When Ann Goss, a member of Weight Watchers in Fenton, weighed in on Friday, she was hoping that her 98-pound loss recorded the week before would turn into her 100-pound milestone this week.
She plans to celebrate the occasion by buying herself something special — the way she has rewarded herself along her weight-loss journey, which began in April 2009.
Having fought a weight problem her entire life, Goss finally decided to do something about it after her mom died of cancer. “I saw how my mom fought for life every day,” said Goss, 48, the mother of three children and grandmother of one. “When you’re overweight, you’re practically giving away those days.”
As an overweight teen, she was pushed by her father to try to lose weight with Weight Watchers, but she never tried it until last spring, when she signed up for Friday meetings. She has lost weight every week except for two, one staying the same and the other gaining a scant, but frustrating quarter pound.
Exercise has been her biggest weight-loss ally, but she had to learn how to love it on her own terms. Using her Nintendo Wii Fit, she has progressed from barely being able to move for 15 minutes at a time, to exercising between 1 to 1½ hours, six days a week. “Exercise was the hardest part for me,” admits Goss. “But now, I actually like the way it makes me feel. I have the energy to keep up with my 4-year-old granddaughter.”
She also keeps her “before” photo on the refrigerator as a daily reminder of the way she used to look and feel. She hardly recognizes the person she has become — a much more self-confident woman, who finds many more reasons to smile.
While Goss is proud to be winning the battle of the bulge, the most important goal is to win the war — keeping the weight off for the long-term.
Judith Awrylo, 70 of Linden, has lost 70 pounds at Weight Watchers in Fenton and has kept them off for 2½ years. However, she’s as vigilant today as she was during the time it took for her to lose the weight. “I go to meetings every single week,” said Awrylo, a lifetime member, which means she attends free, as long as she stays within 2 pounds of her goal at monthly weigh-ins. “It keeps me accountable and I’m always learning new things from other members.”
For Awrylo, the key to weight loss is good health and maintenance. “Any diet in which you take in fewer calories than you expend will allow you to lose weight,” she said. “I’ve been on every diet there is. But, maintenance is the big thing. For me, it’s one day at a time.”
Weight Watchers has been around since 1961, but has changed from a very restrictive diet with a number of foods that weren’t “on program” — to the very flexible eating plan of today, in which every food is given a points value, based on its calories, fat and fiber content. There’s an emphasis today on daily healthy food guidelines, as well as exercise. No food is off-limits, but members must eat within a certain point range every day, based upon their age, weight and activity level. Today’s Weight Watcher program is drastically different from the program with which Florine Mark originally lost her 50 pounds decades ago. Now, president and CEO of The WW Group, Inc., based in Farmington Hills, Mark is the leading franchise holder of Weight Watchers International. Overseeing franchises throughout Michigan and Ontario, Canada, Mark is also the “name and the face” of Weight Watchers on television, radio and at seminars and workshops around the world.
She’s also a faithful attendee of monthly meetings and weigh-ins at home in Oakland County. “I need Weight Watcher classes,” said Mark, in a phone interview with The Tri-County Times last Monday. “I get a wonderful feeling there, and the classes help keep me honest. When I’m in class, I’m just a member like everybody else.”
For people who are unable to attend meetings, Weight Watchers offers an on-line program as well as “e-Tools” with on-line resources available to aid in weight loss and weight management.
TOPS
Another tried-and-true, weight-loss program that has been around for decades is TOPS — Take Off Pounds Sensibly. Its emphasis is on group support and encouragement like Weight Watchers, but prides itself on its non-commercial status as a nonprofit organization, which keeps member fees low.
Several locations around the tri-county area host TOPS meetings, including Loose Senior Citizen Center in Linden, Trinity Lutheran Church and Lake Fenton United Methodist Church, both in Fenton.
Tackling a weight problem with the support of others — such as Weight Watchers and TOPS — is clearly a proven method of not only winning the battle of the bulge, but also winning the war of lifetime weight management.
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