I'm fat. Overweight, just this side of obese. It never even occurred to me that it would go this far, I have always been "thick" but never in my life have I been this big. I am weigh more now than when I was 9 months pregnant with my 9-1/2 pound baby boy, so that is pretty big in my opinion.

Almost 3 weeks ago, I joined Weight Watchers. Though I am not a big fan of diets, and I certainly hate their claim that "Weight Watchers is not a diet but a lifestyle", I do know several people who have had good success in losing and controlling their weight by following their points plan. I am at a time in my life where I definitely need to get my weight under control, and this plan seems easy enough to follow, without having to get too bogged down with calorie and fat counting.

The plan has me limited to 29 pointsplus points per day and trust me when I say, this number is sufficient, yet somehow, not enough. Let me explain. If I avoid most carbs, like cereal, pasta, rice, and things with flour in it, the day is easy, but, the moment I add one serving of cereal or pasta (5 pointsplus on average) that's already a large chunk. Keep in mind also, that an actual serving of pasta or cereal is fairly small, and would never sate my tummy unless I matched it with a fairly large salad, or a piece of fruit. That said, I think my awareness of serving sizes has given me a clue as to how I got to this size in the first place.

So I have been MIA over the past 3 weeks as I try to figure out how to best distribute my pointsplus points throughout the day. Throughout the week, I am testing where to lay down those additional 49 pointsplus points, that float any daily overages or can be used for a special night, or for eating out.

My particular challenges are that I do not want to resort to imitation ingredients very often (like Splenda) or to zap out all flavor by only using non-fat versions of dairy products. It isn't only because I love butter or sweet stuff, but mostly, it is because I question whether any of those items are really good for you in the long run.

Right now, my plan is to stick to what I have been doing all along, a 9 pointsplus breakfast, a 9 pointsplus lunch, a 7 pointsplus dinner and two, 2 pointsplus snacks. Once a week, on Wednesdays, I plan to go a little more overboard, with a more "gourmet" dinner with wine and dessert!

Image: nixxphotography