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In the beginning I weighed 150 pounds. Then I joined a gym for the very first time ever, went three days a week, and continued to weigh 150 pounds. Eventually I stopped going to said gym, and continued to weigh 150 pounds. Such is the joy of being in one's early 20s.
Then, one very sad day in my mid-late 20s, my metabolism began to slow down and I stopped weighing 150 pounds. I stepped on the scale after noticing my clothing did not fit as it had when I bought it, and the scale suddenly read 162 pounds. I went to a wedding in Vegas where many pictures of me were taken and not a single one of them of them was flattering. I appeared twice the size of the bride. It was demoralizing, to say the least. It was then that I decided I needed to take matters of my weight/health into my own hands, because my body clearly couldn't be trusted to do it on its own anymore. That's when I joined Weight Watchers.
I knew quite a bit about the program prior to joining as there have been many in my family that had used the program with great results. So I thought, Why not me? But, you know, being me I couldn't just leave it at being a member of Weight Watchers. I had to go and give my involvement a name, something which clearly encapsulated how I felt about the whole Support Group side to Weight Watchers. I decided on Fat Camp.
I was a member of Fat Camp for almost a year. In that time I only ever reached my target weight once, and that was after a four day stint with the stomach flu. Not exactly an event I'd be willing to endure to maintain the ever elusive Goal Weight.
There were aspects of Fat Camp that I really enjoyed. The accountability, the realization that my portion sizes were no where near the same as the ones listed on the side of the packaging, the important role of fiber in one's diet, the importance of proper hydration, the social aspects of the meetings, and of course getting the little stars for a week well done. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sticker-related praise. I also really found food journaling to be a very helpful, if cumbersome, tool. You're far more mindful of what you put into your mouth when you have to write it all down.
But those didn't seem to overshadow the lesser aspects. For one most of the recipes and meals suggested were chock full of artificial/overprocessed foods. There wasn't a meeting that went by when someone wasn't speaking highly of frozen Cool Whip as a replacement to ice cream. Or making a cake using a can of diet soda instead of the oil and eggs the instructions on the box suggested. Then there was the rather overbearing hatred of all things bread that the program had. I just,...I'm from a line of bakers. Bread is delicious. I need bread like I need air. And if that weren't enough, as time went on the program began to take a turn for the pseudoscience. We would discuss the favorable use of magnets as a means by which to lose weight, and the health benefits of drinking a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar each morning.
And that's about the time I called it quits on Fat Camp.
I would attempt to utilize the program later, all solo like, but it seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.
I joined another gym, attempted to recreate the workout given to me by a personal trainer oh so many moons ago...but failed to stick with it. Usually it was the mile walk to the gym that killed it for me.
The second time I attempted a diet it was South Beach. Which, being me, I renamed Burn Notice. Burn Notice was difficult, but surprisingly rewarding. I never did stick with it long enough to reach any sort of goal, but it got over one of the bad points of Fat Camp. All the foods recommended by Burn Notice were lacking in overprocessedness. I still use some of the recipes today, and it's drastic reworking of how I view protein and glycemic index.
That first couple of weeks though? Those're the killers. Remember what I said about bread before? How I loved it like few things else? Yeah, going two weeks without it was hard. Though, knowing that I could get it back in some of its more tastier forms is what got me through the first time.
What stopped me from Burn Notice was the impractical nature of living that way in my current social environment. Oh sure, left to my own devices it'd be easy to just eat from the cookbook day in and day out. But...the cookbook doesn't really take into account weekends, or roommates, or snowy days when it's just easier to order pizza than walk to the grocery store in the cold.
I've re-attempted this one as well on numerous occasions, but much like Death and Taxes, there's never a really good time for Phase One of Burn Notice.
This is what I've learned from my past experiences with weight management.
- Accountability is key
- The less processing the better
- Breakfast is king
- Water is queen
- Some breads are better than others
Then, one very sad day in my mid-late 20s, my metabolism began to slow down and I stopped weighing 150 pounds. I stepped on the scale after noticing my clothing did not fit as it had when I bought it, and the scale suddenly read 162 pounds. I went to a wedding in Vegas where many pictures of me were taken and not a single one of them of them was flattering. I appeared twice the size of the bride. It was demoralizing, to say the least. It was then that I decided I needed to take matters of my weight/health into my own hands, because my body clearly couldn't be trusted to do it on its own anymore. That's when I joined Weight Watchers.
I knew quite a bit about the program prior to joining as there have been many in my family that had used the program with great results. So I thought, Why not me? But, you know, being me I couldn't just leave it at being a member of Weight Watchers. I had to go and give my involvement a name, something which clearly encapsulated how I felt about the whole Support Group side to Weight Watchers. I decided on Fat Camp.
I was a member of Fat Camp for almost a year. In that time I only ever reached my target weight once, and that was after a four day stint with the stomach flu. Not exactly an event I'd be willing to endure to maintain the ever elusive Goal Weight.
There were aspects of Fat Camp that I really enjoyed. The accountability, the realization that my portion sizes were no where near the same as the ones listed on the side of the packaging, the important role of fiber in one's diet, the importance of proper hydration, the social aspects of the meetings, and of course getting the little stars for a week well done. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sticker-related praise. I also really found food journaling to be a very helpful, if cumbersome, tool. You're far more mindful of what you put into your mouth when you have to write it all down.
But those didn't seem to overshadow the lesser aspects. For one most of the recipes and meals suggested were chock full of artificial/overprocessed foods. There wasn't a meeting that went by when someone wasn't speaking highly of frozen Cool Whip as a replacement to ice cream. Or making a cake using a can of diet soda instead of the oil and eggs the instructions on the box suggested. Then there was the rather overbearing hatred of all things bread that the program had. I just,...I'm from a line of bakers. Bread is delicious. I need bread like I need air. And if that weren't enough, as time went on the program began to take a turn for the pseudoscience. We would discuss the favorable use of magnets as a means by which to lose weight, and the health benefits of drinking a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar each morning.
And that's about the time I called it quits on Fat Camp.
I would attempt to utilize the program later, all solo like, but it seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.
I joined another gym, attempted to recreate the workout given to me by a personal trainer oh so many moons ago...but failed to stick with it. Usually it was the mile walk to the gym that killed it for me.
The second time I attempted a diet it was South Beach. Which, being me, I renamed Burn Notice. Burn Notice was difficult, but surprisingly rewarding. I never did stick with it long enough to reach any sort of goal, but it got over one of the bad points of Fat Camp. All the foods recommended by Burn Notice were lacking in overprocessedness. I still use some of the recipes today, and it's drastic reworking of how I view protein and glycemic index.
That first couple of weeks though? Those're the killers. Remember what I said about bread before? How I loved it like few things else? Yeah, going two weeks without it was hard. Though, knowing that I could get it back in some of its more tastier forms is what got me through the first time.
What stopped me from Burn Notice was the impractical nature of living that way in my current social environment. Oh sure, left to my own devices it'd be easy to just eat from the cookbook day in and day out. But...the cookbook doesn't really take into account weekends, or roommates, or snowy days when it's just easier to order pizza than walk to the grocery store in the cold.
I've re-attempted this one as well on numerous occasions, but much like Death and Taxes, there's never a really good time for Phase One of Burn Notice.
This is what I've learned from my past experiences with weight management.
- Accountability is key
- The less processing the better
- Breakfast is king
- Water is queen
- Some breads are better than others
