Castillo Mom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 5, 2003
I was feeling a little embarassed at the thought of reviving my journal. At first I felt like a failure in that I'm still battling with weight loss. But you know what? So are a lot of people. And if brutal honesty helps others (myself included) then so be it. The point is I'm not giving up, I've gotta keep fighting!
So what's new you may ask? Well, if you haven't read through my journal, I've had lots of ups and downs. I started on Atkins back in '04 and it worked great for me. I lost quite a bit of weight and I was only 25-30 pounds away from reaching my goal. Unfortunately I began to have some major personal problems. I lost focus on myself in the process and fell back into the old habit of comforting myself with food.
In '05 during a mini vacation to Disneyland I developed major pain in my feet and ankles and had to rent an ECV. I thought I had simply overdone it with the walking. It was soon after that I was diagnosed with moderate to severe ankle arthritis, worse on the left as well as bone spurs in my feet.
I've been struggling with this since then and my mobility has been complicated by weight gain. I'm supposed to be taking anti inflammatory meds on a daily basis and have been informed that I may benefit from steroid injections but will ultimately require ankle fusion at some point as I get older. I haven't had any injections as I'm very concerned about the side effects and take meds only when absolutely necessary. I have good days and bad days but am in pain on a daily basis. I don't dwell on it because there are people who have to deal with far worse me so I just keep going and deal with it the best way I can. The one thing that's starting to get to me is not being able to keep up with my sons and the lack of stamina I have for the activities I enjoy. We love Disneyland and in fact only live 15 minutes away and we are now DVC members with another trip coming up on about three months. There's no way I can handle that much walking so I always have to rent an ECV. I enjoy shopping with my sister but can only walk for about 15 minutes before I start to develop pain to where I need to stop and rest before moving on. I love, love, love to cook too! Yesterday I made a dish that required me to be on my feet for two hours in my kitchen. Boy did I pay for it the rest of the day as I could barely walk after that.
Other than my arthritis issue, I'm in great health. My BP, cholesterol and blood sugar are all normal. But I know I'm a ticking time bomb and that soon my clean bill of health could change drastically especially with a strong history of diabetes on both sides of my family. I hate to admit it but I'm 45 now. Wow, where has the time gone? I want to be able to enjoy my life to the fullest and I can't do that until I get this weight under control. We're thrilled that Aulani is opening up soon so we're planning a trip combining Maui and Oahu the year after next. I'm sick of being sedentary and I want to be able to go hiking and snorkeling without having to worry about my stupid ankles! I want to be able to cook without being in major pain afterward. I want to be able to go the parks without renting an ECV!
So here I am again. Don't know what the future holds but I'm going to take it a day at a time. I don't blame Atkins for gaining my weight back. It works if followed correctly, but that's just the point, I got off track. My doctor doctor recommended Weight Watchers which I've been pretty skeptical of but I agreed I would try it out. With the new Points Plus program, carbs are now counted towards your points so that's a good thing. My only issue is that fruits are counted as zero points. I've read a lot of reviews from people on Weight Watchers that are struggling with no or slow weight loss and I would venture to say that it might be that they're eating too much fruit, but then again I'm no expert.
I actually started trying to lose weight again about a month ago by using portion control and began the online version of WW 2 1/2 weeks ago. Online works better for me as I don't have time for meetings and it's just not my thing anyway. I've signed up for three months to see how things go. My starting weight a month ago was 226. I started WW on Fri. 5/20 and I was at 219.5. As of today 6/8 I'm at 215.3. So that's a loss of 4.2 lbs. on WW bringing it to a grand total of 10.7 lbs. since I started trying to lose again a month ago!
Now for my thoughts on WW. First off, I want to admit that I am definitely biased towards Atkins because of my past positive experience. I'm trying to give WW a chance though and remain positive but I'm still in wait-and-see mode which is why I only signed up for three months.
Pros
1. Flexibility: I can use my points however I like and am able to pull from flex points if need be. I find that helpful what with multiple celebrations going on this month.
