Best. Week. EVER!

Week: 29

Pounds Lost: 47.4

I’m inventing a new weight-loss strategy (that’s right, you heard it on urbanmoms.ca first!). I call it:

THE START-OVER EFFECT
(Hereinafter referred to as the SOE)

It’s very simple. You join a weight loss program (Weight Watchers, in my case). You lose some weight. Then you "take a break". See my posts here and here for details of my "break" (aka quitting spell). Then you go back…hard-core. And then! The results! The amazing results! The best week EVAH! (nod to Haley-O for that oh-so-emphatic "evah").

The SOE gave me a record-breaking SIX POUND LOSS last week! That brought me into a new decade (as my Weight Watchers Leader put it). I can now proudly say I weigh less than 170 lbs and I’m less than 3 lbs away from the amazing milestone of losing FIFTY POUNDS!

But honestly, six pounds in one week is nearly unheard-of, especially with a moderate program like Weight Watchers. I actually stepped back on the scale to be sure that nothing had gone wrong, but sure enough, I really did lose 6 pounds. Even my husband, who had some really amazing weeks, never lost that much in one week. My WW leader’s theory was that I had been "due" a loss, (she was forgetting that I had been "away" for a few weeks). My theory is that the SOE kicked in. By going off-program, I tricked my body into thinking that it was not in a starvation mode any longer. When I started back on the program, it was like a kick in the behind, and the bod responded with a start!

I know it’s not considered particularly refined or polite to express pride in oneself (especially if that pride is related to physical appearance), but I have to say it: I am so proud of myself! Between my husband and me, we have lost over 120 pounds since May. That’s the size of a full-grown person (a small one, admittedly, but nonetheless…!) To tell the truth, other than our two children, losing all this weight might just be the best and most worthwhile thing we’ve ever done together.

The funny thing is, now that we’ve lost so much weight, people often act surprised when we say how much more we want to lose. I want to lose another 20-25, and my husband wants to lose another 30. Even though a further 20 pounds would put me squarely in the middle of my WW goal range (and yield a BMI of 24), people are still dismayed when I say "I’ve lost 50 pounds, but I still want to lose at least 20 more". But as I’ve said many times, and as the Hubster reiterated yesterday, why would I/we sell myself/ourselves short? Why settle for 50 when it could be 70? or 75? I’m not talking about going crazy – I’m nearly 5’8" and I’m talking about weighing 140-150…this is NOT in any way underweight. In fact, to get in the 20-25 BMI range, I could weigh anywhere between 127 and 153. (FYI, a BMI under 20 is considered underweight, over 25 is considered overweight).

But I digress (I actually do that a lot…I’m known for digressing…but that’s another digression!). A Weight Watchers study showed that people who achieved lifetime member status (that is, they achieved their goal weight and maintained it for six weeks) were able to keep the weight off long-term, whereas over 90% those who stopped short of reaching their goal gained back most, all, or even more weight. So I know that by shooting for a weight within my range (i.e. another 20 lbs or more), I’m actually improving my chances of long-term success. And that, after all, is what this journey is all about.