Well, hello there! My name is Doreen. For those who know me from my Instagram page (@doreengantt), hi! For those who are new to my blog, welcome. Either way, have a seat and buckle up: it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
Please take a good look at the photos above. They are in no way photoshopped or messed with or anything. This is the best representation I have of how far I’ve come on my Weight Watchers journey (so far). As of January 7, I’ve lost a total of 52.1 pounds since July 2017. I lost 41.7 pounds of that on Weight Watchers, which I joined on August 6. The other 10.4 pounds were probably scared off me when my cardiologist told me in July that I had an incurable illness called Pulmonary Hypertension (PH, for short). He told me, in effect, that I needed to lose weight…or die. Two weeks later, my pulmonologist said the very same thing. Neither of them mince their words and thank God for that. So, having just lost both my mother and my brother less than a year before, I freaked out a little bit (oh, all right, a lot) and got on the scale – which was cause for another near meltdown. I weighed 343.5 pounds. How in the hell had that happened? When in the hell had that happened? The picture on the left was taken just two months earlier – looking at that, how did I not see it? I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror every day – what in God’s name was I looking at that I didn’t see what I had become? My world started coming a little unglued in July 2017, and I had no choice but to hit the reset button. And now, six months later, I’m glad I did.
I love Weight Watchers. It’s easy to follow, it makes sense, it’s fairly idiot proof, you don’t have to lose your mind counting macro- and micro-nutrients, and nothing is really off limits – you just have to learn control and moderation. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I was cranky (and hungry) AF for the first couple of weeks but once I got past that and I got used to working within my daily points (I tend not to use my weeklies too much), it became really easy, and by the end of my first month, I’d lost 9.5 pounds. The following month, September, I lost 12.3 pounds. By October, I leveled off somewhat and subsequent losses weren’t so dramatic but I did keep losing. December was kind of bad, but not because I gained during the holidays but because I plateaued. It might have been the effects of some new meds I was on but between Christmas and New Year’s, I broke through and lost a little over six pounds. Weight Watchers really works for me and I swear by it.
So, in this blog, I’m going to share my journey so far and the road I have yet to travel (I have another 96 pounds to go before I hit goal and I’ll explain why I chose my goal in another post). I’m going to talk about what works for me, given my unique health issues, what doesn’t work, what foods I like, and what I steer clear of. I want to share ideas and bitch and moan about this crazy journey and hang with like-minded people. I want this, and my Instagram page, to keep me accountable (because I’m gonna lose this weight, damn it!!!). I want to vent my fears about what my body is going to look like after the weight loss (excess skin, anyone?), and, most of all, I want to help others start and continue their own journey to Onederland.
Until next time, remember: every day is a chance to hit that reset button…
The Reset Button: A WW Journey 