The Biggest Loser

I am and always have been big. I was a “husky” child, a very chubby teenager, and after giving birth to three kids, my weight just spiraled out of control. I hate being this big, I hate being out of breath all the time and I really hate that my daughter is starting to look like me. Now that the kids are in school, it’s time for me to start taking care of myself. My husband works for the county, so I’m on his benefits plan, but I can’t take part in the Weight Watchers at Work program because it’s for employees only.

I am determined that this is the year I finally take control of my life and my weight. I went to my doctor and we talked about a serious plan for walking and exercising as well as a nutrition plan for me. My goal is to lose at 50 pounds in 2011.

I’m doing the WebMD online program and I’ve enrolled in the weight management program. That means I’ll be tracking online everything I eat, and I’ll be tracking online all of my walking. The nutrition planner was a little tricky to get used to, until I realized it was way easier to just click “replace meal” for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then just choose everything I ate from the drop-down menu. It’s a pretty huge list, and when I can’t find exactly what I ate, I can find something pretty darned close.

Also, my doctor encouraged me to get a pedometer (simple, inexpensive) to keep track of my daily number of steps. Now I just open the Walking planner, and plug in my total number of steps. That’s how I keep on track with my walking program. I’m excited about my chances for successfully losing the weight.

It’s like keeping a food diary, except WebMD plugs in so much more nutritional information about the food that I’m consuming. It’s really educating me about different foods. Since my kids are at school during the day, I have time to sit at the computer and really pay attention to listing everything I had the day before. Plus, I'm making better choices in the foods that I feed my family, so they will be healthier, too.

I like walking with my daughter on the weekends. At the end of the day I put in my number of steps and boom! I’m done. I like tracking my progress online and my daughter enjoys watching me enter it online. I think she is learning some good life lessons from this.

• Anyone who is very serious about losing weight, and doesn’t have access to Weight Watchers or another weight-loss organization.
• Anyone who has a wants to keep a detailed record of their eating and/or exercise habits, and is very comfortable working with their computer.

• If you have a lot of weight to lose, it's best to talk with your doctor first and together work out a plan of action. Then use the WebMD tools to help implement that plan.
• Consider continuing on with the Weight Management program, even after you’ve reached gold status. It will help keep you organized and on top of your weight –loss goals.
• Make sure you start your program before April 23rd if you need to skip any week for vacation, etc.