I'm writing this post for two reasons. One: To share why I am where I am and why I feel as I do about weight loss and Weight Watchers specifically. Two: Because I'm in a slight rut and recounting where I've come from is therapeutic for me :).
The beginnings of my weight loss journey can be summed up to one fateful day. I was 13, 5' 10" and 200lbs. Yes, I was quite a girl. On this day specifically, I was shopping with my mom at Marshall's, and I was struggling to find jeans that fit. I was on the larger side of size 16 and in those days (not THAT long ago... but long enough) there weren't as many 16 and ups. And plus size clothes were not nearly as cute as they are today. So shopping was hard. Then I saw her. There was a woman shopping a few feet away from me. She was probably in her early 20's with long brown hair and she was thin. She wasn't too thin.... but what I would have, at the time, deemed the "perfect" size. And I was overcome with envy and sadness. I left the store in tears.
That was the day I decided I needed to change. Thirteen is so young, you might say. And I was young... but I had the body of a woman... a woman on her way to being quite overweight. My weight loss attempts started with jogging. I worked my way up to 5 miles a day. I lost 20lbs and then my weight plateaued at around 180. At the time, my mom was doing a version of the "Atkins" diet. So I jumped on. I ate eggs, meat, cheese.... no bread, potatoes, etc. Ugh. The good news is that I lost 20 more pounds to finally end up at 160. The bad news is, there was no way to maintain that lifestyle. My jogging was cut down to 2.5 miles a day because of schedule changes, and there was no way to live the rest of my life eating only protein and vegetables. I remember thinking to myself "a diet where I can't eat apples and oranges because they contain carbs can't be good for you." I was right! I think true low-carb diets let you eat fruits, but the one I was on didn't. So I slowly scrapped that. Luckily, because of age and activity, I didn't balloon back to my starting weight in a month like so many who have started and stopped the low-carb diet. My weight slowly rose.... and by the time I was getting ready to get married, five years later, I was sitting right around 190lbs. But I was happy. I was happy with who I was, even if I was a little heavy. Then..... I had a baby.
After my first child was born, I lost all my baby weight and went back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 205lbs in just a few months. I was like "yeah! This breastfeeding thing is awesome!" But then my body and my baby got used to each other, and the weight began to climb not-so-slowly. By the time my baby was 8 months old, I was getting very near my highest pregnancy weight of 232lbs. Yikes! I knew that if I continued to go the direction I was, that I would end up in a place of hopelessness. I had tried for three or so months to lose the weight on my own, but I was realizing that my life was too hectic to keep up with it without help. Enter Weight Watchers.
My mom had been on and off of Weight Watchers for years. But she had been sticking with it for three or so years at this point and had great success. I knew the concept of WW was not rocket science. Lean meats, veggies, whole grains and fruit..... cut back on sugar and high fatty foods and you'll lose weight. Duh. But what WW provided that I didn't have at the time: accountability. I needed someone to answer to every week. And after the first meeting, I got it. The community is key. Going into that room with all of those women of all different ages and sizes..... but all on the same journey was absolute encouragement. Every week I would hear keys and tips... what worked for this person or didn't work for that person. I began to learn why I was eating as I was. And I lost weight! From February - May 2007, I lost 25lbs! Then I got pregnant again!
The rest of the story goes like this: started WW again after the birth of my second child and lost 25lbs again, getting down to 185. Then I got pregnant again. The third time I started back to WW, I lost 35lbs and was at 175. Then I got pregnant again. hehe. My fourth child was born at the end of January of this year. I started WW again at the end of Feb, and I've lost 7lbs so far.
I will be with WW for the rest of my life. I plan to get to my goal weight of 170lbs, get my maintenance and lifetime membership (at which point attending meetings and using resources is free as long as I'm within 2lbs of my goal weight!) Then I hope to get down to 160 so I have a nice 10lb cushion. :) I am happy with who I am right now. Losing weight for me now is part of being a healthy, whole person. I want to feel good, be healthy and in shape, and be a good role model for my daughters. I don't need to look a certain way now. I'm finally past that motivation. Now I'm motivated by quality of life and by the desire to be a disciplined person.
So here's to losing weight. To feel better, and to prove that we have the power to change anything about ourselves that we feel needs change!
