I Quit Weight Watchers

I finally faced up to reality and cancelled my monthly pass to Weight Watchers. 

I haven't been going to meetings, and I've been using Spark People (which is free) to track my eating.  As I thought about it, I always said the only time I was successful at losing a lot of weight was on Weight Watchers.  That's not true.  The only time I was successful at losing a lot of weight was by writing down my food intake every day and working out like crazy.  I joined Weight Watchers at the very end, and lost a few more pounds to be at a happy, comfortable weight.  Shortly after, I moved, started a new job, and started to slowly put the weight back on.  I think as a result, I credited Weight Watchers with my weight loss, and blamed the lack thereof for putting the weight back on. 

Now don't get me wrong.  I think WW is a great program.  I'm just starting to question if it's really what's best for me.  The times I've lost weight, it's been as a result of something else - for example, in 2008 I dropped about 35 pounds while also going to WW meetings with my mother.  But the reality is, I actually changed my eating habits, starting with a 3 week detox that eliminated meat, sugar, alcohol and gluten from my diet.  Of course I lost weight!  I've also rejoined the program at least a million times.  I need something that I can stick with. 

I think going with Spark People for free is a good start.  It's helping me see patterns in my eating - for example, yesterday I was really good all day.  Followed my plan with a healthy breakfast and a healthy lunch, was well within range of my calorie goal for the day.  I got home, though, and I was hungry right away.  I lost all focus.  I started to graze - on the bottom of a bag of chips, on a can of artichoke hearts, on a mini ice cream cone (from Trader Joes, called "Hold the Cone", only 70 calories, yummy!), then a bagel with smoked cheddar on it.  I learned from tracking that (afterwards) that post-work, especially if my husband isn't home to judge me, is a dangerous time for me.  Something about that relaxed "ah, I'm finally home" feeling, switching into stretchy pants, and my resolve starts to get comfortable as well.

To help me with this, I've decided to play a mind game with myself.  If I stay within my caloric goals each day Monday through Saturday, Sunday will be a free-for-all.  All the crap that might tempt me all week will be fair game on that day.  I've actually seen research that this kind of eating can be good for your metabolism.  It prevents your body from going into starvation mode with all the reduced eating the rest of the week, and it causes your body to work extra hard to burn off those calories.  You can only do it one day, though - no "oops, I guess Tuesday will be a free-for-all, too".  It also schedules nicely with my Monday - Saturday exercise.  It really does leave me Sunday as a true day of rest, and maybe knowing that I only have to be good for six days will give me the resolve I need to power through the week.

Here's to Sunday!