Inspiration Cometh

Since my weight loss post in November, things have not gone so well. At one point I was down by about 12 pounds. Now I’m back where I started plus an extra pound and a half. I’ve been pretty down about it. I’ve blamed it on work, not having enough free time, etc… Just like all other excuses, it gets you no where. Thankfully, I have weight loss friends/sisters!

Tuesday I emailed Donielle about the trouble I’ve been having. She’s lacking motivation herself. As a result of our emails, we decided to each set a goal for August 31. I am going to fly into Chicago that day and weigh in at her Weight Watchers meeting. When we both meet our goals, we’re going to celebrate by shopping in Chicago for a new outfit. The idea really gave me a good kick of motivation. My goal is to be a size 12. That way, when I meet my new 2006 nieces/nephews in Michigan over that weekend I’ll be skinny Aunt Jennifer. They will never know or have pictures with me as fat Aunt Jennifer. That will be awesome! She also helped cultivate my idea of getting exercise in doing things with my children. Emma and Allison love The Wiggles. They watch their DVD almost every day. If we were to dance together to all of the songs, I’d really get a workout and it would help keep the family active. From there, my journey has begun anew.

My company started an At Work Weight Watchers meeting this year. I had stopped going and really had no intention of going on Wednesday. Work has been a large source of stress for me and I let that be an excuse for how going to that meeting was not helpful to me. I was planning on signing up again this coming Monday at WW’s own location. In my head I knew that waiting almost an entire extra week would not necessarily be a good idea. When you have a getting started date in the future, why begin changing now? Before I stopped attending the At Work program, I got to know one of my co-workers better. I have been pretty darn good at inspiring others since December and I was able to really help her through a plateau. We’ve been talking a lot ever since. She asked me if I was going to the meeting yesterday and I said no. I couldn’t handle having them write down +349,832 pounds. She talked me in to going anyway in an email. She told me how gorgeous I am now and that anything extra would be “gilding the lily”. It really made me feel so good. She also gave me the idea to ask if I could some how start over. Sure enough, Carlyn, our leader, covered up my old record with a new sheet and I got a new membership book. Sure, the number on the scale was much higher than my last weigh in, but it was a much more pleasant experience because there was no + sign anywhere. Going back to the meeting was the best thing I ever did. We talked about setting goals and if those goals were worth what it would cost us to achieve them. It was exactly what I needed. I went back to my desk and storyboarded my week. I went to bed last night feeling great.

Today I got even more inspiration from another friend of mine at work. Jeanne and I are friends outside of Weight Watchers, but our friendship has grown because we’ve joined together. When we first started at work Jeanne really didn’t have any motivation. Although she knows that being overweight is unhealthy, she thinks she looks beautiful as she is (and she’s absolutely right). I helped her get on track by providing her some motivation. She would love to go to Paris. She’s always wanted to. I suggested that she make Paris her ultimate reward and to make preparations for the trip along the way as mini rewards. She had really done well since then. Today she emailed about how this journey is all made up of baby steps. Those two words – baby steps – gave me a wonderful idea. I am going to scrapbook the rest of my journey. Each week I’m going to take a die cut of a baby’s foot and journal what my successes and struggles for the week. Each month I’m going to take a picture and write down my weight and measurements. I can’t tell you how excited I am about starting this! This is going to be a wonderful tool to help me keep my eyes on the prize. It will also serve as a good reminder when my journey turns from weight loss to weight maintenance.

I really feel like I’ve turned a lot of corners in my life recently. In the spirit of Lloyd Dobler, I feel “monumentally better” about myself and my life than I did last week. I may allow myself to feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders, but in truth I know that God has given me some of the most wonderful friends. Thank you to everyone who has been leaving me comments lately. They mean so much to me! I’ve found that when I allow myself to let go, stop holding everything inside and let others help me, life starts to turn to rainbows. Your troubles don’t magically disappear, but you can more easily see the solutions. You just can’t live your life without your friends. They are more precious than gold. I love you all!