The End of Week 7: My Weight Watchers Experience

Gaining weight is so easy, but losing it can be a struggle. Weight Watchers is the only way I've been able to lose the extra poundage. Not only can you eat what you want when you want, but the weekly meetings provide the motivation necessary to be successful.

In my previous article I noted that my weekly leader, Pam, reminds me why I'm there and what my goals are. At last night's meeting, I walked away with a physical reminder of why I'm on the path to a 'new me'. A few minutes into the meeting, Pam held up a red ribbon that says, "I lost 10 pounds on Weight Watchers". That's right, I reached one quarter of my goal! She walked over to me, handed me the ribbon and the other members began clapping. I felt myself getting red because for once the focus was on me, but I also felt proud. I'm proud to be amongst other successful "Weight Watcher warriors" and excited to be down a total of 10.6 lbs.

After the meeting I digested the information from this week's topic "Eating Light in the Summertime". Pam said, "Knowledge is Power". I decided to form my own definition of what this means and use it to my advantage. Per www.wikipedia.org knowledge is defined as "facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject; or awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation". I sure have gained knowledge by attending Weight Watchers meetings and from talking to other members who are on the journey to a healthier lifestyle. How does the knowledge I gained become power? That knowledge will take control as I apply it to my everyday lifestyle. By turning this new information into something so important it aids in decreasing my weight and making my goal become easier to see. For example, at this particular meeting I learned that we must be prepared for the food challenges we may face in the summer. One suggestion is to "eat before you meet". This means we should eat something healthy before attending the party or the ever-fattening BBQ, therefore, making us less likely to eat unhealthy foods to curb our appetite. For someone like me it's hard to say no to unhealthy food when my body's telling me to fill up. By snacking, or "bridging" as Pam likes to call it, we are satisfying our body so we do not get to the point of starvation. When we get to that point we tend to choose foods that have less nutrients and more fat. For the "warriors" out there, this can put a halt to our weight loss.

Take the time to learn nutrition and to learn what foods are good for our bodies. Remember to plan meals and bring "bridges" to satisfy those unexpected hunger pangs. Weight Watchers makes it so easy for individuals struggling to lose weight to gain knowledge and increase the power of food. We all know Kirstie Alley made her journey known by becoming the spokesperson for Jenny Craig, but how much knowledge is she gaining by purchasing their prepared foods? I'm not one to knock other weight loss solutions, but it is extremely evident that Weight Watchers has created the ideal plan for everyone, young and old. Yes, Jenny Craig gives you a one-on-one consultation with a nutritionist, but sometimes we like to interact with other people who are dealing with excess body weight. It helps us learn about 'real' lives and 'real' struggles and how to overcome specific situations.

No, I'm not a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers, but that's not to say one day I won't devote my evenings to helping others increase knowledge about portion control and the importance of drinking water. I have 29.4 lbs to go before I reach my goal. I will continue to gain knowledge and make it my power until the weight is gone.