BS: Weightwatchers

Subject: BS: Weightwatchers
From: GUEST,Faaaa-teee
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 11:23 AM

After years of complaining because there wasn't a weightwatchers club here, there is going to be one in my wee town ( In Spain ), , starting next week.

Now, of course I am starting to come up with excuses. I can't go because I am .. / th8is / that / the next thing.

No, I am planning to go ! But I was wondering if my fellow mudcatters have any opinions / experience of weightwatches they want to pass on.

Bye the way, I lost 20 kilos last year. Really easily. I just changed my partner, and stopped eating late at night. Now I have a new partner, and we are getting to the stage where I can see the old habits creeping in. I have to remember that it was easy to lose weight !

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 12:15 PM

It's easy to START loosing weight... Keeping it off is another matter... it involves changing your lifestyle....

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 12:18 PM

CH, losing weight also involves changing your lifestyle. I lost a significant amount of weight with Weight Watchers and found it to be a well balanced program that makes adjustments for the various starting points for each individual. It's not a one size fits all kind of deal. I personally enjoyed it and had great success. After leaving the program for some stupid reason or another, I have gained SOME back but not nearly half of what I lost. It's a good program and I hope to get involved again with it soon, myself. :) Good luck to you!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Burke
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 05:39 PM

I'm doing Weight Watchers right now. The first pounds were easy, but keeping them off & loosing that last 5-10 pounds is another tale. No doubt about it, weight loss & long term maintenance are work.

Going to the meetings for the encouragement and having that weekly weight register are useful for motivation & keeping on track. The program gives good guidance on healthy eating & weight loss. It's not a gimmick. Still, I'm not good about writing down what I eat & calculating the points. I do find I've virtually eliminated fried foods, grilled cheese sandwiches, and morning break treats. I do well when I walk by the snacks. I'm eating lots more fruits & vegs.

If there's a weakness to the program, it's the flexibility. Instead of counting calories, it's calculating points. Nothing is completely off limits. It's just that you can use up all the day's points really quickly with junk. The temptation is to look at the flexibility & forget to add the points. The person who got me involved was forever telling me I could eat something I was deciding to decline with focus on the flexibility.

Sometimes it seems an expensive way to get weighed, but I'm doing better with the accountability.

Good luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: LilyFestre
Date: 02 Mar 06 - 05:59 PM

Common saying in our group: If you bite it, write it.

:) Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Moses
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 04:27 AM

I did weightwatchers a few years ago and found it useful and informative. And I lost the stone I had planned. And I've kept most of it off.

I found out things I didn't know about foods I had previously thought of as healthy (nuts, cheese etc)- that they were full of calories and would rapidly pile on the pounds even if they did supply some vitamins or protein at the same time!

The most important thing I learned is that it can only take the equivalent of a biscuit or two to tip you over from what your body needs to maintain itself to what is going to be stored as fat.

However you record your intake, be it calorie counting or "points" - the thing to do is write it down before you eat it - as LilyFestre says "If you bite it, write it". It makes you aware of what your limit is and you will know that by taking the next bite you will exceed your limit will not lose weight.

It really works!

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Paul Burke
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 04:39 AM

20 kilos? That's over 3 stone- I could do with that, I'd have a figure like Adonis no doubt. Changed your partner? If only I had the courage to try...

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: catspaw49
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 07:44 AM

My wife Karen started Weightwatchers when she was 12 years old and losing was always easier than keeping the weight off. A few years after we got married owing to my bad influence, she had gotten up to 225. She tried several other diets but went back to Weightwatchers. I learned the program(s) and became a pretty good WW cook and her biggest supporter. It was funny though because it seemed that if she religiously wrote down her intake, she'd lose.....but if she didn't, she wouldn't! In any case she lost 100 pounds and kept it off for over a year and got her Lifetime Membership.

She went up to about 145-150 and stayed right there doing the program for the next several years but after we had kids and foster kids and all of that, she started getting off the program and eventually went back up to over 200. She would start and stop WW and then try other diets but as she got older losing became very difficult. Where she had averaged about 2 pounds a week, she now averaged less than a pound and would go for weeks with no loss at all. This becomes very depressing so she'd go off the diet and gain more. Soon she was up to almost 300. We had a lot of testing done and if she could absolutrely stick to a very lo-cal/high protein plan she could lose but it was virtually impossible to do. She needed more help to do it then we could provide so she took the radical step of bariatric surgery.

She had the open surgery, not laproscopic, on January 9 of this year and now 8 weeks out she has lost just over 40 pounds.....a 5 pound a week average which is exactly on target. The Doc is happy, Karen is happy, and we are all happy for her. Sister Connie really could never give Karen her full support on this as she felt that Karen still had other options (she was alone in this belief) but after 6 weeks she changed her mind and is now fully supportive and happy for her. That was very important to Karen.

Bariatric surgery is a radical, forever life changing step and we didn't take this step lightly but it was about the last resort and I haven't seen Karen this happy in years. She is also doing a local support group and is active on a net support group as well. It's pretty weird at times as food has always been such a part of our lives...we celebrated every occasion with food. Now, this woman who used to be able to out eat me, eats meals of less than about a half cup. But like I said, I've never seen her happier.

Never let anyone tell you that Bariactric is an easy way out...it isn't.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Kaleea
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 09:56 PM

I went to weight watchers a few years back, followed the diet, & gained weight.

