Discoveries on my weight loss journey

Are you ready to start that weight loss journey? Well to be sure you are you need to stop and think why you want to lose weight. Do you really want to lose weight? No its not a silly question. In the past I have thought I was desperate to lose weight only to discover that I just didn't have the willpower or inclination to carry it through. The time has to be right. I started out when I was preparing for an inspection at school and I was just under too much stress so I returned the minute the inspection had finished. Make a list of WHY you want to lose it and keep that list close by when times get difficult. Do you feel ready to change your life and make a new start? Then read on!!

Choose a Weight Watcher Meeting first!

Attending the first meeting is the hardest thing to do when you decide you are really serious about losing weight. But try not to let that put you off. I had tried WW many times before and had some good weight losses but never quite lasted out until reaching goal. I was afraid to go back to my usual leader, who was absolutely brilliant, because I felt I had let her down as well as myself. So when I had a flyer put through my door advertising a new and local class I decided to go for that. I was fortunate in discovering another superb leader, Fiona, but I now know that Stephanie, my previous leader, would have welcomed me with open arms so don't ever be afraid to return to an old class!!

Find a meeting place which is convenient for you in area and time. Decide which meeting you are going to go to and go!! I walked through the door and imagined that everybody would stare at me. I carefully avoided eye contact with anyone and filled in the forms and joined the queue. I was welcomed by Fiona and was never made to feel awful about the huge amount of weight I had to lose. If anybody made any signs of noticing me it was to admire me for doing something about my weight. Within a couple of weeks I felt relaxed and was able to chat with other members.

Things to do before or as you start out

Choose an article of clothing which fits you now and keep it as a reminder of your successes. I didn't. Although I did eventually find a skirt which was two sizes smaller than my largest skirt and it serves its purpose! When you reach goal folk will often ask if you have got clothing from when you started out as it makes a good picture. But more importantly it is good for your ego to see how much you have changed and are changing!

Take photos of yourself. I hated having my photograph taken but I am glad that I have managed to find some 'before' pictures as they work wonders when I am feeling low, have made a slight gain or just not had the loss I was hoping for. When I first

decided to take photos of myself to send to my friend Laurie I was so nervous that I dug my nails into my hands as I posed. It hurt too!! If you keep adding a present day photograph it is a really good way of showing yourself that you are successful. It is a good idea to keep these on your mirror where you can see them. I also carry photos round in my handbag and take a peep myself when I need inspiring but also to show to others when I want to show off!!

The other biggy is measurements. Take all your measurements. Include things like your wrists too. When you have a week without losing weight then you will often find that you have lost inches instead. I love looking back but unfortunately I didn't take my measurements until I had been on the programme for a few months!

Throw out your bathroom scales!! I found they were a dangerous thing to have at home. Put yourself completely in the hands of your ww leader. The scales at class are accurate and you don't need any others. I found with my own I was constantly getting on and seeing if there was a change. They ended up piling unnecessary stress on to me, especially when approaching a new target. Although I often do not have a clue what to expect when I stand on the scales every Monday I can honestly say it has made me much happier not knowing!

Things to do in that first week!

Read the books is an obvious one! In the UK we have ten small booklets given out over the first ten weeks. They really are excellent. Even after you have been a Weight Watcher for as long as me there is always something worth while reading again. It is amazing how quickly you forget tips you have been given. So please take time regularly to remind yourself of what you should be doing!! But in that first week it is vital to read them to learn how to plan your week. Read and read again!!

You are given a tracker or journal to fill in.

My advice is to plan a day or more ahead. In the UK with our 123 success plus we are given a sample menu plan for each of the first seven weeks. You can choose to follow it or to do your own thing. So fill in your tracker with what you intend to eat and then try and stick to it. Always write everything down, even if you think it is taking you off the programme. Keep a track of what you actually eat and count those points. In the UK we have a set number of points for each day unlike in the USA where there is a range. Please remember that if you don't eat enough it can cause as many problems as eating too much!!

Use an electronic calculator if possible. I take mine with me when I go to the shops, in fact I have two to make sure I never go without it!!. Any products I am unsure of I point before putting in my trolley/shopping cart. Bobby Jo, the lovely leader I met when I was in the US, added another good suggestion at her class and that was to take a pen and write those points down on the packet so that you don't have to keep working out the points again when you get home.

Be prepared to change your lifestyle! If you are not going to make any changes how can you expect to lose any weight. So make sure that you are eating lots of vegetables and fruit. Read the books and they will help guide you. I now have a copy of the USA book Coach Approach and it does have lots of good advice as well.

Keep praising yourself for every success however small it is. That is very very important. I am thinking of things such as doing extra exercise, resisting temptation when shopping, losing half a pound, maintaining your weight loss despite a difficult week. Just anything you are pleased with, whether it would impress somebody else or not. Do not dwell on any difficult times as you will start thinking of yourself as a failure.

Don't try to run and lose the weight too quickly! It is safest to aim for 1-2 lbs a week on AVERAGE. That doesn't mean that you should or will lose every week! Make your targets small. In the UK we get awards for every 7 lbs, half stone, we lose. In the USA it is every 5 lbs. Can you think of something to reward yourself with when you get another award? Maybe some new makeup or a long soak in the bath, whatever makes you feel good. Give yourself a target for when you reach that final goal too. Laurie suggested my holiday in California and I never looked back after that. It really kept me motivated!!

