The 5 P's

It is derived from the military 7 P's a long time standing saying to help you stay prepared.
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Oh how true this is!
My old boss used to use this saying all the time and drill it into our heads :) It really works in any situation.

My weight loss journey has been truly successful because of all of my proper planning. On weeks I do not have good results at the scale often it is because I did not plan as well as I should have.

So what exactly do I do to plan so well and have had so much success so far?

Every week I go grocery shopping with my list of all of my favorite filling fruits and vegetables. I make sure I get all of my snacks that get me through each day. It really is the little things like zero point fiber 1 yogurts, carrot sticks, and Weight Watchers cheese sticks that I can not live with out now. There are certain go to foods I know I need to keep in my kitchen so that I will be successful. One of my favorties right now is the Corn thins :

I use them as a snack and spread on whatever I want. 4 is only 1 point! Sometimes I put peanut butter, WW cream cheese, a laughing cow, whatever I am in the mood for. That is just 1 example but find snacks you enjoy and use them to fight the cravings.

When I buy a bag of say Soy crisps for example I portion out each portion as soon as I open the bag and put each serving in its own zip lock baggy. Then I take my sharpie and write the points value on each bag so I know exactly what I am eating. It helps too so you are not mindlessly munching from a large bag. One controlled portion is all you need.

Sundays is my day off from work and I literally spend hours in the kitchen on Sundays. It may seem like a pain but I cook for my daughter since I make her own food, and I cook my lunches and other things for the week. I make my breakfast right now its egg white quiche of some sort, lunches have been the lettuce wraps, and I made a quick dinner to keep on hand the spaghetti squash pie. Sometimes I will make a zero points soup. They key is to be prepared. I have tons of containers and I portion out a serving and store them in the fridge and freezer for the week. I also chop up my fruit and veggies for the week and keep them ready to toss in a salad. It is these little time saving things I use to keep me prepared for my week of work.

Tracking is a necessary thing for me. I have become so adept at it now that it is just second nature. I write down every bite of food I have and account for it to stay within my points allowance. One day I was out and did not have my tracking journal so I kept track on a post it till i got home. That's when I knew I was committed to this change! I just downloaded an application from my phone which is a Weight watchers tracking diary so now I can track anywhere without a pen and paper!

The last key component to my eating habits change has been the cooking and trying new things. About a month into Weight Watchers I really began playing with different recipes and using the recipes builder to customize meals. Variety is vital to be successful! You will get sick of the same snacks, you will get sick of salad everyday. Switch it up! keep it interesting, keep it fun and you will stay successful!

Do not forget the 5 P's, they can help you achieve anything you set your mind to!
Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance :)