Beginning Blogging and a little history

I've seen a few people on the WW.ca board that have blogs at this site and it's something that I kind of wanted to do. So here I am.

Background story.....

I originally started WW's on Feb 5, 2001 at 160.8 lbs. My MIL came to me one day and said she was frustrated with her weight and she was going to give it a try. I had also struggled with my weight for a number of years and decided if she could do it so could I. I was really successful. I lost weight every week except one where I gained .2 and I attained Lifetime membership around June of that same year with a weight of 135 lbs. I got down to 130 lbs. a little bit after that.

I managed to pretty much maintain that for about 6 months and I can remember the day I was just over 137 lbs which meant I would have to pay at a weigh in. I was so ashamed and couldn't face it. I refused to go back to weigh in until I was back under my goal limit. I did go back, but never again at goal weight. I put about 10 lbs on in the next year and by 2004 I was back up to my original starting weight. By 2007 I was 15 pounds OVER my original start weight. I went back to WW's many, many, many times but never with much determination. Occassionally I'd lose 5 or 6 pounds, but I couldn't stick to it.

September 2007 I went for breakfast with a friend who I'd exercised and done WW's with in the past. She had also achieved Lifetime in the past and put it all back on plus. We discussed our weight and how unhappy we were and decided we would go to the next meeting. I still wasn't completely committed to it and really struggled. But having my friend there, as well as another friend who I had encouraged to join, really made it so that I had to go. I didn't want to disappoint my friends, and they needed my support to. If I quit it would be that much easier for them.

I spent the first few months just barely doing the program. Weigh-ins are on Fridays and I give myself that day to loosen the reins. Usually after the meeting we go to McD's for breakfast. But I began turning Friday into Friday and Saturday, then until Sunday, then until Monday. Then worrying about the weigh in I would almost starve myself and manage to either maintain, lose .4 or less, or gain a teeny bit.

Because I had been on/off the program so many times, this time I chose not to tell anyone I was going again, other than the friends I was going with. My husband was working out of town so it wasn't hard to keep from him. Around the end of November we were putting in a gym in our basement and my husband started asking me about my goals - what I wanted to lose, if I was going to take my meausrements, etc. Also, one morning when I was going to my meeting he was around and wanted me to do something with him and I had to make up a story about where I was going. I didn't feel good about that. It was like lying, except I wasn't really doing anything deceitful, I just hadn't been ready to share. For the first time every, I came completely open with him about my weight. I told him I'd been going to WW's, had been having a hard time and in 2 months I had only lost 6 or 7 pounds. AND I showed him my weigh in book. He was quite surprised about what my actual weight was, but was actually quite supportive and appreciative that I'd shared with him. Now I share with him all the time and he's way more supportive than even the first time I went through it.

Since that time I started to get more serious about following the program and getting committed. Putting in the gym has really helped and I now work out frequently. A few weeks ago I was talking to my sister and found out that she too has been a secretive WW member since November and has lost close to 20 lbs. I am SO proud of her and I think she's going to do really well. She is so determined and focused and it makes me so happy to see. She mentioned a website she's been going to and a challenge that she had joined. This got me pumped up and I joined in too and it's been alot of fun and I'm really feeling committed now. I have now lost 13.2 pounds.

I haven't been to a WW's meeting since December. I find the leader of the meeting I was attending to be very uninspiring. I will continue to go about once a month, hopefully when I've reached certain milestones - for each 5 lb loss, for my 10 %, goal weight.... I also want to try another meeting time and see if there is a different leader.

I've set myself some fitness goals. I want to be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping at a speed of 6 mph. At the moment I can do 11 minutes non stop. Last night I did 13 minutes, with one 15 sec break and also included several intervals where I increased my speed to 7 mph. My other goal is to be able to run 5 minutes at 8 mph. That's pretty hard. I can do 1 minute - but it's a struggle and I'm completely out of breath after it. My fitness is improving. I've noticed my heart rate doesn't go quite as high as it used to, and it comes down faster than before. At the moment when I really push it, it will go up to 179, and after running 30-40 minutes (with stops) it takes about 4-5 minutes to come down to 120. On average it's around 160 while running at 6 mph.

I wanted to have before, during & after pictures. And I thought I had before pics that I'd taken within the last 6 months or so. I looked for them this weekend and realized my "before" pics are from December 2005 and I was about the weight I am now. Oh well :( At least I have something.

So here begins my online journey.....