Have you ever heard the expression "Spring Has Sprung"?" I have heard this expressions all of my life, The Daylight Savings Time always marks a new season for me. With it we get longer days that allow you to get more done, and to be outdoors more.
I love to watch the daffodils come up and then the tulips. All the trees are blooming, first the Bradford pears and next the red buds and cherry blossoms. The azaleas will take their turn in the spotlight and then sthe Easter season, and finally summer will be upon us. With the passing of each day I can see eveything waking up and becoming alive again.!
Remember when I wrote a week ago about My Big Sweet Tooth and in part II I talked about my mother joining Weight Watchers and encouraging me to go with her. My mother in all her wisdom was determined that we could take the weight off and become healthier in the process. She did everything within her power to get us on the right track and to keep us there. She would only buy foods that were on the approved list of foods that we could eat, but more importantly she would drive us to the weekly meetings. And my mother was not just taking us there to "weigh-in" as so many do, but we were there for the full hour to hour and a half. We sat through the leaders talk, and the question and answer time at the end.
Oh how I dreaded those weekly meetings that always came on Monday. Monday of all days!! I asked her why we couldn't go on a Thursday or something, and she told me on more than one occassion that by going on Monday evenings it would keep us from going off "The Program" during the weekend because we would know that we had to face that scale on Monday night.
I can tell you that there was not a Monday that went by that I ate anything during those months of attending those Weight Watchers meetings. I was always afraid that any little thing that I may have eaten during the weekend may cause the scales to "tip" the wrong direction. And I figured a Monday full of "fasting" and not eating anything could surely tip the scale back in my favor.
We would ride in almost silence over to the church where the meetings were being held. My mom was not the best at getting us there on time, and we would have to wait in a long line with a lot of other people who were trying to do the same thing that we were, "Go to the Monday meeting and it will help you to stay on track during the weekend before." I didn't like the weighing in part, not because I was not losing weight or because I felt like I had cheated and had not lost any weight that week, but because I was embarassed by how much I weighed. It was very uncomfortable for me, a 16 year old to "weigh in" and have someone else keep track of my weight loss progress. Back then, we are talking 1980, they were writing down your current weight and subtracting or adding in some cases the weight loss / gain in the margin. And they kept everyones profile with your weekly weigh-in weights in a metal box with all the other participants and their cards. So when I was not there, who had access to my profile card with my weight recordings on it? Who else knew how much I really weighed? Not my mother! I made her promise that if I did this with her that she would not make me show her my weight progress card.
I remember my very first week of attending and my first week's weight loss was 6 pounds!!! I was so happy with that 6 pounds that I thought that I had arrived! I forgot all about the half of can of tuna fish and 5 crackers that I had made myself eat for lunch every day the previous week to get there. I was proud of my weight loss success! I continued with Weight Watchers until I had lost 35 or so pounds and by then I had met the new love of my life and with this new found love, my focus became less on the weight loss and more on my relationship with him. But I can honestly say that that was not a bad decision because this new love became my boyfriend for 2-1/2 years, and then my fiance for 6 months, and now my husband for over 27 years!!!! So I may not have become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, but I did become a lifetime wife and partner to the best gift that God has ever given me. I love my husband with all my heart, and if I had to do it all over again, I would pick him again.
Do I regret turning away from WW? No, I know that many good things came from my WW experience. Did I learn everything that I needed to learn to be a healthier me? No. Did I continue on to become a Life Time Member? No. Did I keep the 35 pounds off that I had lost? No. But I did learn something about myself. It was during my time at WW that I discovered that I can do anything that I set my mind to. You see, I have control over what I think, but more importantly what I believe. And this 40 plus year old woman has done a lot of thinking, and now I am believing that My Journey To A New Me is not just about losing weight, but enjoying myself along the way and learning how to eat to live a longer and healthier life. And if I can encourage someone along my way that is ok with me. So here's to bright and sunny days ahead!
Remember: "Spring has just sprung, and Summers on her way!"
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