As of today, I have been on WW for two years!  I started on June 5, 2006.  I see that day as the day that I saved my own life.  It was the day I took my life into my own hands and stopped making excuses.  It was the day that I said enough is enough and I want to do something good for myself and not something to hurt myself.

When I started Weight Watchers, I didn’t think I would make it past my first day.  In fact, I actually joined online in 2004, but never followed it and continued to pay for it.  I think I might have tried it for one or two days at the most.  I just wasn’t ready then.  To be honest, I was afraid to cancel my membership (even though I wasn’t on plan), because if I did then I knew I would never start.  I also hoped that the potential wasted money would be motivation enough to get my butt in gear.  Because I finally did get going with the plan, I don’t feel that that money was wasted.  I don’t think I would have actually started if I had cancelled my membership.

June 5, 2006 was a Monday.  I’m sure I had a nice, healthy (as in large-sized) binge over that previous weekend.  I remember I was addicted to Sonic at the time.  I loved their corn dogs and their Route 44 Cokes.  Since June 5, 2006, I have not drank pop, soda, Coke (whatever you want to call it) at all.  I have had maybe a sip or two, but it is entirely too sweet to me now.  That’s two years without a soft drink.  I used to have at least two a day.

I’m not sure what my exact starting weight is because my original scale gave me an “ERR”  message every time I stepped on it.  As if the error wasn’t bad enough, it had to be in capitals as though it were screaming “ACK! Get off of me!”  I did actually lose a bit before I started WW, which adds to the mystery of my starting weight.  Over the weekend before I started WW, I ordered a new scale on Amazon and it didn’t get here until Thursday of that week.  I weighed in that day and used that number as my starting weight, even though I’d been on WW for four days by then.

I’ve never really tried to follow any organized weight loss program before.  Of course, I thought about it often, and even wrote out plans for it, but I never did it.  I just didn’t want to leave that comfort zone of the food.  The only other time in my life that I’ve lost a lot of weight was my freshman year in college.  I know!  I lost all of those Freshmen 15 (a few times over) that everyone else was gaining.  Not having a car, having to rely on cafeteria food, and all of the walking around on campus that I did were the reasons I actually ended up losing weight.  It just kind of happened without my trying.  Of course, it crept back on - and then some. 

I don’t know why this has worked for me at this point in my life.  I think I was just ready.  I think you can try and try, but unless you’re ready (and only you can know when it is time), then it just won’t stick.  At least that’s what I believe.

When I think of how far I’ve come over the past two years, it brings tears to my eyes.  When I think of how I was living before, it bring tears to my eyes.

Before:  I lost my breath walking down the hall to the bathroom at work.
Now:  I can take the steps in my house two at a time without an extra breath.

Before:  I had to shop at Catherine’s or online for clothes.
Now:  I’m shrinking out of the smallest size at Lane Bryant.

Before:  I was anxious about eating out because I never knew if I would fit in the booth, and hated feeling like people were watching me.
Now:  I never have to fear that I won’t fit in the booth, and am not scared that people are watching me. 

Before:  My stomach was pressed against the steering wheel in my car,the wheel had to be set at its highest position, and my head was awfully close to the roof.
Now:  It seems like there’s a mile between my steering wheel and me, and I have it set to a pretty low position.  My head is much farther from the roof (I guess my butt shrunk).

Before:  I avoided all social events, especially family functions, because I hated people seeing how big I was.
Now:  I haven’t missed a family function in a year.

Before:  I avoided flying, because I knew I wouldn’t fit in the seat and missed out on great opportunities to visit people  I love and miss.
Now:  Bring on the trips!

Before:  I had severe heel pain to where I could barely walk after sitting for a while.
Now:  I have no heel pain.

Before:  I had trouble tying my shoes or even just lifting my feet to put my shoes on.
Now:  I have no problems doing either, my flexibility has increased tremendously, and I can actually cross my legs!

Etc., etc., etc. 

My life has changed in so many ways.  Little things that people who have never struggled with their weight take for granted were challenges for me before, and now I don’t even think about them, except to be amazed at what I can accomplish now.  Don’t get me wrong.  I still have my challenges, and quite a few new challenges (which I’ll post about sometime soon), but overall a lot has changed for me.  For the better.

I may struggle staying on plan at times, and at times the road ahead of me still seems to stretch out into oblivion, but if I look back over the last two years, I can see that I’ve already lept miles.