On Dieting

I've been dieting for the last 5 weeks, and at last night's weigh-in I passed my 5% target. So far, despite what the scales say, it doesn't show.

Maybe when I reach my next target, which is 10%? When I go down a clothing size, that might be a bit encouraging.

I've been going to Weight Watchers. The meetings are really quite entertaining. The leader is a successful dieter, and uses her own success to encourage us. The members who come to the weigh-ins and stay for the meeting are all very friendly, and some of them are really quite funny, so the meetings are always lively. I think half the battle is won when you actually enjoy going to the meetings. And hearing some of the longer-standing members tell about how much weight they've lost, and seeing how good they look, is a real incentive to carry on.

My second week was a bit of a disaster when I reloaded some of the weight I'd lost in the first week. This convinced me that I should do my point tracking online rather than on paper. By doing it online, the points are calculated for me so there's no danger of me shaving off a point here or there by adding them up myself. Since then I've toed the line a bit more.

Points are Pro Points of which we're given a daily allowance which we can't carry over, and an additional weekly allowance that we can dip into if we run out of daily Points. All foods have a points value, and you keep track of what you're eating by counting the points. Fruit and vegetables are zero, so you can eat as much of those as you like. Even bananas are zero, which is wonderful because they can really fill up those gaps.

This week we're being encouraged to try a day of eating 'filling and healthy foods' without counting points, just eating till we're full. Haha! I don't think so! I could easily eat and eat and regain the whole 5% in one day.