The Weight of a Weight Watcher

This article has been seemingly difficult to write. I’ve had it on my blog idea list for months now but just haven’t had the heart to put pen to paper.

Let me start off by saying: I am a lifetime Weight Watchers member. What that means is that at one point in my life, I lost a bit of weight and kept it off for 16 weeks. I continuously went to meetings, I watched everything I put in my mouth. I knew how to cheat so I could eat a snickers and no fruit for the day (because a few years ago, fruit had points and wasn’t “free” like it is now—so I made the smart choice of a half of a candy bar instead of a cup of blueberries!)

I started Weight Watchers when I was 17 years old. There are many reasons for this but what it essentially boils down to is confidence. I didn’t love myself enough and wanted to fit into a specific size prom dress.

I have learned over the past few years what health really means. I now drink green smoothies every morning. I often choose tea over coffee and I have learned to integrate so many new, interesting and different foods and types of movement into my daily life.

I love Indian food, I’ve tried lamb brain, I love cauliflower, swiss chard and today I even tried a portbello mushroom burger for the first time (and I HATE mushrooms) — I loved it! Prior to the beginning of this year, I had never tried or liked those particular foods and as my palette is expanding, so is my idea of what it means to be healthy and self-loving.

In our house we love being creative with food. We enjoy eating it & playing in our amazing kitchen. We watch the Food Network channel almost every day. We only have basic cable as we aren’t big TV watchers, but Food Network is on there & we LOVE all the cooking shows!!!

We have recently discovered that my husband loves cooking as well. This week while I was sick he made me a delicious egg curry inspired by his moms cooking as well as chili beef which is one of my favorite dishes. As an oral surgeon he said: “Wow, I do root canals and wisdom teeth and I was afraid of cooking??? Silly me –  this is awesome.”

Needless to say, we both love food. Cooking it, eating it, watching food challenges and Restaurant Impossible as well as dining in lovely places to be inspired by food & decor.

I have learned in the past year that health is so much more than weight. It’s a scary thought and I know I have a long way to go – but after 10 years of being a weight watcher I believe I am done with the organization. I love the idea of being healthy and weighing myself into a meeting about how to let go of food seems silly to me now. I want to take care of myself with nourishment: good, clean, healthy food and lots of movement.

I have decided to really begin to amp up my self-love. I teach a course on self-love, The Ahimsa Project, and I do really love myself but we can always use a little extra love and health in our lives. Right now I am concentrating on loving myself, practicing more yoga, running, hiking and boxing! I am going to sign up for a course with hubby to do MMA fighting and we are going to play tennis this year (another new for me). We have a full summer planned of healthy, fun and fit activities without needing our scale or a weekly meeting to tell me how to feel each week.

I am now proudly saying, after 10 years of “weight watching” that I am now “healthy watching”! I have been back and forth from weight watchers for years. Spending six months there, two years off, three years on, a few months off….and I’m finally done with this battle. It’s time to honor my body, continue to try new foods and eat well for myself.

The past ten years I have allowed myself to let the scale determine my mood, my day and my emotions. I have let it control me for far too long and I no longer need that. I want to feel sexy and strong. I want to feel great in my skin and I no longer want that to center around a certain number. I want to feel luminous after a good, sweaty yoga practice. I want to feel invigorated after a boxing lesson and I want to feel strong and challenged while trying my hand at tennis.

It’s time I started thinking about how I FEEL in my body. It’s time to stop feeling badly because I’m one pound heavier today than I was yesterday. It’s time to fall deeply, madly in love with myself and continue to guide others on this path. It’s time I ditched my scale for a hot date with my husband!

Because of all of this, I want to add a delicious food piece to my blog! Karthik will contribute occasionally as he spends some time in the kitchen as well. I want to record some of our experiments, love of healthy eating, dabbling in vegetarianism and fusion of cultures.

 This past week, I tweeted “Eastern Man, Western Medicine. Western Woman, Eastern Medicine.” Such is the same in our food. We are a mix and the perfect blend of spice, fun, culture & a whole heck of a lot of experimenting in the kitchen. We promise to provide some fun recipes along the way.

Bon Appetite!!!

Get out there – do yoga & make life sparkle!
Namaste,

Jenny