A Quick Detour

I am going to take a little detour today! The following is something that I wrote as an entry into a contest sponsored by WW. I thought it fit pretty well in my own little "Road Trip" theme as well, so here it is. I hope you enjoy!

In October 2011, after almost 40 years of living in denial, I finally came face to face with reality.  After my family expressed their concern about my weight and health, I decided it was time to start Weight Watchers. That first weigh-in was a slap in the face, or a wake-up call, depending upon how you look at it: 311.6 pounds! How did this happen? How did I get to this point? It was then that I started my life-altering and, more importantly, life-saving “Road Trip.” I refer to it as a road trip because there are uphill moments and downhill moments, smooth sailing and traffic jams, but once I reach my goal, I will be able to stretch my legs and enjoy life like I never have before!

At first, it was the little things I noticed: swelling of my hands and feet had gone down, I was able to bend over and tie my shoes and I could walk to my mailbox without being out of breath (a distance of about 30’, I might add). As I hit my 10% goal, I noticed I could walk around the block without my back or feet hurting, my clothes started fitting better and I had more energy. Before I knew it, 50 pounds were gone, then 75. I couldn’t believe it when, 2 weeks after celebrating my one year anniversary with Weight Watchers, I hit the Century Mark! I had lost 100 pounds!

Now, here I am only 23 pounds away from my goal. Of course, I know the longest, toughest part of the journey is yet to come, but I have the support of my family, friends, my WW Group (led by Margie the Magnificent), and even people I’ve never met.  This journey has given me the courage to do things in life I had only dreamed. Having always wanted to be a writer, I decided to start blogging about my life-changing experience. It has been through sharing my personal experiences that many others have told me that I am their source of inspiration and encouragement. And like a Karmic Boomerang, the knowledge that I have inspired many others is the driving force keeping me on this path. Weight Watchers is not only something that I will be doing the rest of my life, but it is intrinsically who I am as a person!