I am an official employee of Weight Watchers now. I started training as a receptionist last Monday and will have at least 4 training sessions and then can begin working at meetings.

Both the receptionist at my regular meeting and my leader assure me that I will have many calls to work as a substitute receptionist until a job opens up at another meeting. They told me I'll need to learn to say no so that I don't get overscheduled. That will be nice.

The pay is not great, but just the accountability for my own weight and chance to help others reach their weight and health goals will be great.

I weighed in tonight at my Weight Watchers meeting and have officially reached my goal. Now I have 6 weeks of maintenance and if I'm no more than 2 pounds above goal on that 6th week I will have lifetime status and will be able to attend meetings for free.

I have lost a total of 51.8 pounds and gone from a size 18W to a comfortable size 8. What a difference a year makes!

When I weighed in at my Weight Watchers meeting Monday night I had lost a total of 49 pounds and am now 2.8 pounds away from my official goal weight.

My leader gave me information about a meeting next week that will give information about working for Weight Watchers as a receptionist and/or leader. I am going to attend the meeting because I am interested in being a receptionist. If I did that, it would at least pay for my gasoline to get to the meeting each week. This would be my 3rd part-time job that I have and would be something I think I would enjoy.

And no, I'm not talking about my $39.95 I pay to Weight Watchers every month. Of course, it won't be long and I won't have to do that though.

I am 4.6 pounds away from my official Weight Watchers goal weight so once I make that and maintain for 6 weeks, I'll be a lifetime member and will no longer have to pay unless I gain more than 2 pounds. Good motivation to keep that weight off.

The expense comes in the purchasing of new clothes. I had saved a lot of my old clothes when I got sick and began to gain weight, but I've pretty much blown right past those sizes and need smaller ones now.

I went shopping tonight because I have no dress pants to wear to the financial conference next week. I ended up with several shirts so that I have more than just a couple to choose from, a skirt and one pair of pants. I'm going to have to find at least one more pair before I go.

Last night at my Weight Watcher's meeting I weighed in and had lost another 1.8 pounds. That is just incredible to me since I'm getting so close to goal and I didn't feel like I did nearly as well on the Core plan this week. I went over my weekly points because we attended a birthday party on Sunday. But I did do a lot of walking on Saturday- 10 miles! So I guess that helped.

I have also realized that I'm lactose intolerant and since I've started drinking soymilk instead of skim I've noticed a huge difference in how I feel. I have a lot more energy since I've cut way down on dairy. I am still finding out how much lactose I can tolerate. I found out that 1/2 cup of cottage cheese is too much and even 2 tablespoons of cream cheese set my stomach off the other day. So it will be a matter of trial and error. I take at least one calcium supplement every day to make sure I do get some calcium in my diet.

So 8.4 more pounds until I hit my official Weight Watchers goal. After that, 6 weeks of maintenance and then I will not have to pay anymore to attend meetings.

I would like to be a receptionist once I am a lifetime member. That would pay for my gasoline to get to the meeting and be an accountability factor to keep the weight off.

At my Weight Watchers meeting last week my total weight loss was 41.2 pounds. Since switching to Core I lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks. That is really good considering that the 3 weeks before switching I was losing an average of half a pound a week. Core has really worked well for me.

So tomorrow will be the end of my 3rd week on Core and I'm anxious to see how I've done. If I've lost at least .6 I'll be on my last 10 pounds to get to my official WW goal. I was even more excited when I realized I was that close to goal. Then if I maintain or go below my goal weight for 6 weeks I'll be a lifetime member and no longer have to pay for the meetings. Being a frugal type of person, I can't wait for that. LOL!

Once I hit my goal weight I'll reassess and see if I want to lose more or am happy at that weight. But at least I won't be paying anymore. That's incentive enough for me to keep it off.

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting tonight and according to my weigh in my total weight loss is now up to 37.2 pounds. I am less than 15 pounds from goal.

My next mini-goal is to get to 40 pounds lost. I'm hoping to get there by the end of April. The weight is coming off much more slowly now that I'm getting closer to goal.

Since the weight loss is slowing down I've switched to the Core plan for the next few weeks, at least, to see how I do on that. I've read that quite often just switching plans will jump start the weight loss again. So we'll see how I do with less tracking of what I eat and more of eating less processed, nutrient dense foods.

As of tonight, I have officially lost exactly (and I mean to the 10th of a pound!)......35 pounds!!! I needed to lose .6 this week to get there and that's exactly what I've lost. I have gone from a size 18W to a size 8/10, depending on the make of the pants. I still have 22 pounds to go to make it to my Weight Watchers goal, but I will get there, slowly but surely.

I've decided to switch from the Flex plan to the Core plan for the next 3 weeks to see if that jump starts my weight loss. It's really slowed down lately and I've read that many that switch from one plan to another seem to rev up their metabolism again.

So I sat down tonight and entered my emealz for the week into the Food Planner to see if this will work with the meals I've planned, and it does. I still have 11.5 weekly points left to use as I like for other meals. And I can earn more with the exercise I do.

So this will be a new phase of weight loss for me. I'll be learning to be more in tune with my body and it's hunger and fullness levels and eating accordingly from the list of Core foods and counting those that aren't on the Core list.

