My History with Weight Watchers

So here's the story.

December 27, 2008 I joined Weight Watchers. I had been living in NYC for almost 3 months at the time and had gained about 20lbs since moving. Now, anyone that lives in NYC knows that it is a tough city to find your place in. I felt very alone, depressed and stressed out.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but when I get down I eat. Ice cream is probably my biggest weakness. I can down an entire 1.5 gallons of Breyer's in a single seating. Don't believe me -- ask my roommates. I've even taken to (in the last 2 years) buying cashews or party peanuts to pour on top of each bowl for a little saltiness with my sweets.

So, on December 27, 2008 I decided to make a change. I joined Weight Watchers (waiting til after the Holiday because I knew my mom wouldn't like me not eating the feasts the family had prepared -- and in all honesty, I wouldn't have liked it either!) I spent the next 30 odd days counting points, spending WAY too much money on SmartOnes (in NYC they are WAY overpriced), and trying in vain to still validate eating Pad Thai. Still, I lost about 10lbs and was feeling good.

I had already made the decision to move back to Chicago on February 1, 2008. I was going to be living alone for the first time in my life AND I had a job at an office, so I wasn't going to be constantly distracted by food (as I would be at a restaurant). Every Saturday, my sister and I would go to Target to buy groceries. I decided to ONLY purchase Weight Watchers approved foods. This consisted of a weeks worth of the following: SmartOnes, Zero Point Progresso Soup, Frozen Vegetables, Oatmeal, Diet Soda, Sugar Free Jello, Rice Cakes and Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Every Monday I would take 5 SmartOnes into work, label them and put them in the freezer. Every two weeks or so I would bring a large container of Oatmeal and rice cakes, and every day I would bring in about 4 or 5 Diet Sodas.

Here is how my day consisted:

9:00am: Arrive at work and make a bowl of Oatmeal with Splenda (2 points)
9:30am: Drink Cup of Coffee with Splenda (0 points)
12:00pm: Drink 1st Diet Soda and have 2 Rice Cakes (2 points)
1:30pm: Drink 2nd Diet Soda
3:00pm: Quickly eat SmartOnes for lunch (4-6 points)
3:05pm - 4:00pm: Take nap
4:00pm: Drink 3rd Diet Soda and eat EXACTLY 7 pretzels from break room (2 points)
5:00pm: Take 4th Diet Soda for train ride home
5:30pm - 7:00pm: Cardio on Stairmaster for 30-60 minutes (burning 9-11 points)
Walking/Running on Treadmill for 30 min (burning 8 points)
7:30pm: Eat Dinner -- SmartOnes (4-6 points), Veggies (0 points), Soup (1 point)
8:30pm: Eat Skinny Cow (2 points)

Points Eaten: 17-21 (850-1050 calories)
Points Burned Off: 17-19 (850-950 calories)

I was able to do this for about 8 months. In those 8 months I lost 85lbs. Now, I admit a couple things about this:

1) It ridiculous that I can name (2 years later) every single thing that I ate for 8 months.

2) Clearly surviving on effectively 0-100 calories a day is not a healthy lifestyle.

Needless to say, after 8 months I was hungry. Of course, in true AJ fashion I went back whole hog and have slowly over the last 2 years gained 47lbs back.

And so here we are....