[waiting on the world to change]

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Last week I decided to re-join Weight Watchers.

Over the course of the summer of 2012 I lost a substantial amont of weight. I made it about halfway to my goal weight before everything changed. Things were going smoothly downhill with a minor hiccup here or there. Then I really started disliking my job. So I held steady for a while, neither gaining nor losing a single pound. After a few months of this, the weight started to come back. I had quit working and hadn't lined up another job so I was home. A lot. As a result, a small amount of the weight came back. It wasn't enough to undo everything but it was enough to be noticeable.

When I got back to Georgia, I tried a number of different approaches to losing weight. I just wasn't as comfortable in my skin and I wanted to reach my goal. The main qualification is that whatever I did, it had to be free. I absolutely did not want to spend a dime of the precious little money I had on weight loss tools.

Nothing worked. I took a few pounds off. I put them back on. I took them off again. I put them on again.

So I made a decision in New Orleans: if on Monday morning I had enough money in my account to cover the sign-up fee, I was going to re-join Weight Watchers. Come Monday morning I had more than enough money. But still I hesitated. On Tuesday afternoon I bit the bullet and signed up.

I am so thankful that I did.

As I write this, I have no idea if my weight's changed at all (I don't weigh-in again until tomorrow).  But still.

Over the years I've tried every method out there. I've created strict workout routines, counted calories, followed eating plans. Everything worked for about two days then it was business as usual.

There's something about Weight Watchers that just clicks for me.

There are incentives for eating healthy. I feel rewarded for eating fresh produce; fruits & vegetables don't cost any points. I love seeing the little green triangles that tell me I made a healthy choice, even if it wasn't fresh produce. I accrue points for working out that I can hoard greedily and gloat to myself about how active I was.

There is flexibility for real life. In addition to my daily point target, I have weekly points to spend as I choose. Weekly points equal a margarita on Friday night at a Mexican restaurant. If I want, I can use my activity points before I dip into my weekly points to give me extra wiggle room. Though I typically prefer to hoard my activity points (there's something so magical about the total at the end of the week), it's wonderful knowing that I have that safety net in case I need it.

There is nothing that I can't have. I don't know about you, but I am a "forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest" kind of girl. Tell me not to eat cookies and I'll abstain for a while only to eat a whole package  that night for dinner or the next day for lunch. With Weight Watchers I can still have a cookies. I just have to chose how many points I'm willing to spend on those cookies.

There is convenience too. I don't have to carry a journal around and a points calculator and what not. Everything's available online. There are smart phone apps for when I'm out and about. There's also a scanner that reads barcodes so I don't have to search through all the International Delight creamers to find the specific one I had for breakfast. Weight can be tracked online and you never have to attend a single meeting. I'm not a fan of meetings though I have to been to them. Although the traditional options are there for me, I can do this all digitally and never have to worry about losing my journal or finding a meeting location and time that works for me.

Counting calories just feels more restrictive than counting points. I know that's silly but for some reason, I tend to get obsessive about calories whereas I don't with points.

Yes the program is expensive. But how much is your health worth to you? What about your peace of mind?

For me, the calm that comes with knowing I'm actively making changes to my health plus the boost in confidence as pounds melt away makes this program worth every penny. I'm telling you as a real person, this program works. No I'm not being compensated in any way for this post. Weight Watchers doesn't even know I'm writing it. I just love the program that much.

So here's to getting back on track and finishing what I started!