I’ve quite recently (okay, over the past 15 years) decided that I’m overweight and should really do something about it.
When I was younger, I tried fasting and crying and making deals with god and when I got older I tried ephedrine and atkins and a healthy, balanced diet that I could never seem to stick to.
I’ve read through the various weight loss threads on this board and I’m quite intrigued by Weight Watchers. It seems like it focuses on health and has some sort of easy to read accountability for your food intake.
Unfortunately, having just moved into a new apartment I really don’t have the funds necessary to join Weight Watchers right now, especially if I freak out and drop it altogether (I’m a little gunshy).
Does anyone have any bits of wisdom gleaned from Weight Watchers that you’d be willing to share with me?
Also, I’ve heard quite a bit about a calculator of some sort, do you have to sign into a contract, attend meetings and eat frozen weight watchers food to utilize this calculator?
Is this something that can be ordered separately?
Any and all encouragement welcome, thanks guys. =)
You can buy the calculator at any meeting location. It’s about $30 (at least in my area). You don’t have to be a member to buy one, but if you don’t have info on the program, it won’t be very meaningful to you.
You don’t have to eat any frozen WW food or sign any contracts. You get a cheaper rate if you prepay 10 weeks in advance (8.95/week vs. 9.95) but that’s it. There’s also an online version–I don’t know if it’s cheaper, but it might be the way to go if you want to get the materials. The meetings are very helpful, though, especially at the beginning.
If you poke around on the web you can probably find most of the basics of the program. Essentially every food is assigned “points” based on calories, fat, and fiber. You get a certain number of points per day based on your weight, plus some extras you can use as you wish. You don’t have to give up anything–just eat it in moderation. I split a pizza with my spouse once a week and have done so since I started. I also eat fast food, chocolate, and other “non-diet” type foods. The key is moderation and portion control.
Good luck! I’ve lost almost 125 lbs. in the last year and a half and heartily recommend the program.
They are trying to get a Weight Watchers group started at my office, if we can get enough people signed up—I’ll join. I need to lose 25 lbs., I look and feel terrible, and I have all the self-control of Lucy Ricardo in a Hat Shop.
Wow! 125lbs? Congrats! That is such an encouragement. If it’s not too forward of me to ask, how long were you overweight? Did you try other diets/programs/fads before? Did you supplement Weight Watchers with any additional weight loss program/drug/etc?
I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I lost 125lbs. (I’m lying, I’d shop myself into incredible debt and hang out by the pool all of the time) =)
Thanks! I’m actually on maintenance now, only a few weeks away from Lifetime membership, so I’m pretty happy.
I started putting on weight after I got out of college–just slowly but steadily from about 1987 on. I had terrible eating habits–fast food, candy, all sorts of stuff like that. I just didn’t worry about it. That, along with sedentary desk jobs, did the trick.
I’d never tried anything else (unless you count a 1-day abortive attempt at Diet Center many years ago where I felt so rotten the first day eating nothing but apples (they made you do that to flush out your system or some such) that I gave up). I just decided one day that I was tired of being fat, not fitting in the clothes I wanted to wear, having no energy, and getting heartburn way too often. I joined up and never had any trouble sticking with the program. Didn’t supplement it with anything except regular exercise (which of course WW encourages, by giving you extra points for exercising.)
Yeah, I spent a bunch of money on new clothes and I’m really happy with the whole experience. I encourage you to try it–it does work. It’s a program I’ll have no trouble keeping up for the rest of my life–it’s not a diet, it’s a change in the whole way of looking at food. If I had to give up my goodies I’d never have been able to stick with it. Good luck!
I think that it would be wonderful to have the support of your co-workers.
I work in our training department, as do five other women… all of us are constantly dieting, mostly to no avail. (I’m surrounded by Atkinsers, but I think they’re all becoming a bit disillusioned by the whole deal, and I gave up after 3 weeks of bacon and pork rinds…bleeeeh).
I wish you all of the luck if you do go for it, just be sure to retain that captivating wit of yours. =)
I’m on it as well. Down 45 lbs. It’s reasonably easy, and totally sane.
I went to meetings for the first 10 weeks and found them very helpful. And the booklet and points calculator* they give out in week one – I still use both virtually every day to check/calculate points values for foods. But I’m pretty busy and don’t need a lot of positive reinforcement, so now I do the program on my own through the Internet. It costs like $15 a month but the website is fabulous – you can do your journal online, look up the values for restaurant foods, read success stories, get recipes . . . . if you’re reasonably self-motivated, it’s a lot more convenient. When first starting out though, meetings are for sure the way to go. You are much less likely to slack if you’ve got a meeting to go to, and the positive reinforcement is invaluable of being with others who are doing the same thing. Frankly, I probably would not have stuck to the program if I had not gone to meetings those first ten weeks.
The points calculator I’m talking about is made of stiff paper/cardboard. It is part of the materials you’re given during week one. There is no need to buy an electronic points calculator ($30!!!) unless you are truly, deeply, math-impaired – like unable to add. You are given new materials every week for the first ten weeks (though every other week, those “materials” are just a recipe card). They are very helpful and are included in the price for a 10-week session – another reason to go to at least one set of meetings. You don’t need to buy anything else in order to succeed on the program.
Malkavia, if you’re on LJ (and I think you are) we have a SDMB Weight Watchers community called sdmbww. You’re welcome to join, and a lot of the folks in there aren’t attending meetings or paying for the program. We help each other along.
