A sustainable, long-term healthier way of eating through Weight Watchers has helped Marie reach her target weight

March 09 2007

Marie A

-City & country: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
-Age: 27
-Weight before diet: 205 lbs.
-Weight now: 134 lbs.
-Target weight: 145 lbs.

Having had enough of being overweight for years, Marie chose the Flex Program of Weight Watchers to help her lose weight, a decision she doesn’t regret making. She has gone beyond her target weight, but weight loss isn’t the only thing she achieved with it.

-What finally made you decide to start with a weight loss program?
In July of 2005, I went on a search for a new doctor. I suffer from migraines, they were affecting my work and I had been without a family doctor since the age of 15 as I was tired of being a guinea pig for different drugs to solve my headaches (as well as being sent to dietitians to figure out my weight problem). I bit the bullet, found a headache and pain clinic and off I went. Well, in the exam (and test results that came back later) we found I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and my weight was sitting at 205 lbs (I'm 5'6). He suggested diet and exercise before we tried me on MORE medication. 

I've had weight issues most of my life. I remember wearing plus size clothes while still in elementary school and men's size 38-40 pants in high school under my big belly flap. See, 205 isn't the heaviest I've ever been. At the age of 21, I remember finding the courage to step on a scale and see it hover around 230 lbs. Days later, I found the courage to buy the book "Body for Life," by Bill Phillips and then to walk into the gym at my university where I began to slowly change my body and drop about 50 or so pounds.

Unfortunately, it wasn't "for life" as the title read, I had the pounds creep back on until that number smacked me across the face in the doctor's office that day along with his flippant comment, "That's pretty high, you know?" - thanks Dr. Obvious! (He's no longer my doctor, by the way). I went home and thought about it for a bit. I knew I had to do something as I was still stuffing myself into size 12 clothes from when I had lost weight before and I was obviously in denial about how my body had changed on me again.

-What type of weight loss program did you follow?
 Weight Watchers Online - Flex Program

-Why did you choose this weight loss program?
Weight Watchers was just an obvious answer, or maybe it was just a banner ad somewhere. My sister-in-law had tried it before in between her two daughters and had amazing success and I had friend who had tried it too. I had briefly tried it (for like a week maybe and very half-assed) but I thought I HAD to do something about my weight issue this time because now it was affecting my health and it really was in black and white.

No amount of people saying, "Oh, you look great! You don't need to lose any weight!" was going to stop me. After visiting the doctor that day in the summer of 2005, I just sat down on my computer and signed up then and there. I figured I would give the three-month thing a try and I could cancel it if I failed, with no one being the wiser. But when the weight started to come off, I stayed with it.

-How long were you on your weight loss program?
I started WW in August of 2005. I "fell off the wagon," if you will, in between November 2005 and January 2006. I recommitted to the program then and reached my goal in July of 2006. I've been on maintenance since and have lost another 10 lbs, bringing me to about 70 lbs lost on Weight Watchers alone.

-What kinds of physical activities do you like doing to help you lose weight and stay fit?
Running, weight training, hot yoga, softball.

-What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome or are still overcoming?
Balancing a social life with a new eating plan - eating out becomes a bit harder because you can't "plan" as well as you can when you're at home and not all restaurants have the nutritional information of their food available to the general public. You can't get discouraged by going over every now and again because life happens. Just be honest, track it all and move on.

It's also been hard having to deal with people's negative comments about eating disorders when your appearance changes -  I'm constantly asked if I'm finished losing weight, if I'm eating, what I'm eating, if maybe I think it's time to slow down and get off of my "diet" now that I'm a healthy weight.

Having my mind catch up with my body - sometimes I don't realize that I'm not a size large or size 12-14 anymore. Weight loss is a big mental game too and when you're bigger for a longer period of time, your brain doesn't always keep up. So although people think you're being modest or whiny, you're really not. You're really in denial or just not mentally there yet.

-How do you keep yourself motivated?
Blogging is a BIG motivator right now. There are so many inspirational women (and a few men!) out there who are on Weight Watchers who share their daily struggles online and it's great to know what trials and tribulations they're going through. I am thankful I started blogging because I was really finding myself being dishonest with the program and gaining back weight on maintenance. I find my fellow bloggers so much more helpful because you can be as uncensored as you want, be as free thinking as you want and you aren't judged as much because it's your own space.

It's not to say that the message boards don't help keep me motivated too. They're an awesome place to pick up tips on low-point foods, new activities to try and you might even find some new people in your area on the program as well!

-Do you have any weight loss tips for our readers?
NEVER deprive yourself! Planning ahead is really the key to success on this program and if you can budget for a new pair of shoes every now and again, then you sure as hell can budget for a piece of chocolate cake every week or so. It's really key to recognize that you're NOT on a diet with Weight Watchers. You're really changing your eating habits, watching your portions and making better choices, which is what leads to your great successes in weight loss and why it is more sustainable in the long term than any diet that is reliant on supplements, gimmicky foods or limits you to certain proteins, fats, carbs, etc.

Make better choices, plan for your life and make activity a regular part of your day/week/life. You'll be thankful for it!

-Do you think it will be easy to fall back into your old lifestyle pattern? How do you prevent this from happening?
I'm an overeater - always have been, always will be. I could easily lose control and "fall back in an old pattern" but not for long. I've done it for a couple of days and it sickens me. There is no way I am going to ruin all of the hard work and effort I've put forth for the fleeting fulfillment of empty calories and fat.

It doesn't give you as much satisfaction as cooking a healthy meal for your family, completing a run or being an inspiration for others who want to lose weight but aren't sure how. That keeps me full a hell of a lot longer than any bag of chips or all-you-can-eat buffet can. I slip up. I'm human. But I get right back on track and make sure I track EVERYTHING I eat again going forward. It helps to remember: if I bite it, I write it.

-Do you have a favorite Web site or blog that helps or inspires you to lose weight?
Well I wasn't aware of WW blogs when I made my decision to jump on the WW bus, but I check weightwatchers.ca and its message boards DAILY (two windows are open with it at a minimum) and you can check out my blog, Mousearoo's Mumblings and two of my fave bloggers, Minimizing Mandy and Shirls Spot, two amazing ladies who have lost over 100 lbs each!