An Urban Mom’s Weight Loss Diary

Day 1: 217.2 lbs

OUCH!  How did that happen?  Or rather, how did I let that happen?  Now I’ve never been skinny, but 217 lbs is close to my peak weight even at 40 weeks pregnant…and my last child is about to turn 3, so it’s definitely not “baby weight”.  Time to take action!

Welcome to my urbanmoms.ca weight loss diary.  I’m hoping that by going public with my struggle it’ll help others who would like to embark on a similar journey, and also that it’ll help me stick with it once and for all.  You can call it support if you like; I’m going to call it the shame factor: see, if all of cyberspace has access to my weight loss journey, I figure I’ll be too embarrassed to say that I gave up because I wanted to be able to eat a whole bag of potato chips again!

Here’s how it started.  Last Saturday morning, my husband woke up and said he really wanted to lose weight – NOW.  I agreed.  We discussed our options, and settled on Weight Watchers.  Both of us had lost weight successfully with this program in the past, and although not as high-tech, glitzy or extreme as other popular programs (Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss, Dr. Bernstein’s Weight Loss Centres) it was by far the least expensive.  With two of us on this journey, and only one full-time income – the choice was simple.  We scrambled out of bed and bundled the kids off for an 8:30 am meeting that very morning.

Week One went well.  We weren’t hungry, and although it did take some adjusting, we settled into the program with surprisingly little pain.  On the first day, we didn’t eat enough and found ourselves with a surplus at bedtime, and on day two, we overcompensated and came up a little short at the end of the day.  By day 3 and 4, we seemed to have ironed out the kinks and managed to eat enough but not too much – getting five servings of fruits and veggies as well as 8 glasses of water in.  A little research in cookbooks, on the internet and at the grocery store yielded good results – healthier options for meals and snacks for the whole family.

Friday was a challenge – a charity dinner we’d committed to well before joining WW – for a nearby Ukrainian preschool.  We’d been looking so forward to it – even nicknaming it “perogi fest” in anticipation!  Now, we were approaching perogi fest with dread – how could we resist a menu consisting of all you can eat perogies, kolbasa and cabbage?  You know what?  We did it.  How?  We only hit the buffet once, and we passed on the booze and dessert.  We enjoyed the home-cooked delicacies more because we knew we weren’t going to be going back for more.  We ate slowly, and remarked on how delicious each bite was.  For the first time in a while, we truly savoured our food.

The result at our 8:30 am weigh in the next day?  I was down 4.2 lbs and my husband outdid me by a fraction more.  We’ve won our first small victory in a long battle.  Our first stop after Weight Watchers was the Calgary Farmer’s Market, where I loaded up on fresh fruits, vegetables and meats.  After all, if you’re going to savour every bite – might as well make it worth it!

Kath is mom to two daughters, aged 5.5 and 3 (almost!).  Join her on urbanmoms.ca each week as she chronicles her weight loss journey.  Please share your stories, advice, and encouragement by adding a comment below or sending an email to kath@urbanmoms.ca.