Hi everyone!

First, I haven't posted much but I do lurk, so thanks in advance for any ideas/suggestions.

Second, I'm kind of frustrated with myself. The good news is after being unemployed for over a year, I got a full-time job last September, which I'm still in. (yay! )

The not-so-good news is I've gained over 15 pounds since I started (eek!).

I'm frustrated because when I started the job, I was all "Oh great, I'll have a more structured day, I can plan my meals and snacks, I can go out for walks on my lunch hour", etc. etc. - but those of you with full-time office desk jobs will probably know what has happened.

That's right - Veg City! First of all, I have to force myself to stand up and walk around once an hour to keep my muscles from tightening up.

Then on my lunch hour, all I want to do is get away from my desk, curl up with my Kindle and my lunch and relax.

So it hasn't exactly worked out the way I planned!

Here's my choices: I had sporadically been using the "MyFitnessPal" site, which is great for tracking - comparable to WW Online in my humble opinion.

However, the community isn't so responsive. I posted a couple of questions asking for help & suggestions about food choices last week, and as of today, ZERO responses or comments.

My other choice is to rejoin WW. I had some success with it a couple of years ago, but when I lost my job, I gave it up because I couldn't justify the fees.

Now that I'm back at work (and it looks like I've got a fairly stable future here if I don't blow it), I notice there's a WW in the basement of our building, and am thinking maybe I should rejoin. Maybe actually physically going to meetings with other people in the same situation would be helpful.

In case you can't tell, I'm kind of talking myself into at least trying! But it does help to put things in writing sometimes.

Any comments/responses/suggestions?

Thanks again and Happy New Year to all!

If you think you need the kick-start, you can always join WW, stick with it for a little while, and then reassess whether you need the extra support or if you can do it alone. You aren't committing to doing it forever, just enough to get you started. I did about a month and a half of WW in high school to kick-start weight loss and I found it really helped.

I don't have any personal experience with WW but as a long time calorie counter, I do understand how the program works. If you are looking for online support, I would suggest staying here and just using myfitnesspal for your tracking. This community is wonderful, very supportive, and free. If you are needing support in person along with a more structured program then maybe WW is the way to go Stick around on 3FC either way, you won't regret it

Well, my new boss is actually a member of the one in our building, and she keeps inviting me to meetings. So it might be a good idea to at least try it.

I am primarily going for the in-person aspects - the online stuff is great but just isn't enough for me. What I really want is specific info & support from other people who work in the area and are familiar with the restaurants & fast food places - best places to eat, what to avoid, etc.

But you're right, I could just do a couple of months and see what happens.

First off, congrats on the new job. Hope its going well and your enjoying it.

It sounds like you may need a support system, since the community at myfitnesspal isn't so responsive. 3fatchicks is completely the oposite and I think you should stick around here for a bit. Alot of people here are very knowledgeable and would be able to help you with any questions asked.

That being said, weight watchers is an amazing program, and although i've never tried it, I do have friends who've had amazing success with it especially because of the support they get with the other members there
What do you feel will be best for you? You've already had success with this program, so you will again. Good luck with whatever you choose. And keep us updated I love reading progress stories

I think I am going to try it at least for a while.

When I started working in September my weight was 208 - and as of yesterday it was 221!!!

So as you can see I am definitely needing to "kick start" something!!

I've tried WW and going it on my own and had great success with both. I can tell you that I did like the feeling of getting acknowledged or ribbons at weigh in on WW. It also kept me accountable because I knew weigh in was coming.

I am doing it on my own now and have found ways to reward myself and to hold myself accountable (3FC is one of them). On my own has really worked for me this time.

You know what they say, the best diet/plan is the one you can stick with!

Statistically, people who join a weight loss club, with weekly meetings and weigh-ins, are more successful than people who do it on their own.

I always do better in a group than on my own - and after a few months in the group, I always think I can do it on my own. So I quit the club, do ok for a while, and then slowly slack off, until I've regained.

