Weight Watchers <tm> Discussion

[Divash]

I was up a bit last week, but this week I'm down again. I'm not quite back to my all-time low, but I'll get there.  

[Divash]

I'm down 4.2 pounds this week, my biggest weight loss ever. I've passed my 50-pound mark (ahem, again), and I've got my eye on the prize. Next goal: 60 pounds down.  

[Divash]

I went up last week by 3 pounds. I was down this week by 3.4 pounds. I'm getting there, but every step forward is followed by a partial step backward. Oh, well. I'd surely be doing so much worse if I weren't following the Weight Watchers program!  

[Divash]

Total weight loss: 51.4 pounds. I'd like to reach my next 'decade' of weight by the end of December, when I head off to Paris for a family thing. A 'decade' is an even ten-pound-multiple of weight: weighing 150, 140, 130 (pounds) and so on, those are all decades.

That means I will need to lose 5.6 pounds during the next 4 weeks. I think I can do it. It'll mean striving to eat correctly and stepping up my activity level even more. I'll spend an extra day per week in the gym, I think. That should do it.

And if it doesn't, I'll just have to reach that 'decade' on my birthday in January instead!  

[Divash]

So, I'm down exactly one pound this week, which puts me at halfway between one 'decade' and the next (decades are numbers of pounds that are evenly divisible by ten, such as 100, 140, 180... I'm at halfway, meaning there's a 5 at the end -- actually, it's ... 4.6, not 5). I've really been struggling with this ten-pound spread, unlike any previous spread. I've lost over 60 pounds, but I've been hovering between 55 and 60 for the longest time.

I think it's time to step my activity up again.  

[Divash]

I'm up 0.4 pounds this week. On the other hand, I'm still down a total of 52 pounds with Weight Watchers and 62 pounds in all. I'm more than halfway to my goal of 100 pounds of total loss (as an ideal... well, okay, I just like the round number; actually my goal loss is 97 pounds).

Now that I'm so much closer, I'll tell you: My starting weight was 237. I lost ten pounds in a year, then joined Weight Watchers at 227 pounds. Since then, I have lost 52 pounds, making me 175 right now. My goal weight is 145, which will put me in the top of my healthy range (actually, I'll be within healthy range at 146, but I like nice numbers that end with 5 or 0). At that point, I'll stop and reassess whether I want to lose up to 25 more, which would put me in the lower end of my healthy range.

So, YAY, I'm within 30 pounds of my healthy range. I feel very proud of my progress.

Here's what hasn't happened since I started losing weight with Weight Watchers:

* I haven't had any strangers pat my tummy and ask me when the baby's due.

* I haven't had to ask for the seat belt extender when traveling by airplane.

* I haven't been kept off of any rides at amusement parks because the safety bar won't close over my tummy.

* I haven't gone to a store and found that my size is two sizes larger than the largest one that they carry.

* I haven't been embarrassed to eat anything (even a salad) in public, because no one's walked past my table mooing "subtly" at me. Also, because I know that now, when I'm eating, I'm eating something that I need to stay healthy, and not something I want to snarf down because I want to stuff my face.

* I haven't felt the need to break thin people in half. They made their choices and I made mine, and their being thin isn't something that makes me a failure or a bad person. They didn't make me fat, I did. Now I'm making me healthy.

* I haven't felt guilty for having dessert, because there's no need. I've saved the points to account for it so that it fits into my program.

* I haven't had to wonder why I gained or lost weight in a given week. I have educated myself enough to know exactly why those things happen. It's no longer a mystery to me, but a known science, and therefore controllable.

Oh, and here's something that has happened just in the last two months. After 15 years of being very overweight, followed by a year and a half of Weight Watchers, I can finally order a regular size of clothing (Large) instead of a Plus Size (XL, XXL, 3XL). That means I'm paying anywhere from $5 to $25 less per garment at stores and online shops. Finally!  

[Keren]

That's wonderful!! Many a kudos to you for your progress!

I've talked to a friend of mine about Weight Watchers, and I'm thinking about joining it myself. At 175, my highest weight ever, I think managing what I eat and how much I eat will help me understand how the best way to eat and lose weight will be.  

[Divash]

Great idea, Keren. Learning what you're doing now (with food, and activity, and so on) is a great start in figuring out what you should be doing in order to reach your optimum health.

As an aside, I work with a girl named Keren. She's not you; I know because this girl is really really short and really really tiny. I'm not kidding, if she's 100 pounds at most, I'd be really surprised. She's Israeli, and very sweet, so when I see your name, I'm reminded of her, and you seem sweet to me because of that little connection. smile

But yes, Weight Watchers is a fabulous program. There are other good programs too, and I've used some and lost weight before, but with WW I'm actually sticking with it for over a year and a half now and am not bored with it yet.  

[Kiwi Girl]

I finally decided to join, too. My mom just asked if I wanted to join as well since she was going to, and I agreed. I've tried too many times on and off and life is just too busy to remember/take the time/put the effort in... With Weight Watchers, I have accountability and pre-think everything so that when the time-crunched areas of my life come up I know what I'm gonna do.  

[Divash]

Congratulations, Kiwi Girl, and welcome to the WW club!

Little progress report: I'm up 4 pounds from my pre-Paris weight. I expected I'd gain some, and I was right. C'est la vie (that's life). I'm planning to get from 179 (yesterday's weigh-in) to 160 this year -- further if I can, but my plan is to get to that nice, round number.  

[Kiwi Girl]

Sounds like a good goal. :3  

[Divash]

I had a great weigh-in last Wednesday, and was so excited that I never actually sat down and logged in to brag about it. Someone play a fanfare and a drumroll, please... I'm down 4.8 pounds as of Wednesday's weigh-in! I'm at 174.2 now, which is great, because that's almost down to my lowest-ever. One more pound or so, and I'll be at a new record.

Goal for this year is still to reach 160, so I've got 14.2 pounds to go.

Non-weight goal: I'd love to be able to go on a three-day cancer walk without feeling more tired than the other average participants.

Also, I'll be moving house before the end of March, and I'd love to be able to get all my things packed (except one or two suitcases of things I'd like to use immediately) before the movers get here. That means hauling about ten empty boxes home every single day from work, where they would otherwise be hauled off by the recycling company. They're not heavy, but they're bulky; and they're cardboard, so while one or two boxes aren't heavy, ten of them suddenly are very heavy.  

[Kiwi Girl]

Yeah, I'm gonna be moving in about two weeks, so I'm expecting to get in a bit more exercise, which is a good thing. :3 Wow.... Congrats on your weight loss @_@!! Posting now because I keep forgetting to otherwise, lol.

My second week: Down 3.2
Third week: Stayed the same
Fourth week: Down 1.2

I hope this upcoming Wednesday yields some good results!! biggrin  

[Divash]

Tomorrow's my weigh-in, and I BETTER hear something good at the scale. Last week I was up 3.8 pounds, and as Queen Victoria said so eloquently, "We are not amused."  

[Divash]

I'm down 3.4 pounds this week, for a round total of 178 pounds exactly. If I can get rid of another 5 pounds, I'll be at my all-time low again, and I can start feeling like I'm getting somewhere again.