From the snack stash in purses to measuring portions with our hands, there are some dead giveaways to know if someone is a Weight Watchers member.
Kudos to Buzzfeed for nailing it on the head about those of us on Weight Watchers! Yes, we can spot each other a mile away.
I could relate to all, but especially 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.
Weight loss isn’t about will power. It’s about having a sense of urgency and believing in yourself.
I’m reading Weight Loss Boss by David Kirchhoff, CEO of Weight Watchers (review coming soon!) and ran across an interesting factoid about the two common attributes of people who successfully lost weight.
According to Weight Watchers’ own research, regardless of weight loss program, those who were successful:
That spoke to me.
I’ve tried losing weight for the last 25 years. My latest weight loss journey is successful because I was in a good place, mentally.
My horrendous physical gave me the sense of urgency I needed (point 1). While I never view fear as a “good place” to be, it was the swift kick in my size 28 pants that I needed.
And once I stopped dieting and focused on changing my life, I knew I’d succeed (point 2). Sure the weight was coming off, but it had done that before — only to come back with abandon. Once I read Why We Get Fat, my path became clear, and I just knew in my shrinking gut that this time I’d drop those hated pounds and finally get healthy.
If you’re trying to lose weight but it’s not a priority (remember, just saying it’s a priority doesn’t make it so), you might lose a few pounds. But, down the road, you’ll find them again and a few of their friends, too. I know I did.
On the other hand, if the urgency is there, you’re less likely to give up in moments of self-doubt. Believing in yourself may take time. It took me about 3 months after my doctor’s visit to find the right tools and plan (low carb variation of Weight Watchers) that gave me the confidence and belief that I could do it. It really is about finding your groove.
Do you have what it takes to lose weight?
Yeah. You do.
Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
My Weight Watchers talk last Saturday went great, but something unexpected happened. It sparked a passion inside of me — helping others take control of their weight loss journey. I absolutely loved sharing the hard lessons I learned over the last two years. The question is, what to do with that passion?
How Did My Speech Go?
Initially, I thought I’d have 5 minutes to recount the lessons learned over the last 2 years. Turns out our leader turned the whole meeting over to me — 60 minutes — to tell my story. I had no problem filling in the details of my outline. The entire experience lasted 90 minutes — 30 for my presentation, 30 for Q&A, and another 30 for post-meeting questions.
Because it’s the beginning of the year and all that entails (New Year’s resolutions, Weight Watchers membership deals), it was a packed house.
I came with a ‘before’ photo and kept my iPad handy so I could refer to my notes. Surprise surprise, but I didn’t even need the notes. I felt very much at ease in recounting my tale, warts and all.
There were great exchanges during the Q&A period. I’ll posting the questions and my answers in the coming days.
Back to the presentation: there was one question I wish I’d answered differently. Someone asked if I had children. “No, I have a husband,” was my retort. That got a lot of laughs but clearly it was hard for her to relate to my weight loss journey….I mean, I did quit my job to get healthy.
After the meeting (it’s always after!) I realized I should have told her it didn’t matter whether I had kids. If she really wanted to lose weight, then nothing would stop her from doing it. In hindsight I wished I’d followed up with something like:
“I’ve been a Weight Watchers member on and off for 25 years. I use to say things like ‘Yeah, but my job…’ or ‘yeah, but my family…’ Now, I understand those were just excuses because I was afraid of failure. The only thing stopping me from losing weight was me. Kids or no kids, job or no job. I had that epiphany too late in that my health got so bad I had to quit my job.”
Sigh…hindsight is truly 20/20. Well, that’s how you learn. Something to tuck away until next time.
Other than that, I really feel the presentation went well. The response was overwhelmingly positive. A few ladies told me they really liked how I ended it: by stressing the idea of putting your own health first.
New Found Passion
I loved the opportunity to talk at my Weight Watchers meeting and I’d love the opportunity to speak with other groups in the future. The presentation really stirred something in me (and not because I got to talk about myself). The passion to help others with their weight loss started about the time I began this blog. The presentation kicked that passion it into high gear.
