Feel the fear, and do it anyway

There is a book with exactly that title. One of my best and oldest friends happens to be a journalist. A few years ago now, his editor of the time sent him off to write a feature on a workshop based on this book.


Now, I wouldn't say D is a coward, at all. But he is a naturally cautious person. In many ways he's actually incredibly brave; every so often he gets absolutely sick of work and just takes off for six months, backpacking in far-flung parts of the world often well off the beaten path.


Anyway, the main point behind this book was that we should face up to the things that scare us and do them regardless of the fear they cause. 


A common theme of late has been people posting saying they are dreading weighing in because the news is likely to not be good. This is - for some - sufficient reason to skip weigh in for one week. Never a good idea; skip one, and you soon find that one has become several, you're totally off the wagon and you've gained pounds if not stones.


Of those who have mentioned they were dreading this week's weigh in, quite a few have had good news! The expected gain (due to eating rubbish or not tracking) hasn't appeared, or has been much less than was feared. 


The thing is, that if you don't weigh in you don't know what effect recent actions will have had on your loss, if any. This is why I am so insistent that if you do have a bad week, you face the consequences. Point it, track it, weigh in as normal and accept any gain. Then get straight back on the wagon and carry on with the plan. 


Another thing that scares people is exercise, and more specifically exercising in public. I've been the huge person at the back of the class. I am proud of the fact that I can keep up with most classes and do pretty much any exercise you put me through. Don't ask me to do lunges, or not fast lunges that involve leaping from leg to leg at pace, my knees won't have any of that even now. Anything else, fine. 


If other people have a problem with a fat, red-faced, sweaty overweight woman pounding away on the treadmill or cross-trainer in the gym, or plodding her way through a run outside or riding her bike, tough. I don't really give a monkey's, frankly. Fortunately, most folk don't bat an eyelid; if anything, you get cheery waves from other joggers, or a nod of commiseration. If you really can't bear to exercise in public, do it at home. If funds aren't there to buy a treadmill, bike or cross trainer, invest in some resistance bands or a kettlebell or a cheap set of dumbbells. Find a nice, thickly padded Pilates mat (thicker than a yoga mat and much more comfortable for floor exercises.) Then have a Google for exercises you can do at home. Toning in your living room is pretty easy to do.


Shape and Zest magazines always have a workout routine you can do at home. If you can't stretch to weights, a couple of tins of beans will do, or empty water bottles filled with tap water or sand.


Buy a Wii Fit or a Kinect. Also a great way to work out at home, and you can have fun while you're doing it. I'm actually desperate for the DH to go back to work tomorrow after his long weekend so I can leap on to my Wii Fit and burn some energy off. Or get the bike out of the garage as I've been threatening to do all weekend. My knee is still a bit sore so I am laying off the running until it is all better, but I can do a bit of boxing, and hula hooping may not be out of the question, even a bit of yoga.


Walking is the easiest and cheapest form of exercise you can do. All you need is a comfortable pair of shoes. You don't need expensive equipment, although on wet days a waterproof coat is useful. Just get moving!

"I Can't"

I used to say that. A lot. I can't lose weight. I can't walk as fast as you, as far as you. I can't stop eating too much of the wrong things. 


All of these things are lies. It's easier not to try. If you never try, never stick to your guns, you can't fail. If you never start something, you can't fail to finish it.


I prefer to tell myself that "Failure is Not an Option." That particular F word is no longer in my vocabulary. That is one of my mantras, particularly on Volksmarches. Slogging up the latest of many enormous hills (mountains, my body will tell you!) in Diekirch on a 20 km (12 mile) walk two years ago, I wore my favourite cap. It was bought in May 2009 in the Kennedy Space Center gift store, and you can see it in the photo. 


Wearing that cap, I am invincible. I just keep on going, plodding, chugging, panting, puffing, most likely swearing a blue streak at times. It is my constant companion on long walks, and I wear it when I jog if the weather is wet. It hangs on a peg in the hall, so I see it every day. That is part of my inspiration on a daily basis.


So, the next time you start to tell yourself 'I can't do this, I'm a failure, I will never lose weight' - just remember those five little words.


Failure is Not an Option.

The Importance of Eating - Part Two, or How to Eat All Your Points

Written by tigs01 on 17/02/2011 09:32

"I have 42 PPs a day, I am stuffed long before I get there - I can't possibly eat all of my dailies and the weekly 49 points, too!"


Oh yes, you can. 


