I have been asked that question SO many times over the past 24 hours, as our blog has become known to friends and family, and friends and family of our friends and family. :)
For those of you who don't know, back before Mike and I got married, we joined Weight Watchers. I lost 60 pounds and he lost 40. We did great on it, and both thoroughly enjoyed the information and fellowship that we found through the meetings. We called our Wednesday night classes our "Date Night" and soon found a group of friends at those meetings - and I'm proud to say that I'm still in contact with some of those friends, even 1000s of miles away in another state. They have been a great source of support for me over the past couple of years.
However, we chose not to re-join Weight Watchers during this attempt at losing weight. A lot of people have asked us why - and the answer is simple: it's not "right" this time around. There are no "bad" feelings about WW or we haven't lost our love for the program. It's just not right - our challenges and resources are different this time around.
Back then, we were young(er), kid-less, and both working full time. We had more expendable income, more stability in schedules (which led to packing healthy lunches and working in more gym time), and our lifestyle going into WW was completely unhealthy. We drank LOTS of regular soda, lathered things in cheese, butter, and sour cream, and ate huge, full-fat portions of everything. A lot of that weight-loss success was due purely to changing WHAT kinds of foods we ate or drank.
Things are totally different now. While I still think WW is the healthiest diet plan out there, it's not the right one for me right now. The meetings are affordable - but the babysitting cost of someone watching the 3 children added on makes it unaffordable. My diet going into WW this time would not need as drastic of a change - I eat lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats, "real" multi-grain breads, and I'm already working out. I've been trying to do WW on my own for the past 6 months - and seeing as I've actually put weight ON over that six months, it's not working.
I think what my body (and more importantly, my mind) needs this time around is a "shock." I need to have to re-think my food choices. I need to have to weigh my options and really have to choose what is and isn't good for me at this moment. Going back on WW wasn't enough to get me to stop and think. I counted my points, stayed within my range, but was just maintaining my weight - I wasn't making good choices with my points. I'd eat the 1 point toast with 2 points of peanut butter 4 times a day. I was still in my points range, but I wasn't eating enough of veggies and other choices out there. THAT'S what this diet is doing: making my "normal" food choices "abnormal" again, so that I actually have to think about what I'm doing.
So far it's working. I feel better, and I'm down 5 pounds since Saturday (although I'm sure that is mostly due to drinking more water again). Next on the "to-do" list is trying to find a way to work exercise back into my schedule with three demanding kids always around.
Any suggestions?
No comments:
Post a Comment