My Five Month WWversity

Many people of a "certain age" (and my age has two "sixes" in it, so I certainly qualify) struggle with weight.  I am no exception.


In November of 2012, after a lot of agonizing, I joined  Weight Watchers,which, last year, changed its name to "WW".  I was overweight, on the verge of obesity, and suffering from a number of weight related issues when I signed up. 

I have a lot to thank Weight Watchers/WW for.  Their program taught me how to eat, the basics of portion control, and the need to journal your weight journey.  I learned I was a good person and deserved good health.   I learned that learning to eat correctly is a lifetime commitment when you have a weight issue..  Their weekly meetings gave me encouragement.  If I slipped up, I knew I could get back on track.  And, when the at-work meeting I went to was discontinued, I continued to lose weight using the website and app.  It took a year, but I met my goal.  I lost 43 pounds and dropped four dress sizes.   Macy's and Kohl's must have cheered me on.

Of course, all this costs money. For that payment, you get support - as much as you need.  Meetings (which, if you have a good group leader, are wonderful).  Weekly (private) weigh ins.  Apps.  Websites.  Tools.  In my case, once my at work program ceased to exist (not enough participation) I continued to subscribe to the website and iPhone app, and met my weight goal.

In October of 2015, billionaire entertainer, businesswoman and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey took a 10% stake in Weight Watchers, joined the Board of Directors and became a consultant.  If you have heard of Oprah, you know she has struggled with weight a lot of her life - gaining, losing, gaining, losing, with her public watching intently.  I give her a lot of credit for making her weight journey public.

Right after that, Weight Watchers had one of their periodic reboots.  Every several years, they change their program.  Existing members must decide if they want to continue what has worked for them, or embraced the new program.  For me and others I've read, the rollout was uneven.  Seeing Oprah's face on what seemed to be every issue of the Weight Watchers magazine was a turnoff.  I don't buy things just because a celebrity endorses them.

The "opportunity" to participate (with other members) in a phone call with Oprah was the last straw. 

In January of 2016 I quit Weight Watchers.

Surprise.  The weight came creeping back.  Not all of it, but almost 20 pounds worth.  I was back to being considered pre-diabetic.  My right knee hurt, as did my wardrobe. 

Enough was enough.  I was a caregiver for my elderly mother in law, who, by then, was in a nursing home with multiple health issues, and I was not taking care of myself.  Stress eating was taking its toll.

So, in September of 2018, I swallowed my pride and rejoined what is now WW.

Today, I reached the "lost 10 pounds" mark.  Yes, it took that long. I've seesawed up and down, but my direction has been "down".  I am starting to fit into clothes that I haven't fit into for two or three years.  Call it a happy"WWversity" almost at my five month mark.

But the happy news is that my blood sugar readings are within normal limits again.  My Dad was diabetic (and was never overweight, for whatever that is worth) and I've seen firsthand what diabetes can do.  A cousin of my spouse's had diabetes and I know it contributed to his declining health and somewhat unexpected death in December.

So, today, I do have something to celebrate, although the At Work program may be ending for me in March.  But I know I can do it on my own because I did it in 2013.

Now, the challenge will be, once again, to keep it off.

Return to Weight Watchers

August is over tomorrow.  Summers always have a certain feel of freedom to them, but, in our part of the world, summer unofficially ends on the first Monday of September.  Soon after, children return to school (colleges are already back in session). The pools close, as do our local carousels.  The daylight portion of the days are rapidly shrinking, as we march towards the equinox.

It's a return to reality, such as the reality of my weight.

You know these posts about what you should't eat after 50?

Well, they are true.  As your weight travels north, your metabolism travels south.  So does your health, if you are not careful.  I am pre-diabetic again.  My right knee hurts.  I'm getting other bodily signals of "you've gained too much.  Time to take action".

Which is why, on September 12, I am going back on Weight Watchers after several years of non-membership. (I quit a couple of years ago).

Things have changed while I was gone.

One thing is going to be really hard for me is how yummy dessert items now have a lot more points (you don't count calories, but track "points" - back in 2012 it was Points Plus, now something called Freestyle) than healthy stuff, because, after all, Weight Watchers wants you to eat healthy.

But I love my chocolate.  And I am the queen of emotional eating.