When starting out, particularly if you have a long journey ahead of you, you will be blessed with lots of daily points to consume. Believe me, you are blessed. The lighter you become, the lower those daily points fall, and man, do you miss them when they're gone!


So, how do you get through 42, 50, more, daily points? Here is my useful pocket guide to eating well, healthily and sensibly and using them all up.


1: Dairy Products


Whole or semi-skimmed milk is fine at this stage of the game. Full-fat cheese and yoghurt is also fine. You need enough dairy in your daily diet to make sure you get your full quota of calcium. Two servings a day is good. On the plus side, people who get their daily dairy actually lose weight slightly faster. Or so studies have shown. Whatever, it's good for you. 


2: Fat is Not the Enemy!


Fat. Soluble. Vitamins. Three little words to hold on to. Vitamins A, B, D, E and others further down the alphabet are all fat-soluble. This means you need fat in your diet in order for your body to be able to absorb and use those particular vitamins. Eating all the carrots in the world will do you no good if you can't absorb all that lovely Vitamin A! So stick some butter on your carrots, or have them in a wholemeal wrap or pita, grated, with some hummus. It's gorgeous! Slice an avocado into your sandwich or salad. Dollop some proper mayonnaise in your coleslaw. Use olive oil in salad dressing or on pasta or bread. Use oil in your stirfry, not some fat-free cooking spray. 


3: Go Nuts!


Nuts are little powerhouses of energy. Fibre, fat, good protein source - what's not to love about the humble nut? (Or, in the case of peanuts, legume.)


Nut butters are great. Almond butter, peanut butter, hazelnut butter. Nutella, even - hazelnuts AND chocolate! Heaven! A nice slice of bread, toasted, with peanut butter or Nutella, is an excellent snack or addition to your breakfast. 3PPs for a tablespoon of peanut butter, 2PPs for a slice of proper bread.


4: Protein is Good


We're all about building lean muscle mass and ditching the fat. If you introduce exercise into your life, you need protein to build muscle and maintain lean tissue. 


It also keeps you feeling fuller for longer. Isn't that great? 


Eggs. I love eggs. And bacon. My usual breakfast (which I am going to eat very soon, although really it will be brunch by then) is two or three rashers of bacon, an egg (or, I confess, Egg Beaters which are fat-and-cholesterol-free egg) in a wholemeal tortilla with tomatoes and baby spinach. Oh, and cheese slices. 8PPs, keeps me going for hours, tastes fantastic and sets me up for exercise later in the day. 


I love a good steak. Even though I was a vegetarian for four years, I love steak. Chicken is good. Roast lamb - I could eat my body weight in roast lamb with loads of gravy and mint sauce. Pork. Sausages - a really good quality banger, at least 85% meat, is a blooming good meal. Sliced ham, excellent in sandwiches. Not plastic ham slices, good, thick, off the bone ham. 


5: Don't Fill Up on Free Fruit and Veg


Sure, if you're out of points and hungry, free fruit and veg is brilliant. But I am talking here to those of you who are full well before you've used all your points. Fruit and veg should not form the main bulk of your food intake - unless you're vegetarian or vegan. 


You need a wide range of foods for a healthy diet. Fa t, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. All the food groups, every day. Fill up on protein and add in some carbohydrate and a little fat, and you won't go far wrong.


6: Treats Good - Deprivation Bad


If you want chocolate, eat it. Ditto crisps. Chips. Pizza. Chinese food. As occasional treats, within points, everything is on the menu. Don't be afraid of food. It's lovely, yummy stuff. Stay within points, but eat what you enjoy! This should be fun!

The Importance of Eating - Part One

Written by tigs01 on 17/02/2011 09:08

We're all here because of food. Aren't we? We love it just that little bit too much, or maybe never learned the importance of good nutrition (or did, and just enjoyed good meals and a few too many treats.) 


I've said before that the temptation with any weight loss attempt, whichever road you follow, is to cut back to the bone, deny yourself the things you love and cut out anything that doesn't seem like 'diet food'.


Well, welcome to a new way of thinking! What's this?, I hear you cry. You've joined WeightWatchers, right? This is the New Approach, right here and now. Forget the 'D' word. This is not a diet in the classic 'let's all eat lettuce and be bloody miserable for a couple of weeks, before toppling from the wagon when we realise how unhappy we are'. 


No, this is healthy and sustainable weight loss that equips us along the way with the healthy habits and tools to get to a healthy weight and to stay there.


