Today I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting. It was a small group of people made up of mostly women (there was only one man), and they were all very nice. It was run by a lovely woman named Debi with blonde hair and pink toenails (yes, you are picturing her correctly) who has successfully been through the program and kept her weight off. I felt fine as I listened to the challenge to track my eating and the tips for how to pack the most satisfaction into my allotted points (my childhood favorite bologna sandwich on white bread with cheese and mayo apparently won't do it). I didn't feel weird or out of place-it was just a meeting. It was also nothing new or revolutionary. Same concepts as ever: Move more. Eat less. Lose weight. Nope, the physics haven't changed. Clearly however, I'm not able to work that simple formula on my own so I've decided to, as my friend J (who has thus far lost 27 pounds on the WW plan since spring) says,
embrace the program.
She says the meetings help.
And so does getting enough protein.
And so does believing that they can actually help me do the thing I've been unable to do for 20 years.
That's the kicker. It's too easy for me to say that I know this stuff. Well, as I tell my kids, knowing means doing. Quite obviously, I don't know it as well as I say I do because I've had little of relevant experience to prove that my so-called knowledge is actually viable. I can't claim to know until I do.
So it's time to put my money where my mouth is.
Literally.
I'm going in all the way. I'll probably start using lingo and put up a poster or two of Jennifer Hudson. Bear with me. I need to be converted for this to work. If the act of measuring out exactly 21 grams of chocolate chips and sucking on them one at a time throughout the day is any indication, I might be on my way. That's a tablespoon and a half worth of chocolate, BTW, and still counts 3 points against my daily 26. My goal is to get down to 14 grams in a day for 2 points. This part matters because chocolate chips are kind of my kryptonite, oh those crazy little brown temptresses.
I'm telling this story because I need outside accountability. It will help me more to know that I am reporting to sympathetic friends and that I can write about both my successes and my failures in such a way that will be useful and part of the learning process. I've been writing about it on my private blog for a while now and referring to my weight on this blog for YEARS and it's all coming dangerously close to whining, so it's time to come over here, be OUT with it and put a positive spin on it.
So there you go. My big news. Thanks for reading. I have to go 'cuz it's time for another chocolate chip.
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So I'm actually trying to embrace a plan as well. But I'm still young and foolish and think that I know it all so I'm trying it on my own. ;) My goal is to cut down my sugar intake. Substantially. Like less than 20g a day. There's more than that in one soda, and I used to average 2 a day! I've replaced the mid-day munchies that were maybe low in calories... and low in nutritional value... with something green that you can grow in your backyard. I too have increased the protein, and even though I hate eating breakfast, and am not a huge fan of eggs, I really must say that eating one in the morning does wonders for my energy/hunger levels!
ReplyDeleteAnd every time I want to cheat I remind myself that the Word of Wisdom tells us a lot more than what not to do... Good luck with yours!
YOU CAN DO IT! I am proud of you, my friend. It's just not easy. Those chocolate chips are my nemesis as well :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you've showed those chocolate chips who's boss by now. ;) I've stopped buying them, but that's because of the dairy and soy issues I now have. Actually, I'm just going to throw this out here--I stopped eating dairy and my cravings for sweets and carbs pretty much vanished. The exit door for my latest episode of depression opened. I stopped eating gluten, and soon my energy levels were higher, and without making any other dramatic changes to my life (beyond a little more exercise), I've lost almost 30 pounds. I have no idea if that would be a successful thing for you to try, but it's been life-changing for me. (It helped that my body pretty much forced me to it by flat-out rejecting gluten, dairy and soy when I tried to go back). Anyway, I posted all about it on my blog a few weeks ago, but I don't know if you've been by, and I can't just sit quiet about it. So there you go. For what it's worth.
ReplyDeleteI really hope you can truly embrace the plan this time. It is SO much better than it used to be, in my opinion. Not that those improvements were enough to make ME embrace it, but I believe you can do it. :)