Answering the Common Question

As my journey continues and more people notice that I'm changing, often someone will ask me, "What are you doing to lose weight?"  "It's a two-part program," I tell them with a wink.  "No. 1, I joined Weight Watchers, and No. 2, I'm doing it."  This is a true answer, but it's not a complete answer.  After someone brought up the question again recently, I reflected that where I am today, five months into the process, is not where I began last July.

Back then, I was just desperate to give the weight loss thing One More Try.  I chose Weight Watchers Online because I knew it was a healthy program, I could track it on my iPhone, and I didn't have to go to any stupid meetings.  I started this blog in the hopes of getting some online support and accountability.  I ordered a month's supply of Jenny Craig food because I didn't want to cook and I knew I liked Jenny Craig food.  In other words, I made my own program.  I looked back on all the attempts to lose weight in the past, and chose elements that had worked for me before.  I was determined to make it work in my own way.

It was only through Divine Intervention that I started going to the meetings, and then was pleasantly surprised at what I found...a real support group!  There have been other changes along the way.  I got tired of Jenny Craig food and switched to Lean Cuisine.  I got tired of that and started cooking, but by then I was used to eating smaller portions.  I started exercising, but at my own pace to accomodate my bad knees.  I was learning to trust myself.

You see, in the past when I would go on a diet--any diet--I would try to follow it to the letter from Day One, making all kinds of changes all of the sudden to my lifestyle and my eating style.  And I always ended up resenting "living by someone else's rules".  That's why, this time, I made my own rules...rules I knew I could live with.  I'm sort of morphing into doing WW the way "you're supposed to", but I'm getting there in my own sweet time.

It's fun to give people my Two Part Program answer above, but the real honest-to-goodness answer starts with, "I finally took responsibility for my own self,"  and ends with, "I finally surrendered."  But that's a blog for another day.

Hugs.