...and so we begin...

Hi kids!

I'm taking the "big jump" today into the wonderful world of blogs! I hope this will be something that will help to make our weight loss journeys more fun, more interesting, and much easier!

You probably know my story...I struggled with my weight my entire life (I've been really, really thin and really, really overweight). After a public humiliation that brought me to rock bottom feelings, I made a decision to make a change, for once and for all. The starving, the obsessive exercising, the secretive eating, the minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour obsession with what I would eat next, the mini chocolate covered donuts, the eating from the trash (from packages like potato chips bags, but still!!), the poor self esteem, the horrible name calling ("fat cow," "hog", "ugly pig" were some favorites), the "not feeling good enough" about ANYTHING I did--it was all going to end. It would end slowly (hey, I'm still a "work in progress"), but it would no longer rule my life.

So, on June 4, 2001, I joined Weight Watchers. On January 31, 2002, after having lost 72 pounds, I became a Weight Watchers leader, and I've been a believer ever since! Do I still struggle? Yep. Will I ever give up? Nope. It's that simple. Here are the steps:

1. Believe in yourself. Believe you're worthy of achieving successful weight loss.
2. Believe in your capabilities. Believe you're capable of doing what it takes to successfully lose weight.
3. Do the work. Stop whining. Stop the excuses. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. If you're willing to do at least ONE thing differently, then you will experience success.
4. Identify the problem, and use it as the solution. Once you know the reason for your weight issues, you need to then make a choice: do I continue to use the reason as an excuse to overeat, or do I use the reason as an explanation for my weight issues and now work on changing?
5. Stop making this be about food. If you think in a positive way, you will make good choices. Worrying about how many calories are in spray butter is ridiculous; figuring out why you need to spray half the bottle on your potato will REALLY help you. Learn to understand your thoughts and feelings; the appropriate and self supporting choices will naturally follow.
6. Never quit. Yes, it's that simple. The most difficult thing that we all need to come to terms with and accept is that we revert back to the old way of thinking when we hit a challenge or crisis that is emotionally debilitating. The KEY is to work through the challenge or crisis without turning to food. Sounds easy, doesn't it? But think about it. We do well when all is right in our world; we stumble and go backwards when emotional turmoil surrounds us. This is when many of us throw our hands up in the air and say, "It's too hard right now. I can't handle this right now. I don't have time for this right now. I have too much else to worry about right now." What we're really saying is, "I don't want to worry about my weight right now and I want to eat whatever I want to get through this." And we KNOW where that gets us. You KNOW I'm right...

So, I'll share your journey with you for as long as you choose to have me. Put your seat belts on, people--this is going to be a GREAT ride!

BELIEVE!
Mary Ann