Category: Life as I Know It

My everyday life as a woman, wife and mother.

Chapter 7: My Waistline Affects My Wallet

Chapter 7: My Waistline Affects My Wallet

I cleared another hurdle in my Weight Watchers journey this week and it’s a biggie, because this is where my waistline affects my wallet. After six weeks of staying on goal, I finally achieved “Lifetime” status, which means I no longer have to pay for all the benefits of the Weight Watchers program. Yes, you read that right! I can attend weekly meetings and access the awesome phone app for the rest of my life at zero cost to me!

I absolutely love the Lifetime component of Weight Watchers because it re-emphasizes the idea that this is a lifestyle change not a diet, and the creators of the program believe so deeply in it that they are willing to help me stay on target for the rest of my entire life. I don’t know of another weight loss program that supports its members so completely and for so long, and I didn’t even know the Lifetime component existed when I joined. Bonus for me! Of course there are a few stipulations for maintaining this “free” status, but none of which seem too burdensome.

my waistline affects my wallet
During my Weight Watchers journey, I received these super cute charms to mark certain milestones along the way. I received my key charm this week when I hit “Lifetime” status.

So here’s the skinny (pun intended) on the whole Lifetime gig. When you join a Weight Watchers meeting (online only members do not qualify for lifetime status) you need to set a goal weight for yourself. There are certain criteria for this goal, but the friendly folks who work at WW can help you set a number that works for your body so no need to fret over this one. If you sign up online like I did, I would suggest that you set or reset your goal weight at your first meeting with the help of WW personnel.

So when you finally hit your goal weight (I know you can do it!) there will be much celebration, lots of praise and maybe even a few tears. This also starts a six-week countdown clock toward Lifetime status. During those six weeks, you must weigh in at goal weight, below goal or no more than two pounds over goal weight. Thankfully there is a little wiggle room with that number, because I went on vacation the week I met my goal and weighed in 1.8 pounds larger than when I left. Yikes!

During the six-week period between goal and Lifetime, I continued to weigh in at my meetings and finally made it to my new status. Yay! Being a Lifetime Member means that I no longer have to pay a single penny to attend meetings or to use the handy-dandy WW phone app that I think I can’t live without, as long as I do two very simple things: 1) weigh in at any Weight Watchers meeting at least once every calendar month, and 2) stay within two pounds of my goal weight. That’s it! Sounds simple, so we’ll see how well I do along the way.

STARTING WEIGHT:  168.2
JANUARY 2018 :  -8.6
FEBRUARY 2018: -5.8
MARCH 2018: -6.0
APRIL 2018: -2.6
MAY 2018: -4.6
JUNE 2018: -2
JULY 2018: -4.4
AUGUST 2018: -0.4
CURRENT WEIGHT: 133.8

Have You Lost Your Marbles?

Have You Lost Your Marbles?

The end of summer is chasing us here in the Midwest, and my son and I are trying to cram in as much fun as possible before the first day of school, August 16. Yikes! When I say it out loud that sounds really early! Does anyone remember when we started school after Labor Day and still got out way before June?

Anyway, in the name of summer fun we headed to the Moon Marble Company in Bonner Springs, Kansas, yesterday. We arrived just in time to watch the artisan and owner of Moon Marble transform a few pieces of raw glass into a shiny, smooth and very cool marble. It’s an awesome process to watch (the owner also is pretty clever) and the marble company makes it easy on the gawkers with a nice sized set of bleachers and large screen television for comfort and viewing.

marbles

In addition to this main event, visitors can must also peruse the sizable retro toy store/gift shop, which of course everyone walks through on their way to and from the marble making room. And let me tell you, after you watch a marble being made you might look at these little round balls of glass in a whole new light. You WILL want to come home with a pocketful of your own shiny objects, and we did!

So there I was, standing in line to pay for my son’s plastic tube full of brightly colored marbles, when a lady leans forward and asks me if I ever taught school in Nickerson. Indeed I had, but that was so many years ago and many miles away that I was completely caught off guard. I didn’t recognize the face behind the voice and I quickly went into internal panic mode when she explained that she was one of my former students. I never like to forget a student; but let’s face it, she would have been a teenager the last time I saw her. Things got really crazy when she explained (probably because of the bewildered look on my face) who she was and that she recognized me because I “haven’t changed a bit.”

What did she say?

I squeezed that silly little plastic tube I was holding and literally lost some of my marbles! I swear I chased those fast-moving little suckers as quickly as I chased my memories (and I probably unknowingly left a few of both behind).

Although flustered and embarrassed after chasing my marbles about the floor, I did manage to recall her younger self after she gave me her name. It actually turned out fun to run into a former student from my first teaching job of so many years ago. We reminisced, talked about our kids (she has six by the way, with the oldest a senior in high school, and I have only one who is about to start second grade – go figure) and briefly caught up on our current whereabouts; but the one glaring (and extremely flattering) thing I took away from this whole chance encounter was that she said, “You haven’t changed a bit!”

Maybe she was the one who lost her marbles. . .

photo credit: Reva G Shadows vs. light via photopin (license)

Chapter 6: Gooooooooooooal!

It took almost seven full months, but I finally reached my Weight Watchers official goal weight! Yay! Sure, I wished it had been a shorter journey; but let me tell you, summer has been a little tougher than I first imagined. With multiple vacations, VBS preparations and a general summertime mentality I have found it much more difficult to meal plan, eat right and stay the course. There has been a lot of ups and downs on the scale, but I think my secret weapon was perseverance. Even when I fell off the wagon food truck, I picked up my sad little self, wiped off the road rash, jumped back on the Freestyle plan and went scurrying back to my awesome Tuesday night support group.

Speaking of support, I have oodles of it and I believe this has made a huge difference in my weight loss journey. My husband has been one of my biggest cheerleaders since the day I joined and my mom loves (or at least she acts like it) to get my Tuesday night post-meeting phones calls with my latest stats. My sister even joined Weight Watchers a few months ago, and we exchange new WW friendly foods, recipes and struggles.

Other than my immediate family, I have one tremendous support system that is a big part of the Weight Watchers philosophy– the friendly folks at my weekly meeting and weigh-in. I usually see several familiar faces at my Tuesday night meetings and our leader has been awesome. There is no shortage of support, useful tips, food exchange ideas and camaraderie at these events. If you are absent, they will notice. If you are discouraged, they will listen. If you hit a milestone, they will celebrate. You, and I, are not alone!

So yes, I reached a huge milestone this week and guess what, one of the familiar faces at my Tuesday meeting asked to film my weigh-in because she knew I was getting close to my goal.  I am so glad she hit the record button, because this was a big moment and now I can relive this exciting experience from the other side of the scale. Of course if I had known, I would have added some makeup and dressed differently, but this works too. *grin*

So after seven months, reaching my goal and feeling good, here is my thought on the Weight Watchers Freestyle program:  If you use it, you will lose it.

STARTING WEIGHT:  168.2
JANUARY 2018 :  -8.6
FEBRUARY 2018: -5.8
MARCH 2018: -6.0
APRIL 2018: -2.6
MAY 2018: -4.6
JUNE 2018: -2
JULY 2018: -4.4
CURRENT WEIGHT: 134.2

Page 5 of 29
1 3 4 5 6 7 29