Fact One - Deprivation is a Bad Thing


Want chocolate? Eat chocolate. Point and track that chocolate. Use your weekly points, factor it in to your daily points if you have lots of them (but not too much, you need proper food more!) No weekly or daily points left? Exercise and earn enough points!


A craving denied is a craving multiplied. Sooner or later your iron resolve will soften, and often the later it does, the more you will scarf down of the thing you denied yourself. 


This is, admittedly, not for everyone. I know there are some of you who just can't stop once you start eating a trigger food. Still, it has to be better psychologically to indulge occasionally - doesn't it? Best to do it when you're feeling strong and in control.


Fact Two - Everyone has a certain number of calories they need to consume per day


Another earlier blog post topic. Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR. How tall, old, heavy you are dictates how many calories your body requires each day just to function. Drop below this, and you are in danger of pushing your body into famine mode. A Very Bad Thing. Eat too little and your body turns to itself for food, but it doesn't burn up fat. Nope, it goes for the high quality, energy-dense protein. This means MUSCLE. What is your heart? A dirty great muscle. Lose too much muscle mass and yes, you'll have lost weight, but at the expense of lean muscle mass with means you will be flabbier than you were before!


Which leads me to:


Fact Three - Your daily allowance plus the 49 Weekly Points is the amount it is estimated YOU need to to eat in order to lose weight HEALTHILY


The bigger you are, the younger you are, the more energy you need. There's more of you to move around, and you are presumed to be more active than an older person would be. (This presumes that older people are sedentary, which isn't really terribly nice, but there you go. Not me making the presumption, I assure you.)


Eating too little is just as counter-productive as eating too much. Sounds mental, doesn't it? But it's true. If you're not eating enough, your metabolism goes to sleep in order to conserve energy. It also starts laying down yet more fat stores, which is really not what you want! 


Fact Four - You do NOT lose weight faster by eating less than you should


Seems obvious, given the above. It goes against the grain of everything you've probably ever picked up from the media and from weight loss outfits who are pushing snake oil in the form of very low calorie (often liquid) diets. 


Ever wondered why you can't stick to those diets? Boredom. Deprivation. Starvation! Food is fuel. The right fuel in the correct amounts keeps your engine blasting on all cylinders, helps you feel fitter and full of energy and means your weight loss journey will be a big success.


I feel a part two to this blog post coming on, as I am fast running out of characters!

Turning my back on Fat Me

Written by tigs01 on 15/02/2011 09:59

I am quite literally turning my back on Fat Me. I don't want to be Fat Me any more, I want to be slim and healthy me. I want to be toned, not flabby, fit, not exhausted and dragging my bahookey behind me.


POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE - PMA!


That's what we need, I tell you. PMA! Sick sick SICK of all the negativity on the 5+ board at the moment - it's enough to make a depressive spiral downwards at the minute, it really is. And yes, I would know, thank you very much! (She says, belatedly remembering to take the tablets.)


Honestly, life's too short to wallow in misery. Excrement occurs. As AuntieAli rightly said in a reply today, everyone has excrement to deal with, some more than others. I will tell you for nothing, life goes on all around us while we are dealing with our own excrement, and while we are losing weight. Some excrement you can affect through your own efforts, some you can't. What you can always control is how YOU choose to react to IT. (Or sh!t, if you prefer.)


That, Gentle Reader, is the secret to PMA. Whatever life may throw at me, 99% of the time I can cope with. I have bad days; everyone has bad days. My bad days are few and far between, and they aren't so bad as they once were. I've weathered the deaths of both parents, three grandparents (I only had three to start with as my paternal grandfather died in 1956), an abusive relationship with a protracted ending, the worst kind of bullying at work that resulted in me being dragged through disciplinary proceedings when I a) fought back (verbally) and b) lost the plot slightly on a phone call to another professional (I shouted at her. I may have said 'What the bloody Hell were you thinking?!'; I rather think I did...) - and look, still here! 


I've been skint. I've been beyond skint, in debt up to my eyeballs thanks to student and graduate loans and with only temporary work from week to week to keep me going, pay the rent and the bills and the debts. I've struggled to get a career off the ground, kept it going, and been made redundant twice. I was actually glad to walk away from it after the trouble referred to above. (Last thing that colleague had to say to me before she left? "Why don't you f*** off back to Germany and stay there - that's if your f***ing pensioner will have you." She was on the way down two flights of stairs at the time, they heard her on all three floors of the building and in reception.)


(Pauses for a deep breath.)


You can see why I prefer not to think about all of that!


