Boost

After going to the dietitian Monday evening and feeling very pissed off and frustrated about the advice I was given, on Tuesday I went to my Weight Watchers meeting as planned.

I hadn’t weighed in at a meeting since sometime in December. In fact on November 24th we were presented with the new ProPoints program and right after that I had my foot operation. I was still on crutches when I went to the last meeting. My weigh-in at that point was 84.2 KG or 185 lbs.

Before I go further I just want to say, I really love my WW Leader Ellie. I’ve been going to her meetings since 2007, though not consistently. The first time I went to a meeting was in Amsterdam and I think it was August. The meeting was packed! As soon as I heard her speaking I knew it must be purely because of her personality that there were so many people there. When I started going back in Feb 2009 I found out that her meeting was moved to a bigger location to handle all the members. So I went to that location and have been going ever since. I also went for a time in Arnhem and in Amersfoort; Arnhem when I could actually make it on time, though I didn’t really like the leader or the members that much and Amersfoort because my friend J lived there and we were going together. I mentioned to her that maybe it would be even better if we just went in Amsterdam after work so that’s when we both went (back) to Ellie’s meeting.

Ellie remembers everyone. She remembers names, details, when/if you went on vacation, what your personal situation is (depending on what you tell her of course), and she is always available if you need to talk after the meeting. Ellie once even sent me a card in the mail that said “I miss you! Hope you come back soon!” These things really give me a great feeling about her.

Also, Ellie didn’t just lose like 10 lbs and become a leader. No, she lost a good chunk of weight (if I remember correctly it was 60-70 lbs) and has kept it off and been a leader since the late 80’s. This is not just some fun thing that Ellie is doing on the side, this is what Ellie does.

So when I walked in last night, for the first time since December and she saw me her face completely lit up. As I approached the scale she said “I hardly recognize you! You are so thin!!” Followed by, “Where have you been? Were you sick? I’ve missed you!” She was almost giddy with excitement! I got on the scale to show a 2.7 KG loss (6lbs) which I pretty much knew was coming (as I thought it was around 3KG in the last 6 months) and she got really excited again, gave me a sticker and congratulated me on 17.5KG lost so far (since end March 2009) (38.5 lbs).

Then the meeting; Ellie always asks how things went for everyone, especially the new members and then there is often conversation with members about their losses or struggles or anything that is going on to get people inspired or thinking. And Ellie did not hesitate to bring up the fact that I hadn’t been around for 6 months, that I went through a pretty rough couple of months with my operation and my back but that I kept going. She asked me what my result was for the past 6 months and when I answered she said “You really are so slimmed down that I could have sworn you’d lost around 8 Kilos” and I said it was true; the number on the scale wasn’t telling the whole story, I really feel like I’ve lost quite a bit on my hips and bum. She asked me to tell everyone how much I’d lost so far and lots of “ooohs” and “ahhhhs” and “wows” came from several different directions in the room. Ellie also occasionally brings up the fact that I live so far away yet I always have time to plan, prepare and to exercise and even come to a meeting once in a while. This helps people put things into perspective when they think they don’t have time, yet they certainly don’t lose 4 hours a day just in commuting alone.

So, I’m pretty frustrated with the slow rate of weight loss and even more frustrated with the advice I’ve been given, but Ellie gave me a giant boost last night. I’m really grateful and appreciative of the fact that I have such an amazing leader. I’m going to try a variation of the Dietitian’s advice and crank up my exercise up notch and see what happens.

Honestly though, I am still more and more feeling that it’s not just the number on the scale. This morning I put yet another old pair of jeans on and they fit. In fact, a few months ago I was trying to wear them but felt a bit like my belly was protruding and I had a camel toe to boot, but now they are loose even. There is really so much more to all of this than the scale results.

Now if I could just find a way of eating that keeps my hunger at a minimum that would really just complete things. Oh, yeah, and a new wardrobe would help too ;-)