threadwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
threadwalker) wrote2008-05-14 08:38 am
threadwalker) wrote2008-05-14 08:38 am
How odd and wonderful
Isn't life unexpected?
2 years ago in June I showed a friend how Weight Watchers works and described why I liked it. At the time, I was the only person I knew in my social world and in my circles at work who did weight watchers and it felt like a dirty secret... like I was the only one who couldn't manage my weight without help, so I needed the pros to show me how to eat. For me, personally, it was a big step to share that with someone I cared about. Telling people I do WW feels like I am saying "hey, I'm handicapped, but I've figured out how to function." Doing that with someone who's close to me is deliberately making myself vulnerable, which is both terrifying and enpowering.
So the friend I shared this with was at my house and expressing frustration and annoyance about not losing weight despite eating healthy. I took a deep breath and, prepared to be blown off or teased, I pulled out my weight-watchers stuff and showed her how I calculate my points. She didn't laugh or blow me off. She was curious. Since she had carried all her food with her and still had most of the containers in her tote, I showed her how to add up her points. According to WW, she was exceeding her daily points by more than 7 via high sugar juices (Snapple, etc) and frozen meals and yogurt that wasn't low cal or low fat.
(Isn't it funny how we think we are doing one thing, such as eating healthy, but we are doing something else, like loading our bodies with sugar. There is such tricky marketing out there).
It was fun to dig through my fridge and show her how she could cut 10 points by replacing juice with water, frozen meals with chicken, and "leaded" yogurt with low cal or fat free yogurt. Afterwards, on her own, she contacted WW and got on the points program; she told me that I inspired her. (wow!) She hit her goal sometime last year. I know she's excited about her jean-size, which she says is the smallest she's ever worn, but I'm excited that she's doing fitness and eating right; she looks healthier to my eyes than she's ever been. And I freely admit to some selfish self-interest in seeing the people I care about have good health.
2 years later, WW has become such a wide spread life-style in my social circle that it's doesn't even raise an eyebrow. No one gives you the "look" or eyeballs your butt with some unsaid message on their face. When someone says they are doing "points", suddenly people are talking about recipes, fitness, and the life-style changes they've made. They talk about goals, maintenance, struggling or succeeding. They talk about how good they feel. There's this overall vibe of mutual support. It's like we've become this spontaneous traveling WW meeting that convenes whenever anyone has something to celebrate, needs help, or just wants to talk about how good they feel.
It's pretty freaking awesome. On the one hand, I wish it had been like this 2 years ago where showing up and saying "points" inspired a spontaneous WW jam session. On the other hand, watching it spread and knowing I was a catalyst that inspired a few people is a great feeling, too. I'm so jazzed about eating right and fitness, it's inspiring when I see others get excited, too, because it reinforces/validates my opinions.
On a personal note, I still feel like a freak when I'm outside of my WW posse and I share with anyone that I do WW, which is my internal baggage. At work, a site of over 1000 people, we struggle to get 17 people to join WW to keep our meeting active, so WW isn't something that is common here. When people ask me how I lost weight, I tell them I did it the hard way: eating right with the help of WW and fitness. Each time I share the part about WW, I feel like I'm base-jumping and going to plummet to my death. I'm not sure if it's empowering or not, but I'm working on being upfront and not being embarrassed that I need rules to eat by and that I need to follow those rules closely even though I'm at my goal weight and maintaining. I often quip, "I didn't get to 200 lbs by eating right and exercising."
So I've been pondering... my reluctance to admit I joined WW... my current personal growth challenge to share my WW membership with people who haven't drunk the coolaide... and watching the people around me also change their lifestyles, which has lead to a postive, support network that speaks the same code. I'm so used to working on my own on stuff, it's odd to be part of something that others have joined on their own as well AND find value in. (I often feel like the crack-pot in the wilderness when I get my ideas). It's just such a great vibe and everyone is so openly encouraging of each other.
2 years ago in June I showed a friend how Weight Watchers works and described why I liked it. At the time, I was the only person I knew in my social world and in my circles at work who did weight watchers and it felt like a dirty secret... like I was the only one who couldn't manage my weight without help, so I needed the pros to show me how to eat. For me, personally, it was a big step to share that with someone I cared about. Telling people I do WW feels like I am saying "hey, I'm handicapped, but I've figured out how to function." Doing that with someone who's close to me is deliberately making myself vulnerable, which is both terrifying and enpowering.
