Different roads, same destination

Finding someone to share and help you on your journey is a wonderful thing but what if the road is different even if the destination is the same?

Both my wife and I are on our weight loss and get fit journey, even though the destination is the same our approach is quite different.
My wife's approach is following the weightwatchers program. For her this works, for me it doesn't, My approach is totally different, my diet is far more primal, a high fat, high protein, low carb approach with cheat days.
For her  weight watchers works, for me it doesn't, for those of you that don't know what weightwatchers is, here's a brief summary.

Each type of food is worth a certain number of points – you have a daily point allotment and as long as you stay within your point total, you should lose weight.
Now, Weight Watchers has both an online component and an in-person component, where you go to weigh in on a regular basis and have a group of people to help keep you accountable.

There are parts of the program that I like, the accountability part of Weight Watchers, and honestly I believe this to be the reason that it is successful for a lot of people.  When you constantly surround yourself with people who are trying to better themselves and be healthy, it’s amazing what you’re capable of.  I think accountability is such a strong factor when it comes to health and wellness, and Weight Watchers provides that in spades.
I’m also a fan of the fact that they make the entire eating process simple.  I don’t necessarily agree with how that point system works, but I like that it simplifies the entire process

I do however have a few issues with the program.
Their point system, although recently updated, is still firmly planted in the old conventional wisdom “Whole grains are good. Fats are bad.”  Some of their point values are very questionable.  Pizza costs points, while toppings each certain points, too…regardless of whether or not it’s fresh chicken, broccoli, or processed sausage.
The point system factors in very little when it comes to the quality of the food.  They’d rather you eat a bunch of whole wheat pasta or low calorie processed snacks than real food. I’m talking about stuff like steak and veggies, or eggs and bacon. Worst of all, they ALSO happen to sell boxes of heavily processed, low-fat “health” food (packed with sugar and/or preservatives) that many people gobble up because they’re convinced the point value will help keep them healthy.

My biggest issue with the program however is the  focus is weight loss.  Under the program, your body composition and overall health just isn’t valued as much as the scale, which is a dangerous mentality.
This is the main reason that I couldn't follow the program, i did at the start follow the points system, however it became apparent within a week that the program wasn't for me. The program was starving my body of what it needed to feed the muscles for the level of exercise i was doing.

The Primal approach is based upon the idea of eating the foods our bodies were designed for through thousands of years of evolution.  These foods were available to early people through hunting and gathering [meat and fish, nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables].  During modern times, advances in technology have made other forms of food available for consumption [grains, dairy, and processed foods], which are not as easy for our bodies to digest. The foods recommended in the primal diet generally provide our bodies with more efficient, long-lasting energy that also aid in burning fat


so how does it work in our kitchen, Quite well actually, certain foods are common, lots of veggies and fruit, but different approaches on meat, and fish.
I would be eating hundred's of Weight watchers points every week, for example.
A mackerel fillet is 17 points even though it's packed with good fats and omega oils
A slice of bread is 3 points, so for one fish fillet you could have 5 slices of bread.
Which one would you rather eat?
Diet soda is my biggest bone of contention, on the WW system it is free of points, it has been proved that it offers no benefits to weight loss and in many cases can be linked to weight gain.

Since my wife and i have different tastes in food there is very little in the way of conflict, i think it is more from her as i often get the response, " i didn't buy you any food at the supermarket since i don't know what you are eating at the moment"
If anything it can be complimentary for example when we have pork - i trim the meat very lean for her which gives me the nicer cuts - ie the ones with a layer of fat.

It doesn't matter what diet you follow, as long as it works for you, the most important thing is that we are there to support each other and hold each others hands when there is a little wobble.