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Six months ago I started trying to lose weight for the second time in my life.  About five years ago I lost 60 pounds on the Atkins Diet over the course of a year.  But as these things tend to go I got real bored eating low carb.  Sure eating hamburgers drowned in mayonnaise with salads is pretty cool, but I eventually just had enough.  So I slipped back into bad habits like eating at the all you can eat Chinese buffet a couple times a week.  It also didn’t help that I bid into a physically easier job at work.  It’s cool I no longer had to lift 70 pound boxes above my head, but that was the only real exercise I was getting.  So it’s not surprising that I gained all the weight I lost back.

Last May my wife and I went to Hawaii on vacation.  This is when the reality of morphing back into a fat ass hit me square in the face.  Not only did I look like a pasty Jabba The Hutt in our photos, but having to walk around a lot really tired me out like it never had before.  We walked a ton more when we went to Tokyo, but I was also several dozen pounds lighter.  I also noticed that I was more frequently coming home from work with sore feet and my lower back started bothering me again.  These were things that went away after I lost weight on Atkins.

So I finally faced facts that I was once again fat and started Weight Watchers the last week of June.  A friend of mine had lost a ton of weight on this program, and Diana had started to check it out through her work.  It seemed to work, didn’t seem overly restrictive in what you could eat, and so I decided to give it a try.  Now is when I have to insert the obligatory before and after photo:

That first picture was taken in Waldo, OH the home of the Fried Bologna Sandwich on the way to Anime Punch last April.  I could’ve used a photo from Hawaii, but trust me people, you do not want to see that.  Click to enlarge if you want to feel the full horror of my double chin.  The other photo was taken this past week.  At the Providence Anime Conference I scored a Large sized shirt during the Robotech Panel.  I figured Diana could wear it since it was too small for me.  I didn’t think I’d ever fit into anything smaller then a Extra Large again.  Pretty wild.

So in total I’ve lost 63 pounds so far and have gotten just under my lowest weight on Atkins.  I hope to lose another 17 or so pounds, and hopefully get rid of the rest of my belly.

So what do I think of Weight Watchers?  Having previously done Atkins I was used to counting carbs.  So doing the Flex Plan on Weight Watchers (WW) where food has point values that you track came pretty natural to me.  You can eat whatever you like as long as you stay within your daily allotment of points.  Like Atkins WW is big on getting your fruits and vegetables, taking a daily vitamin supplement, and getting exercise.  But for me the big thing is being able to eat things I couldn’t while doing Atkins.  Things like bread, fruit, and sushi.  I also find it a lot easier to stick to the diet while eating out which was sometimes a challenge on Atkins.  But if I cave in a have a Royal Red Robin Burger then that’s all my points for the day.  I’ve been resisting, but I could really go for one.

I’ve been doing the online version so I can’t comment about WW meetings.  But from what Diana and my friend tell me, there is generally only one guy at the meetings they have been too.  I really don’t want to be “that guy”.  Plus last time I lost weight I did it without a support group.  So until I feel like I need it I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing.

This brings up the one thing that bugs me the most about WW.  It’s hyper branded and marketed towards women almost exclusively.  When you sign up online your enrolled in Weight Watchers For Men, but from what I can tell it makes the site less pastel and flowery and you get an article or two about how to eat at poker parties.  Diana picked up the official WW magazine and they litterally only had one page devoted to men.  Pretty lame.  I think it’s crap that everyone assumes women are the only ones who want to lose weight.  Men can have a bad body image too you know!

So yeah.  I think I’ll be able to stick to this easier then Atkins mostly thanks to all the recipes on the WW site.  There seems to be a WW recipe for any kind of food you could want, including burgers.    So if you think your going to try to lose weight in the New Year then go for it.  Find something that works for you and stick with it.  If I can do it anyone can.