Year: 2009

Almost exactly two years ago, Weight Watchers came to my office. Literally. One of my co-workers started a Weight Watchers at Work program – for 12 weeks, a Weight Watchers leader was going to come right to our building and hold a meeting there… all we had to do was walk down the hall. At that time, I had gained some weight back after having lost a lot after Kate was born, and I was definitely looking to shed a lot few pounds, but I didn’t think Weight Watchers was for me.

“I just can’t count points, I can’t do it,” I told my friend Emilie. “It’s really not hard at all once you get used to it,” she told me. And even though I had watched her and several other of our colleagues at a previous job do Weight Watchers very successfully and even though I commonly refer to her as the smartest person I know, I didn’t really believe her.

But then suddenly it seemed like all I was hearing about was Weight Watchers. I was hearing about it from everyone – or should I say, from everyone who didn’t look like they needed to be on Weight Watchers. “I’m so sick of listening to these skinny girls talk about their dieting!” I thought.

Until it hit me – perhaps that’s how the skinny girls got (or stayed) skinny.

And then I began to think…Hmm. Maybe there’s something to this.

So I signed up for the At Work program. And Emilie was right – counting points was SO not the big deal I had made it out to be in my mind. It didn’t take long at all to catch on to counting the points, and I truly didn’t feel deprived. I did great the first couple of weeks, and while I can’t remember exactly how much I lost, I do remember that I got a star stickers for losing five pounds!

I was hooked.

But then, about three weeks into the 12 week program – surprise! I was pregnant with Sam. Needless to say, I couldn’t complete the program.

After Sam was born, I went back to counting points. Weight Watchers has a great formula for nursing mothers, and slowly and safely, the baby weight (and there was plenty of it, believe me) came off. At that time, though, I wasn’t attending meetings, I was just using the literature and point calculators that I had from my previous experience, and did it by myself. Thanks to the calorie-burning powers of breastfeeding and the desire to put away my maternity jeans once and for all, I had enough motivation to get to my pre-baby weight, and even a little beyond that.

That was about a year ago. And in the past year, I’ve continuously tried to follow the program and count points on my own, and I’ve continuously lost and gained the same five-or-so pounds. I plateaued, and I haven’t been able to break through it.

Just a few weeks ago, however, I heard my good friend Amy in OHio talking about the Weight Watchers “Lose for Good” campaign, and her excitement was evident. She promoted the campaign on her blog last year, and she was looking forward to doing so again this year. I was immediately interested and asked her how I could get involved as well. Amy got me in touch with the wonderful people at Weight Watchers, and they’re letting me work on the campaign alongside Amy, and generously provided me with a couple free months of meetings.

And I am excited.

From LoseForGood.com:
For the second year in a row, Weight Watchers is teaming up with its members and Online subscribers, as well as local communities, sponsors and our charitable partners Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger, to fight hunger and promote healthy living. As you lose weight from 08/30/09-10/17/09, Weight Watchers will donate up to $1 million to help feed children and families in need.

How’s that for motivation?

Additionally, members are finding other ways to make even more of an impact, like organizing local food drives.

In fact, Amy in OHio and I just might have something up our sleeves as well.

I am so excited to be a part of this amazing campaign, and honestly I am so relieved to be going back to Weight Watchers meetings. I know that it’s what I need – not only to reach my weight loss goals, but also – and in fact, mainly – to learn how to eat a healthy and nutritious diet. It’s incredibly important to me to set a good example for my children by living a healthy, active lifestyle, and I know Weight Watchers can help me do just that.

While I won’t attend my first meeting until next Tuesday, I am going to start counting points today. I’ll keep you posted on my weekly weigh-ins, and I’m planning to invite friends with Weight Watchers success stories to do some guest posts. (If you have one and want to talk, let me know!) So wish me luck!

Or better yet – join me. Come on… whose in?

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Take a look at this video – celebrity ambassador Jenny McCarthy talks about her involvement with Weight Watchers and Lose for Good. I could have just posted this instead of the long and rambling 35 paragraphs above, because she certainly says it better than I can!

Remember a few months ago when I skyped with Kelly Ripa? Yeah, that was pretty awesome, wasn’t it? I had the amazing opportunity to speak with Kelly about her involvement with the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. Today, I want to bring that topic up again, in honor of the beginning of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and tell you about another way that we can all play a part in eradicating this awful disease.

Seventh Generation, makers of all-natural household, baby and feminine products, has decided to dedicate one day for women to start talking about gynecological health and, particularly, ovarian cancer. They’ve created “Let’s Talk… Period” Day and today, September 1, if you click here and register your email address, Seventh Generation will make a $1 donation to OCRF. The website has information on ovarian cancer signs, symptoms, risk factors and prevention. As a thank you for participating, Seventh Generation will give each registrant a coupon for their organic cotton tampons that are not bleached with chlorine, free of rayon and don’t contain added perfumes or dyes.

This is a hugely important cause, and not one we often hear about. But believe it or not, ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women. It’s often called the “silent killer” because the symptoms are often vague and by the time it’s diagnosed, it’s often in an advanced stage. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer, but there are tests that can detect it when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms. The most effective way women can protect themselves against ovarian cancer is to learn the signs and symptoms – the OCRF website is a wealth of information, and I encourage you all to go there and learn more, but here are the basics:

Signs & Symptoms
• Bloating
• Pelvic and/or abdominal pain
• Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
• Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

Risk Factors
• Increasing age, with highest occurrence in women over 50
• Family or personal history of ovarian, breast, endometrial, or colon cancer
• Uninterrupted ovulation (having no pregnancies, infertility, low parity)
• Presence of gene mutations, especially BRCA 1 or BRCA 2

Prevention & Risk Reduction
• Use of oral contraceptives for more than five years can reduce your risk by approximately 50%
• Multiple pregnancies, having first full-term pregnancy before the age of 25
• Breastfeeding

As I mentioned in my previous post, this cause is particularly close to my heart, as I lost my mother to ovarian cancer. I am honored to help spread the word about Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and I sincerely hope that you will all visit www.LetsTalkPeriod.com today as well as OCRF‘s website to learn more about this devastating disease.

Also, please take a minute to watch the video below and to hear the story of Melissa Weiss, an ovarian cancer survivor.

Moral of the story? Know your body. Listen to it. And if you know something is wrong, find a doctor who will listen. Advocate for yourself, and don’t stop until they give you real answers.

Thank you.