It's the least I can do

I feel like a new woman! Monday was a noon workout, but Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I managed to get out of bed and get to the gym before 5:30am. It's a miracle, for sure. 

I think I like this morning thing, I really do. I feel better, more awake and it's a great feeling to know that the "chore" of exercising is out of the way for the day. I get to Christmas shop on my lunch hour or just read blogs while I have a leisurely lunch at my desk at noon or even walk with my slower-paced friends (they call it walking, I call it strolling...but it's fun to chat with them). 

The only problem is that I don't have an excuse for refusing lunch dates. Maybe I'll allow one a week, I can still eat healthy and eat out. I have sort of missed the socializing of going out to lunch with friends.

Today is going to be odd because I'm also going to the YMCA by work for my noon cardio variety class, the one I love so much. Two workouts in one day (I know, I've lost my mind!). 

Actually, this is part of my master plan of getting my weight down at least a pound by my Monday night weigh in. That's right, no more Saturday or Sunday morning weigh ins and then a Monday night meeting. I've decided that's ridiculous. 

The reason I stopped the Monday night weigh ins is two-fold. One, I hated weighing in at night. Depending on what I ate and or drank during the day, my weight could fluctuate significantly. Morning weigh ins are more accurate. 

Second, I hated the pressure from my Monday night leader, Michael, to share "what worked for me" with the group of at least fifty members, none of whom I know (my two good freinds are WW dropouts). Every five pounds lost, he'd ask me to say something to the group. When I hit 50 pounds I asked him to stop asking me to comment to the group. He asked me why and I told him I didn't really have anything interesting to say, he said that wasn't true, but I told him, please, don't call on me anymore. The truth was, it's all been said before...I hear it over and over, every single week from the other members. That's when I switched to weekend morning weigh ins.

So you may be wondering what changed? At last Monday night's meeting, Michael made a comment to the group, while looking at me, and I was sitting in the front row, directly in front of him. He was talking about the Weight Watcher magazine. He said when he gets it the very first thing he does is go right to the success stories. He gets hope from these people. He wants to see what they did and are doing to be a success story. Michael has lost 100 pounds and has kept it off ten years. He is his own success story. Funny thing, I do the same thing with the magazine.

Then he looked at me and said, "That's why we share out successes with the group. It really helps others to hear what you're doing to lose weight, what works for you. People can learn from your success." I felt like a selfish, self-centered, and uncaring jerk. I know that wasn't Michael's intention, but it's how I felt. Which led me to the decision to actually weigh in on Monday nights, graciously accept my five-pound stars and the group's applause, and actually say something. Whether it'll be helpful, meaningful to anyone or even remotely interesting, I'm not sure, but I'll speak up. I'll share with the other Weight Watcher members what has worked and is working for me. They've been sharing with me for ten months, it's the least I can do.