Now You Know

The studious reader of Family of Food may have noticed that many references to Weight Watchers for the last several months. I am the one on the diet. This is the second time I have seriously and successfully embarked upon weight loss in my life. I am a lover of food after all and I have never been skinny. When I was a child I tried every diet on the planet, fairly unsuccessfully, and it was not until I was an adult did I ever find the knowledge and the will to really slim down. The first time I tried Weight Watchers (as an adult), I lost over 40 pounds.


After that first time I used this program, I was for the first time in my life, within the normal range of body size. I enjoyed a period of time where I was not seen or treated as fat. Although I was the same person, others did treat me quite differently. There was a guy I worked with who had never spoken to me before the weight loss and then after was friendly. I would have never guessed that my size was the reason he shunned me previously, but another told me that this was the change that caused him to want to interact with me. This person probably did not even realize he had done this. Fat prejudice is ingrained into the American psyche. After the weight loss, I was flirted with a lot more, I got a raise (maybe a coincidence), people touched me more... that was hard to get used to. Then, I got pregnant.


I carried twins in my body and had to adjust my eating habits to the needs of two growing babies. Even pregnant, the very day before I gave birth to my twins, I weighed less than when I started Weight Watchers for the first time. After the birth, the twins needed to be fed so, I supported the needs of my nursing babies. Producing milk for two takes a tremendous amount of energy, so I was free to eat without the much worry of weight gain. I even tried getting back on Weight Watchers at that time to lose the pregnancy weight, but they could not give me enough points to fuel my milk production. After the nursing was done, however, I was still very hungry all the time, and the weight started to creep back on. At this time, the needs of my twins do not dictate my caloric intake, so I am attempting to get back down to my pre baby/post weight loss weight and perhaps get even a few pounds thinner.


When I first joined Weight Watchers, I was terrified to go to a meeting, because If I saw someone I knew, then they would know I was fat. Silly right? It wasn't top secret information. Everyone knew I was overweight, it was right there for everyone to see. At my first meeting I did see several people I knew and had always admired... the last people I would have wanted to see at a meeting. I was mortified. It turned out that they were nice and encouraging and if they even cared, would have already known that I was heavy. Going to the meetings meant that I had to recognise the flaw in myself. Up until now, I had not wanted to write much about my Weight Watchers experience, because it exposes my not-so-secret secret. My friends read this blog, my family reads this blog, you read this blog. So, I have written it and now, you know.