Today I checked in at Weight Watchers. The Sunday morning meeting at my local WW establishment is always lively and well-attended. The leader is very skillful, and in general it makes me feel good to go there. The assembled group of perhaps 40-50 people had lost a total of 70 lbs.– maybe more considering there were a few folks who made it in a little after the announcement.

One woman had recently completed her first marathon, and had lost a lot of weight between WW and the training process– I think I heard 68 lbs. As her medal was passed around for everyone to see, I’m sure there were a lot of people who drew inspiration from her. She plans to run/walk the next one, instead of walking it like she did this one. Her weight-loss goal and her marathon goal are joined, each reinforcing the other.

The mistake I made when training for my marathons was not getting a weight loss plan working. When you train like that, of course, you can eat a lot more and still drop pounds steadily. Trouble comes when you stop training and keep eating! So, when I had an injury that sidelined me in 2005, you can guess what happened ! But WW helps you to realize the adjustments that must be made when you change your activity levels by having points calculators for both food and exercise.

At this point, though, every time I think about training for another marathon, (I’ve completed 4 in the past, and 1 half marathon last December), all I seem to be able to come up with is reasons why not to. Not good.

Let me tell you, I have been feeling like I’m on a plateau for awhile and I have not been liking it. However, the reality is another 0.2 lbs. bit the dust since my last weigh-in at a meeting. Truth is, though, I haven’t had an up weigh-in for a long time, and the last one was less than half a pound. So I did the math and discovered that it’s a very steady average of 0.51 lbs/week that have been going away since Thanksgiving. Not too bad, considering I have health issues that militate against getting rid of the pounds too rapidly.

I realized that at the current rate, I will weigh less than my lowest weight in 24 years in about 6 months time. That was the last time I was at goal with Weight Watchers, before I abandoned ship. That was well before their “point system” which I think works very well for a lot of people, or their “core system” which others favor but which seems like anarchy to me.

In reviewing the Hacker’s Diet materials, I find much that is consistent with my experience, although I am not in the least interested in all that spread-sheet stuff. I like to keep it simple in that regard, so the WW on-line bookkeeping works well for me.

By the way, we were informed today that WW’s website has a new upgrade– they formally recognize the existence of men ! In other words, they have parts to their website that are designed specifically for men now. Amazing. WW’s website has been one of the few places in the world not dominated by the male of the species. Guys, women can’t even take a peak at it without going to their registration page and changing their gender ! I guess some women will, although I don’t think it will be me.

No matter how any of us look at it, though, the world keeps turning, and every day we make the choices that either get us closer to our goal, or farther away from it. Twenty four years ago, I started making some bad choices, and I really didn’t like the view from where I ended up.

Resolved: I’m not going backwards again ! How about you ?

Since I’ve been working on this project to become a person who will, eventually, fit into a standard casket rather than the new Super Size models you can find on the showroom floor, I’ve gone through a number of stages.

Early on, it was ill health and depression that kick-started my weight loss. About this time last year, I got the first of a series of upper respiratory infections, sciatica bouts, and other miscellaneous health issues that quite simply made me stop eating. Prior to that time, if there was a snack type thing laying around the office or at home, I would grab it. Starbucks provided vente calorie fests for me regularly, and, if nothing else, there was always the Micky D’s drive through for a milk shake. Of course my weight was out of control. I didn’t much care. I was depressed and miserable anyhow.

Once I noticed I had lost 10 pounds without trying, however, it made sense to me to capitalize on that, so that’s why I started Weight Watchers. As many of you know. WW is not even close to the same outfit it was 20 years ago, the last time I tried it. I found the points plans congenial (as opposed to the core plan), and have pretty much stuck to it ever since.

Now I there’s 25% less of me, and, frankly, the effort was generally rather less than I thought it might be. I’m still not exercising as often as I should (katiebird’s 3415 is a great idea which we should all be doing !), but when people ask me what I’m doing to keep dropping the pounds I tell them the truth– I’m just not eating all the stupid things I used to eat. And we all know what the stupid things are, don’t we ?

Fact is, when I want a snack now, the correct answer to “What shall I have ?” is– an apple. Or, for a treat, one of those wonderful pears that come in the “clamshell” boxes with the sensor that tells you when it’s just right. MMMM ! And I don’t have to feel guilty.

So, what are you doing to make it happen for you ?