Well, it’s September and that can only mean one thing. I finally made the decision to head back to Weight Watchers. My reason was simple. None of my clothes are fitting properly, I can see the reflection of my very round posterior in store windows and when I’ve posed for photos with my family, my double chin is rearing it’s ugly head (or should I say chin).
And so, at 12 noon today, I took my trusty membership booklet over to a Weight Watchers center in Chelsea and soon learned that I had gained four pounds since the last time I joined. But this time dear readers, I intend to lose weight for good…and not just “for now.” And lucky for me, I’ll be shedding pounds for a great cause!
Weight Watchers (WTW) recently announced the start of the second annual Lose For Good campaign, created to raise awareness about two global epidemics – obesity and hunger. Between August 30th and October 17th, as Weight Watchers Members and Online subscribers lose weight, the company will donate up to $1 million to two hunger fighting organizations – Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. Last year, the campaign impacted more than 250,000 children and families domestically and actually represented the difference between life and death for more than 6,000 malnourished children abroad.
This year, Jenny McCarthy, a passionate activist and actress, has joined the campaign to generate awareness about this important cause. As a campaign ambassador, McCarthy will participate in media appearances and star in a public service announcement encouraging Americans to get healthier while also helping to end hunger. In addition, McCarthy helped Weight Watchers kick off Lose For Good by participating in a ceremony where the company donated a “Good Food Garden” to the Arroyo Head Start center in Altadena, CA, run by the Center for Community and Family Services, Inc. The Arroyo Head Start center serves underprivileged children in the community and until now did not have funding to build a sustainable garden for the kids to use for educational and nutritional purposes.
Even though it’s my first night, I’m more determined than ever to reach my goal – especially since my mom took off more than 30 pounds on the plan and is thinner than ever! As my first Weight Watcher lecturer told us more than 28 years ago (yes, I was that young when I first joined) “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.” I hear ya sister, so hopefully I’ll have some good news to report in the coming weeks!
The Biggest Loser And Me
So yesterday, after an insane afternoon where I took the kids to catch the premiere of Zwinky Cuties and meet Disney sensation Jordan Pruitt (more on that later since I’m still sorting through my pictures and realized my camera crapped out), I avoided all the incredible sweets at the event (okay, I admit I had 3 swedish fish), came home to eat a well balanced Weight Watchers approved meal (fat free hot dog, sauerkraut, 1 bun and some veggies), got the kids to do their homework, ate my two points cookie ice cream bar and then curled up with my blanket on the couch to watch one of my favorite reality shows, The Biggest Loser.
Yes, I know, I am a cheese ball. But I am such a sucker for transformation and makeover shows and I just love it that every episode without fail, I start crying whenever someone’s refrigerator gets turned off. So last night, the show is featuring a new twist – families. That means husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons and more can compete to be the Biggest Loser. And these people have a significant amount of weight to lose. Many of them tip the scales at well over 300 pounds! And to think, I’m whining that I put on 8 pounds since the summer.
Anyway, amazingly, these fierce competitors shed double digit weight losses in the first week except for the losing couple, Stacy and Adam – Stacy only dropped 9 pounds while her hubby did drop a lot more. Either way, they got the heave ho and we did get to see that since they left the Biggest Loser campus, they’ve already shed more than 50 pounds between them.
Personally, I’d love to fast forward to the last couple of weeks so that I can see how svelte these people get but either way, it’s delicious programming without the calories. Now if only I could lose 9 pounds in a week, then I could have reached my goal and quit complaining. Okay, reality check. I’m Losing For Good -that’s what Weight Watchers tells me – for every pound I lose it goes to charity and as of this morning, I think I’ve taken off a pound and half. We shall see what the scale says on Friday…stay tuned and see if this Little Loser pulls in a big weight loss this week!
Weight Watchers…We Have a Winner!
After lamenting about my weight gain this summer, I’ve officially decided to give my tried and true diet ally a whirl. Weight Watchers.
I’ve been a lifetime member since I’m 12 years old so if anything is going to get me to lose weight and keep it off, then it’s Weight Watchers or bust.
Plus, if I lose weight in the next several weeks, I can actually do it for a good cause!
On September 7, Weight Watchers will launch Lose for Good, a campaign created to empower people to get healthier while also giving back to others in need. The program addresses two global epidemics – obesity and chronic hunger and malnutrition.
For every pound lost with Weight Watchers during a six-week period, beginning September 7 and ending October 18, Weight Watchers will donate the cost of one pound of food — up to one million dollars. The funds will go to two hunger-fighting organizations: Share Our Strength, which works to make sure no child in America grows up hungry, and Action Against Hunger, which provides immediate and long-term solutions for hunger to people around the world.
To learn more about the Lose for Good campaign, view exclusive content including a video by the visionary iO Tillett Wright and Overspray, and to get involved, visit Lose for Good. Or, to join Weight Watchers online, click here.