Prepared For A Good Start

Happy New Year's Eve!

I've worked this week to get set up for my new weight loss journey.  

I went out and bought new walking shoes.  I went to a podiatrist back in 2023 who made the suggestion that I not wear my shoes forever regardless how well they look, lol!!  She also recommended some brands, with Brooks topping the list.  I immediately bought two pairs and was amazed the difference it made.  I realized in the past week that the Brooks still look great but I've been wearing them for almost 3 years.  I was well overdue for a new pair.

Another brand recommended was Saucony.  I went to the shoe store and wasn't finding any Brooks that caught my eye so I went to the Sauconys.  Not only did several suit my taste but I was able to buy two pair at the cost of one pair of Brooks.  I was very happy!!  I went to another store and bought some ankle boots that are water resistant for those dog walks in the rain and snow.  It was a productive shoe day.

So, re-signed up for WW; bought new walking shoes; started a new blog; got a weight loss partner; starting a walking challenge tomorrow; and Kickstart starting next week..... I say I'm off to a good start!

Just a reminder:  KICKSTART is starting January 5th and it's not too late to sign up.  It's totally FREE unless you choose to purchase the Kickstart Journal/Workbook to go with it.  You do not need to purchase these, you may choose your own journal, plain old notebook or nothing at all.  This time around I'm going with nothing at all - I just lose interest with the journals.

To a New Year!!!

Before the Start of a New Year

Because we're at the end of the year and a lot of us, myself included, will be starting on a weight loss journey; I felt I needed to do a post.

To start always remember:  

Diet:  the kinds of food that a person, animal or community habitually eats

Willpower: the ability to control ones actions, emotions or urges

Regardless which you've chosen to follow (Weight Watchers, Healthi, Noom, Nutrisystem, Atkins, Keto, etc..) remember it's a program and the food you eat on the program is a diet.  So don't listen to those who constantly yell "it's a lifestyle change not a diet" because it is in fact a diet...what you are eating is a diet.

You do need willpower for your program.  You need willpower to overcome your bad habits; once you can do it, they will become good habits.  Follow your program, use your willpower and the good habits will come.

As I've mentioned before, I don't do resolutions or goals.  I feel they are either pass or fail.  I do tries.  I just try to do better than I've done before.  I'm always a work in progress.  My tries for the year are: tracking, staying on program, walking, water and just using all that for better habits.  I'll achieve some of these daily, some not....but I'm trying and that's what matters.

We will work this together, a day at a time.

Happy New Year!

Don't Correct Me, It's Not Helpful

 There are a few things I'd like to discuss first though....

Don't correct me that it is a lifestyle not a diet.  I get it, but when I say diet you know what I'm talking about.  Diet is not a bad word.  The definition:

"the kinds of food that a person, animal or community habitually eats"

There you go...has nothing to do with restriction or eliminating foods.  That's what we as a society have chosen it to mean but it's not the true meaning.

Don't correct me that it is zero foods not free foods.  I rarely refer to them as free, however, many do and again, we know what they are talking about.

Actually, if anyone is struggling and the only advice you have is to correct the terminology of diet and free to lifestyle and zero....then you're not really much help!

These are only a few of the things that irritate me in the WW communities.  You know, the do gooders, the I know so much more than you, the holier than thou WWers.  The ones that are having success because they know the correct terminology to use.  😏

And please remember.....just because it isn't working for someone doesn't mean they are doing anything wrong...the program may just not be for them!

What You Should Know Before Joining Weight Watchers

 When joining WW please keep this in mind: WW will continue charging you until YOU cancel.

If you truly do cancel, watch to make sure no charges continue to come from your account. 

Read the fine print. 


I bring this up because it is the most common WW complaints I see:

I stopped going to WW (or using the app) and WW is still charging me, obviously they can see I’m not using it. (FYI: It is not WW responsibility to babysit you…they have millions of members. Time to be an adult)

I cancelled but WW has been charging me for 2 years and won’t refund the whole amount. (Really? Really? It took you TWO years to discover that? Don’t you ever look at statement? Time to adult)

I want to cancel before the term I signed up for is up and WW wants to continue to charge me until the end of the term, that was never disclosed to me. (oh yes it was; you just chose not to read the fine print)

I paid for [insert amount of months here] and that period is over and WW is charging me full price now. (Again, you didn’t bother to read the fine print but chose to check that box anyway)

READ THE FINE PRINT!  

A Good Day

Today was a pretty good day. 

I got up, made some baked oatmeal, walked dogs, went to CC's to exchange Christmas gifts and make plans for tomorrow (lunch & movie), came home, went with hubby to buy a new microwave and am now at home just relaxing.

