Weight Watchers Meeting Revelations

Yesterday I attended the first WW meeting in a month. I'll admit the past month as been crazy but I was getting lackidaisial in my attendance of the meetings because I had come to a screeching halt on the scale. I decided this week to adjust my attitude and go at this with a different perspective. I was going to 'write' my WW meeting in my date book on my desk just like I've done with the running.  I also decided that since I'm training to run/workout on M,W, F around 10 a.m., I needed to attend an earlier WW meeting. Luckily for me, I am in a town that has a WW center and they have 8 a.m. class on Friday. So, yesterday morning when my husband got up, I got up and acted as if it weren't my day off from school etc....and I took my shower and I got dressed and attended the 8 a.m. meeting.

What a DIFFERENCE a day/time make.  When I walked in, I immediately felt welcomed and appreciated. Now, don't get me wrong, this same place welcomes me and appreciates me no matter when I come but the lady weighing me in just went out of her way to welcome me back.  It's the little things sometimes that make you realize that you have made the right choice. I'm not one who needs a pat on the back or encouragement to do something but I guess I was nervous that I had not been in a month and with the fear of the scale combined it was just nice to walk into that atmosphere.

I was only down .5 lbs but hey, I was down and that is a celebration. The leader of the meeting at 8 a.m. is exactly the type of personality that needs to lead that early in the morning.  The meeting was surprisingly full and the ages varied from early 20's to 80's. I sat there really appreciative of the leader's attitude and warmness.  She also started the meeting out with talking about slacking off and wanting to give up the fight and it was as if she spoke straight to what I'd been dealing with over the past month. The deal breaker for me was when she recognized one woman's achievement who was 2 lbs from her 100 lbs goal.  Last year at this time this woman was 255 lbs. and couldn't carry a basket of clothes up the stairs without having to stop and catch her breath. She was probably about my age maybe a little younger but still hearing her story and knowing that she was where I am now and now today only 2 lbs. from her weight loss goal. She spoke of weeks of not losing and then having a big loss and then not losing for a while again. She talked of how she figured out that this was the way her body lost weight and that she had accepted it and that made this journey easier. She also just ran a 5K and was at her personal best in the time.  Seriously couldn't get over how much I was relating to this woman. There was also a young man (maybe mid 20's) who had lost 50 lbs and still losing and two women who were in the loss of 65 lbs range and sharing where they were a year ago and where they are now.  One of the 65 lbs loss ladies told how she attended a work conference last year at a resort and after the meetings she couldn't even bring herself to go down to the pool area with her co-workers to swim and hang out because she was so out of shape and heavy. She said that this year, she had bought a bathing suit for the first time in too many years and couldn't wait to see her co-workers faces when she joined them swimming and socializing. She said it was a modest one piece but swimsuit shopping was a personal achievement for her and the look of pride on her face was priceless.  There were lots of stories similar to these and some kept quiet and applauded these courageous people's efforts.  Since I was new to the group, the leader asked me about any celebrations this week and I shared about my running with my son for the first time in a long while and after my back treatments.  I got a big applause over my 2/10 of a mile running and honestly, again not being one who needs a pat on the back over these types of things, it was nice to have the support and praise from people who are there with me physically or have been there physically.

I left that meeting feeling rejeuvenated and with a much more proactive attitude on losing this weight. I certainly have to accept that my body will react to this eating right and exercising but only on a consistent basis. I can't have a defeatist attitude anymore where my weight is concerned and trust that God is in charge and brings me to these situations for a reason. I ended up working out by myself yesterday because my son had a lunch date with a friend.  I was nervous trying to run without my son encouraging me along but I walked in and went through our routine of stretching for 10 minutes and then I hit that track like it was noone's business.  I managed to get the first mile of my walk in at a very quick 15 min (had been 17 before) and I ran the first 1/10 of a mile starting out way too fast and halfway thinking "I'm not going to be able to do this" but I slow down and finished it. I didn't run through as my son likes me to do but I kept on walking and after I got my breathing back to normal (the whole time making myself talk to myself) I attempted it again. My son being a former Marine is fond of cadences when he's running saying them to himself. When tackling a hill on our walk around the neighborhood, he suggested one such as "Up the hill, f*ck the hill" which actually worked for me even with the potty language. I ended up saying "Up the hill, freak the hill" but it got me up this very steep hill near my house that kicks my butt to the point in the past where I wouldn't be able to talk, breathe or anything until near the end of the walk. As I walked around the laps of the track building up the momentum to run again, I started saying to myself "Up the hill, 251, down the hill 243" - now don't ask me why I picked 243 but it just came to me and it worked as I ran around the track the second time around and I had the rush of energy and ran through the final part as I've been instructed by my son and then walked a couple of cool down laps. I stretched afterwards and felt an elelation that I needed to feel knowing that this is going to happen. It might be a slow, long drawn out process but it will happen as long as I stay focused and keep on consistently eating healthy, making wise choices and exercising smart.  It was a good day and I was tired last night but it was the boost I needed to get over a slump.