It seems as though following my diet is going well. What I am struggling with is the fact that 1100-1350 calories really isn’t that much. Your jaw probably just dropped. You’re thinking, “1100-1350 calories!? WTF, Di!?” Allow me to explain.

In ~2002 (I think that’s the right year), I joined the Weight Watchers At Work program. Let me begin by saying that I lost a lot of weight, and while there was a bit of a yo-yo partly due to geographic location (Wisconsin), I’ve managed to consistently keep 25 of those pounds off. The last ten that I lost (total of 35 pounds) have been a regular battle, usually only becoming an issue in the winter. This is where I now stand. As a result, I chose to go back on the program, although not officially.

The Weight Watchers POINTS program works like this (this is an elementary explanation):
• 1 POINT for ~50 calories
• -10 calories for every gram of fiber, up to 4 grams per food item.
• 1 POINT for every 8 grams of fat

If I have an example food item with 200 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 4 grams of protein, that would work out to 5 points:
• 200 calories minus 4 grams of fiber 4 x -10 for every gram of fiber = -40 calories equaling a total of 160 calories
• ~160 / 50 calories for each point = ~3 POINTS
• 16 grams of fat / 8 = 2, x 1 POINT for every 8 grams of fat = 2 POINTS
• Total POINTS: 3 + 2 = 5 POINTS

Looking at this, you can probably figure out that a fair amount of food can be consumed if one opts for high-fiber, low-fat food items. This isn’t always the case, and it isn’t always desirable.

My struggle is fitting in my dairy. I generally like to consume two cups of skim milk (with Ovaltine) and 1 cup of yogurt with ¼ c granola per day. This comes to a grand total of 11 POINTS for dairy. Allowing for only 22-27 POINTS per day, I am trying to stay on the low end. This means that dairy accounts for almost half of my intake.

I could cut out the dairy, but I find that to be an unacceptable alternative. As a 31-year-old woman who has never, ever broken a bone and participates in sports that are known to have produced broken body parts over the years for others, I am not about to give up my dairy. What I do works for me, so there is no need to change.

You may have figured out that it is impossible to get one’s vitamin and mineral requirements on this low of a calorie-intake. This is another reason why the Ovaltine is important. The stuff is basically a multi-vitamin in a jar, and makes for excellent chocolate milk that is also low in calorie.

Another caveat to consider is that I have not been active over the last week, so I haven’t earned more points by exercising. I am hopeful that I will feel good enough to ski on Monday. This keeps getting pushed off, but this illness needs to go.

While compiling my menu for tomorrow, I had to make an adjustment. Taking everything into consideration, I decided to keep the Ovaltine and halve the yogurt and granola. This brings my dairy to 8 POINTS. That’s more acceptable. Since I plan to spend about two hours on the ski trails on Monday, I will burn 17 POINTS (sustained, high activity level for two hours). This is 17 POINTS I could use on food, but I think I will eat an additional 10 POINTS. See? There is a lot of motivation for hard core exercise.

Another trick I am using to keep me sane while going through this lull in consumption is drinking herbal tea. It is flavorful, caffeine- and calorie-free, and full of water. I go through a lot of tea bags, each day.

As you can see, I have devised a plan and am off to a good start. My clothes should start fitting me much better by the end of the week. I am excited.