Fast forward to October 2008, I regained control of my life by deciding to join WW online. This has been the plan I have followed ever since. I had success in those first few years. I learned valuable skills about portion sizes and eating everything in moderation. I lost about 75 lbs. on the Points system. I have no complaints at all about that.
In December 2010, WW changed their plan to the current Points Plus system. After the success that I had on the Points system, I was excited to see more progress and become healthier on the Points Plus system. But what really happened is that my weight yo-yoed up and down. So from December 2010 until March 2012, I lost 4.1 lbs. That’s shocking. Isn’t it? And it pains me that it took me THIS long to realize that Points Plus is JUST NOT WORKING for me. I kept holding on to the hope that WW is a great plan, and it HAS to work. And as my weight yo-yoed, I lost a lot of motivation. I became very discouraged. I became very frustrated. But I kept trying. It HAD to work, right?
I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while now. WW has been my security blanket. It’s all I have ever known. I do not have anything against WW because I know it works for a lot of people and it worked tremendously well for me until they changed the plan. I believe in the philosophy of WW, in eating everything in moderation. But I have come to realize that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Even fruits and veggies have calories. I know so many of you tried to tell me this for so long, but until it really clicked for me, I didn’t understand it. NOTHING is free, except maybe water.
And so, on March 6th, 2012 at 3 PM, I canceled my membership with Weight Watchers Online. And it was scary. But after a week of counting calories, things just started to click in my head. And I wasn’t as afraid to cancel my WW membership as I was before I tried to get back to the basics and just count calories. WW was a starting point in my journey, but I don’t believe it is the means that will get me to my goal anymore.
It took me A LONG TIME, to realize that it just wasn’t working. It took me a long time to accept it. It took a long time to find the courage and strength to make a change. But one thing I realize now, is that I believe in myself. I know I am capable of losing the weight. I know that I now have the knowledge, the tools, the support and the will power to get to my goal. And I will do whatever it takes to get there. The determination to get to goal has exceeded any fears that I have of moving away from the security I had found in WW.
I truly believe that I am going to develop healthier habits in my new plan. I may not be perfect. It will be a series of trials and errors, but that’s part of the journey.
I am excited to embark on, what I hope will be, the last leg of my weight loss journey. I know that many of you follow WW and follow my blog because I have been on WW, and I hope that you will continue to join me on this journey to health.
And on my first week of calorie counting…I lost 3.8 lbs.!!! Obviously, with my goal set at losing 1.5 lbs. per week, this was a really good week for me.
I weighed in at 205.5. I haven’t seen that number in a long time! I’m getting SO close to Onederland! And for once, I am confident that I can break right through that barrier!
