Project Fatass Heads into Winter

30lb

Check it out, it’s Michal Keach again!  Still no idea who he is, but he’s still serving a purpose for me.   For the 2nd time in the past 3 years I am once again down THIRTY POUNDS (14 kilos / 2.1 stones)!!  Well, 33 lbs as of today, but 30 lbs as of my last weigh in on Monday.  So we’ll go with weigh in day so I don’t jinx it!

Only this time it didn’t take me 2 months to lose the 5 lbs between 25-30 lbs lost, and I have Weight Watchers to thank for that!  It has taken me a little over 3 months to lose the 30 lbs and I’m keeping my fingers crossed and working hard in hopes that the next 30 lbs goes just as quickly.

Look at the size of that fish!  That’s how much of my body I am not carrying around anymore!  I wish I could say I found it to be really noticeable, but I don’t.  There is some difference in my face, and some clothes fit a bit differently but I have not yet reached the point where people go “HEY!  You’ve lost weight!!”.   That can be a bit disheartening, but I will get there.   I try to tell myself these little things to keep me motivated…

Did you know that 30 pounds is the equivalent of 120 sticks of butter?!

I have lost the weight of an entire average two year old!!

The 30 pounds I’ve lost could make up an entire average sized Beagle!

Ok, so it’s not so noticeable.  It still feels pretty damn good!

Any longtime follower of my blog knows that Project Fatass has been going off and on for the last number of years.   Each year it follows the same pattern… in the winter I feel rotten and eat my face off, gain 10-20 lbs then I feel rotten about it and in the spring I am all gung-ho to do something about it.   I diet / exercise from about May/June – Nov / Dec and then somewhere between December and January it all falls apart.  Repeat.

I think this year will be different.  I know I’ve said that in previous years but I’m basing this on the fact that my experience over the past few months has been different than in previous attempts.

I am not going to be foolish and be all I AM GOING TO DO IT like years before, because then I feel like such an asshole when I fail.  I’m just going to say that I feel positive about the fact that I am in the right state of mind for it and have finally found a program that works for me.  I’m hoping that this will make my attempt to get through the coming winter more successful than before.

Since June 15 I have been following the program on WeightWatchers.nl and it’s taught me so much about what I should and shouldn’t be eating, and most importantly, portion control.   In the past I’ve followed the general eat less and move more method, and I’ve also followed the program on Sparkpeople, both of which failed me terribly.  Not that these don’t work for other people, my mother lost over 80 lbs on the eat less and move more method, and I know a lot of people reached their goals with Sparkpeople as well, but they weren’t for me.

The eat less move more method didn’t work for me because I can rationalize my way into anything.  I generally ate less but didn’t eat MORE of other things to make up for it.   I cut back on what I ate, but often it meant skipping breakfast so I wouldn’t feel so bad about what I ate at lunch, or having a smaller lunch so I could still pig out at McDonalds that night.   So didn’t work.

Sparkpeople was fantastic in regards to community and moral support but I found their method of tracking food so tedious.  Partly because of the system itself, having to find that delicate balance between carbs, protien, fats and calories, but also because the program is largely aimed at Americans so very few (if any) Dutch products were on their lists.  So for everything I ate, I had to sit with the packaging and enter it detail by detail.   Their system was an activity vs calorie intake program where you had to track all your activity and calculate how many calories were burned, which required you to do a certain amount of physical activity every day.   It also got extremely irritating trying to put the puzzle together of all the different nutritional values.  I’d set up a meal and one thing would be too high in fat so I’d replace it with something else and then it would put my carbs too high, so I’d try something else and then I’d have too much protein.  It was like a jigsaw puzzle, and I don’t like jigsaw puzzles.

I love Weight Watchers because they make it easy.  Everything has a point value and while there is still some calculation involved it’s nothing like with other programs.   It makes it easy for you to still fit in the foods you love while maintaining a healthy diet.  It also encourages you to eat a lot of fruit and veg as they are very low, or even zero points, so you eat those when you can to save points for other things you enjoy.   It’s quite idiot proof and it works for me.  It’s not so strict that I feel miserable, and while I can earn extra points through activity, the program doesn’t require me to do any certain amount of exercise per day.  Instead, it calculates your points based on your activity level so if you aren’t very active you will still lose weight, but if you want more points then you need to exercise to earn them.   Although, I earn extra points through my aqua jogging and other little exercises I do but I rarely ‘spend’ them anyway.

