I'm a public school teacher, and in past years I hated snow days. But over the past few years my district has started tracking time in school by minutes rather than days, and by "banking" extra minutes we have not had to make up snow days. Guess what today is? A SNOW DAY! A free day to be home, relax and not have to worry about making up later. Thankfully, someone is tracking the time in such a way that it makes my job and life easier.
For years, I had an ongoing joke with my students that "snow" was a profane word and if they used it in my classroom they would face disciplinary action. I told them that all I had to write on the discipline slip is that they used a profane word that began with "S" and that no other explanation would be required from me. This new tracking system has made that threat unnecessary, although I think the students may miss the fun we had with this.
Tracking also may sound like something profane to you like it did to me for a long time. But the Weight Watchers' PointsPlus tracking is very easy. I use the online tools, but there is also a purse/pocket calculator that is very easy to use, as well as booklets with many foods pre-calculated. The system looks at 4 things from a standard food label: 1) total fat, 2) total carbohydrates, 3) fiber and 4) protein. The 4 nutrients combined result in a single score, and WW also calculates how many PointsPlus each individual is allowed daily based on age, current weight and gender.
WW also builds in a weekly allowance that can be divided and used a little each day or saved and used all at once. This allows for the flexibility of a birthday party (I went to one last weekend, ate what was on the menu including a small piece of cake and stayed within my PointsPlus allowance!). All in all, the tracking system is easy to use, keeps me on target, lets me see visual proof that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing--it's GREAT.
By the way, I attended my first meeting two weeks ago today, and as of today I've lost 4.4 lbs. I'm happy with that.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
In the Beginning
Once upon a time there was a girl who grew up believing she could do anything she set her mind to. She was blessed with supportive parents, a good education, talents and abilities. As she grew to adulthood she met and married a man who would prove to be her best friend and greatest support over the next thirty-ahem years. She added amazing children (4 girls), a challenging career, a host of friends. . .but she also added a lot of pounds!
Granted with all the good things in her life there was also a lot of stress, but the one seemingly perpetual failure in her life was failure to control her weight. She gave herself the title "Weight Loss Queen" because on every new diet and program, she could lose a lot of weight--but in the long run she couldn't keep it off. The funny thing about pounds is that when they leave a body and then return, they tend to bring friends with them each time.
Medically supervised, Low Fat, Weight-Down Workshops, Low Carb. Each of these programs has some components she loved! She lost weight on each one--particularly Low Carb. But somehow the lifelong changes never took hold and the weight returned, with more along for the ride.
I suppose it's obvious that this woman is me. My name is Pam, the Weight Loss Queen. I recently made a choice between joining Weight Watchers--one of the few programs I've never tried, or bariatric surgery. I like the idea that Weight Watchers isn't a diet, it's retraining myself how to eat. I love the idea of life-long support once I reach goal (FREE lifelong support). I like the accountability of attending meetings weekly, and the online tools I can use each day to be on track. I like the balance in the types of foods I can eat--that it's real food I can also feed my family and not pre-packaged "artifical environment" meals. And so I joined Weight Watchers a week and a half ago.
So here I go. I'm on a mission to undo as much of the damage I've done to my health over the years as I possibly can. By the time my 7 month old grandson is old enough to remember, I want to be healthy enough to play outside with him (and any additional grandchildren who come along). I'm determined to win, and I'm going to document the good, bad and ugly so that I always remember the steps I'm taking and why. Who knows? Maybe one day this blog will be a help to someone else starting the same journey.
Today is January 16, 2010 and I have approximately 135 lbs to lose--that's a whole person!
Granted with all the good things in her life there was also a lot of stress, but the one seemingly perpetual failure in her life was failure to control her weight. She gave herself the title "Weight Loss Queen" because on every new diet and program, she could lose a lot of weight--but in the long run she couldn't keep it off. The funny thing about pounds is that when they leave a body and then return, they tend to bring friends with them each time.
Medically supervised, Low Fat, Weight-Down Workshops, Low Carb. Each of these programs has some components she loved! She lost weight on each one--particularly Low Carb. But somehow the lifelong changes never took hold and the weight returned, with more along for the ride.
I suppose it's obvious that this woman is me. My name is Pam, the Weight Loss Queen. I recently made a choice between joining Weight Watchers--one of the few programs I've never tried, or bariatric surgery. I like the idea that Weight Watchers isn't a diet, it's retraining myself how to eat. I love the idea of life-long support once I reach goal (FREE lifelong support). I like the accountability of attending meetings weekly, and the online tools I can use each day to be on track. I like the balance in the types of foods I can eat--that it's real food I can also feed my family and not pre-packaged "artifical environment" meals. And so I joined Weight Watchers a week and a half ago.
So here I go. I'm on a mission to undo as much of the damage I've done to my health over the years as I possibly can. By the time my 7 month old grandson is old enough to remember, I want to be healthy enough to play outside with him (and any additional grandchildren who come along). I'm determined to win, and I'm going to document the good, bad and ugly so that I always remember the steps I'm taking and why. Who knows? Maybe one day this blog will be a help to someone else starting the same journey.
Today is January 16, 2010 and I have approximately 135 lbs to lose--that's a whole person!
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