The hope of the new year can not be seen more clearly than at my part time job at Weight Watchers. I have been a receptionist for WW for almost a year. In 2010 I lost 25 lbs on the program and began working for them in Jan 2011.
This morning, as I was getting ready to work at WW, I realized that for the 2nd year in a row, I am not making a resolution to lose weight. I am at a healthy BMI and I don't need to lose. It is an exhilarating feeling to be able to say "I am not fat" and it be true!
When I got to work, I overheard a member in our meeting room talk about how ashamed she felt because she had "fallen off the wagon" and had a significant weight gain. She lamented about whether to come to the meeting because she knew she gained.
Her voice was cloaked in multiple layers of anger, shame, sadness, and despair. "It surprised me how quickly my old habits, came back when my circumstances threw me for a loop", she recapped.
As I leaned against the back wall of the room, tears came to my eyes. I remember felling the EXACT same way several times on my weight loss journey. There was a member in the room who lost 166lbs on WW and has kept it off 5 yrs and every Saturday she is faithfully at the meetings.
These women are the reason I work for hardly any money for the company; to help and be inspired by men and women like them. Often people look at me and assume because of my size I don't have an issue with weight. How wrong they are1 When I go to a meeting I know that everyone in that room is or has felt everything I every have about food, weight, and body image.
I love my husband and he loves me but he has never had an improper relationship with food. He was an athlete most of his and has retained his thin frame up til now. There is a bond I share with the men and women in the meeting that is unlike anything else. I knew exactly how that lady felt and so did every single person in that room. She did a BRAVE thing by coming to the meeting to face her weight gain and to get back on track.
This is the power in accountability and support! Whenever you are trying to make a change, especially for the better, you need people who can cheer you on and tell you the truth. We lie to easily to ourselves. We let ourselves off the hook one time too many.
Our society doesn't like accountability. Let's be honest! We like to tell other they need to do but we mistakenly feel like we don't need someone telling us what to do. We don't want someone pointing out that we messed up or missed the mark. That is not healthy!
A lack of accountability is a breeding ground for lies, bondage, shame, and cover ups!
Accountability says, "I am going to ask you the tough questions about how you are really doing on that goal" and support says, "when you are struggling I will encourage you to keep going."
When I was a member trying to lose my weight, I HATED two things: getting on that scale each week and tracking what I ate. Those two things are the hallmark of the program.
I hated it because it made me accountable...and to strangers no less. Ugh! I didn't want those people judging me based on some number on the scale and I didn't have to track everything I ate after all I am not completely out of control! That was an example of the ways we lie and justify why don't do what we are suppose to. I have to face the reality. The reality was my choices were determining my outcome and needed to make better choices. The truth is the scale, my tracker, my leader, and everyone else in that room was routing for me! They weren't against me. Accountability is our biggest cheer leader.
I don't say this to plug Weight Watchers this new year. I say this as an encouragement.
Whatever goals you are committing to do in 2012, I encourage you to include an accountability and support system. Take the time to prepare to make changes. Studies show that when you prepare for a change the change is more likely to stick and is more easily adapted into your routine.
I'll be posting soon about some changes I am making in 2012. Until then...
Wholeheartedly me,
Julia
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