Time To Breathe...

It finally happened. The long awaited final piece of the Weight Watchers Leader training puzzle was completed Thursday night. After that the next three days became a whirlwind ... but let's back it on up. I let you all know about how I led my first ever full Weight Watchers meeting on Tuesday night...

After that, I felt a little more comfortable with the "big" meeting that would take place on Thursday night in front of my boss. Well, that was on Tuesday night/Wednesday. Thursday the nerves set back in. :P

Thankfully Thursdays are my busy day as I am the receptionist for three meetings (8am, 12:15 & 1:15) so the nerves really didn't set in unti I got home around 3ish.

I went over my notes one more time, got in to my "power dress" - the same one I wore at WW training and have worn a few times (the black ny&co dress) and headed out to the meeting.

My Leader coach Heather got me my very own "Leader Bag" :) A Leader Bag basically is a big bag to keep all of your WW stuff for your meetings together - not an official thing, but many have them. I felt wicked cool receiving my own. She stocked it up as well with great little goodies. :)

 

Thankfully she loved the gift I got her - Dunkin Donuts gift card & her very own reusable DD iced coffee cup - I know, we were a good fit. :P

Then all of a sudden it was 5:30 and time to start...

The meeting was great! It was a great topic - "Anchoring" - and the group was talkative and more than willing to share. I felt a lot more comfortable at the front and really tried to learn everything I had at training while being true to myself.

They even loved the "anchors" I gave out to the group as well - tiny sneaker erasers - for them to take with them for the week to remember the topic and ideas we had discussed.

The meeting wrapped up and it was time for the final verdict. It was great hearing what my Leader coach, Heather, and big boss, Elaine, had to say.

I felt awesome! You couldn't, and still can't, take the grin off my face from the awesome conversation we had. And after all that...

I got the word...

I WAS OFFICIALLY A WEIGHT WATCHERS LEADER!

Yay!!

Now would come the fun part of working on getting meetings of my very own to Lead. How cool, right?

I am so honored to be a part of such a great group of people and a great organization, Weight Watchers, trying to help people change their lives.

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I then found out that I would be subbing in for a leader the next day (Friday) and then two the following day (Saturday).

Wow! I went from leading one full meeting that week for my big boss to leading five meetings. Woo! I was ready for the challenge.

I happily went off to the meeting on Friday, but it was a smaller crowd because of the holiday. It was a small group, but one that challenged me ... and I welcomed it. Plus, they liked the little dog erasers I handed out at the end for "anchors."

Saturday brought my first experience with leading back-to-back meetings, but they were groups I was familiar with since I am normally a receptionist at that location.

The groups can range from low 50s to high 60s depending on the week so I had to make extra "anchors" to be ready for any size crew. This time I used decorative plastic easter eggs with motivational sayings in each. I made 122 to be on the safe side.

Despite it being Passover/Easter, we had a great turnout and totaled about 70-something between the two meetings. The groups were great and I had an awesome time.

They also let me know they loved the meeting and were shocked I was so new to the role of Leader. They thought I was a veteran. Yay! I loved hearing that.

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What a week. I went from one meeting to five and I loved every minute of it. Each group was so unique and each meeting was different from the next.

I can't wait to continue this journey and start the next phase ... waiting to hear which meetings I will be able to Lead on a regular basis! :)

I'm Honored...

I was completely honored when Dr. Sherry Pagoto, creator of my favorite twitter challenge - plankaday, asked me to be part of her "Real Life Biggest Losers" series. Wow!

I still don't see myself as someone deserving of such a cool title, but I was eager to chat with her so I could share my journey with others. Because if I help one person with something I have gone through and shared then I have completed my mission.

She entitled the piece "From Weight Watchers client to employee" and I love it. I really have come so far through this journey ... which will never end.

I am along for the ride and loving it.

So in case you missed the link on Facebook or Twitter, here it is again:

Check it out

The First ... Of Many!

Tuesday night marked the first time I ever led an entire Weight Watchers meeting. Me. Little ol me had the honor of standing in front of the room of members and be a part of their journey. I had been dreaming of that moment for years. Ever since I started Weight Watchers in November 2009 and had one amazing Leader that really got me started and committed to this journey, I wanted to help others with their success.

