Well, one of my friends just lost her 100th pound on her 40th birthday. (I would post her name here, but I don’t know if she’s willing to be a public figure, so you’ll have to die of curiosity.) Another friend is in size 9/10 jeans as of this weekend, in spite of her PMS. (I have absolutely NO qualms posting her vitals here, since she’s crazy bold enough to share them with the world herself!)
I am SO happy for them. Not a bit jealous. Not. One. Little. Bit. Okay, well maybe a little. But sheesh, these ladies have quite literally worked their fannies off, so it’s not like I can begrudge them their awesome achievements.
As for me, faithful readers of this blog know just exactly how much weight I’ve (not) lost. Indeed, LOTS of you have weighed in (No pun intended…I leave the puns to Linda and Charlie, who are really, really good at puns. My humor usually occurs by accident.) with really great recipes in my recipe contest, designed to give me ideas and inspiration to be able to cook/eat/feed my family in a more healthy manner. (Do you notice how often I interrupt myself? Imagine being my husband (known here on this blog as HH). Constantly being interrupted by my bursts of inspiration. He’s such a lucky guy.) Thanks for your entries! I will be using them!
Anyway, it is not that I haven’t worked hard enough. As you (may) know, I’m training for a marathon, so I am getting bunches of exercise. And as you (may) know, distance runners are particularly weight-loss-challenged because of the distinct nutritional requirements of their sport.
However, it occurs to me that my sport does not require me to have a burger and fries twice in one day. And it also occurs to me that I now do have LOTS of awesome recipes from my faithful friends who read this blog.
Further, it occurs to me that I have this most salient reminder of two friends that have had MEGA success in the fanny-shrinking department, that these women are really normal, nice, friendly gals, who weren’t doing anything faddish or into some wierd trend. They were just doing the Hard Work of monitoring what they put into their pie-holes. These women aren’t supermodels, but they’re superheroes–at least in the weight loss department (and my eyes). Worse yet, they are totally likeable. I really LIKE them. You can’t hate someone who you like, so since I like them I am now left with: No Excuses.
Since I found myself today at the crossroads of No-Excuses and Forever-Fat, and since I found myself at the end of My Own Strength and Will-Power to Do Anything About It (seriously–I’ve made this a pretty public journey–the public nature of any “failure” would have been enough to have caused me to change if I’d been willing/able/ready to do it), I did the only thing that there was left to do. I prayed.
[Time out now, because this is something I’m actually serious about. I take myself pretty lightly, but God? Now, I take Him seriously. Just because God has a sense of humor doesn’t mean He’s a joke and He is one of the few things you won’t find me kidding about. Just wanted you to know.]
SO, I prayed that God would just help me care. Seriously. I obviously hadn’t cared enough to do something about it. I’m not trying to be hard on myself and I’m not trying to make light of God Almighty here. But I knew that He cared about me taking care of myself, and I obviously wasn’t caring enough to make the necessary changes in the Eat Less curriculum of the Eat Less/Move More game plan I’d taken on.
If God cared and I didn’t, then I had a problem. So I asked Him for help. And of course, He gave it to me. [Aside: Even if you’re not a Christian, the exercise/weight loss/diet stuff you’re about to read will probably interest you. It’s worth it to continue reading. If you are a Christian, please do not believe for a minute that I “heard from God” just because I said so. Test it. If you don’t know how, then message me or ask your pastor. I’ll be happy to share my testing-process with you personally, but that’s way beyond this post. Listen, the important thing to know is God does care and He does talk to us, but our “feelings” are not the litmus test for the will of God. Even if you love everything I say, I don’t speak for God. God is perfectly capable of speaking for Himself.]
SO…very surprisingly, the help that I received was in the form of several distinct and unassociated people who’ve had great success in this weight loss program called Weight Watchers. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.
Now, I’ve done WW before and was quite successful with it. I have clothes that used to fit me in my closet to prove it. The problem was that I “did” WW before and I’m now really, really looking for a permanent lifestyle change. One that can accomodate my new lifestyle as Mom-Who-Runs. One that I can do as a Normal Person (which I desperately would love to be) instead of either a Dieter OR as a Rebelling-From-Being-A-Dieter-And-Doing-Whatever-I-Please-Person.
My big objection to WW was that I would have to go to those meetings. Now, when my world operated on a different schedule, the meetings were not a problem. At this point in my life, though, the meetings are Out Of The Question. And so, WW was out of the question. Until now.
I know this is old news to some people, but it’s new to me, and I’m kinda excited to hear it. Weight Watchers now has an ONLINE program. Which means no more (stupid) meetings! No more needing to get a babysitter so I can step on a scale! No more lecturettes!
And *ahem* no more excuses.
Undaunted, I had one last remaining excuse. This bit of being an endurance athlete. Seriously, people. We need CALORIES to run 26.2 miles. Or 13.1. Or 10. Or 6. Reasonable people understand that there’s no way to safely crash diet and safely train for a marathon. But THEN, while poking around on the WW site, I discovered something I’d forgotten entirely. ACTIVITY POINTS.
