GoaD for my accountability. I don't give myself more calories for activity (but if I'm honest, I'm not doing a whole lot of activity anyway). So far I'm really enjoying eating anything I want as long as I stay within my daily calorie goal. I do think twice before deciding on items that have a high calorie count.

Unexpectedly, yesterday my daughter asked if we could go out to Baker's Square for lunch. I wasn't planning for that, and ordered a Works Burger without checking the calorie count thinking it would be 500-600 calories. I was stunned to later find out that it had 1,100 calories. Not gonna make that mistake again.

So I guess the only rule I have is to stay under my calorie count and I will break that rule if I feel it is worth it for a singular event, like a special night out, but not for anything longer.

lilybbbbb

I estimate everything because that's how I'll do it the rest of my life. My problems are never with measuring or whatever--they're with getting into some crazy loop where I prove I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT. <sigh>

Johnkaz63

I have a Kraft Caramel and a piece of salt water taffy every night before I head to bed. My treat for being on plan through out the day.

minimyzeme

RULES?? We don't need no stinkin' rules!

I modified my plan almost right out of the gate. I have my own 90/10 rule, allowing myself to be 'off-plan' 10% of some amount of the time (haven't figured out if it's meal, day, or week, but so far it hasn't mattered). I'm OK with adherence most of the time but I knew I wanted to allow for a little freedom and spontaneity--I like that in life. When I considered the enormity of the change from absolutely no plan and no limits except being stuffed or drunk, the idea that I would track and mostly follow the plan seemed like a huge reigning in of my former self.

The interesting thing is that having given myself that latitude, I really haven't used it that much. It's led me to believe it was more of a mental cushion that I wanted than the desire to actually carry it out.

The actual decision to indulge is one I try to make ahead of time, even if it's only seconds ahead. The mindfulness is important to me and I've been practicing thinking before I act. There's really only been one occasion that I didn't do that. Alcohol was involved and it wasn't pretty. Let's just say I found out the hard way I can't drink as much as I used to...