I got the call Monday night - 24 hours before the meeting would have to take place - asking if I could Lead the meeting instead of be the receptionist for it since the Leader had to have immediate surgery.

My immediate reaction - FEAR - me in front of those people I KNOW for the first meeting. I don't know about that.

My coworker, who gets me, could tell I was freakin', but I simply said - yes. I had to bite the bullet and get that first one under my belt. I knew these people and they liked to talk. They like to talk to me at the scale. I assumed they would want to talk when I was at the front of the room.

Thankfully I was wicked busy before the meeting weighing people in that all of a sudden it was 6pm and showtime. I took my deep breathe - just like I do before I step on the scale - and I took off.

Some of the meeting is a blur as you are kind of in the zone. But boy was I happy with how it turned out. The group talked, connected, shared and most of all seemed to enjoy themselves and the topic. I could see some lightbulbs going off in people's heads.

SUCCESS!

I did it. I led my first Weight Watchers meeting and I didn't fall down ... I didn't spontaneously combust ... I survived!

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Now ... I prepare for the first meeting in front of my boss and hope know that it will go even better...

Truth Tuesday - 1.8 lb Gain

Yes folks you read that right. That would be almost a 2 lb gain in one week and I was shocked to say the least. This past week I thought I was pretty on plan and upped my activity to boot - even putting in a double workout on Sunday (Spin & 6.5 mile run). True, I wasn't the best tracker this week, but I didn't think one day of lazy tracking would result in this gain.

Now my good friend and coworker Alverson was trying his hardest to talk me off the proverbial ledge I had put myself on after seeing the number on the scale. Poor Alverson had to hear a slew of profanities come out of my mouth (I allowed this since there wasn't another soul in the store), but I was mad.

I DID NOT expect that.

Now, I went into my normal routine after unleashing my inner pissed off Weight Watchers member, who hates seeing a gain, and texted my normal crew and tweeted that I had gained.

Everyone was saying exactly what I would've told them in the same situation. People were saying things to me that I tell members. There are any number of reasons there could've been a gain.

Then my coworker, Tara, hit me with exactly what I was thinking and doing when I read her text ... "Look At Your Wrist!"

BAM! Perspective...

For me, my biggest anchor (topic of this week's WW meetings) is the tattoo on my right wrist. It is a Michangelo saying in Italian "Ancora Imparo," which means "I Am Still Learning."

Ugh, I hate when other people are right sometimes, but I gave myself props for having the same thought as Tara to look at my wrist.

I mean I put the words there permanently for a reason. To remind myself on a daily - hourly - minute by minute basis that..

I. AM. HUMAN.

I know this might come as a shock to some of you :P JK.

But, yes - I will make mistakes. I will have off weeks. I will have gains.

I am still new to maintenance/Lifetime so there is still some growing and tweaking I need to do.

So after I let the words sink in, I started nixing my negatives and started listing the positives of the past week because there were a lot. This past week had been a LOT of fun...

1) I led half of my first ever Weight Watchers meeting. Wow! What an amazing experience.

2) I got out for not one but three awesome PAINFREE runs.

3) I got to run with one of my best friends ... the 6 months pregnant one ... that set the pace for the run. Yes, I was showed up by the pregnant woman, but it was awesome. We hadn't run together since 2007.

4) I still weighed in within my weight range for Lifetime. I weighed in at 156.4 and my range is 153-157 so success.

5) I was finally able to meet some of the amazing people I follow on twitter and participate in a kick ass run on Sunday with some badass chicks - who all happen to be Weight Watchers Lifetime members as well.

6) I realized how freaking awesome my life is and the amazing opportunities that lie ahead for me.

7) I am allowing myself to truly enjoy what life has in store for me.

But the biggest one of all...

8) I was freakin' happy as all hell this past week. Slightly stressed, but in the end I couldn't ask to be in a better place.

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Then I thought about something else.

*Since I hit Goal on Jan 10, 2012, I have stayed within the 153-157 range. Wow!

*Since December, 27, 2011, I have been in the 150s. Shut the front door!

People these are things I NEVER thought would come out of my mouth.

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So yes folks, the moral of Truth Tuesday was a gain of 1.8, but when put in perspective of the non-scale victories of the past week.

The frustration with myself subsided and a sense of pride came over me ... and one giant smile!

