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I’ve been thinking a lot about diets since all the hullabaloo (is that still a word or am I turning into my grandmother?) about the Weight Watchers discussion. I have been on a million plus fourteen diets in my lifetime, starting at the age of 6. I know the drill. I assume that most of us already do too. But rather than discuss whether or not Weight Watchers is a valid diet program (as mentioned in the post, they have probably the highest success rate of any commercial plan out there), I am curious as to why the program failed me (and a slew of others but worked well for commenters Victoria, Leila and Jessica). As discussed in my rant, the judging nature of my meetings started to crawl under my skin, but what made me crumble was the pressing feeling of Constant Vigilance required for the program. I started finding ways to legally cheat. Natural Ovens of Manitowoc makes a bunch of technically 0 point breads, and I would eat meals of only bread plus a piece of fake cheese, just so that I could go to Red Lobster and enjoy more than one 7 point cheese and garlic biscuit. Mmmm...those things are the dieter's equivalent of pure uncut heroin. On another commercial plan, one very similar to LA Weight Loss, Inc, I was on a rotating schedule of various menus, ranging from 600–1100 calories a day. If I didn’t lose weight in a given week, the “weight loss consultants" would give me lower and lower calorie menus until I started losing again. During finals week, I skipped meals and ended up fainting through a glass shower door one morning. When I came in for my next weigh-in and told them about the fainting, they congratulated me for the 4 pound loss (since my weigh in five days earlier) and then told me that I should keep doing what I was doing but add a serving of cottage cheese because the fainting must have meant I wasn’t getting enough protein. Right. Clearly, starving yourself for the sake of dieting? Doesn’t work. Needless to say, the moment I went off that particular diet, my weight went up like the price of gas. We all know that 99 percent of all diets fail. But WHY? WHY? Because they suck, of course. Or rather, the principle behind them is sound (eat less, move more, etc) but there are some nagging details about each diet that grinds some salt into your wounds. For instance, I could never do Atkins because I could never be on a diet where something as wonderful as a fresh strawberry was considered an illegal food, and South Beach made me crazily constipated (although really did a great thing for my complexion, but who would see it when I am sitting in the bathroom all the time?). I can never do Jenny Craig because I would cry if all of my food came in little silver pouches. I love food way too much to eat like an astronaut! Then there’s the Master Cleanse thing. That one scares the shit out of me. Whoops, please excuse that pun. Think back to the last diet you were on: what caused you to say “ENOUGH!” Was it the lack of bacon? Was it draconian eating rules? Did your butt hurt from sitting on the toilet too much? What pisses you off about diet plans? —Weetabix The comments are blowing all of their Points on vodka/pudding shooters. 9 CommentsLeave a comment |
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FEED ME
I thought the Atkins diet would be great because it's ALL MEAT!! ALL OF THE TIME!! Turns out that I like a little potato with my meat. Call me crazy, yo.
PS - This commenter blew her imaginary WW point allocation for the week on chocolate & bailey's holiday shooters.
I'm right with ya! I tried WW, Jenny Craig, South Beach, Sonoma, not to mention Anorexia and Bulimia. The problem is that once we hear "You can't have X," then we crave it. And we beat ourselves up for eating something "bad" or eating too much, and we're treated as horrible people if we gain weight or fail to lose any.
I think WW can for people who don't have a tendency towards disordered eating. For those of us who do, it can be downright dangerous.
Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach... these are good for people who have poor eating and exercise habits and need to replace them with new healthier ones. Or if you need to learn what reasonable portions are. These programs are not designed to deal with folks with real emotional issues tied to food. Weight Watcher leaders are mostly housewives, not nutritionists or psychologists. Just sayin'.
Am I the only person on the planet who has never done WW? I've tried Atkins and South Beach and Body for Life (the last of which was, imho, the best) and am now doing a combination of BfL and Clean Eating. Basically it's just about eating fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats and whole grains, and getting as far away as possible from preservatives and chemicals. It's not easy, but I'm giving it a shot.
The only thing that has ever worked for me is Intuitive Eating which is the opposite of dieting. It's about not dieting and not tying in your weight to your self-esteem. Now I feel like no matter what weight I'm at I'm a happy and whole person. WW is the exact opposite of that. I think it can work people who are large and don't have compulsive eating issues. But, those people are few and far between.
It's not just you, it's 95% of people who do Weight Watchers.
I'm with Steph. The ONLY thing I can deal with long-term is intuitive eating. It took me forever to learn it, and I still don't get it right 99% of the time, but when I live that way, I don't obsess over food, I don't binge or purge, I don't make myself crazy. It's the best way to go.
My last diet was WW. About five years ago. And it failed miserably because I had lost 50+ lbs, was hovering at 200 even, and the little thing who weighed me in kept exclaiming "Just imagine how good you're going to feel when you lose the next 80!"
Because according to her little height-weight chart, my goal weight was 120lbs. But at 200lbs I felt ill all the time. And hungry.
The best weight loss program I've ever been on has been this year, where I ate all sorts of fried and fatty cafeteria crap because I was working two jobs, one of which is a cashier gig in a big ol' warehouse-type store. Everyone who's been there since store open has lost weight, because we run around like crazies (yes, at 280 lbs, not only can I run, but I do run. I won't be winning any marathons, but I'll get you a new one of that candle holder you shattered into a million pieces right quick).
I agree with everything you guys are saying. Yes, weight watchers did work for me, but I agree they do force a little bit of the "happiness is based on your weight" deal. Fortunately, I have only had supportive, realistic meetings leaders, that never made me feel fat or like I did "bad" because I ate a cookie. I think it helps too that I am a vegetarian, and generally I can eat more because meat has the most points. I also focus completely on eating healthy and stay away from processed foods. I am almost to my goal weight now, and my leader even told me to only lose 5 more pounds as opposed to the 10 I wanted to lose. It is the first time I have felt completely happy with my weight, and I still have some junk in the trunk!