I am trying something new for our meal planning that should benefit my Weight Watchers lifestlye and our family time.

While listening to Dave Ramsey early mornings in the office, I've heard ads for e-mealz. I decided on Friday to check into it and see what it was all about. After reading through their website and looking at their sample menus and grocery lists, I decided to sign up for a 3 month subscription and give it a try.

I chose the Point-System meal plans since I'm following the Weight Watchers Flex plan. I then decided to get the menus for any grocery store. Our area has a Super Walmart coming soon, so I'll probably switch to that choice once it's open. The cost is $5 a month, but I was able to find a coupon code that gave me a $2.50 discount.

Once I registered, I had access to 2 weeks' worth of menus and grocery lists. I really like that there is a dinner menu for 7 days of the week. That is the hardest point of cooking for me, deciding what to make.

So tomorrow after work I'll be going grocery shopping and picking up the needed items to begin using the menus. I am anxious to see if I do save money as they claim, but even more anxious just to have a plan all laid out for me.

I decided to reapply for term life insurance again. You may remember that I was rejected last year because of my blood pressure and the cyst they found in my brain. Since my health has totally turned around since then I figured I'd give it another try.

The neurologist says the cyst is no problem at all, that lots of people have them and don't even know it. The blood pressure is now running 110/70 with the new medicine and I've lost 32 pounds so far with Weight Watchers.

I am back to a size 10, which is still overweight for my height and frame, but I'm still working on it. I have another 24 pounds left to get to my goal weight. The Flex plan is really working well for me. I've been walking with Leslie Sansone and doing yoga 2-3 times a week. I decided this time that the only exercise I was going to do was what I could continue doing the rest of my life. No more half killing myself to burn calories. I'm too old for that now. LOL!

So hopefully in a couple of months I'll know if they approved me and if so, I can cancel the whole life insurance and cash it in. We plan to use it to buy another coal stove for the main part of the house or to replace the roof.

This week is going to be an expensive one for us. Tomorrow we take our oldest DD to college. It's 2.5 hours away and we'll be leaving right after church so we'll need to eat lunch and dinner. Lunch will probably be McDonald's, but we decided that dinner is going to be a special treat at Red Lobster. We don't have any Red Lobsters around us so we're going to take advantage of the trip and treat ourselves. DD#2 will also be going along with us.

Then on Tuesday, DH's father is having 5 heart bypasses done so we'll need to travel 2 hours to the hospital where that is taking place. Another day of eating out. Hard on the pocket book, but necessary.

Also hard on the WW plan. LOL! I am .4 pounds away from hitting the 30 pound mark so I am trying to be very diligent with my eating and exercising.

We celebrated our 23rd anniversary yesterday. After work we went out for dinner to one of our favorite restaurants. DH had received a gift card for this restaurant from his supervisor at work, so that was really nice. I indulged and went off my diet for that one meal and had crabmeat stuffed shrimp and peanut butter ice cream pie with hot fudge topping for dessert. I only ate 2 of the 5 shrimp and one third of the pie. The servings were just too big!

We bought a Magic Bullet and each got nice headphones for our anniversary. We were going to go see a movie but never did make it there. I'm not a movie person and tend to fall asleep so I hate the thought of spending $10 for me to sleep through the movie.

I got a call early this morning from my boss telling me that she was not going into work today and neither was I. Hey, who am I to argue with that??? LOL! The weather today is terrible and since I had an accident last year getting to work on a day like this, I think she worries about me traveling over the hill. So I have an unexpected day off. I plan on spending it working on my homework for the week and reading.

We have started Turbo Tax in my class now. I'm not quite as familiar with it as QuickBooks, but I have used it before so I don't expect any problem with it. Only about 3 more weeks and this class will be done.

I probably won't be going to Weight Watchers tonight. With the roads so bad, it's not worth the drive and I can't stay for the meeting anyway. Tonight is DS#3's first basketball game of the season so I would need to drive 12 miles one way just to weigh in and then leave.

It feels so good to have the furniture debt paid off! Every time I think of it being paid, I smile.

As of last Monday I have now lost 25 pounds. That was really exciting for me, especially since it was the Monday after Thanksgiving and I'd lost 2.2 pounds that week! Yeah me! LOL

Tonight was my Weight Watchers meeting and I was hoping to have my total weight loss be 20 pounds. I actually surpassed that goal and made it to 20.8!

It felt good last week to make my 10% weight loss goal and receive my keychain and so to get to 20 pounds this week has really motivated me to keep going.

I'm exercising every weekday and try to get a good outdoor walk in on the weekends as often as I can. My morning routine is either a "walk" with Leslie Sansone or some yoga.

I signed up for the monthly pass for Weight Watchers ($39.95) the middle of July. At first I thought it was really silly to pay someone to weigh me each week, but I have to say that it is really working. So far I have lost 20 pounds. I enjoy the meetings and am meeting new friends. I find encouragement and support at the meetings. Knowing that someone is going to weigh me in each Monday night keeps me honest with counting points.

The main thing I like about Weight Watchers is that they have a maintenance program. You gradually add in points until you find the amount you can have each day that maintains your weight.

As soon as I get within a healthy weight range for me I'm going to apply for a term life insurance policy.