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52:6 WhyWatchers

I hate to alienate my readers (of which I am certain there is 1-3) but I wanted to talk about weight again. A week ago today I joined WeightWatchers with a goal weight loss target of 16lbs. The reason I joined was twofold. Firstly, I realised that instead of just hoping I would one day learn to love my flab I could actually do something about it - to give my body confidence an extra big boost. And secondly I chose WeightWatchers because my friend Megan recently reached her goal weight after losing 60lbs on the diet. That is some serious WeightWatchering right there.
My second blog of Project 52 'Oh to be Marilyn...' discussed body confidence. Today I want to revisit this topic because I have an extra point to add to the list of people I take issue with. If you can't remember my blog I had something of an of an epiphany: "There are two sets of people that I take issue with: 1) People with a lovely figure who spend their time moaning that they are disgustingly fat and unhealthy because they have only been to the gym 5 times this week instead of 7 (undoubtedly said while wearing their skintight mini-dress) and 2) People who are totally and utterly confident about the way they look.

I take issue with 1 because it is the law that everyone takes issue with these people. And I take issue with 2 because I want to be one of those people but I'm not. However if there is one thing that has helped me get closer to category 2 than ever before, i.e. the thing I realised that blew my mind, is this: everyone, including you, is someone else's category 1"
The point I want to add is 3) People that tell you how you should feel about your body. But before I get into that point I suppose I should quickly explain how WeightWatchers works: WeightWatchers uses a points, or ProPoints, system. ProPoints takes into account the carbs, fibre, fat and protein in your food and allocates a number of points to that food. Instead of counting calories you are counting these points, which provides a bit more balance to your diet plan. To give you an idea, beans on toast with a sprinkling of cheese would be about 8 ProPoints.
I personally have 29 points a day to use and luckily most fruit and vegetables are zero points so you can fill up on them if you run out of ProPoints. The idea is not to restrict the quantities of food you are eating... it is more about eating smarter and healthier and, most importantly, losing weight steadily so it stays off. There is also an extra 49 points a week to use if you want to treat yourself.
Science bit over let me explain why I am annoyed by people who tell you how you should look. Yesterday I told my nana that i had joined Weight Watchers. Her response? "You don't need to lose weight." Now this is a pretty standard response I'll give you that. And heck, don't get me wrong I have said it too - we have all said it.
I was put out by my nana's comment. I felt I then had to explain "oh I only want to lose a little bit". Then again, why should I have to explain myself? I am not obese or overweight but that shouldn't mean I can't stand to lose a few pounds! I don't need to lose weight, I want to. And as long as I stay in my healthy BMI category I really can't see why this would be an issue. If you have a look at this BMI diagram I am currently edging on the over-weight end of the OK range. My goal weight is slap bang in the middle of OK. If that is a bad choice to make then frak it.
I do understand that people say "you don't need to be on a diet"with the best intention. Unfortunately what they are also telling you is that you have made a poor decision, or at least an unnecessary one. The problem is that people assume you want to be a stick if you so much as hint you'd like to lose some weight. But I don't want to be stick thin at all! I just to feel healthier and more confident. If people aren't supportive of that then it is a little sad*.
*FYI I am not saying that anyone who says "you don't need to lose weight" is unsupportive, especially not my nana. I am just talking generally about the phrase being tossed around without consideration of its impact.
If you have stuck with me through this blog, and I hope you have because I really enjoy writing them, then i will tell you my week's weight loss. I joined last Saturday with my mum - a long time WeightWatcherer - and this morning was my first weigh in...
I lost 2lbs. I am really chuffed, and I hope you are too.
Posted by Helen Brooks at 10:35 Labels: bmi, diet, lose, weight, weightwatchers 
wow well done! im glad its working as I want to join it when i come home from Canada, to, like you said, learn about making healthier eating choices. :)

12 February 2011 at 16:42 Carbzilla said...

Way to go on the weight loss. I've been off & on WW for 20 years. When I go off of it, I gain weight. Period. I understand when people don't think I need to lose weight (I only have 13 lbs to goal now but at one point I was 30 lbs away), but they don't know what I weight or how much healthier/better I'd look at a lower weight. When I take weight off my legs, I look much taller, more in proportion, etc ( I'm very short). Frankly, your body is nobody else's business. Bless your nana for saying what nanas are supposed to say. She clearly loves you.

13 February 2011 at 16:34 Helen Brooks
Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
My name is Helen. I am 28 years old and I'm married to a fantastic man named James. I have a gorgeous 4 month old baby called Hannah.
