Learning From Our Mistakes:)

Well, after last week I was a little tentative about doing another WW meeting. BUT, like a good WW I evaluated the situation and examined ways to do things differently to get me to my ultimate goal. I kept what worked, asked for help from other leaders, and used some ideas from my past meetings that I attended.

Ironically, this weeks traditional meeting message is learning from our past (good and bad) and how this helps with our weight loss efforts. This Healthy Habit was/is key for me in both weight loss and my current maintenance efforts. A bad night on the scales is NEVER failure, only the opportunity to learn something new about ourselves (feedback) so we can move forward stronger than before.

Don't you love how the lessons learned in weight loss can help in other areas of our lives? Hmmm, maybe this is a lifestyle afterall:)

What are some of the things you have learned during your weight loss efforts (past and present) and how are these lessons helping you now?

Have a great week and remember, the only failure is giving up.

Busy Days are Here Again

Yup, life is getting busy. I had thought I would have time to help with Sparks, but I've decided this is not the year. So far my weekly schedule is:

Monday: WW meeting after work, then pick up Ci at dance. Get home after 9pm
Tuesday: Go home on time and enjoy family
Wednesday: At least once a month make my traditional WW meeting (not a huge time commitment)
Thursday: 7.45pm dance class (yup, I joined again this year)
Friday: meet with Peggy. We've set some ground rules for these meetings - goal reporting and plan to-do for coming 2 weeks, then we can chat for a while.

I met with Peggy last night, but next week we're back on the Friday schedule. I need to make my goals SMART. I also need to prioritize those items I want to work on until Dec 31. A lot of my goals may need to be put on hold, or are long-term, and so will be moved to the inactive file. I will review the goals to focus on quarterly. I want to make a list of several SMART goals to be completed before the end of the year, and really a lot of them are sub-goals of my big ones.

I'm pretty excited about my checklist. I did it up and had it laminated with the hard laminate. I'll review the checklist every six weeks - for $3 I think it's a good investment. I also picked up some wet erase markers in 4 colours to use for circles (scheduled items), checks (completed), and weekly additions (time-specific to-do's). The items on the checklist are goals, but the checklist itself is also a goal as I want to complete 80% of my scheduled checks each week. I will use a permanent marker and dates to record this ratio on the back cover.

Planning is great. Now follow-through. Meanwhile - have a great weekend. I plan to:)

Oh, My Nerves

With regards to doing the WW meetings, last week I only did the intro. I introduced myself and gave out the celebration stickers then turned the meeting over to my mentor.

This week she stayed in the reception area. I called her up on one question, but other than that she let me do the meeting. A couple of points to note:

1. I have to learn to engage the group more. They aren't so eager to respond to questions.
2. I need to have a sense of humour and joke with them more. It doesn't matter if they like me - it's me liking them that is important.
3. We have a lot of new members, but that doesn't mean they're new to WW or dieting. They have history, so feed on that.
4. I really need to learn who the talkers are. That will help in the coming weeks.

I prepared a 2-page presentation. It did take me the whole 30 minutes, but I'd like to get it down to a page or two of points. I'll get the flow down in a couple of weeks.

My mentor is there again next week and then I am solo. Meanwhile, I've been asked to cover for MY leader tonight. In front of MY meeting members. Am I up for it? I think so. I have a couple of things in my favour. First, I've already given this meeting once and second, I know who the talkers are.

Tomorrow night I am meeting with my 'life coach' partner. We're not really life coaches, but she keeps me focused and helps me with my goals. Then it's off to Dance class. It's been a busy week.

PS, I ordered a new suite and a dress. The dress is going back. I also bought 3 'new' dresses at a 2nd hand shop last week; although at least 1 will have to be packed in the next couple of weeks with my other summer stuff. I LOVE retail therapy:)

Weekly Post

Hi there. It's been a pretty good week. I had a bit of an epiphany on Monday morning about my exercise when I realized my internal dialogue was using words such as "need to, ought to, must, should". What about the 'want to'. That really is what this is all about, isn't it? What do you WANT.

So:
Want it
Envision it
Plan it
Follow through

The keys to success are there. How bad do YOU want it?

