I went to my first meeting yesterday, and officially started counting my points this morning. I was shocked to realize how much I actually eat! All those little bits of things that I always nibbled on in the kitchen - a half a banana here, a cookie there, a little leftover baked ziti snitched out of the pan every time I open the fridge - they all count! And boy do they add up. No more sloshing lots of half and half in my coffee, or slathering butter on my toast. It's amazing. I would have said before, "I really don't eat that much!" Now I know.

Good Luck! Yes -- the education you get in that first meeting is astounding, and you'll see how those "BLTs" add up (bites, licks, tastes!) So stick with and do your best. No one is perfect... and the more you practice good habits, the more the old not-so-good stuff will get diluted and leave you.

Remember, we aren't CURED, we're only in Recovery. Enjoy the journey and don't kick yourself if you take the wrong road every now and then.

Love,

I joined WW Thursday morning. So far so good. I had been attempting to count points on and off for the last month or so but hadn't seen any results--I finally admitted to my self that I needed the support of a meeting and stepping on the scale in front of someone. Met my first BIG challenge today. Shopped all morning and let myself get too hungry but I did drive PAST all my local fastfood joints to the safty of home and ate a sensilbe meal. I almost talked myself into Subway because I knew I could order something in a good point range for myself but I also knew I had plenty of sandwich fixins at home that I could weigh and assemble myself just to be sure of the point values. That is one thing I'm really trying hard to do--look at the points BEFORE I eat it--something I've failed miserably at before. Theres nothing more discouraging than following your goal all day and blowing it at night because you didn't think that little treat would register 9000 points!

Leader--hadn't heard about BLT's--the phrase I mean--thats a good one to remember! Thanks.

Good luck bikinigal--we'll be in this together if you"d like. I'm also on another thread in the Buddy up section--I need a challenge-anyone interested?!#23 There is a lot of support there if your interested and a pretty deverse selection of women--we're from all over--USA, Australia, Canada etc.--most are following WW but not all--the more the merrier.
Jo

I started on WW last July. I actually wanted to know how many points I normally ate, just so that I would know the adjustment that I needed to make and to know that I couldn't nibble all those little bites of things. I spent the first two days eating the old way and found that I was eating about 44 points per day on a regular basis. Cutting back to 22 - 25 looked like it was going to be a big adjustment, but in actuality, only meant that I didn't eat the extra cookie, or a bag of potatoe chips. I also found that in being more careful about how foods were prepared, I could cut the points down, temendously.

I think the thing that kept me honest in it all was carrying my journal with me everywhere I went, and writing down what I was gonna eat BEFORE eating, rather than recording after I ate (that is sometimes a huge surprise). The first few months my journal was never far away - DH can attest to that (he was pretty sick of seeing it). LOL

Also, don't forget to drink your water. I was having terrible cravings one Sunday (I'm not very good at the water thing on the weekends), sat down at the computer, with a bottle of sugar free seltzer, to surf and told myself that I would keep myself busy, drink the seltzer and try to manage the cravings. When I finished the bottle of seltzer, I discovered that I did not have any cravings. As it happened, I read an article by Kathie Smith a few days later and she was writing about dehydration and the need to drink water. She said that we often think that we are hungry when we are actually dehydrated and this brings on cravings. When we eat to satisfy the cravings, but don't drink to work on the dehydration, the cravings persist. Unfortunately, I don't like drinking straight water, so drink the sugar free seltzers instead. When I have cravings, I drink a bottle of seltzer first - this keeps me hydrated and is also sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. I have found that if I do that first, I often don't have the craving any more. Better still, drink water before the onset of cravings in the first place....I'm working on this and have not had the same problems with bingeing in the evenings.

In the last five months, I have lost 39.25 pounds. Yippeee!

Good luck on your weight loss programs.

Way to go Bikingal... it does take an adjustment - it certainly did for me both in losing and to be on maintainence. Keeping track and writing it down has always been key for me - even when I 'lapsed' - it helped to see what I was putting in my mouth.

For Grandma3 and anyone else who might be intersted... on the Lifetimer / Maintainence Thread - we've had both daily and weekly checkins. In particular... we have a 12 Week Challenge about to start (December 10th) and would love to have you join... it really helps keep focused and inspired. Check it out!

