I re-joined Weight Watchers right after Jenny turned 6 weeks old. My goal is to reach my previous lifetime weight. So far, I’ve lost 22 lbs on the program.
But this week didn’t go so well.
See…my parents visited last weekend and on Sunday my mom cooked a Sunday dinner. A good Sunday dinner complete with fried pork chops, rice, gravy, macaroni and cheese, a homemade banana pudding and best of all sweet tea (made with sugar…not splenda).
I had seconds.
By mid-week, I knew that things weren’t going well, through no one’s fault but my own.
I began to panic.
The thought crossed my mind to skip this week’s meeting because the scale would not be my friend, but my loving husband quickly shot down that idea.
So, I began to work as hard as I could to repair the damage that had already been done.
And I did repair some, but not quite enough.
With a bit of trepidation, I headed to my meeting at 7:30 this morning and stepped on those scales. When my leader told me that I was up just a bit, I told her that I was expecting it.
She commended me on my “positive” attitude.
I have a friend, Phyllis, who sits beside me every week. She’s 69 years old and will be celebrating three years of WW in November. Even though she’s a lifetime member, she continues to come every single week.
When I told her that I didn’t have a good week, she encouraged me to keep at it and told me that I was really doing well.
And then the meeting began…
The topic of this week’s meeting was celebrating our victories. Even those victories that don’t show up on the scale.
No, there may not have been a great loss of weight that could be celebrated, but there are other victories that deserve celebration.
Maybe an exercise routine was begun this week.
Maybe a smaller size pants could be buttoned this week.
Maybe wise choices were made at restaurants this week.
Maybe portion sized were smaller this week.
Maybe the temptation to snack on junk was resisted this week.
Those are all victories that need celebration.
Our WW leader instructed us to pair up with someone and share our celebrations from the week. We were then to share our partner’s celebrations, if they so wished, with the group.
Phyllis turned to me and showered me with encouragement during this time.
As Weight Watchers members shared victories had by their partners this week, Phyllis turned to me and said, “I’m going to talk about you because you’re doing so good!”
And she did.
I left today’s meeting feeling encouraged and uplifted, ready to tackle a new week.
I’m so thankful that I didn’t skip out of this week’s Weight Watchers meeting, but this isn’t about Weight Watchers.
I took two things away from the meeting today that allow each of us to succeed in life.
1. We all need to celebrate our victories in life.
No, we may not have reached our ultimate goal. But we need to celebrate our victories along the way. I could have left today feeling discouraged and beating myself up because of a bad week, but instead I was forced to look at the victories that I experienced and give voice to them in celebration.
Are there victories in your life that you need to celebrate?
2. We all need encouragement.
Encouraging words can do so much for a spirit in need of uplifting. It can change an outlook and bring joy. Scripture tells us that we are to encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Just this week I received a phone call from a friend encouraging me with words of “I love you!” and “You’re a great mother” after a day of struggle.
Are there people that you need to offer encouragement to?
Are you in need of encouragement in your own life?
I would love to celebrate your victories with you and offer needed encouragement.
Comment below and let’s do just that….let’s celebrate and encourage one another!
[…] have been impressed by my wife’s progress through going to meetings at Weight Watchers which shows me that the program does work—with little adjustment to lifestyle—just the quantity […]