Should you tell anybody that you are a weight watcher? Well when I first started I was afraid to let anybody know as I had given up too many times. I really thought people would laugh if they knew I had gone back. But it really is too hard to do on your own. By the time I had lost my first stone, i.e. 14 lbs, I had decided to tell my family and close friends, including two colleagues I work with. It made a huge difference and I have no regrets at all.

When as overweight as I was your first large weight losses are not obvious to folk looking at you.
But when you are nearing goal every little loss becomes much more obvious. My family and friends were able to encourage me and they especially helped me when I ate out. Now I have great support from my friends through the internet, especially Laurie, but I still cannot manage without Fiona my WW leader and my family and friends.

After the first weigh in

Always, always stay to your meeting. It is very dangerous, following a gain or bad week, to think you can sort yourself out and then return to the meeting. It really doesn't work! Always stay for the talk after the weigh in. You pay out enough money every week so make good use of it!! The talk really does help even though there may be odd weeks when you don't think it does. I attended meetings for two years and heard the same things over and over again and still found something which was meaningful to me in almost everyone. Those little rewards and the encouragement offered, although they may seem childish, really do work! I am a teacher and find it very strange that I can get so excited about sticking a little number 7 on my card. But they really do motivate me and make me look forward to the next!

Don't forget the support of your fellow members. I found tremendous support from my class. We used to talk and talk and talk whilst Fiona finished weighing everybody. In that time we gave encouragement to those who were disappointed and congratulated those who were happy. We even went out for meals together after class to celebrate our friends reaching goal and me reaching my 100 and 150 lbs lost.

Reflect on how your week went. Check every now and again that your portion sizes aren't increasing. Its amazing how my medium baked potato would get bigger and bigger. So weigh things out occasionally just to make sure that you are not being over generous, breakfast cereals were another I used to make mistakes with! ( I suppose for my friends in the USA I should say get out your measuring cups and check!)

What can you do when facing temptation?

Well firstly if shopping stop and think do you really want this item. Walk around the shop and fetch your other things and then re consider do you still want it. Is it something that you can eat one of and then get somebody to hide the rest? It may be that you will still need to buy the item but do stop and think carefully first. This can still be a problem to me now but at other times I find my willpower is strong.

If it is something in the house causing you or going to cause you trouble then try and hide it.. If that isn't going to work then either throw it out, I have done that a number of times, or give it to someone else! I have been known to race round to my neighbour with foods and that has saved me from danger a number of times! I know my married friends have in the past got their husbands to ration them and carry the extra round in the car with them so there is no chance of bingeing!!

My friend Sue uses the hide method most. She finds as long as it is out of eye sight then it doesn't bother her and she forgets the food is there! It also occasionally works for me too!

Keep busy!! I spend hours on my computer when I am struggling with temptation. In previous years I have kept busy by knitting. Perhaps it is a good time to go for a walk! Anything to stop you thinking of food. Maybe a phone call to a friend or a luxurious bubble bath.

Remind yourself of why you are on the WW programme. Think of all the success you have had so far. Do you really want to spoil it after all your efforts? If you do fall and eat the food then don't get cross. Think either that you will have some lower point meals to make up, will exercise and earn some more bonus points, or it may be that you just have to put it behind you and start the next meal as if nothing has happened.

Motivation

This is where those old clothes, your before and after photographs and your WW record card help. Recap and think of all the positive things which you have succeeded in doing and the lovely compliments you have received. I love looking at all the number 7's I have been awarded and working out when I will receive the next one! Make sure that your leader and friends know that you are having trouble. Fiona always says that she doesn't get much time to chat at the scales and so is not always able to gauge how disappointed we are with our results. So please make sure you share that with your leader. They do want to help but we have to help them to help us!! Hope that makes sense!!

Make use of all the resources possible. Read success stories in your Weight Watcher magazine. I always turn to those stories first. It is very inspiring seeing that other people have worked through the same problems that you have and yet still been successful. They often give good tips as well!! Of course you can use your magazine, well the UK one, for sample menus as well as advice on exercise, clothes, beauty and health. I look forward to attending class and finding a new edition has been published.

A few weeks before I reached my goal weight I changed my habits. I discovered that it was fun to follow recipes and cook my own meals instead of eating very fast and eating simply cooked foods like baked potatoes. I think years ago I stopped cooking properly because I had nobody else to cook for. When I was younger I had a flat mate and then I used to have lots of friends to visit. At one time I used to entertain every Sunday lunchtime. When I found the WW forum and the chat room I got very bored with people who discussed recipes all the time. Now I have taken note of my Weight Watcher leader's advice and that is that meals can be made so much more appetizing when following cookery books. I even found that they cost me less points than I had expected!! It is well worth looking at recipes in the magazines and cookery books. Don't forget that they even have all the points worked out so all you have to do is cook and eat!!

Support network

Get yourself a support network. First of all I relied on my friends at class, then I started to look towards colleagues at work and family and friends. But nothing compares with the support I found through my friends on the internet, especially Laurie, but many many others too. None of us can do this alone - well I certainly couldn't and I really believe that everyone is the same.

Think about exercise! It makes a huge difference. Look at my exercise page and see if that helps!

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