Dub Dub

This post has been a long time coming!  

I am a known food lover.  I like most types of foods, desserts and everything else.  I love to cook, I love to eat, I love smelling good foods when I walk in places.  It is just one of my loves.  I am also a stress eater.  I eat when I have too much going on in my life, when I'm not happy or just when I'm bored.  Because of all of these things, I started to get fat.  I would feel like jelly when I got in bed and hated (HATED) the way I looked.  I decided to do something about it and decided to try Weight Watchers.  I saw sooo many ads in magazines and then Jennifer Hudson was singing about Feeling Good and I figured I should give it a try.  I made it one of three New Year Resolutions and I didn't start until late February of 2011.  I got a coupon to try a Weight Watchers meeting for free and it was the hardest first step ever to get there.  The people could not have been any nicer.  I didn't join the first time but I did make it back a week later and it was life changing.  I had dieted before: Fat Smash, Atkins and others.  Weight Watchers wasn't a diet.  It is a Life Style Change.  I can still eat bread, chocolate and drink wine.  I can still go out with friends and enjoy a meal but it makes you aware of what you put in your mouth.  I lost over 3 pounds my first week on WW and did not start exercising with the program until I had lost at least 10pounds.  I liked going to the meetings and getting to know others who loved food or didn't have the time to make themselves a priority.  I also began a great friendship with someone.  My friend Michelle worked at the old j-o-b up North.  We had a meeting one day when I casually mentioned to her that I attended WW and she quickly told me that she did too.  It didn't take long for us to start going to the same meetings and then start going on walks with each other.  ACCOUNTABILITY with her meant so much.  I lost close to 25 pounds.  It took a little over a year.  When I went to the Doctor in April for a check up she asked what had I done to drop 17 pounds in a year.  She told me to keep up the good work.  I have not hit my target weight.  I loved the way I felt in my clothes. I loved going to the gym.  I loved having people who looked out for me.  Living up north was easier because places NEVER sold Sweet Tea and that is another weakness.  Now that I live back in the south I have had to start all over again.  I had to join a new Weight Watchers family who don't seem to care if I miss a meeting or if they see me at all.  I had to join a new gym and I will skip the story on how I got spicy with that manager.  I also broke my favorite pair of work out shoes.  My Red Nike Shocks have been with me for years and just recently the shock pulled apart from the shoe.  I had to order new shoes and am still waiting for them to arrive.  I am listing excuses to you.  My life had been flipped upside down and I am still trying to get a routine in place and start loving myself enough to care about my health.  I have gained a few of the pounds back.  Nothing major, but major to me because I know how hard I worked to get them off and how easy it is the put empty food in my mouth.  And with the holidays and my birthday coming up, I know that food will be around me more than ever.  When my life is together, I eat healthy, work out, sleep well and have energy.  That is not the case right now and I am dealing with myself and trying to get back on track.  Weight Watchers was and is phenomenal.  I am making myself get it together and start back tracking, working out, food prep and all that good stuff.  

Have a great weekend,

TC