Yet another Weight Watchers success story

After I had Stasa I had no trouble dropping the baby weight, I hadn't gained too much to begin with and I was nursing and eating relatively okay. And once I stopped nursing her, the last five or so pounds just melted off without any real work.

I (stupidly) assumed the same would happen after I had Lexi. I gained about the same as I did during my pregnancy with Stasa and I was breastfeeding again PLUS running after a very active toddler. What I failed to realize was that 1. I was literally living in sweatpants, pajamas, or leggings every day and 2. I was eating non-stop. Eating enough for an entire family of five. Loaves and loaves of homemade bread, countless McDonald's meals, ice cream and cake and cookies...it's embarrassing really. And even though I knew I was eating constantly, the mirror still lied to me and told me how fabulous I looked. Then the day came when I had to return to work and as I was squeezing my chub into my size 12 work pants, I had a come-to-Jesus talk with myself. I was not as fabulous as I thought I was. Wearing stretchy pants my entire maternity leave did me no favors. And it was time to take action. I researched all of my options and talked with friends and coworkers about what worked for them and finally made a decision.

I joined Weight Watchers online. They had a promotion - no registration fee if you joined for a three month period. I figured I only wanted to lose 10 or so pounds and that would be a cinch to do within that time period. That was back in July. I weighed in at 173 lbs. I'm 5'8". Weight Watchers suggests that your first weight goal be an easy one to reach - 5% of your current body weight, which would have been roughly 164 lbs. I wanted bigger results and set mine at 10%, to get me to roughly 155 lbs. My plan was to get to my goal and then roll off the program.

My first day on Weight Watchers was quite eye opening in terms of learning how unhealthy my food choices were. As a breastfeeding mom, I get extra daily points, with a total of 46 points a day (I would probably get somewhere around 29-30 if I wasn't breastfeeding). That morning I had packed Pop Tarts as part of my breakfast. I ate them and then logged them in my Food Tracker. ELEVEN POINTS. I walked to my coworker's office to moan and groan about how Weight Watchers was trying to starve me and my disbelief over having a mere four points left for dinner.

Over the first week my diet changed drastically. I was eating just as frequently, but what I was eating was so much healthier. I swapped all of my pre-processed snacks for fresh fruits and veggies. Instead of McDonald's I was having a giant salad with oil and vinegar for dinner. And the weight started coming off. After two weeks of just eating Weight Watcher's recipes for dinner, Tom started dropping weight faster. He joined the next week. Having him follow the same system is so helpful. He packs our breakfast and lunch each day for work and we take turns making dinner each night, and we usually try to use recipes in the Weight Watcher's system (although we definitely tweak things to add more flavor). We've even tweaked our own favorite recipes to make them healthier and half the time I don't even notice the difference.

I met my first weight loss goal (10% of my body weight) in mid-October, right before my three month anniversary. My clothes fit comfortably, I was working out here and there, but I wasn't totally happy with my body. I felt like I could easily lose just a bit more. I set a new goal for 145 lbs. Surprisingly I made it through Thanksgiving and Christmas without too much damage and in fact, I weighed in on Christmas day at just over 147 lbs. Needless to say, my clothes are a bit baggy on me and I have to wear a belt with all of my pants. Thankfully Tom got me a couple of pairs of jeans for Christmas and received a few coupons from the Express for $25 off the next purchase. I decided I should use it to get a new pair of work pants. Once at the store I grabbed a few pairs of pants in a size 10 and went to try on. They still didn't fit right and were just a bit too loose. I decided to try on a size 8 for fun, thinking I probably wouldn't even be able to get them up over my thighs. They fit. Comfortably. And then I realized I've been walking around in pants two sizes too big.

I've lost just over 25 pounds and have to credit the Weight Watcher's system. I'm two pounds from my final goal weight, but will probably stay on the program for awhile because it's nice to have a way to keep yourself in check with what you're eating.

And it feels so good to see my weight loss in chart form.