Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Nifty Little Thing

So, I was in Wal-Mart today doing some veggie shopping, and picking up some odds and ends meal stuff. While I was walking through the bread isle I noticed a woman who was picking up a loaf of bread, punching some numbers in to a calculator, picking up another loaf of bread, and would again, punch numbers in to a calculator.
My mind started wandering about people who bring calculators to the store. I usually just keep a mental note of what I'm spending, rounding up to the nearest number. I figured though, that if you were on a tight budget, or you were super strict about your budget that this might be a worthwhile thing to do. Just, making your total a more accurate number.
When I passed her however, I noticed a familiar symbol on her calculator:
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So, I had to stop and ask her what exactly it did, and where she got it.
I'm really not a person to stop and talk to people here in this town - people are generally really rude. But this lady was sweet as sugar. I told her I had seen her earlier looking at different types of breads. She explained that the one she usually gets they didn't have, but it wasn't really a problem since she had her Points Calculator with her. I told her that a friend and I had recently joined, and that we were blogging about our journey with it. She thought that was the neatest thing! She asked if I was going to go to meetings, and I told her I hadn't really made up my mind on that part yet. That I was going to see how online'ing went first.
We chatted for a little bit, and she showed me her WW Calculator. It seems like the handiest thing, you simply enter in the calories, fats, and fiber and it will give you the points value of each serving. Turns out the bread she was looking at was 2 pts. per slice. I guess the bread she normally bought was 1pt. per slice.
I asked her if the calculator was something that she maybe earned as a perk for losing weight, or maybe they handed out to people who went to the meetings. She said she did infact get hers at a meeting, but that she was almost positive that they sold them on the WW site - she said she though it was around 10 bucks.
She said it was worth every penny!
We chatted for a few more minutes, and then parted ways. She said she'd keep an eye out for me at the meetings, incase I decided to show up. If the majority of the members are like her, I just might go try it out :)
So, I came home and after awhile of looking on the WW site, I did find the calculator and it is about 10$. It sure looks handy, especially if it's kept in your purse for the times like the lady at the store found herself in. If your "usual" isn't there, you can do a little looking around and find the next best thing.
There are a few different models. Some track your steps and will calculate point values for you, which I think is neat too.
I think I'm gonna stick with the calculator for now though, and maybe upgrade later on!
They offer a points calculator online, which is nice. But, it can be a pain to go back and forth checking thing on the computer. It would be nicer to have it right there on the counter, or in your purse for at the store.

I'm doing ... better with my water. Finding more creative things to do with my salads too. I now have two of those spray dressings in my fridge. One is Italian (Yum!) and today I picked up a Caesar. I have yet to try it, I hope it's good.
I'm going to start looking up some good, low point marinades for my chicken breasts too. I could eat some diced up chicken on my salad every day :)

I have also been walking twice around my block every day. Some days I am doing it all at once, others I'm walking around once and then walking around later.
I need to find a place that can replace the tires on my Jogger stroller for Ryleigh (anyone know where to even look for those). It's an LL Bean Jogger, so I don't know if I would have to specifically look there for them. Anyways, the tread is worn, which makes it a pain to push.
My elliptical days are becoming Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's easier to do when DD is at Pre-school. If I do it while she's home, she wants to "play" with it too.
I'm going to have the ass of J.Lo by the end of summer if I keep it up! Man, that thing makes ya feel the burn!

This weekend I'm going to follow up with a WW suggestion, which is going through your cabinets and taking a permanent marker and writing the point values of each thing on it's box or container.
Part of one of my lower cabinets is going to be designated as "Mommy's" also. It's going to be a little spot for items that are just for Mommy. It will ensure that when I need a quick snack or special treat that Daddy and Baby haven't oinked it all!

I still need to buy a scale!

2 comments:

Jana M. said...

I'm really proud of you guys! It is great that you have eachother.

Amber said...

Roni, you're doing so great! I've seen the calculator online, and have been tempted to order it. It does seem like a great little investment.

I'm really proud of you for getting up and moving so much! You're doing a fabulous job!

I guess I oughta post an update, too. :)