The last day of January

Hooray! I'm officially a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers. My meeting felt so good. Granted, I only had 27 pounds to lose. But I couldn't shift it myself. I tried - walking and riding my bike every day, eating a salad for lunch and limiting calories per day. The result of this torture? I gained and lost the same 5 pounds over and over for 3 months. I was so discouraged and angry at myself!

Knowing what I know now, my failure lay in portion control. I simply ate too much at one sitting. Then I'd hop on the scale, get frustrated, and take everyone to McDonalds for dinner. Okay, so my failure also lay in the fact that I love cheeseburgers. :p

Not until I sat in on my very first weight watchers meeting did I put it all together. My true "duh" moment came when the leader showed us newbies how to estimate portion sizes using our hands. A teaspoon and 3 ounces look so very small. Especially when you are hungry. Or you use one of my enormous plates every single meal. Little lunch size plates (I bought a huge supply of paper ones) have been a great visual tool. That way my brain doesn't yell "QUIT DEPRIVING ME" when I'm dishing up my meal.

And these were the first tiny steps into my weight loss process. I know it's not over and that's why I'm writing. But 27 pounds lighter and wiser feels great.