Weight Loss Reality Check

I had my 10th weigh-in at Weight Watchers today, and am down 1.6 pounds since before Christmas, for a total of 4.6 pounds since...October. Not exactly burning up the scales.

I keep my WW membership booklet/weight record in a little carrying case, and as I was putting my guide away after weigh-in today, I noticed/remembered that I have kept all my booklets from each time I have re/joined WW. I got them all out and looked through them, noting how many years - and pounds - had passed. Therein lay some significant, sobering truths.

To further impress upon myself these truths, I created an Excel spreadsheet to map out my weight loss journey. It ain't pretty.

• I've joined WW 12 times, the first time in January 1999. So pretty much every year, I try again.
• I've lost weight each time - proving I *CAN* be successful, when I stick with the program.
• The first time I lost a total of 25.6 pounds, and was 13 pounds from goal.
• The first time I was a member for 17 weeks, the longest I have ever stayed on the program.
• I've also gained the lost weight back nearly every time I stopped attending meeting/unsubscribed from the program.
• I gained back 24 of those first 25 pounds lost in 5 months, after going off program.
• Three times I have stopped going after the 10th week. Interesting I discover this on my 10th week on the program this time around.
• In the 12 years since I started WW, I've lost 90 pounds, but since I also gain it back, then lose some, then gain more, am currently just 10 pounds lighter than when I started back in 1999.

I don't need any celebrity trainer to berate me on national television to force me to face reality - these numbers tell the story just as coldly.

Bottom line - I have wasted YEARS and HUNDREDS of dollars by going and quitting and going back again. If I'm going to DO THIS and stop wasting my time, I need to PAY ATTENTION and really do this. I need to do my food journal every day, drink more water, and move more. For realz.

Who's with me?

[photo credit: MCScola]

Comments

[Carole Huxel]

Dear Angie,

The best way to lose weight and maintain is to know what you are eating at all times. One thing that can help is to get a diet program for your iPhone or iPad (or whatever your favorite portable electronic device is.) My husband and I used a program called "Nutrition Menu" from the iTunes app store. It's very inexpensive. You get a million different foods with all their necessary calories, sugars, carbs, etc. You can add as many of your own foods as you like. You can combine foods so you have the ingredients to your favorite meals. You can chart your weight, exercise, and set your calorie intake for whatever you want. Once you get used to looking stuff up, you can figure out how many calories you can eat in a day, how many sugar grams, carbs and cholesterol. Once you get that balance, the weight will start to literally fall off. One big problem people have with diets is they add in all these stupid things like "diet cookies" that screw up their nutrition balance. Finding a way to keep everything in proportion is the real secret to successfully taking it off and keeping it off.

[Angie Pedersen]

"Finding a way to keep everything in proportion is the real secret to successfully taking it off and keeping it off."

I totally agree, Carole! Thanks for the heads up on the app - I'll have to pass that along to my husband, who is working out, but not following WW. Thanks!