This is something I’ve struggled with much of my life.
As many of you can probably relate to, my weight loss has been the proverbial yo-yo. As I think back to my teens and early 20’s, I recall constantly being on a diet. (In hindsight, I wish I was that weight now).
A couple of years ago, I went on a weight loss program where you ate the programs prepackaged foods and then followed a strict dinner guideline. The program worked. I lost 66 lbs, and it only took me about 8 months. But the problem was that the program didn’t really have a maintenance plan at the time. So I gained it ever so slowly back. Not all, but let say 85%.
Over the years I’ve used a few different programs and both have worked. Here are some things that have worked for me in the past.
Weight Watchers
In 2018 I joined Weight Watchers (now known as WW), and I lost 22.4 lbs. I recently rejoined. The reason was that on other no-carb plans, if I didn’t follow the program to the letter, it didn’t usually work, and I always felt like a failure. With WW, I can have whatever I’d like as long as it fits into my daily or weekly points.
I’ve been a member of WW for years. Lost the weight after I had my first and second son (see yo-yo). But I have to say that the current program is the best. I think they’ve ever had. It’s more of a lower-carb approach (which I like because I know that a high protein diet works for me), but unlike many of the programs where you can’t have fruit, on
You don’t have to go to meetings if you don’t want to; they offer a Digital plan and a Digital and Studio plan. Each includes the app, which makes tracking so easy. The digital-only plan also had an online community that you can get help with and chat with a WW coach. So whether you want the accountability of a meeting or not, WW has a program for you. To find out more about WW, please see the links below for Canada and the U.S.
WW Canada (P.S. if you join through my Canadian link once you join we both get a free month)
WW USA (sorry because I live in Canada I don’t believe the free month will apply). But you can always try my Canadian link and see what happens. Especially if you’re doing online)
MyFitnessPal
Another site that I’ve used is MyFitnessPal, and this is an alternative if you are looking for a free program. Note that this free version comes with advertisements, so if that’s not right for you, then they also have a paid version that is ad-free.
You can use the program either on the website or on the app. I especially love the app because you can scan your food into your food diary if you have a smart phone.
I also liked that I can set up goals for weight loss, and the system then calculates how many calories I can eat and track the nutrition goals that I might have. I prefer a high protein plan to set up the app to track my food that way. But if you had other things you’d like to track, such as your sugar or fat grams, you can set that up, and then the app will alert you to any issues with your choices. All these set up are available at the free program level.
Just so you know, MyFitnessPal also has its own community that you can go to for advice and motivation any time of the day or night.
If you’d like to find out more about MyFitnessPal, have a look at their website by clicking the link below.
So why am I telling you all this? Because whether your join WW and go to a meeting, or do it yourself at home on WW Digital or MyFitnessPal, you can do things to lose weight and improve your overall health.
Fitness & Exercise
My next step has been to incorporate a fitness program. I use to go to a trainer, but since my fall in November 2018, I hadn’t restarted. Probably why the pounds came back. In the fall of 2019 and spring 2020, I started walking.
With the things going on due to Covid-19, I guess that was the perfect plan. I’m walking my dog more, I’m enjoying nature, and I’m losing weight.
You know the old saying, “if you don’t use it, you lose it,” and given my sedentary work/hobby of genealogy and genetic genealogy, I’ve got to have a plan to keep moving.
I’ve also added to my life by riding my bike. I don’t have a fancy bike but I think it’s beautiful. It’s my Margaritaville bike that I bought in Walmart in the US on one of my road trips and I brought it back to Canada.
Even if you can’t get the bike you can get one of the accessories. I especially like the horn.
The next step will be to incorporate some yoga into my plan to keep me limber and improve and maintain my balance because I know that that can become an issue as you age.
The important thing to remember is that whatever you do for exercise is fabulous because it’s more than what you were doing before. So it can be something like walking like I do or to run a marathon (which I admire from the sidelines, at least so far).
Ellen
Exercise Resources
I found this terrific site that offers exercise videos for FREE. It’s called FitnessBlender. As I said there are 100’s of free videos as well as information on healthy eating.
Another site that I’ve found is Fit2Be. Fit2Be had a great FREE resource page that you can access HERE.