Weekend planning and weekly update

The leadership training was fun. We did got all of our manuals and fancy briefcases with the Weight Watchers logo on it. I really enjoyed meeting a few new people and began to 'see' a lot of things my leader had done. The trainer had only good things to say about Fiona and when referring to the cream of the crop commented 'like the Fiona's of the WW world'. I new she was a good leader while I was going through.

Anyway, I guess I'll be planning a meeting for Monday night. I haven't gotten hold of Terri yet to work out the details, but had left a message for her yesterday. She's currently leading at the meeting I'll be taking over. Fun, huh.

This week will be filled with cleaning the house, beading with the kids and planning for next week. I have some reading to do for Monday's meeting and also need to plan my eats for next week and get the spreadsheet posted in the kitchen. I think we'll try to get a dozer in for the yard next week too.

That's all for today. Have a great weekend. I'm planning to get back into my st routine - I've been a bit of a slacker lately.

Training

Hi - Just a quick post. I'm going for WW leadership training tonight. I'm excited, but it's going to be a long week. I've got our menus all planned and am geared up. We'll be training in Halifax until 10pm, then home (about 45 minutes away) and up at 5:20 tomorrow to start a new day. By Friday I fully expect to be a blabbering sleep-deprived idiot, so may post some ramble about the week for your reading confusion.

Cheers,

First Day of School

So, what would you say. Indifferent, nervous, anxious? Ci was like, my friends are on the bus and it's HE-YAR - you're embarassing me. She didn't actually say anything, but looks speak volumes. J had some anxiety issues going on, but was fine and very excited to give me my 'homework' last night. This morning she hopped right on that bus like an old pro.

Needed: New indoor sneakers for Ci (apparently, the ones I bought in May were worn just enough that they've been banned to outdoor status as soon as she can secure a new pair). New outdoor sneakers for J. We just didn't get around to learning how to tie yet and the ones she's wearing were hand-me-downs. I don't feel too bad, though.

Oh - and the matching skorts - they did that on their own. Ci really surprises me sometimes:)

Planning and Lunches

Yup, I'm a believer in planning. I think we can generally be wayyy more productive, successful with less effort with proper planning. What?

OK, so for the past month I have gained a tad. Not a lot, but continuing down this road of 'winging it' would eventually lead to not-so-good habits. What does lead to success is a half hour of half-ass penmanship while half watching 'Doctor Who' and half talking to my mother. What I did get was a meal plan for the week, a grocery list of items needed to get through the week, and lunch ideas for the girls.

How does this help:
1) I buy from my grocery list and don't have 'temptations' in the house.
2) I save money by not buying more than I need for the week.
3) I have the food I need to eat healthy.
4) I have everything I need to quickly prep meals, snacks and lunches quickly - saving time and energy throughout the week.

Just think what could be accomplished by planning in other areas of life. If you're not a planner (I never was) I highly recommend trying this out for a week or so. I don't plan cumbersome meals - I work and have small children. Today my lunch is 6pts, consisting of low fat chicken meatballs, rice, frozen vegetables and barbeque sauce.

As prep work, I tend to cook my rice in bulk - 2 days worth in the fridge and freeze the rest in serving sizes. Keep in mind that the frozen food manufacturers freeze cooked meat - so can you. It's easier to toss a 3oz cut of frozen chicken or steak into your lunch bag if it's been cooked within the past week or so than if it hasn't been cooked at all. I also tend to have a couple of frozen dinners on hand, but use them for emergencies vs. a staple.

For non-microwavable options, there's always sandwiches - yum. And a thermos of...just about anything you want to keep warm. Also, tuna (or other canned meat) mixed with mustard and/or mayo in a small container pops nicely on top of a rice cake. Amonds and an apple, whole wheat crackers with cheese and a bit of jelly, or a container of frozen fruit.

In order to facilitate all of this, I invest in 1/2C and 1C plastic containers and also pack a resealable baggie with plastic utensils and splenda packets and anything else I may need. I've also boughten good thermoses for my girls and sugar packets for their lunch boxes. A great lunch desert for them is a small container of strawberries that have spent the morning thawing topped with some sugar.