A truely inspiring evening

Last night I was privileged to be part of a panel of Weight Watcher members sharing our weight loss stories with 136 other Weight Watcher members who had come to hear how each of us had managed to lose 100 lbs or more.  Many of the members attending were fighting the same battles we had fought.  It was a most amazing experience.  I came away from the meeting inspired, awestruck and proud; not just of the weight loss but of the program that each of us had chosen to help us with our journey.  As I listened to each of the nine other participants share their stories I heard  many similarities.  The smiles on their faces and the occasional crack in their voices and the fight to hold back the tears spoke volumes!  I knew that each and every one of them understood what the other participants had experienced to get to where we were sitting last evening.  We didn't have to apologize for the emotions. We all understood.


So here are just some of the similarities I heard last night;

• Every one of us had an "ah ha" moment of realization that something needed to change and change dramatically.
• We chose the best program around and we persevered even when it was hard (and it was hard at times).
• We never expected to be perfect because we are humans and we all have short comings.
• We came to our meetings and we stayed for our meetings even if we had a bad week. (Especially when we had a bad week.)
• We realized if we were going to be successful we needed to follow the plan in its entirety and understand that our own version of the plan does not work well.  ( Some, like me, were slow learners on this one)
• We found an exercise program we liked (tolerated at first) stuck with it and now love to exercise.  Many of us have done some distance competitions either walking or running.
• We recognized we can't do this alone and learned to ask for help and then listen when help is given.
• We learned that we are stronger and more determined than we ever imagined.
• We learned that losing weight is a constant process and when you have more than 100 ponds to lose it will be a like running a marathon rather than a sprint.
• We learned that everyone of us came up short on occasion but kept on trying.
• Not one of us gave up.
• Almost all of us struggled to lose the last 10 pounds and thought it would never come off.

and finally each of us in our own way spoke the following words:  I AM WORTH THE EFFORT and we knew beyond any shadow of a doubt we are.