Patience and Portion Control Did the Trick

Late last year, as my then-2 1/2-year-old son hid behind a small table and I tried to follow him, he somberly said, “Oh Mommy, you are so big!” That made me feel terrible, even though I knew he couldn’t understand obesity yet. Combined with the usual American post-holiday diet syndrome and the prospect of being an overweight 40-year-old this year, that comment caused something to click.

Having struggled with weight since age 16, I can’t remember ever being really happy with my body. Mostly I remember being on one diet or another and having clothes in my closet covering a wide range of dimensions.

I really wanted to get back to that thin person inside. With two young sons, I wanted to look my best for them as well as for my husband and, yes, myself.

It was my mother who first joined Weight Watchers several years ago to take off 25 pounds. Seeing her achievement made me accept the difficult notion that I couldn’t do it on my own. OK, I figured, if I lose 1 1/2 pounds a week under the program, I’ll have lost 60 by my birthday in September.

That goal, a supportive husband and my group’s weekly weigh-in every Saturday were huge factors in my success. Nine months later and 60 pounds lighter, I stood in front of the group at goal weight--140 pounds. It felt great.

It’s not that I had been eating unhealthy food--most of what I ate I prepared at home because of cost. But of course, you can overeat “healthy” food too. There’s a fundamental difference between a person who eats because she’s hungry and a person who eats because the food is there. I was the latter--an “unaware overeater.”

So I learned to monitor what I ate. I bought less food and weighed the portions. Instead of buying two 10-ounce steaks on sale, I would buy one and share it with my husband, slicing off 3 ounces for myself. Nothing was off-limits, but I learned to stay away from bread, pasta, cheese and desserts. I began to stir-fry and steam foods more. I would freeze chicken and fish in small plastic bags to take to my job at an investment bank.

For breakfast, I might have a poached egg, a banana and half a cantaloupe. I also got in the habit of drinking six to eight glasses of water a day. I found that if I made fewer pasta pillows for my sons, there’d be fewer leftovers for me to feel obligated to eat. And I learned to chew gum when around “free” food--it made it harder to snack.

For the first four months, I worked with a personal trainer. But I learned something: I don’t like gyms! It bothered me that none of my trainer’s longtime clients was thin.

Now I walk an hour or more at least three times a week after work, mostly with my 18-month-old in a backpack and my 3 1/2-year-old in a stroller. The walk also keeps me away from the kids’ snacks lurking at home. My husband and I play serious pingpong for a good cardiovascular workout, and chasing the boys around also keeps me active.

I admit I don’t look quite the way I expected to. I probably could lift weights, do some sit-ups--but that’s not me. Besides, my husband says I look good.

One piece of advice I’ve taken to heart is that if I have a “bad” week--say, I gain two pounds after a couple of office parties--I should look upon it as a mere fender bender. It can be fixed; I haven’t totaled the car.

I still notice that my desire to eat can be triggered by emotion. If I’m standing next to a bowl of chips at a party and start talking about something that’s bothering me, I’ve caught myself eating the chips. But I’ve also noticed the thinner I am, the happier I am. In fact, I can be a little cocky to myself: Hey, I can look at those chips and not eat one!

Best for me is the accountability I have weighing in each Saturday morning and staying for the support meetings. There’s nothing like that weekly reality check, except for, of course, the check I write to pay for that size-8 dress.

Vital Statistics

Name: Heidi Myer Wong

Occupation: Research assistant

Age: 40

Old weight: 194 pounds

New weight: 134 pounds

Height: 5 feet, 5 1/2 inches

Time to get there: Nine months

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