On A Long Journey {Weight Watchers Week 4}

*I share this post ONLY to offer hope to anyone out there who might feel HOPELESS in her/his own personal weight journey. My motivation is purely to encourage you to keep at it, or maybe to start working on it, or to not give up if you've plateaued. I'm not looking for pats on the back or 'way to go Alysa' ... this truly isn't about me. I told the Lord four weeks ago, when I joined Weight Watchers {again}, "I'll share this journey on my blog as long as it gives people HOPE and points them to YOU, not me." God has been very good to surround me with several close friends who are cheer leading me through this long, long journey and for that I am forever grateful. FOREVER. But sharing in this public forum is about you.

As a background, you can read my most recent post on feeling weary in general and hopeless in the weight department. I am in a much better place, four weeks later. Much better. You can read it here.

I know you can also find my weight struggles in numerous other places on my blog, over the years, which I suppose makes me feel a little bit very embarrassed that I haven't gotten this under control and have tried for so many years. But, that's part of the authenticity - sharing the good, the bad, the ugly. I've failed a lot. I've had some successes. But I share the journey none-the-less.

So here we go.


Four weeks ago today I purchased a gym membership. I also walked into Weight Watchers, stepped on the scale and proceeded to cry. The little lady weighing me in was kind enough to give me a hug on the spot and remind me that my step up onto the scale was the first step in dealing with my over-eating and weight gain. I was in the right place. I took a deep breath, put the layers of clothing back on that I had taken off prior to stepping on the scale, {Because every ounce counts, people. Every ounce counts.} and sat in the meeting with tears in my eyes.

The number on the scale was big my friends. Very big. And I'm short. Very short. So you do the math.

But as I sat in the meeting I knew that with God's help, the prayers of my friends and family, and my hard work, the number could get smaller, week-by-week.

And so I have done some hard work the past four weeks. Heading to the gym each week day. Tracking the food that I'm eating so that I'm conscious about what is going into this mouth of mine. Making difficult choices when we've gone out to eat and then been pleasantly surprised at how good a salad can taste with the dressing on the side. SHOCKING. WHO KNEW? I've been working hard and God has blessed my hard work.

Today, {the 4th week, the 4th weigh-in day}, I lost 1.8 pounds. Add that to my weight losses the last 3 weeks and the total is 14 pounds lost. I did some measuring that first week and then again this morning and am thrilled that I've lost 4.5 inches in my tummy alone, along with a couple inches off my hipster area and other inches in other areas.

That feels really good. Really, really good. A lot to show in 4 weeks. That gives me hope and I HOPE that that gives you HOPE too. Because if you struggle with weight issues, I absolutely guarantee that if you and I sat down over a Diet Coke, I would understand exactly where you're coming from. I'd relate to the excuses you tell yourself about why you can't start today and maybe next Monday. I'd KNOW your struggles internally and externally and I would say, "If I can do it, YOU CAN TOO." I promise.

Oh, I promise.

I think for me, I had to get to the point in my mind where I was ready to do THE HARD WORK that it takes to get off the weight that took months, if not years, to put on. Believe me, those of us that struggle with weight issues know the answers to our problems. We know we're overweight. We know what we should and shouldn't eat. We know that we should be working out. We know that we should drink more water. We know we shouldn't have the piece of cake that is being offered to us again. We KNOW. We really do know.


BUT, until that knowledge intersects with the deep desire to make changes, it won't happen and the reality is, it only gets worse.


And so for me, I think that knowledge and deep desire finally intersected about a month ago. I was ready. Head ready. My heart was in it. I was physically and emotionally ready to do the hard work. And I was emotionally ready to tackle the long, SLOW journey of losing my accumulated weight. If you know me at all, you know I'm speedy in everything I do, so the idea of spending months and months on my weight loss project was VERY, VERY daunting. Truly, I don't think you can understand how daunting that is unless you've walked this journey.


But, I'm choosing to change my thinking. I'm thinking one day at a time. One meal at a time, really. I absolutely can.NOT go to the big picture of how much weight needs to be lost or how many months of work that will be. One day. One meal. One bite of food, actually.


I wish I had a picture to share with this post, but for now I can't because I'm simply too embarrassed of my before picture. But when I get more weight off I will show my before picture. I promise. I have one. It's awful to look at but I know it will be a proud day when my before and after are side-by-side. And hopefully that will spur yet another person on to doing the hard work.

So I leave you with this. If I can do this, you can too. I promise. And if you've never given Weight Watchers a try, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. It is SO do-able. I'm not depriving myself of anything and sometimes you need to know that about a program before you sign up. I've had pizza these last four weeks. And french fries. And ice cream. {In very small quantities} There's no way I would sign up for any program that says I can never have those things because THAT would be setting myself up for failure and disaster. Rather, with Weight Watchers, I plan ahead, I save my extra points, I eat in moderation. I can have anything I want to eat, I just can't have everything. And I need to be smart about what I eat. If you have any questions I'd love to chat and no, I am not getting paid by Weight Watchers for this commercial. Their program is healthy and do-able and it brings results and it truly is changing how you look at food and making healthy eating a lifestyle change. No starving yourself. No only eating carrot sticks and celery. I love it and can't say enough about it!

I don't know - I share this journey because I am hopeful that someone out there will decide to make changes. Or not give up. Or know that they are not alone.

If I can do this, YOU CAN TOO.

And in the meantime, I'll leave you with these beautiful butterflies, because what's a post without a picture. 


Their wings are light. They're enjoying the journey. The sky knows no limit. They are ready to take off and fly.

And so am I. How 'bout you?
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Orange Tigers