The Truth Of Tuesday Night

Ok, so I am just going to get this out of the way.  I'm up on the scale and I'm not surprised!

Last week: 247.50 lbs
This week:  249.50 lbs

Gain of 2 lbs.

I did little to watch what I ate nor did I do an ounce of exercise.

I'm hoping the Dr. appointment I have tomorrow will start to get some questions answered.  The best time for me to exercise is the evenings but as of late, it is when I am feeling my worst and just want to curl up and knit.

Tonight's TOPS meeting was great...for so many reasons.

The first one being that it's MY night out...for me, just me, surrounded by people who understand and are supportive.

Secondly, I felt I put together a pretty decent program and was excited to share it (more to follow)

But for me, the best part was that 3 ladies I talked to on Saturday came out to see what our group is all about.  One of the ladies I know from high school and she brought along 2 of her friends.  I don't know that they will join our group, because they do live about 20 minutes outside of Keene, but it was nice to share something I have passion for and that I know can be of benefit.  The notion of them joining us is also particularly exciting because they are in the same phase of life that I am.  Working mother.  I love every member of my group currently, but most of them are past the stage in life where their family is so dependant on them that they lack time for themselves.  It would be nice to discuss how to manage work, home, kids, etc and still find time to focus on yourself.

As for the program tonight.  Last week, I pulled out copies of the TOPS "My Day One" book.  It comes in each person's registration package and I thought, if everyone is like me, they didn't read it when they got it.  I decided to treat the whole group as BRAND NEW MEMBERS, complete with a get to know you.

Below is a brief overview of the evening:

My name is Amy and I joined TOPS about 5 years ago.  I had gone to an open house for TOPS and left to decide if I wanted to join or not...that decision took me a year.  When I came the following year, I just joined, no more thinking.  I had a new son and was starting to notice that the stairs were getting harder on my knees and I knew I would not have the energy to keep up with my kids as they got older.  I have about 100lbs to lose and have lost about 22 to date.  I've still got a lot of work to do, but I WILL get there!

We also discussed the first section in My Day One regarding steps to take to help prepare yourself for this lifestyle change.  There are six steps and we reviewed a list of discussion questions to get us thinking.  I will answer a question I found particularily helpful/thought provoking for each step.

Step 1: Measure Your Treasure. (taking measurements)
How would a change in your body measurements affect your self-image?
First off, I don't do measurements and we don't as a group either.  I should.  I know from experience that sometimes, even though the scale is not moving, you are losing inches.  I know for a fact that my fingers have shrunk in size.  My rings are looser on my fingers than they used to be.

Step 2: Set a SMART Goal
What is your SMART Goal (it should be something defined, so instead of saying you will eat better, it should be I will eat no more than 1500 calories a day)
My smart goal for this week would be to get 30 minutes of exercise,3 times a day.

Step 3: Clear Cabinets and Free the Fridge
What "empty calories" are probably in your cabinets and/or refrigerator.
Well, the cupboard is full of cookies but those don't tempt me too much. I bought myself some "skinny cow" chocolate bars, with the mindset that they are "better for you chocolate craving" bars, but they are still 100 calories and if I didn't have them, I wouldn't eat them.  I have a jar of red pepper jelly in the fridge and had to throw out the cream cheese so I wouldn't sit and eat half a block with about a box of crackers.

Step 4: Shop Smart
How will "being hungry" affect your shopping?  How could you counteract that?
Without a doubt, if I go shopping while hungry, muffins look yummier, chips are tastier and just about everything else bad for me gets put in the cart.  Almost without a doubt, I end up buying a chocolate bar at check out to fill that whole in my stomach.  Aside from eating before hand, I could buy myself something healthier to eat, an apple or raspberries, etc.

Step 5:  Make a Move!
What kind of activity do you do now?
Watching the treadmill collect dust is NOT the right answer, but it seems to be what I am doing.  Every night I say the same thing...tonight, I am getting on the treadmill, and then tonight rolls around and I don't feel like it.  I'm tired, my stomach hurts, etc.  There is always an excuse.  I can promise though...I will NEVER EVER EVER get up early to work out.  It's not my thing.

Step 6:  Steer Your Stress!
Name one strong stressor in your life.
It's my family.  My kids stress me, but not in the way it sounds.  It's more the way I react that stresses me.  I perhaps yelled or took away a toy or grabbed some one's arm.  I react in a way that is mean or scary to my kids sometimes (to me it seems that way) instead of taking a deep breath and thinking about a calmer way to deal with it.  My reaction stresses me out and I feel like a bad mom.  I wind up snacking..or even worse, trying to make MY kids feel better with food.

How would you get yourself ready for this lifestyle?