Thanks for the info Patch30--with the holidays coming up I may not have time to post on another site but we'll see--the 10th is still a few days away. Even if I don't post I may check in from time to time to get a little added motivation. So far it's been going great--I'm actually looking forward to stepping on the scale on Thursday

Sweet tooth--I know what you mean about recording before you eat. I have been really trying to know how many points it will cost before I eat it--so far so good.

Bikinigirl--are you still out there?? I'm interested in knowing how it's going from one new joiner to another.

Jo

Hey Bikinigal and Grandma3:

I just joined WW 3 weeks ago. I have really been enjoying the program and have been very pleased with the results. This week has been a little harder for some reason, but I guess we all have good weeks and bad weeks.
I really wish you guys the best of luck with it.
How are you doing so far?

Can't say Wannabe--haven't weighed yet--tommorrow is the BIG day. I do feel I'm down some--the jeans are fitting better. So far it's been going well--haven't been hungry and most days have had points to bank. Haven't had any big challenges yet. I was supposed to be eating out today so I checked Dotties web site to get the WW points on the fast food restruants I knew I would have access too--had my meal planned out then the trip was cancelled--my daughter went into labor and I had to go to her house to babysit--24 hrs later she's still in labor and I'm back home waiting for a call again.Thanks to all of you for the great advice you've given. It helps a lot
Jo

To all the newcomers, good luck and enjoy the journey. I'm a far way from where I want to be, but find the advice and e-mails here terrific for motivation and good ways to stay OP. Lots of success to all of us!
234/209/199soon

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone. Went for my weigh in this morning--missed my Thursday meeting because I was out of town. Had a 6.4 pound loss so I'm very excited Stayed op today even with my grandsons birthday party and dinner out with hubby. Didn't even have to use any banked points. YEA!!!
Another stressful eating day tomorrow--my nephew is being baptized with a party afterward. But I know I can do just fine. Spent a little time today pre-planning my stratigies so I won't over eat. AND after this mornings meeting I'm REALLY motivated. There was a man there that received an award for 201 lbs. lost, another lady with 81 and another one with 62. I don't have nearly that amount to lose so it was VERY encouraging to me.
Talk later. Thanks again for all the words of encouragement--your the greatest! Jo

Hi, all! Sorry to be so long in responding, but we've had some massive computer problems here! Everything seems okay now.

I was thrilled to see so much helpful advice. Thank you all.

I went to my third meeting today. Total loss so far, 6.2lbs!! I'm so psyched! The first week I only lost .8 lbs. Then today, another 5.4! I think some of that was because I wore different shoes today. I figured at the first weigh-in that I'd keep my shoes on, because I wear the same running shoes almost every day, so it wouldn't matter. But today I forgot and wore different shoes. That's okay. I don't think my running shoes weigh that much more, LOL!

Bikinigal,
that's terrific. Keep up the good work~~~
234/208/199soon

Bikinigirl--thought you had left us for good--I haven't been posting here lately--joined the 12 week challenge with Patch. My first 2 weeks at WW went really well--the first week I lost 6.4 pounds, the 2nd 1.4--so I'm thrilled!!!!This week is a real challenge with the holiday happenings but I will be JUST FINEJournalling every bite is really helping--I write it down before I eat it to make sure I really want to SPEND the points--so far it is working.

Itryharder=I hit the 199.8 mark at the last weigh-in--It felt SOOOO GOOD. Haven't been below 200 since early June. Just knowing I'm under 200 pounds gave me all the added encouragement I needed for this week. You can do it I started out at 218 last Jan. Started walking M-F then and lost 20 lbs. Did some over eating after my sons wedding in June and found myself back up to 207.6--so I joined WW--it wasn't working trying to lose it on my own--I was still walking 3 miles every morning--and sort of maintaining--or fluctuating between 200 and 208--but I need to step on the scale in front of someone to make me more accountable--does that make sense??

Hope you both have a great week--I probably won't find the time to post here daily but I will touch base when I can--in the meantime why don't you both consider joining us on Patch's site--it's under the WW Lifetime/maitenance section--12 week challenge. You don't have to be a lifetime member to join--I'm sure not!! But after another 40 pounds I hope to be
Jo