WeightWatchers is essentially eating whatever you like in moderation, and tracking it with points values based on calories, fat and fiber. But sticking to WW when you’re in the real world isn’t always easy – especially when you live in a big city and are surrounded by world-class restaurants and temptations. In my new column, I’ll discuss situations that come up on my own WW journey, and how I deal with them!

25 points. That’s the magic number of points I am allotted every day, not including any weekly points or activity points. It sounds like a lot, but if you burn 12 points with a big sandwich, you’ve suddenly eaten half your day’s calories! When I first started WeightWatchers, I started to realize that a lot of common foods – even ones I thought were “healthy” – rang in at high points values of 8 or 10. I got scared and stopped buying peanut butter and other high points value items. After all, I know about plenty of items that come in under 5 points, like Luna bars, Atkins shakes, fruits and string cheese sticks.

It’s great to have these items on hand when you only have a couple points left (or want to hold yourself over until a meal), but you can’t ONLY eat items with 5 points or fewer. You’ll go crazy! If you eat a whole day of 3- and 4-points items, I bet you’ll never really feel satisfied or full. It’s okay to eat a 10-point sandwich. It’s perfectly fine to eat a two-serving can of soup with 8 points. The whole message of WeightWatchers is that nothing is off limits. That’s why it’s realistic, and that’s why you’ll be able to stick with it. Don’t blacklist any foods from your diet. You can have a donut if you want. Just estimate the points as best you can (I’ll write a column about missing nutrition facts later!) and add it to your tracker.

I find that it’s easiest to have one low points value meal so that your others can be more substantial. For me, it’s breakfast, since I have plenty of breakfast foods I like that have 3, 4 or 5 points values. That way, you can use 8 for lunch, 10 for dinner and 2 for dessert or something like that.

Photo: WendyUsuallyWanders