So the friend I shared this with was at my house and expressing frustration and annoyance about not losing weight despite eating healthy. I took a deep breath and, prepared to be blown off or teased, I pulled out my weight-watchers stuff and showed her how I calculate my points. She didn't laugh or blow me off. She was curious. Since she had carried all her food with her and still had most of the containers in her tote, I showed her how to add up her points. According to WW, she was exceeding her daily points by more than 7 via high sugar juices (Snapple, etc) and frozen meals and yogurt that wasn't low cal or low fat.
(Isn't it funny how we think we are doing one thing, such as eating healthy, but we are doing something else, like loading our bodies with sugar. There is such tricky marketing out there).
It was fun to dig through my fridge and show her how she could cut 10 points by replacing juice with water, frozen meals with chicken, and "leaded" yogurt with low cal or fat free yogurt. Afterwards, on her own, she contacted WW and got on the points program; she told me that I inspired her. (wow!) She hit her goal sometime last year. I know she's excited about her jean-size, which she says is the smallest she's ever worn, but I'm excited that she's doing fitness and eating right; she looks healthier to my eyes than she's ever been. And I freely admit to some selfish self-interest in seeing the people I care about have good health.
2 years later, WW has become such a wide spread life-style in my social circle that it's doesn't even raise an eyebrow. No one gives you the "look" or eyeballs your butt with some unsaid message on their face. When someone says they are doing "points", suddenly people are talking about recipes, fitness, and the life-style changes they've made. They talk about goals, maintenance, struggling or succeeding. They talk about how good they feel. There's this overall vibe of mutual support. It's like we've become this spontaneous traveling WW meeting that convenes whenever anyone has something to celebrate, needs help, or just wants to talk about how good they feel.
It's pretty freaking awesome. On the one hand, I wish it had been like this 2 years ago where showing up and saying "points" inspired a spontaneous WW jam session. On the other hand, watching it spread and knowing I was a catalyst that inspired a few people is a great feeling, too. I'm so jazzed about eating right and fitness, it's inspiring when I see others get excited, too, because it reinforces/validates my opinions.
On a personal note, I still feel like a freak when I'm outside of my WW posse and I share with anyone that I do WW, which is my internal baggage. At work, a site of over 1000 people, we struggle to get 17 people to join WW to keep our meeting active, so WW isn't something that is common here. When people ask me how I lost weight, I tell them I did it the hard way: eating right with the help of WW and fitness. Each time I share the part about WW, I feel like I'm base-jumping and going to plummet to my death. I'm not sure if it's empowering or not, but I'm working on being upfront and not being embarrassed that I need rules to eat by and that I need to follow those rules closely even though I'm at my goal weight and maintaining. I often quip, "I didn't get to 200 lbs by eating right and exercising."
So I've been pondering... my reluctance to admit I joined WW... my current personal growth challenge to share my WW membership with people who haven't drunk the coolaide... and watching the people around me also change their lifestyles, which has lead to a postive, support network that speaks the same code. I'm so used to working on my own on stuff, it's odd to be part of something that others have joined on their own as well AND find value in. (I often feel like the crack-pot in the wilderness when I get my ideas). It's just such a great vibe and everyone is so openly encouraging of each other.
no subject
IMO, WW promotes healthy eating, not just low-cal eating. There are 2 programs, points and core.
In points, you take your weight and calculate what your daily calories should be. Since most people who join are trying to lose, it's calculated to help the lose. When you hit your goal weight and switch to maintenance, those points are increased so that you are not losing weight. So you'd probably be starting out from a maintenance point of view.
On core, you eat from certain lists of food. You eat as much as you want, using your personal sense of "Fullness" to guide you. You can eat off those lists, but you have a certain weekly calorie limit for "off list" food. I've looked at core and (again, IMO) it's a very healthy approach that reduces processed foods, encourages high fiber, vegetables, and protein. However, there's no set "amount" so you're self-driven. So if you're having a hard time developing appetite, that might be tough to use Core to tell you when to eat or how much.
Essentially what I do is eat Core foods and use Points to guide my portion size and daily calorie amounts. I was on a soft diet this week (courtesy of getting a tooth pulled) and I found I had to eat (err.. drink soup) on the clock. So fruit/yogurt smoothies, soups, etc, all paced by the clock. I didn't get hungry and never felt overfull. (Though I'm craving a chunk of meat to chew on!)
If you are trying to gain weight and get inspired to eat healthy, tasty food, I find the Clean Eating books by Tosca Reno to be very inspiring. Again, nutritional eating written by someone who was heavy and lost weight. But she's a fitness person and the editor of Oxygen, so a lot of her advice has to do with nutrition in relation to fitness and "eating for your muscles", not eating just to lose weight.