I just ended my 12th week on Weight Watchers. While this isn’t my first time around, it is the longest I’ve stuck around since the summer of 2007. Usually, the program feels too hard and I know that I haven’t totally been ready to commit to this whole weight loss/getting healthy thing. I mentioned before how different this cycle feels. I feel better about how I’m eating and even better about those bad weeks. Because I know it’s not the end of the world if I have a bad week. I know it doesn’t mean I’ll forever be fat. It just means I had a bad week. That’s it! There’s no deeper meaning to connect with this, but the fact that I need to do better the following week.
Two weeks ago, my meeting leader said to us that this program is easy. It’s not hard to follow, nothing is restricted, and there isn’t a certain quota you have to meet every day. Sure, they have the “8 Healthy Guidelines” but it’s something that is more recommended than required. The Weight Watchers program is incredibly easy. Eat right, exercise, and indulge (thanks to those 49 extra weekly points).
Last week, I had an incredible week. I stayed within my points range. I got in 4 days of quality exercise, usually over an hour each time. And I went from drinking 44+ points of soda, to just 18 points. I cut my soda intake by more than half. I even had 14 extra weekly points remaining, when I usually have 0. (I use up those points, and use them up well!) Weighed in. Gained .2.
I almost cried on the scale.
I mean, I really tried hard. I ate better, drank so much more water, and really tried to cut down on my soda intake. It bummed me out, a lot. But I remained positive, telling myself that it would be OK. Next week, I would have a huge loss.
Um. Yeah. About this week. It wasn’t pretty. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’ve been waiting to feel like this program is too hard, and takes too much out of me. This week, it happened. I was just overcounting everything that I ate, being too diligent in tracking and exercising and decreasing the bad foods. I didn’t open my tracking journal once. The only thing right I did was on my soda. While I drank more of it than last week, I didn’t keep it in the house and would only have about one a day. A vast improvement from two weeks ago.
It wasn’t my best week. But it was just a week. A week where I didn’t follow the plan like I should have, but not a week that totally defeated me. I’m ready to get back to it, tracking my little heart out, exercising consistently, and reducing the amount of soda and junk food I’m taking in. Sometimes, you just need a week off the program to realize how much you need the program.
Stats
Starting Weight: 159.2 lbs
Current Weight: 151.2 lbs
Net Difference: -8 lbs (+.4 over a two-week period)
BMI: 27.7 (+.1 this week)
Those weeks where you gain are so tough – esp when it doesn't make sense… I would have weeks where I would run a ton and gain or stay the same weight, and then weeks where I didn't run much and ate kind of crappy, sometimes I would lose weight. I never could figure out the scale. It's a mystery to me, but in the long run, it all works out!!
For me, it helped to use the e-tools instead of manually tracking. It is nice to set up meals that you typically eat – it makes tracking so much quicker/easier, I think!
Keep up the good work! We all have our off weeks!
If only everything could be easy and every week could be a good one! Bad weeks, especially ones where you feel good and feel like you did everything right, are so hard. Hang in there, because all of your hard work will pay off in the long run.
You know what? I think you should focus on how awesome it is that you cut your soda intake by half. That's HUGE. I'm proud of you and I know that you'll be able to kick this program's butt, no doubt about it 🙂 (And as far as I'm concerned, any weight loss program is NOT easy. It's just not.)
You know, if it were me I'd focus more on how I feel and less on how much I weigh. I know that's hard (and I totally can't help but look at numbers some days) but if you FEEL like you did well then you did well.
I just signed up for WW on Sunday and I'm just learning everything. So far — it's easier than I thought. I'm still learning though. I hope it works!
It's never easy to see the scale go up, but here's a small thought. I read this week that the whole 'drinking X amount of water per week' thing is a bit of a myth. If you're increasing your water intake but don't actually need it, do you think your weight gain might just be excess water in your system? I read that it's a bit of a myth and although you need to keep hydrated, the best time to drink is really only when you're thirsty. That could be false, but something to look into maybe?
Keep at it though! You'll start to see big results soon 🙂
It's not easy and you're not alone! 🙁 I just read somewhere on a weight loss blog that we can pretty much eat anything we want but just with moderation AND to be sure to burn more calories than we consume. Which means…I better be exercising everyday for hours! I'm thinking about going to the gym after boot camp on some days.
Keep it up – at least you're trying and not giving up! 🙂
Trying to lose weight is NEVER easy esp when you do everything right and it STILL doesn't work. Stick with it lady, I like to think of it as a life style change and NOT a diet.
I've come to realize that changing your eating habits can be so incredibly difficult. Give yourself credit for what you DID accomplish, like cutting back on soda (which is AWESOME), and remember that every week – heck, even every day – is a new chance to get back on track.
I'm almost at the point where I'm like, screw it, I won't be able to really eat and live as healthy as I want to until I get out of school. There's really no healthy eating anymore unless you grow your own food and basically have your own farm. I feel like every other magazine is telling me that all food is going to kill me. It's kind of annoying. I guess the main thing to remember when it come to food is moderation.