Establishing a bad relationship with food started early for me. I was an overweight child when childhood obesity was not an epidemic. I remember my first “sneak” eating to be dipping my hand in the cookie jar at my babysitter’s house when nobody was watching. Then came binge eating. It started around junior high when I discovered how easy it was to walk to a local pizza place and place an order to go and that evolved into fast food drive thrus. Over the years, I have yo-yo dieted and succeeded in losing and regaining many pounds.
My turning point this time was on a vacation. I was walking down the street with an ice cream cone in my hand and I decided that it was time once again to lose some weight. I had lost 50 pounds a couple of year before, only to gain that plus a few extra pounds back. So I knew if I was going to but successful I needed my husband on board with me for some real life style changes. So, I pressured my husband into joining Weight Watchers with me when we got home. Since then we have both been successful on the plan.
At meetings people ask me what made me what made this time different than any other time. I tell them that committing to lose the weight is the easy part, most of us have done it before to one degree or another. It is easy to measure success by the scale or a clothes size, but losing weight is only half of the battle. This time is different because I know that maintenance is where I have failed many times before and the real journey is just beginning. What is so wonderful about the Weight Watchers program is that it has made me feel empowered knowing that following the plan has given me tools that I will always carry with me and can rely on. My favorite mantra that I have taken from my meetings, “you have to eat to lose”. During my weight loss it reminds me that I am eating to nourish my body. When a have a week that I gain, the mantra reminds me that I have the tools to take the weight right back off. This is what is going to make the difference in maintaining this time.