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 10:05 PM

Hey Spaw,

   I'm glad to hear that your wife has had good results with the surgery. My best girlfriend had the surgery and has not been as lucky. She had to have the surgery twice as the staples blew out of the first one. She had an absess after the first surgery which required a home health aide coming into her house twice a day to pack and unpack her wound....that means stuffing her OPEN surgery site with over 8 feet of gauze with a very long q-tip to push it into her surgery site and then up from her navel to almost her breastbone. She was incredible pain. Then ulcers developed on the inside and the remaining hanging skin (she lost over 200 pounds) leaves her naked body looking like a theatre curtain. She's down to 125 pounds....her face is all sucked in, her skin hangs, she has ferocious headaches and she is wearing a girl's size 16 (children's...not womens). People tell her she looks sick and she should eat something....but as you have described...she can't. This surgery is a very dangerous thing and is absolutely NOT the easy way out.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: JennieG
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 10:47 PM

Several years ago I lost 15 kg when I went to WW, and most of it stayed off for a few years. However due to age and lifestyle changes (not dancing because of an injured arm etc) the weight has crept on again and I am faced with the thought of losing it again - and this time, I need to keep it off. I went to WW a few times last year but counting points put me right off, and I am still following the WW quantities and food from years ago anyway.

So the other day I went to see a psychologist/hypnotherapist, and I was told I need to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, which is not easy for one who has a dislike of anything physical. Most days I can manage a 30 minute walk so I am trying for that at present (I could do so much more with my life if I didn't work!). There is also a dance on tonight that I will try to get to. I have to do this by myself as Himself can't walk much due to a knee problem and doesn't dance anyway. I have some really nice clothes that are getting very tight, or that I can't fit into at all, so I have an incentive - and I want to get rid of my fat face.

Wish me luck.

Cheers
JennieG

So wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted.

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 02:47 AM

Get Pancreatitis - 34 lbs gone in two-and-a-half months. Worth the pain. NOT!

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Peace
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 02:48 AM

Been there, done that. No thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Peace
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 01:27 AM

That post was in reference to Strollin' Johnnys's, BTW.

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 08:12 AM

I've managed to lose a stone and a half since January. I suppose I'm cheating as I started the slim fast plan...shake in morning etc etc....although I make it work for me and I don't stick to it religeously. I already eat a healthy diet and I exercise but I've got PCOS and one of the side effects is that it's difficult to lose weight. I thought about joining weight watchers but I can't afford the meetings and they charge you even if you don't go.

Good luck everyone

Khatt x

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: bobad
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 08:32 AM

Yesterday while walking the dog down our quiet gravel road we came across some discarded garbage lying in the road. There were half eaten large bags of cheesies and potato chips and some ketchup soaked napkins in a plastic bag. Lying along side of this detritus was a Weight Watchers pamphlet. Methinks there lies the tale of one person's struggle.

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 09:35 AM

I have the body of a god. Trouble is, it's Buddha.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: LilyFestre
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 12:38 PM

I have a t-shirt that says: "If this was the 1800s, I'd be a Goddess."

:) Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: JennieG
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 11:16 PM

I like the Garfield cartoon that says "I'm not overweight, I'm undertall!"

Cheers
JennieG - I enjoyed the dance on Saturday night, danced every dance even the fast ones

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Peace
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 11:25 PM

One of my better friends in this life struggled with weight. He experienced agonies most people will never encounter. Agonies of the soul. Agonies about people's remarks. Agonies about his self-image when thrown into the social 'this is normal and this is not' stuff that folks occasionally toss out. He's now dead and beyond the agonies, but they were on his mind for most years of his life. He was a good man, a good songwriter, a good singer and a good friend. I miss him.

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 09:46 AM

You can do it on the web as well, saves getting weighed in front of others! Herself did this sucessfully and although she no longer subscribes she still gets free weekly recipe online. As a side effect I also got down to my fighting weight (not that I ever do any fighting!)with the lighter meals we shared and my daily walks.

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Moses
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 10:26 AM

I believe one of the problems we have with weight is that many of the "naughty" foods are connected with self-image. We are conditioned from childhood to associate food with how others think about us.

'Be a good girl and eat all your dinner, then you can have your pudding'

'If you're good I'll buy you an ice cream'

'I love you - here's a box of chocolates to show I do'

etc. etc.

It can be very hard to overcome the food=reward thinking. Even Weightwatchers say you can have a "treat" (meaning food or sweets) if you stick to the diet and save points up for another day.

Thinking "I deserve to be slim", instead of "I deserve this treat" is not easy but there is nothing like the buzz you get when someone notices how good you look once the weight is off!

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 11:58 AM

It not only happens once the weight is off, but as you are going down the scale too. :) I did the online stuff too but in conjunction with the meetings. I made several friends and if I'd had a "bad" week, at least I knew I was going to see people I enjoyed. The weighing in thing is private and at least where I went, no one ever made a face or said something nasty if you did indeed have a "bad week." In fact, the season between Thanksgiving and New Years, they give praise to anyone who keeps the weight gain under 5 pounds or just stays the same....pretty realistic if you ask me.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 06:29 PM

I found a photo of me taken 20 years ago when I weighed 8 1/2 stone... I can't believe I looked so ill!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 06:35 PM

It's amazing how many people who abhor being proselytized will turn right around and tell a person they need bariatric surgery. I think it's great for people for whom that is the strategy-- but it's not for everyone and in my case it would be the worst approach possible.

I have two ways now of dealing with it when people push that surgery off on me as the great, universal "answer"-- I can either smilingly tell them to shut up, or offer to swap them my faith testimony for their bariatric infomercial. :~)

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Weightwatchers
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 11:01 PM

That's the thing about bariatric surgery..it is NOT for everyone. I had a consultation with a surgeon and for me, that is definately NOT the answer. Interesting how folks who know little to nothing about the surgery suddenly become surgeons and experts in the weight loss field, innit? Not to mention annoying as hell.

Michelle