Weight Watchers- 10 Week Update

Above is a weight loss chart updated to now show my progress from the past 10 weeks! Yesterday's weigh-in put me at 25.8lbs lost since January 22nd.

I cannot tell you how happy I am. How thrilled to have this working. How proud I am of myself for sticking with it. I truly feel incredible. I know I have a long way to go, but the fact that I've lost 25.8lbs in the past 10 weeks is wonderful for me. I've never had this successful of a weight loss attempt and in the many times I've tried Weight Watchers, it has NOT gone this way.

So what's different?

For starters, I'm following the program. In the past, I've tried to make the program work for me. This time, I'm doing what's required of me, not what I feel like doing.

Secondly, I'm working out- a lot. But not too crazy. I've got a great routine down- Monday 710pm, Spin with Justin (LOVE HIM!). Tuesday, weight training with my amazing trainer, Britt. Wednesday, Spin not with Justin (sad face). Thursday, weight training with my amazing trainer, Britt. Friday, 530pm spin with Justin. I've found that Spin class with Justin is the greatest way to start and end my week. I have taken a bunch of spin classes in search of finding my favorite instructor and Justin's my guy. He used to teach M, W & F, and I threw a total baby fit when I showed up one Wednesday a few weeks back and found out he was no longer teaching in Santa Monica on Wednesdays. (He's also so good, I just took a quick break to give him a shout out on Yelp). So yeah, five days of workouts in a row is rough. But I like it and it's working and come Saturday, I'm totally fine taking the weekend off to relax.

Third and probably most importantly, I'm making significant changes in my emotional response to food. For example. On Thursday, I was cranky. I was tired. Feeling very very blah. I had worked out in the morning. But even that wasn't enough to get me outta my funk. Lunchtime rolled around and I thought, "I know what would make me feel better. My super yummy, super calorie-filled, delicious cheesy creamy paneer mahkani. Some garlic naan. And white rice. Yuuuuuuum. Yes, food will make me feel better!" I mean- look at this shit. How gooood does it look?

Well, I stopped. And thought. "Do I really need this? Is it really going to make me feel better?" The answer to both questions were "No." Of course. I mean, usually when I'm in this self-destructive food will make me feel better mood, I don't stop and think. So that right there off the bat was a good sign. But I loved that I came to the conclusion that food was not the answer to making me feel better. I don't know what I chose to do instead, to be honest. But the fact that it wasn't to dive into a bowl of that delicious food definitely made me feel better- and stronger. Oh, and for the record, I had that on Saturday when I had planned to have it and worked it into my overall points. Not because I was feeling crappy and wanted food to make me feel better.

Other things contributing to my success (and aren't rocket science either) include asking for help from Steve. Sometimes I literally have to ask him to remove food in front of me so I stop eating. It's not even that it's bad-for-me foods, it's just that I need to stop and need him to physically remove the food from my face. We've stumbled a bit here and there trying to figure out how I need his support, but we're talking and making it work with little tweaks here and there. For example, when I had a week where I gained .8lbs, Steve's response of "Maybe it was the cupcakes?" was not the support I was looking for when I was beyond bummed to have my first gain during this round with Weight Watchers. And after getting over the urge to hit him upside the head, we talked it over and figured out what support means to me during all of this.

I'm also tracking what I eat. Using the Weight Watchers iPhone application has been super helpful for times when I'm away from my computer and need the comfort of putting my food in the tracker to feel accounted for and aware of what my "balance" is.

And I mentioned this in one of my previous Weight Watchers related posts, but I'm cooking more at home. That f'n turkey chili has been a weekly staple around here. I also received a great tip at a Weight Watchers meeting a few weeks ago; one member said that she washes all of her lettuce at once and keeps it clean and ready to go in her salad spinner (don't even get me started on how life changing a salad spinner is!) in the fridge. I've found this small tip to be insanely helpful and time saving. Go ahead- steal it!

Listen folks.

I have a long way to go. I'm significantly overweight, even with 25.8lbs (or a small infant as my Weight Watchers leader said on Saturday) that is now offa me. But I am more committed than ever- literally- and am going to keep going with this. I have all the faith in the world that I'm on the right side of my weight loss attempt and know that I will persevere.

For now, I'm celebrating the 25.8lbs and looking forward to the next mini-goal in my future!