Bidding Adieu to Sparkpeople and Spreadsheets…
June 27, 2008
For the past year I’ve flip-flopped between Weight Watchers’ Flex and Core programs. I have had love affairs with each of them at different times, and they have both been proven to work.
On both programs, there are 8 Good Health Guidelines everyone is expected to meet (2 dairy servings, 2 tsp. healthy oil, exercise, water, fruit/veggies, whole grains, lean protein, vitamin, etc.) .
But whereas on Flex, Points are counted for everything you eat, on Core, you only count Points for foods that aren’t on the Core list and eat to satisfaction–no more weighing or measuring every morsel (except for non-Core foods).
This means when I’ve been on Core, I didn’t need to count Points anymore for things like apples, oatmeal, skim milk, corn, chicken, lean beef, etc. (Core foods tend to be wholesome and unprocessed, save for FF/SF Jello pudding and a few other anomolies).
Since I love those things and eat pretty cleanly anyway, Core is clearly the better plan for me. Instead of planning my day around a measly 20 Points on Flex, I found I ate healthier and better on Core. I was less obsessed about food, didn’t stress about or “fear” when my next meal would be. I was making progess.
But I’ve never been 100% true to Core because still I’ve always weighed and measured my food; always journaled on Sparkpeople (a calorie-counting/nutritional-breakdown site) … Truth be told, I’ve never truly listened to my body because in my head, I always knew the every darned detail what I was eating and couldn’t “turn it off”… and frankly, I didn’t trust myself enough to just “be.”
Coupled with Sparkpeople and Weight Watchers, since November, I’ve been keeping a meticulous Excel spreadsheet that would make even an accountant crazy with how detailed it is: exercise completed, calories burned, calories eaten, daily weigh-in, net deficit created from my resting metabolic rate (which I had tested in November–1620)
Um… Can we say data overload? No wonder I am obsessed! These things are clearly not healthy.
So what am I going to do about it? Well, today I am making the following vows:
1. To stop journaling on Sparkpeople–so I am not corralled by caloric ranges and can try to just “eat” like a normal person, listening to my body.
2. To leave my ridiculously obsessive Excel spreadsheet to collect dust.
3. To be true to Core. I know it works when I work it.
4. To give up journaling Points for just one week and to focus on just listening to my body. I need to “go all the way.” After a full week, I’ll reassess this point, but expect to keep true to the other three for certain.
Wish me luck!
How about you? Have you been able to make the leap of faith where you aren’t wed to calories and can truly trust yourself?
Entry Filed under: Food, Weight Loss. Tags: Core, Weight Watchers.
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1.
Cathy | June 27, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I’m so proud of you!
you have to trust yourself. You know so much better than you think. you KNOW what the right amt of calories feels like; you KNOW what too much feels like; you KNOW what too little feels like.
Just act like goldilocks and feel it out.
2.
Cathy | June 27, 2008 at 3:17 pm
ach, I’m so bad at these posts. “you know so much MORE than you think”
I promise, that’s the last bad post.
3.
Lisa D. | June 27, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Wow Melissa! Go you! Progress is a-happening!
4.
Elena | June 27, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Promised I’d post something! This makes me really happy - I was actually going to suggest this yesterday - drop the SP and the spreadsheet, and just “be.” Personally, I’d love to see you reach a place where your eating brings just as much enjoyment and fulfillment as it did before you started dieting, even if it means gaining a few pounds here or there as your body evens itself out.
5.
lissa10279 | June 27, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Thank you everyone. See #4 — a new addition. Just one week, but I’m willing to commit to it.
6.
Susan | June 30, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I do Core and also SP. I really should give up SP; I think forcing myself into ranges is taking away from my ability to gauge my hunger level. And I don’t need more than one way to tell myself about my bad choices (like today - 14 pts of krap!)
7.
lissa10279 | June 30, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Way to go for ditching Spark! I agree the ranges took away my ability to gauge hunger. I know I’ve only eaten at the very low end of my calorie bank (were I counting, which I’m not) but if I WERE couting I might eat more to match the middle, vs. listening to my low hunger queues today.
8.
lissa10279 | June 30, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Thanks, Susan. Ditch Spark! I agree the ranges took away my ability to gauge hunger. I know I’ve only eaten at the very low end of my calorie bank (were I counting, which I’m not) but if I WERE couting I might eat more to match the middle, vs. listening to my low hunger queues today.
9.
Dave | July 3, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I’m pretty careful with my food selection but still sticking to tracking all of my Points (during the week) on an Excel chart. I’ll ween myself off it sometime but for now, it works.
Best of luck to you!
10.
lissa10279 | July 3, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Thanks, Dave! It’s always good to see/hear how others have found success. Tomorrow I’ll be posting about how my week went!!
11.
pc | July 23, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Wow - I do ALL of this.
12.
Emily | July 29, 2008 at 12:56 am
Hey, just found your blog through Back in Skinny Jeans. I would never say that I’ve had a problem with food, but probably the closest I came was a few weeks when I used SparkPeople. I started it to see what nutritional breakdown I was getting and ended up getting really into the calorie counting. I’m very much a type-A competitive person, so for me having my calories counted made my food intake into a game that I could “win” - scary stuff! I quickly decided I was eating more-or-less healthily anyway in terms of nutrients, so it was better to ditch the SP than head down that path. I’m sure it helps a lot of people, but it’s not for everyone by any means.
13.
lissa10279 | July 29, 2008 at 8:20 am
Exactly, it was about “winning”…I am happier without SP, but I still journal on WW. Like my therapist said last week, journaling would help a laid-back person much better than an anxious/Type A person–likely b/c we already are so regimented!
14.
Screw the Scale … f&hellip | September 24, 2008 at 12:22 am
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