Monday, March 24, 2008

Keep this day in mind. I think it will stay in mine forever. This is the day that I decided to make that change.

I joined Weight Watchers.

My friend Nettie, has been on WW for nearly two years and has make remarkable progress and I hope I can follow in her footsteps. My meetings are on Monday nights, and this past Monday (March 31) was weigh-in after my first week. I lost 7.8 pounds! I'm not qute sure to be excited about that or not. I mean, yes, a loss is a loss. But know myself and anytime I've started a diet I've lost a lot during the first week so that big of a loss wasn't unexpected.

OK, we stop that right now. We are not going to refer to this as a "diet" because it's not. It's a lifestyle change and if I want to improve my health and extend my life, this "lifestyle" is going to have to stick. My health has seemed to decline rapidly within the past few years. My joints ache to the point where I can hardly walk. If I have to sit for a long period of time, I cannot just jump up from my chair and walk away without a great amount of pain - or "working out the kinks"- before I move on. As I say to Tal when we get to a destination and get out of the car: "Hold on, I've got to get my land legs."

Just a few days after I started WW, I was nearly in tears at the thought of all the foods that I've enjoyed in the past. The "food traditions" that Tal and I have developed over the years we've known each other - like our Tuesday night out, Thursday night chicken and rice (canned chicken and cream of chicken soup mixed together and poured over a mound of white rice), going out to our fav restaurants on the weekends, and our Sunday cinnamon rolls and bacon.

It was at that moment I recalled the last time I was in tears - it was one of those moments when I was in pain, my knees hurt, my right heel hurt, my back hurt, and I just couldn't get a simple task I was working on finished because of it. That was my moment of clarity - which was I going to be most miserable over: constant pain which would only get worse if I didn't lose weight, or not being able to eat certain foods? It was a no-brainer.

So here I am a little over a week later. I'm really enjoying it. I've been snarfing down all kinds of fruits and vegetables like there's no tomorrow. I've become addicted to baby carrots and hummus. Tuesday at Kroger, I came across a refrigerated display full of 7 oz. containers of Athenos hummus in all kinds of flavors at 10 for $10. WOW! No, I didn't go nuts and buy 10 containers (yet) but I did get the roasted red pepper hummus and the greek style hummus (with garlic, lemon, and oregano). A 2 TBSP serving of hummus is only 1 WW point. I can put away about 1/2 the container and a couple of handfuls of baby carrots for only 3-4 points - and that is a LOT to eat! (In fact, I'm munching on some now! Mmmm-MM!) The red pepper hummus is WONDERFUL!! I'm also going to make a container of tofu dip - 1 block of tofu processed with an envelope of dry Ranch dressing mix. I think I need some more veggies! :-) (Here's where Tal pulls out the last Kroger receipt and checks the Reward points accumulated.....)

I've also ditched the coffee. I really don't like the taste, and so when I drank coffee it would have to be loaded down with creamer and sugar. I tried the fat free creamer and sugar substitutes but they were just repulsive to me. So, I switched to tea and have gotten different flavors of black, green, and herbal teas - and I DO like those with artificial sweetener! Go figure! I have a little 4-cup coffee pot at work that I heat up water in, and I'll have 2-3 large mugs of tea during the day. That usually is the majority of my water intake for the day, too. I have a 1.5 liter bottle that I fill up and use to fill my coffee pot several times. Today, for example, I've made 2 pots and have about a cup and a half of water left in the bottle that I will chug to wash down the carrots and hummus. That's already 6 of the 8 glasses recommended per day. At home, I have regular and black tea that I make by the pitcher that Tal and I drink.

So, here we begin. Wish me luck, not to lose weight but to have the ability to adapt to my new lifestyle. If I can do that, then the weight will take care of itself!

-S.G. (which in the future may stand for Skinny Girl! LOL!) (Well, not too skinny - Tal likes a little meat on the bones. :-))