This new program is worse than starting Weight Watchers for the first time, because I now have to unlearn some things, and relearn them in a new way.

I'll consider it "keeping my mid 60's old brain young".  I was resisting this, but resistance, as they say, is futile. 

The good news is, I have the same leader as I had when I started my journey in 2012.  When I had my first meeting, she was actually leading her first meeting.  We learned together.

Some things haven't changed, though - the support of meetings.  And that's really why I am joining again.  I can't do it alone, I've found.  I could for a while, but age and that declining metabolism have caught up with me again.

It takes a village for some of us to lose weight.  I'm returning to my village.

I promise I won't turn this into a weight loss blog, but I am going to mention it from time to time.

And if you want to cheer me on,  that would just be a bonus.

Wish me strength, as summer ends, and we move quickly towards fall.

Winter Wonders -The Phone Call with Oprah

Today, I have a question for you:

Would you buy a product, or use a service, just because a celebrity endorsed it?

Here in the United States, the involvement of one particular celebrity can make the fortunes of a book.  Or a company. 

So, for many people, the answer is "yes".

What is my answer?  Let me tell you a story.

Since November of 2012, I have been a member of Weight Watchers, a diet program that is a lot more than that.  I was overweight, on the verge of obesity, and suffering from a number of weight related issues when I signed up. 

I have a lot to thank Weight Watchers for.  Their program taught me how to eat, the basics of portion control, and the need to journal your weight journey.  I learned I was a good person and deserved good health.   It is a lifetime commitment when you have a weight issue, I learned.  Their weekly meetings gave me encouragement.  If I slipped up, I knew I could get back on track.  And, when the at-work meeting I went to was discontinued, I continued to lose weight using the website and app.  It took a year, but I met my goal. 

Weight Watchers has had it issues.  A lot of issues. At the beginning, I had to use their customer service several times, and was way less than impressed.

It also costs money. For that payment, you get support - as much as you need.  Meetings (which, if you have a good group leader, are wonderful).  Weekly (private) weigh ins at a Weight Watchers center.  Apps.  Websites.  Tools.  In my case, once my at work program ceased to exist (not enough participation) I continued to subscribe to the website and iPhone app, and met my weight goal.

This past October, billionaire entertainer, businesswoman and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey took a 10% stake in Weight Watchers, joined the Board of Directors and became a consultant.  If you have heard of Oprah, you know she has struggled with weight a lot of her life - gaining, losing, gaining, losing, with her public watching intently.  I give her a lot of credit for making her weight journey public.

Right after that, Weight Watchers had one of their periodic reboots.  Every several years, they change their program.  Existing members must decide if they want to continue what has worked for them, or embraced the new program.  For me and others I've read, the rollout was uneven. Features of the website were suddenly missing. The app was glitchy, many reported, and, for my older smart phone not on the current iOS, there was no more app, period.  But there was - Oprah.  She was losing weight on the program.  Everything was going to be all right.

But, as for me, I would be more impressed if Oprah had lost the weight on Weight Watchers - and then kept it off.  For several years.  And THEN became their spokesperson.

It can be done.  There are meeting leaders who have both talked the talk and walked the walk. I met one who was a lifetime member for over 20 years. These leaders have my admiration.  But, I'm sorry to say that Oprah has not yet walked this keeping it off walk.


It may be a lot of people were unhappy because last week I got the following email from Weight Watchers: (I am sharing this because the existence of the phone call is on the public part of their website. I've removed contact information.  In fact, the website is using the call as a recruitment tool.  To participate you have to become a member.

Becoming a part of the Weight Watchers family has been an awakening experience and I believe that together, we're just getting started. As we connect and share our stories, this special energy is only going to grow. ...

This is why I'm so excited to invite you to our special members-only LIVE call this Wednesday night, January 27..... Come join me. I'll be answering questions from members all over the country.

Send your question to me at (an email address) .... I can't wait for us to check in with each other...

Now, this implies Oprah herself is reading those emails. Maybe. Maybe not.  I doubt it; if anything she has assistants sorting out the emails for her and giving her a report of the major issues uncovered. That's what a smart businessperson would do - delegate.   And, Oprah is smart.

Now we will have to see if Oprah can do more than make emotional commercials.

