Getting started on Weight Watchers - The Cheat's Way

I originally Googled the words "tight ass" for an image... Excuse me while I go wash my eyes out with soap...

Let's be honest, Weight Watchers is expensive.

And not an expense that I could justify while raising a baby on only my husband's income.  So being the thrifty (...stingy)  person that I am, I found a way around all those unnecessary costs to bring you the cheapest way to do weight watchers!

1.  Find someone to start your journey with.

This is the main thing you will miss out on by not purchasing an official Weight Watchers subscription, and some people may feel that they would not be able to do it without having a meeting to go to every week, which is fine.

However I have been lucky enough to start with my cousin, who has been successful on Weight Watchers before.  Not only is she a wealth of knowledge, but she keeps me accountable and gives me encouragement when my diet goes off the rails!

We have devised a little incentive system where the first person to lose 5 kilos gets a $10 gift from the other, the first to 10 gets $20, and the first to get to their goal weight has to take a plane to visit the other (Although we haven't quite figured out yet which is the better prize: having the other visit you, or getting a week off from the kids?).

2.  Start bidding

Do a search on ebay for "Weight Watchers" and you will find pages and pages of people reselling their starter packs (just ignore what this might say about the success rate).  Be prepared to do a lot of searching, bidding, and waiting, before you get what you are looking for for a decent price.  I lost several bids which ended up selling for over $90, before I got what I wanted for half that price. 

The essential items you will need are the 'Shopping Guide' and the 'Eating Out Guide'.  Other items you may want are the Weight Watchers folder (including the 'Pocket Guide', 'Getting Started', and 'Love your food'), the points calculator and the points tracker (but some of these you won't need if you follow my next point).  The Weight Watchers cookbooks are also a good investment.

Also try to make sure the materials you are getting are from this year (or at the least 2011), as Weight Watchers changed their points system in 2010, so you want the most up-to-date information.

3.  Get a tracker app

The essential part of this diet for me is making a note of everything I eat.   I heard someone say "if you bite it, write it."  This has really helped me stop the habit of mindlessly eating that I'd fallen into. 

I found a fantastic app for both Androids & iPhones called the "Ultimate Food Value Diary Plus".  It lets you calculate and track everything you eat by either scanning the item, or searching for it in the database (with plenty of Aussie products!).  Unlike other tracker apps this one offers you a choice of Weight Watchers Australia, US or UK, and no more converting from ounces to grams!  The app also includes a points calculator, and a meal function for those family dinners.

A bonus for breastfeeding mothers: when setting up your points allowance you can choose the option of breastfeeding full-time, or supplementing, which gives you 7-10 extra daily points, so no need to worry about milk reduction!

4.  Get some accurate scales

Another main part of the Weight Watchers program are the weekly weigh-ins.  Choose a day and time and weigh yourself at that exact same time and day every week.  This enables you to track your weight loss more reliably.  My weigh-in is every Monday morning in my bra and undies after I have breast-fed Oscar and been to the loo.  I then take a photo of myself in the hopes that I'll notice my body changing, as that's usually more incentive than just some decreasing numbers.

Make sure you own an accurate set of scales.  I went out and got a new-fandangled set of digital scales for about $50 that also measure your muscle and fat percentages, but they were so inaccurate! One morning I got 4 different readings in 5 minutes, so I took them back the next day and got some good-old analogue scales for $8... Bargain...

And that's about it!  Has anyone else tried to do it the stingy way? Got any tips or tricks for us?