Thursday, June 17, 2010

Something to be Proud Of

This one is for you, L! Thanks so much for being such a great support through this process. It has felt great to develop such a great friendship too!

At the beginning of March, I made a decision. I wasn’t feeling that great. I was tired and achy a lot of the time. My iron levels have been consistently low since having Aidan and though that exasperated feeling tired, it was becoming my crux for not doing anything else. The weather was causing me to have visions of our aspirations to hike the entire East Coast trail with the boys over the next few summers and I had the thought,

“You know, I don’t know if I am going to be physically able to go on any of those hikes.”

That is around the time that I decided it was time to make some changes.

A friend of mine, L, has been a Weight Watchers (WW) member for awhile and I was attracted to the idea of making a healthy lifestyle change. Despite the fact that I had been trying to gain some positive control over my health, I found that I needed a little more motivation and accountability than trying to make changes on my own. It has been a neat experience. L and I have become WW buddies and totally motivate each other. We started a walking program about 6 weeks ago en route to a 5 km fun walk on June 23rd and that is the reason why I can often be found on the treadmill in our basement late at night (when DH is away and I’m unable to go outside).



This little key chain represents a great deal of commitment, fun, and a change towards living my life in a healthier, more enjoyable way. It is Weight Watchers’ award for losing 10% of your body weight. I met that goal a few weeks ago and am now looking forward to adding charms to it (the 5 km walk, for example, will be one).

It is also interesting to me how such a positive change (e.g. healthy eating and more physical activity) has positively affected other areas of my life, for example, my knitting. I have been knitting much more regularly since starting Weight Watchers because it is something I do for myself – knit therapy so to speak. I am also juggling our weeks with more attention to ensuring that I get a break during the weekdays, as well as the weekends, especially on those weeks when DH is away. And, guess what? I'm a better mother and wife because of it. L and I have added a walk around Quidi Vidi Lake the hour before our Saturday morning WW meetings and that is a treat (because to get out of the house on a non-child related activity coupled with great company and gorgeous scenery is a treat indeed) that I strive to rarely, rarely miss. In fact, I might be addicted to it!

All of this is to say that I’m feeling good these days and I hope you are too!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've heard so many good things about weight watchers. I swim, which I love. Kicks me in the hind quarters.
I'm in a bit of a low energy slump. I was feeling great but then suddenly hit a wall.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! I'm so proud of you! =)