My Weight Watchers Journey

I have been unhappy with my weight for the past ten to fifteen years. I never considered myself overweight, but for the past few years, I have seen myself go from a size 2 to a size 6. I gave myself plenty of excuses to eat whatever I wanted and ignore my weight gain. Turning 40 was one and starting a food blog was another.

Last year, a size 6 started getting tight and a size 8 was more comfortable. I became somewhat depressed. I asked myself when would this stop? I ignored my weight and focused instead on the compliments I received about my food blog. Late October of last year, I decided I had to do something about my situation. My sister had recently joined Weight Watchers and a friend at work was joining Weight Watchers at Work. I would join Jennifer Hudson and millions of others.

I felt like a smoker who was going cold turkey. I ate small portions and kept track of everything I ate. I walked 3 miles a day and on weekends I walked more. I was feeling good and was dropping about 2 pounds a week for several weeks. Dropping pounds was keeping me motivated as well as my coworker, my sister, and my Weight Watcher at Work group. I was feeling great about being able to lose weight and maintain my food blog. I still ate bacon and other things I love, just not as much as I used to. It was a delicate balance.

In mid-March, my coworker and I reached our goal weights. I dropped a little more than 18 pounds. We had to maintain our weight for six weeks, only being able to fluctuate up and down by 2 pounds. At that point we would become Lifetime members of Weight Watchers and no longer have to pay dues. My coworker and I made a pack at the start that we would celebrate in Napa when we made Lifetime.

Last weekend, we celebrated our victory. We shopped for our new sizes at the Napa outlets and went over to Yountville to have lunch at Bouchon Bakery, facials at the Villagio Inn and Spa, and dinner at Redd Wood.

It was a great day and here are the photos of what we ate at Red Wood. We started with fried cauliflower and Brussels sprouts which was so delicious. It reminded me of flavors you get when eating fried calamari.

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We shared a lardo, mushroom, spinach, and fontina pizza. This was a white pizza and pretty good. The pizza crust was excellent and I would not hesitate to try other toppings in the future.

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Next came crispy spicy chicken wings with a calabrian chili sauce. These were like upscale buffalo wings and very tasty, packing a punch.

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We were celebrating, so we had to have dessert. We enjoyed the strawberry rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream. It was the perfect seasonal dessert to end our day trip to Napa.

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Between the two of us, we ate every bite of what you see in the photos. Not bad for the two of us on Weight Watchers who for the past several months have made mindful choices and continue to do so.

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