Well, I finally decided to do it. Start a blog about how I maintain my 52lb weight loss; and for those curious, how I got there!

I started Weight Watchers a few times in my life and for various reasons, I quit following the program. Like many others, I had the mentality, "I'll hurry up and lose the weight and then get back to life as normal". What I didn't realize at the time, was, using Weight Watchers as a PROGRAM and not a WEIGHT LOSS SCHEME would help me to create a NEW "Life as Normal". And now, in 2010, I see it all so clearly!!!

After my girls were born in 2000 and 2002, I let life get in the way, and raised my girls as "mommy" and fell into all the kid snacks and clearing the kids plates for them, like many mommies do. Then one day in 2006, I went dancing and saw the resulting pictures, which are now considered my "Before" pictures. I had no idea that I had gotten that big, though I did see the scale and # staring back at me, I never dreamed I'd gotten that out of control.

I struggled with weight all my life; and having a sister with WAY smaller bone structure didn't help with my self esteem!

I decided to join Weight Watchers, once again, but unfortunately, 2006 wasn't my year.

When I started my daughter in Kindergarten in 2007, I looked around at all the little mommies and realized that I was on the upper end of the scale from these women. Instantly, I fast forwarded in my mind, to when my daughter would be aware of her mom's size and was fearful that I would embarrass her as she got older (as well as my younger daughter). So, when another mom asked if I wanted to join Weight Watchers...(Yet again), I said YES!

I started going to the meetings in 2007 and was happy to see I had maintained my previous weightloss (of 5 lbs) from the year before. However, I had a ways to go, and I felt the task was daunting! However, I filed in every week to the meetings and took away bits of knowledge that I would ultimately apply to my life.

I decided to follow the CORE plan (which is now "Filling Foods), because I didn't want to track. This decision was pretty easy for me, because the non-core foods that I wanted were the only things I had to track and that was easier for me!

I remember one week in particular, I had lost 3.8 lbs. I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe it, because I wasn't "THAT" good that week. However, the next week when I came in, I was UP 4.4 lbs. I was SO upset that I was going to quit!!! However, I was intervened by a friend of mine who wouldn't let it happen. She threatened to kick my "you know what" if I even considered quitting, so I promised I would stay on. After all SHE had lost 90lbs from Weight Watchers, so I was thinking she knew what she was talking about!!!! (Thank GOD for her!)

Many things started happening on my journey. I'll never forget the time, I promised my girls that we would go to McD's for lunch on our way home from errands (because that was my old pattern). And as we approached the drive through, I started thinking in my mind how many points the foods were, and how I wouldn't be able to get anything SATISFYING for 5 or 6 points. So, I told my girls, that we needed to go home, that there is just NOTHING there that is that good for us! We went home and I fixed an awesome lunch for me and my girls and we were all happy!

Then, there was the time I was at the local market and I looked in my basket at all the vegetables that I WANTED, and when I realized that I had a plan for all these beautiful foods, I almost started crying. (Vegetables were never on my shopping list before).

It took me 20 months to get to my goal, but when I look back at all the struggles I went through to get to my goal, I see that I gained SO MUCH along the way.
What I have learned from Weight Watchers is that it's all about making GOOD choices! We have to face food every day of our lives. For some of us, it's a crutch. For some it's our main coping mechanism. It's so important to be able to STOP AND QUESTION your current bad habits and ask WHY am I making this choice. Will it benefit me, or will I end up hating myself after I choke this food down.

We have to be able to challenge our current thoughts in order to make better decisions for ourselves. For most of us, we don't know why we do what we do...it's just easier to do it. But the backlash from our bad choices usually spin us out of control, and that is the behavior we have to stop.

I have been a year at maintenance. It blows me away that I have been able to maintain it, but then again, my journey was so slow that I really adapted to my new life along the way.

My goal is to inspire every week. I'm now a Weight Watchers leader and love it. If I can help people realize a new way of life...my life will be complete.