Day 6: Ch-ch-ch-changes

Last night I made it to my Weight Watchers meeting. Timing was on my side when they canceled my rehearsal so I could go to my regular meeting.

It was especially important because each December they make a few tweaks to the plan. Last year was the big change to the Points Plus system. This year wasn't as drastic, but definitely some changes.

In addition to the program changes, our meeting is also having a couple of changes in time & location. They are moving our center to a location which is actually more convenient for me, but completely inconvenient are the time changes. They are eliminating our 7:00 meeting time and having only one 5:30 meeting on Monday nights. With my current schedule there would be no way I could make that but moving forward I could potentially stop there for part of the meeting before heading to rehearsal. My leader is also now doing the Saturday morning meetings, but those will be during my running time.

So it appears I will have to find a new regular meeting. This royally blows.

When you join Weight Watchers, your first meeting makes an impact on you. Whether or not you stick with your meeting time and leader, that is your first impression of the program and the group, and it is where you are crossing that threshold of joining the program to make a difference in your life. Joan was my first leader and I have gone through all my ups and downs, and downs and ups with her helping me through it. I have celebrated successes and milestones with her, and I have shared my frustrations and vulnerability with her. I have attended other meetings because I couldn't make it, but never permanently, and I have driven an extra half hour to catch her Wednesday night meetings when I needed her.

The thought of finding someone else to be there through the continuation of my journey is a little daunting and sad. Mondays were always my days to regroup and get ready for the upcoming week, or regroup and get back on the wagon. Now it could be mid week...or end of week. The group dynamic is also important and even though the group was ever revolving, there were always those faces which were there each week to say hello & catch up with.

I know there will be opportunities to go back to that meeting when my schedule changes again, and Joan has her other meetings I can visit. But this change will definitely prompt a new stage of my life, as other changes have been coming in--and I hope to use this as a catalyst for establishing new habits and priorities for success.

Weight Watchers friends: Have you gone through a change in leader or meeting? How has it affected your weight loss or motivation?

Until next time

Get mad

I don't get mad often. I've got a pretty even temper and laid back personality.

But sometimes that results in me swallowing emotions instead of releasing them and then they build up.

And they brew.

And they fester (great word isn't it?)

And then...

BOOM. Full fledged emotional demons come flooding out. Beware.

So this weekend was one of those weekends. I've been letting some stuff build up for weeks now, but I thought it had settled. I had a great week with lots of positive energy & great experiences (other than Monday's frustrating weigh in) and I was really looking forward to this weekend. On Friday however there was that change of tides.

First I encountered a series of rude people one right after the other who pissed me off first thing in the morning. After that it seemed everything started going wrong, but I tried not to let it get to me. I went out that night and had a great time and seemed to have recovered. Saturday I was very efficient in preparing for the wedding I had later that day, and even fit in a half hour run. It was tough, but I was happy I did it. The wedding though was a bit tough--between my friend who is post-breakup getting upset every time she heard "their" song, and being surrounded by couples while dealing with my own issues, and some other useless senseless drama which came up...my head was continuing to clog up with chaos.

To top everything off, yesterday's trip to the Ren Faire proved to put the icing on the cake and by the time I came home I was bubbling over with hurt, anger, and every emotion in between and it all came pouring out. In the privacy of my bedroom I just let everything release uninhibitedly and eventually settled down.

And then I ran. I couldn't eat anything and needed to do something, and I knew that pounding the pavement would be the only thing that was going to help. And it did. It wasn't just all jogging either--I actually ran. And I ran further than I ever have before. And it felt good. Sure I was tired. Sure I could barely breathe. Sure I had a cramp in my side which felt like it was ripping apart my organs. But I pushed and by the time I returned, I proudly collapsed on my couch in contented exhaustion.

I know this week is going to be a difficult week, but I'm planning on using that to my advantage. Channeling those emotions into my running--I feel strong physically and I think this will help me cope emotionally--plus it will help me reach my 50 lb mark on the scale which will also help my overly-emotional state.

Get mad. Since I can never have all parts of my life cooperating at the same time, I'm going to at least use adrenaline and endorphins to my advantage.

Tonight should be a good night on the scale because I was pretty good this week & did fit in lots of walks and a few runs. I don't know what the loss will be, but it should definitely be a loss. Hopefully after today my mood will start to calm down to it's normal tepid state.

Goals for the week:

• Run
• Lots of protein, healthy foods, fewer carbs (other than fruit)
  
• Track
• Water
• Distract myself
  
• Keep my 50lb goal in mind.

Until next time

Am I Ready for change?

Change can be scary. But it can also be exciting.

I am usually pretty open to change--at least in certain aspects of my life. Hair, wardrobe, decor, etc - bring it on.

But when I found out at yesterday's meeting that Weight Watchers is going to be changing...HELP!!!

Our leader did not say specifically what will be changing, but it sounds like the whole system of Core vs. Flex will be different. I've been a member for 7.5 months. I've gotten used to this points system--I'm certainly not an expert, but I've become very attached to it.

And the idea of this something new is just a bit scary. I guess I will find out next week.

Our leader suggested to think of it as a kickstart to refresh our look at weight loss. I wonder how people who are only a few weeks in will think about this. We will be getting all new books & materials, as if we were new members. I guess it could be kind of fun. But still scary.

In the meantime, I am back down the 4.6 lbs I gained last week and am at exactly the same weight I was two weeks ago. Which is a good thing. I don't know where that 5 lbs came from, but it was not fun. Because of this crazy food week, I am not sure what next week will look like, but I feel like I'm back in the swing of things. I even stayed within my newly-lowered points target yesterday! That strutting idea helped I guess.

Now to plan for the rest of December. And believe me, I have a plan.

Until next time