22 October 2007

Back in the Saddle, and Musings on Weight

As of today, I'm counting Weight Watchers points again. I'm just not happy with the way I feel, and for whatever reason, this was the morning that I said, "I've had it, enough, I'm going to take control of this situation."

For those of you familiar with the WW system, I went to the store at lunchtime and bought the fixings for vegetable soup (no points!), some 2-point organic yogurts, and some microwave popcorn. I just had an afternoon snack, which put me at 13 points so far today, so I have about 7 points left for dinner. Not bad.

I had great success with WW in 2003/4, and I'm hoping that it will work for me again. I think part of the reason I did so well with it last time was that I exercised 5-6 days a week at that time. I'm trying to keep up with the running, but since the race my motivation has been low and I've had a hard time getting out there. I was hoping to go running after work today, but my jog stroller is trapped in my garage behind the lumber needed to finish my deck project, so I think I'll take the twins to the park instead and at least enjoy the gorgeous weather.

This time around, I'm too cheap to pay to go to WW meetings, so I'm going to try to do this on my own. We'll see. The weekly weigh-ins were a big motivator for me, and I actually don't own a scale and might need to get one. I can gauge my weight fairly accurately by the fit of my clothes, but I think being able to see the number go down before I notice the fit of my pants will be important to me this time around. Based on the physical I had a few weeks ago, I'd like to drop about 15 pounds.

I don't like owning a scale. If I still belonged to a gym, I wouldn't bother and I'd just weigh myself there, but no dice right now. I don't want the kids to see me on and off the scale or hear me talk about dieting. I think I'll just keep the scale in my closet and bust it out once a week for my weigh-ins. With the twins still so little, I focus on offering them good, healthy food, eating well in front of them, and only letting them have sweets on special occasions (at a party, for example). I want them to have a good relationship with food and their bodies. I hope I can model that behavior for them.

19 comments:

Candy said...

Good luck with it. I've done WW and have been disappointed with the very slow loss. Had better luck with South Beach, but still, no matter which I try I can't seem to keep it off forever.

Sigh...need to try again soon...

Anonymous said...

I'm so impressed with your motivation. Maybe you can run out here and drag me out to exercise. I've never even thought about the effects of having a scale. Maybe because ours hasn't had working batteries for years and the kids just get on it to see it say 'LO' (battery).

Or maybe I broke it when I was pregnant with the twins. I wouldn't know, since I couldn't see my feet.

Movies We Love said...

Just so you know, they've changed the points program since the last time you were on it. I've done it in the past (I did it online--it's only $16/month, it keeps track of all your points for you, and no meetings!) and lost oodles of weight. I'm a little bit pregnant now, so I can't do it, but I'll be right back on it next year!

Binkytowne said...

Get the scale, just be strong enough to resist the temptation to weigh more than once a week. If you can stick to that it's so encouraging to see the numbers dip. I found that really hepled me stay on track.

I did WW last spring and dropped about 13lbs and really, it wasn't so bad and you do really eat a lot better. I hope it works for you.

Binkytowne said...

Get the scale, just be strong enough to resist the temptation to weigh more than once a week. If you can stick to that it's so encouraging to see the numbers dip. I found that really hepled me stay on track.

I did WW last spring and dropped about 13lbs and really, it wasn't so bad and you do really eat a lot better. I hope it works for you.

cHill Weddings, LLC said...

Hi! I've been reading your blog for months now... happy 16 months to your kiddies. Also, good luck with WW. I noticed that after my races, I lose all motivation, which probably explains why I haven't ran a race since my half marathon- which was over a year ago!

Everyone i know who's done WW love it!

OTRgirl said...

I appreciate that you're aware the impact you have on your kids view of their bodies and food. Your plan sounds good! I'm so bad at following a system, I admire anyone who sticks to it.

By the way: CONGRATULATIONS! I thought about calling you last night after the game ended, but thought you might be asleep.

Anonymous said...

Does one of your friends have one? You could go to their house once a week for weigh in. When I was super broke it worked for me

Artemisia said...

Delurking to say good luck!

And also to warn you that if you aren't going to buy a scale for weekly weigh-in, you might need one of the obscenely expensive ones that register every ounce. I seldom saw a difference on my own scale, I had to go to WW to register the 1/8 pound on my big loss week.

Or, maybe (hopefully!) that's just me.

justme said...

does WW let anyone go ? I heard they have limits. I need to lose about 10 lbs, all in my belly, but i don't weigh too much. not sure if they would let me in a meeting.strange question huh ?

kim said...

Oooh, keep us posted on how you do! I've debated WW before and know several friends who had amazing success with it - I'm just too lazy to pay for weigh-ins, etc. And now that I'm preggers, I'll be waiting until next year to give it a whirl. I will say that Nutrisystem worked wonders for me post Emmy, and it worked FAST. The food's not half bad and it made my meals a relative no-brainer... until a certain someone wanted to eat it all herself.

amyinbc said...

Good for you! How about revealing your weight to a good friend. You know, simulating the weekly weigh in?

soralis said...

Good luck. I need to do the same. I lost 50 lbs back in 2000 with WW.

Anonymous said...

That is such a healthy way to be with your kids. Its so refreshing to hear it. Good for you!!

And good luck with the 15 pounds. :-)

Heather said...

The best thing I found was to get a scale that weighs in kilograms (and even tenths of kilograms). Then I started at one weight, and watched it go down. Since I didn't have a feel for the right weight in kilos, I was less emotionally tied to the number on the readout. I weigh myself each morning, but that's more to see if I've lost too much and am probably dehydrated (loss of .5 kg this morning from yesterday -- time for some water!!). Otherwise, I recently converted my kg weight to pound (after not knowing what the numbers related to for several months) and found that I'm almost back down to college weight.

Anyway -- just a thought. Especially if you're in the market for a scale.

AmberLB said...

We have a scale. I try not to talk about diet and weight loss in front of my kids, because I have found that even if I don't say the "d" word, they hear it from other people (a teen we know once lectured my 8-year old about how he needed to go on a diet, and I was furious!). The kids do like to weigh themselves, and we talk about how they are growing. For example, we talked about when my 8-year old would be tall enough and weigh enough to stop using his booster seat.

I am five-factoring at the moment and find that the 5 meals a day work very well for me, and allows me to still do my martial arts. While I have lost a lot of weight on a low carb diet, I can't maintain my workouts or health at too low of a weight or without enough carbohydrates. I get too exhausted, faint, and grouchy. A free online place that can be used to keep track of exercise and food is sparkpeople.com. I am too lazy to keep it up always, but I like the articles and frequently use the exercises in the classes I teach.

Tiffany said...

I would have to say that you gotta buy a scale. Also keeping a food diary makes great motivation - "will you put that chocolate in your month if you know you have to write it down?"

The kids are cuties. Love the pics.

Anna said...

What a great mom you are. I never even thought to hide the scale.

I'm with you on the 15 pounds and thinking of starting up WW again, since I have a 16 month old, too--no need to still be carrying that around.

~ Jolene said...

Good luck Snick!!! Before Maui, I went back on WW too and lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks...but I was being really strict! I'm sure I gained them back in Maui but that's beside the point! I'm too cheap to pay too...I'm doing it on my own. Good luck...I know you can do it! :)