I haven’t even told you of my return to the ranks of the Weight Watchful Ones, have I? That I rejoined WW about a month ago? I’d been doing it online on and off for awhile, but for the past month I have been going to actual meetings in real life, the real world of flesh and blood; of membership cards; of yet more flesh weighed in on real fucking scales in front of other actual live people and everything. Oh, the humanity, and so much of it ON ME.
So it seems I’m fighting again: I’m back in The Shit. Lately I’m more willing to do everything I ought to. I eat mostly the CORE foods but follow the FLEX plan. I have heard this referred to as “Flexcore,” which sounds more like a godforsaken metal subgenre than a way of eating, but it seems to be working. I look up the points information for almost everything. I check the points listing for the Panera menu at DWLZ and Dottie breaks the bad news to me in Comic Sans. And the current new name/slogan/tagline/operating paradigm for the whole WW Program is “Turn Around,” which unfortunately causes excerpts from the song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler to spiral through my head for at least a half hour after each meeting.
(Did you click that last link? You really should have waited for me to warn you.)
The first week I lost nothing, the second week I lost a bit, the third week I either lost nothing or gained back the bit, but I’ll never know because I skipped that week; subequently this last week I either lost nothing or lost the same bit again. I have a feeling my weight loss is going to progress at about the same pace as an Apartment 3-G storyline, but, hey, it’s something. And I’ll keep you posted.
Good luck rejoining the WW minions! I lost 54 on WW, got to goal, and gained back 20 before I could reach lifetime. I have never stopped going, the meetings are actually a blast, but I don’t journal like I should. Still creeping back down in that “down a pound, up a half manner”.
Still, it’s a bitch, but it’s the best game out there! Oh, and thanks SOOO much for the song refrence. I hadn’t thought of that…TILL NOW. Now it’ll be running through my head at each meeting, you wench! 🙂 Anywho, good luck fighting the good fight!
Kitty
I think there are people who think that bad news is easier to take when it’s presented in Comic Sans. But to me, anything presented in Comic Sans (except actual comics, of course) is very bad news indeed.
Ban Comic Sans!
http://bancomicsans.com/home.html
Hi, Wendy,
I’m certain you don’t remember me, but I met you at your book signing at Barbara’s in Oak Park. I mentioned to you that it was the first reading I ever attended and you wrote me a nice inscription. I never had seen your site before that, but now I check in now and then. There’s actually a wonderful photo of the back of my head on one of the pictures you posted.
I think you are really cool, and very talented, and that’s why I’m taking the time just to share a little of my experience, which might give you something to think about, since you’re back at WW. I know what works for me may not work for anyone else, but different perspectives are always good.
I’ve lost 50 pounds in the past four years, initially 10ish on Atkins and then another 10ish at weight watchers and then I kind of got stuck. I do run a lot on a treadmill during the week and I play some tennis, but I could not lose those last 30 until this summer. (My fitness level is especially impressive because I do smoke quite a few clove cigarettes a day when my two little kids aren’t around.)
What happened this summer is I just stopped eating junk food and sweets, that’s all. And it really changed everything. I was really struck by how emotional my eating was and now that I’m not doing it, I’ve been in this kind of heightened emotional state, really dealing with stuff that I never have, issues with my family, my wonderful but kind of stresshead husband, toxic friends, etc. It’s been quite a ride. Sometimes, it’s rough, but it seems like a better, more aware way to live. When I used to eat a pint of ice cream a night, I spent so much energy being down on myself that I didn’t have anything left to address the other stuff in my life that was getting me down.
I don’t want to discourage you if WW is working, but I think for really bright, sensitive people like you seem to be, Weight Watchers is kind of bullshit, all that obsession about weight and points.
Anyway, this is a longer post than I planned, but I did want to reach out to you a little because I liked your book so much and you just seem like a really good person.
Also, I saw you at your book signing, and, whether you lose weight or not, you are a very lovely and attractive person.
And I certainly don’t want to offend Weight Watcher proponents, because they do a lot of good for a lot of people. It’s just not for everybody; that’s all.
I’d be happy to go into more detail with you about how I managed to change my eating lifestyle. It’s my own plan, no book, no guru. Just email me if you’re interested.
Do you count points? I’ve been going to meetings for months and I just keep going and keep not counting a daggone thing. Turns out you can’t lose weight just by paying the membership fees. Crap.
i joined WW in march, lost 25, then moved back to the wilderness that is Texas and gained back 10. the obesity is contagious here.
but i’m just getting back “on program” [hello, Betty Ford, is that you?]. flexcore sounds amusing. like something they would play at jazzercise.