Hallelujah, activity points! I don’t remember the way they are calculated. (It’s been a long time since I achieved lifetime WW member status.) But essentially, activity points help to account for the activity you do by giving you more points that you can/must consume for that day. So there was actually a chance that I might be able to lose weight, train for my marathon, and not starve/injure myself in the process.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel. I just needed to reassess my WHY.
My motivation to lose weight is no longer what it used to be. I’m not even willing to tell you what it used to be. Seriously, I don’t even know if I can get my brain to go there. NOW, however, my desire to lose weight has to do with not having to caring this extra 40 (to 45) pounds with me as a passenger on my marathon on February 21st. My motivation is to lose some of that weight so that it doesn’t have to come along for the ride on my first marathon, or even most of the training for it. Losing the weight will help me avoid injury, improve my time, and enjoy the experience (not to mention take a cuter picture) during that race. So THAT’S the motivation. And I can’t wait until January 31st to start thinking about it.
So here’s my question: Who among you has tried (or knows someone who’s tried) this Weight Watchers Online thing? Would you recommend it for someone as random as me? Would it yield itself to the odd requirements of an adult-onset-endurance-athlete with a sweet-tooth husband and two athletic daughters to feed? Would I injure myself trying it while training for this marathon? Would you recommend it? In essence: HELP!
Please, please, please give me your comments about this if you’ve got an opinion. Even I’m not such a lover-of-contradiction that I’d start WW three days before Thanksgiving, but I’ll be making a decision about What To Do very soon. It would be great to have input from people who’ve been there.
As it stands now, the extra weight I’d be carrying would be like carrying a preschooler in my arms for the entire 26.2 miles during my race in February. Um, pass. Clearly, it’s time for drastic measures.
Can’t wait to hear your words of wisdom. I thank you from the bottom of my…well, never mind.
P.S. Another benefit: HH doesn’t know that there is a WW for Men Online available. I feel a master plan cooking up. This could be good!
I ONLY have used the online program. My pride kept me from going to meetings. And I made connections of girls who are also doing WW to hold me accountable. Not to mention that I see what the scale screams at me. It’s enough accountability to last me for months. The online program is useful for many reasons, but mostly because you will use the food journal and calculator the most till you get your sea legs back on. I don’t care for me message boards, but one of the girls I walk with swears by them.
So in all honesty? Wild horses couldn’t drag me to a meeting. And buy a calculator for reference if you are out and about, or at the grocery store. All that says “Low fat, low carb, high fiber” is not always equal or beneficial. You will be surprised at the numbers that pop up. If you have any questions about it, let me know! I’ll be happy to walk you through!!!
Charlie- PMSing Crazy woman in 9/10s with serious VPLs 🙂
THANKS Charlie! I was afraid you’d say that. I’m really looking into this. (Between me helping you with the running and you helping me with the pie-hole management, we might get this Eat Less/Move More thing whooped yet!)
And Congratulations (again) on your awesome 9/10 jeans! Who cares about the VPLs! 🙂
You rock!
Shannon, I have done both. I found benefits with both. For me the meetings were helpful and kept me motivated. But online is really cool and easy to use. I think it would be great for you because you would get benefit from interacting with other online members. And WW is very family friendly. I still think about things in point value. Plus it sets a good example for the girls who will become teens then Women. I’m a firm believer in helping mold their little brains and bodies as early as we can so they eat healthy too and prevent eating disorders. Just my advice from having an actve teen girl. 🙂
what the heck are VPLs?
Thanks Shelly. That’s good to hear from the mom of a teen. (Just when I was thinking I didn’t have enough to be stressed about…thanks for bringing that up, lol!)
I’m fairly confident I’m going to do this. Think I’ll have any luck getting HH to do WW for Dudes?
OH, and VPLs are Visible Panty Lines~ a Charlie-ism, I’d reckon. She’s sporting some in her size 9/10 jeans (after losing 65 pounds, woo hoo!) over on her blog.
I’ve used both before, and have had good results. The only problem has been ME – not sticking with it. I’m thinking about trying the online again. If you use Weight Watchers, you MUST check out this website — Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone. It gives you WW points for virtually EVERY item at EVERY fast food place! Great info!
http://www.dwlz.com/
Thanks Chris.
Secret: I really think I’m going to do this. Don’t tell anybody.
I’m finally the teensiest bit motivated thanks to my friends’ successes and Shelly’s comments about girls-teens-women-eating disorders-setting good examples. Ack! The pressure of motherhood.
Plus which, the activity points for high intensity running add mucho points to the potential daily/weekly total, so my fear of starvation and wierd dieting nonsense is quickly fading.
Whaddya say, Chris? Wanna do it with me…the online version, of course? I found a coupon for 25% off the first three months, so if you decide to do it, let me know and I’ll get you the link.
Scary. But I just might be starting to Get Serious about the Eat Less portion of Jackie’s Rules for Healthy Weight Loss. What will McDonald’s do without me?
