There is motivation and there is purpose

I can be very motivated and really want something but there has to be purpose which makes me really, really want something. I realize this may sound hokey but you know what I mean.

I am really trying hard not to gain my weight back. I have lots of reason to be motivated - I like the way I feel healthy, the way I look, the way my clothes fit but yet I haven't been able to make that mean enough to get me on plan for one whole day. 5 weeks ago Michael had us pick a weight that we would weigh for Valentines. We had to have a reward so I asked Jerry to take me downtown for the night (we have a coupon for a free night). He said yes but that still hasn't been enough. In fact in the last 2 weeks I gained and last week I was out of the free zone (above 139). Then.....

Last Saturday, Michael invited the class to attend a meeting on Sunday at Burien that would be 2 hours of Success Stories. I left church and made my way there. It was amazing. 5 different women told their story. Each was a different story and each told it a different way. All could have been WW leaders. Many of them had started and stopped WW many times. In fact, only one of them was a first timer. Not all of them had reached goal.

The first woman will be 60 this year and she wanted to be the healthiest 60 she could be. Her best friend had recently lost 40 lbs with WW so she decided to try it. It has worked for her. She has lost about 40 lbs and has 10 lbs to go before her birthday in 2 months. She is focused and she is going to get there.

The 2nd lady was 6' tall and had been a model when she was young. She said that when she came to WW she confessed to the leader she just didn't have time for the plan. Her dad was in the hospital and she was running his business and had a family. So the leader said let's start slow. Drink your water and get in 5 veggies/fruit a day. And each week she added something else from the plan. She still has a way to go but the found a way to make it work. She has found a way to walk for her activity and she looks great. She told a story about her WW leader going to Standford to see her daughter for the weekend and gained 3 lbs. What had impressed this lady was the fact the WW leader was not remorseful. It simply happened and now back to program.

The 3rd lady was a woman in her late 20s who dreaded the activity. So she started to walk and it was boring. So she entered a 5K and walked it. After several, she found herself waiting in line and the lady in front of her asked her why she didn't run it. She looked at her in disbelief, "didn't she see what I looked like?" Then she thought about it and decided she could do it so she walked/ran it. Last year she completed 18 5ks and a half marathan and she is training for a marathon in May. She did admit that last year she didn't train. She just signed up and did them but she is training for the Marathon. She still has weight to lose but she is loving her life.

The fourth lady was over 60 and admitted she had tried WW over 6 times. Sometimes she got close to goal before she dropped out and sometimes she didn't make it a month. What made this time different? She needed to make it a lifestyle change this time because she was not getting any younger. She had on a pair of jeans with a wide belt and tee with a shawl and she is now a foxy African American woman who plays coed softball.

The next lady was a hair dresser and and the last lady had been in Europe and saw her pictures and decided that was not the way she wanted to look.

Between all of them they had covered every trail I have had and they figured out a way to get around it. I was in awe. It so inspired me that I have drank my water every day, stayed within my points and had activity Fri and Sat. The result was a 3.8 lbs loss!!! One of my biggest single week losses.

I tried to put my finger on what it was that so inspired me. I think it was how they acted. They were beaming, confident, making lifestyle changes and were loving who they were. I WANT THAT!!!!

Potato Soup - Yummy

Jerry has been craving potato/leek soup so I searched the WW Web Site and found a great one.