Week: 21
Pounds Lost: 39.6
(gratuitous Banff Hostel image to keep your eyeballs entertained…)
Well congratulate me! I did it! I honoured my commitment to myself, kicked up my workout intensity and frequency and achieved my goal: to lose at least 2 pounds in week 20. I weighed in on Saturday with a 2.4 pound loss, and I’m going to press myself for another 2 pounds this week. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I’m going to promise myself to do 3 workouts per week for the next 3 weeks, and I’m going to set the weight loss bar at 2 pounds per week for the next 3 weeks as well.
But, success aside, I have a new challenge in my life. I’ll be working every Saturday morning between now and mid-December. It’s just a 1.5 hour teaching gig for the local school board, but it overlaps with my regular Weight Watchers meeting time. Now, I’ve gotten very attached to my WW meeting. At first it was uncomfortable, but the hubster and I are now pretty entrenched there. We’re looked up to as people who’ve succeeded – people who are within sight of their goal weight. We’re old-timers…we have congratulatory keychains, fridge magnets, stickers. The leader & other staffers know us by name. In short: we feel important there. We don’t want to leave.
I should clarify…there are loads of other WW meetings we could go to in our neck of the woods at different times. But it’s just that we don’t want to. We like ours…we like our role in the meeting. In fact, the hubster is just as disappointed as I am about this change. I suggested he keep going to our usual Saturday a.m. sessions, and I’ll just weigh in then head off to work, or else I’ll pick up another meeting sometime during the week; but he doesn’t want to. Thing is, this is something we’ve done together. And we both believe that the reason it’s worked so well for us (magically well, really) is because we’ve been through it together. (As an aside, we put the weight on together, I guess it follows that we should be taking it off together!)
So we haven’t really come to a resolution on what to do…we’ll likely just attend a weeknight meeting together somewhere else for the short-term, then head back to our regular meeting when my contract is up. But then things will have changed – and without us – at the old meeting. It won’t be the same. Dang it, we’re normally the kind of people who embrace change (you know, reorganize the furniture just for the sake of changing things up)…but I guess no matter how you feel about change, once you get something really comfortable going on…once you’ve got things just the way you like them, we all become old stodgies who ache for the status quo.
Anyway, one thing we’ve both learned on this journey of ours (over 60lbs for him and 39.6 – ohsoclosetoforty – for me) is that it’s the changes you make on the inside, and the new routines you create for yourself, that really make the difference. You can like your meeting, your leader, the feeling you get when people look to you for advice or inspiration, but none of that took the weight off. The only thing that did that was us. Ourselves. So I guess no matter what we decide to do vis-a-vis the next 10 or so Saturday mornings, we know that at the end of the day, it’s the hard work we’ve done together – as individuals – that has got us this far and that will see us through to the end: and beyond!
please pass some self-control over on this way.
you’re amazing!
Elizabeth, thank you so much for your comment and for adding my link to your blog 🙂
I want you to know that I know EXACTLY how you feel right now, because I have been there! I spent 10 years trying unsuccessfully to lose weight. There were even times when others challenged me to do it and I declined, because I knew I just wasn’t ready. In the end, I’m so happy I finally told myself “no more excuses!” and just DIT IT.
If my story inspires other people in the same situation to get out there and lose weight – then I’ll be thrilled. We’re rooting for you!
Hi, I found my way here while surfing blogs, and I just finished reading every one of your posts. You are an inspiration. I have been “trying” to lose weight for YEARS. I even set a goal this past summer that was completely achievable (lose one pound a week for forty weeks), and then did nothing.
Thank you for writing so honestly, and congratulations on your amazing success. I’m adding this blog to my links on my weight loss blog. One of these days, I know I will be ready to actually get started. And then I’ll kick myself for not starting sooner!
Congrats on the lost weight this week! Awesome! You may find that you’ll feel rewarded — maybe just as rewarded as you feel in your meetings — from working, teaching. Just a thought. It’s allll good. And, you have each other — that’s huge! 🙂 Keep up the great work. And, congrats, too, on the teaching gig. I really think it’ll be rewarding for you and will encourage you like the meetings did. 🙂
Congrats on the lost weight this week! Awesome! You may find that you’ll feel rewarded — maybe just as rewarded as you feel in your meetings — from working, teaching. Just a thought. It’s allll good. And, you have each other — that’s huge! 🙂 Keep up the great work. And, congrats, too, on the teaching gig. I really think it’ll be rewarding for you and will encourage you like the meetings did. 🙂
I had to enlarge the picture to see who that was in it! You look AMAZING!!! (Yes the yelling was intentional) Do you find yourself looking at old pics and wondering who that lady is?
What strange creatures we are-when I attended WW I too was attached to my meeting and time so much that I would drive across town from work like a demon to make the time. But that familiarity makes us feel safe and it is nice to celebrate with those you have been with for so many weeks and know how far you have come. Keep up the good work and just keep remembering what you have said-it is you and only you in the end that has taken off the weight.
Interesting, Kath. There is so much value in finding a place where (everybody knows your name…or) you feel comfortable and valued, especially when embarking on something where support is key. It will be interesting to see whether you stick to the meetings once you no longer have the familiarity of your group there. I know when I did WW and I had to change groups, I ended up just going for the weigh-in and visiting my old one whenever I really needed support!
Congrats on sticking with your plan to exercise and lose 2lbs!