I have struggle with my weight for a long time. Not because I am trying to fit into the mold of what our society says is beautiful but because I don’t feel good/healthy, etc. I was always athletic as a child–gymnastics, softball, soccer. I played soccer the longest and was good at it. It really kept the weight off. As teen I age just about whatever I wanted and it never really showed because I was so active. I have PCOS–which makes it difficult for me to lose weight. I won’t go into the long description of what happens with PCOS to make losing weight hard and gaining weight oh so very easy. But this has been a struggle for me the past 10 or so years. I have gained and lost the same 70lbs over and over and over. I was pushing close to my all time high weight of 250 again and realized that I really needed to do something and not just for me, but for my children. I want to be a healthy role model for them as there are so many unhealthy choices and enticements in the world. I have never smoked, I don’t drink much and I knew that I needed to change my eating habits to really treat my body the way it deserves to be treated. I also came to the realization that I couldn’t do it on my own. I was not taught as a child to have healthy eating habits. We grew up poor and when you don’t have a lot of money you tend to eat less healthy as process food tends to be less expensive than whole food.
I had some recent success when I was following a nutrition program at my gym, but I also discovered it was not going to lead to longtime success as I abandonded the plan after 6 months because I couldn’t take it anymore. I missed so many foods–mostly non-green veggies and fruit. I need freedom to choose and variety. I love flavors and I love fresh food.
So, I searched for a program that I thought would work for me. I landed at Weight Watchers–online–I am not a meeting type of girl. They have two different plans. I do not like to eat a lot of processed and prepackaged foods–of course that is how I got fat–so I chose their Core plan. I don’t have to count the food I eat as long as it is a core food–all fruits, veggies, lean protein and fat free dairy. You get a certain number of points to use during the week for extras… I really like it as it is so easy and allows me to really eat good whole food.
Today was my weigh in for the end of my first week and I have lost 4.7lbs. I feel great and my skin looks and feels better. I have more energy and am really motivated as I feel that I am really doing it for all the right reasons this time and not because others seem to think I should lose weight. The power we have within us if only we would unleash it.
Embracing Imperfection 