Fight Forever 5k/10k - 4/1/12 - 59:01 (9:04 min/mile) - actually 6.51 mile run

I was honored to take part this morning/early afternoon in Colleen's Fight Forever 5k/10k, which was a virtual run she set up to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Determination Team. I have been chatting online with Colleen for awhile now, but was never int he same place at the same time to meet, but thankfully that changed today. It was a beautiful day here in the Boston area so it was easy to head out and meet the group at the Lexington Bike Path. After hitting up Spinning with Linds this morning I wasn't sure how my legs would take the 5k, but I was ready to give it my all. :)

When I finally got the parking lot and met up with the other runners, I quickly was persuaded into running the 10k instead of the 5k. I am a pushover when it comes to running a farther distance or signing up for another race. Are we seeing this pattern? ;)

It was great to meet a group of Boston based runners with a few who also are Weight Watchers members. I always love hearing everyone's journeys with both running and Weight Watchers.

Colleen had it all set up even securing race bibs from RoadID, which was cool. I picked 33 in honor of Jason Varitek. He will forever be associated with that number. :)

We hit the pavement in our little group for the 10k - Colleen, Brenna & Robin - and since I am a math major I was quickly able to figure out that the foursome had lost over 330 lbs with Weight Watchers. Wow! So then I spent a couple minutes in my head trying to picture this foursome running pre-Weight Watchers.

It was so nice to just head out for a run and not worry about the time or distance. I actually didn't use my headphones once so I totally let Colleen/Robin control the pace and the distance. We were so into our conversation that we ended up running a little past the 3.1 mile spot to turn around. I was actually enjoying myself so much that I didn't even mind.

I love hearing other people's stories (as we can all gather) so I was totally caught up in the number of marathons Robin has completed, the training programs Colleen uses depending on the distances and Brenna's inner debat on whether to sign up for her first marathon or not. These types of convos inspire me to push my own training to another level.

As we finally turned around, Colleen and I kinda picked up the pace as we were just getting into the groove of conversation. It is just so nice to meet someone in person that you got to know so well over the internet. Additionally, it is always nice to find other people that endure the same struggles you do and hearing a fresh perspective is always refreshing and comforting.

As we got back to the starting point, I finally looked at my Runkeeper and realized we were at 6.48 miles and as you all know I like to end on a round number so I finished out the run and ended with a 6.51 mile run in 59 minutes, which was good for a 9:04 min/mile pace.

The run was great. I didn't have any knee pain and my legs were probably stronger coming off the morning's Spin class, which totally kicked my booty. :)

Colleen even let me try my very first Arctic Ease. I had been wanting to try this fabulous product for awhile. I can tell you it is as cool as it sounds and really works. Thankfully you can use one wrap up to 10 times so I will definitely be holding on to mine to use again!

After the race, Colleen handed out medals (yay bling!) and secured one of my favorite snacks for us - BBQ Popchips! Yum!

Then we headed over to Yeh! Yogurt in Burlington for some post-run fro yo and a raffle. I had to get some rainbow sprinkles on mine...

It was a great afternoon where I met some great people - who I have already started following on Twitter - and I won a sweet new fuel belt from iFitness. :)

Big thanks to Colleen for organizing the whole thing and let's all wish her luck as she dominates the Boston Marathon in a couple weeks...

Oh What A Week...

I cannot believe how much has changed in the last week ... really last 10 days. It was just 10 days ago that I went off to Weight Watchers training to become a WW Leader ... or rather a "baby" Leader. ;) The training would finish up the first half of the full training to be a WW Leader. It sort of seems a lifetime ago that I stepped in to the Hotel on Thursday, March 22 - not really knowing what those three days of training would bring ... or more importantly, the people it would bring in to my life.

I will not go into detail of what the training entailed since that is personal information, but I can say that I learned during that time that I am a heck of a lot stronger than I think I am. I learned that I need to trust my instincts. I learned that it is okay to ask for help. But, most of all, I learned that it was my destiny to be a WW Leader. I 100% believe that.

All of the twists and turns of life has led me to this point. This is where I am meant to be.

