Getting Fit: Weight Watchers program saved a life
Weight Watchers is a very sensible and practical way to lose weight. Why? Because weight watchers has you eating from all 4 food groups and the most of the participants incorporate exercise into their programs, which only helps to enhance the weight loss. By combining weight loss and exercise, you avoid having the sagging and flabby excess skin just hanging on your body. Without exercise, you are going to have that sagging excess skin. In the future, USA GYM plans to start a complete nutrition program that includes information on how to eat healthy at home and while dining out.
The story you are about to read, is incredible and touching. It is the story of a young lady here in McMinnville who had given up on losing weight because every “diet” that she tried failed. Why did it fail? Because like I said last week, if you do not make a lifestyle change by eating healthy until you die, you are going to gain that weight that you lost back , plus 5 to 10 pounds more. You fall back into that bad habit of eating crap!
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Dear Paige, I saw that you were going to be writing about Weight Watchers this week, a friend of mine convinced me to share with you my story.
I am a 40-year-old single, white female who is an assistant principal at Hillsboro Elementary School. I have been on the Weight Watchers program for just over 2 years. I have lost 123 pounds in that time. I weighed 327 pounds when I started and still want to lose 54 more pounds. I have gone from a Plus Size 28 to a Regular Size 16/18. (It is so wonderful to shop in the Regular Sizes rather than in the Plus Sizes). I have been overweight ALL my life. As a kid, I was known as “Bertha Butt”. It hurt me to hear this, but I deserved it. I was F A T!
I have no idea what it’s like to be thin. I’ve never been married and I don’t have any children. You know, fat women aren’t usually chosen for girlfriends. Up until 2-1/2 years ago, I had accepted the fact it was meant for me to be fat.
Then I figured out maybe it was just meant for me to spend my life alone. There was no need for me to try and change. I was put on this earth as an overweight person and I would leave this earth someday as an overweight person. But my health really began to go downhill.
At that time, I was a 37 years old, I was very depressed, had high blood pressure, frequent migraine headaches, anxiety attacks, difficulty sleeping and the major problem—worn out knees. This was the health problem that was taking the most toll on me. Even surgery didn’t help.
During the 2000-01 school year, I began having trouble with my knees including difficulty standing for long periods of time, and difficulty walking. By April of 2001, I was teaching from a wheelchair, (which was so unlike me). I was in incredible amount of pain. This was very depressing for me. I contacted an orthopedic surgeon, he told me that I had a torn kneecap, but the cartilage in my knees was almost gone. He said, “if you don’t loose some weight now, you may not be able to walk again and you will eventually need a wheelchair. Boy, that hit me like a ton of bricks! I had been a special education teacher for 16 years and was NOT a sit down teacher! I couldn’t teach from a wheelchair – no way, no how, not me.
I was a miserable, sick, overweight person, who loved teaching, loved people and loved to cook and eat. My medical doctor, Dr. Ray Troop, had tried for a long time to get me to try Weight Watchers. He said, ? it works, the program is healthy way to lose weight.? I begged and begged him to help me get my insurance company to pay for gastric by-pass surgery. I WAS DESPERATE! I was willing to go to this extreme! He felt that it was dangerous and it wasn’t always successful. He stressed again to try Weight Watchers. What did I have to lose, except that I might actually lose some weight?
I talked my best friend into going with me. She also needed to lose some weight, but not as much as I did. My father died on February 5, 1994, losing him was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. So on Feb. 5, 2002, I began my Weight Watchers journey and I haven’t regretted a day since.
When I weighed in on that very first night . . . I almost died. I topped the scales at 327 pounds. My God, I thought, no wonder I am in such poor health. How did I ever get this way—Yoyo dieting— I had tried EVERYTHING—and I mean EVERYTHING!! The liquid diet, diet pills, no carbs diet, fat free diets, counting calories diet, etc. The list could go on and on. None of these were successful. Oh, I lost weight, but I gained it right back and more to go with it.
Weight Watchers has been the most successful thing I have ever done. I do not feel like I am dieting. I am eating healthy Do I feel like I am deprived of foods I enjoy? No, because the Flex Points allow me to enjoy some of those “not so healthy” foods ever once in awhile.
Weight Watchers IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME! I OWE MY LIFE TO WEIGHT WATCHERS. . . . . THE PROGRAM HAS SAVED MY LIFE!
My journey still continues as it always will until the day I leave this world. I know with my Weights Watchers support group, my family, my friends and God’s help, I will someday make it to my goal.
The weight loss is really going slow for me right now, BUT I AM NOT GIVING UP! I am walking 3 miles in 56 minutes 3 days a week. When I first started, I could only walk for 5 minutes. I used to HATE exercise. But now it?s fun for me. So as I close this part of my weight loss story, I leave you with this:
I’ve come to far on this journey to turn back now. Everyday is a new day! I AM determined! I Am focused! I Am A Weight Watcher Success Story!
Remember, if you have a question or story and would like to share it or get some help with it, please either stop by USA GYM anytime, email me at Ljnorthcutt@Charter.net, or write to me at Paige Northcutt, P.O. Box 7281, McMinnville, TN 37111.
Again, permanent changes in your eating and exercise habits result in permanent changes in your life.