The whine on the wine...

Awe crap, us WINOS are SCREWED!

Today marks the second week of tracking for me on the new PointsPlus Weight Watchers program. Since the last quarter of 2010 was filled with the Giants playoffs and World Series win, then straight into the holidays, I am now paying the preverbal piper for the pounds I gained in the process. It actually feels great to start the new year with a plan to insert some sanity back into my eating plan.

So I've been learning quickly what is the same and what is different on the new points plan. As many of you I'm sure have already figure out, it comes down to this: slightly more leeway on foods that are not processed (i.e. whole foods), and more penalization for anything processed or carbohydrate-y. Guess what falls into the latter category BIG TIME: booze.

As I attempted to cut down on but still fit some doses of wine into my week, it quickly became clear how fast I was going to damage my points allowance if I went at this same ol' same ol'. Gone are the days of a bottle being 11 points. Instead try 25! Now, it's not apples to apples, as we now have an increased amount of weekly points to dole out to causes like this, but we're basically going from 3 bottles a week on the old plan to 2 on this plan.

A life or death situation? No. Probably smart changes on Weight Watchers part? For sure. Gonna take some adjusting in my weekly and daily life? Definitely!

As for the matter of this group's namesake, that is still TBD…….but ELEVEN POINTS will always live in my heart! And stomach. *tear*

The New Program : PointsPlus

With Weight Watchers unveiling their new PointsPlus plan, it feels like a perfect time to start back up (again!) and get tracking. Admittedly, I've gained back 8 of the pounds I had shed the first time around and I need to get back in check. (We'll need to come clean with the Backstreet Boy image and drop that weight loss meter down I suppose, too.)

I haven't cracked what this new plan means yet, but I did manage to find out that a 4oz. glass of wine has doubled from 2 POINTS values to 4 PointsPlus values.

And, even though it looks like the weekly allowance total has been upped to 49, this news seems to hit a little close to home for the Winos!

I will keep reading the site to bring you important wine & foodie related updates, but in the meantime, has anyone attended a kick off meeting already about the new plan? Any advice?

Chipotle Points aka This Will Ruin Your Burrito Buzz

The chain Mexican food restaurant Chipotle is a go-to favorite of mine. Even with as many authentic taquerias as we have here in SF, I occasionally find myself at Chipotle's downtown location to get my mid-day burrito fix.

When I first joined Weight Watchers, I found that they did not have the points of this restaurant on the online tracker. So I eventually got hold of the nutritional menu and made my own WW Chipotle choices.

Well, today I discovered that the points for Chipotle ingredients are now on WW. Yay! I immediately calculated two of my go-to items. A bad-girl burrito with the works (tortilla, beans, chicken, cheese, rice, sour cream, guac, salsa) = 24 points! Whoa! As I searched Chipotle on my WW iPhone app, I realized I had tried to do this calculation before on my own and somehow only came up with a 13 point burrito that I flagged as a favorite. I was off by more than half! How did this happen?

The smart-girl Chipotle choice, which I have actually ordered quite frequently since I joined WW, is my version of one of their salads. (Lettuce, chicken, pinto beans, corn salsa, fajita veggies, cheese, salsa as dressing). That costs me 10 points. If I drop the cheese, then only 7. Don't fall into the trap of going near their "Chipotle Vinaigrette", because that by itself is a whopping 7 points! You might as well just drink that down instead of the salad! Yeah, no thanks.

Now that I have a more accurate count of what is goin on in there, I will definitely only get a burrito if I commit to cutting it in half and making two meals out of it. Which all human beings should probably just go ahead and do anyways. Otherwise, it's salads for me! All the flavor, half the points. And GRACIAS, Chipotle, for being bold enough to allow your points to show on the tracker.

$4 a day

One of my favorite charities that I donate to every year (though not enough) is the San Francisco Food Bank. I think it holds a place in my heart, or should I say my gut, because I HATE being hungry. Other people, like my husband, hate me being hungry too, because when my blood sugar goes down, I turn into a bi-atch! So it makes me sad to think what it must be like for those who have to endure hunger all the time.

I also find it ironic that our daily Winos on Weight Watchers struggle here is to NOT put food in our mouths while others are struggle to find enough.

Recently the SFFB posted a link to the blog one of their board members is writing on as she challenges herself to live on the amount of food that food stamps provide to someone per day -- $4. I have been checking into the blog this week as she takes this challenge and it is very eye-opening…especially as I track my food today for the first time in months so I can try to NOT eat so much. Meanwhile, she is starving as are so many other people on government food assistance.

I encourage you readers to check out her blog and join me in being thankful for everything we have, which generally is way more than most:
http://fourdollarsaday.blogspot.com/

Check Yo Self Before You Wreck Yo Self

You better check yo self before you wreck yo self
Cos I'm bad for your health, I come real stealth...

