Personal Journey

Diana - aka SummermoonTx - Group Owner

My journey with Weight Watchers started when my son and daughter-in-law (who had been doing WW and lost 55 pounds) gave me the best gift of all - all the books and start-up kit from Weight Watchers.  They knew the struggle I had with controlling my weight and cared enough to help me take the first step to a healthier lifestyle.

I studied the books for about a week, and read all the information I could find on the internet.  I began WW on my own on March 1, 2004.  Being on a limited income due, awaiting approval for SS Disability, it was impossible for me to attend meetings or join WW Online.  In the first week, I cleaned out the cabinets and refrigerator of all those items that I knew would be a temptation and were my old style of eating.  I made a shopping list and searched for those items that would give me the best value for my points.  I bought fresh fruits and fresh and frozen vegetables (which was sure lacking in my previous eating).  I started planning out meals that would meet my needs.  In the first week I thought - "wow, how can I eat all this food and lose weight"?  The first week I gained 2 pounds and that scared me to death ... but I stuck with it.  The next week - 5 pounds lost, then 3 pounds lost.  I've settled in now sometimes maintaining and other times losing 2 pounds.  It has averaged out now to about 1 pound per week.  I started out at 262 pounds.

To gain support and in the hopes of giving support to others like me who were doing WW on their own I opened "At Home With Weight Watchers" on April 22, 2004 on Yahoo Groups.  In just over a month we were over 200 members strong, and it is the most rewarding thing I have done in a long time.  We are all sharing our successes and our trials, information, recipes, and learning together how to handle those "difficult" times.  We have ongoing weight loss challenges.  It's a wonderful group!  In August 2005 the group was renamed to "Friends of Weight Watchers", approved by WW International.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have made this all possible.

Personal Information: 64 years old, widowed, living in Texas, 2 sons (43 & 40), 2 granddaughters (19 & 17), 1 great-granddaughter, and 1 very spoiled Miniature Schnauzer.
Hobbies:  Painting, computers, crochet, Trivia
My WebSites: Designing Brush Strokes, #50+Chat_Trivia

Update....June, 2005
This has been a real up and down year for me.  I was down to 225 in January 2005....then I did two things....
First....I quit smoking on January 5th and
Second....I started Water Aerobics on January 15th.

Quitting smoking, I know, was the best thing in the world for me.  However, my metabolism went crazy.  I'm back up to 242 as of the first of June.  I really got discouraged and off plan for months.

Starting exercise was a positive effort towards a healthier lifestyle.  Since I am disabled due to osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease, my physical therapist said Water Aerobics would be the best exercise for me.  Since starting I've discovered I have muscle!  They've just been hiding under all that fat.  I go to Water Aerobics 3 times a week and try to fill in with 2 days of Yoga at home.

Update: March 2006 - Regrouping

Here I go again.....
Over the last 8 months I put back on another 20 pounds, bringing me up to 262.  I can't tell you how disappointed I was in myself.  And then in February I had a complete physical and learned the anti-inflammatory medication I had been taking for years has damaged my kidneys .... I was anemic....and my cholesterol and triglycerides were way up.  Now I'm on 2 medications for the cholesterol and triglycerides, I'm taking iron for the anemia, and I can no longer take any anti-inflammatory...including Aleve, Advil, or aspirin.  Over the next few weeks the edema in my legs disappeared (I discovered I really do have bones in my ankles) and I immediately lost 5 lbs the first week.  I've adjusted my diet to meet the guidelines the dietician has set forth for me to avoid those items that will increase cholesterol.  I will be seeing a kidney specialist the end of April.  I'll try to update more often in the future.

Update:  June 2006 - Back on Program

I'm seriously back on program...tired of this up and down.  Hopefully we have my medications worked out.  I'm back to Water Aerobics three times a week.  I really enjoy this kind of exercise.  It's easy on my joints, but I still get a good aerobic workout.  Weather is beginning to get hot here.  That keeps me indoors with my exercises.  Trying to get back to my Yoga a couple of times a week.

Update: October 2007

Talk about a bad year.....seems anything that could get me off program did this past year.  I had lived with my divorced son for many years and in January he sold the house for financial reasons.  I moved in with a very good friend until I could get my own place.  It was difficult to keep the foods I needed separate for my use and hard to cook my meals when I had someone over my shoulder wanting to know "what are you cooking?"  In August I was able to move into my own apartment and of course the first thing I did was stock my cupboards with the foods I needed to get back on track.  At the beginning of August I was at 241....and now I'm at 225.  Things are finally going my way and I'm looking forward to some good losses.

To submit your story, please forward a picture and your story to:  Diana