Capitalizing on New Year's weight loss resolutions, Weight Watchers recently unveiled their newest weight loss plan: Momentum.

Momentum marries Weight Watcher's popular Core plan, which lets you eat as much food as you want off lists of filling but low-cal foods, and their Flex plan, which gives each food a point value. The new plan focuses on "filling foods" that will help you feel satisfied and resist temptation.

Momentum curiously doesn't depend much on protein to keep a dieter full, requiring only one to two servings a day, and instead seems to be depending more on volume and fiber. I don't know about you, but protein keeps me full longer than just about anything else.

Weight Watchers never worked for me, but if you need help with portion control and food choices, it is a solid program. What do you think about their new program?

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On Sunday, a marathon will take place in my city. There will also be a half marathon, a kids marathon, and a 5K. I've got a handful of friends of who will challenge themselves in the name of fun and fitness by running in these races and while I won't be one of the competitors this year, I may entertain the idea next time around. Part of me is intrigued by the physical accomplishment I could make by conquering more than 26 miles. Part of me just wants to participate in an event that has the power to save lives in five different ways.

The Five Points of Life races, sponsored by LifeSouth Community Blood Centers, are designed to raise awareness about the need for five life-saving donations -- blood, apheresis, bone marrow, organs and tissue, and cord blood. Some event participants and volunteers are donors, some are recipients, and some are both. Donors are asked to wear an orange ribbon on race day. Recipients: a blue one (we're Gators here, hence the orange and blue). The ribbons will serve as reminders of the importance of saving lives.

Should I run next year, I'll be wearing a blue ribbon, in honor of the several units of blood I received while hospitalized three years ago with chemotherapy-induced low blood counts. What a thrill it would be to publicly acknowledge the gift I was given. What a thrill it would be to run all those miles.

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My mom did the weight watchers points program a while back and in the interest of research, I took the resources she recieved from the program once she was done with it. They give you some handy stuff, including a small book that explains the points values of many common items from both restaurants and the supermarket. They also give you a slider thing that you can use to calculate the points in the chance that the item you want to eat isn't in the book. It's easy to use, but if you forget it at home, you're hooped.

But now you can calculate points of your food on the internet -- click here for the calculator. You just enter the calories, fat and fibre in the food you're eating and voila, it comes up with the points value for you.

Pretty handy, huh?

(via Fitsugar)

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I know lots of people who are trying or have tried Weight Watchers at some point in their life. Most have given up on it or lost a few pounds but gained them all back, but some have done really well on the program, including my friend Fran. Promising that you can eat anything in moderation, the weight-loss program is one of the most popular in the world. Is it for you? Here's a brief explanation, courtesy of AOL Body;

The main tenet (of Weight Watchers) is to consume fewer calories than you expend. Instead of counting calories, however, you'll either track your consumption using a POINTS system or use the no-counting Core Plan in which you select foods from a detailed list.

The plan basically follows a low-fat, high-fibre model, and for $12-$14 a month, you have access to materials outlining plan, plus you can attend meetings which help keep you on track. Fitness is encouraged, and you're welcome to eat out -- the POINTS program has an extensive list of the values of popular menu items. The plan is nothing is not flexible, which is one of it's main selling points.

What do you think of Weight Watchers?

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