God, girls... I am having such a hard time. I skipped my meeting/weigh-in last week. I should be there right now. According to my scale at home, I'm 4.5 pounds above where I was two weeks ago. I know I should go. But now I'm thinking, I have $75 to my name until Friday and if I go to the meeting, that's $28 less than I'll have. Is that a rationalization not to go? I mean, the money is a real problem, but I'm not sure I'd go even if I had it.

Then I'm thinking that I should do WW without the meetings, just on my own. I have the materials and no group could give me more support than I have here.

I know some of you do it on your own and I was wondering how you're doing. I was thinking I could stop by my doc's office on Saturday mornings and get weighed, so it's official. Or even my gym, which would at least get me there, you know. But neither of those scales show fractions of a pound. But I always thought those fractions weren't worth considering either way. I mean, for real, if you lose .3 pounds, you could gain it back literally by eating a cough drop. And if you gain .3 pounds, you maybe could have peed one more time before you got weighed.

Anyway, could you do-it-yourselfers give me some insights? Preferbly in the next 15 mintes!

I'm here-- it's 9:23am! I've got my chat client turned on, too. I'm writing you another response below, just wanted you to know I'm here.

I do WW at home on my own because I can't afford meetings, nor can I find a babysitter even if I wanted to go. I bought a $3 computer file from eBay and that's how I've learned the basics of the program and the points values. I am selling off books from around my house in order to earn the money to buy the WW books that you get as a starter kit at your first meeting. Having the books would be MUCH easier than having to open a 56-page file to look up points values!

You guys ARE my support. I weigh myself in my bathroom, and DH supports my efforts (he wants to lose weight, too), but, he has no interest in learning about points or planning menus. I do all of that myself.

I'll be your buddy-- we can be each other's support group. Sound good?

Hey, Amy.. thanks so much. I don't know nuttin' about no chat stuff! I clicked on chat and it sent me to a chat room, but other than that, I'm lost! LOL But anyway, I was just thinking more about this. And the $14 a week I pay for WW is almost as much as I would pay to go to the gym three times a week, which would amount to $15. I certainly can't do both. So if I make a dea ith myself to follow WW (I have all the books and stuff, as well as the knowledge that it works) and use that money for three workouts a week, that's gotta be a good thing, right? Thing is, I have to make the committment to go. You know what? Just thinking about this new challenege has me excited. Maybe I need the change to shake me up. OK, just to prove to myself that I am serious about this, I'm off to the gym. My plan: 30 minutes on the treadmill and water weights in the pool followed by a swim. Thank you, Amy! BTW, how much would it cost you to get the WW points books? Where would you get them if not at meetings?

Hi Maggie!

Girl, you know I'm the no-money-queen. I don't go to meetings because of the money- the $14 dollars a week isn't worth it to me. So, i went and got a good scale (one that does lbs in the decimals) and I do WW Online at $16 a month. Every Saturday, religiously, I record my official weight. It doesn't matter to me what it says Friday morning (I usually end up weighing myself every day, but not officially), only Saturday morning. I don't read through much of the WW online site, though I know it's there if I need it.

But let me tell you, I'm surprised how I'm keeping with it. I went online and found a discount coupon for your first three months, so it was a little cheaper. Also, my best friend is doing it, so that's a good support system, too. You just have to figure out what is comfortable for you.

It would be great to go to the gym 3 x a week! Go girl!

I mentioned in the weigh-in thread that even though I gained this week, I am considering it a victory... for a few reasons:

1. I did not smash my scale to a thousand pieces

2. I did not kill anyone, including myself

3. Instead of saying, "oh well, another diet that doesn't work," I really examined what is going on with me that is keeping me from working it.

4. I really did go to the gym this morning. And it felt great.

I weighed myself at home -- NAKED (which, of course, they frown on at meetings ) and then had a Coolata (6 points) on my way to the gym. It was a very pleasant morning, much more so than how I've been feeling on Saturday mornings before meetings.

Anyway, the last time I was at the gym was before I started WW (i think, or right in the beginning) and I had to struggle to do 20 minutes on the treadmill at low speed/incline. Today I did the pre-set 30-minute weight loss routine AND THEN the 30-minute pre-set cardio routine. I kept the speed up to 3 most of the time, then let the machine adjust the inclines up and down throughout the routines. So that was 60 minutes on the treadmill at varying level of intensity.

