Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Get Up Offa That Thing

                Weight Watchers 360 is giving me a new outlook. When I saw that there was a new program I thought "oh no I am going to have to learn to count points a different way again?" But that's not what it's about. It's about changing the way you think permanently. I have to say that Weight Watchers has already changed the way that I think because although I am going through a plateau, I have not gained all of the weight back. I think they realize that everyone learns differently. Some members catch the wave right away and ride that wave straight to goal. Then there are those like me who catch the wave, ride for a short while, fall off the board, drag the board back to the beach and work on their tan. In case you did not know, I am one of the second set of people. A person who wants to catch the wave and ride it all the way to the beach does not give up after they wipeout. They get back out there and attempt to catch the wave again. This is where I am right now.
                I felt a little discouraged and frustrated. I had been running and attending meetings and tracking some of the time but for some reason I could not grasp that "new meeting" feeling you get when you resolve to do better. My WW friends went to a book club meeting for the Weight Watchers "Success Handbook" and caught the wave. So I attended the next meeting and I did not see the wave. I stewed on it for a week but by the end of that week I felt so depressed and the stench of FAILURE was all over me. It was one of those moments when you get to the fork in the road and try to decide whether to get on or off. I decided to stay on. I arrived at my usual Wednesday Night Happy Hour meeting early so that I could speak with my leader Melanie alone. [This is really hard to do because everyone loves Melanie. It's like being at a concert trying to get an autograph]. When I had Melanie to myself, I told her my frustration about my progress with my weight loss journey. I told her that I had no intentions to quit but that I was beginning to lose my resolve. Melanie asked me some questions about making changes in the way I was eating and working out. I told her I had been making all sorts of changes but with poor results. I would lose five pounds and then gain five pounds over and over and over again for the last year and a half. The thing that made me feel even more desolate was that I have soooooo far to go. Getting stuck here is not an option.
            I sent Melanie my recent food tracker along with my current workout routine to see what I was doing wrong. Melanie assured me that I was doing some good things. She made some suggestions for me to try like add more protein to my breakfast and lunch. My breakfast and lunch points were low. I was also hoarding points for the evening for dinner and a snack. One of the problems is that I was hungry later in the day. For example;
My typical weekday breakfast- Instant oatmeal made with 1/2 cup fat free milk, blueberries and an orange.
My new breakfast - Instant oatmeal, ff milk, blueberries, orange and three egg whites.
By adding more protein to my first two meals of the day, I was eating more food but was less hungry when I got home. I also found that I did not need to hoard points for snacks and that quite a few evenings I did not eat a snack (this frightened me).   
           Now for the hardest part of all. I have to admit that I did not want to ask Melanie for help. I still had the old problem where everyone comes to me for help syndrome. This happened gradually over a long period of time until I forgot how to ask for help for myself. I was also ashamed that after being in WW for so long that I should have it by now. I felt like hot mess. I am happy to report that I lost 1lb the first week and 3.2lbs the second week. So for anyone out there feeling like the one with all the answers, never stop asking for help.
BOBISM
 The scale could change in a few hours or days. I could drink this water next to me and get on the scale and gain weight. So I guess it's fattening.