1.  The food is really yummy!  I don’t waste my time eating anything that I don’t love.

2. The graphs and charts.  I’m highly motivated by graphs and charts. I don’t know why, but I love statistical stuff.  On WW Online, I can see my entire weight graph all on one page – even data points back from when I started in March 2005. It is pretty cool.

3.  It holds your information for you so it is there when you re-enroll even after a couple of years.

4.  Set Points. These appear to be new since my last time.  There are certain foods classified as “filling foods” and after you eat a certain amount, the points for that item do not increase.  This works better with some foods than others. For example, a quarter of an avocado is 2 points and that is also the set point value so you can eat as much as you would like to feel full while being careful not to overindulge.  (There are other foods where this does not work as well. For example, eggs are 2 points each. The set point is 5 points.  I would have to eat 3 eggs for that to be worthwhile. Even when I’m not dieting, I don’t make 3 eggs for breakfast.)

5.  The cookbooks. The new Weight Watcher Cookbooks have great recipes!

6.  The choices.  This diet doesn’t tell you what you can and can not eat.  I can decide for myself what type of nutrition theory I would like to follow.  Even though it is out of favor at the moment, I’m a fan of the four food groups.  I think it is a good idea to eat a little of everything.  I’m also trying to eat more whole grains and Dave and I are now making the breads from Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day.

(Sharing with you a quick peek in our oven from Sunday night – 2 loaves whole grain.)

7.  My family is thinking more about what they are eating.  Dave is also doing this with me and that is a definate win-win situation. The girls are a little more reluctant.  No, don’t worry – they are not trying to lose weight, they just don’t like all the meals that involve healthy soups.  I’m not sure why as I think soup is good food.  We do, however, have quite a bit of conversation at the dinner table about healthy eating choices.

8.  It gets easier as you go along. The first days were the most difficult because I didn’t have a lot of healthy food supplies in the house, but now I have a good shopping schedule and have a lot of fresh foods and whole grain products available.  The decrease in portion size is also a shocker at the beginning.  It is amazing how much extra food I ate during the holidays!

9.  I actually lose weight doing this.  I can’t wait to fit in my old jeans!  There is a monthly fee, but usually they have specials where they wave the registration fees.  I don’t think it is too much. First, there is the extra motivation of wanting to do something that you have paid for. Second, being healthy just has so many long term benefits, how can you overlook that?  Once again – I do lose weight doing this.  I have never been able to lose weight  just trying to do it on my own.  I NEED to be accountable.

10.  The website is pretty user friendly and has definitely improved since 2005!  It doesn’t take too much time to enter points and look up recipes.  To find the time to do this, I’m just “borrowing” from my Facebook time so it is pretty much a wash.  (This is 2 New Year resolutions –  to lose weight and spend less time on Facebook — all rolled into one!)