Another inspirational post from Mr. Q! If you're not motivated after this you never will be... Doll x PS: I FINALLY got my fifth stone.. yippppeeeeee... ahem.. carry on..
The girl who ate 126 points
in a single day…
By @quinlivan
Yesterday, 11 months since I went back to Weight Watchers, I was given my 14th Silver 7. It’s hard to believe how far I have come in less than a year. Before I started writing this post for The Skinny Doll, I went back and had a read over my previous posts on her site. The post ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’ is still the one that strikes most resonance with me today, mainly because what I wrote then at the start of my journey I still believe whole-heartedly as I approach goal. “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.”
Last Summer (in Dun Laoghaire) vs This Summer (in Spain)
I have learned so much from Weight Watchers over the past year – so much about myself,
about how it is all about making the choices, being in control of what I eat and the power of exercise. In my opinion, the real teachings along the way of my Weight Watchers journey haven’t come from the books or leaflets distributed in class – they have come from the other people who attend the meetings. Other people’s stories, food discoveries, setbacks, frustrations and joys fuel me – it’s the people we encounter along the way who make it an experience. This blog post is about a few people who unbeknownst to themselves gave me the motivation I needed at that time to continue.
Person 1: The girl who ate 126 points in a day
One wet February evening a girl who I had never noticed before spoke up about how difficult tracking is, especially over the weekend. We’ve all been there. For me, Monday to Friday go by and I track my breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks without a bother. The weekend however throws me out of routine – sometimes I’ll have lunch in town or a drinks on a night out.
Anyway, this girl sat there looking so defeated as she told the room how she tracked everything she had on Saturday… on Sunday morning. She had felt she had been ‘a bit’ bold on the Saturday but when she added up her few pints and the Supermacs she had on the way home, along with the Domino’s Pizza she had before she went out – she had eaten 126 points in a the day.
Two things immediately struck me: First, How quick points can add up and spiral out of control without fully realising it. More importantly, she taught me one of the biggest lessons you won’t read in any handout given in class… She was 100% honest with herself and the class. Her honesty has always stuck with me. I don’t know if I would ever confess that to the room, even if I knew it myself.
Person 2: The girl who is very hard on herself
We all know someone who is very hard on themselves – who never gives themselves a pat on the back. They are the people who say things like ‘I only lost a pound’ or ‘I’m up this week but I knew I’d be’. There is one girl in particular who doesn’t go to my class but I know from online. She constantly criticizes herself, either her weight loss is ‘not fast enough’ or if she doesn’t reach her own mini-goals, such as ‘Lose 7lbs this month’, she gets completely deflated, unmotivated and hard on herself – despite actually losing 5lbs that month.
I like to think of myself as a fairly positive person but am guilty of falling in to the ‘very hard on myself’ category too. After a lengthy conversation with this girl on Twitter, I realised that what I was championing in her (her successes), I wasn’t championing in myself. She taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve learned to date… Reward your successes, regardless of their significance in the grand scheme of things. I have so many mini-goals which keep me motivated. I make sure to recognise each one.
If I hadn’t, I can see how easy it is to get lost along the way. I remember a few months ago I was going through a bit of a Doubting Thomas phase. I couldn’t see the wood from the trees. Instead of looking at where I had left to go, I was thinking about the effort it would require to get me there. Instead of looking at how far I had come, I started making excuses to justify why I should make this weight my finish line.
Person 3: The girl who ran a marathon and never came back to class
Early November last year, a girl in class received a well-deserved round of applause from the class as she had run the Dublin City Marathon the day before. She spoke about how difficult it was, how sore she was afterwards and how amazing she felt having completed the marathon.
At the time it was something I couldn’t identify with directly but I could appreciate the immense effort and dedication she had put in. Finishing a marathon is surely something high up on many Bucket Lists. As a 19st guy who had never run a day in his life, I couldn’t connect to her story there and then – now she is all I think about.
I think she stopped coming to (my) class early this year. I don’t know if she is attending a different Weight Watchers class, but I would love to have a chat with her now. I’d love to know if she is still running, I’d love to know how hard the training was, I’d love to know if she is planning on doing another. I have so many questions that may go unanswered because at the time I never made the connection.
Person 4: The guy who… ?
You’ve probably noticed that the people I have talked about are all female. Although Weight Watchers is for Men & Women, you can’t deny there is a distinct lack of men in attendance in classes. Maybe it’s the case that the Men Only classes are busier or all the men just go to different classes than I do.
In the 11 months I’ve been going, I could count on one hand the amount of men who have turned up – and never at the same time. I’ve said it before but I have honestly never felt like Weight Watchers or the meetings have been women focused. Everyone is on the same journey, everyone has room to contribute and everyone learns something from the meetings. I don’t know what the guys are so afraid of!
I want to thank those people for continuing to educate and teach me. I also want to thank all those people in my class in Oranmore, my leader Phil and the people I talk to online (Twitter/blogs etc) who share their successes, food finds and struggles with other people. We all struggle, we all have bad weeks, we have epic weeks and we have mediocre weeks. I always try to take something new from my previous week forward with me into the next week - be it a new dish to try out, a new product to try or a lesson like the ones I’ve mentioned above.
My Weight Watchers journey is far from over (ye won’t get rid of me that easily) but for right now I just wanted to thank all of those who have contributed with their insight to my experience:
To the girl who ate 126 points -
you taught me the importance of being honest with myself.
To the girl who is very hard on herself -
you taught me the importance of recognising my achievements
and successes along the way.
To the girl who ran the marathon and never came back to class –
you have taught me how important it will be to continue coming to class,
even when you see the finish line.
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