Weight Watchers week 11

Many women struggle with weight as they near middle age, and I'm one of them. I can come up with many reasons why--numerous deployments and moves that contribute to emotional eating, too busy to think about what I'm eating, not enough time for myself...blahblahblah. Actually, I had an easier time when my kids were younger-- I was so busy with four little ones that I guess I burned lots of calories!  I felt I had come to a place of acceptance that this is just how I am, yet deep down I knew I was not being kind to myself or even being my best self by not really dealing with this. When I'd see unflattering photos, I'd just tell myself it was a bad angle, or the 'camera adds 10 lbs'.

One can do a lot of justifying when they're not ready to deal with an issue.

I've tried different things off and on over the past decade or so. I'm a life-long exerciser,so that wasn't the issue. Obviously, it was in how I dealt with food. While Steve was deployed last year, I lost about 15 lbs simply by cutting back portion sizes and going to the gym. Then I hit a wall and couldn't lose another ounce, no matter what I did. The only 'diet' type thing I've ever done was the "Weigh Down" program about 14 years ago. I had a lot of success initially, but all the weight came back. I'm not even going to go into why that 'program' is so flawed, at least for me, so I knew this was not something I could try again. (maybe more on that later)

My sister-in-law has had great success with Weight Watchers, and at the end of January I decided I would give it a try because I knew this was something I was unable to conquer on my own. Actually, I think my exact words were, "Well, they have an online special, so I guess I'll try it for 3 months and see what happens." Inside,  I figured I might lost 4-5 more lbs, but maybe I'd learn something. Honestly, I didn't think it would help much. 

Here I am, on week 11, and have lost 24 lbs! Color me stunned. I've always said I have a bad metabolism, or diets don't work, etcetc. But this has been surprisingly easy to follow, after the initial learning curve, and I've consistently lost each week. It seems the last piece of the fitness/food puzzle has been put into place for me, and I've learned so much. Even being an RN and being pretty well read about this topic, I had a lot of faulty thinking in regard to food (ie, some foods are 'bad', you just need to eat less, and on and on). I'm finally cautiously optimistic that I can get this under control--it's honestly something I can see doing for the rest of my life, which is key. 

I don't think my brain has quite caught up,but here are my "before/in progress" pics.
Last fall, as we were dropping our oldest off at college.

YICK.

Here I am today. As Steve said, "You can see the bones in your face!" What a concept.

Also, I have a shorter 'do! For some reason, it just seemed like the thing to do, shed some hair as well. :)

My top tips for those following Weight Watchers:

• Invest in a digital scale. You want to see your weekly progress--even if you've only lost half a pound, it will keep you going. 
• Lose the 'diet' mindset--this is a way of life, something you have to be willing to stick to for the rest of your life. 
• Find a few 'go to' meals that are mindless, and you can put together easily. For me, snacks are usually one of the following: hummus with some pita chips and sliced up veggies/yogurt with fruit and a a sprinkling of granola/ string cheese and grapes or a banana. I don't even think about it anymore. 
• Know that you can work in REAL food--that is the only way this is realistic! If you start to feel like there are foods you can't have, it's going to make it harder. I've eaten cheesecake, birthday cake, lasagna, pizza, and steak....I just can't eat it in the quantities I ate before. However, the 'first bite tastes like the rest'.  It takes a lot less of those sorts of foods to satisfy me now. 
• The healthier you eat...the healthier you'll eat. As I concentrate on better food choices, it seems that's more of what I want. 
• If you 'mess up', just look at the reasons why, and  move on. Don't beat yourself up. It has nothing to do with your value as a person or how 'good' you are. Some days you just need that big piece of chocolate cake. That's ok. 
• USE YOUR WEEKLY POINTS!! I know a lot of people who won't touch them. Use them! Some weeks I've used all my activity points too. It's nice to know they're there. :)

I know this is something I will always have to be mindful of, and I am certainly no expert on losing weight and keeping it off. I know the hardest part is in front of me--maintenance!