Sunday is the day that I’ve chosen to do my weekly weigh-in.  I plan on posting, a once a week a summary of my weekly weigh-ins, and my thoughts of the previous week along with my goals for the next week.  Small achievable goals mixed in with the larger more challenging ones, right?

Last week’s starting weight: 257 lbs

Sunday weigh-in: 255 lbs

Weekly gain/loss: -2 lbs

Overall gain/loss: -2 lbs

Thoughts:  Seeing as how I’ve only been on WeightWatchers™ for only five days, I’m not sure exactly what to think.  It’s not unusual for me to fluctuate up to five pounds during a month.  But any weight loss is encouraging and a step in the right direction.  The hardest part to adjust to is the feeling that I’m not eating enough to satisfy me.  I’ve been assured that the “always hungry” feeling will go away.  Like with any new routine, there is an adjustment period.  As long I remind myself that, I should be able to resist the urge to eat whatever is just lying around.

I’ve also been finding myself thinking more about what exactly I am eating, and putting more thought into my meals.  In general I do eat a lot of the right things (whole grains, veggies, fruit, etc.).  Where my two biggest weaknesses lie are in my lack of planning and portion sizes.  I’m a procrastinator and usually wait until the last-minute to do anything; that includes perpetually running late in getting ready for work.  As a result, I forget to pack my lunch and just “grab something” at the local fast food restaurant.  By the time I do that, I’m starving which leads me to eating more than I really need to.

My biggest goal this week is to PLAN!.  Plan and pack my breakfast and lunches for work.  Plan dinner with some more thought trying to keep portion control in mind with my cooking.

Over the last five years, I’ve gained quite a bit of weight.  Actually a LOT of weight.  110 pounds worth to be exact.  Each year’s weight gain can be attributed some type of big event going on that year.

Year 1  – Getting Married.

Year 2 – Start a new job and get my hours drastically cut soon after.

Year 3 – Starting a new job at the beginning of 2008.

Year 4 -Wiping out on my bicycle at 20 mph, buying a house at the end of 2009, and losing my job due to business closing.

Year 5 – New job but no guaranty it will still be here at the end of this year.

Even though the big events are mostly job related, there were still some other things going on that led to stress in my life.  That and the fact that I LOVE food.  Food and stress.  Stress and food.  Any excuse to eat works for me.  Food is my comfort; I eat when I’m stressed, happy, bored, or busy.  I’ve made several attempts in the past to lose weight.  I even  paid for a personal trainer for most of one year.  With each failure, I found more excuses to avoid attempting to lose weight.

This year, I’m making another attempt to lose some of the weight I really need to lose.  On Tuesday, May 18th, 2010, I joined WeightWatchers ™.  I’ll be using their online tools as I don’t think I could be very faithful to the just going to weekly meetings (that and it’s cheaper).  This blog was started partly because I watched a couple other people blog about their weight loss journey, and the idea of chronicling my own appeals to me.  It’s like an online diary of my day-to-day successes, frustrations, and failures.

I’m also thankful that some of my friends (including my Pastor) have used or are currently using WeightWatchers™.  One thing I’ve read while lurking on various websites and reading different articles is that it’s important to have a support group.  I’ll be relying on these people, and they on me, to stay motivated and to push through the inevitable failures that are sure to be coming.  They will also be the first to celebrate each successful milestone.

So without further ado, here are the first stats:

Beginning Weight: 257 pounds

1st goal: 5% or 13 pounds

Ultimate Goal: 110 pounds