2. Variety: I can have milk and fruit! I can have bread! I can even have waffles! But I'm being very cautious here. I'm limiting the amount of fruit I have and type as well such as berries and melon and trying to stay away from those that contain a lot of sugar such as apples and bananas. I guess it's the Atkins way of thinking I can't get away from. As for bread, I'm partaking only of the light whole wheat variety and am still drinking whole milk. There goes that Atkins thinking again!
3. Online access: I'm definitely a computer person, if I can get things done online, great! There are even WW apps I've downloaded to my phone. My fav is the product scanner that tells you how many points a product is. Love it!
4. Cost: I get a discount on the program through my employer.
5. Recommended by my doctor: But then again my prior doctor gave me the green light on Atkins so go figure!
6. Weight Watchers Products: So far I've only tried one product, the coffee popcicles which are very yummy.
Cons
1. Cost: Yes, I get a discount on the program but Atkins didn't cost me anything expect for the occasional breakfast bars I would buy.
2. Website: You can blog on WW but I think I prefer journaling on the DIS. I remember getting a lot more feedback here and I'm on the boards anyway. Please most of us have the love of Disney in common!
3. Points: I didn't have to count points with Atkins. Yes I had to count carbs but it was easier than points. But then again I've only been doing WW a short time so maybe I haven't given it a fair shot.
4. Zero points on fruit: As I mentioned before, I think too much fruit or certain types of fruit may stall weight loss, at least for me personally, maybe not for others.
5. Hunger: I didn't feel hungry on Atkins. I'm still struggling with hunger on WW.
After reviewing my food choices over the last few weeks, I just realized that I'm doing a pseudo phase two of Atkins. Oh well, call it what you want, I'm making progress and making healthier choices. I'm on the road to getting my energy back and hopefully decreasing the weight my poor ankles have to bear.
Anyone is still welcome to post on my journal! I would love to hear from those of you who are on WW. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn and I really want to give it a fair shot.
So what's new you may ask? Well, if you haven't read through my journal, I've had lots of ups and downs. I started on Atkins back in '04 and it worked great for me. I lost quite a bit of weight and I was only 25-30 pounds away from reaching my goal. Unfortunately I began to have some major personal problems. I lost focus on myself in the process and fell back into the old habit of comforting myself with food.
In '05 during a mini vacation to Disneyland I developed major pain in my feet and ankles and had to rent an ECV. I thought I had simply overdone it with the walking. It was soon after that I was diagnosed with moderate to severe ankle arthritis, worse on the left as well as bone spurs in my feet.
I've been struggling with this since then and my mobility has been complicated by weight gain. I'm supposed to be taking anti inflammatory meds on a daily basis and have been informed that I may benefit from steroid injections but will ultimately require ankle fusion at some point as I get older. I haven't had any injections as I'm very concerned about the side effects and take meds only when absolutely necessary. I have good days and bad days but am in pain on a daily basis. I don't dwell on it because there are people who have to deal with far worse me so I just keep going and deal with it the best way I can. The one thing that's starting to get to me is not being able to keep up with my sons and the lack of stamina I have for the activities I enjoy. We love Disneyland and in fact only live 15 minutes away and we are now DVC members with another trip coming up on about three months. There's no way I can handle that much walking so I always have to rent an ECV. I enjoy shopping with my sister but can only walk for about 15 minutes before I start to develop pain to where I need to stop and rest before moving on. I love, love, love to cook too! Yesterday I made a dish that required me to be on my feet for two hours in my kitchen. Boy did I pay for it the rest of the day as I could barely walk after that.
Other than my arthritis issue, I'm in great health. My BP, cholesterol and blood sugar are all normal. But I know I'm a ticking time bomb and that soon my clean bill of health could change drastically especially with a strong history of diabetes on both sides of my family. I hate to admit it but I'm 45 now. Wow, where has the time gone? I want to be able to enjoy my life to the fullest and I can't do that until I get this weight under control. We're thrilled that Aulani is opening up soon so we're planning a trip combining Maui and Oahu the year after next. I'm sick of being sedentary and I want to be able to go hiking and snorkeling without having to worry about my stupid ankles! I want to be able to cook without being in major pain afterward. I want to be able to go the parks without renting an ECV!
