Why Weight Watchers Works for Me

I've been overweight and even obese since about my 40s and before that I struggled to maintain a lower weight. When I was a teenager and in my early 20s, like so many of us, I was skinny, really. Like many women I know, I've tried this and that, have lost weight and gained it back, and even tried Weight Watchers a few times before.

My sister who was always the chubby one of 3 sisters, joined WW when she was in her 40s, achieved her goal weight, and has been a lifetime member ever since (she's now in her early 70s). I know of many other success stories with people following this plan, which has greatly improved over the years.

The thing about this program that makes it do-able is that WW has access to a large range of experts--dietitians, nutritionists, probably endocrinologists, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals--who do the research and devise a sound nutritional plan that really works.

It's up to the individual to follow the program and make it work for him or her.

I think it is working for me this time because I am super motivated: it's now or never for me. My lipid profile shows my bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides to be too high, good cholesterol (HDL) to be too low, and my HBA1C (3-month profile of blood sugars) to be very close to indicating diabetes. My joints hurt, especially knees, from carrying around an extra 35 pounds, and it is just imperative that I get the excess weight off my body. They say even a 10% reduction can help.

And after 5 weeks on the program I've achieved a weight loss of 5%. I already feel better, lighter, and have more energy.

I love the program this time around because it makes me pay attention to what I'm taking in each day--food and drink--by counting and tracking the points values and writing down the points I'm expending each day. And I know how many points I should be consuming in order to achieve a weight loss.  It's not a fad diet where you eat only meat and vegetables or just grapefruit or just rice--it's a sound nutritional program where you focus on filling foods like fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy or other calcium-rich foods.

It's easy to figure out the points values of what you like to eat and you learn quickly that a 4-point cookie or a 3-point bag of potato chips might taste great, but for that same number of points you can have a lot more food if you eat fruits, vegetables, and so on.

I'm ready to eat this way for life, and that's what the WW program is all about--learning how to eat for life so that you can have a life.

Weight Watchers Plan--This is Do-able!

I've been fighting my weight most of my adult life. For many years I was just what you might call zaftig or pleasingly plump, curves in the right places and so on. But as I got older, the curves weren't so pleasing and neither was my lipid profile. Being overweight or obese (if you calculate BMI) has been hard on my joints, too.

Weight Watchers is a proven and sound program. I'd not succeeded on it in the past, though, and had a bad attitude about it. Then some colleagues where I work organized a Weight Watchers at work program, and our company even paid for part of our membership costs. I figured what the heck, I may as well try again. Because the results of my blood work last November showed my bad cholesterol to be high, my blood sugar to be high, and some other numbers that didn't look too great--both my primary care doctor and my endocrinologist were telling me I had to lose weight. Heart disease, diabetes, joint problems, thyroid problems were all looming on the horizon.

So, I started in on the program with a fresh outlook. I have to say that I am now in love with the Weight Watchers program. Their medical experts have done all of the nutritional, medical, psychological, dietary, and other research to come up with a plan that is easy to follow. I've managed to achieve a weight loss of almost 10 pounds after 5 weeks on the program, and I say "I can do this."  I feel better already.

I'll blog more about this soon.

Do you really need alcohol to have a good time?

I recently joined Weight Watchers for the upteenth time, but I'll blog more about that later. At the most recent meeting one of the members was asking about how others handle going out and socializing, drinking alchohol, and how the points add up when you do that. (for non WWs--points are like calories/fat/fiber all calculated to help you track what you eat and drink.)

Alcohol does pack the calories and has little if any nutritional value. Red wine is supposed to be good for you with antioxidants and so on, so here's some ideas. If you want to drink and socialize, choose a red wine spritzer and sip it slowly. Alternate between that and just sparkling water with lime, like a San Pellegrino or Perrier.

I actually gave up alcohol about 15 years ago when I was dating a guy who had an alcohol dependency problem--to show him that you can really have fun without it. And it's true--if you enjoy a few sparkling waters with lime and focus instead on just being with the people around you, really listening to what they say, enjoying their company and the conversation, and not focusing on getting a "buzz" or how wasted you're getting--you can actually enjoy a sociable outing with friends drinking little or no alcohol.