My apologies for the pun—and it is intended. I weighed in on Tuesday and lost a half a pound. I’m not complaining either because the WW Freestyle Program is the most challenging I’ve been on.
And trust me, I’ve been on a few Weight Watchers programs.
But first let’s get to the good news. WW keeps your past records and so, I was very surprised to learn I was receiving an award! A Twenty-Five-pound weight loss award.
One small ounce for woman……
…is a giant step in motivation!
Let me backtrack for you.
My highest non-pregnancy weight was 180 pounds. That was back in…oh…1998—when things were getting a little stressful in the marriage. Luckily, I lost quite a few of those pounds on my own and got down to around 160.
This is me. I blew up like a Pufferfish to 180 pounds!
At 160, I joined Weight Watchers with one of my friends, I lost quite a bit of weight but bailed out early in the program.
I would say that my weight continued to teeter between 150 and 175 for quite some time during and after my divorce. I like to stress-eat!
The REAL funny thing about this is that I HAVE done exactly this with the chocolate syrup. Stress eating does that!
And when I met Bonaparte, I was weighing in at around 176 pounds. I am quite the fortunate woman because the Frenchman likes a well-rounded woman. My guess is he was way too used to skinny Frenchwoman who smoked rather than eat.
Anyway, I really wanted to lose weight. So, I rejoined Weight Watchers 1t 175 pounds. And I lost twenty pounds to bring me down to the high goal of 155. Are you following me?
That’s when I earned my Lifetime Status. And I stopped going to meetings and I lost more weight on my own, but then I went through a company closure, was home and unemployed and food was my comfort. My weight climbed to 165. Still not my high weight but I wasn’t feeling good about myself.
I decided to join Weight Watchers online. I went down to about 143. Then my weight crept up again to about 167. I joined Weight Watchers again. I believe this was when I wrote about my first weight loss journey on the blog.
Suffice it to say my weight went back down to the low 140’s and that’s where I feel my best. But I gained a few pounds and wanted to lose what was gained and so, I went back to Weight Watchers. This was when the Weight Watchers Freestyle program was introduced. I was also a few pounds above my low goal of 155. Therefore, I had to pay each week until I reached my low goal of 155. At this point, I had my Lifetime Membership card so it was all good. Within a month I reached that point but I’ll tell you, I couldn’t stand the Freestyle program.
True dat. I HATED Freestyle. It’s still a challenge but I’m beginning to understand it much better!
I loved points. I loved Smart Points. I love structure and rules and boundaries. And it just seemed there were no rules or structure with the Freestyle.
So, I bailed after reaching my low goal and with some determination, I lost another ten pounds.
At 140 I felt great and looked very good. And then with the wedding of my daughter, there was some stress eating until I gained a total of 15 pounds. Now, these 15 pounds brought me to my low goal of 155 but I still felt like shit. Especially after realizing that 15 pounds was distributed mostly in my belly with some overflow to the thighs and my face.
Oh momma! This is how I stress-ate before Oona’s wedding. Like for seven months before her wedding!
That’s where I am today. Presently, I’m now 150 with ten pounds to go.
But since I always bailed on Weight Watchers, WW saved my information.
…and bye Weight Watchers. But HELLO WW!!
And that’s where the award came in. Simply because the weight loss from the past three weeks equaled a five-pound loss, allowing me to receive an award for a 25-pound loss.
The Prodigal Daughter returned and was rewarded. And you have no idea how great it felt and the motivation it gave me. It wasn’t the half-pound loss I was focusing on. It was the fact that I lost 25 pounds in forever!
It’s funny because with a five-pound loss, my clothing is beginning to feel more comfortable.
The pants are fitting better in the gut!
These ten pounds I need to lose now will come off very slowly. Like the tortoise rather than the hare.
I’ll be like the tortoise but depending on how many points the hare is, I may cook him!
I’m not starving myself. Bonaparte takes his Saturday evening dinners very seriously and we eat the French way. A lot of courses. However, I’m passing on desserts!
This past Saturday I cooked Chicken with a Middle Eastern/Persian/Moroccan flair and it was delicious. My portion was smaller and I made sure that I started out with a Fatoush—Greek salad.
Fatoush. It’s not a zero-point dish because of the oil, olives and feta but I don’t care. I ate a sensible portion!
The Roast Chicken Thighs I made for Saturday night are called Mussakhan
Rubbed with Sumac and oil and spices and a touch of preserved lemon and toasted pine nuts! It was so good!
And I was very proud of myself today because it was “Snack Day” at the office.
Did I mention I’m on the committee who plans these events?
I opted for the apples. And let me tell you, I was so stinking proud of myself..
And it was crunchy. And Sweet. And I ate it all at Zero Points!
And now that the Fall is in full-swing, I’m dressing for it. There are a couple of items that are still a bit too tight but for the most part, the clothing still fits.
Here are some looks from this past week!
My winter dresses and skirts are still packed away so my transitional autumn pants are what I’m wearing. The blazer is new–J. Crew had a sale and I treated myself to a black Regent blazer!
Dear Lord I feel like a J. Crew ad. My elephant pants were the greatest sale item a couple of years back as was this cashmere sweater. The shoes are almost ten years old!
It looks black but the ensemble is navy! And yes. It’s all J. Crew–LOL!! Do you like my hair? It’s Finn by Estetica Designs!
And today I went with the Equestrian look! Surprise! The blazer is about ten years old and from………Banana Republic!
And for a final word, today my oldest son, Jake, is 36 years old. My God, I’ve been thinking about it all day. Yeah. Of course, I wished him a Happy Birthday—he lives in L.A. But I couldn’t help but make it about me in the sense that I was 28 when he was born and now….I’m not 28 anymore! Time flies by so quickly. I swear I had him just yesterday!!
This guy changed my life and is the reason I became Mom! The best thing that ever happened to me!
What are your thoughts on your grown kids birthdays? Do you feel kind of like I do?
I also want to thank you all for being patient with me for not writing as much as I should. My job has me spent by the end of the day, but I’m trying to write more and so..I thank you all so very much for not bailing on me the way I bailed on Weight Watchers in the past! I love you guys!
Thank you so much! XOXOXOXO