Conference rocks::weight_control

    
    Judy,
    
    Maybe you could say to your friend to stick with it so
    both of you can share together.  Tell her you need her
    support and wished she would continue.. You could tell
    her also so read this Weightloss file and read about the
    stories about people gaining or winning and that we are
    all in the same boat and it's not easy but we can do this
    if we put our minds to it..
    
    If your friend gives up she may never lose the weight she
    wishes.. also I bet if she hung in there she will see
    a lose soon as we do go through times when we don't lose
    or we gain some.. but I know myself I am just starting to lose
    once again after a long time of staying the same..
    
    No matter if your friend continues or not you show a good example
    and you know what she may see how good you look and go back!
    
    Good Luck it's not easy but we are here with you.
    
    Ann
    
    

    Judy:
    
    Funny that you should put this note in -- my wife and I are currently
    experiencing a similar situation with her mother.  Her mother did
    well for a while, losing just over half of the forty pounds needed
    for her to reach goal.  However, since about mid-December, she's
    been straying from program, not recording losses regularly, and
    has been getting discouraged.  I'll be reading the replies you get
    to this note with a bit of interest; hopefully we'll both find
    something in this note that will help us.
    
    I'll second Ann's suggestion about telling your friend about this
    conference.  Perhaps the support this conference has provided me
    and others can be the boost that your friend needs.
    
    
    py                    

    I have no idea about how to encourage, successfully at least, anyone
    to lose, or continue losing weight.  For years people have been
    attempting to encourage me, but to no avail.  A person either makes
    the decision or doesn't.  It boils down to being up to the overweight
    person themselves.  Encouragement may come from outside, but the
    determination must come from within.
    
    If I were to try though, I would encourage short term goals.  The
    real aim might well be to eventually lose all of the excess weight;
    but realism dicatates a more practical and attainable approach. This
    goal can be a set number of pounds, or just as effective, an attempt
    to stay ON PROGRAM TODAY.  I firmly believe that any success that
    I have had has been because I adopted the attitude of one day at
    a time,  and aiming at signifigant attainable intermidiant goals.
    This made it easier to stay on plan, and equally important to forgive
    momentary laspes and get back on plan.  Eventually this can lead
    to your next goal being your final weight loss goal.  I could never
    have succeeded in a attempt to lose 204 pounds, but by going one
    day/step at a time I have reached the point where my next pound,
    hopefully at tomorrow's meeting, will be the final one to that
    unatainable feat.
    
    The other thing is to realize that a sense of futileness is bound
    to occur sometime.  Just don't give up.  Try to maintain for awhile.
    I ran into this last summer.  May 4th I weighed 226 and by October
    5th I was up to 229,  when I got through this period I had managed
    to stay close enough that I was not discouraged and was able to
    get my act back together and resume the march toward eventual success.
    
    Whether we are trying to lose weight, write a program, or design
    a chip, the whole task usually seems impossible.  However, if we
    step back and break it into parts we can and will manage it.  Failure
    seems to be the result of attempting the impossible, success is
    the result of breaking the impossible into enough easier pieces.
    
    Good Luck,
    
    -Joe
                     
     

> The other thing is to realize that a sense of futileness is bound
> to occur sometime.  Just don't give up.  Try to maintain for awhile.
> I ran into this last summer.  May 4th I weighed 226 and by October
> 5th I was up to 229,  when I got through this period I had managed
> to stay close enough that I was not discouraged and was able to
> get my act back together and resume the march toward eventual success.

    This is approximately what I was going to suggest.  If your friend is
    really fed up with being on a diet, maybe she *should* take a vacation!
    I have a friend who lost about 40 lbs on WW (before I met her), and is
    not currently on program.  She plans to go back to get rid of the last
    30 (my guess) sometime in the future.

    The important thing is that she's not putting it back on.  In spite of
    not being "on program," she's now thinking about what she eats, and
    taking responsibility.

    Try suggesting to your friend that she go ahead and try maintaining for
    one cycle (ours are 10 weeks); maybe seeing that she can keep it off
    will be the extra kick she needs to get back to work on the rest of it!

    Beverly

    
    It's very hard on your body to constantly gain and lose weight --
    the yo-yo syndrome. So if your friend isn't really psyched, I also
    agree that she should take a vacation - as long as she doesn't gain.
    She should find it much easier to lose (if and) when she tries to lose 
    again. 
    

    Judy,
    
    Don't give up.  If your friend wants stop going let her.  Maybe she is
    not ready mentally to commit herself to the struggle of losing weight. 
    
    Ask your WW members, family and friends to be your moral support.
    
    Take each meal first, then each day at a time.  I strayed off the program 
    because I got lazy with weighing and measuring and writing down what I had 
    eaten, and I started to gain back what I had lost.  
    
    I have gone back to WW after not going for 3 months with a different frame 
    of mind. I weigh and measure my meals and write down what I have eaten, 
    even if I stray off program.  I have been going for 2 weeks and have lost
    10 lbs.  That's the most I ever lost in that short of time.
    
    We have to take those first tough steps before we get to the easy one!!
    
    Reach for that Goal!
    
    Avis
      
    
    

    In my opinion you should just leave her alone. The last thing she needs
    right now is someone close to her, telling her what to do. It is
    obvious that she does not want the same as you do. Give her time. If
    she wants to lose weight, she will return to weight watchers or maybe
    she will find something different that helps her more than weight
    watchers.
    
    Another thing to keep in mind is that people rarely gain say 50 pounds
    in a months time, so they can't realistically expect to lose that much
    that quick. Sure there are going to be times when you lose 10 pounds in
    one or two weeks, but I'd be willing to bet that would happen after
    experiencing a "platue". A platue, is when you stay at the same weight,
    fluxuating a pound or two for what seems like an eternity. Trust me,
    I know as I have been at a "platue" since November. There is no way
    anyone could convince me that it is due to lack of effort. It is simply
    how the body works.
    
    To make a long story short... You do your thing and she'll do her
    thing.
    
    Best of luck at being a loser!
    Actually, I see this new "Fast start" program that weight watchers are
    advertising, as a rip off. Any one who has been dieting _knows_ that
    you lose fast when you just start out. It's after your body has
    stabilized a bit that you start losing at a safer rate of about a pound
    or two per week. Ask your doctor, they will tell you the same.
    

    The amount of weightloss each week will depend on your body type,
    metabolism etc.  I have been losing 3.5 to 4 pounds each week for the
    past 13 weeks.  I am following WW (from their new cook book) not
    classes.  The only changes I have made are to add one bread, and to
    count my fat grams a day.  I am keeping this to less than 13% on
    average a day.  I suppose the bread could be put under the optional
    calories per week.
    
    And then I walk 60km (36mile) a week and swim three times a week.  I
    regularly take my measurements and have kept a chart with twice week
    entries for the past 3 months for all the above.
    
    ...dale