My Top 10 Weight Watchers Tips

The following tips are things I do to be successful on WW

1. Get a food scale

Using a food scale helps in so many ways. For me, I can make sure I get the MOST food for the amount I want without going overboard. For example, my “guesstimate” of 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is more like 6! If you are just starting your weight loss journey – the first step is getting yourself aquainted with portion sizes.

This is the food scale I am currently using – $29 at Target – it looks really nice, but also weighs in grams, ounces and millileters. The brand is Taylor.

2. It’s not about perfection.

There is no such thing as a perfect weight loss or perfect weight watcher, so do yourself a favor and take that off the table. With your life busy with work, possibly raising kids, taking care of elderly parents, going to school, etc. that’s a lot to do AND lose weight at the same time. Make baby goals – maybe tracking breakfast for a whole week and build from there. Adding a fruit or vegetable to a meal, or moving 10 minutes a day. Of course there will be days off plan for vacations and parties, graduations, baby showers, etc. Don’t let being on Weight Watchers prevent you from participating in life! That’s what the weekly meetings are for, to learn techniques every week that you can start incorporating into your life to be more successful.

3. Find Activity You Like

This tip couldn’t be emphasized more. If you want to get active, DON’T try to do something you don’t enjoy. For one, you could get injured and then be sidelined, but if it’s something you can’t stand, you will never keep it up. I have many friends on the Pelaton journey! That’s awesome if you can keep at it, but if you buy an exercise bike, just to have it collect dust, that’s not a good use of time or money. In my opnion, the best FREE work out is walking. I absolutely LOVE being outside, looking at nature, and the time flies by so fast. As long as you have a good walking shoe – I currently am using Brooks Catamount Trail shoe. The trails by my house are mostly gravel – so these have been perfect and I never get blisters. Below is part of the trail I get to walk every day- it’s so pretty! I’m in my FIFTH month of walking 6 days a week!

4. Losing Weight Takes Time – Be Patient!

The diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and many people are lured into quick fixes, how to lose weight the fastest, taking diet aids, drinking just shakes. Unfortunately – none of those things work long term. You may have some success immediately, but over time, the things you did to get there are impossible to keep up, and you quit and most likely fall back into old habits. It takes small steps OVER time and CONSISTENCY that will help you get to your goals. The hard part is waiting to see results when you work so hard, but when you do – that’s the fuel that will keep you going and will help you be successful long term. If you lost 1 pound a week, that’s 52 pounds in a year – and that’s amazing! And if you are losing 1 pound a week, you are losing it the healthiest way and you can expect the changes you are making in your eating and lifestyle will stick. I always remember what Oprah said once – if there was something she could have bought for weight loss, she would have…..it doesn’t exist!

5. Make it Simple

Staring Weight Watchers, or any other weight loss journey – we have a tendincy to want to change EVERYTHING all at once. Focus on one or two things you think you can do first and be successful. For me, it was portion sizes. That has definitely been my downfall in the past. After that, you can choose what you want to focus on next. Adding a few vegetables to your meals, drinking more water, moving more. You don’t have to completely change your life from one day to the next just because you started a weight loss journey.

6. Food Journal

I am a HUGE fan of journaling. I’ve kept journals over the years, writing my meals down, celebrating with stickers, fun pens, etc… The #ww app on your phone is great, but I love being able to read back through my journals, especially when I was doing great – what was it exactly that was working – or if I had several losses back to back, I can look over and see what I did to get that.

7. Seek SUPPORT

The best thing about being a Weight Watchers is there are literally THOUSANDS of people working the plan just like you. You definitely don’t have to feel like you are going at it all alone. My first suggestion is attend a workshop in person, or a virtual one. One of the best things about in person meetings being on hold due to COVID is that it opened up for people to join virtual meetings anywhere at any time. On the #ww app, there is connect – where you can join a group, find people to follow, post your own successes (or hardships!) and you can start bulding your own community. I’ve met so many great people on Connect, Instagram and Facebook that I consider friends now even though I’ve never met them in person! If you want to try Weight Watchers free for a month – email me at jennifervonebers@gmail.com or send me a DM on Instagram @jenncooks and I’ll send you a code!

8. Weigh in ONCE a week

This took a while for me to adapt to. I know there are many people out there who love to step on the scale – every.single.day. While some people aren’t affected by seeing fluctuations day to day, for me, if the number went down, then I may feel like I could eat more – or if it wasn’t going my way, it would affect my whole day. Why does a stupid number on the scale do that to us?!?!? By weighing in once a week, same time, same day – it’s just a way to see how its going. Were there some weeks I had a gain where I knew I did so great – I deserved a loss. Ablsolutely. But even when the scale doesn’t go my way – if I look back on my week and I’m proud of what I did – that’s what it’s all about! Not what the scale says.

9. Try to stay positive

The best thing about Weight Watcher is it’s not a diet. It’s a program that teaches you better ways to fuel your body WITH tons of tips along the way! Instead of thinking about what you can’t have – focus on the things you can ADD to your life. My favorite thing is to figure out a recipe that is super deluxe – but I can fit in my daily points. If you follow me on Instagram @jenncooks – you will see what I make is not diet food! Making the journey fun and enjoyable is so much better than dreading it. I know tons of people who have lost weight on #ww and they can do so many things they couldn’t before. Ride a rollercoaster, keep up with their small kids, not having a seat extender on a plane. Keep track of the things that are getting easier for you – that’s a HUGE motivation.

10. Don’t keep foods in the house that are triggers for you

This is a tough one to do! My weakness is chips/crackers of any kind. Potato chips, cheetos, doritos, cheeze-its, wheat thins – I cannot stop at a serving. Yet week after week, some of these ended up in my shopping cart! Why was I keeping something in my house that I knew I couldn’t resist? Not buying these anymore has made all the difference. I love pretzels, air popped popcorn, cheese sticks, goldfish crackers, rice cakes. And those satisfy my salty cravings and I don’t eat a whole bag. Cookies are another item I can’t have in my house – especially oreo cookies. If the temptation isn’t a few feet from you – you are likely to make better choices.

I would love to hear what your tips are and what’s helped you in your weight loss journey. Let’s learn from each other – leave a comment below.