This week I’ve found myself looking at nutrition courses at the local college and the criteria to become a personal trainer. Hmmmm….I’m not sure the world is ready for that!
I really love marketing. But the thought of doing the same-old-same-old isn’t appealing. That’s the old me…the fat me.
Maybe this is my midlife crisis. If so, then “woo hoo!” for midlife crises.
Whatever it is, there’s no denying the idea of helping others on their weight loss journey has stirred a passion in me that I haven’t felt in a long time.
I’m up 3 pounds this week thanks to dipping a spoon into the peanut butter jar a few too many times.
When I woke up this morning, I instantly knew the scale would show movement in the opposite direction. My bad knee swelled during the night. That along with incredibly sore abs and arms from my new upper body training meant I’m retaining some water.
When I walked into my Weight Watchers meeting I expected to be up a pound. Not the three the scale showed.
Sigh…
Confession: It’s not all water. I think the peanut butter has something to do with it too.
Our Old English Sheep dog has to take a pill with every meal. To make sure she actually eats the pill, we smear it with peanut butter.
The first time, I finished a workout and I needed to eat something. So, before I prepared the pill, I dipped the spoon in the peanut butter jar for some quick protein. Well, over the course of the week, that little dip turned into a full-blown peanut butter monkey on my back. Before feeding Peekabu, I would take a little taste…or two. OK three, no four tops.
I just couldn’t help myself.
Well that’s not true. I could have, but it tastes so good when it hits the lips.
I think I need to let the husband feed the dogs for a while.
During my Weight Watchers presentation, members asked a lot of great questions that I’ll post over the next few days with my responses. The first question has to do with handling family and friends who are not as enthusiastic about your weight loss journey as you.
I’ve never asked anyone for their support, except for one person and I’ll get to him in a bit. I believe that my health and happiness is my responsibility. I can’t let what others say or do knock me off track. At the end of the day it’s how I feel about myself that’s most important.
Having stated that, I’m pretty lucky that my friends and family support what I’m doing. I get peppered with lots of questions about what I’m eating, how my weight training is going, and what exercises are working. I have friends who offer to workout with me or send me encouraging messages. And that’s just awesome.
Tell Me What You Want. What You Really, Really Want.
My first real challenge came from my husband. Whenever I hit a major weight loss milestone, he always suggested we celebrate by going out to dinner. Really!?!
After much frustration, I finally figured out that’s just his way of showing me how proud he is of my efforts. Before dropping the 94 pounds, it was very common for us to go out and celebrate with frozen custard or a trip to 5 Guys (the most awesome burger ever!). It’s a pavlovian response for both of us.
Then it dawned on me — it’s my responsibility to tell him what type of support I need.
He can’t read my mind and he isn’t going to know what I want unless I tell him. So after figuring out what I wanted, we sat down and had a little chat. I asked him to not suggest food-related celebrations when it came to my weight and come up with other ideas like catching a movie, hiking, bowling or getting me jewelry (hint, hint). He’s been a champ ever since (although I’m still waiting for the jewelry).
Learn To Say Thank You!
One of the support areas my husband is great at is praise. He’s always telling me how great I look and praising how much weight I’ve lost. Unfortunately one of my weaknesses is accepting praise. I tend to deflect his comments and not say “Thank you.” The more you shut down compliments, the sooner the compliments will stop coming your way. Not a good thing. Thankfully, my husband ignores my dodges and still praises my weight loss work while I work on being more accepting.
Sometimes You Got To Move On
As for friends, I’ve only had one who wasn’t supportive and at times was down right snarky to me about my efforts. After spending too much time trying to figure out what I needed to do, I told myself, “It’s not my problem. It’s hers.”
If a friend isn’t supportive, you can’t force it. Just accept it and move on. And that’s what I did.
