How much would you pay to lose 5-10 pounds?

That’s the question I’m having an internal battle with myself over right now…..

There are 66 days until I leave for our family vacation. “Ragtopday, you’ve just reached Hump Day this week, what are you going to do next??”  “I’m going to Disney World!”  (in 66 days)

Yes, Belle, Krystal and I are going to Disney in August with our dear friends – there will be 10 of us and we are all so excited. But that’s not what I want to write about (at least not now). No, I’m here tonight to talk about weight.

I’ve talked about it before. And back oh, about 60 days or so ago, I was uber confident that I would be easily down 10 pounds in time for vacation just by paying more attention to what I was eating and laying off the junk. I lost a few pounds by doing just that, in fact.

I don’t want to lose the weight just for vacation, of course. But seeing as how we will be in Florida during the hottest time of the year, it would be nice to wear as few clothes as possible (meaning I’ll be showing much more skin than usual), and feel like I looked OK doing it. And also not feel my clothes digging into me when I’m sweating like a pig. I don’t know if it’s true, but if seems as if the thinner you are, the cooler you feel when it’s hot. I’d like to find out if that’s true anyway.

So, we’re at crunch time now. I could join Weight Watchers again. I have a good friend at work who shares the same struggles – we enjoy trading successes, failures, setbacks and little victories along our weight loss and fitness journeys. She had a baby last December and now weighs 10 pounds less than when she got pregnant! Frankly, I’m a little envious about how good she looks! She joined WW post-baby and is going to meetings instead of doing it soley online (which is how we both did it before). In WW, if you meet your goal and maintain it for 6 weeks, you’ve reached what they call “Lifetime” status, and don’t have to pay anymore, as long as you weigh in once a month and stay within 2 pounds of that goal. I’m intrigued, because there is a long term financial incentive built into that for me. I tend to lose a few pounds and then get over confident (see 60 days or so ago) and before I can say Dove Chocolate, I’m right back where I started.

The way I figure, I’ve only got about 5 pounds to lose. Ten would be nice, but honestly? I’m not sure I can maintain a lifestyle where I weigh 10 pounds less than I do now , long term. So let’s say 5. The current WW deal is $39.95 a month, so let’s say it takes me a month to lose 5 pounds. Then I have to maintain it for 6 weeks. That’s 10 weeks, and, rounding up, let’s call that 3 months. $120, give or take a few pennies. To lose 5 pounds.

When I said that to friend-at-work, she said “No, it’s to work on developing a healthier lifestyle that will then stay with you for the rest of your life.” And if Lifetime status means I can take advantage of the “member only” area on the web site forever, it might be kind of worth it.

Or am I buying into the weight loss industry hype and if I really do what I know I’m supposed to do…..

So, how much would you pay to lose 5-10 pounds? Or if you have more than that to lose, how much would you pay to get to a weight you felt like you could maintain for the rest of your life?