I commit to...

Rather than beat myself up over not following program to a "T" I've decided it may be best for me to stick to a list of things I commit to do. Not only to lose weight but to get healthier. Here's what I am currently committed to and below is a list of what I'd like to commit to.

Currently Committed to:

~Eating whole grains (we, as a family do this with almost everything even pizza crust)

~Exercising (I have been going to a group exercise at a local church and LOVE it!) So, I commit to continue to go to that class 3x a week and do something physical on the days I don't)

~Attend Meetings (in the past I've joked and said I was a "Weight Watchers flunkie" but have since learned at my NY meetings to "go to meetings no matter how bad it is." I've done that, it's the first time I've never quit and I've definitely noticed a difference in my outlook on my progress.

~Keep a Positive Attitude (so very hard to do at times but every time I hear those negative thoughts pop into my head I make a conscious effort to think of something positive)

~Planning (Although I hate it I do make a grocery list, plan meals and stick to it. If I don't I find myself making poor choices like reaching for the wrong foods, ordering take out or going out to eat.)

I'd like to Commit to:

~TRACKING (Yes, it's in capital letters for a reason...I know it works but I can never seem to manage a whole entire week of tracking for whatever reason. I will continue to begin a new week tracking in the hopes of reaching weigh in day with a full tracker.)

~Rewarding myself with non-food items (I'd like to remember each time that this is a lifestyle change and not a "diet." Why? Because diets usually have beginnings and endings and I need to do this for life so I need not to reward myself with a Boston Creme donut from Dunkin Donuts (Yes, I've celebrated a weight loss by eating a donut) and instead purchase something that will help in my weight loss. I recently celebrated a weight loss by buying a blender to make smoothies with as a non-food reward. And then I drove through the DD drive thru for my weekly coffee AND donut. What? Old habits are hard to break...I shall strive to make a better choice next week.)

There are other things I am currently committed to and ones I strive to commit to and will add them at another time.

A New Committment

Well...even with the best intentions I found myself MIA from my weight loss goals through the holidays. I don't know why but even though I know how to cook healthy and make recipes using the correct points, I still seemed to continue to reach for those holiday cookies. As a result of that I found myself weighing in at my January meeting and being the SAME weight I was when I originally joined Weight Watchers a year ago. "WOW," I thought...that's failure in a big, BIG way! As a result of that I took about a month and a half and although I continued to go to meetings, I didn't track nor did was I consciously involved in achieving my goals. And then it just so happened that in one of our recent meethings we started to talk about maintenance. The ADD side of my brain thought, "Oh, I'm not at my goal yet so why should I listen to this?" Luckily, I did manage to clue in and learned a valuable lesson and another way to look at things. See...even though in January I found myself at the same weight I was when I joined (Nov. 2008--yes, I had lost about 16+ pounds but, sadly, managed to find them again) there was a bright side to what I did. I had maintained my weight for an entire year. I did not go up nor did I go down (again, I did go down but went up again) and that was something to be celebrated? Why celebrate being at the same weight a year later? Because in previous years I didn't maintain but gained, usually about 5-10 pounds. So, this year even though my collective weight loss was a big fat goose egg, I really had something to celebrate! I left that meeting with a new outlook on my weight loss journey and that is to celebrate even the little things AND to cut myself some slack. I recently went through a HUGE change in the last year: new job for the husband which resulted in a move from a place and family I've lived near my whole life. Add to that the stress of selling a house in a down market, living in a townhouse the size of a mousehole with two kids, adjusting to CONSTANT snow and then purchasing and moving yet again to our "forever" NY house and I've had A LOT going on. So, something that I had moped about for a month and a half was something I should have celebrated! Never, ever had I gone into the new year being the same weight I was the previous year! BRAVO to me! After that meeting I become more committed to my goals and to celebrating even the littlest things along the way!