I needed to lose the weight. I had been thinking about it for a while. Weight Watchers was the only thing that had ever worked for me. When I told DH I wanted to join WW again, My DH asked me "Why? Why now? What's different?" I couldn't answer him. I just cried. I don't remember exactly what I told him but he felt bad because I cried.
I started Weight Watchers 1/13/09 I was nearly 49 years old and 5'3" tall weighing in at a whopping 238.2 lbs. I decided that unlike times before what was different was that I would set a goal and I would NOT say "but I'd be happy with". My real goal is 135. WW insists you start with a 10% goal. OK but that's NOT my real goal. It can be a celebration point on my way to my real goal but it is NOT my goal.
After starting WW I finally could talk to my family about why I needed to do this. I told them about all the pictures I've taken of our family on vacation. Mostly of their butts as they raced on ahead and I dragged on behind. I didn't even talk about the pictures I wasn't in because I really didn't want anyone to remember me as I am. I realized that if I died tomorrow my girls would forget what I looked like because there would be few if any recent pictures of me. I want to be a part of my family not just someone that tags along and can't quite keep up.
My first weigh in (1/20/09) was great. 233.6 lbs that was 4.6 lbs down. Then nice lost was great. The meeting was good too. No one there looked at me as a fat person. Just a person with the same struggles as they had. There were some lifetime members there that had lost over 100 lbs. That really gave me hope.
My second weigh in (1/27/09) was even better. 227.8 lbs that was down 5.8 more lbs. I still have a long way to go. and I expect my losses to slow down soon. The first weeks of any diet usually go faster, Trust me on this I've years of dieting experience behind me to prove it. But I'm going to try to keep the losses big for as long as I can.
I'm down a total of 10.4 lbs, only 92.6 to go. I'm guessing it will take about 2 years to get there.
Our family is planning something special for summer 2010. A celebration. Since I was a teenager I've always thought that doing some bicycle touring would be a lot of fun. I can ride about 30 miles now but not without a great effort and a lot of pain afterward. I'll need to be able to ride about 50 miles a day. So the goal is lose the weight and get in shape to do a lovely bicycle tour the summer of 2010. I've not decided where to go yet but DH says I get to pick. I know I may not be at goal weight by then though I will certainly try for that, but more importantly I need to be in much better physical shape to do it. DH has pledged to provide all the gear we need and help with training for it. DD#2 has pledged to learn to ride a bike so she can come too! I Love that my family is being very supportive. I really don't want to disappoint them or me.
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Looks like the "Why" question came out totally wrong, sorry. It was more of a "what is going to keep you motivated?" or "what are your ultimate goals?"
ReplyDeleteIt's like training for a challenging bike ride. You don't do it because you enjoy training. You do it because you want to get to the finish line and not DNF, or perhaps because you want to struggle less on the climbs when you are on the road. The same can be said of losing weight. It may be a necessary process by which you get to what you want to accomplish, be it improved health, or a family cycling tour. If you lose track of the "why" you are doing it, you may have a harder time when you (inevitably) reach a tough spot on a long bike ride, or a plateau in your weight loss. Always keeping in mind what motivated you in the first place will help get you through the mental low. And you can only reach the finish line if you don't let that mental low convince you to give up.