Editor’s note: I’m so thrilled to share our family photos we had shot by Marla and Shane in Florida. It was our 12th anniversary gift to each other, and maybe my most favorite thing we’ve ever spent money on, ever. TAKE PHOTOS with your family – it’s worth it!

August marked seven months since I joined Weight Watchers and I’m proud to announce that I have lost a total of 28.6 pounds thus far. I LOVE my life on Weight Watchers. I feel so much better physically and emotionally, and I finally feel like I’ve got my style mojo back after years of pregnancy, postpartum, and then being heavier than ever.

A few stats — (ok, deep breath because I’m divulging ACTUAL numbers – GAHHHH)

I was 230 pounds when Archer was born(!), and within a few weeks, was down to 191 with minimal effort. I stayed there for awhile and then I gained weight at the latter part of 2016 (GEE THANKS, stress). I finally threw in the towel and joined WW when I saw my photo in the paper last December. It was a full-page article on Christmas decor and I wanted to die of mortification (and not just because my hair was Designing Women large).  When I went to weigh in on my first day at WW in January 2017, I was shocked and dismayed to see that I was 205.6 pounds. I wanted to curl up and sob in the bathroom.

My goal is to be down to my college/newlywed weight, which was 165. That means I’m only about 12 pounds away from that goal, which is crazy!

Overall I haven’t had many issues staying on the plan. As I’ve lost weight, the number of points I get daily has shrunk but now that I’m below 200 pounds, it won’t go any lower than 30 points/day (plus the overage allotted by the weekly points).

TRACKING EVERY BITE

The hardest part in the past two months has been losing anything. I’ve maintained overall, but focusing on losing weight while being at the lake in particular has been really hard. So much fried food, etc., that it makes it tricky to eat out at all and stay on track.  I’m focusing now on making sure I track every single thing I put in my mouth. And likewise, I’m also excited now that school has started to be on a regular routine so I can attend meetings again. Summer was tricky with the kids being hither and yon, although Archer and Jude both were excited about going with me to see the weigh-in, for some reason. Ha!

Anyway, all that being said, I HIGHLY recommend attending meetings. The support you get in meetings makes it so much easier to stay on task.

Stay close on your goal.

Weight Watchers is big on understanding your why. Why are you focusing on losing weight? For me, it was all about Future Me and doing her a big favor. My boys deserve a healthy mom and my husband deserves a wife who feels great about herself. And I don’t want to always be avoiding the camera or not having my picture taken because I feel ashamed. NOPE. NOT HAVING IT!

A FEW QUESTIONS FROM READERS

Are there multiple points plans now? If so, which did you do?

No, not multiple points plans. There are multiple plan options for if you want to be an online-only member, or if you want to attend meetings. But the amount of points you’re given a day are based on your gender, height, and weight. Once I got under 200 pounds, my daily points allotment went to 30 and it won’t ever go below that.

What do you do for snacks?

I try to go for something as filling and low-points as possible. That usually means high protein (low points), or fruit (zero points), or veggies (zero points). Fruit is my faaaaaaavorite. And no, I have not always been able to say that. My fruit and veggie consumption has increased substantially in the past seven months.

I tend to have fairly unfussy taste. I also eat a lot of plain popcorn and I’m particularly obsessed with these GoodThins because you get a ton of bang for your buck. You can eat 41 of them for only 3 smart points, which is awesome. They’re just like corn chips and I love them with salsa or when I need a tex mex fix.

Do you feel deprived?

No, not at all. I still eat many of the same things I ate previously. I just eat less. It’s funny, almost everybody has said something along the lines of “Well, I’ll bet this isn’t Weight Watchers-approved.”  But the thing is, everything is WW approved. I still drink wine from time to time, and I still eat cake.  I just don’t eat it all at the same time. And because WW is all about making choices, there’s been times when I have eaten a great big slice of cake at a party, but then nothing but fruit and veggies the rest of the day.

The thing I’ve learned is that you can have it all. You just can’t have it all at the same time. I can’t be healthy and eat all the french fries I want. And that sucks, right? It’s hard to be overweight and it’s hard to be skinny.

Ok, that does it – comment here if you’ve got any more WW questions for me!

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