This week: 213.0
Loss: -1.8
Total: -37.0
Thirty-seven pounds. The last time I did serious weight loss was back in about 2005. Again, it was on the weight watchers program, although at that point I was doing meetings and weekly weigh ins. I rarely stuck around for the full meeting, just taking care of my weigh in and leaving. I've never been able to consider the meetings support, and the lecture/discussion always hit my cynicism buttons hard.
What I did get out of it was since I was paying money for the program, I followed it, and the accountability of looking the person doing my weigh in in the eyes while they read back my number. I think I mentioned it earlier, but this time around I'm using this blog and a couple of website forums as my accountability (www.3fatchicks.com/forum & www.weightwatchers.ca) and am paying for the weight watchers online program, so there's the 'value for money' motivator.
Back in 2005, I lost 37.2 pounds over 28 weeks. I don't remember exactly what led to me falling off the program but I did, and slowly but surely gained the weight back plus 5 more over the next 10 years. I can't tell you exactly when all the weight came back, because I also avoided using a scale at home. Looking back, that's a hell of a warning sign for me. If I don't want to step on the scale, I probably should, but I digress.
Fourteen weeks in, and I'm at 37 pounds lost. I'm losing about twice as fast as I did the first time, and have matched the pounds I did last time. From here on out (well, technically another 5 pounds before I'm at the same numbers as 2005, but close enough), I'm at numbers I haven't seen since... 2000? 1999? That's about the point I put all the weight on. It feels like I'm standing on the edge, peering into places I remember seeing years ago, and trying to match what I'm seeing with fuzzy, old memories. It's a rather introspective place to be. What was I doing last time I was this weight? When did I first reach this weight? How did I get there? (mostly so I don't do that again!)
Some thoughts about when I gained the weight and the weight loss, both now and 10 years ago.
- I will always need to have a bathroom scale in the house. As a numbers nerd, I need the accountability of data to pull me up short when things start to creep.
- While I can get away with eyeballing my portions in places or times it's not polite to whip out a set of measuring cups and a kitchen scale to do it properly, I do need to use them regularly if not every single time to keep portion sizes where they should be.
- Being lazy will lead to weight gain. If I don't want to cook supper every day, I need to cook enough on every second day to have leftovers. I can't use time saver packaged foods or food mixes to cut corners.
- As much as I still hate the gym, I hate how my body feels if I miss it for a couple days (sore, tight, slow to move) so it's worth it to just go do it.
- If I'm craving something persistently, it's better to have a small, controlled portion of it sooner than to 'break' and have all of it later. That way I can enjoy it and not feel like I failed the diet, guilty about how much I ate, and in pain because my body truly does not deal well with large amounts of unhealthy food now.
Diana
