A lot of people ask me what my “secret” is to losing weight… or “how did you lose all the weight?” My response is ALWAYS “I followed the Weight Watchers program & worked out a lot.”

You might wonder why I say both… actually someone did recently and I’ve wanted to blog about it ever since. She was wondering because Weight Watchers allows you to calculate points for your activity earned. This is true… but until this past summer, there was only a “focus” on activity about every 6-9 weeks at the meetings.

Because of all of the things they need to cover during the meetings, they just can’t focus how IMPORTANT the exercise portion is. I truly mean it… it is VITAL to losing weight and keeping it off. And that’s my secret…. well, one of them.

When I was near my heaviest, I walked… and walked… and walked. But I always challenged myself. I went a little faster, increased the incline or went a little longer. I am still doing that… now with running, elliptical, walking, kickboxing and strength training. For me the variety is a necessity because I found that if I do the same thing over and over, it just get’s old. (A good example is the fact that I don’t typically like walking outdoors by myself anymore… I try to find a walking buddy because it just makes the time go so much faster!)

I guess since I’m all about divulging my “secrets” (which really aren’t), I’ll let you know the other thing I did as well. I drank water. Lots of water. And now if I don’t have my 80-ish ounces of water (minimum) a day… I notice it on the scale because I gain weight. I don’t remember where I read this (yes, I researched it) but if you keep your muscles hydrated properly, they will not retain as much water because the fluids will continue to flow through your system. (Someday I will find where I read this and provide the link for everyone… but until then, it goes without credit.)

And with that… I am less than one week away from being 1/2 of who I was 7 years ago but twice the person as far as personality and living life to the fullest.