Weigh Day Treat, or Licence to Eat?

I think that almost all slimmer I have spoken to see official weigh day as a day that doesn't really "count" but to varying degrees. 

I found this much more to be the case when I was following Slimming Worlds plan, which to anyone unfamiliar with the plan it is one that has very little weighing and counting.  Basically you can eat as much lean meat, potatoes, rice, pasta, beans & pulses, Quorn and of course fruit & vegetables (well not avocado) as you like to make you feel satisfied and not bursting to the seams. Then there are more restricted foods but your intake of them is quite restricted with 1-2 small portions of dairy products and bread/cereals etc and up to 15 Syns (approximately 300 calories) of anything you fancy. Those Syns equate to about 60 grams of chocolate or a large glass of wine, but you also have to remove things like condiments, oil and other recipe ingredients, so in the end it isn't necessarily going to be enough to satisfy your cravings. It is a good plan in the respect that it is easy to follow, promotes healthy eating that can be adopted for life and you will never be hungry if you follow the plan correctly.  However, because the plan doesn't allow for those times where you need to grab a sandwich on the go and because of the large portions allowed it is quite easy to overeat without realising.

I found that although it is a very open plan in terms of having a really big "free" food list, it was also quite restrictive when I had those days where I really, really just needed a good bar of chocolate or a take away treat.  So much so in fact that Wednesdays I treated as off plan. Take Away? Check. Chocolate Bars? Check. Cheese? Check. Milkshake? You betcha. You get the point. I probably consumed more calories in one day than I did the rest of the week, I didn't feel good afterwards either, just bloated, over full and in need of an indigestion tablet in the middle of the night.  After a while it got harder to leave it just at Wednesdays and sometimes it would spill over right until the weekend.  I lost 4 whole stones with SW but it didn't stay there and I fluctuated between 3 and 3.5 stones lost for over a year.  In fact I think that had I added up all my losses and ignored my gains I would have lost enough to have gotten me to target long ago.

I continued with Slimming World because I made so many great friends and I was part of the social team doing the weighing or taking the money each week.  However coming to Germany where there is no SW forced me to either go it alone, or switch to the opposition.  For me right now WeightWatchers is 100% the better plan for me, I incorporate my favourite treats into my daily allowance while still eating huge amounts of fruit and veggies. The extra weekly allowance is a flexible way to overcome the inevitable dieting obstacles placed in your way (well almost all) and it is more likely that the temptation for a treat on weigh day can be accounted for and not collapse into a free for all.

I am not a big bread eater but when I fancy it like today for lunch with my 0 Point Soup I can have it, enough to satisfy me and guilt free.  It keeps me focussed and generally choosing the better more healthy options where I can, because I know that when I am really in need then the points are there to save me.

Zero Point Carrot, Celeriac and Corriander Soup with a couple of Laugenstange

Last night after weigh in we went to Uwe's parents for some home-made Zwiebelkuchen, and yes I had 2 slices but turned down the third when it was offered as I was already having some wine (PS I get drunk on a pitifully small amount these days) and there was a slice of cake from one of the local bakers at home with my name on.  As I said in my broken German, which oddly improves greatly with wine mixed in, that I could easily eat 15 slices of the Zwiebelkuchen but two was deliciously sufficient. Okay so my German maybe isn't quite as advanced to be able to say "deliciously sufficient" but I am sure they got my meaning...