First Step: Joining Weight Watchers

On August 29, 2006, I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting. I had returned from my vacation to Hawaii two weeks earlier and when we uploaded our trip pictures to our home computer, I was appalled at how I looked. The "before" pictures in the previous post were both from Hawaii.

Clearly something had to change. I had been turning a blind eye to the weight gain I had experienced over the previous 5 years, just drifting along past 180, 190, 200, 210, and now 220 pounds. Every so often I'd buy some new, roomier clothes and think, "well, maybe I should lose some weight." I never did.

It was my co-worker and her success with Weight Watchers (she lost 60-plus pounds), combined with a "last straw" moment, that finally spurred me forward. My "last straw" moment came when I attempted to put on a pair of pants that had always been my old standbys for when I felt fat. I had always been able to wear them. Always. Until now. Since the last time I had put them on, the previous spring, I had gained more weight and I couldn't get them zipped up. My fat pants were too small.

My "fat pants" were too small.

It was time. I went to the meeting and was weighed in for the first time. My starting weight. 218.2 pounds. I decided to go on the Points plan, where I would be keeping track of everything I ate and how many Points each food item was worth. I had a daily total Points target that I could not exceed and 35 additional weekly Flex Points I could use at any time. That was all I needed to do to lose weight.

And lose weight I did. By the end of September, I had lost 10 pounds. By the end of November, 20. Mid-February, 25. End of April, 30.

As of today, June 30, 2007, I weigh 173.4 pounds. I have lost 44.8 pounds total. My goal weight is 155. I have 18.4 pounds left to lose. My story here picks up at this point: the homestretch to Goal. But first, the second part of the equation:

Running.