Celebrate Small Victories

Time to be honest. Time to ‘fess up. You’ve not seen any Weight Watchers posts from me in while and maybe you’re wondering what is happening? Well, nothing is happening. In the midst of marathon training, which took over my life for training and the race, and then the holidays, I stopped going. I missed a couple meetings because it became more important to not get up early on Saturday’s since I was up so early on Sunday mornings to run. Maybe I could have gone to a different meeting, but in my mind, if I couldn’t go to my beloved meeting, I wasn’t going to go. 

My eating became all about fueling my body for marathon training. I ate to keep up the energy I needed to run all the miles. I grew tired of certain foods that were a staple for me, such a bananas and peanut butter. And amongst all of this, I quit tracking. 

Back in September, I stopped going to meetings and cancelled my membership. If I wasn’t following the plan, I didn’t want to pay for it. I was focused on marathon training. When I got past the marathon, it really took several weeks for my body to get over the fact that I was no longer seriously training and did not need all the food. 

Then the holidays came. Always a busy time of year, we had a lot going on between work, parties, family get-togethers, and taking time off. 

Are these all excuses? Maybe. But, I did what I had to do at that time. But now, I am working towards getting back on track. To finding my way back to healthier eating and less indulging. I know I gained weight during marathon training – it is an evil twist in a plan to run 26.2 miles. It seems like you would lose weight, but you don’t. I gave myself a pass because I could only focus on one HUGE goal at once. 

I have not been on a scale since my last Weight Watchers meeting. I have no idea what my weight is. This scares me a little bit because I can feel that I’ve put on weight, but I also feel incredibly strong. 

In an effort to get back on track, I’ve been making small changes the last couple of weeks. Getting back to habits that have always been important – and successful – in my weight loss. As part of this, I am taking time on Saturdays or Sundays to celebrate small victories from my week. These are from the last two weeks:

I start off my week with several small goals in mind. I really had to nix the Starbucks habit that took over the holidays (although it was a delicious habit) and I’m really trying to get back to taking snacks and lunch, even when I feel too busy to do so. Meal planning is very helpful in this. All of these will become a habit over time again.

Will I go back to Weight Watchers? For now, the answer is no. I love Weight Watchers and I will always credit it for teaching me how to live healthy and make lifestyle changes for weight loss success without depriving myself of foods that I love. I might one day. There are so many things I love about it. But, right now it’s not an expense I cannot justify. I know the plan inside and out, I need to make it work on my own. 

I will continue to work on making small changes that will eventually add up to big results. In addition to focusing on balance this year, I am also working on all things in moderation. Eat healthy, workout, enjoy indulgences from time to time, and take care of myself. I can also help hubby with this as he starts a weight loss challenge of his own. Taking care of myself will carry over to taking care of us. 

At some point, I will get on a scale. But for now, I am focusing on how I feel rather than what the scale says. 

Would you like to join me? Share your small victories on Instagram and use the hashtag #celebratesmallvictories – comment on this post and leave me your Instagram name so I can follow you if I’m not already.