CC mentioned rejoing WW, lol!!!  I told her I had just done that myself and helped her find a coupon to get it a little cheaper.  Right now WW is offering the app only at $12/month; but we found a code for $10/month for 10 months.  I had to laugh though....she was trying to weigh herself and the scale kept giving her different weights....I finally told her I'd bring her my old scale (which syncs with the WW app) and my old fitbit.  I personally don't think she needs to lose weight, but it will be helpful to me to have her along for my journey.  Official start will be after New Year's.

I also went to the grocery store and bought some of the wraps in my last post.  I really like to make an egg wrap with them.  I'm a very basic person - my egg wrap is two eggs scrambled and then cooked, place on the wrap, topped with spicy mustard and then rolled into the wrap.  It's a very filling breakfast.

Weight Loss Tip

Fiber

One of the things I hear a lot about is getting your fiber in.  When WW started allowing other nutritional values, I begin to hear people complaining about not being able to get their fiber in.

First....just because WW allows you to the ability to see nutritional values other than just points....doesn't mean you have to use that tool.  You can set the ones you want to follow or just turn on the ones you want.  If you try to hit the levels on all of them, you'll become a little overwhelmed.  Just food for thought.

Anyway, my doctor advised at least 25g of fiber a day.  I've discovered that that seems to be pretty much the minimum for women and I see a lot complain how hard it is.  When my doctor advised this amount, she also said not to get the fiber from supplements as supplements are very low in grams as far as fiber.

I'm here to say that fiber isn't that hard.  If you're on WW you may have heard of 647 bread.  2 slices of the Italian 647 bread will give you 14g of fiber; have it as a sandwich, have it with breakfast and you'll have 14 of the 25g you need!  Another good option is this wrap I get from Aldi:

Points wise, the wrap is 2 pts.

It's really not that hard to get fiber in, read labels!

I'm Not An Influencer

I'm not an influencer.  I'm not a famous blogger.  I don't have endorsements.

I'm a normal everyday person that wants to lose weight; that needs to lose weight.

But I'm always starting over.  I'm always failing and starting over.

No one is going to be influenced by me; look me up everyday to read; nor want me to endorse their product.

I'm just me and I bet there are more of you like me, then not.

Remember when WW would have celebrities endorse their program?  The celebrities would be the spokesperson after they lost the weight.  I could never understand why we didn't see the whole celebrity journey rather than just the aftermath.

I was never encouraged by a celebrity's weight loss.  Why? Because they have options the rest of us don't: nutritionists, cooks, personal trainers, etc..  You know what I'm talking about!

I always thought WW should choose normal everyday people of various ages and sizes and then do the commercials about them, from start to finish.  The people who have to cook their own meals; the people who can not afford a gym membership; the people like me and you.  Oh, I know there were commercials with regular WW members - but it was after the fact - you had to have lost the weight to be in a commercial.

I use to read the blog of one person who had been in a WW commercial.  When she started to put weight back on; she stopped her blog.  I was sad because that's the part of the journey I really needed the help with.  I guess she thought she had failed and didn't deserve to lead anymore.  I couldn't disagree more.

Ups and Downs, Ends and Outs.....it's all part of a weight loss journey.

Starting Over

I'm starting all over.

I know what you're thinking; who in their right mind decides to start Weight Watchers on Christmas Eve?

I can answer that.  I've been a Weight Watcher on and off since 2010.  Yep, 15 years and counting.  I was only successful the first time and became Lifetime.  It didn't last though and I've struggled since.

So why back to Weight Watchers?  The program does work (in all it's various versions) if you work the program.  I've dabbled with the Healthi app ( I do highly recommend it) and the Lose-It app (another great recommendation) but I always find my way back to WW.  WW hasn't offered an in-person meeting in some time in my area (there is one during work hours) so I can only do the app version.  I do realize that there are virtual meetings, however, I have not found them useful for myself.

Why now?  Well, Jean-Luc & Nick's Kickstart program begins in January and I've been part of this program for some time.  Kickstart is totally FREE and offers support and fun along the way.  So Kickstart is my "meeting" group!  Thus the word "Kickstarting" in the blog title.

I've been writing under another blog "Finding My Laura" but I've restarted that blog so many times to restart with my weight loss journey that this time I decided a new blog was needed.  I'll reuse some of those posts, but for the most part this is a new journey.

Why on Christmas Eve?  Well, I probably won't really start until Friday; actually weight loss can be started anytime!

Merry Christmas Eve to all of you and see you on the other side of the holidays!

NOTE:  Postings prior to this one are old posts from my other blog. Pay attention to dates as some are from other years.