A Day in the Life of My Digestive System

One of the cool parts of having been on Weight Watchers and tracking quite diligently is that I can look back in my little diary and see everything I've eaten in the past few months!  During the week my diet has become pretty standardized.  But, since I've reached goal, I've been having trouble stopping losing weight.  This is a problem; I dropped significantly below what Weight Watchers considered a "healthy" weight for my height even though I wasn't trying to.  This past weekend, I'm pretty sure what I did in order to increase my weight should be considered cheating; I binged the night before (cheeseburger, french fries, movie theater popcorn, candy, Icee) and although I usually don't eat or drink anything before my weigh-in, I ate my parfait, drank my coffee and drank 2 bottles of water.  I also tried to not go to the bathroom.  I ended up weighing in at 131.2, which is still technically below what they consider "healthy" but only by .8 pounds, so it was an improvement.

So, I talked to my leader about what I could do to stop my weight loss (and explained to her that cutting out any exercise just wasn't an option for me, I feel and look great, and I'm not giving that up).  She went over my food diary and recommended that I up the amount of Kashi in my parfait from 1/2 cup to 1 cup and I add something to my lunch.

Well, here is a day in the life of my digestive system (and I'll be sure to note what is new to my "maintenance plan"):

• Coffee: Any brand coffee with 1 tbsp of creamer - 1 point
• I have one cup of coffee a day.  Apart from that I basically just drink water.  I have no problem sacrificing a point to have yummy coffee by adding a tablespoon of chocolate creamer to it.
• Breakfast: Yummy Yummy Parfait - 4 points
• Today I tried upping the amount of Granola and it was gross, I'm never doing that again. I'll have to find somewhere else in my day to squeeze in a few extra points.
• This is the ideal breakfast.  There's dairy and fiber in the greek yogurt, all the goodness of the fruit you add, and Kashi is an excellent source not only of fiber, but also protein.  It fills you up and tastes delicious.
• Mid-morning snack: Fruit Salad - 0 points
• Usually between 2 and 3 cups mixed of grapes, a kind of melon, and berries.  I nibble on it throughout the morning and fruit is free!
• Lunch: Lean Cuisine - anywhere from 4 to 8 points
• I try to stick to the "Spa Cuisine" line because that uses whole wheat pasta, etc. and less sodium, but sometimes I can't turn down the "Comfort Cuisine" line.  I really just love lean cuisines.  They're cheap, they're easy, and personally I think they're delicious!
• Lunch Addition***: Boca Burger - 4 points total
• My first shot at an addition to my lunch seems to be successful.  I brought a boca burger to heat up in the microwave and a Pepperidge Farm Deli Flat to put it on.  More specifically I had the mushroomy Boca Burger on a 7-Grain deli flat (each of those are 2 points).  I realize not everyone will like this, but I thought it was delicious.  It was also not the first time I had a veggie burger, so it may be an acquired taste.  Don't yell at me if you try it and hate it.
• Afternoon snack: Wheat Thins and Laughing Cow Cheese - 3 points
• I bring 8 wheat thins and 1 wedge of cheese to work for a snack every day.  I prefer the "Fiber Selects Garden Vegetable" wheat thins and the "Mozzarella, Sun Dried Tomato & Basil" laughing cow.
• Dinner:  Any recipe from Weight Watchers eTools - I aim for around 10 points
• I have yet to find a recipe that I don't like on eTools.  I plan out what I'm going to make on Sunday before we go grocery shopping and it actually makes my whole week just easier.  My fiance also LOVES the weight watchers recipes.  He loves even more that I'm constantly making new things.
• Dessert: Weight Watchers Ice Cream - 4 points
• My absolute favorite is the ice cream sandwich with mint ice cream in it.  I love them.  I don't know what I would do without them.  The fiance IS NOT allowed to touch them...because they're mine.  If you haven't tried these yet, I totally recommend you do.

This new addition to my daily menu has made my already hectic mornings a little crazier, but I'm sure soon enough it'll just become a habit like everything else I do to get ready.

This is of course just an "average" day.  Sometimes we'll go out for lunch or dinner and if I go over my points I just use some of my weeklies.  If I workout really hard I try to drink a Muscle Milk Light to use up some of my Activity Points unless I know there's something I'll be using them for later in the week.

So, have you found that your eating habits have become almost a routine after joining Weight Watchers?  Do you have any tips on how I could add more (healthy) points to my breakfast or lunch?