Self Monitoring Successfully

According to the American journal of Preventive Medicine, "Research has shown that tracking works. Self-monitoring on a regular basis and you will increase the likelihood that you will see success on the scale."

If you are a regular tracker and you have taken a week off from tracking have you seen a difference in the scale? I know when I start to feel out of control the first thing I do is start tracking what I eat and drink. Somehow there really is magic in the tracker!!

Monitoring Yourself is one of the Helpful Habits. Basically it means being aware of what and how much you're eating and how much you are exercising. It also means noticing the difference these things make to your progress.

Some common pitfalls to tracking:
Underestimating restaurant food.

• When dining out use the SetPoints values to help take the guesswork out of point calculating. Have a strategy ahead of time! Use your 35 weekly points if you need to.

BLT's (bites, licks, tastes add up!)
Overestimating activity.

• Just because you exercise doesn't automatically mean you need more food. Check to see how many activity points you really are earning. Don't guess!

It just takes too much time!

• We can make an excuse for anything. Is your weigh loss important to you? Make a little time. Use the tools Weight Watchers has given you and make the plan work for you.

We now have quite a few options to tracking:
Weekly tracker
3 month tracker
Online with etools (it's fun too!)
Points calculator
points clicker
Using the Simply Filling Technique (check out book 6)

We picked up a few member tips this week too.
Put your tracker right where you eat.
Write it down right immediately. Don't rely on your memory.
Have a whiteboard handy on your fridge so if you are in a hurry you can still take a second to jot it down.
Repeat a tracker from a few weeks before. (It's already filled out for you!)
Using a sharpie write down the points values for items you use frequently. (light mayo, peanut butter, etc)
Pre-track your day.

Make sure you track your weight loss progress and measurements. Do some comparison's and be joyful at the progress you are seeing.

When it comes to tracking: If you kind of do it-it kind of works....And if you REALLY do it, it REALLY works! It's amazing the power of a pencil yields.