My Weight Loss Story

I returned to Weight Watchers in November 2003. My DD was 18 months old and I was a wreck. I'd coped with the stress of new motherhood (not to mention life in post 9/11 America) by eating. I ate a lot. And I ate the wrong things. I'm not proud to admit that I 0ften hit the fast food drive-through twice a day. I would put DD in her carseat, drive around until she fell asleep for a nap, and get some fast food while she rested. It was one way to cope, but by that November, I weighed 173, my all-time high. My BMI was 29.9, and I was miserable.

I say that I returned to WW because I'd been a Lifetime member for some years. I'd lost 25 pounds in the early '90s. Although I'd reached Lifetime status (which is awarded by WW when a member achieves a healthy goal weight and maintains that weight for six weeks), I hadn't integrated the personal changes necessary to stay at goal weight. In fact, I have a vivid memory of going to a drive-through for a "food reward" on my way home from the meeting at which I was awarded Lifetime membership in WW! I still had that diet mentality that goes along with short-term behavior changes. I had no confidence that I could lose weight and keep it off. So it's not surprising that I'd regained my 25 pounds by the time I became pregnant with DD. Or that I used food to cope with the stress of new motherhood.

I found a wonderful meeting, and began following the Flex Plan. I have a wonderful Leader, Shirley, who never failed to be encouraging. She always seemed to know just the right thing to say at the right time. The many honest, courageous and successful members of my Sunday morning meeting are truly inspiring. There's a large cadre of Lifetime members at goal who attend my meeting. Their example, plus that of Shirley, showed me that it's possible to lose weight and keep it off. To a one, they say "what got me to goal keeps me at goal." I resolved to follow their lead and keep attending meetings once I reached my goal.

Around February 2004 I began to exercise regularly. I did this despite not being particularly enthusiastic about fitness activity. Rather, I was responding to a challenge issued by a Leader. She said, "I have discovered that I have 30 minutes a day to sit and snack, so I must have 30 minutes a day to be active." I really didn't like hearing that. After all, I was the very busy mom of a toddler, working part time outside the home, and I was tired! But I began doing a 30 minute Walk Away the Pounds tape in the evening before I sat down to my crossword puzzles. Lo and behold, my rate of weight loss increased, my energy level picked up, and my mood improved. I've experienced chronic mild depression my entire adult life, coupled with a pretty rugged bout of the baby blues after DD was born, so the boost I get from exercise turns out to be a big benefit! In the past year and a half of serious exercising, I've worked my way up to one hour training sessions of tae bo, spinning classes at my gym, and strength training with the Firm. I'm considering taking up running, if the weather ever cools off enough to let me do it this Fall. I now strongly encourage everyone to explore different fitness activities until you find the one you can enjoy. It may not look like what I do, or what your friends think is great, but it's out there. Find it, relish it, and your body will thrive!

By the time the Core Plan was released to the WW membership in late August 2004, I was nearly at goal. But I'd hit a bit of an attitude plateau. After all, I'd never before been able to maintain a weight loss. Convinced that disappointment would follow reaching my goal weight, I was stuck about 10 pounds above my goal weight. When Core came out, I was delighted by what I read. What is Core? It is at once a structured approach to food and a freeing invitation to trust one's body. I eat to physical satisfaction from a list of wholesome, unprocessed foods. If I want to eat a nonCore food, I can do so in reasonable amounts. On Core, I've learned to trust my body to tell me when I need to eat, and how much. I've learned I can trust myself around food, I enjoy cooking (though I'll probably never enjoy cleaning up), and weight management can be fairly effortless.

Following the Core Plan, I lost the last few pounds and got to my goal weight on November 1, 2004. Since then, I've lost a few more pounds, bringing my goal weight to 133 -- an even 40 pound loss from my high one year earlier. To my delight, maintenance on Core has been straightforward. As long as I focus my eating on the Core Food List, and continue to exercise daily, my weight stays where I want it to be. In short, those Lifetime members at my meeting are right, "what got me to goal keeps me at goal." I continue to work on the skills I've learned from WW that support my weight maintenance efforts.

To see more photos from my weight loss album, visit my website, http://www.freewebs.com/hippomommy/