I'm a collector of bears and my nickname is Mombear.  DH took this picture in March 2003, when I was 194.0 lbs.     

On July 19, 2004, after some research, I decided to embark on a new diet plan.  Although Weight Watchers has certainly been a successful plan for me, my weight loss has been stalled for at least a year.  Since I noticed my weight start to creep back up, I decided that I had to do something different.  And the  South Beach Diet (SBD) is it!  During my first week on the plan, I lost 7.5 lbs, without feeling hungry (after the first couple of days.)  It took a couple of days to get used to not being on a low fat diet.  I really like the fact that the SBD concentrates on eating the "good" carbs and fats, and still cautions about eating more than you need to feel satisfied.  At this point, I am going to edit my weight loss log to show a new paragraph with SBD stats.  From what I understand, the weight loss on this plan, will be slow, but should be steady.  It has three phases, the second phase showing the slow losses.  Once I begin the second phase, I may decide to weigh only every two weeks.  We shall see how it goes...

Teresa was born... OH! not THAT beginning!

I started my most recent journey with Weight Watchers on January 31, 2002. It actually began a year before that when several of my co-workers started attending meetings and were doing quite well with their weight losses. They shared with me and that got me to thinking about trying it myself. However, I just wasn't ready to commit at that time.

Finally, in November, 2002, I made the decision and was hoping to attend my first meeting with one of my co-workers. I found that they had quit going to meetings after about six months but were considering joining again... to make a long story short, arrangements were made to have a Weight Watchers Representative come to our workplace and hold a meeting once a week. We were able to get the minimum number of interested "bodies" and the starting date was set for January 31, 2002. The original commitment was for 13 weeks, and I was successful in reaching my first 10% goal during that time! Only three of us out of 13 made it. That was so encouraging for me! Due to a change in management, we were unable to continue with the workplace meetings and I then chose to attend traditional meetings. I paid for eight meetings in advance since my life was beginning to change once again... I lost close to ten pounds during those weeks, bringing my total loss to 35.4 lbs.

The change in my life at that point began when my husband applied and was hired for a job in Arizona. We were living in Pennsylvania then, owned a home and had two children in college. My husband left PA in March, driving cross-country to set us up. It was left to me to handle the sale of the house (the second time, since it happened once before, he being a career Army man.) With God's help, everything progressed smoothly. We also had assistance from some very dear friends.

To make another very long story short, I arrived in AZ in June, 2002. Once I settled in, and discovered there are no Weight Watchers centers on the Indian Reservation where we live, I made the decision to join online. I weighed in for the WW Online program on July 6, 2002 at 218 lbs. That was a whopping 13 lbs lost since June 19! Needless to say, I was ecstatic!

I am thrilled with the support and inspiration I have found while doing this online. I would recommend it to anyone who can't attend meetings or doesn't wish to attend meetings. However, if meetings are available, I would suggest attending them just to get started. They would help get you in the right frame of mind. I am known on the Weight Watchers message boards as TLC613. I usually hang out on the 100+ Pounds to Lose board. I have lost 71.9lbs thus far and I will continue with this lifestyle change for the rest of my life. I have about 50 lbs to goal and I'm confident that I will reach it...

To sign my guestbook click on link at above left.  Thanks for visting.