Posts Tagged Weight Watchers
April 13: 5 Years on WW
(Note: this post is set to go live on April 13; I will be in NJ over the weekend until Tuesday … so I will resume blogging Wednesday when I get back home to Michigan)
Five years ago today, I began my Weight Watchers journey. In a move very unlike me, I didn’t think about it, or over-analyze or pro-con-con-pro it … I literally just did it. After an uber indulgent weekend in NYC with my family, I signed up online and never looked back.
I had never “dieted” a day in my life, until April 13, 2004.
After losing 35 lbs in 8 months without really even trying, my weight stabalized and I maintained there about a year.
(Please don’t hate me that it worked the first time; I bet cutting out just my near-daily Mint Mocha and shortbread cookie from Caribou Coffee alone would have done the trick and lord knows my two Snapple a day habit wasn’t helping matters any!)
Then I gained a little, but more or less maintained there for another year.
Then I got married, moved to Michigan (which meant no more walking to the Metro), and in spite of my vigorous daily workouts and biking jaunts, my eating hasn’t been fantastic as of late and life has changed a ton and so, naturally (why am I surprised!?) I began the slow approximately 3-5-pound-a-year creep that has been plaguing me ever since.
I realize I have no one to blame but me; no one puts food into my mouth but me.
But you know what? I don’t want to blame myself today. (more…)
17 comments April 13, 2009
… And a Bit of Rejuvenation
They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
The only time I’ve seen results in terms of weight loss was last winter/spring when I was journaling on Sparkpeople, when I was doing something “different”. Still journaling, just paying attention in a different way.
And so I see a couple reasons already why journaling on Sparkpeople, instead of Weight Watchers, is going to benefit me. (more…)
13 comments January 15, 2009
Weights & Measures
Yesterday Lee over at For the Love of Peanut Butter (one of my favorite blogs about one woman’s amazing recovery from her ED) raised some really insightful and thought-provoking points about the dilemmas surrounding weighing and measuring food.
She notes that, as a former restricter, once she was out of her treatment, she initially weighed and measured meticulously, wanting to be sure she wasn’t going over what was recommended by her meal plans. Naturally, there was still that fear of eating too much.
Then, as time went on, she has gotten to a happier, calmer, more comfortable place where she feels she can eyeball some foods and simply doesn’t want to/need to rely on the tools anymore.
She doesn’t want to be tied to measuring cups and spoons and food scales, and she wants to trust her body — not rely on a measuring spoon to say, “too much PB today”!
I admire her a ton for her honesty and her insight, and say “Way to go!” for her determination to find freedom through leaving her utensils in their respective drawers.
Yet as a devoted Weight Watcher (who has admittedly never dealt with true restriction — Weight Watchers has minimums and I have never came close to those Points values), I’m mixed on how I feel about this approach for me. (more…)
26 comments January 13, 2009
I Don’t Eat Enough Fat
Fat isn’t a bad word anymore and it’s no longer shunned.
In fact, it has become a “functional food”, as more studies have shown how our bodies need it.
You probably know that eating a diet with a strong emphasis on healthy unsaturated fats offers protection from heart disease, lowers blood pressure, and improves cholesterol (decreasing the level of harmful LDL cholesterol and increasing protective HDL cholesterol). Plus a ton of other good things: like giving you good hair, good skin, strong nails, etc. Can’t beat that, right?
Well, ironically, I recently learned that it’s very likely that some of my weight gain has been related to a lack of said fat in my diet.
And I’m not alone.
After discussing what I eat on a typical day during my last session with Dr. G., she called me out on it: that I barely ingest any fat and that it could be hindering my ability to lose weight. (more…)
28 comments January 7, 2009
Maintenance is HARD
After living in “maintenance world” for almost four years now, I can verify that losing weight was easy and maintaining is damn hard.
OK … I guess it’s not too hard or I’d have gained all my weight back (not just 10-12), but my point is, it’s still not an easy feat and not one I take lightly.
I’ve said it before that when I joined Weight Watchers in April 2004, it was my first attempt at losing weight and worked like a charm. (Probably because I had never tried to lose weight before — even just skipping my daily sugary, whipped mint mochas was enough to cut calories back then).
In 2004 when I began, everything was beautiful. Magical. I loved the feeling of my clothes being loose, needing safety pins and then a new wardrobe, the attention from friends, co-workers, family, strangers … The way my body changed and with it, my brain. (Before the disordered eating behaviors and thoughts began, that is).
