Change Is Good.....Right?

I've been having a temper tantrum for the past two weeks.

Yes, you read that right. This 36 year old woman has been having a good old fashioned temper tantrum.

Why, you might ask? Weight Watchers changed its plan. And not just a few tweaks, but a major overhaul.

I've heard buzzing for a few weeks, but nothing concrete. "You'll love it" said my leader. So last Monday, after having had a long food centric weekend (give me a break, I was on program on Thanksgiving. No pumpkin pie for me. I had weigh in on Black Friday, and lost over 2 pounds), I booted up my computer, logged onto eTools on WeightWatchers.com, and was thrust into the new program despite my meeting not being for another four days.

The FAQ informed me that as November 29, WW.com wasn't supporting the old plan. I was thrown for a loop. eTools was my lifeline. I literally was on the website tracking food, exercise, etc all day. When I came home from work, I booted up the website so I could track my dinner, down to the gram and didn't log off until I had eaten my last Point.

The changes? Pretty overwhelming. My 3 point lunch was now 6. My beloved wine just about doubled in Points. I logged in my breakfast, lunch and dinner (no snacks) and was 3 Points over for the day, where on the old plan I was 3 or 4 points under with midday snacks factored in.

"But fruit is 0 points!" "My daily points allowance almost doubled!" "Just exercise more!" The message boards were of no comfort.

I wasn't happy. I don't particularly like fruit. My points allowance only went up by 5 Points. And as for exercise more? Bitch, please. I already do high intensity exercise 6 days a week. Am I supposed to run in my sleep?

My grown up, mature response was to go off program. I've exercised once since the day before Thanksgiving. I've been having full-fat Caesar dressing, with croutons, on my salad for lunch. I had a bagel with regular cream cheese for breakfast on Monday. Tonight I had a chicken steak sandwich (with mushrooms, no cheese) with a side of fries.

What? My meeting is tomorrow. I'll behave then.

I've been ranting on message boards. I've emailed WW twice. I even posted a snarky remark on the CEO's blog, begging them to support the old WW plan. All to no avail.

So, I'm going to suck it up. Back to my meeting tomorrow, up a couple of pounds most likely. I'm giving the new plan a shot, decreasing my wine intake (sob!) and increasing my fruit and veg. I'm not saying I'm happy about it, but a change may do me some good.

Side note: in the past two days at work, I've had three different people approach me to comment on my weight loss. Funny how that happens when I'm off plan. That encouragement has helped, I admit it. A part of me wanted to throw in the towel and use this change as an excuse. I realize I've come too far to go back now.