Jamie Update!

My Before, size 18 pants, XXL tops

My NOW, size 10 pants, Large tops.

Last August, actually August 31st, I decided to sign up for Weight Watchers. I've signed up online before, lost maybe 8-10 lbs a couple different times. I also did Weight Watchers with a friend many years ago, after my 4th baby. We just emailed each other what we ate and counted a point for every 50 calories we ate, equaling a certain amount of points per day according to our weight. We'd try to exercise every day as a part of it too. That time I lost 28 pounds, but then got pregnant 2 more times.  With each child I'd lose quite a bit, after 60 pound weight gains, all except 10-15 pounds, and those 10-15 is what accumulated with each child until my total amount I wanted to  lose was close to 60 pounds. 

From August 31, 2017 to August 31, 2018 I lost 45 pounds! My reason for wanting to go in was that I hated the way I looked in pictures. I love myself, I have, or thought I had pretty good self esteem. Except when I'd look at pictures of myself. OH my goodness. Like in the top picture above, I actually thought I looked pretty good. 

This past year we had First Confession, First Communion, Confirmation, Graduation and a Graduation party. I wanted to at least not worry about how I looked in pictures. That being said, the weight has come off slow. I'm OK with that.  This past summer from May until the end of August I only lost 8 pounds. 8 pounds is a size though! Down is down. 

I really liked this visual of weight loss and how it works, I found this to be true for me. Each weigh-in is just one moment in a week filled with moments. 

The reason I chose Weight Watchers is because I've found it to be the most livable. I can see myself doing this always. It's about making better food choices. It's about getting back on track with healthy eating the next day or even the next meal. I am able to eat anything I want, I just  need to count it. I do allow myself a few free days, like Thanksgiving day, Christmas Day, Easter, my birthday and special occasions but I get back on track the very next day. 

This time I joined online and meetings. I found the meetings really helpful. I liked the support and looked forward to each week getting new tips and sharing some of my own. There is also tons of support online with the new app you can scan foods at the store (or home) and see how may points an item is before you decide to purchase. There are also support things like a thing on the app called "Connect" where it's kind of like a Weight Watchers Instagram. People share their stories and it's filled with encouragement. There are recipes and restaurant foods listed, there's even an activity tracker. (you'd get all these benefits from the app with the online version of Weight Watchers) There are support groups on Facebook also I've found very helpful. Instagram has people that do Weight Watchers and post recipes and foods they eat daily. I've found these very helpful and encouraging too. 

The new Weight Watchers is now called Weight Watchers Freestyle. With Freestyle there are many new zero point foods such as: Fat Free plain Greek or regular plain yogurt, chicken and turkey breast, seafood, eggs, corn, all beans (except baked), fruit and veggies. You are given a certain amount of points to stick to each day with weekly points to do extra things like going out to eat or having treats or whatever you choose. The new zero point foods really do help you to make better choices that fill you up. One of my very favorite things is sugar-free cheesecake flavored pudding mix mixed with 1 cup of almond milk and then stirred into a large container of plain Greek yogurt. (this needs to sit for several hours though and then stirred before eating) I have this with fresh blueberries and peaches or whatever fresh fruit we have for breakfast every morning! 

I have not reached my "goal" yet, I still have about 15 pounds left to get to that. It doesn't matter to me how long it takes as long as I'm doing my best an eating healthy. 

My goal is always to workout daily. But I fail this miserably. In May I did start walking daily with my daughter, but this quickly faded. I realized although, walking is my favorite form of exercise, I really don't like to exercise. Don't get me wrong, I love how it  makes me feel. I just don't like the guilt it adds to my life when I don't do it. When I get busy, it's the first thing to go. SO I've lost this weight with NO EXERCISE. I'm not advocating this, because I do think exercise helps firm us up and obviously there are a ton of other health benefits.  I know this is a question many have, "Do I have to exercise?" The answer is no. 

Any other questions? Please ask in the comments!