Weight!

Well, the weight loss roller coaster has made another circuit, and I'm back at Weight Watchers. I was a member back in 2010, and doing pretty well. I lost just shy of 50 pounds, and then I was in a car accident and everything went to hell. I wasn't hurt, but my car was, and the process of dealing with insurance and getting a new car was stressful and time consuming. I missed a handful of meetings and gained a few pounds, and then I was too embarrassed to go back until I lost those few pounds. Which never happened. Fast forward four and a half years to me deciding the time for silly pride is finally over.
The biggest change is, of course, what I eat. No more fast food or potato chips or chocolate. Lots of fruits and vegetables. Yes, I'm counting calories, but I'm also replacing crap food with good food. So a trip to Five Points Bakery on Saturday (Oatmeal bread toast, brie and homemade jam) probably used up more calories than I had to spare on paper, but it was so wholesome and filling and delicious that I just didn't care. I didn't even think about snacking for hours.

The second change is that I'm tracking everything I eat on myfitnesspal.com. It gives you daily totals on overall calorie intake, carbs, fat, protein, sodium and sugar. For now I'm focusing on calories, fat and protein - I'll worry about the rest later. It's often shocking to learn which foods are high or low in a particular area. Cottage cheese is off the charts in sodium and baby carrots are high in sugar.

The third change is the WW experience - weekly meetings and weigh-in. The weigh-in is all-important to me. It's a short term goal, and the counselor saying "you lost..." is a great motivation. The meeting is less useful, but not useless, and I'll force myself to go since I'm paying for the privilege.

I've been on-plan for almost a week. I hit my calorie goal four days and exceeded it two days. But even when I went over my goal, I was still under my recommended daily intake, so I expect to be down 2-3 pounds at tomorrow's weigh-in. I'm trying to keep my expectations realistic, especially at first. It's winter, and fresh fruits and vegetables are nowhere near summer levels (or prices) and walking is out of the question. But if I can lose - slow and steady - I'll be able to really make progress once summer arrives.