"I'm finally returning to the way I felt pre-baby."

I am a 37-year-old mother of two. I have a one-year-old and a four-year-old and am six kilos heavier than I was when I fell pregnant with my first. I’ve tried Weight Watchers in the past at different times in my life… and it’s always worked for me.

I’m finding I just need a little extra help getting off the weight ‘post baby’ this time round.

Having gotten to a point where the extra weight was really getting me down, the opportunity came up to trial the new Weight Watchers Your Way Program and I couldn’t refuse.

This time around, Weight Watchers have shaken things up with the new program and are now giving credit to so much more than just the food. They’re recognising the importance of fitness, how you feel and food, showing the way these three concepts tie in with a lot of the choices we make.

From a food perspective, protein is lower in points on the SmartPoints™ Plan, making some of my favourite food choices really easy to adapt and adopt. I’ve been keeping a bit of a diary with all the choices and challenges I’ve made over the past month and this is where I’m currently at.

Week One:

Who starts Weight Watchers two days before Christmas? Crazy people, that’s who. It was hard, it really was. I wasn’t perfect, but I did think twice about everything I was eating. Luckily that turkey was an easy (and yummy) option. I gave myself the green light to enjoy some treats (within reason), but I knew that it was a special occasion and not all weeks were going to be like that.

So, I fell off the wagon a couple of times, got back on and was able to lose one kilo in my first week. I was happy with that, and that motivated me to try again in week two.

I hadn’t yet made time to exercise but that was next on the WW agenda…

Week Two:

Week two included my son’s first birthday. So again, there was a celebration to be had and I wanted to be mindful of what choices I was going to make.

As the celebrations were at our place, I was able to control what food went out on the table and I was able to count some points before the celebrations began (champagne included!).

As I’d made my mum’s chocolate cake, I gave myself another leave pass to have a piece (maybe two…).

I went for a mega run / walk (ok, if I’m being honest it was more of a walk than a run) during the week and it made me feel a little less guilty – knowing that I had no resistance to my mum’s chocolate cake (and knowing how much butter was in it!).

Again, with all my little graces that week, I managed to lose another kilo, give or take.

Week Three:

My birthday. Yep. The week of celebrating me…. And before you ask, next week is my daughter’s birthday. The ‘special’ occasions are becoming quite the norm.

So, once again, I was a little more relaxed with the couple of events I had on and the small tub of Messina my partner bought me on the night of my birthday.

I put weight back on this week.

I knew I would, and I was mentally prepared for it. So, I threw my hands in the air and decided to just start again when the next week finally ticked over. I’ve tried to increase the fitness side of things, even contemplated a running club.

Week Four:

This week has been better and following my coach’s advice, I’ve swapped my weigh-in days from Monday to Wednesday so I’m not weighing in right after a weekend. Subsequently, I’ve weighed myself twice this week and I can see that the scales have shifted again (for the better) now that I’m back on board.

One of the challenges I found so far is the accountability. I’ve done Weight Watchers before so I kind of know the drill. But I’ve felt like I was mentally stronger in the past whereas now I feel like I need a bit of hand holding.

This time round, I opted for the phone coaching and my coach has been great. I believe it probably comes down to personality match.

Previous weeks I’d been a little bit ‘know-it-all’ about it but I think this week my coach heard my voice waver a little and she stepped in with some advice. I appreciated it, as I obviously needed it this time round.

I’m motivated to keep going. The extra weight has been messing with my mind. Everything is harder. I’m tired and I’m slower than I used to be.

So watch this space.

How do you stay motivated to exercise and eat healthy?