We only get the one roll of the dice, unless you believe in reincarnation (my mind is fairly open on that front, I've had a very strange experience to say the least; maybe I will bore you all with that one day. There's a Halloween story and a half in that, at least!) This is it, guys. Life is what you make it. Do you choose to be happy and content, or do you choose to be unhappy and discontented and wishing you could change things.


You can change things. You can start by changing the way you see the world. It can be so bloody hard to keep on putting one foot in front of the other. I know that, believe me. But you have to just keep on trying. 


Know your own worth. Believe in you, because if you don't, the rest of the world surely will have trouble doing so. Don't harbour regret; it just makes you sad and angry at what might have been. The past cannot be undone, but you can make the present and the future a brighter place to be.


So, come on, everyone - onwards and downwards! Pin on that grin, fake it till you make it, and SMILE!

"They f*** you up, your mum and dad"

Written by tigs01 on 13/02/2011 15:57

..."they may not mean to but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had,
and add some extra, just for you."


(Philip Larkin - This Be the Verse)


"Oh, our Shelley, you'd be such a pretty girl if only you were thinner."


(My mother, some time in my early twenties, at a guess.)


"Pull your stomach in, you look like a sack tied round the middle!"


(My mother, again, when I was about fourteen, maybe thirteen.)


Don't get me wrong; I adored my mother, absolutely and utterly loved her, still do now and she'll have been gone ten years this August. And she loved me, beyond words. But she reinforced the idea that I was fat, fat, fat that my school peers had drummed into me. 


My teens were so desperately unhappy that I could not wait till I was eighteen to leave school, leave home, leave that small village behind me. I left at seventeen, took a course I didn't want to do because I couldn't bear another year in that place with those people. My life would have been so very much different if I had stayed, I think. But it isn't, it is what it is. I am who and what I am, as a consequence of all of the inputs into my character and personality that I had throughout my life.


Other people cause us more damage, wittingly or unwittingly, than we can ever cause ourselves. Some of them mean it with the best of intentions. Others, not so much. 


Funnily enough, the inner strength to change myself, both in terms of how I see myself and how I see the world, came from my parents. My mother was beyond strong, but ultimately the strain was too much for her and she died far too soon. She knew that she would, too. She told me more than once that she would never make old bones. She'd been bone weary for so long.


There's a point to this ramble, somewhere. Bear with me, I'm getting there. Please don't feel sorry for me - I'm not after sympathy, this is just how it was. 


Here's the thing. I was not fat, not really, until I was fifteen, sixteen? And even then, I was not obese, just overweight. If you hear often enough and for long enough that you are fat and stupid and lacking in worth, you grow to believe that. Hell, I went back to university after dropping out of the course I hated and deliberately picked a difficult subject. (I got a 2:1. My dad's reaction: "How come you didn't get a First? Why didn't you work harder?")


I did this because I want to prove to everyone that I am not stupid. I may have the common sense of a stunned lemming at times, and I may not really understand most people or what motivates them, or get social cues, or any number of things that mark me out as different to a lot of people, but I am very far from stupid. I feel bloody stupid fairly frequently, especially in German class when I just can't think of the word I want or get the hang of some fiendishly twisted bit of grammar. 


Here's the thing. I like myself, now. I like who I am. I'm great, me. There are loads of really good things about me that mean other people like me, too. I am still shocked by that - other people actually like me. They liked me even when I didn't. 


How I feel about ME is my concern. My opinion of me and of my self-worth is the only opinion that really matters. There will always be someone who thinks I could be thinner, or different to the way I am in some way. So long as that person isn't me, I choose not to let it bother me. 


I choose. That's the thing, you see. It is my own personal choice whether I let the opinion of others dictate the size of my jeans or my choice of partner, my choice of home, my choice of career. 


I've lived long enough and been through enough of the stuff life can throw at a person to have grown sufficiently to be able to say all of the above. I am strong. Stronger even than I often realise. Sometimes I forget, and the old insecurities come knocking. But never for long, and not all that often. 


The photo? I'm probably 12, 13. Around 11 stone. 5' 7. 

Headology, or Psychology, if you prefer

Written by tigs01 on 09/02/2011 23:34

I do love Terry Pratchett. If I could be any character in any book ever written, I would want to be Esmerelda Weatherwax, just for a couple of hours. 


Granny Weatherwax is very big on headology. This is, more or less, similar to psychology. Only with a bit more gumption and a lot less wishy-washiness. 