My grilled cheese and vegetable soup. The soup was great, although it needs some protein. The grilled cheese, was lacking. Next time its real cheese, not this fat-free stuff.
For lunch today I tried the Simple Start grilled cheese with vegetable soup. I can’t say I loved it. I made the soup last week and it is very tasty. I added elbow pasta and stewed tomatoes to it for a nice Italian twist. It’s the “grilled cheese” I have issue with.
The recipe calls for fat-free shredded cheese and two slices of tomato on a light English muffin. Just heat in the oven until the cheese melts.
Easy enough. Problem is fat-free cheese doesn’t really melt. It seems to form a hard shell on top of the tomato. Also, I had to put the muffin in the toaster first. The cheese “melts” too quickly for the muffin to get toasty.
I can have real cheese on Simple Start, but it’s pretty expensive points wise. But in this case it would make for a better grilled cheese.
Finally, I ended up adding a hard-boiled egg to my lunch. This meal really lacks protein. I try to eat 3-6 ounces of protein at each meal. I think the next time I make the soup, instead of the noodles I’ll add chicken or turkey.
This is a great little Weight Watchers (subscription required for link) recipe I’ve made a few times and is a big hit with the husband. The pork is marinated for at least 4 hours, but to get the full flavor I recommend marinating overnight.
I’m marinating 2 tenderloins today to cook tomorrow (photo tomorrow).
Gilled Cuban Pork Tenderloin
Net Carbs: 2
Weight Watchers PlusPoints: 4
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Instructions
Dropped 7.2 pounds this week thanks to Simple Start and a lot of water retention.
It turns out that Simple Start is a great way to shake up my diet. I ended my first week on the plan by dropping 7.2 pounds. That puts my total weight loss at 94 pounds!
Oh, I know most of the weight was the water retention from my sore muscles, but I’m still going to celebrate this one. Seven pounds in one week is a lot.
I set a short-term goal of weighing 200 pounds by the end of April. Thanks to today’s loss, I’ve got 31 pounds to go with 15 weeks left.
A pretty sound start to the year!
Simple Start: Week 1 Observations
My worries about going over my daily carb limit were missed placed. Under Simple Start I got to re-introduce certain types of carbs back into the wild my diet.
Light English muffins, shredded wheat, sweet potatoes, rice…these are not typical Dot2Trot fare.
The old me loaded up on that type of food and my waistline ballooned.
The new me combines the right amount of protein, healthy fat and produce with those carbs. I found myself filling up quickly and didn’t feel hungry between meals. Overeating wasn’t a problem. The program is as advertised.
The big bonus — no cravings! I love me some bread, so I feared the English muffins. My test was to only eat them with the designated meals. I planned to trash the muffins if I even thought about eating them as a snack! Thankfully those delicious nooks and crannies didn’t pose any danger to me.
During the week I tracked and measured everything I ate. I know you don’t have to with Simple Start, but when I track and measure I lose weight. It took me forever to create those habits and I’m not going to lose them now.
When choosing the menu items for the week I paired everything with my training schedule, especially muscle workouts. Thanks to some strained leg muscles, I only worked out twice and ended up altering my menu towards more lower carb (50g daily) fare.
Simple Start’s flexibility allowed me to cut back on carbs without feeling cheated of great meals or flavors.
Bravo Weight Watchers!
I’m looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on the program. Just not any pasta dishes. I know I am not ready for pasta.
Day 4 of Simple Start. It works, but not alone. You’ll still need Weight Watchers meetings, app and E-Tools to break those bad habits and learn how to eat right again.
I had my first real test on the Simple Start program last night. The program succeeded, while I failed (a little). We went out to dinner last night and I ordered a Cobb salad and stayed on track by replacing the salad dressing with oil and vinegar and requesting no cheese (fat-free not available).
A perfect night…until I ordered the 2nd glass of wine. D’oh!
Under Simple Start, a glass of wine is considered an indulgence and allowed. My problem was the second glass. In my defense, it was just so tasty!
