Weight Watchers Works

Have you seen the commercials? The ones with Jennifer Hudson and Jessica Simpson? They go through all the reasons why THEY chose Weight Watchers, and the end, give you three simple words to sum up why YOU should choose Weight Watchers: Because – It – Works!

We’ve all seen those commercials, and most probably think, “Yeah right. It works for her because she’s rich. She has money to hire a personal trainer, a chef, and she has the time to workout all day because she is PAID to lose weight.”

I have news for all you doubters out there. I am here, in the flesh, as a real live person living on a teacher’s salary AND working a part time job, to tell you it really does work!

Here is a little of my story. I walked through the doors of Weight Watchers in January of 2009, weighing almost 280 pounds. When I decided to join Weight Watchers, I was skeptical. In the past, I had done Slim Fast, juice detoxes, Jenny Craig, low calorie diets, South Beach Diet, Flat Belly Diet, Atkins, taken weight loss pills, and starved myself. All of this only to find myself at my highest-weight-ever!

I had to do something and I had to do something fast. I took a leap of faith and decided to join Weight Watchers. Besides, what could it hurt? The worst thing that could happen is I could fail…again.

The first few months on the program were relatively “easy.” I was still eating a good amount of food, just trying to make better decisions and stay within my daily points allowance. That is really all I did. I was too fat to exercise comfortably, other than a walk here or there. I just really paid attention to my eating and staying on the program.

In May, I was really working the plan. I was going to my weekly meetings. I had an amazing leader who made the meetings fun, and I was losing weight. I had just lost a little over 25 pounds when I received a postcard in the mail from my leader. On the card it simply said,

“You will be a Success!”

It was at that moment that I started to believe maybe this time I would be successful. By August, I had lost right around 50 pounds and was truly on a roll. It was around 50 pounds lost that I started exercising. Walking at first, then jogging. I figured out if I exercised, I got to eat more – score!

Slowly the weight continued to come off! I lost 75, then 80 and 90 pounds by the end of 2010. In October of 2011 (Halloween to be exact!), I hit the milestone I had been waiting for: I lost 100 pounds!

I am currently working toward reaching my goal weight of 160 pounds. Once I hit that mark, I become a Lifetime Member and do not have to give Weight Watchers a dime as long as I stay within two pounds of that goal (weighing in once a month).

As I said before, I lost all that weight while working two jobs, paying the bills, blogging for ItSuxToBeFat and Fitness Magazine, and NOT having a personal trainer.

Now, the big question is, “How is Weight Watchers different from all those programs I tried before?”

Easy…it is real life.

They TEACH you to eat right and exercise. Period. They also give you support along the way in two different ways:

• Meetings – The meetings are so important to me. I love my leader, Jacynta, and all the other members. Every person who works at Weight Watchers centers have lost weight on the plan. I really love going to meetings and learn so much every week.
• Weight Watchers Online – Weight Watchers knows that meetings aren’t for everyone. For some people, they prefer to have online weight loss buddies. That is where Weight Watchers online comes in. They have so many support groups on there that you can literally have hundreds of friends cheering you on throughout your journey.

What is this “tracking” and “points” that everyone is talking about? That is how Weight Watchers teaches you to eat properly for your body. They give you a daily “allowance” of “points plus” that you can eat, and also extra points you can use throughout the week.

Every food has points according to its nutritional value. Fresh fruits and vegetables are 0 points because they are so nutritious; while candy, cakes and cookies are going to be a high number of points. You get to eat whatever you want and as long as you stay within your daily/weekly points allowance, you WILL lose weight.

Weight Watchers works because you get to eat REAL food. No pre-packaged stuff that comes in the mail, no starving or only allowing yourself meat and eggs. You eat real fruits and vegetables, meats, carbs, pizza. Wait…did she just say pizza? Yes, you can eat pizza and still lose weight.

Weight Watchers teaches you how to eat so you have control of your weight loss. They have truly figured out the secret. Eat less and move more.

If you are still skeptical about joining Weight Watchers, look at ANY other diet “plan” out there and ask yourself one simple question, “Can I do this for the rest of my life and still be satisfied?” If the answer is, “NO,” then that plan will not lead to lasting weight loss.

I am going to end with a story. Once upon a time there was a young woman named Jennifer. She felt with all her heart that she was destined to be overweight her entire life. She spent most afternoons sleeping on the couch because she had no energy. She had to shop at plus sized clothing stores because she couldn’t fit into any clothes in a “normal” clothing store. She was trying so desperately to have a baby and was unsuccessful in part because she was so obese. She was unhappy with her weight, but felt it would be like this forever because she just couldn’t lose weight. NOTHING had worked.

Does this sound familiar?

If so, I have news for you. There is hope. There is an answer. Whether this has been a struggle for you all of your life, you are trying to lose some unwanted “baby weight” after having children or, like me, you need to lose weight in order to get pregnant, I have the answer. Two words – Weight Watchers. Why? Because – It – Works.

How do I know? Simple…I am living proof.

Jennifer Swafford shares her personal weight loss journey, healthy recipes, and product reviews on her award winning blog, It Sux To Be Fat. If you are looking for weight loss motivation and information, this blog truly has it all.

Feeling inspired after reading Jennifer’s story, but still not sure how to get started? Here are two great ways to begin your weight loss journey today:

1. For tasty recipes, inspiring stories and surefire weight loss tips, try a one year subscription to Weight Watchers magazine for only $10 – that’s 67% off the cover price! Check out this new Mamasource deal today: http://deals.mamapedia.com/national/deal/weight-watchers-october2012

2. Attend our first ever Healthy Mama Twitter Party!

Who: Hosts Anjanette Young of ‘Baby Steppers’ and Kelly Wann of Mamasource
When: October 10, 2012 1-2 pm EST (10-11 am PST)
Where: on Twitter, using the hashtag #healthymama
Why: Discuss weight loss, find a diet buddy, make new friends, win a $10 Mamasource voucher
Dress Code: WiFi casual

Not sure how to ‘party’ Twitter style? Check out this Twitter Party Guide for easy instructions.