Weight Watcher's Diaries Part One
By Carol Daelemans, forward by Kathleen Daelemans

My much younger, prettier, smarter and way funnier sister, Carol is going on a diet. I asked her if she'd share her journey on the site, "Are you out of your mind?" "I'll baby-sit your kids while you go to Europe this summer with, Marc (her husband)" I purred. "For a whole, month?" "Yep". "I'll call my agent," she doesn't have one (yet) and was making fun of me, "and I'll let you know."

Two hours later, I got this email from her, "Here's my first and second installment. Let me know if you want me to elaborate on any area. Feel free to edit as you see fit. I will think bad thoughts about you but you will never know. Just like your editor doesn't know what you really think of her hatchet jobs."

—Kathleen Daelemans


Article by Carol Daelemans

Background: I have been told for years by several different doctors that I'm fat and I need to lose weight. This was never a huge surprise to me. With the exception of my older sister who has worked her a-- off making a healthy, low-weight lifestyle for herself, it sort of runs in the family.

Finally, I decided to listen to one of these doctors. I have been working out at the gym for some time but through a pregnancy and a half, I failed to move the weight. This summer, my girlfriend and I started walking regularly. This helped to shrink the size of my behind but not to drop the weight. Unfortunately, the onset of winter has stopped all walking regardless of the best laid plans. The doctor recommended Weight Watchers or a dietician. Weight Watchers was cheaper so I thought I'd try it first. It also has the advantage of being offered online. This means I do not have to find a baby-sitter to get it done. I can fit it in between play dates, laundry and chores. I was surprised to see that none of the meetings near me were "tots welcome". Obviously, everyone near me has better childcare.

Day 1 (well, day 1/2)
Today all I plan on doing is signing up. I figure that is going to take enough weight off my wallet plus I need to look this whole thing over. I decided to sign up after a last nice lunch with no points. I've been trying to get all of the old Holiday Candy out of my house before I get started as well. By "getting it out of the house" I don't mean throwing it away. Heavens No! I mean eating a few "Fun sized" bars every night before bed. (I have always loved the description, "fun sized") Who wants to wait for the "Points Nazis" to tell me to throw them all away?! I was already instructed by a "well meaning friend" to give away all the left over ice cream cake from my 3 year olds birthday. Kill Joys!

After much hemming and hawing I finally managed to give my credit card number and sign up for the online version of Weight Watchers. Now all the work begins. I don't know how other people do it but I feel the need to take the rest of the day off just to read all there is to this whole Weight Watchers deal. They have multiple walk through tutorials which are very helpful.

All of the information overload is enough to make you want to go back to bed and forget the whole thing. I suppose that's why I told relatives that I planned on starting this. No one keeps you in line like relatives.

My girlfriend said we should sign up together and I am all for that. First she said Feb. 1st, after my 3 year olds birthday party. At the party she suggested next Wednesday after Paczki Day. For those of you who do not live in a Polish area, Paczki Day—pronounced punch-key—is Fat Tuesday. It's celebrated by eating large jelly-filled doughnuts about as big as your head which may explain why our mayor is so big. I'm glad I decided not to wait. It will take me until next Wednesday to figure out the website and get myself on the right path.

I read the tutorials well into the evening but bedtime for the girls is close enough to bed time for me. I will continue my studies tomorrow.

Day 2 (well, 1 1/2)
Today I tried my damnedest to get started for real and soon discovered that it wouldn't be too hard. With the extensive website and "busy work" of entering recipes to figure out their Points Value I will not have time to eat! I will be in front of the computer all day. I quickly learn two important lessons: 1) not all salmon recipes are created equal and 2) doing laundry counts as an exercise!

I went to enter "Salmon Teriyaki" for my dinner tonight and it was something like 14 points if I had a portion big enough to keep a bird alive. It would seem that the "recommended portion" is 4 ounces. If I gave 4 ounces of fish to my cat and called it dinner she would rebel in ways I don't even want to think about.

I had been planning on a piece a bit closer to 8 ounces. Since I didn't know what their recipe was I entered my own into the "Recipe Builder". This tool allows you to enter one of your real recipes and what you think a serving is and then it tells you how many points it will cost you.

Turns out I've been cooking quite a bit better than the local restaurants. My salmon cost me 1/2 as much in points for twice as much fish. Not bad. As long as I watch what I put on it I can eat more than just enough to keep a bird alive. Discovering my cat would die on a "serving" of fish was really upsetting! With a 4 ounce portion of fish I'd need a hot fudge sundae to balance it out. With 8 ounces I can have a side salad and survive.

I was so pleased to discover that housework counts as exercise. It's about time. I think picking up toys from a toddler should give all mothers a waistline like Wilma Flintstone but so far it hasn't worked. This helps to validate my day as well. I used to think a whole day could be wasted on doing the laundry. Now I discover it can earn you a Dove Bar!

This whole points thing has my head in a whirl. I'm going to have to learn a whole new way of looking at the food world. I'm so pleased that they have as comprehensive a "Point Tracker" as they do. It covers tons of restaurants and name brand foods and is even portable on your Palm Pilot if you have one. This brings me to another thing I discovered. It can cost a lot of money to lose weight.

So far, the things I could really use include one of those nice scales that measure ounces (I need to learn what size everything is. I have never given it anywhere near this much thought before), a new Palm Pilot with a newer operating system and more memory (to carry around my Point Tracker and sync the foods I've consumed to my computer when I get home) and a treadmill (we all know what that is for). No matter how good my intentions, I cannot walk outside in Michigan winters. I also need to continue the gym membership and keep paying the trainer to make sure that I show up. If I don't show up I still have to pay so I try hard not to miss. I'm too cheap.

Now I have to get back to studying the website to figure out more on portion sizes and what constitutes a glass of water. After my daughter's snack I may have to figure out the point value for 1/16th of a Pop Tart as well.

Epilogue
I asked my sister if she wanted an author photo to appear next to her text, "The only thing I can think of is the picture of my huge a-- someone took of me at Christmas. I don't really want to show it to everyone although I suppose they see it everyday and it wouldn't be as a big a shock to them as it was to me. It's why I got started on all this anyway so at least some good came of it."