Other than this bizarre bias against the nectar of the gods, I’m enjoying Simple Start. It is living up to its name. The program takes away the guesswork for you. Just follow the prescribed menus or pick from the power food list.
And yet…that ease of use bugs me. I’m worried that people new to Weight Watchers will see how easy it is and think this is all they have to do to lose weight. Two years ago, I would have. I was still looking for the Easy Button. Now I know that one of the hardest things about weight loss is unlearning bad habits. If you don’t understand your triggers, and why you got fat in the first place, you’ll be doomed to dancing the ten-pound-tango every time a new diet comes out.
Certainly my Weight Watchers leader hit this point pretty hard in last week’s meeting.
And yet as the great wizard-philosopher Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore once said, “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”
It’s human nature to go with easy.
Simple Start is NOT the Holy Grail. The program gives you a kick-start and helps you build confidence. Follow it and you’ll see results on the scale. But if all that interests you is some movement on the scale, without learning from your mistakes, then it’ll be like that time you tried the 3 Day Diet, or the Cabbage Soup Diet, or the Hollywood Diet, or the Grapefruit Diet. Or my favorite one of all, the Tomorrow I’m on a Diet.
It’s common for folks in my meetings to say they can’t scrounge up enough minutes in a day to make healthy choices. Simple Start can help. But if you’re not willing to create time for yourself, no plan, no matter how easy, won’t help you in the long run. Not even the Tapeworm Diet.
Look, I’m not saying eat perfectly all the time or that I never have moments where I don’t think about what I’m doing. I still slip up (“cough” wine “cough”). If you want to lose weight, you have to make yourself a priority in your own life and understand it’s not about dieting. It’s about changing your lifestyle!
I’m off the soapbox now.
(Damn thing’s about to shatter under me anyway…two glasses of wine, hello?)
I’m sharing my weight loss adventure at my next Weight Watchers meeting. I’m so excited.
My Weight Watchers leader asked me to speak about my weight loss journey at the Saturday meeting. I’m really excited but also feeling a bit overwhelmed. I mean, how do I distill all that I’ve learned over the last two years into 5 minutes?
Plus, my weight loss journey is a bit unorthodox — I did quit my job to shed the pounds (not something I’m recommending everyone attempt).
This morning I’m working on my outline. I think I’m going to divide the presentation by years — 2012 was the learning curve and in 2013 I got my mojo back!
2012: Re-learning How To Eat
In 2012 I re-learned everything I could about food — dealing with cravings, which foods triggered binges, and most importantly, how food becomes fat in my body. For me, understanding the science of Why We Get Fat is the key to my weight loss.
With Weight Watchers, you’re not deprived. You can have any food you want as long as you count the points and keep to your daily point range.
Well in 2012 I discovered I couldn’t have any food I wanted. The more carbs I ate, the more insulin in my blood, the more my body stored fat.
I eliminated sodas, processed foods and my trigger foods (pasta, bread and grains) from my diet. Sugar got the boot too, and I even limited fruit. I found I had more energy, felt fantastic and yes, the weight started coming off faster.
2013: Finding my inner confidence
I really feel that I started living my life for the first time in 2013.
I lost my excuse for not trying new things. Weight lifting, yoga, running, new foods…I wanted to try everything! Heck, this life long fish hater fell in love with sushi when I tried it for the first time last year.
I even conquered a phobia. Walking into an Old Navy, Nordstrom and Macy’s dressing room for the very first time is nerve-wracking. Doing it all in one day was terrifying.
No doubt my fashion makeover gave me the biggest boost to my confidence. Sure I went from a size 28 to an 18, but the thought of shopping somewhere other than Lane Bryant is terrifying when you’re overweight. I’ve had plenty of dressing room meltdowns in my life to know.
Sure it may seem superficial. It’s just clothes, right? But when you wear clothes you never could before, try a new hair style, and get all dolled up for your very own photo shoot, it’s not superficial. It’s awesome.
So, all of that in 5 minutes? Easy peasy.
