When I finally reached my goal weight of 135 lbs. (thank you Jenny Craig!), actually settling out to 131, in August of 2007, I was thrilled to join the National Weight Control Registry run by Rena Wing of Brown University and James Hill of the University of Colorado. I was so impressed by all the success stories of the people on the Registry, and felt honored and humbled to join them. Being a Skinnerian behaviorist at heart, I also appreciated the negative reinforcement potential of joining–I would be horrified and humiliated to have to write to these people and tell them to take me off the Registry because I’d gained my weight back. Hey, whatever works, right?
My 70 lb plus weight loss on Jenny Craig
This year, I expected to see the enormous packet I had filled out the previous two years, in which I was asked exactly how much of everything I ate every day. I guess I must have passed a milestone now, because I got a two-page questionnaire asking me if I had gained, lost, or stayed the same, and how I felt about it (I answered “extremely happy.”)
Along with my questionnaire, I received a xerox copy of an article from Time in 2004 about some of the members of the National Weight Control Registry entitled “The Secrets of their Success.” If you’re looking for some diet inspiration, this isn’t a bad place to start.
My funniest moment with the NWCR came after I submitted my very first questionnaire. I reported that I walk approximately 4 miles a day, and they emailed me back to make sure that I hadn’t made a mistake. I DO walk at least 4 miles a day (2 miles back and forth to our favorite coffee shop each afternoon for a writing break and another 2 after dinner around our nearby lake–pretty). That doesn’t count the walking I do up and down the hills at Cal Poly when school is in session or the 12 hours of pacing around my classrooms each week while I teach. I don’t consider myself very active (I haven’t done anything sweaty in years), but maybe this sounded like a lot to them.
In the meantime, I’m just keeping doing what I’ve been doing–seems to be working. The longer I keep my weight down, the more natural it seems. Friends who do drug rehab work tell me that it usually takes an addict about 5 years of abstinence to “reset” their physiology. I’m guessing the same is true of weight loss. But it does get easier.