You see, losing the weight is only part of the struggle.  In some ways, it's the easiest (and it isn't easy, so what does that tell you?) So...I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed.  I will not be at the phone call tonight.  I hope I can find out the results, but I won't through the website.

I quit Weight Watchers over the weekend.  Not what I've used to take off the weight and keep it off.  But the paid program. I will seek support elsewhere, where celebrities don't get involved.



Do you pay attention to celebrity endorsements?

Yummy Corn Muffins

Yesterday, a gloomy upstate New York day (gloomy because it had warmed up into the 20's) called for some baking.

There is nothing like baking to dispel gloom on a cold winter's day.  Baking helps heat up the house.  It gets you on your feet and the aroma of baking makes a house smell like a home.

Next to chocolate, one of my favorite foods is corn muffins.

Because I am back on the full Weight Watchers diet to get rid of late year weight gain, I decided to bake one of my favorites - corn muffins - but try a recipe that was supposed to be healthier.  I made a couple of substitutions, in turn, since my stomach doesn't like spicy food that much. 

This recipe is dairy free, but is not vegan nor is it gluten free.  Also, it is written in American measurements; with apologies to my metric blogging friends I didn't try to convert this.  From what I've read (although I could be wrong) corn may be less popular overseas than it is in the States.

This recipe is on the Weight Watchers public website.  Here it is, with my modifications below.

Almond Milk Corn Muffins
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup almond milk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp honey (I used local dark, but you could use any honey)
1 4 3/4 oz can chopped mild chilies (if you want heat, use hot chilis)
1 c canned corn kernels, drained (creamed would be interesting, too)

Method (you will need two bowls)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray, or use oil, or paper liners.

Mix cornmeal, flower, baking powder, salt in one bowl ("dry" ingredients).

In the other bowl, whisk the almond milk, egg, oil, honey ("wet" ingredients) until combined.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just enough to wet everything.  Do NOT overbeat.
Gently stir the chilis and corn kernels into the batter.
Spoon mixture into the muffin tins, filling about 3/4 full.

Bake about 18-19 minutes or until done. (toothpick will come out clean)

Let cool.  Serve warm, or at room temperature.  In the old days, I would always eat corn muffins with butter - no more.  But you are more than welcome to.

So, how did I like these?

They are a bit less sweet than commercial muffins tend to be.  But, I liked them.  Then again, I've been eating the Weight Watchers way for over two years now, so my taste buds have adjusted to this style of cooking.  My husband felt they were a little underbaked (although they were browning, and came out clean with a toothpick), so you may want to watch the time in the oven carefully.

Do you have a favorite way of making corn muffins?

The One Year Anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of my joining Weight Watchers as a last resort.  I was overweight, on the border of obesity, prediabetic, with an aching right knee, and I hated myself.  My (normal weight) rheumatologist had told me point blank that I had to lose weight, and lose it right now (I was 59) as it was going to get even more difficult as I aged.  I have hypothyroidism, and that makes weight loss even more difficult.  My father (who never had a weight problem) was a Type II diabetic the last 25 years of his life.

Weight Watchers changed my life, and I lost 41 lb in the past year.  They gave me the tools I needed to succeed.  I haven't been to meetings ( I do subscribe to their eTools so I still consider myself an active program participant) since April but the weight loss has been steady. (Slow, but steady, with occasional and frustrating plateaus).  With the support of my spouse, who has lost 21 pounds himself not being on the program but from eating what he cooks for me, we have made it.  My "numbers" are down, although I am not out of the prediabetic woods.  I'll know for sure later this month.

I couldn't have done it without the dedication of my spouse, and I want to thank him.

But have we truly "made it"?  I have found out how bound up in psychology our weight is.  I know HOW to do it, I know why I MUST NOT gain it back, and I know where to get support.  But the battle will be ongoing, and will be for the rest of my life.

I have read that some 95% of people gain the weight back. Recently I've been battling, and losing, against the foe of stress eating.  I've seen so many people I know lose weight (some on Weight Watchers, some on other good programs, some on their own) and gain it all back.

So, on this one year anniversary, I find myself preparing, literally, to fight for my own health.

Wish me luck, and I wouldn't mind a little encouragement.  A year ago I wouldn't have asked. Today, I will.

Have you been fighting this battle, too?

