When you belong to Weight Watchers, you attend a meeting each week which is basically a support and motivation group. Weight Watchers prepares a topic for each week and every Weight Watchers meeting provides it's members pretty much the same information.
This week, the topic was "I Am Not My Weight" and I thought it was a really good topic. We definitely judge ourselves by our weight. We judge others by their weight. Weight is this HUGE measuring stick out there in society and we all define people by it. Society and the media has provided us with the baseline to use and it's unfortunate. Many of those who are our role models are seriously underweight. Where do we find the happy medium? How do we find the right weight for us and does it really matter WHAT society and the media tells us? They are complex questions and the answers truly lie in the fact that every person has to find their own "happy medium".
But, a happy medium is more than a physical characteristic. We have to find it inside ourselves. We have to change our thought process and turn around negative thoughts into positive thoughts. As individuals, we have to LEARN to judge ourselves by realistic standards and those that are best for us. And, judge is probably even too hard of a word - we need to be happily realistic. For me, I want to be a healthy weight. Of course I want to look hot... are you kidding? But, what I really want, is to be a healthy weight for my body - that should make me look good and feel good. Most of us have worked our way up the scales and have an idea at which weight we looked and felt the best. We also can compare that with what medical professionals consider a healthy weight for our height, age, etc. Thats how we determine what our goal weight is and instead of focusing on what we aren't, we need to learn to focus on and be happy with what we are and who we are - and THAT is NOT defined by how much we weigh. We aren't fat, we aren't skinny. We are people. We have family and friends. We love and we hurt. We have knowledge and skills. We have hobbies and passions. We are people. We are not what we weigh. Think about that.
I did steal this topic from Weight Watchers this week, but I'm giving them complete credit for it. It's an excellent topic and I actually attended TWO meetings yesterday. Both came at the topic in different ways and to tell you the truth, I didn't find either of them all that wonderful in the presentation. If the darn Weight Watchers folks paid a decent wage, I would so jump on that bandwagon once I hit my goal weight, but I don't think I could afford my house payment if I worked for Weight Watchers. But, in the meantime I can learn from the topics they present and use them as tools for my own goals!
This week, I did not lose or gain any weight... I stayed right where I was. This week is going to be a real challenge because I will be attending a convention Wednesday through Sunday and while I will be getting quite a bit of exercise with all of the walking I'll be doing, it's hard to find healthy food to eat in those places. I already bought veggies to cut up and carry around for snacks, but come on that's going to last like one day. I have my eye on the prize, though, so I am up for the challenge.
Jennifer St.Antoine
Thank you for reading about my journey with Weight Watchers. I started the Weight Watchers program on January 29, 2007, weighing in at a whopping 209.6 pounds. My goal is to lose 89.6 pounds so that I weight 120. I might lose more when I get there, but that's my goal weight. As of today, I've lost 36.4 pounds, so I'm more than one third of the way!
You can keep up with all of my Weight Loss articles and my other Gather activity by joining my Gather network. Just click here: ladyjadegd.gather.com and select the orange CONNECT button on the left side of the page
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 17
P.S. I responded in my Alaska article to your question about what I liked best. We loved the Misty Fjords tour, the gardens and glacier in Juneau, and Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC on the way back to Seattle. My in-laws just came back last week and LOVED Misty Fjords and the train ride (not sure where the train was, as we did not go to that port of call). I also loved the Russian history in Sitka (as I'm 1/2 Russian).
Please let me know how you liked your trip once you return. Seattle is my most favorite city in the world next to Boston. :) Enjoy! And pack a sweatshirt and fleece for September, we went in July and it was in the 60s. Refreshing though!
john h.
Alaina, I highly recommend you give WW a shot. If you are seriously at the point where you want to change your life, it's a wonderful program that works. You have to be willing to change your life though because Weight Watchers is not a diet, but a plan that helps you learn to change your lifestyle - forever!
Brenda, if you do decide to jump in, please let us know how you're doing. One thing I've learned is that there is nothing like support when you're making a huge life change like this. Your WW group is great, but having the outside support and accountability to friends, family, and others who are in the same boat, is really helpful for me.
First, if you aren't journaling, start doing it and FAITHFULLY. write everything down, what you eat, when you eat it, why you eat it and what activity you are getting and when. It is a lot of work to do this, but it gives you an excellent picture of your habits. Next, DO NOT GUESS. If you are guessing at your points, you're probably wrong. Use the points calculator, measure, whatever it takes, but count things right. We all tend to over or even under-estimate when we're guessing. One example is my friend and I were discussing how many activity points Curves should count as and I said I was giving myself TWO points while she was giving herself SIX points for virtually the same workout. If you aren't certain of a points value for food or activity, talk to your Weight Watchers meeting leader.
ANother thing is to make sure you eat all of your points. Surprisingly, it's true that you can eat too little which keeps you from losing because your body's metabolism slows down. Eat your point value each day, BUT I also recommend NOT factoring in those extra 35 points per week. I use those points ONLY if I go over my alotted points, I don't plan them in. That has been helpful for me.
Good luck to you. You can do this, you just need to find the combination that works for you. My best recommendation: Fruits and Veggies!!!
I do the WW online so I don't have the meetings or leaders to give me tips. I read a ton of articles and basically get my support online from other's who are following the WW plan either online like me or attending meetings but looking for additional support. I have found this the easiest weight loss plan that actually WORKS. I'm a little worried about maintenance but I'll face that when I come to it.
You are more than a number...and numbers are a state of mind--if you don't state it, nobody minds!