Well, would you?

Today is Monday, May 21st – the Victoria Day holiday – and it’s snowing here in Calgary.

Which explains why I’m not out running: remember I’m a fair-weather runner. I don’t like to go outside for extended periods of time when the weather is doing stuff like this:

…or when the snow piles up on the grass like this:

Okay, probably I should clarify. I love snow. IN WINTER. I’ll get dressed up warmly and ski all day long…IN WINTER. What I won’t do, though, is strap on the mesh running shoes and go for a jog when there is a river running down the side of the road and snow is falling.

I know, I won’t get very far as a runner with that lame attitude, but really, I only picked up this running thing as a way to help get that stubborn last 10 pounds off and to help keep it off thereafter. So I’ve skipped (well, delayed really) a few days here and there in my 10k training program. That’s fine, I’m cool with it. I know that when the freakish Calgary spring season ends and summer sets in with its drought-like (okay, not just drought-like, just plain drought) conditions, I’ll be able to get out and hustle my butt around the ‘hood (I live in a suburb with a convenient 5km loop road through it – just like a track!) nearly every day. ‘Cause I will run in punishing dry heat with the sun beating down on my back. That’s not a problem. It’s the shivering cold and wet that I abjure. Good thing I don’t live in Vancouver, eh? (Actually, I HEART Vancouver, I just wouldn’t want to run there from about, say, October until May).

Ah, but I digress! (Just to digress, though, I am a good digresser, aren’t I?)

So here’s the deal…I just celebrated a whole year with Weight Watchers! And I’m still not at my goal-argh. When I first joined I thought it would take me a little more than six months to lose "all my weight", and here it is, 12 months later and I still, STILL have ten pounds to go before I reach my goal. I’m actually not as discouraged as you might imagine by this fact, though. Here’s why: when I go to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting, I almost always hear a similar story. From our leader (who lost 60 lbs, gained it back, then lost it all one more time before becoming a WW leader), from other WW staff, from other members close to their goals. It seems to be a common thread that the last 5 or 10 pounds is very, very stubborn. Heck, there’s even a TV show called "Last Ten Pounds Boot Camp" or some such thing. I even watched it once. And before you ask, no, it wasn’t that helpful.

So that brings me back to my one year anniversary with Weight Watchers. Let’s take stock. It’s been a year. I’ve lost 50 pounds. Am I happy? You betcha. And that’s the bottom line.

At one point I would have sat down with a calculator (no, I can’t do math like that in my head) and figured out how much money I’ve spent on the last 52 weeks’ worth of Weight Watchers membership dues and then divided it by 50 to get a dollar-per-pound figure, or a pound-per-week (well, that’s pretty easy) figure, but I think what I realized at some point on this journey is that it IS truly a journey… a journey with no final destination. This is one of those ones wher you’d better just sit back and make the most of the scenery, because you’ll never be getting off the train saying "ahhh…I’m THERE". I’ll ALWAYS have to/want to watch what I eat. Because the old habits come rushing right back in with amazing haste when you don’t. And I really, REALLY am not going to be the lady who lost 50 lbs and gained it all back. Really. (I might, however, be the lady who embarked on a 10k running regimen and never actually ran 10k, but as long as I’m not gaining weight back, I’m okay with that.)

So after a year, on balance, I can honestly say I am very, very satisfied with my weight loss journey (so far) and I am also very, very proud of my accomplishment. It’s been a year of mostly ups and a few downs, a lot of self-discovery and, on the whole, remarkable success.