A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
@quinlivan
@quinlivan
If you’ve read Part 1 >> (Am I my own worst enemy?) you’ll know I’ve had a long term (often long distance) relationship with Weight Watchers. It has been in my life for the past ten years and like a wave on a shoreline, it has crashed in and flooded around me with great enthusiasm and then ebb back out of my life without even noticing it slip out from under my feet.
On Tuesday, August 28th 2012… I rejoined Weight Watchers. It was one of the easiest yet most difficult decision I’d made in a long time. It was easy with respect to the fact I knew I had to do something about my weight. It was easy because I knew Weight Watchers had worked for me in the past. It was easy because I knew I would be around people who were trying to get their weight (whatever their size) under control.
The difficult part was in the actual execution of my decision, making it a reality, my reality. Looking at my options, Weight Watchers in Galway [on Eglington Street] run a Men Only Class at 8pm on a Monday evening – this was always the one I had gone to before. Joining this class meant I knew when I finish work at 6pm I would either have go home and back into town again or hang around work/town until the class started. A quick google informed me of a class in Oranmore at 6.15pm every Tuesday evening.
I live in Oranmore and pass the class on my way home anyway. I could be home by 7pm which still gave me the evening to myself and not waiting to be weighed in. My only reservation was that it was a mixed class. I didn’t think I would have any problem attending a class with men and women, but as I sat in work on that Tuesday evening thinking about heading to class, I started to get cold feet for some reason.
What if I knew some of the women in the class? What if my next door neighbour was there? What if my friends mum was there? What if the girl who makes my hot chicken baguette in Spar was there? That’s when it dawned on me… More than likely, they don’t want ME to know they are there either and would probably be as embarrassed as I was that we knew each others ‘dirty little secret’. With that in mind, I decided to still go to the Oranmore class straight after work.
As I stood in the queue, I became aware very quickly that I was the only male in attendance. I thought “Feic it, I’m in the queue I may as well stay for tonight – if I don’t like it, I can go back to the Men Only Class in Galway from next week”. This was the only time since re-joining Weight Watchers that I have thought about my gender. I can’t stress that enough! Ladies, don’t be shy – we don’t bite or anything, so be nice to us if you see us in your class.
Phil (The Oranmore Leader) was fantastic - She welcomed me with open arms and told me she was delighted to see another man at class. She also told me not to worry that there are other men who attend the class, they were just gone AWOL this evening. Standing up on the scales and seeing the giant 19st 02lbs grounded me right back down.
Everyone is here for the same reason – everyone here is conscious of their weight – everyone here has bad eating habits, eat the wrong foods or are making wrong food choices. Everyone here is or has gone through what I am going through right now.
Regardless of what your goal/ideal weight is, everyone attending a Weight Watchers class already have one up on those not attending… We’ve taken the first step! Irrespective of age, gender or current body size, all of us should take pride in the fact we have done something to tackle our weight.
The road ahead may be long and bumpy, the end may seem impossible to get to, and yes we may fall off the beaten track somewhere down the line, but let’s not look forward just yet – look at NOW… at least we have had the balls to turn up at the start line.
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