So fellas, what was your first impression of the title? Did you call me derogatory names? Did you laugh? Why is Bryan talking about meetings of overweight women in spandex and over-sized shirts?
If that’s what you think Weight Watchers is, you should listen up, because when a man of my level of skepticism shows up to praise something I have to spend money on, you might want to pay attention.
I have chronic back problems, specifically Degenerative Disk Disease, and about once a year or so, I have a relapse of pain that likes to remind me of this condition, hence the word “chronic”.
In 2003, during one of these relapses, I had decided that enough was enough. I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life at 216 pounds (which is heavy for a guy at 5’8″), and I had known that there is a correlation between weight and back pain. As a matter-of-fact, I had a doctor tell me that there were 3 things I could do to minimize or prevent these chronic back problems:
- Keep my weight under 185.
- Exercise and strengthen the core and back muscles to provide support.
- Stop smoking cigars and drinking.
Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
A doctor once told me also that excessive weight means that you might as well be carrying an extra sack of potatoes around 24-7.
I needed to do something fast. I thought about what would be the best way to lose weight. Here it is. You ready?
- Eat healthy
- Exercise
That’s it. That’s what you need to do. Easier said than done right?
I needed to come up with a plan, either one that I devised (I am not a dietitian), or I would follow some program. I had 3 criteria:
- Structure. I grew up in a family where food was important. This is not a critique of my family. Americans in general have an obsession with food, but that’s a different blog post. I had let my over-eating take control and I needed something to help me reign it in.
- Simplicity. I have better things to do with my time and brain-power than memorize which fucking food has too much starch, carbs, sugar, fat, fiber, hydrogenated oil, “good fat”, “bad fat”, cholesterol, salt, enzymes, fungus, urine, rat feces or whatever some fad diet tells me I have to or can’t eat.
- Permanence. The plan had to be something that I could follow for the rest of my life, not something that I follow for 3 months and then abandon.
- Power. I want to continue to eat foods that I want to eat.
Looking at my options, and with a little help from my beautiful wife, I joined Weight Watchers in March of 2003. Since then I have lost 36 pounds and with very little variance have kept it off.
Recently, the Weight Watchers program has placed even more of an emphasis on exercise.
It’s the only weight program I can think of that let’s you eat anything you want, you simply have to limit how much of it you eat. It’s portion control. And it works.
The way I think of Weight Watchers is that it basically puts you onto a food budget. Want to eat steak? You got it. Ice Cream? You got it. You just have to plan for it.
And, no more back pain.