I swam 10 laps, well, MY version of laps, which are more like arm workouts rather than swimming. I sort or breast stroke one way, pushing my weight with my arms, and then back stroke the other way, pushing with my arms. Sort of. It's not vary cardio, but it's a good arm workout. Then I managed a lap and a half of real swimming, which I want to keep working on.

I am very pleased with myself. I think what's been happening is that after 2 months on WW, while it's a challenge to stick to it every day, there's no longer a challenge in figuring it out and I'm bored. My meetings focus so much on how many points are in a hot dog (most of the time), that I don't feel like they really help me WORK this program. That, I get here, thanks to all my fabu sistas. (God really has blessed me with you girls.)

So this is my plan, weigh in at home (leisurely, no stress, and naked) on Saturday mornings; stick to the points plan from WW; and regular workouts. I'm thinking treadmill for an hour 3-5 times a week, followed by swimming. Water aerobics for an hour on Monday and Thursday nights, and work out with hand and leg weights at home 3 times a week. I might not start out with all of this, but it's my goal. Two years ago, I wasn't doing WW but I was following that plan and I lose 32 pounds in three months.

Wish me luck in my new approach, girls. I feel energized. Plus... I suspect this is going to be a badminton night! LOL More AP!

I'm also another one who is doing this without meetings, I've never even joined WW. And right now, I cant afford to pay for either meetings or WW online. I think you can find the books and everything on Ebay. I personally don't have those either. I had a points finder, but I lost it lol. I just rely on the net. I have a link to an online calculator, and then there are other sites out there with the points already listed.

I understand how the meetings can be helpful to people, but then I can see why you'd be stressed out each Saturday. I mean, you have to WI with other people there! I found it a little stressful to WI when I went to Curves in front of my trainer person.

When I switched scales for a more accurate one (the WW scale) I gained like 10 lbs. And it was hard to change my SW to 270 from 260. It sucked! So I just kind of started over. So maybe instead of saying you gained 4 lbs, you can just say that your weight today is your new starting weight, and adjust your goals and sliders to that weight. if that makes any sense.

You can do this!! We're all here for you! And great job on going to the gym!
and have fun playing badminton!

~Liz

Maggie,

Way to go, sista. Now that you've figured out a plan that gets you excited, stay with it. I do WW online now. It cost me $55. to pay for 3 months. Way cheaper than WW meetings. When you're busy, its hard to find time to go to the meetings. I use our slimmin' sistas group for support. Just reading the posts will help me a lot of times. I also have buddies on diettalk.com & I lurk on the WW message boards sometimes, especially the WW online tips board & flex tips board.

So, we're here for you, let us help keep you motivated.

Hey there! Maggie it sounds like you've got a great plan laid out!!! Great job!

I currently attend meetings. But from September until December I did it on my own. I bought myself a digital scale (it only does whole and half pounds). I weighed in every Monday morning "offcially". I kept a chart that I created in Excel, along with a journal for tracking. I could x off water, fruits, veggies, and my flex points. There was a place for the date and my starting and ending points that week. I also made a graph so I could see trends in my weight. I can send you the file if you want. I lost 30 pounds or so doing this. I liked sitting down every Monday and charting my progress.

I hope that you continue to find new ways to challenge yourself in order to stay motivated.

Maggie, first of all, I am so proud of you for seeing the positive in the situation! That's awesome!! It shows that you're starting to make a mental shift from self-degradation to self-motivation. That's really wonderful! *applause*

Second, I think doing this at home might definitely be a good idea for you. If you're not getting what you want out of the meetings, why spend that money every week, you know? Maybe sometime later, when you can stand to sit there and listen to them argue about how many points are in a hot dog, you can go back, but I think for right now, you definitely want and need something more from them that they're not giving. Doing it at home is definitely a good option for you.

And finally, I am so excited for you about your commitment to working out! You're really going to love it! I see my personal trainer twice a week, but I'm supposed to go every day to at least do 45 minutes of cardio. These past couple of weeks I've slacked off because of school starting, etc., but now that my schedule seems to be pretty well set up, I think I'll be able to start going back. You'll find better results, too, by working out regularly! That's how I've been able to make my progress, I swear. It's great. Oh, and a tip: because you're going to be working out more, I would suggest that you weigh yourself BEFORE your workout. Even just doing 30 minutes of cardio, you can shift your muscles around and make them more pronounced, which will show a gain on the scale. It's the ol "muscle weighs more than fat" rule.

Please keep us posted on how it's working out for you! I'm so so so so so so proud of you, Maggie!! Keep it up!!