A long time ago, near the beginning of my blog, I wrote about where I felt my battles with my weight had begun, and the impact on a psychological level of being 'the big one' for much of my late childhood and all of my adult life (with the exception of a few brief months when I was within a stone of my ultimate goal weight at age 19 or 20.)


My mum was always supportive. However, as a family it is considered a term of endearment to roundly insult and tease one another. I mean, one of my family nicknames was 'Skinny'! And not when I was, either! News that I had started a new diet would be met with cries of 'What, another one? How long will this one last?' Unsurprisingly, I kept the current attempt quiet for a fair while. My brother knows how much I've lost, but I don't think he will really appreciate it until he sees me in April. I suspect he will be shocked!


School was hard. I was bullied, a lot. For more than just my weight. Being English in a small village school in the Scottish Highlands is not easy, or it wasn't thirty years ago. Being shy didn't help. Neither did being taller and lankier than everyone else bar one boy who is today 6' 8 1/2! That's a whole foot taller than me; I have a photo somewhere where he is barely two inches taller than I was at the time. 


As a consequence, I was very quiet. My opinion was not wanted, not welcome. I didn't fit in. Now I know that a lot of my social awkwardness is due to some of the personality traits I have and some Asperger's traits that are knocking around. Socially, I am awkward. Always will be. I am a lot better than I was, largely because I've learned to live with them. New people and situations still frighten me, but I think a lot of people are like that. I am not in any way unique in that respect.


Today, a lot of people on this site regard me as being an inspiration. I've lost a fair bit of weight. I am happy to weigh in with an opinion on the plan, give advice on what works for me, tips I've picked up from others and just general observations on WW and life. I am much more confident than I once was. I know that I have worth, that I deserve to be happy, deserve to reach my goal weight. But still there is that voice in my head that occasionally says 'What do you know? You're just a fraud, a big fat fake. You'll never make it to goal, you'll get bored and give up just like you did every time before.'


Normally, I don't give that voice headspace. My brain is clogged up with enough 'stuff'' as it is, thanks all the same. I am still insecure. I still get that sense that any minute now I am going to be found out and people will realise that the Empress is wearing no clothes. 


I am a heck of an actress when I want to be. I am often described as 'bubbly'. 'Brash' has been used before. It takes me a while to get to know people, sometimes a long while, and not many people have the patience to bother face to face. I don't invite myself to parties or ask to join in social situations. I think I am still afraid of being laughed at and told outright that I am not wanted. 


Apparently I am worth making the effort to get to know, though. I still have trouble believing that.


I think this afternoon was just a crisis of confidence sort of thing. I haven't fallen off the wagon, I just had a few moments of feeling incredibly low and couldn't scrape my self-esteem off the floor.


Thanks to those of you who helped. You did more for me than you maybe realise. 


Anyway - I'm back in fighting form, ready to p rod buttock* against the flab and storm the ramparts of Goal!


*I can't say a-s-s, whether it be another name for a donkey or not!

Biggest Loser-itis!

Written by tigs01 on 09/02/2011 12:15

Honestly, it's Biggest Loser Syndrome all over the 5+ board at the minute!


'Only' lost half a pound this week. 'Only' lost a pound. 'Only' lost 2.5 pounds this week. 'Only' lost six pounds since I started three weeks ago.


There are many of us who, at times, would cheerfully commit murder to lose any of those amounts.


A loss is a loss. It's a darned sight better than a gain, that's for certain. Where would you be now if you hadn't joined WW and followed the plan? Pound to a penny says you'd likely not have lost anything and more than probably gained!


When was the last time you started a weight loss plan of any kind and stuck to it for longer than three or four weeks? I say this because I have, in the past, normally lasted anywhere from 12 to 18 weeks before giving it up as a bad job, with WW at any rate. This means that I know all too well that my body loses weight to a particular pattern. Generally that means a huge first week loss (it was around 11.5 pounds this time around), followed by a couple of much smaller losses then a small gain or STS. I usually gain or STS around my period, and don't lose much the week of ovulation either. (Sorry, any fellas who might be reading!)


So, an average five weeks for me might be lose 3, lose 2, lose 1 and a quarter, gain a pound, lose 3. I quite often lose a half pound or a pound and a bit - two pounds and above seems increasingly rare as I get nearer to goal. 


Thing is, my body has a pattern and I know what that pattern is. The overall trend is down - very much so. If you fall at the first hurdle and lose the plot at your first gain or STS, or are disgusted with yourself because you haven't lost half a stone every week, you never get to find out how your body copes long-term with the plan. You are depriving yourself of the opportunity of sticking to the plan to the letter and seeing the benefits that doing just this will bring you.