But, beyond the amazing experience and amount of knowledge I got during the training, I made some amazing friends. There were 18 people in my training. I was in complete awe and amazement at what all of these people had accomplished with Weight Watchers. It made me appreciate even more how the program works differently for everyone. Everyone tweaks the program to work for them. Between the 18 of us, we got rid of 1,067.6 lbs. Can you even imagine that much weight?

At one point, I tried to look around and envision what the group would look like it we were all back at our starting weights.

It was awesome to meet all these other people that understood where I was coming from and wanted to pay forward all the knowledge that we have gotten during our own weight loss journeys.

We shared laughs, we shared tears, we shared hugs, we shared wine, we shared beer, we shared recipes, we shared exercise routines, but most of all we shared a piece of ourselves with 17 other strangers that bonded us together for life.

Even got to go for a nice 5 mile run on Friday morning (Day Two), which really helped mellow me out. I needed those endorphins. I even learned that my fellow WW Leader-in-training Melinda will be running the Rock 'n' Roll Providence Half in August so I will get to reconnect with her then - if not beforehand. :)

Once, I was done and found out I had passed the training. It seemed as if something switched on in my head. I felt so at peace and excited for what was going to come ahead. The pressure (completely put on myself) was lifted. I had passed and finally could call myself a WW Leader ... okay, a WW "baby" Leader, but I was one step further to reaching my latest goal.

After leaving the hotel on Saturday, I came home completely drained and basically just laid low for the remainder of the day. But the entire time, I had a smile plastered on my face that has yet to come off. :)

I met with my Leader Coach Heather (who is amazing AND puts up with my bajillion questions/worries) on Tuesday to go over the rest of the game plan. She quickly let me know that it would be my time to step in front of a real live meeting that Thursday. Yes, you read that right - about 48 hours after that point in time - I would be in front of a meeting ... and I would be talking Fiber! Again, you read that right - what a "fun" topic to start with. ;)

Thankfully I have a great Coach and amazing WW friends on Twitter and Facebook that they all talked me off a ledge and let me know I would be fine. I quickly went home to start prepping. I would have to do an intro about myself and about half the meeting (so roughly 15 min). Okay, I thought - I can do this.

So I freaked the whole time leading up to Thursday night, as I do. I had my notes with me. I was ready to give it my all.

Thankfully on Thursday when I got to the WW center, they were busy so I was able to distract myself by actually weighing people in and signing up new members.

But, finally I heard Heather start the meeting and I just tried to remember to breathe... one of my BLS buddies (Sara Beth) told me there are only two things you need to do everyday - 1) breathe in & 2) breathe out. Yup, I was repeating that to myself over and over again.

I got up there and just was myself. Thankfully they got my jokes and enjoyed the activity I had lined up for the discussion on Fiber. Once, I got done singing my little Fiber stanza I had for my close I was feeling good. Heather ended the meeting and I waited for the verdict.

While, I was waiting. The members had such nice things to say about my first time at the front of the meeting and I was especially touched when an elderly gentleman came up to me and said he really "enjoyed my presentation." Oh it melted my heart. :)

I met with Heather and she confirmed that the meeting went as well as I thought it had. Phew! So after that I was 3/4 of the way to being a full-fledged WW Leader. Next up? Running an entire WW meeting, which will be happening this Thursday (April 5). So if you are a WW member in the Cambridge, MA area at 5:30 on Thursday, you are more than welcome to come on in and participate and smile a lot. ;)

I really think getting that first time in front of the group under my belt has helped put a lot of my nerves at ease. Plus, it was wicked fun! It just increased my desire to get up there and lead my own WW meetings.

So for now I work on channeling my nervousness into fuel into confidence into one kick a$$ meeting! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

The AMAZING group of people I was able to spend three days with last week ... Weight Watchers love! :)

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Three Amigos!

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I <3 Boston!

Truth Tuesday - 0.4 lb Loss

It seems like too long since I last did a Truth Tuesday post ... last week I weighed in at home, but didn't do my official Weight Watchers weigh-in. I was determined this week to take off what I had gained. According to the home scale it was about 3 lbs of a gain (155.2 then 158.6 over a two week span). So last Monday I had recommitted to getting on plan ... that lasted three days before I went to Weight Watchers Leader training on Thursday. So Thursday, Friday, Saturday I tried to keep my eating in check, but I definitely did some stress eating. But, I also upped my activity all week long - even managing a 5.5 mile run on Wednesday and a 5 mile run on Friday morning. Woo! And that activity must've worked since this morning on the home scale I was down 4.2 lbs (158.6 to 154.4). Sah-weet!