Wish me luck over the next few months!  If I can get through this winter I’ll know for sure I can really do this.

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17 comments

  1. I am so proud of you and really glad I was able to help you make the decision to join WW online. I honestly think it’s a great program, a do-able AND sustainable program. Obviously it works when we work it and if we don’t we won’t see the same kind of results…

    knowing that it works when you work it, you don’t need luck, you just need the reminder that you CAN do this, you have proven it already, and all you have to do is focus on each day as it comes and then GO FOR IT. 30 (33) lbs is no small feat, and you should be mega proud of yourself (which I know you are!). I too have slight issues with going into the winter and sticking to the program, but I think it’s going to be different for BOTH of us this time. We just have to keep going and keep encouraging each other until we reach our goals (and even AFTER we reach our goals so we stay there!).

    Keep up the great work and I will totally be cheering you on through the winter. I want to see a 60lb fish!!!
    .-= renee´s last blog ..Negative, meet the Positive! =-.

  2. 30lbs is amazing – congrats!

    I don’t know if it will help you, but I’ve recently started to revolutionize the way I eat (hello vegetables, where have you been all my life).

    I’ve always been a terrible eater – loads of sugar and junk food. I could get away with it because I got my beanpole dad’s genes, but I knew it wasn’t healthy.

    Then I read the Omnivore’s Dilemma and that was a huge eye-opener about how fracked up our food systems are these days. It was seriously amazing. Combine that with reading Fast Food Nation and I stopped going to fast food joints entirely and don’t miss it at all – in fact, I can’t imagine going back! I recently read In Defense of Food and that just solidified all my desires to eat more natural, less processed foods.

    I can’t express what an effect these books have had – before I knew I should eat more veggies and less fast food/processed junk but I just didn’t. After reading the books I totally lost my appetite for most of the junk and really value healthier stuff. It’s not easy to switch, I’m still working on it, but it’s made a huge mental difference – I’m not forcing myself to eat salads because I ‘should’, I’m seeking them out because I really want them.

    Thought I would share that in case it’s helpful to anyone else trying to make the mental switch to healthier eating! Apparently I really needed to understand exactly how damaging processed foods are, both to my health and to the environment, before I could change.

    Good luck!

  3. Good job! Love the weigh comparison :lol:

    It,s hard not to overeat in winter I find. When it gets cold in Canada, I just crave carbs and anything fatty actually.
    .-= Zhu´s last blog ..The Rideau Neighborhood =-.

  4. Congratulations! That’s quite an accomplishment. I’m battling with the kilos myself and just need to get my butt in gear but I’m the excuse queen.

    WW is a great program. I lost 15 kilos doing the US version of it the first year here. It wasn’t easy without the support group and figuring out all the points of everything but it does work.

    • Yeah I was undecided between following the Dutch program or the US one but I decided that even though I’d prefer it in English, I understood enough Dutch to do the program here online. I’m glad I did because it makes a big difference when they already have the products you are using in their list.

  5. Congratulations! I know how hard it is – I’ve fought my weight my entire damn life!

    I think you may have inspired me to give weight watchers a try after I have my baby. I really want to get some more weight off.

    • Amber you really should, they even have special programs for women who are breastfeeding, just had a baby and I think even for when you are pregnant. The really do take everything into account, it’s awesome. The only time I ever find it hard is during that time of the month, and even then it’s manageable.

  6. Thats awesome!! I actually found myself eating more food on WW than I had before and was still loseing 10 pounds a month. They show you soooo many different food options. It’s so nice and it really does open up your eyes to how you were eating before and where you don’t want to find yourself again.

    • Yeah same here Sonya, I think because it makes you want to eat more fruit and veg somehow. I hardly ever ate fruit before WW now I have some every morning to take the hunger away and tide me over till lunch. I do need to find some more options though, I’m starting to get sick of some of the things I’ve been eating lately.

  7. Hey, thats great news. Keep it going
    .-= Nigel Babu´s last blog ..StackedAgainst goes Open Source =-.

  8. Way to go! Keep it up and keep it off!

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