Progress in One Area Is Better than None

I AM making some progress lately, although still feeling rather... inert. It's funny that several of the blogs I read regularly seem to have the authors feeling a bit down in the dumps, too. Maybe it's the summer, this weather, which alternates between nice and absolutely beastly! We've got beastly coming up again starting tomorrow, with temperatures forecast at around 100, but they are predicting a shorter stay for the beast this time.

What I've been focusing on lately has been weight loss. My weight crept up too quickly from an athletic low some 8 years ago, and hit a high well over 200 pounds, and that's just way too much. Not only does it cause things to hurt, like knees, feet, and backs, but it's terrible for the health. Most troubling for me, being basically a shallow person, is that it is embarrassing... people just treat you so differently when you're fat. When you're fat and also old, well, you're pretty much invisible, aren't you? Plus... I love clothes, and it's just not fun to wear them when you're in plus sizes.

So, I've been trying out various schemes. I'm not totally happy with any, but... in the last few months I seem to have dropped 18 pounds! At first it was gradual, as I tried low-carb, all carb (i.e,a low-fat whole foods vegan diet), the old Weight Watchers selection plan, and calorie countng. Then I happened across a blog by the CEO of Weight Watchers International, David Kirchhoff, called Man Meets Scale . This guy is so darned funny, but more, he's a Weight Watchers life member, and has written a book about it that totally nails so many of the issues I have had with food, and difficulties I have had gaining control over eating. Anyway, I've read a lot of his blog and his blog-based book, Weight Loss Boss . Highly recommended.

Now, I haven't been to a Weight Watchers meeting in maybe 20 years, but I did lose quite a bit of weight back then, going to meetings, following the old selection plan program. I discovered that although it's not really expensive these days, about $40 a month, it's still beyond my tiny budget. But... diligent little web forager that I am, I found all the essential program elements, currently called PointsPlus, online. And though this isn't really fair to Weight Watchers, I started following them. I have alternated with counting calories, and I definitely - hands down - prefer the Weight Watchers system.

The Weight Watchers differences that really make it work for me so far are (1) the 49 Weekly Points you get each week, in addition to your Daily Points, (2) the addition of Activity Points, and (3) the designation of fresh non-starchy vegetables and fruits (but not juices) as Zero Point items. The Weekly Points allow you to cycle your calories or do a modest "refeed" once a week, if you want. (This, I've read, keeps your metabolism humming along a lot faster than if you just try for the same 1,500 or so calories each day.) The Activity Points reward you for exercising, but also allow you to eat a little more when you do exercise, thus not being "rewarded" by feeling like you're starving. The "free" fruits, especially, and also non-starchy vegetables, mean there's always something substantial to snack on, even if I've already budgeted all my points. Today, for example, I was feeling a bit "empty" in the afternoon, so in addition to my scheduled iced coffee with a half cup milk, I added a slice of watermelon. Perfect, and I'm good to go until dinner.

So anybody could easily just "roll their own" plan, using the Weight Watchers principles, which in my opinion are very, very smart. And which I am sure are backed by a zillion dollars worth of research. Easier to just go to meetings, but if you just can't afford it, there's still a way it seems.

Anyway, I'm feeling a lot happier and encouraged by this success in this one area of my life. Now... can I "weather" another heat wave?