But keeping it off requires thought, preparation. Just like when losing — only magnified like twenty-fold. (more…)
17 comments December 17, 2008
Ta da! … Momentum it is!
So in case you haven’t heard, the Momentum plan is what Weight Watchers went with. I think it’s going to be just what the doctor ordered for me. It really does seem like Flore. 
Thoughts?
10 comments December 4, 2008
Circling Back Around …
The expression, “circling back around … ” annoys the hell out of me, but it’s crazily appropriate for today’s blog entry.
In yesterday’s comments on my “Health Halo” entry, I concluded that my weight loss journey (which began nearly five years ago and, incidentally, led to the creation of my disordered eating behaviors) has followed a learning curve of sorts over the years …
Interestingly, it’s kind of turned out to be far more circular than I’d have ever imagined.
And so today, I wanted to take a poll to see if anyone else (disordered eater, dieter, weight loss expert, nutrition-fiend, average Joanna) feels the similarly about how they’re journey has played out.
I break my experience with weight loss into three phases.
First, we begin a weight loss program and, in that new phase where we’re learning, often want to eat what we always ate … and find ways to “fit it in.” (budgeting for the french fries if that’s our thing; for pizza if that’s our thing; chocolate). In the beginning, I’d save 12 points on a Friday for a Potbelly’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. (Yes, they were worth it). (more…)
10 comments December 4, 2008
Weight Loss 2.0
Joe's Jeans (Rocker cut) I have, but want in a darker wash, like this
Clothes-shopping this weekend was tough. Fun with my friends, of course, but though I found some cute tops, the extra weight (ok, inch) I’m carrying on my hips at the moment made it hard for me to be excited about trying on jeans; they didn’t lay right.
As luck would have it, the Joe’s jeans I really wanted, they didn’t have in the right color (though the size fit — they were too light; I am on the hunt for a darker pair).
Naturally, trying on unflattering clothes make me feel bad about my figure, even though rationally I know I shouldn’t be obsessed with my body or my weight.But hell, I’ve already admitted to you all here that I’ve not been loving how I feel in my own skin lately, vanity aside.
Sometimes these feelings just won’t go away. (more…)
17 comments November 23, 2008
Preparing for Turkey
Image credit: worth1000.com
I love, love, love turkey.
But I don’t like stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, or candied yams — four of the side dishes that seem to make their way to every Thanksgiving table I’ve dined at since birth .
(OK, save for our honeymoon in Puerto Rico when we opted for chi-chi Italian on Thanksgiving night!)
This is nothing new; as a kid, I loaded my plate up with rolls, turkey, cranberry sauce, and veggies.
And today, I still do (though now it’s wheat rolls and homemade cranberry sauce with orange zest!)
What always ruined my othewise-healthy Thanksgiving meal as a child and teenager was the appetizers and snacks my nana or mom always put out … and the desserts, of which I never ate less than two.
Today, I will prepare for the holidays with caution and care … not the careless abandon I had as a child, but also not the restrictiveness I’ve done in the past (which only backfired with midnight eating or noshing all day). (more…)
10 comments November 19, 2008
Bidding Adieu to Sparkpeople and Spreadsheets…
For the past year I’ve flip-flopped between Weight Watchers’ Flex and Core programs. I have had love affairs with each of them at different times, and they have both been proven to work.
On both programs, there are 8 Good Health Guidelines everyone is expected to meet (2 dairy servings, 2 tsp. healthy oil, exercise, water, fruit/veggies, whole grains, lean protein, vitamin, etc.) .
But whereas on Flex, Points are counted for everything you eat, on Core, you only count Points for foods that aren’t on the Core list and eat to satisfaction–no more weighing or measuring every morsel (except for non-Core foods).
This means when I’ve been on Core, I didn’t need to count Points anymore for things like apples, oatmeal, skim milk, corn, chicken, lean beef, etc. (Core foods tend to be wholesome and unprocessed, save for FF/SF Jello pudding and a few other anomolies).
Since I love those things and eat pretty cleanly anyway, Core is clearly the better plan for me. Instead of planning my day around a measly 20 Points on Flex, I found I ate healthier and better on Core. I was less obsessed about food, didn’t stress about or “fear” when my next meal would be. I was making progess. (more…)
18 comments June 27, 2008
