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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

TWENTY FIVE POUNDS?!

I've mentioned milestones before.  In any weight management program milestones are important.  I like to set realistic goals so I don't get discouraged.  So, when I reach a milestone I generally use ten pounds as my next goal.  It seems easy enough because it's not a huge number but far enough away that it'll take a few weeks to get there. 

Well, I hit a BIG milestone.  I lost twenty-five pounds.  25 pounds!  I don't know why but I tend to say it over and over again. My leader made a HUGE deal about it at the meeting.  The reward?  It's a small 'charm' that looks like a washer and it says 25 pounds on it.  It is supposed to fit onto a keychain that you get when you lose 10%.  I'm guessing that generally people lose 10% before they lose 25 pounds but I like to do things a little bit out of order!  Anyway to be 'honored' by the people who are on this journey with you is amazing and I'm thrilled.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Apples vs. Brownies

I was not looking forward to weigh-in.  Last week was a gain and I had followed the plan.  I followed the plan this week but what if the scale went up again.  But I still needed to go to the meeting and get on the scale.

So I did.

I also had a huge week.  Not only did I lose SEVEN POUNDS I also hit a big milestone.  I lost 5%.  This is a big deal in the WW meetings.  You get recognized during the celebration portion of the meeting and you get a giant sticker.  I keep my stickers on the front of my book/weigh-in journal.  This also happened to be the first milestone that I celebrated during a meeting.  I was elated.

This was also one of the most memorable meetings because of something my leader had to say.  She started by showing us a plate of five apples.  She also showed us a pre-packaged brownie.  She asked us to guess how many points were in each.  The apples are easy - 1 point each so five points.  The brownie, which she said was just a store bought brownie, not fat free or anything because this wasn't a trick question.  I guessed 4 points.  I was wrong, the brownie has the same number of points as the plate of five apples. 

Even more surprising than that, is what our leader said next.  Your body requires the same volume of food and drink everyday.  If you choose to have the brownie (which is fine as long as you journal it), your body will still require additional food because the volume on a brownie is so much less than the volume of five apples.  I was shocked to say the least.  Really?   Ok, this is good to know.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

My first gain ....

We go to the Tuesday night meeting.  I've always weighed myself early in the morning - you know before you eat or drink anything that would add any weight.  I ate normally during the day, I stayed on plan but when I got to the meeting my heart sank.  I gained.  I gained?  Are you freakin' kidding me?  I gained 1.2 pounds.

I was kind of devastated.  I haven't been doing this very long so seeing a gain was super disappointing.  On my way home from the meeting I called my husband crying.  Remember when I said that during the milestone celebration the week before one of the meeting attendees made a point of saying if you gain it's because you're cheating.  I went back through my journal but I knew I hadn't cheated.

The WW plan gives you your daily allowance and weekly allowance so when you want to indulge you can.  I hadn't even been using my weekly allowance very much and yet I gained.  How could this happen?  When I talked to my friend and my husband about it we decided that it was probably because I'd eaten dinner before the meeting and drank about 48 ounces of water.

Maybe I won't do that again.  In the meantime, I'm working on following the plan even more carefully and I bought a pedometer from the WW meeting that can track either your activity or your whole day and also calculate how many activity points it is.  Surely, this will help me journal and make sure that I'm following the plan, right?

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Milestones are huge.

Part of the Weight Watchers (WW) plan celebrates milestones.  At the beginning of the meeting the leader will announce those who have lost five pounds, or five additional pounds.  Your WW group also celebrates things like 10, 25, 50 pounds and 5%, 10%, etc...

They celebrate smaller milestones, for every five pounds you lose you I am three meetings in and I hit my first big milestone (beyond a 5 pound loss).  I lost another pound so I hit a 15 pound milestone.  When your leader recognizes you, it's thrilling.  My leader also asks each person being recognized how they were successful or what they have found that works.  I like this because it feels real.  I get to learn from the other people who have made this plan work.

Most people say things like... follow the plan, don't cheat, drink your water, journal everything.  Knowing that other people are doing something and it is working, is comforting to me.  It makes me want to do that so I can be successful too.  I mean, there's really no reason to reinvent the wheel, right?

Given that I'm able to follow the plan and hit milestones like losing 15 pounds is proof that it works.