So here I am again. Don't know what the future holds but I'm going to take it a day at a time. I don't blame Atkins for gaining my weight back. It works if followed correctly, but that's just the point, I got off track. My doctor doctor recommended Weight Watchers which I've been pretty skeptical of but I agreed I would try it out. With the new Points Plus program, carbs are now counted towards your points so that's a good thing. My only issue is that fruits are counted as zero points. I've read a lot of reviews from people on Weight Watchers that are struggling with no or slow weight loss and I would venture to say that it might be that they're eating too much fruit, but then again I'm no expert.
I actually started trying to lose weight again about a month ago by using portion control and began the online version of WW 2 1/2 weeks ago. Online works better for me as I don't have time for meetings and it's just not my thing anyway. I've signed up for three months to see how things go. My starting weight a month ago was 226. I started WW on Fri. 5/20 and I was at 219.5. As of today 6/8 I'm at 215.3. So that's a loss of 4.2 lbs. on WW bringing it to a grand total of 10.7 lbs. since I started trying to lose again a month ago!
Now for my thoughts on WW. First off, I want to admit that I am definitely biased towards Atkins because of my past positive experience. I'm trying to give WW a chance though and remain positive but I'm still in wait-and-see mode which is why I only signed up for three months.
Pros
1. Flexibility: I can use my points however I like and am able to pull from flex points if need be. I find that helpful what with multiple celebrations going on this month.
2. Variety: I can have milk and fruit! I can have bread! I can even have waffles! But I'm being very cautious here. I'm limiting the amount of fruit I have and type as well such as berries and melon and trying to stay away from those that contain a lot of sugar such as apples and bananas. I guess it's the Atkins way of thinking I can't get away from. As for bread, I'm partaking only of the light whole wheat variety and am still drinking whole milk. There goes that Atkins thinking again!
3. Online access: I'm definitely a computer person, if I can get things done online, great! There are even WW apps I've downloaded to my phone. My fav is the product scanner that tells you how many points a product is. Love it!
4. Cost: I get a discount on the program through my employer.
5. Recommended by my doctor: But then again my prior doctor gave me the green light on Atkins so go figure!
6. Weight Watchers Products: So far I've only tried one product, the coffee popcicles which are very yummy.
Cons
1. Cost: Yes, I get a discount on the program but Atkins didn't cost me anything expect for the occasional breakfast bars I would buy.
2. Website: You can blog on WW but I think I prefer journaling on the DIS. I remember getting a lot more feedback here and I'm on the boards anyway. Please most of us have the love of Disney in common!
3. Points: I didn't have to count points with Atkins. Yes I had to count carbs but it was easier than points. But then again I've only been doing WW a short time so maybe I haven't given it a fair shot.
4. Zero points on fruit: As I mentioned before, I think too much fruit or certain types of fruit may stall weight loss, at least for me personally, maybe not for others.
5. Hunger: I didn't feel hungry on Atkins. I'm still struggling with hunger on WW.
After reviewing my food choices over the last few weeks, I just realized that I'm doing a pseudo phase two of Atkins. Oh well, call it what you want, I'm making progress and making healthier choices. I'm on the road to getting my energy back and hopefully decreasing the weight my poor ankles have to bear.
Anyone is still welcome to post on my journal! I would love to hear from those of you who are on WW. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn and I really want to give it a fair shot.
But I made a commitment to myself that I'm going to do this. It'll be hard at the beginning but I know it'll get better. Wow, what a stark contrast to when I used to work on a regular basis years ago. I used to do weight training and aerobics at Bally's (before marriage and kids). I loved it and I used to actually cry if I couldn't work out. What happened to me? 
Thank goodness no one was up yet because I'm sure I was a sight to see!
I must say, my heart really got going too and although it's going to take time to rebuild my stamina, I think this a good start. They encourage you to do the routine 3 times per week but I think I'm going to try every other day and see how it goes.
), milk - 4 points
