WW (formerly Weight Watchers)

I have been a member of WW (formerly Weight Watchers) for 30 years, off and on.  I joined after I had my second child and was struggling to get back to my "fighting weight."  Back then, there was a lot of calculating involved in food "exchanges" for fat, protein, vegetables, milk bread, etc.  I still have one of the cookbooks from those days that has some great recipes, copyright 1984!  

 Today's WW is so much easier to follow and, I think, the healthiest way to maintain a goal weight.  Just like the olden days, a very important part of WW success is tracking one's food consumed and exercise done.  WW has an awesome app that makes tracking nearly painless (of course, tracking things like cheesecake still causes me some guilt).  The app includes a scanner so I can scan the bar code on salad dressing, pasta, canned soup, frozen meals, etc.  It's easy and can be really surprising; just when I start thinking that I've got this, this scanner will remind me that I'm not quite there.  

 There are a couple of things that I love the most about WW.  One is the meetings.  My WW meeting leader is brilliant and hysterical.  My Saturday morning group is absolutely raucous, to the point where we have to be shushed.  I always feel sorry for any newcomers who wonder where they've landed.  Is this a tryout for the Comedy Shop?  I've met wonderful and supportive friends who genuinely care about each other and our health.  We see each other every week, and if one of us doesn't show up, the others get concerned.  I always make sure I tell my best WW buddy if I am going to be absent so I can save the others from worrying.

 Other than the wonderful friends and support system, the best part about WW is the Lifetime Membership.  I set my weight goal with the help of my WW leader, based on my age, height, etc.  When I reach that goal, I go on "maintenance" for six weeks.  After six weeks, if I am within 2 pounds of the goal, my membership is FREE!!!!  Yes, WW actually rewards me with free access to meetings and online tools as long as I stay within two pounds of my goal.  I think this is amazing!!!  

 I could go on and on about the wonders of WW, but I recommend that anyone who wants to maintain a healthy weight give it a try.  The first meeting can be a bit daunting, just as any new experience can be.  However, I don't believe that there is a better lifestyle choice than this.  I speak from lots of pounds gained and lost over the years.

Comments

  1. BillJune 27, 2019 at 1:46 PM

    My wife has really taken to WW's zero points foods. They make tracking much easier. I have benefited, too. I have also benefited by reading "Bright Line Eating" by Susan Peirce Thompson. She has just two rules: no flour and no added sugar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VictoriaJune 27, 2019 at 6:07 PM

      Thank you, Bill! You always have great recommendations on books! I appreciate you.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Memory Struggles

I don't know when, but at some point my memory began to fail.  I'm 69 years old now, so perhaps I should expect this.  I don't like it and I don't want to accept it.  Being the hypochondriac that I am (that's a whole other blog), I wanted to see if my brain was rotting...or whatever brains do when they are no longer fully functional.  My long suffering primary care doctor (the woman is a saint) ordered a brain MRI.  The results: "Very mild chronic small vessel ischemic changes of the supratentorial periventricular and subcortical white matter." Sure.  That sounded troubling to me, but my primary care doctor wasn't concerned.   On the positive side, it's interesting to see all the new sights everyday that apparently I have seen thousands of times before.  On  the one hand, it's nice to be happily surprised...a lot.  I ask my husband, "have we been here before?" to which he often replies, "countless times."  Hmmmmm.  Nope, don
Read more

Blonde and Skinny and Fake

I admit that I spend more time than I should thinking about how I look.  I don't know about you, but I was indoctrinated at a very early age.  Like many newborns, I had blonde hair at birth.  That blonde hair usually doesn't last.  It didn't last on me.  I don't know exactly when it happened, but I remember that my mother poured peroxide over my hair when it started getting dark.  Now, my mother was an educated woman; she received her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Illinois in 1943.  But, even an educated woman apparently wanted her first child to remain a blonde.  For years, she went to the drug store to get some Miss Clairol Blonde formula with which to keep me bright and beautiful (in her eyes, anyway).  I don't know how she found the time, but it must have been quite the priority for her.  This was a woman with a medical practice in our home who was very often called away to deliver babies.  Looking back, I am amazed at all that she did.   For
Read more

Love, Heartbreak, and Life Is Short

Believe it or not, I was a very shy child.  Really.  When it was time to go to high school, I went to a coed Catholic school   I didn't do well.  After I survived one very unhappy year there, I begged my parents to let me attend the all girls Catholic school where a couple of my good girlfriends were.  I felt safe there with none of those annoying boys hanging around.  Yeah, I was spoiled.  I had no idea how expensive that place was.  But, I was happy there. In my senior year, we were offered the opportunity to go on a religious retreat somewhere in New York.  Yay!  I don't know who thought it would be a great idea to have an all girls school and an all boys school attending the same weekend retreat, but it was there I met the boy who was to be my first real love and my first truly devastating heartbreak.   David (not his real name...I've changed the name to protect the innocent) was so handsome.  He had long blond hair (this was the 1970s, so long blond hair on a Catholic
Read more