The Numbers

-
I did learn a few things from my experiences as a Weight Watchers frequent drop out.

For example, I learned to call this process "getting rid of weight," rather than "losing it." Because, you know, you don't want to find it again.

I also learned to set manageable goals, to start easy and achievable. "This week, I will drink 8 glasses of water a day..." or "I will write down everything I eat..." The first goal that Weight Watchers thrusts upon everyone who walks in the door is to get to 10%. Forget the target goal weight for now, just focus on getting rid of 10% of your body weight.

Usually, 10% is very close to my goal weight anyway. If I lose 10% of my weight, I will be hovering about 6 pounds over my "ideal weight."

Ten percent will have me just outside the healthy BMI for my height. I cannot tell you how frustrating that is. Four years ago, during a period of intense stress, I found myself at my thinnest since high school, feeling great about my body and still, precariously near the top of the "healthy range." I could not imagine getting myself any smaller than I was at that point, and yet...the wall hanging at the doctor's office was telling me I was bordering overweight.

I don't know who came up with the BMI, but I'm pretty sure they didn't have my body type in mind. However, I will play their little game and aim for the middle of their "healthy weight range." But that will be the fight after the 10%. I will probably have to become a master Yogi or marathon runner or something to maintain residence in the middle of the mysterious and demanding BMI.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some little victories in the last few days:
  • Turned down Publix cupcake, Publix icing, chocolate birthday cake and a piece of chocolate in one night. Actually picked up the chocolate and then put it back down.
  • Brought my own cereal, milk and a banana for breakfast and didn't eat the donuts, cinnamon rolls or sausage rolls. Had one munchkin instead of several.
  • 30-45 minutes of intense cardio 3 of the last 5 days.
  • Consumed a considerable amount of water
  • Logged almost everything on sparkpeople.com
  • Blogged 3 times! Told a lot of people my plan!

Comments

Sandi said…
You are doing GREAT!! I think that working out is the key - although after being home for 10 days, combined with losing my mom, vectored in with Christmas and a New Year's crescendo, I'm pretty sure I'll have to be clean as a whistle for a solid MONTH just to get back to where I started.
GO AMY
January 2, 2010 at 8:38 PM
Autumn said…
Well, I'm glad to follow you whenever you write! You are a great writer, and enjoyable to read. We all struggle in one way or another...and if we can encourage each other this way, well, then that's a good thing.
January 3, 2010 at 1:33 AM
Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect said…
Yeah, I don't know about that BMI business. When I reach my goal weight, I will be just barely within the range according to both WW and the BMI chart. But I will be so much healthier than I am today!
January 4, 2010 at 10:40 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where is Mister Rogers When You Need Him?

-
Image
It has been said that I am easily amused. Little things fascinate me. I like to know how things work. I like factory tours and behind-the-scenes stuff and those specials on Discovery Channel. I was definitely brought up this way: I remember my brother telling me about a conversation he'd recently had about "Jet Puffed Marshmallows." Topics covered were: What does "Jet-Puffed" mean? How big-a-jet are we talkin? What keeps the marshmallows from exploding when "jet puffed"? Several weeks ago, the girls and I caught an episode of the rarely aired Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In that one episode, the inimitable Mr. R shed light on two very interesting processes when he visited a sleeping bag factory and a dollmaker's workshop. Have you ever thought about how a sleeping bag is assembled? Me neither, but now I know, and I am a better person for it. So here are a few jobs I would like to shadow for a day (or watch Mister Rogers shadow them), because ev...
Read more

An Open Letter to Everyone's Favorite Morning Radio Host

-
Image
Dear Mr. Morning Radio Host, How dare you, Mr. Morning Radio Host , while thinking out loud on air, suggest that we all turn around and give our tax refund checks to Compassion International? It's an economic stimulus package! Didn't you think of that? How will sending our money to poor people out of the country stimulate the US economy? Huh? That's just an un-American suggestion! You are proposing that we send our economy into further tumult, just to satisfy your whim of feeding orphans! If we don't use our money to consume more stuff, or go on little vacations or invest wisely, then, well, the package will be all for naught, and we will all be guilty of treason, or something. What are you trying to do? Save the world or something? Start a movement? You are a danger to this economy, sir. Sincerely, Amy Wright, who is thinking that there may be something to this, and will soon be investigating ways to encourage people to do it, provided the Senate approves the plan.
Read more

Ask me what I did last night.

-
A few of us have been wrestling a little bit lately with what it means to live in the grace of God. What does it mean to live fully covered by the Gospel? To embrace the freedom Christ secured for us on the cross? For me, last night, it meant big hair and hard rock. See, over the summer, I'd started to get a little self-conscious about my holiness. I was part of a study at church that consisted of mainly older, wiser, more conservative and traditional women. While I still felt largely like a voice of dissent - a raging postmodern compared to this crowd - there was a certain feeling starting to set in. An old nemesis. I can't believe I didn't recognize it, as we' spent so much time together in the past. Guilt. Guilt that I wasn't the teetotaling, perfect homemaking, gentle-speaking mother that I was being mentored to be in this class. I used my powers of wit and sarcasm to mask and suppress it, but with each chapter and interaction the guilt seeped deeper...wit...
Read more