Comments on: This thing I’m doing

By: Kelli

Kelli — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:26:13 +0000

Holli I read skinny bitch the other day and LOVED it, very helpful and great lifestyle changes even for people who are not overweight

By: tori 5th grader

tori 5th grader — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:37:42 +0000

Hi ummm i know this is a little weird but i want to get in shape. Becasue i look at the other girls at school and am like ughhh. How many points would i get if i am 10 years old?

By: Mary Catherine

Mary Catherine — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 22:51:18 +0000

Hey Wendy -

Have you tried the Muir Glen soups? They’re all organic and vegan-like and Jewel-Osco is always featuring a deal on them. Both the lentil and the tomato are fab – - and you just pop-top them open: blam – dinner.

By: LF

LF — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 10:28:37 +0000

Good luck with the Thing. It does look very sensible. Tell us some of your favorite recipes!

By: holli

holli — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 20:04:24 +0000

Has anyone else looked into “Skinny Bitch”? I know, obnoxious name, but really clear and sound principles on lifestyle change and health. I was suprised. I read a friend’s copy and it was mostly stuff I already do. Maybe that’s the root of my own ‘naturally thin’?

By: Ann

Ann — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 20:30:33 +0000

It does make sense; once something becomes ingrained, it’s yours. I think the important thing is that it feels right to you.

I know what you mean about the guy thing too. When my boyfriend wants to lose weight, he’ll just cut back to a smaller bowl of ice cream or only half a bag of pretzels or only a 6 ounce burger, and the pounds will fall off. (Of course, somehow he eventually puts them back on, but no stress for him because he knows how easy it is to get rid of them).

Keep us posted!

By: Wendy

Wendy — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:14:57 +0000

Well, yeah, it IS a diet right now, because it sets limits. I wouldn’t be counting days otherwise.

I’ll write more about this later, but I did this back in the winter and as a result I started cooking and shopping differently, and stopped thinking I needed to have certain things (and even lost my taste for some stuff). And even though I didn’t diet all spring or summer, a lot of the habits have stuck (I mean, I THINK. It’s too early to tell). Of course, even though we’d been eating more veggies and doing most of our shopping in produce stores all year, we were still ordering a lot of takeout, and that didn’t help. Really, a good part of This Thing is making a concerted effort to NOT do dumb stuff like get pizza and Thai noodles several times a month.

Some of this Thing involves restrictions, but I feel like a lot of it involves developing habits. I think the problem I had with WW is that the only habits I really learned were counting and going to meetings, and those didn’t really engage any other part of my life and it was too easy to just drop them.

Of COURSE I’m afraid of gaining weight back. But right now I’m thinking it’ll happen more as a result of doing certain crappy things (i.e., depending on take-out and eating out too much) than NOT sticking with this plan. Does that make sense?

By: Ann

Ann — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 21:16:46 +0000

I do wish you the best, because you are embarking on a New Thing. However, it still sounds like a diet to me… can you eat this way forever? OK, maybe forever is a long time, but you know what I mean. Without the reins, if you do ever take them off… will you be worried about gaining weight?
I am a former WW’er too, and although it “worked” in the sense that I lost weight on it, it ruined me for a while by making me food obsessed. I’m now not dieting at all any more, but BROADLY following the principles of Intuitive Eating (a great read, by the way, very common-sensical). But, I am the kind of person who really can’t live with restrictions as to food.
By the way I saw your column in the NY Times magazine. Congrats! It was great.

By: Louise

Louise — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 05:17:38 +0000

Damn…keep keepin’ on and keep us posted. I think “lifestyle change” is the key mindset to have. Even though I think people think I’m talking about a sudden change in my sexual orientation whenever I use that phrase.

I’m glad you and Chris are doing this together…makes all the difference. As a couple, my husband and I are able to do a low sugar/refined carb diet but have a hard time shaking our on-the-wagon vs off-the-wagon mentality. I lost 18, then gained 4 back in 2 weeks of vacation and Halloween.

I need to envision long term goals (not getting diabetes, keeping up with my son, kicking this back pain, etc) instead of focusing on the short term (losing weight for the holidays when I’ll see my mom). It always comes back to mom, doesn’t it?!?!

Regardless of all of this, I’m completely impressed by what you’re doing for yourself! Invest in good tupperware and little ziplok baggies…for all the produce.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 04:20:26 +0000

i netflix-ed mommie dearest for the hell of it the other day. it was my first time to see it. so, the image is fresh in my mind and i totally get the comparison.

i’m on ww right now and let’s just say i used a wire hanger last night and now i’m trembling. jesus christ.