(W)Eight » Weight Watchers

Spark People

Jenne — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 19:26:01 +0000

I’m really enjoying SparkPeople, the free weight loss site. I’m LibrarianJen on there. This is the site I was hoping for when I signed up for eDiets (the site of the many duplicating ingredients and cheese and raspberries on everything.) I’ve only been on Spark People for a few days, but I’m already addicted to racking up the points. I’m in a 20-pound loss (9 kilo) by Christmas challenge. It would put my weight at 75 kilos, or approximately 164 pounds by Christmas if I am successful.

I’m going to change the order I do lunch. If I plan to get a coffee drink, I’m going to make sure I eat my (healthy, pre-packed) lunch first and finish my water bottle. If I still want the coffee, I will go get it, but I am much less likely to buy a cookie.

Progress

Jenne — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:28:37 +0000

I know I said I was tired of talking about weight, but I think I still need to focus on it deliberately for a little while longer. This year has been a great year for rethinking my relationship with food and my relationship with my own body. A question I have been working on this year is: “Why am I trying to hurt myself?” Because doing something like eating two candy bars on a day when I KNOW I won’t be able to exercise is self-destructive. This semester has been much better for that. I’ve been working on that problem from two directions. I try to make sure I get enough sleep and eat healthy meals so I’m less likely to drag, and I also try to make sure that if I eat candy, that I really want it.

I’ve done so much this year to get my head on straight. The strict vegetarian diet helps, too. Now, to get the exercise back under control. There are those who scoff about people who have “no time to exercise,” (I used to scoff), but it can be true, especially when you work two jobs, go to school full time, and have two kids. I’m still working on finding time to exercise, while still getting enough sleep. I did Cathe’s Cardio & Weights yesterday and walked a lot today. Tomorrow, I will probaby do something like Step Jump and Pump or a combination of a kickbox cardio and Push-Pull. I’m going to do total body weight workouts until I am consistently doing weights three times a week, then I’m going to do splits.

Oh, I logged in at Weight Watchers online today to add this week’s weight and discovered I have lost 18 pounds. Nice. I might start going back to meetings soon.

Eating

Jenne — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 03:11:43 +0000

Since I’m doing about as well as can be expected with the exercise (working to fit it into family life, especially, and to make it fun,) it’s now time to look at the food again. I hate bouncing between plans like this. I have made a lot of progress this year, thanks to the classes at the university and the self-hypnosis tape, in how I feel about food, so now it’s time to really try to clean up my eating habits. I think I’ll use Weight Watchers Online (I really wish I could go to a meeting in person) for meal suggestions. I’ve successfully quit pop (go me!), so now it’s time to cut way back on the cappuccino. I have my own machine and make a pretty good cappuccino (if I had to rely on buying it, I would have quit long ago.) Maybe I need to put the machine away except on weekends. I don’t know. But I can’t keep drinking my calories.

Links

Jenne — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:25:38 +0000

Neat article about some significant weight loss.

An article about how, yet again, our food industry thwarts our health. There’s something incredibly warped about America’s food industry, combined with the insistence on relying on our “air-conditioned wheelchairs” (as Edward Abbey calls it) to get everywhere. We’re like veal. But what are we being fattened up for? Why do we consistently make the wrong decision? If there is any decision to be made, we will invariably choose the one that leads to more sugar, more fat, less walking…

(That reminds me– a local ad shows a woman taking her little niece to visit grandpa and grandma’s pharmacy chain. At each store, the child is given a soda, a smoothie, ice cream, or candy. This is all in the space of a day. Creating a future customer, here?)

eDiets vs. WeightWatchers

Jenne — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:25:19 +0000

I just joined eDiets. I’m going to compare it to WeightWatchers online, to which I still subscribe, even though I’m thinking of canceling. I hope eDiets has a better selection of healthy recipes.

So far, eDiets has really annoyed me with about 20 “special offer” screens to get through before finalizing my order. If this is what it’s like to use this program, I will cancel after the first month. And, it looks like recipes are NOT included.

I did go for the 1-year special, which apparently does include recipes. We’ll see how that goes. I elected low sugar without soy or pork. I’ll probably eliminate dairy later, but I think I’m having nutritional deficiencies from eliminating milk, so I need to leave it in.

I have printed out my first week of recipes and meals. I will probably substitute a couple of meals: Tuesday’s dinner will probably be from the vegetarian place near campus, while Friday lunch and dinner will also be from someplace near campus. Today’s lunch is leftovers from Friday’s “Good Fortune Wrap.” But I will have their dinner, the bean tostada.

Ways that it’s better than WeightWatchers: it was so easy to print out a week, INCLUDING recipes, which has been a frustrating thing with WeightWatchers.

Ways that it is the same as WeightWatchers: there’s not enough meals that have the same foods in common. I don’t like to buy a 10-pack of tortillas to use just one, and have them be stale by the time they turn up again in the plan.

Ways that is is worse than WeightWatchers. All the spam you have to wade through before getting your final receipt.