Week 1

This week wasn't nearly as hard as I had predicted. I have to admit I was sad and anxious before I began this new ww session. 1. I haven't been at this meeting place before and knew no one. And mostly because of 2. I had to say goodbye again to some bad (but fun/comforting habits).
I know - it is lame and dumb, but it is hard to let go of a "good friend" like Cheetos and cheese. They were always there for me when I needed them - but now I can't "need" them anymore.
Off the boo hoo story about me being sad about missing cheese...
So I go early to my first meeting. It is in a local Lutheran church in the basement. And by all the ww things all over the room - they either keep it full time for ww or they get there hours before to decorate. My guess is the first.
Because I was new, I had to fill out paperwork (again). There are two staff members. One that says "I lost 25 lbs in 1985" and the other is even earlier. These are hard core lifetime members. As I submitted my papers, I explained that I was new, but not really... that I had been on a year off due to my job... blah blah blah. Why I can't just go in there and be quiet - I'll never know. No, wait - I know. I just can't walk in and not tell them I've lost 120 lbs but need their help with the rest. I'm sure it is my way of handling my embarrassment of being there. Just us fatties and the 2 that have kept off 25 lbs for 25 years.
I look around and it is not at all like a ww meeting at work. Sitting in the chairs were a bunch of local ladies struggling with weight... a lot of weight. I didn't feel so bad. (yes, judge me all you want by sizing up my group)
Well - these local heavyweights average about 65 years old and are female... with lots of time on their hands. And they love to bake and cook - and talk about it, too.
I'm used to the "I'm on the run and I work, so I need something easy & quick - and we eat out, too" group. Nope - not these gals - they bring in recipes AND the food samples to share.
As many of you may know, in meetings it is time to share your successes of the week - weight loss, recipes, cool new foods, etc. And there are "stars" given out for the rewards (ok, they're stickers of stars). A lady lost 5 lbs and she got a fancy schmancy book mark. So we all clapped. Then we found out it was her 9th week. huh? (note: she was the one who brought in food samples). And note to self: don't eat anything she makes, either. I then made a personal goal to lose 5 lbs in the next week.
So here it is the next week... and yes, I kept my shoes on when I weighed in. They were tennis shoes and lighter than the hiking boots I wore at my 1st weigh in, but I still kept on my shoes. (Ok, I'll also admit I had on a heavy sweatshirt, boots and had my watch & my phone in my pocket on week zero). Today I had empty pockets - judge all you want. The day will come that I will need to take off the shoes... it will just be a hard week where I'll need all the help I can get. I've heard of people taking off their bras to weigh in lighter - I draw the line there.
So I lost 5.2 lbs WITH shoes. Not bad. But in the past, I've been able to drop more the 1st week. I am a year older I guess.
I was kinda feeling down on myself, when at the end of the meeting, the leader announced how much weight the entire group lost this week. 10.5 lbs. Yup. Out of TWENTY people (at least) WE lost 10.5 total lbs. hmmmm. Easy math: 5.2 lbs - me and 5.3 lbs 19 others. I wasn't sure if I should be proud or quickly change where my meetings would soon be with this bad track record. My guess is the ladies who love to cook & bake also are enjoying their weekly meetings and sharing recipes... and they're SLOWLY losing their weight. Maybe they know something I don't? Maybe not. But in the mean time, today is fun food day and we both weigh in today. So we had steak on the grill. Not bad for the first week. I'm off to the west side market tomorrow to stock-up for the next week. It looks to be a good week.