Wendy, good luck with WW. I have joined so many times. It’s a great program, but I don’t know if I can drag myself back in there again. Kudos to you for giving it another go.
Ouch – not even Comic Sans can help the news that my favorite sandwich from Panera is worth 23 points. That stings!
Ugh. Maybe I should go back to WW, too. But I’d rather live in denial just a little bit longer.
I also rejoined about a month ago. I had lost 27 lbs and kept it off for a couple of years, but when it started creeping back on I decided to bite the bullet and return while it was losing 5 lbs rather then more. It’s such a sensible plan. Glad to see I am not the only backslider … of course, an upcoming beach week with lots o’ alcohol ain’t gonna help any!
I bloody hate losing weight. But I have managed to lose five pounds over the past two months (yes, I know), by being ‘sensible’ (an unheard of concept for me). I got tired of paying my online fee and doing NOTHING, not even logging in. My little progress chart had totally flatlined – how apt. Hopefully, you will inspire me to be more sensible and lose weight faster.
Wendy, you are brilliant, and a genius, and my soulmate, althought that is such a weird thing to say that I’m freaking myself out by typing it. But that is what I thought when I clicked on the “Turn Around” link and began immediately laughing my ass off.
I started WW at WORK a few weeks ago, with amazing intentions. I missed my first weigh-in, as I got trapped at the MVA (that’s DMV to some of y’all outside of Maryland, although “seventh circle of hell” might work). I arrived at the meeting room and everyone was gone. Today I rearranged my whole day of shitty meetings, and raced over, eevn though I knew I hadn’t been “good” all week, but determined to check in. I found a sign on the door that said, “REMINDER: Weight Watchers at Work CANCELLED today, 8/25”
Anyway, it’s hard. Thank you for your words, and your site, and your book. I totally wish I knew you in real life, but your words, regardless, are a godsend.
Thank you for the news, Wendy! I wish you success. I got to see you at a reading, and I love your body and the canvas it provides for your loveliness–but it’s not about me, is it? It’s about what you want for your body and for your life. I just want to thank you for giving us the news because in dealing with my own body issues, it is helpful to read what other people are doing for themselves. Rock on.
Congrats on heading back to the WW meetings! I’ve been thinking about heading back myself, but I’m new to the area. Lincoln Square is a fairly laid back sort of place, but it would be my luck to pick the meeting that has all the designer label, pointily shod, ‘my life will end if I don’t lose 10 pounds and get back into a size 2, oh god I’m so fat’, types.
Dottie has a lot of great info on her site, but damn is she in need of a redesign (and am I the only one that thinks a video of her eating a skinny cow is kinda creepy?). Oh well, she does with the ‘best weight loss mullet’ award though!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Comic Sans in the vicinity of a comic. Maybe I don’t read the right comics.
I’m very, very happy that you’re posting regularly. Pound was the first journal I ever read. I don’t want to say cheesy and earnest things… but I’m just very glad you’re still writing to us. You are indeed a breath of fresh air.
(And that link… well. Goodness me.)
Oh my God the Skinny Cow video is TOTALLY creepy!!!!!!
Do you ever comment at the WW boards?
I love all the desperate people demanding that other people find out how many points some dumb ass fast food is. Hey people – use Google or see if McDonalds by chance has the damn nutrition information.
And sometimes I do find info just because I’m that bored.
Oy, Dotti. How much time I have spent, wondering why no one ever suggested a makeover for her.
And how unsurprised I was to find that she had experienced some regain…I think she lost her originally umpteen pounds in a very very short time.
But not to slag on her completely (because with that site, it’s kind of easy to) because I’ve gotten lots of information from her. Good on ya, Dotti. Even though your URL is so unwieldy.
Oh Ellen! Thank you for a wonderful out-loud laugh upon reading your comment! My god, doesn’t it suck that just paying the $$ doesn’t do it?!? 🙂 I’m on a doctor-monitored diabetes food plan right now (my best friend calls it “eating right so you keep your feet!” – whee) and using WW as a weekly check-in, commiseration space, and I actually enjoy it. Wish the leaders weren’t so “here’s a gold sticker!”-y, though.
I think Dotti gained a good deal when she quit smoking, but she’d managed to keep off the original weight loss for a number of years. That’s much more than I’ve ever been able to do.
