There are people out there who think you can’t be successful doing Weight Watchers Online Plus. They believe that the meetings are the only reasons why they have been successful. The support of the meetings is probably unparalleled, but if you are on a budget like I am, meetings just aren’t an option.
These 6 tips to be successful on Weight Watchers Online Plus guide will help to keep you motivated throughout your journey. If you need to lose just 10 lbs or 100+, you need all the support and guidance you can get when you are starting out.
6 Tips to be Successful doing Weight Watchers Online Plus:
Track everything you put in your mouth
This might sound like common knowledge, but this really helped me get into the habit of tracking. Yes, tracking can be a pain when you are on the go. But usually, your phone or computer isn’t far away from you, so you shouldn’t have any time to make excuses.
Open up that app and track everything you are putting in your mouth. If you can’t find exactly the same thing, find something similar in the app and track the higher point value for that item.
For example, I buy my lunches at work. I usually get a turkey and spinach flatbread with Swiss cheese. When I first started on WW, I found a similar flatbread sandwich and tracked that (it was 8 SmartPoints).
Later, I created my own recipe since I was eating it so often and started using that instead. But when you aren’t sure, track something similar and choose the higher point value item listed. This will make sure that you have covered your bases.
Use the Recipe Builder in the App
I love the Recipe Builder in the App (or computer). This will be your saving grace. I use this almost daily, especially when I’m developing recipes for this blog. It’s easy to use.
All you need to do is open the App and click the + in the middle, bottom of the screen. Click “My Food”, then “Create” at the top right corner. Choose “Recipe”.
This will allow you to create your food directly in the app and track it after you have created it. Just make sure you name your food something so that you can find it again and change the serving size.
Learn to love to cook
This might sound silly, but I had to learn to love to cook. There are still days that I don’t love it as much as I probably should, but that’s OK.
I have found a balance that works for me (I cook 3 dinners a week) and it keeps me motivated. I also have a ton of cookbooks in the kitchen to keep my interests and recipe development piqued.
A year ago, I was really struggling to have motivation and confidence in the kitchen. It became a real problem when we were eating out every night at a fast food restaurant (I’m not kidding).
Have you had this issue before? We would sift through our usual places each night and go somewhere we hadn’t been to that week. It got really bad.
Finally, I decided to try one of those food delivery services (like Blue Apron or Hello Fresh) to get my mojo back. Since you are paying more per meal, this forced me to cook again.
And I found the confidence that I didn’t know I lost in the kitchen again. After about 2 months of meals from one of these services, I was able to start cooking on my own again (from a cookbook).
My point is that you don’t have to be born a lover of cooking. You don’t have to cook all the time either. You just need to learn to love it enough to make it a priority.
And to try it…cooking isn’t difficult and you shouldn’t feel intimidated by a recipe. Trust me, they are all fairly easy to follow.
Drink water
Water is your best friend on Weight Watchers. Drinking enough water throughout the day helps to keep you full longer and your body hydrated.
I personally love cold, plain water, but if you need some flavors in your water, I suggest cutting up lemons and/or cucumber and putting a few slices in a reusable container.
Fill that with water and it will infuse it all day long. I did this for a long time and it works wonderfully, if you need a little bit of flavor.
Make a snack bag for healthy snacks
When you are first starting on Weight Watchers, you are going to be hungry. You will be cutting your calories and changing the way you look at food, so you need to plan for that 3pm time between lunch and dinner.
This was a struggle for me until I started packing a snack bag that I would take to work with me every day.
And you know what? It worked. Having that yogurt or a cheese stick really helped me to make it through the rest of the day. And I never felt like I was depriving myself. Snacking can be great if you do it properly.
This post about snacking might be helpful, especially about what to pack in your snack bag.
Be Active on Connect for Support
If you are worried about not having support, but want to join Weight Watchers online, don’t worry. When you join, you will have access to the Weight Watchers app. This will have something called “Connect” on it.
Think of it like Facebook for other Weight Watchers members. It is incredibly inspirational to go through the feed and read people’s stories or struggles. Don’t feel like you can’t jump in and help someone, either.
That is part of the fun. Follow people, post, and engage with other members directly on your app.
You can also join closed Facebook groups (your followers on Facebook won’t see what you post to these closed groups, so you can be as candid and open as you want). These are great to ask questions or share your progress.