Winning with weight watchers

The prospect of turning 40 prompted a patient to get serious about losing weight. He was concerned about entering the second half of his life and being overweight. He also realized that, as you age, it’s increasingly difficult to lose weight and easier to pack on the pounds. Those issues gave patient the nudge he needed to shed 40 pounds during the summer of 2003. Patient wasn’t a person you’d think of as overweight but, according to body mass index (BMI) calculations, he was obese since he was more than 30 pounds over what the index recommended. He is six feet tall and carried the weight well. He was concerned about his health more than his appearance. The pounds had crept over the years. Oversized portions, a desk job, regular weightlifting but no consistent cardiovascular exercise and an old knee injury all contributed to his weight gain. Patient looked at several weights loss programs and decided to try Weight-Watchers® online. It provided him with just enough guidance, so that he could learn how much to eat to lose weight and ultimately maintain his weight after he reached his goal. Like many other people, he had no idea how much food he should be eating on a daily basis.

He also liked the convenient online tools for tracking all food intake and the ease of using FlexPoints® which assigns points to foods and exercise. Once he started, there was no going back. He thinks it’s important to be true to himself when he set a goal, so he dedicated himself to losing the weight. That doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing.

The first few days were the most difficult. He was adjusting what he ate and eating smaller portions, and he was very hungry. He also had to get over cravings, especially late in the evening, when he liked to snack on chips and salsa. Another sticking point: eating out. "Restaurants serve an extraordinary amount of food, and you have to be disciplined not to eat all that’s put in front of you." Patient also had a little trouble assigning FlexPoints when not eating at home. "Weight Watchers does have a guide that lists some foods from popular chain restaurants, but he’d often have to make guesses when he dined out." Portion control was the heavy hitter in patient’s weight loss plan. He’s still eating most of the same things he was eating before, but on smaller portions. However, he has also reduced his intake of carbohydrates. He rarely eats potatoes, little bread and a few pastas. Before, he would have meat, potatoes and a vegetable. Now he eats meat and vegetables without the potatoes. Weight Watchers offers a low carbohydrate diet plan to follow, but patient opted to make his own choices about how many carbohydrates to include in his diet. To top it all, exercise picked up where dietary changes left off.

He put a stationary bike right in front of the TV to make it as easy as possible. He noticed on the weeks when he wasn’t doing the bike three or four nights, he lost maybe a pound. But when he did it consistently, he lost two to three pounds. Shedding pounds has given patient a spring in his step, and more. The extra gift: a new wardrobe. He had to buy all new clothes. None of his suits fit. Advice for fellow dieters: Even if you have a bad day eating-wise, don’t use that as an excuse to stop. Get right back with it the next day.