I've started Weight Watchers three times before. Twice I went to the meetings and lost a few pounds and the last time was in September of 2004, which I did online and lost 17 lbs. before the holidays hit and I gave up. I was on the flex program, and it really worked pretty well. However, I have about 60 lbs to lose and I don't want to start and give up again.

Did any of you start several times before it finally clicked for you?

I was awake at 3 this morning realizing that I don't know how to lose weight without starving myself. I lost a lot of weight once eating nothing but popcorn and canned peaches. Then I passed out in the shower and cracked my head open, which ended that. I've done several diets like that, although none of them ended quite so dramatically.

Weight Watchers has been the only diet that is healthy for me, but I can't keep spending money on it if it doesn't click for me.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I really think I must need some sort of therapy, but that's really out of my price range.

Thanks,
Darby

Darby, I have done the same thing (as I am sure others have).

I've joined and quit twice but I finally decided I was fed up with myself and had to get my butt in gear. I decided that I was tired of complaining about my weight and doing nothing about it.

So the 3rd time I signed up with a different mind set - not Diet - lifestyle change and more geared towards health and fitness than I want to be X number of lbs. I made a commitment to myself and stuck to it.

Try writing down why you want to lose weight, look at what small changes you can implement on a daily basis to help yourself reach your goal. Take one day at a time and if you make a mistake then just get back on plan at your next meal. And forgive yourself. It takes time to lose old habits and adopt new ones.

I think this is an excellent post. I've found myself lying awake at night wondering -- sometimes it's still waiting for the magic diet pill or wish from a genie that I will be thin and healthy.

I've lost 50 pounds before WW. I've kept that off but it's not enough. I am still not healthy, or look like I know I can if I put my butt into gear.

I've started and stopped WW about 6 times -- and that's since OCtober!!! I am doing it online and recommitted as well. I want to get to my goal weight for good. Not for just a day.

And I want to do it the healthy way.

We can do this -- diet and exercise is all it takes. I know it's easier said than done, but if we focus on it, we can achieve it. Believe me!

It's hard to do it. I have joined WW 3 times, and each time I did the flex program and inevitably went off it. I joined for my 4th time in November, and have been following Core. I realize this is the secret to my success. for myself eprsonally, flex did not allow for a lifestyle change - i still permitted myself to eat all the crap that was making me feel awful, whereas core it's just not there. I find it a lot easier to know i can eat as much as i want until i am comfortably full of a certain (albeit small) group of foods.

I recommend you give core a go, to see if that helps you out. I started at 292 and am now at 270 (christmas was a bugger!), and i still feel content with the program.

I joined and quit a few times, I think twice, and on the third go around "online" it has stuck. I am losing at a moderate pace, average of 1 to 2 pounds a week and have lost approx. 28 pounds since the summer! I started over on a challenge with my sister in October, and have lost 13 pounds (this is what I am using on my signature to keep me modivated) I think for me it's the modivation of "seeing it really happen"... when someone notices, "Wow... what are you doing, you look great, how much weight have you lost?" And I don't think I look a bit different. Then, the clothes start falling off. :-) It was a joy to dump 3/4 of my closet on a friend heading down too. :-) Good luck!
Steph

Hi there!

I too have been doing this for a long time. I've joined and rejoined WW more than 10x, I still have all the books for each time.

Then one day I realized that I had to either had to figure out how to "just do it" (sorry Nike) or stop wanting it. That took me a while to figure out, then one day, it just clicked.

WW is a wonderful program, but it's not easy to do it day in and day out. You've got to really want it.

Good luck, I hope this is the time that it works for you!

I joined WW 4 or 5 years ago and quit attending meetings when I was 4 pounds from my goal weight. I simply became too "busy" to attend meetings and felt confident I could do it on my own. I regained all the weight plus 20 more. In January, 2005 I finally decided that my husband and two children could "step up to the plate" and take more responsibility in the household so that I could have the time to attend meetings. Things became "more about Mom" at home.
I recognized that a lifestyle change had to be made, and I follow the program faithfully. I lost .8 pound over Christmas! I am a Lifetime Member and I don't plan to go back to the way I was a year ago.

Thanks ladies!

I ordered WW at home program, and now that the holidays are over, there is nothing to stop me. My husband said he will join me, so that will definitely help! I feel really motivated to do this.

Thanks for your comments and advice.

Darby

I stopped after losing over 50 lbs and just 7 away from the upper end of my goal range - I don't even remember why. I have joined and quit a few times since. Mostly when I have a few bad weeks I can't face weighing in. I usually blame it on the cost. Money was really tight that time too - we had just bought a house and 3 months after closing my husband quit his job and moved 3 hours away to go to grad school. I was supporting our house and his apartment on my meager Idaho teaching salary.

Now I work 1/2 time and have 2 kids - but DH finished his masters and has a job, so I can afford to go -- but I am the heaviest I have ever been. You will have to check back with me, but my goal is to stay with ww until I have my lifetime membership. That is more of a goal for me than the pounds.

I've stopped and started more times than I can remember. I'd lose 10 or so pounds and then give up! I wasn't ready to make such a big change in my life back then. I was un happy and probably a little depressed but now I'm the happiest I've ever been. I feel I really deserve to be as beautiful on the outside as I feel on the inside and i'm doing it for me this time. Not for my familly, not to get a man, not to compete with friends but just for me! It's working - so far- and i'm not having any trouble staying within my points range. I am fine with it and even continue to bake treats for my children without indulging to excess. I save points for my two loves- cookies and wine. As long as I have those things- it's all good!

Oh man,I dont think I evern want to count how many times I have rejoined WW..lol..I think its whether or not you really want to loose the weight.This is the second time I have done it continuosly and am staying with it for good.This is the way I think about it,I would rather be thin then eat all i can

I have been going for 4 years on and off.... before that at least 6-10 times.

I have lost and never gone above 190 since june 02 I think if i quit i would go bsck to 230's....

I am 188 today and am going to do this. I am not sure why i gain and lose etc. etc. my DH is very supportive he loves me... mabey if he was a jerk i'd thin and unhappy... i am messed hey.

my Dh has told me that i can lose the weight but wonders what happens when i hit 170 i fall back to the 180 within months... I am never happy with my weight loss success always let myself down... I still rember my first time losing 50 people would stop me wherever i went in awh that i lost so much... it felt good.

i am hoping with the support of this site i can lose and keep it off.

thank you to the insperation from so many ladies and i can't tell you how glad i am to be here... looking forward to shared stories good and bad and most of all to the suppport we can give each other. Tammy

Wow! When have I not been "dieting"? I've always been overweight - ALWAYS. I've tried fad diets. I remember one where you basically didn't eat anything except eggs, grapefruit, tomatoes and spinich. I tried slimfast - please - it's a beverage, you know, something you drink with a meal, not in place of it!

This is my 3rd time following WW. The first time was back in the 80's when they had the "exchanges" instead of points. I lost 40 lbs, met my first husband, gained it all back +. Then I was following a Dr prescribed diet of no more than 1500 calories, no more than 40 grams of fat. Lost 40 lbs again and kept it off for a year. Then I gained it back ++. Then I joined WW again, lost quite a bit, don't remember how much, and met my 2nd husband. Gained it back +++ until I was tipping the scale at 328 lbs!

One day, after DH and I both realized we'd gained MORE weight without noticing it, we looked at each other and said "we have to lose this weight." I dug out the old WW materials and started that day. We haven't looked back - except to be appalled by how much we ate!

WW is a great plan. I'm quite sure that this time it's for keeps. I can't explain how I know, I just KNOW.