![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Let us begin...
Dec. 7th, 2003 10:09 pmI had these plans to start keeping brief reviews of books I've read here, starting with a couple I read just before getting a LiveJournal account. But that hasn't happened yet, so let me begin with a much easier-to-journal happening in my life: starting with Weight Watchers.
I've resisted the idea for years, and I've tried one other commercial system (NutriSystem--lost 60 pounds or so, put it all back on eventually) and have dieted on my own (successfully) a couple of times. But in recent years, I've been thinking about dieting but doing nothing about it. The weight held steady, at a something like 40-50 pounds over my "healthy" weight by the standard charts. BP was OK, about 120/80 more or less, cholesterol was borderline, except the bad stuff was always too high. So, nothing to precipitate drastic measures, but not really good. And my GYN would hand me a "low fat" diet sheet each year, and I'd read it and do nothing.
Two years ago, I thought I'd tackle the weight by exercise: I started doing Jazzercise, an aerobics/strength training program consisting of sessions that run about 60-65 minutes. Started at 1 or 2 times a week, then after about a year I tried to up it to 3-4 times a week. And I'm keeping it up, and feeling better...and my weight hasn't budged. (Go ahead, tell me some of that fat has turned to muscle...but nonetheless I'm still way overweight.) <crotchety voice>In my youth, this change in activity level would have melted the pounds away</crotchety voice.> But I'm now 47, and the old bod just doesn't work that way any more.
So, during this year's visit to the GYN (weight within 1/2 pound of last year, but BP much improved), she suggested Weight Watchers, perhaps in combination with one of the carb-lowering diets like South Beach. And I decided to give it a try. Joined last Sunday, started the diet on Monday, and attended my second meeting and weighed in today. Let me add here that my home scales haven't worked in several years, and now that I'm committing to a weekly weigh-in at WW, I think I'll leave them that way.
Result: Lost 4.4 pounds. Whee!
I'd be happy with about 2 a week, and I'm sure it will be up and down. It was a good first week, at least. I was being very stringent with the diet, making many adjustments to my habits. I'm hoping that I can back off of some of these, at least some of the time: for instance, I really don't want to take my lunch to work every day. Last week I had one lunch at Subway, and I'm going to work on coming up with a few more options from the lunch places I normally frequent. The vegetable soup and turkey on whole-wheat was getting a little old.
I've resisted the idea for years, and I've tried one other commercial system (NutriSystem--lost 60 pounds or so, put it all back on eventually) and have dieted on my own (successfully) a couple of times. But in recent years, I've been thinking about dieting but doing nothing about it. The weight held steady, at a something like 40-50 pounds over my "healthy" weight by the standard charts. BP was OK, about 120/80 more or less, cholesterol was borderline, except the bad stuff was always too high. So, nothing to precipitate drastic measures, but not really good. And my GYN would hand me a "low fat" diet sheet each year, and I'd read it and do nothing.
Two years ago, I thought I'd tackle the weight by exercise: I started doing Jazzercise, an aerobics/strength training program consisting of sessions that run about 60-65 minutes. Started at 1 or 2 times a week, then after about a year I tried to up it to 3-4 times a week. And I'm keeping it up, and feeling better...and my weight hasn't budged. (Go ahead, tell me some of that fat has turned to muscle...but nonetheless I'm still way overweight.) <crotchety voice>In my youth, this change in activity level would have melted the pounds away</crotchety voice.> But I'm now 47, and the old bod just doesn't work that way any more.
So, during this year's visit to the GYN (weight within 1/2 pound of last year, but BP much improved), she suggested Weight Watchers, perhaps in combination with one of the carb-lowering diets like South Beach. And I decided to give it a try. Joined last Sunday, started the diet on Monday, and attended my second meeting and weighed in today. Let me add here that my home scales haven't worked in several years, and now that I'm committing to a weekly weigh-in at WW, I think I'll leave them that way.
Result: Lost 4.4 pounds. Whee!
I'd be happy with about 2 a week, and I'm sure it will be up and down. It was a good first week, at least. I was being very stringent with the diet, making many adjustments to my habits. I'm hoping that I can back off of some of these, at least some of the time: for instance, I really don't want to take my lunch to work every day. Last week I had one lunch at Subway, and I'm going to work on coming up with a few more options from the lunch places I normally frequent. The vegetable soup and turkey on whole-wheat was getting a little old.