"This time" I've vowed to stick with meetings forever. I've chosen TOPS (taking off pounds sensibly), because I like the atmosphere (and the price) better than Weight Watchers. Specifically, I love the contests and recognition for progress (every meeting the people who lose and those who stayed the same get applauded, and those who've gained hear "Glad you came").

I especially love my group, because I can even get paid to lose weight. We run a lot of contests. Last night I did the math, and realized that our group gives out over $700 dollars in prizes every year.

I didn't keep as careful track as I intended, so I'm going to do better this year.

I won "best loser" for the week at least six times (about $2.25 each time).

I won "best loser" for the month two or three times ($5 each)

I've won free dues about 6 times (every month you have a loss, you get the next month's dues frees - a $5 value)

I won "best loser" for the quarter once ($10)

I won the monthly constests once ($5)

I never won the apple tree contest for not having a gain during a month (winners split $10, usually 2 or 3 people)

I won the circle contest at the end of the year ($5 for losing and maintaining a 10 lb loss, and a $1 for each month I maintained the loss - in my case a total of 5 months, so I earned $9)

I didn't win the stamp contest, but I want to win it next year (everyone earns a stamp at each weigh-in they reach a new low weight). The winner is thrown a shower, where all 28 members bring the person $2 (usually in a card) or a gift (I'm more interested in the party itself - it's quite an honor in our club).



My group runs a lot more contests than other groups, and initially I thought it was overkill, and a bit ridiculous. I didn't even understand all of the contests until I'd been a member almost a year. But now I love it.

If I don't lose any weight at all, my yearly investment in the group ($28 for the national dues which includes a magazine subscription, and $5 a month for monthly dues, and a dime a week for the best loser contest), averages $1.80 per week.

I've passed the break-even point, so I've come out ahead, but I don't know by how much, because I didn't keep careful track. I'm going to this year, because I want to see how much I can "get paid" to lose weight.

Even if my group did no contests, I'm still committed to sticking with TOPS for life, because I know from past experience, I don't do as well on my own, and often don't do at all, on my own.

Congratulations on the new job! Way to go!

I've done WW a number of times and have been successful from time to time but other times just didn't feel it clicked with me. I know someone who has been incredibly successful on WW. I think it depends on where you are in your life, and whether or not the meetings or online, point system and shelling out money for a program is for you. Everyone is different and I don't think that there is a right or wrong, whether you decide to join or not.

Do what is right for you! To thine self be true

If you've been successful before and it's right in the building I say go for it. Even if it's only for a bit to get you jump started it will be worth ig

OK, I went to the meeting and as soon as I walked in the room, I knew I was going to rejoin. It just felt so ... familiar!

There are definitely things I DON'T like about WW - mainly the packaged foods and other crap that they sell.

However, I'm not joining for that, but for the accountability of the weekly in-person meeting & weigh-in. That's always seemed to be WW's strength. So I'll take advantage of it, for a while anyway.

Thanks for all for your help!

Personally, I love WW. I love the accountability, as well as the meetings. I love the people and I am lucky that I have numerous meetings that I can attend (I always attend one in particular). I love the crowd and how we are all supportive of each other. WW was the kickstart I needed, and I have since lost 30 lbs! Lots to go, but I find with WW, I can accomplish that!

I felt the same way in that I wanted in person support and weekly accountability. But I realized that the point system was too difficult for me to keep track of even with the online tools. I hated calculating everything. But the meetings were nice. Everyone was great and supportive. But I spent the first week religiously counting and calculating points and always staying within my range, and unfortunately, I had gained two pounds the next weigh in. Now I wonder if the scales were calibrated correctly or consistently. But at the time I was embarrassed and discouraged. It happened to be a really thin person (that may have been overweight at a point in time) telling me that people sometimes gain the first week and to keep it up. And for some reason that just bugged me in the end so I quit. Looking back at it I think if I was doing a program that I liked more then I would have stayed with it.

I'm currently trying to get up the nerve to go to a TOPS meeting. I'm hoping that it will give me the support that I need yet not make me feel as if I'm doing something wrong when I don't lose.

If you felt good walking into the WW meeting then awesome. I'd suggest trying it out for awhile and not quitting really soon like I did. Whatever helps is a good thing.

Good luck!