Welp, it's been a cra-zay few months to say the least. Got married in September, honeymooned, had a birthday, and meanwhile the San Francisco Giants were battling themselves into and through the playoffs and became first-time World Series Champs. In the midst of all the mayhem, guess what didn't happen…..TRACKING.

From my best estimates I think the last time I was truly tracking via Weight Watchers was sometime in July. That means a 4-month lag in paying attention to what I am doing. Now that the aforementioned events are officially donzo, it is time to assess the damage.

In my previous post (below), I talked about the havoc the Giants baseball schedule was having on my own, and my weight. Watching games instead of working out. Drinking and eating junk instead of planning for healthy meals. Let me tell you what -- it was ALL worth it. With their huge trophy in hand, the season is now over, and so is this free-for-all that went on way longer than expected.

Come on and check yo self before you wrickity-wreck yo self

So chickity-check yo self before you wreck yo self...

Though I wasn't tracking, all the while I kept up with weighing in. Hey, I didn't want to completely flush my $39.95 WW payment completely down the toilet. Plus, even if I'm not trying, I still like to know what the numbers are. Today I did my official post-mayhem weigh-in. Overall weight gain from my lowest weight since joining WW: 4 pounds!

If you're foul, you better run a make on that license plate

You coulda had a V8...

I'm remembering back to all of the drinks and indulgent foods that have crossed my path in the last 16 or so weeks and, frankly, 4 pounds feels like I just got away with murder. It is a small price to pay for the caution I've thrown to the wind. I am thankful that my battle to get back down won't be insurmountable. But if I don't start back up again now, things could get real bad. I love fitting back into my clothes nicely. I love being in control and making wise choices. I love being creative with this plan to get me to an end goal. The last thing I will let happen is to let myself back to where I started. I don't care what life gets in the way, I never want to end up in that chunky chick prison again. As Ice Cube says, good thing I'm checking myself before I wreck myself...

Cause women like you gets no respect
B!!!h, you better run a check

The Playoffs 15

Anyone who's ever gone to college knows about The Freshman 15. It's the weight an 18-year-old puts on from being away from home for the first time, constantly surrounded by copious amount of food in the dorm cafeteria and all-you-can-drink keg parties at the fraternity house down the street. They are out of routine, not on the football or cheerleading squad exercising every day after school, and sleeping through any class that starts before 11 a.m. By the time they all go home for holiday break, boom! Everyone's chunkier.

When the San Francisco Giants baseball team was in the 2002 and 2003 playoffs, I found myself in a similar situation. Instead of going jogging after work along the gorgeous Crissy Field coastline, there were very important games I HAD to see…..at a sports bar…..with pitchers of beer and plates of nachos. The problem with a playoff series is that they can go on for weeks upon weeks. And if your team is lucky enough to make it to the World Series, as we did in 2002, those weeks turn into months. Before you know it, one missed jog around the neighborhood turns into 17. Pile the sports bar calories on top of it and you've suddenly gained The Playoffs 15!

The Giants' recent run for the pennant has proven I have still not taken these learnings and applied them. I have spent the last two evenings with my eyes glued to the flat screens at a place here called Rosemunde's Sausage Grill. It is every bit as delicious as it sounds. Literally more than a dozen different kinds of specialty sausages to choose from. The fries are to die for. And there's an excellent selection of specialty beers. So as I rooted for enough wins to take us to the World Series, I stuffed my face with said deliciousnesses. Never mind the previous two-week-long series that got us to this one, or the end of the regular season prior to that, which was a nail biter down to the end, so I HAD to watch all those games too.

Needless to say, Weight Watchers tracking is not one of the 'stats' I've been paying any attention to lately. It's much more interesting to see how our star closer Brian Wilson matches up against the league's other best pitchers. But, I am still subjecting myself to weekly weigh-ins. If I'm going down with the team, I at least want to know it. I thought I was beating the odds when last week when I weighed in at a new all-time-low for myself. Pleased as punch I figured I could keep on doing what I'd been doing and get away with it. Well, that philosophy turned into strike three when I stepped on the scale this week…… UP 4.5 LBS! It was a new record stat: largest gain in a week since starting Weight Watchers. Boy do I not need that on my ERA.

There are a couple more critical games this weekend. I’m not sure my behavior will change completely, but maybe it isn't necessary to sit in the sausage joint again for starters. Hopefully I can monitor myself a bit better and avoid another error on the scale. And hopefully I can celebrate doing so by popping open a bottle of champagne with a Giants World Series berth.

LET'S GO GIANTS!

How Winos Celebrate Birthdays

We don't celebrate with cake. We celebrate with karaoke.