Musings: Filling and Healthy Tips & Advice

I know from previous attempts at Weight Watchers that Filling and Healthy can seem like hard work and a recipe for overeating.

However after following the plan pretty much consistently (I have the odd pointed day) for 13 weeks now, I thought I'd share with you some of my tips for getting on with the plan.

1) Don't go overboard with carbs - whilst there is no rule saying you have to limit the amount of carbs you eat, I found that when I was eating them with every meal (especially bread type carbs like Warbutons Thins) I was feeling really bloated. Now I try to have just two sets of carbs a day and differ them.

2) Make sure things are available - Keep things like fruit, veg and meat stocked up. When I'm peckish I like to pick at cooked chicken rather than an apple as I find it satisfies my cravings more.

3) Try to listen to your body, don't eat for the sake of it - I'm a save the best till last kind of person and also wolf down my meals faster than Usain Bolt on the running track, but the longer I've been doing filling and healthy, the more I'm becoming in tune with my body. For example last week, I had a massive breakfast and lunch and was still full by dinner so just had some fruit. My cravings and hunger pains have changed and I'm slowly getting used to what my body needs, rather than what it wants.

4) Experiment - Since doing Filling and Healthy I've become much more creative with my food. I found that when I was pointing I was eating the same meals day in day out as i knew the points and knew what chocolate I could also fit in. Now I with the freedom F&H presents I feel like I experiment so much more and really enjoy the food I'm eating,

5) Don't forget your 49 - I can honestly say my sweet cravings have severely diminished since doing F&H. I tend to have one to two pieces of chocolate a week now and enjoy it so much more when I do. I like to make sure the sweet treats I have really warrant me taking points from my weeklies and find I enjoy it much more. It also makes me questions 'What do I really want.'

6) It may be slower, but it'll make you feel better - Whilst I'm lucky in the sense my weight loss is occurring quite quickly, I know it's not going to forever, and I feel much happier knowing I'm not deprived and I feel better in myself for eating good foods then I would if I was living on chocolate and biscuits and pulling big numbers each week.

7) Be honest with yourself - Do you really want that extra potato because you're really hungry or just because you can? How will it make you feel on weigh day? Weight Watchers (or any diet company actually) wouldn't promote a plan that doesn't work. Filling and Healthy is a great plan, just like pro points, however neither plan works if you don't commit. So many flutter between plans and weight loss groups or only half commit and get disappointed when they don't see results on the scales. You have to be so honest with yourself about what you're eating.

Advice:

If you're still dubious about trying F&H ( and this post is by no means saying YOU MUST DO IT) why not just give it a go for one day a week. If you wake up feeling like you could eat the whole house then try F&H that day. My leader had a good suggestion of putting a green label of every F&H food in your house so you know what it is you can eat.

For me I've changed my lifestyle to fit F&H. I'm more conscious about what foods I put in my body, I know how to treat myself now (once or twice a week, rather than once or twice a day) and for the most part I feel in control of it.

Make sure you still track everything you're eating as you never know when you might unexpectedly have to change your days to points.

Do you have any F&H tips and tricks to share? I'd love to hear them!