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Feel good about yourself, whatever stage you’re at

Another year, another change in the Weight Watchers world….only this time it’s the biggest change to be rolled out yet.  Rebranded as WW, the emphasis has shifted away from weightloss and moved more towards wellness and feeling good.

Personally I am delighted with this approach because it is what I have come to incorporate in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  The programme has been leading up to this for a couple of years now.  Programme materials included a booklet about mindfulness and doing more of the things that make you happy.  Also meeting talks including these topics have become more frequent.

As well as being ideal for WW Gold (Lifetime) members who are trying maintain their weight rather than lose more.  I believe that learning these skills early on in the journey will put you in a great position when you reach your goal and transition to maintenance. 

It has taken me a considerable amount of time to reach my current level of wellbeing, as the saying goes, ‘old habits die hard’.  Even though my body was changing and fitness increasing, my mindset was trailing behind.  Self confidence and self esteem didn’t come easily, I doubted myself and my ability to keep going.  Deep inside I always felt like I was one step away from it all falling apart and my progress would be wiped away, inevitably I was destined to be obese and unhealthy for life.

So what changed?…… Hope.  The flicker of hope that I felt when I first started was still there. Then I believed.  I believed the messages given in the meetings… if I just changed this one small thing, it would make a difference.  I tried and I saw some benefits.  The slightest result had a positive effect and spurred me on to keep making small changes.  Even when a week didn’t go as I planned or expected, just the knowledge that something worked before kept my hope alive.  Eventually I believed in myself which made me feel good about myself.

Before and after photos
Live well, Love life…. embracing wellness!

Somewhere along this long and winding road I came to realise that I’m the one who is responsible for my own happiness.  I don’t know why I’ve gone through life looking to others to make me happy and ultimately determine if I felt good about myself or not.  I’m understanding more about my own wellbeing so the wellness overtone of WW is ideal for me.  

Through reflection and mindfulness, I have embraced my experiences both positive and negative, after all they have shaped me into the person I am today.  I have a balance within the strands of my life… who I am, what I do and the choices I make.  I have a feeling of freedom that I can be flexible in the choices I make.

As a result of this I’ve made the decision to reduce my weigh-ins to once a month and rely on healthy habits rather than the scales.  So far so good, I’m no longing just living in hope but with real wellness that works for me.

Soli Deo Gloria

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The road to success – so close and yet so far

I was back on my way and this time I was determined to make it the road to success!  I had achieved 30 pounds weight loss in the 12 months since returning to Weight Watchers after having a baby, which left me with 30 pounds left to lose.  There had been the occasional small gain here and there, but for the most part I was cruising along nicely and I felt good.

What could possibly stand in my way?  Because I had already experienced a similar level of weight loss before having my baby break, I had some preconceived notion that it would be plain sailing because I knew what I was doing. And yes, while I had learnt the basics – how to plan, healthy food choices, portion control and being active.  I had no idea about the way my body would react to the transformation it was going through.

I had been morbidly obese for years and it seemed like on the whole my body was very comfortable with that.  My mind and spirit on the other hand would no longer settle for that and knew that I could be a better version of myself, indeed, my best self.  It felt like I was in a battle with my body to get rid of the excess fat.  As my weight reduced, my body seemed to resist more and more.  Another 4 months passed and the gains began to become more frequent, it may have only been half a pound gains but it was just not what I wanted to see on the scales.  Then I hit another dreaded plateau, 4 whole weeks of staying the same!  What’s a girl gotta do!

Yes, there were tears and thoughts of throwing in the towel.  I’d come so far, I was 80 pounds lighter, my health had improved, I’d dropped dress sizes, all great reasons to celebrate so surely it didn’t matter if I just stopped now.  It was at this point that I became most grateful for my Weight Watchers leader and meeting group.  Having the support and encouragement of people who have experienced the same struggles and truly understand was and still is invaluable to me.  They rallied around, allowed me to let my frustrations and emotions out, picked me up and helped me plan what I would do in the next week to get me moving again in the right direction. (To read more about dealing with plateaus click here.)

Photo of CC
80 pounds weight loss – getting closer to goal

They didn’t let me quit and in reality it wasn’t what I wanted to do either.  Many people are able to achieve weight loss success independently or through online programmes but personally for me, the meeting group played a major part in me getting to my goal and maintaining it.  I’m happy to say the following week I registered a 2 pounds loss at the scales, which meant I had less than 1 stone to go.

I’d often heard people say that the last few pounds are the hardest to lose.  Now I know from experience that they are not wrong.  Success doesn’t come easy.  It’s also said that ‘anything worth having is worth fighting for’, once I hit the home straight, it would be a fight to the finish.

Soli Deo Gloria

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Diversion – Life Happens!

So there I was in the midst of a ‘baby break’.  Sometimes when you set out to do something, life just gets in the way.  I didn’t rush back to Weight Watchers after having the baby,  I believe it is important to make the most of the different stages of life and I was thoroughly enjoying a new social life with baby club friends.

It was in the back of my mind that I was only half way to my goal but I was getting to grips with caring for a young child again.  The trepidation of getting back on the scales and facing the weight gain wasn’t something I had the courage to face at that point.  I found excuses for myself, my weight gain would be entirely because of ‘baby weight’, it would have nothing to do with the bad eating habits I had slipped back into.

I was forced to buy larger sized clothes because my pre-maternity clothes still didn’t fit and I even wore maternity clothes long after the baby arrived.  Two years after last attending I took the plunge and returned to Weight Watchers.  I joined a meeting in my local area, one of my new baby club friends was already attending so I instantly had a WW buddy.  I tipped the scales at 16 stones 4 pounds,  16 pounds heavier than I was the last time I weighed in before the baby.  In my mind I was still a Weight Watcher,  the new member hope and excitement soon gripped me.  Thankfully I didn’t have to take the baby along with me, so the weekly meeting became a little ‘me’ time, spent with adults.  A time that was just for me about me. Some weeks it was the only time I left the house alone.

Photo of CC after baby break
Restarting the journey after a ‘baby break’

My WW buddy also told me about an aerobics exercise class she attended, which sounded like a great way to aid my weightloss.  Until then in my life I’d only really attempted home exercise,  so I had to pluck up the courage to venture into a group situation.  It took a couple of weeks for me to overcome my fears that I wouldn’t be able to do the exercises, or keep up with the pace, or I’d look ridiculous in gym wear and most of all, I was just too big!

Once I’d put all that to the back of my mind, I went along to the class and hid away in the back of the crowd.  It was so challenging, I could hardly complete any of the exercises but somehow I really enjoyed it.  What I didn’t enjoy was to complete agony and muscle pain I had for the next few days, I could barely walk.  Gradually I built up my ability and the weekly class became a must.  I looked forward to it and didn’t want to miss it.  I’ve always been a bit competitive, so I pushed myself to do bit better each week and felt determined to keep up with the pace.

As time went on I saw the benefits in my fitness and energy levels as well as on the scales.  Twelve months after returning to Weight Watchers I had lost another 30 pounds, bringing my total weightloss since originally starting to 70 pounds.  I was creeping along slowly but surely, I was heading towards the home straight to my goal. Having the break probably helped to strengthen my resolve to make it to my goal weight.  Getting there would prove to be the biggest challenge of all.