My Experience with Weight Watchers Simple Start | Dearest Lou

My Experience with Weight Watchers Simple Start

I was given a free one-month subscription to try the new Simple Start plan and write about my experience.  Though I was compensated for my time and commitment, all views, positive and negative are my own.
Weight Watchers offered me an opportunity to try their new Simple Start program and write about my experience. At the time I am writing this post I am one week in and am happy to say that my experience has been positive. I wrote a couple pages detailing my opinion and experience and had my husband take a look at it for a proof read. This is what he said “It looks great and is easy to understand. However, I have no clue what the Simple Start plan is. You didn't provide any details about what the plan is or how it works and that is an essential part of any review.”

He was right. I had not provided any concrete details explaining how the program works. With his help I decided to share the following experience.

Flashback 6 months. Zaden is coming up on his first birthday and I was having mixed feelings about my postpartum body. I secretly loved all of my stretch marks because they showed my pride in my ability to create a nice home for Zaden before his birth. But, I wasn't feeling energetic or happy about being so squishy. I specifically remember telling myself that it's because I'm breastfeeding and that's why I'm always so hungry and heavier than usual. I had my ups and downs with going to the gym and eating what I thought was a nutritious diet but never succeeded in changing my actual lifestyle.

Several times I told myself I was going to change. I tried to think of meals that fit the diet I had in mind. I looked in cookbooks and online for ideas but I couldn't make it work. Zaden and I would head down to the supermarket and buy vegetables, meats, spices and everything else. We would make a meal or two and get lost. I couldn't find any other meals that sounded appealing to everyone, were healthy, didn't take too long to make, and were within my skill limit. Half of the ingredients were forgotten and went bad in the fridge.

Where does Weight Watchers come in? Why am I rambling on about my failed experiences in changing my lifestyle? 

Simple Start fills in all the blanks.
First and easily my favorite part of the app is a reminder of your goal every time you open it up. I pull my phone out and open the app and across the top if the screen it states my goal, “I want to be a healthy and strong mom and wife.” My second favorite part of Simple Plan is all of the pretty food pictures and simple recipes. If I have a craving and do some searching and come across something I like and BAM, a picture of what it looks like is right there with it. Simple Plan also makes it easy to make ideas into meals. Have an idea of what you want but can’t come up with an actual meal? Simple Plan allows me to use "Power Foods" in order to create a custom a meal for what I need. Another great strength of the app is the Simple Start Food List. Plan and organize your meals and then form a grocery list so you don’t have to make a second trip to the grocery store and so you can avoid food being wasted.

Something that I had been doing prior to trying Weight Watchers Simple Start is counting calories. If I ever messed up I was always so hard on myself and I would skip my cheat day. Don't get me wrong, counting calories and paying attention to food labels is a great way to see how nutritious the food you are eating is. But it can be time consuming and leave you feeling stressed. I kept tabs on all this stuff on my phone through various apps.

Simple Start Lunch Idea: Loaded Baked Potato & Vegetable Soup

I've just completed my first week of Weight Watchers Simple Start and I would be lying to you if I said I had a perfect first week. Day 1 was on Valentines Day and I ate all sorts of goodies but didn't go overboard. The remainder of the week I have tried my hardest to follow the program and it has been so easy.

Since I was already being mindful of what I was eating I realized that a lot of the meals I was eating prior would fit under the Simple Start meal requirements. The app is super easy to use and you are even able to custom make your own meals. There is also a little suggestion area on each recipe that details items you can use if you don't have everything it calls for.

Breakfast Pizza (swapped light English muffin for thin sandwich bread) 
& Light Nesquik Powder with Almond Milk (instead of cappuccino)

Overall, the biggest difference I feel is I actually feel full and satisfied after every meal. That is something I almost never felt when I was counting calories. I always found myself yearning for sweets. However, Simple Start even allows  indulgence items and you can "spend" your 7 PlusPoints on them however you choose. I usually use my indulgence item on cheese (1 oz = 3 PlusPoints) or chocolate (1 oz = 4 PlusPoints). I love knowing that if I'm craving something not so healthy I can use some of my PlusPoints towards that item without feeling guilty.

My husband says I need a TLDR for anyone in a hurry or for those who need a little more information about the content before they take the time to read it so here it is:

TLDR: Weight Watchers Simple Start is a great app because it makes managing your diet and planning your meals simple and its right there with you everywhere you go.

9 comments

  1. I've always wanted to try Weight Watchers! It looks like such a great program and I've heard nothing but good things about it. But I just can't seem to justify the price as a recent college grad.

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    1. I really love the Simple Start Program and highly recommend it for anyone looking for a good place to start. I haven't tried their regular point system program but I have a good friend that swears by it (:

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  2. I think I need to do this! I did so good on my Whole 30 but as soon as it was over (on Valentine's day) I've gone downhill! haha. I need something to simplify my choices and help me stick with being healthy. P.S. Your hubby is like an expert on this! haha

    Jessi
    www.haircutandgeneralattitude.com

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    1. Seriously the recipes are so easy and it's a great place to start (; I'm so impressed that you were able to do your Whole 30, I bet you got awesome results super fast. It's too bad to hear that it went downhill right after Valentines day but just start back up on trying to live an 85% healthy food 15% cravings and cheats. I believe that works best. Thanks, I told him that and he smiled, he seriously is awesome and I should have his look over all my posts (;

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  3. Awesome post, girl! :) This looks like such a great app for anyone who's trying to stay healthy and eat right but needs a little help (and honestly, who doesn't?!) All of my recipes I pin on Pinterest can definitely get super overwhelming! ;)

    xo

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    1. Thanks so much, it seriously is such an awesome app and I couldn't agree more. I'm always pinning ideas on Pinterest too (even not so healthy items) but rarely get around to making more than 2 of the recipes I pin on a weekly basis ;P

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  4. This sounds like such an awesome app. If I had a little more self-control, I might try it. ;)

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  5. I was actually told you can add 14 indulgence points to your 7= 21 per day!

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