This is not a race, not against yourself nor anyone else. There will always be someone who loses weight faster than you, more consistently than you, who seems to have an effortless journey to goal. As I am prone to say, we are all different, and every body reacts differently to a decrease in caloric intake and an increase in activity levels. 


Stick with it. Don't expect miracles. Most of all, don't expect Biggest Loser-style losses. Unless, that is, you really want to subsist on 800-1,500 calories a day and exercise for five hours a day, minimum. Three of those with a personal trainer screaming at you and holding a bucket under your head so you can puke while still jogging on the treadmill. 


If you don't stick with it, you will never know how well you would have done. Nothing worthwhile ever came easily; the amount of effort and perseverance you choose to devote to becoming slimmer, fitter and healthier is equal to the eventual rewards. You may lose weight slowly, you may be lucky and mostly have good losses more often than some. The thing is that if you stick with it, you will almost certainly reach your goal.


Weigh. Measure. Point. Track. No guess-work. Eat your dailies and your weeklies. Follow the plan. If confused, ask. On the boards, in class. We are all in this together, however long the journey may take. 


So, who's coming along for the ride?

"I know better than WeightWatchers because...."

Written by tigs01 on 07/02/2011 23:52

I try to check on the comments to my 'Can you eat the weekly 49 points and still lose weight?' blog post every day or two.


I think I've had a rant along these lines before, but tonight I've noticed a couple of people saying things that have made me think that WW really haven't explained this stuff at all well. 


One lady bitterly complains that she's not losing weight. She never eats all of her dailies because she thought the point of learning healthy eating habits is not to continue to eat once your hunger is sated. She has never touched her 49 nor any of the - I think she said thirty - activity points she earns each week.


This, gentle reader, is a prime example of 'I know better than WeightWatchers' syndrome. Mind you, this lady is studying nutrition and hopes to become a dietitian. 


It's a little like me, when I was a first year law student, declaring that Lord Denning was a doddering old nutter who didn't know his posterior from his elbow. Sixty or seventy years in the law, finishing up as Master of the Rolls and our senior Law Lord. I will never, I doubt, know better than he where the law is concerned. 


If you can't eat all your dailies, are you filling up on fruit and veg and not on higher-energy foods? Are you having two servings of healthy oil a day? Have you tried slicing half an avocado into your lunch? Snacking on nuts? Using full-fat milk or semi-skimmed? Or drinking a full pint of skimmed (5PPs there, easy as that.)


There is a whole team of nutritionists, scientists, dietitians, behind WeightWatchers. They trial new plans, spend years working on them and put in the hard work to make sure each plan works. Then people come along, and either don't understand what they've read or been told or figure they know better, and complain that it just doesn't work for them. 


If I told you that I held the secret to steady, sustainable, long-term weightloss, would you listen to me? Would you follow my words to the letter? Or, would you think, oh, what does she know? I am one individual. WeightWatchers is a decades-old, global business, which has seen thousands - tens of thousands, maybe more - achieve their weight loss aims. I am not telling you anything you won't find if you read the plan, listen to your leader and get from reading the boards.


It works. Do what you're told, and it works. If it isn't working for you, think hard. Are you doing what you're told? Are you eating all the fruit you possibly can without considering that WW guidance is that you not go over two to three portions a day, and if you do you should point it? Are you exercising hard six days a week, but not eating any of your activity points? You're not following the plan properly, in that case.


It seems some leaders say you should eat your weekly 49 and activity points. Others say use them if you need them, they're optional. There really needs to be a consistent, comprehensive answer to this. Clearly people are confused and unhappy, and yet we're three months post-launch and other European countries have had the ProPoints plan for a year longer. Surely these wrinkles ought to have been worked out by now?


It's kind of depressing that folk are still so confused, and that there are still so many questions being asked. 


I'm just one person. I follow the plan to the letter. I followed every plan to the letter. When I do that, I lose weight. When I don't, I gain. I have not yet in the last eight and a half months cheated. Not once. I weigh and measure everything. I point and track everything. I eat all my dailies and most to all of my weeklies. When I am earning thirty APs a week, I will likely eat some of those, too.


I do what I am told. I lose weight. I follow the plan. That is the secret to healthy, sustainable weight loss. That is my secret. 8 months, two weeks and 66.5 pounds lighter. 66.5 pounds to go. And I am going to do it.