Last Night at the Meeting

I was wary going to weigh in last night because 1) I'd been on vacation in Austin and had been eating less carefully than I do at home and... 2) my birthday was Tuesday and as a result I had cobbler with ice cream in Austin with DS and his GF, DF got me a little delicious individual serving cake for my birthday, and a slice of cake with the girls at my office when they surprised me with cake! Sooooo... being that I was on a plane on Tuesday and weighing in Thursday and my ankles still looked like grapefruit, I was "concerned".


NO NEED!


I gained one pound ONLY! Which I consider a Non Scale Victory (NSV)! One little pound which - when I stepped on the scale at home this morning - was already gone and I was done into the 240s (barely, but it had 249.6)! So I was psyched.

While I was on vacation I truly did make conscious choices about my food. I avoided cheese and heavy sauces and opted for the fresh, spicey tex-mex foods. I ate one hot dog at the ballpark and didn't get crazy with any huge food frenzy. I had a few margaritas over the time I was there, a glass of wine. But I also walked alot and swam a couple of times and got exercise when I could. Plus the 90+ degree heat doesn't make you want to eat too much. My big night was a planned night out for bbq and it was soooo delicious! I ate a huge plate full and enjoyed every bite and had cobbler following which we shared. That was the only night I felt uncomfortable in a long time. I noted that feeling and don't want to feel it again.


So one little pound isn't gonna wreck me... quite the opposite, I'm motivated. Also... what I really want to remember is the wonderful woman I met at last night's meeting who has lost 101.6 lbs. AMAZING! She is probably late 50s and is a little slender woman now. Probably about my height at 5'9" or so and so nice. She told her story during the meeting and showed her pants (size 26) and blouse (3x) that would not button on the bottom. She passed around a photo of herself. But what she SAID was what got to me...


She took it slowly and stuck to the plan. She makes a lot of her meals herself and plans everything. It took her over 18 months to lose it all. Now she is a lifetime member. She talked about how she regrets she didn't lose it earlier and all the problems she has had due to the weight - knee replacements, broken bones, etc. Not good! She has photos of herself at family events she cannot look at without crying. I know that feeling. She'd lost 70 lbs. before her daughter's wedding and you could see how proud and relieved she was to be able to say that.


Her name is Donna Parker and she lives in the town next to me. She talked about doing the Avon Breast Cancer walk with her friends for the first time and how great it was. We talked after the meeting in the parking lot for a bit and she was sooooo inspirational. She showed me the packet of Kraft Free dressing she carries in her purse... and encouraged me on keeping the almonds with me for a quick pick-me-up plus told me that it is great for asthmatics who need to counteract the prednisone in their system.


I feel blessed to have gone to the meeting and heard her speak. To have met her... and I told her so. To meet someone who has lost 100+ lbs. was so good for me.


People Magazine 2007 100+ Loser feature


She did it. I can do it, too. We need to be as important to ourselves as other people in our lives are to us. In fact, we need to put ourselves FIRST and lose this weight and get healthy.


We're the ones who can do this. No one else can.


No more excuses/lamenting for me... forward... onward... I can see a beautiful happy healthy woman at the end of this journey and I'm not going to veer from that path!



(This is where you all shout "Amen, sister!" lol)

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