Um….. (drum roll, please)….. yes, I’ll do it!! I’m going to start Friday. Gotta get through goody day at work tomorrow and Thanksgiving dinner. Besides, I think I’m coming down with something (ugh!). Hopefully by Friday I’ll be over it (fingers crossed, lots of cold meds, liquids and rest). I wanna start fresh. The holidays will be tough, but I have enough events coming up to be motivated. Pass me the 25% coupon!
Woo hoo! I’m going to get into the site now and really start the day after Thanksgiving too. That way I can play around on the site and try to track stuff before I have to actually do it for real. (Otherwise, then I’ll spend another week getting to know the site and then I’ll have another issue that’s really important and then…before you know it, it’s May and we’re running the Cap Half and I’m still carrying around this pre-schooler full of flub in every race I run!
Here’s the link:
http://www.momscape.com/weight-watchers/index.htm
Click through on the link and it’ll send you to the sign up page with the 25% discount already built in. This is more than is offered right now on the regular site.
Woo Hoo! We can do this Chris! (Anybody else want to get on board?!) The more the merrier!
Charlie, look what you’ve started!
I think this is a great idea!
If I remember correctly a happy meal was 11 or 12 points, not too bad! 🙂 I can’t live without my fries!
Gonna have to check that site for points out Chris! Sounds awesome! I still know how many points I’m supposed to have in a day, just don’t always do it LOL
Are you going to do it with us, Shelly? Or are you going to rule-of-thumb it? Either way, it’ll be fun!
Wow. This post was really meaningful for me. I also prayed about my weight and joined Weight Watchers last week. I wish you luck!
That’s awesome, Carla! So glad you shared that. I hope you come back and visit again. We all need to support each other in this–it’s sure not always easy. I’d love to hear about your progress. Take care!
Shannon, another great post!! You truly do have a gift for this writing thing. I love reading your post and it is cool when you find yourself mentioned in nice ways! 🙂
I am here to support anyone who wants to join the WW, or my whole Eat Less/Move More way of life. As I think about it, maybe saying eat less is not the right thing. You don’t want people to think you are starving yourself. Anyways, that motto worked for me and I hope it works for others as well. I am going to have to come up with a new one………hmmmm maybe Eat right/Move smart……….LOL. Ok I don’t know. I honestly just came up with the EL/MM when someone asked me what I was doing to lose the weight many moons ago.
In any case, I don’t think there is anything better than having friends to support you along your journey. Shannon you have inspired me to keep moving on many days and actually, I was reading an article today and I am now thinking MARATHON?? Ok, it is a thought, although I am going to worry about the half first, but the idea is out there and I know I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you!!
Great posts! I have a little input. It is not about WW but it is about weight loss so I thought I’d share. As you know, I am not a long distance runner. Due to knee issues now I am a brisk walker and only occasionally go fast BUT, when I met your brother, I was running almost daily. I ran about 6 days a week for about 4 years, obsessively. I started because of stress at work. I would wake up stressed and fly out the door in the morning for a run. I ran sprints. I would run very intensely (at my MAX) for about 5 minutes and then light jog or walk for 5 minutes and then go at it again, increasing the sprinting time, alternating back and forth and end up running at full speed the last 10-15 minutes of my run. You have to get to the “euphoria” point and it is easy with sprinting. Sometimes I would have your brother chase me. That was fun. Sprinting was the way to drop weight. I actually dropped about 10 pounds in a month. I actually had to be careful I was not getting too thin. Now when I feel pounds coming on this is the method I use to get back to my “feel good” weight. This was combined with a basically healthy diet but I did eat my share of fries and ice cream…ohh and cheetos… and was actually able to eat more when I incorporated sprinting… Good luck to you S! Life is a great journey.
I can’t wait to hear more about your progress! It is all very exciting! 🙂
Oh…and I forgot to mention, my runs were not long distance. About 2 miles per day but pretty much everyday but some light weight training now and then. 🙂
ok gals..I’m in!!My story is (I will make it short), I started running spring 08- and lost a good amount of weight. Well I’m still running (well have not for the past week and a half..ughh!) but I’m still carrying around a “first grader”~ got a bit more than ya Shannon~sad to say:( but I’m so determined to do this! You gals rock!! and really motivate me! I like WW, it is normal and allows you to eat like a normal person! Therefore I’m in! The line-up starts black Friday~hey is anyone going shopping early that morning? Maybe we should buy one motivating item that day! huh?
Teri
Yay, Teri! Hmmm…. one motivating item….. a pair of Daisy Dukes, perhaps? HA! I wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair, not even if I were super-skinny! Not a bikini, either. Okay, MAYBE a bikini if I got down to my HS weight. But not counting on that, either. I actually have half a closet and drawers full of motivating items (translation: clothes I can’t wear right now), so maybe I’ll just save some money, pull out a few of those items and put them where I can see them every day.
Whoo hoo! I’m stoked! And I think it will be great to have motivation and support from friends who are waging the same battle of the bulge.
Inspiring…self motivation only takes me so far, need the group I think. (and what does HH stand for? …hot husband, surely not! henpecked husband, maybe…her husband? little too feminist…a little help here, please….ohno, not helpful husband!)