A Healthier Lifestyle

Posted on May 4, 2012 // 0 Comments

I started Weight Watchers one month ago this past Sunday. I’ve tried every diet that is known to man and, yes, I’ve even tried WW in the past…and it worked. I haven’t tried it in a number of years, but Lexy and Carman have both been so inspiring that I decided that I was going to give it another chance.

Even though I’d done it in the past, I never really enjoyed the meetings and a few years ago, I tried it out online. I wasn’t really successful doing it on my own online, so I gave up. This time, I’m so thrilled to say that I went to the meeting and I LOVED it! I have the most amazing leader, Elissa, and she just has a great way about her.

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My first week was great: -3 lbs. My second week was ok: -0.8 lbs. But, then came week three. Now, I’m not a big fan of standard trackers (hence the creation of dietSNAPS), but I’ve been using the WW one religiously while I learn the PointsPlus (PP) system. Once I have that under my belt, I’ll switch over to dietSNAPS. I still take pictures though. I just love being able to SEE what I’m eating. And, it makes me want to eat healthier – more fruits, veggies, etc.

Ok, so week three I weigh in and I’ve gained 0.4. Trust me when I say that I was devastated. I had been PERFECT all week: never going over my daily points; four days of exercise (two kickboxing and two resistance band classes) and I hadn’t touched a single Weekly Point. And I gained! I was crushed. I walked out immediately following my weigh-in, got in my car and called Lexy. Seriously, it was the smartest thing I could have done. She was amazing (as usual!). She told me that I can’t pay attention to one weigh in; That I need to look at the month as a whole; That our bodies are made up of tissues, water, muscle, etc. and at any given time, we can be retaining water (or whatever our bodies retain besides water) and that I can’t let it discourage me.

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I dried my tears (yes, I was literally crying) and walked back into the WW center in time for the meeting. I sat there the entire time and then walked promptly out as soon as it was over. I told myself that no matter what I had to stick with it. This wasn’t an excuse to give up and that it will work if I give it more time. Truly, I think that I’ve dieted so much in my 38 years that my metabolism is just totally screw-y and losing weight is not easy for me. But, I also know that anytime I’ve lost weight slowly, it’s stayed off and any time I dropped weight quickly (juice cleanse, I’m looking at you!) it comes right back. Why? We all know the reason why – if you don’t do something that is a permanent change, it will always come back. For me, WW really isn’t a diet. It really is simply learning how to balance your food choices. You can have anything as long as it’s in balance with the other choices you make. That actually reminds me of something I read in Bethenny Frankel’s book, Naturally Thin, where she talks about food and your body like a bank account. You have a daily limit and you can’t take out more than you can afford. Anywho…back to WW:

So, last Sunday was week 4. I got on the scale for my official weigh in and had dropped 1.6 lbs! Total pounds lost: FIVE! I know that’s not a lot in some books (5lbs in one month), but honestly, I know that even if that’s the rate that I lose, I’ll be at my goal weight by next spring. And that feels AMAZING!

I’ll be blogging each and every Monday along the way recapping the week before. If you have any questions, tips, comments, etc. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Until Monday,
T