Nice to see you are familiar with Josh over at The Comics Curmudgeon! Are you a member of the affiliated community? A great bunch of people, with great intelligence, humor, and maturity. Well, except for the snarking on comics thing, we’re all pretty mature.
http://joshreads.com/forum/index.php
I love getting a laugh every time I click on your site. When I read your Bonnie Tyler comment, I nearly died laughing! Weight Watchers is finally working for me and I think I’ve discovered a weight loss secret, so thought I’d share, just in case. I’ve given up all products that have high fructose corn syrup, and I have completely lost my cravings for sweets and overeating. Good luck!
Wait wait – what’s the dirt on Dotti? Tell all. And who’s your contact? Man!
We could have a car wash (not a bake sale – god knows we’d all show up with about 3 cookies each haven eaten the raw dough) and raise money to have her site redesigned by Wendy or maybe even Pamie’s friend AB.
Someone I know described Dottie’s web site as what her gran would create if she had an eating disorder. I thought that was a bit harsh, but still very funny.
If you really want to be entertained at a WW meeting, you should attend mine, which meets near Water Tower Place on Fridays at noon. I have overheard conversations about buying jewelry to match one’s new vacation home in Phoenix (that woman claimed she “only” lost 1.6 because she’d been doing Pilates on a machine and asked if there was a scale that could weigh her muscle-weight-gain separately from her overall weight loss), and then this week, one woman asked if seafood included fish. She also wanted our leader to stop the meeting and tell her exactly which foods to eat with her 35 points on the Core plan.
But it does work … welcome back to the fray.
I just wanted to wish you luck, and share the only real way to enjoy that song: http://www.milkandcookies.com/links/27260/
As a WW-aholic, I commend you. Know the drill. Just recently lost 54lbs – 30 more to go (big girl, I am). But if a banana is 2 points and a “glass” of wine is 2 points, it’s hard to get those ‘fruits’ in.
I just finished reading “I’m Not the New Me” (in less than 24 hours, bam!), and I want to do the cliched thing and thank you for it. I won’t tell you you’re an inspiration, but I will tell you that I had a boyfriend exactly like Grape Ape, except he was incredibly skinny and could NOT KEEP his job at Barnes and Noble. Again, thanks, I’m going to make stopping at your page a routine.
I’ve called flexcore “flore,” or dirty flore (what problems I have). I’ve NEVER tasted lifetime status either. Watcher since ’97 or maybe before since I read Jean Nidetch’s biography in 5th grade. So, she passed on the mantle to Ms.-Flaccid-Personality-Florine. How come we hardly ever hear about her or the Duchess yet hmtl-killer Dotti is deemed a saint?
Yeah, I’m heading back this week too, I think. Sigh. God help us all. Did someone up there say they love the meetings? Attending meetings is the main element of the program that has kept me from rejoining sooner.
I actually like my meeting because my leader is pretty cool. She’s no-bullshit yet warmly supportive. In her other life she’s a parole officer.(no, really, she is!) Anyway, if you have the option, I recommend trying out different meetings because some suck and a few are truly helpful and kinda fun.
The first time I did WW, about 4 years ago, I went to meetings (a different leader than my current gal) for awhile, lost 20 pounds and decided I could do the rest on my own. Well, I didn’t. When I went back 2 years later after regaining most of the weight, I decided that I would keep attending the meetings. There have been long plateaus but I got through them and have lost 31 pounds and am getting so close to goal I can almost taste it. (umm, yummy goal…) I know that meetings aren’t for everyone but they kept me accountable and focused.
You’re awesome, as you know. Hope the WW thing is going well. If I can find a contact address I’m going to send you my new Magazine, Big Ole Face Full of Monster when it comes out in October. Just because I think it will amuse you.
Thank you for your website and book, they have/are helping me a lot. It’s nice to know there are others out there who are going through the same thing and dealing with all the usual B.S., etc. I’m thinking of doing WW again too.
P.S. To the anti comic sans person. Sorry you are so averse to Comic Sans. I teach literacy to immigrant adults, and my students are able to read comic sans better than almost any other font. This has just been my experience!
LMAO!! I totally get Total Eclipse of the Heart in my head at WW meeting, too!
*LOVE* the Bonnie Tyler link… there’s something about the tinny sound of low-res midi that DOES something to that song!!! LOL!
Good for you! Please keep us posted. My friend and I just went back on Sept. 3, so we’re only a week behind you. She’s a “lifer” who gained all her weight back plus. I joined last January then quit after 2 months. We’re hoping going together makes a difference. Writing everything down is such a drag though, it’ll probably take me forever but I’m only doing it M-F.
BTW, just finished your book. Well done! Are you going to write another one? You should think about it.