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After

Before	Name Brandi Age 32 Height 5'6" Was 212 lbs Lost   77 lbs* Weight 135 lbs As of 15/09/2003 *Results not typical.
At 212 pounds, stuck on fast food and soft drinks, Brandi needed to re-learn how to eat. She did — all from the comfort of her own home.

The day I signed up for Weight Watchers Online, it took just an hour in front of the computer to shed light on an issue I'd ignored my whole life: Just how much am I supposed to be eating, anyway? It would be an understatement to say I didn't understand nutrition. I exercised, but I had no idea that the fast food and soft drinks I lived on were keeping me from losing weight. At 212 pounds, I was miserable and losing hope fast.

I Had a Great First Week!
My first week, I lost five pounds, then five the week after* (before my weight loss leveled off to a more normal pace). I couldn't believe just eating right could make the weight fall off! But it did — especially since before I started the plan, a typical dinner would have been chicken nuggets and fries from a drive-through on the way home from work. Now I always start with a filling salad, then follow it with a yummy homemade entrée like beef stew or tortilla pizzas. When you're tracking POINTS® values, it's so easy to figure out what's good and bad for you — imagine my shock when I learned that a burger and fries could consume my POINTS budget for the whole day!

A Brand New Brandi
Today, exercise feels purposeful, because I definitely add on those activity POINTS values. I've learned to keep motivated by mixing up my routine and by taking advantage of the outdoors where I live. Three days a week I do the elliptical machine at the gym, and on the weekends I bike 24 miles on a gorgeous trail that runs near my house. Who could get bored of that?

I also get great inspiration from the online Message Boards. It's basically a place for 24-hour-a-day feedback. If I have a problem, I just post it online and usually get an answer within half an hour.

Making a Difference in The Classroom
I'm a teacher in a small portable building, and it used to be hard to negotiate the narrow aisles. After I lost the weight, I got a better body, but my students got something even more valuable: a better teacher. These days, I practically bounce up and down the aisles to help each child individually.

Be Like Brandi:

• Drink your water! The most important thing I did to lose was to slowly wean myself off soft drinks and replace them with water.
  
  
• Give in to your cravings. I ate 2 POINTS values worth of ice cream every day while I was losing.
  
  
• Go to the Message Boards. That's where to find creative, low POINTS-value snacks, like Jello or graham crackers with Cool Whip — yum!
  
  
• I play in a bowling league twice a week — and that counts as exercise!
  
  
• Learn from your mistakes. I gained weight on a camping trip last summer. Now I know I can't not track my POINTS values, so next time I'll track them on paper.
  
  
• Don't skip breakfast.
  
  
• Be smart at parties. At gatherings, head straight to the veggies and fill up on those first.
  
  

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