I Picked the Wrong Week to Give Up Stress Eating

I love the film Airplane.  I saw it in the movies, I had the VHS tape and I've seen it on TV several times.  I rarely give films the "watch over and over" treatment but this film only gets funnier with each viewing.

My favorite character was Steve McCroskey, the control tower supervisor, who was played by the late Lloyd Bridges.  Steve McCroskey was having a bad week, and, as the emergency situation on the airplane progressed, his lines became more and more anguished:

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking!", he growled.

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking!" he cried, a few minutes later.

A while later, looking disheveled,  "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue!"

(And yes, Michelle, this is a PG movie).


OK, I don't smoke or sniff glue.  My drug of choice is food.  I am a stress eater.  I self-medicate with chocolate and peanut butter stuffed pretzels.  If I am under stress, anything that is edible and not nailed down is in danger of ending up in my tummy.  After one of those binges I berate myself and say "why the heck did I even do that?  What was I thinking?"  Ironic, for someone who blogs about local food and farmer's markets, and takes pictures while exercise walking.

My growth to the brink of obesity began about 15 years ago, when I was under a great deal of stress.
And, except for a brief few months when I participated in a program called Mission Meltaway, it seemed nothing would stop the upward march of the scale.

Until I found Weight Watchers in early November, that is.   I decided that yes, it is expensive, but I knew people it worked for, and a possible looming diagnosis with diabetes (my Dad was diabetic so I have an idea what it entails) scared me into finally trying it.  So far for me, it is working.

As of today, I've shed (I don't want to say "lost") just under nine pounds, and that was during the holiday season.

Now, I need their support more than ever, because I am entering a period of my life that may be stressful in a way I've never experienced before.  So my personal goal will have to be "Can I conquer stress eating? Can I continue to shed the weight?"  And then, when (I'm saying "when", not "if") my weight goal is reached, "Can I keep it off?"

Lots of challenges ahead in my life.  Wish me luck!

Are you also a fan of the movie Airplane?

Does Blogging Make Me Look Fat?

It's time to face reality.
I'm overweight (and only a teeny tenth of a point from being obese).  I still wonder at how it happened.

I was of normal weight for much of my life.  Even after gaining 30 pounds while pregnant with my only child, I was back in some of my pre-maternity clothes 6 days after giving birth. (Don't hate me).  Thanks to breastfeeding, I lost those 30 pounds and another 5 pounds on top of it.  And kept it off, for a few months.

Then, the long march to where I am began.

The last four or so years have been the worst.   The details are besides the point.  Three years ago, already alarmed, I participated in a program called "Mission Meltaway" which taught portion control and other details.  It had a weekly weigh in followed by guest speakers.  It had a walking program, but I've been walking for exercise most of the last 40 years so that was nothing new for me.  I lost a little but it came right back as soon as the program ended.

Know what?  It doesn't help one bit to know how big your portion of meat should be when your food triggers come calling.  Mine are stress and chocolate.  The stress piece is bad at work; I just can't go take a walk or do something physical when I am under a deadline, which happens enough.

To add fat to the fire, the back problems I've had the last three years have restricted some of my mobility.  I'm definitely less active.  It's great for blogging (and, true confession, playing FarmVille) but not so great for my weight.

Then, my doctor told me I had better lose 20 pounds now "or it will be even harder once you turn 60".

So finally, I am going to enroll in an organized weight control program - Weight Watchers.  I blanch at paying money but I think I need the support this program will give me.

I need the accountability, too.  The weekly weigh-ins from Mission Meltaway definitely kept me on track.

I met the person who will be leading the meetings, assuming I do join.  She's been on the program 21 years and, like me, is post-menopausal.  At least, she told us, participants don't have to eat liver once a week anymore.  She's very no nonsense.  Seriously, if the leader had been 20 and stick thin, I may have walked out.

The first thing she told us is that it would NOT be easy.  If she had told us it would, I may have walked, too.

Now I have to ask myself:  how badly do I want good health, a right knee that doesn't hurt, a blood sugar level that doesn't make my doctor "tut-tut" and a dress size with large numbers in it? 

She wasn't kidding about the liver, either.  Thank heavens I didn't need this diet in 1972.

I promise not to blog about this too much, but now that our flood is almost a year in the past, I need to obsess about something else for a change.

Has anyone out there done Weight Watchers?  If so, did you keep it off? Did it work for you?