Plain Advice

Weight has always been an issue for me. Even as a child, I was never stick thin like many of my friends. I have been concerned about my weight for as long as I can remember.

As an adult, my weight has yo-yo’d up and down, usually within 30-40 lbs. I have tried many different approaches to weight loss. Low fat, Atkins, Overeaters Anonymous, Metabolife, Trim Spa, therapy, excessive exercise, Body for Life, South Beach, Weight Watchers….. just to name a few. I have read many books about weight loss and how the body works. I have come up with many of my own diets based on these principles.

Really, I am not here to knock any particular weight loss method. I think some are healthier than others, but I have seen many of them work for people who have been able to stick with them. That is my real issue… sticking with something for the long term. It seems there is something broken in my brain because if I do not stay constantly aware of my eating and weight management behaviors, I revert back to bad habits.

About 2 1/2 years ago I found myself in a familiar situation… overweight and very unhappy about it. It had been 2 1/2 years since I had given birth, so I couldn’t use baby weight as an excuse anymore. In October of 2004, I thought I was pregnant for a few days. Although I did want to have another baby, the only thing I could think about was how awful it was to start a pregnancy being so overweight (almost 50 lbs). I remembered how uncomfortable I was with my first pregnancy near the end, and I had started that one at a weight that was much lower.

When I found out that I really wasn’t pregnant, I was filled with energy and motivation. This was my big wake up call. I joined Weight Watchers and although it took me a couple of weeks to really get into the weight loss groove, I did get there. I got into a great routine of exercising and eating healthy. By May of 2005 (8 months later) I had lost 47 lbs. If you notice the time period, I lost a lot of the weight throughout the “Holiday Season”, which many people consider to be impossible.

Losing the weight this time was different for me. I felt very empowered and I felt that I had finally found something that worked for me. I didn’t feel deprived. In fact, I enjoyed eating much more as I followed the Weight Watchers plan.

Best of all, I had the experience of being healthy and thin. I fit into a size 6/8 and most of my shirts were size small. For the first time in my life, I felt really good in my skin. Getting dressed in the mornings took very little effort, because I didn’t have to worry about which outfit hid my fat the most. I just put something on and it generally fit well and looked good. Taking my son to the pool was no longer something I dreaded and avoided.

I saw how my new habits affected my child. He was 3 years old and he knew that when mommy put on her hoodie and sweatpants, she was going to “ektercise”. He soon wanted to exercise too, and I would walk down the street next to him as he ran. I felt so good that my son was learning healthy habits by watching me.

One of the best things about losing the weight was how it affected others. There is something very powerful about seeing someone achieve something you want. You never really know how much you affect others. So many times in the past few years, I have run into a friend unexpectedly, and seen that they have lost weight. I will tell them how great they look, and they will say “I did it because of you”. It is so rewarding to know that I had that positive effect on others.

And the other great, very valuable thing to me personally about my weight loss experience was that I gained confidence in myself because I did it! And I know that I am capable of doing it again.

About 2 minutes (ha ha) after I reached my goal weight, I got pregnant. Although I was sure that I was going to continue in my healthy lifestyle throughout my pregnancy and beyond, morning sickness got the best of me. That is when I laid off my exercise program. Then when the morning sickness passed, I was so happy to have an appetite again, I had a several month rendezvous with food. In total, I gained about 40 lbs while I was pregnant.

I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in January 2006. She is now 17 months old, and here I am, with 40 lbs to lose once again. Although I have made many attempts at weight loss since she was born, I was not able, for one reason or another to stick with it long enough to get the results I wanted. I could go on and on with excuses, some of them I feel are pretty valid (lack of sleep, adjusting to another child, moving twice in the past year, breastfeeding…..) But I won’t go on with those excuses. What has passed is past and I am ready to move forward.

So here is my first goal: In the next 14 weeks (by the first week of September) I will lose 30 lbs. That is about 2 lbs a week. After I reach this goal, I will set a new goal because I will still have about 10-15 more lbs to lose. I have written a detailed plan as to how I will do it. I will post my plan in another entry. Because I know Weight Watchers has worked for me in the past, that is the plan I am going to follow.

I have already been doing my plan for the past week and 1/2. I have been keeping daily journals of what I eat and more importantly, what I am feeling. I have made a commitment to myself to write in this journal every single day during my 13 week goal.

As I work toward my goal, I will give weekly updates on this site. I will write these updates on whatever day I weigh in each week (usually Thursdays). Another part of my plan is that I will weigh in at Weight Watchers every single week no matter what. And I will not weigh myself more than once a week

After I reach my goal, I will post my daily journal for anybody to read who wishes. Hopefully you will find it valuable if you are trying to reach similar weight goals. I will also post before and after pictures, because a picture says a thousand words right?

Share This

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2007 at 7:14 am and is filed under Weight Loss and Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.