Beth and Yanti's 2010 Manatees--Closed (Page 3)

LOL!

Still room for one more??

I'm seeing a recurring theme around weight and weight loss goals, thought I'd share my perspective in the fwiw department.

I have also struggled with weight for my entire life - going clear back to even as a kid.  Diets, you name it i've tried it - everything from the Diet Center, to the grapefruit diet, to Weight Watchers.

Ultimately I'm a fan of Weight Watchers because I think it's the most balanced approach - I don't follow it per se any more, but I do follow the principles - a couple of the key ones being to get 2 - 3 servings of dairy in every day and 3 - 4 servings of fruits and veggies

Nothing is forbidden, it's just about balance and portions

As far as what I weigh these days, I honestly don't really know - about a year ago, I gave up the scale as the tool I use to measure my success

I was incredibly obsessive about it - I could tell you how much I weighed at almost any time of the day or night (I weighed myself multiple times a day)

When I moved out to PA, 2 years ago I didn't have a scale and I never got around to buying one - however I would still weigh myself at the gym.

The turning point was last November - I had to replace my jeans, my old jeans had finally worn out - so I ordered a new pair.

I ordered the same size and style that I had been wearing - much to my dismay, when they arrived I couldn't even zip them, let alone button them - I threw them on the dresser and there they laid until January - mostly I was just too lazy to return them.

During this timeframe, I started training for my first 1/2 marathon - one morning in January I thought to myself, I feel thinner - hmmmmm, I wonder if those jeans might fit me

I tried them on, and while there was no way I would wear them in public, I could actually zip and button them - so from that Friday on, every Friday and only on Friday - I put on the jeans - they fit me by mid Feb

I started paying more attention to my portions and my mix of food, making a consious effort to include the dairy and the fruits and veggies - it's really been key for me

I did move to a different pair of pants, one that fit me a few summers ago when I had reached my goal size (note, I didn't say weight )

Every Friday, I try them on- if they've gotten snugger, i adjust my eating and exercise for the following week

One thing to remember is as athletes, we have more muscle and muscle is more dense than fat so it takes up less room - weight/numbers on a scale can be somewhat deceiving

I'm not saying throw out the scale, it can certainly be a good tool, but I do think it's helpful to manage it with another tool, like measurements or an article of clothing

Another alternative for seeing progress is to take measurements, at one point during while i was doing WW I went 4 months without losing a single ounce, but I was losing inches - that really helped to keep me motivated

That's the Jeans approach - sorry for the novel