I Lost Three Pounds this Week

Today marks is the one week anniversary of my decision to join Weight Watchers, and I am down three pounds.

Yay! I guess.

Really I was hoping for more drama than three pounds, but hey, three pounds is 12 sticks of butter. I am carrying around 12 fewer sticks of butter on my butt now, so you know what? I'll take it.

It wasn't really that hard. You can choose between two programs at WW. On one, you count up 'points' that are assigned to every food imaginable. You figure out how many points you are allowed each day, then you keep track of your points and stay under that number. You can also 'earn' extra points through exercise.

It turns out that staying under the allotted number of points isn't hard if you eat mainly fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy, and exercise every day. Go figure. However if you want to spend your entire day's points on a hunk of chocolate cake and then sit around all day, you can.

The other program consists of a list of certain foods that are bulky but low in calories. You eat as many of them as you want, but stop when you are full. You restrict yourself to the foods on that list and no others. Again, we're looking at mostly veggies and lean meats here.

I picked the count-your-way along points program because I don't trust myself to just sit down at a vat of celery sticks and eat all I want of them. Who knows what could happen? It's too scary. So I counted points. I had more food than I needed most days and I still lost three pounds. I can't complain about that.

That's not bad for one week.

I didn't have any cravings for bad foods, mostly because there are so many good foods you can eat a lot of without picking up any calories. It's summer, so all the fresh veggies and fruits are in season and are available everywhere at good cheap prices. I also discovered frozen giant fudge pops made by Weight Watchers that are only one point and are actually really good. When I got to wanting a sweet, I grabbed one of those.

The meetings are, well, they're not really 'me' but I since there is technically too much of me I'm making myself attend them anyway. Statistics show that people who attend the meetings tend to lose more weight and keep it off longer than people who skip the meetings. If you've ever been to a Tupperware party or a motivational seminar, take those two, squish them together, throw in recipes, and you've got a pretty good idea of what a Weight Watchers meeting is like.

One thing WW is really big on is getting a visual image of yourself at your ideal weight and keeping that around and thinking about it everyday to keep yourself motivated. For instance, you could have a certain dress or bathing suit in mind, and vow to be able to wear that by a certain (reasonable) date.

I know what I want to look like, and what I weighed when I looked like that, so I decided to find a photo of myself at that weight and keep that around. I also want to be at my goal by Christmas, roughly, and wear something killer to Bill's company Christmas party this year. It will have to include heels, which I can't walk in without falling on my face, so we'll have to park close in order for me not to make an ass of myself. I'm thinking of something with a pencil skirt and a bit of cleavage. That's my goal: A killer Christmas dress.

I already own a pair of killer red heels, so I just need the dress.

The first Christmas party Bill took me to three years ago was great for my ego because everyone there thought I was in my 30s or early 40s. Since then, I've let my hair go grey so I look my age, but it would be nice to be able to dress provocatively again if I want to. Not that I ever want to, but it's nice to have that option. The truth is, I'd live in my PJs if I could. I'm a total nerd. Now I'm a chubby total nerd. But after my first week, I'm a less chubby total nerd.

Speaking of total nerds, on July 25th A NEW X-FILES MOVIE is coming out with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. That's next Friday, so for this coming week, my goal is to be at least 3 pounds lighter by the time I go to that movie, at which point I will reward myself with a diet coke and a small popcorn (no butter). I can do it. I know I can.

So where are my 'before' photos?

I did promise to post one, and I still will, but I have to have Bill take a few of me. I couldn't find any more recent than the one on my profile (which was from this past winter), so I have to have one snapped. I'm not chickening out, honest. If I can scan one from when I was 30-ish I'll include that too, since that's the weight I want to be.

But it will have to wait until next week...

Stay tuned though! Next week! Me fat! Me thin! Photos!

Seriously.