So I headed in to Weight Watchers to get back on track with the official Truth Tuesday weigh-ins. Last time I was there (March 6) I was 155 (RIGHT at my goal weight) and today ... 154.6! Down 0.4 lbs. I will take it peeps. That is some good maintaining over the last three hectic weeks...

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Today: Loss 0.4

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 154.6

Total Lost: 62.8

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I am definitely happy with the results and proud to say today marks Day Three of being back on plan! I got back on track as soon as I woke up on Sunday, feeling refreshed and ready to reclaim control over my eating habits.

Another big relief is the lack of knee pain I have felt this week, which started with my 5k on Sunday, March 18. Including that race, I have run 13.6 painfree miles and hit up three Spin classes without knee problem. I am really hoping the injury, which plagued me since Hawaii in November is behind me.

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I will tell you all that getting back to the basics of measuring, weighing, tracking and listening to my body signals has helped me handle the last couple weeks. I have been "back on plan" for six of the last nine days. Yay! I am pretty darn proud of that!

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I also need to keep the booze in control. I can see when I have a little too much beer or wine the promiscuous eating comes out in full force, which leads to a bad next day - a mini domino effect. So I need to really show some self control with that and not slip in to old bad habits! Plus, I just hate how I feel when I go a little too far on the booze. I'm not 21 any more... :P

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Who else tackled the scale on Truth Tuesday today?

1000 Seconds of Planks

I really cannot believe how awesome this week has been! I am feeling truly blessed... Well the amazing week was capped off with this blog's Facebook page hitting 1,000 likes! Wow! What a cool thing to have happen. Well I had made the pledge that when it hit 1,000 likes that I would plank for 1,000 seconds ... and today it finally happened!

Thanks to my videographer (and wife) here is my first ever video post. I hope you enjoy :)

[youtube]R_K8U0UUF-4[/youtube]

"You Look Anorexic"

I have heard the above phrase uttered countless times by people who are seeing their friends drop massive amounts of weight and starting to look thin/skinny compared to their old bodies ... I have gotten this comment a handful of times as well. I wish I could get it to stop. Even though the person probably doesn't mean harm by it - although some probably are - it isn't a phrase I like to hear thrown around.

Why you might ask?

Well if you are new to the blog, I battled - and still battle today - eating disorders. I wrote a post about it back in June 2011 with more detail, but basically I either survived on nothing but crackers for months and I just "upchucked" anything that went into my stomach the rest of the time. Not healthy. Not healthy in the least. But I was losing weight. At the time my lowest was 180, but I wasn't in a good place. But, no one knew, how I was really losing weight. I just kept hearing "you are looking great" or "keep up whatever you are doing." Well, in my twisted mind that meant keep on being completely unhealthy.

But, with the help of friends, I slowly overcame that mentality. And now I am happy to be a HEALTHY 155 lbs.

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I still have to battle that little voice each day. While I was off plan the last two weeks and overeating, my immediate thought was to hit the bathroom and get rid of the problem or maybe I will just not eat my points tomorrow and it will all balance out.

Then I remembered ... that is NOT healthy. Weight Watchers has helped to teach me that each day is a new day, each meal is a new meal. I do not have to punish myself if I "slip up" one day, one week or one month. I just take my time to work it out and get back on plan.

Continuing to keep those thoughts in my head, kept me from slipping back into those bad habits recently...

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So when someone tells me I am "looking anorexic" I take complete hurt in that. I mean not everyone knew/knows I had an eating disorder, but that is another reason why you shouldn't make an offhand comment like that. YOU don't know what that person has been through in their life that they aren't sharing.

I beg of people today! Please be mindful of the comments you make to your friends who are embarking on a weightloss journey. I would love to hear people say "You are looking strong," "You are looking lean," or "You are looking healthy." Rather than going to "You are looking skinny."

Because for me ... this whole journey has been about getting to a healthy place in my life - a healthier relationship with food - a healthier spot inside and out.

So I ask people out there to please take a quick moment to think before you tell a friend "You Look Anorexic."