So, I met one of my WW heroes……………..

Please forgive the week-long delay in posting this. This post was actually written on Saturday, June 18th. Thunderstorms and getting the pictures downloaded from my camera were the hold-up.

Here is the status that I posted on Facebook when I returned home on Friday, June 17th: “Oh my, what a WONDERFUL DAY!!!! I met one of my heroes today. She has done something that I want to do and she has renewed my belief in myself and my ability to succeed!!!! Oh my, what a WONDERFUL DAY!!!!!”

For several months now, I have been trying to get to the upstate on a Friday when Sheri was leading WW class. Well on June 17th, it finally happened. You see, Sheri has lost over 200 pounds which was more than half of her body weight. At this point, she has been a lifetime member for just over a year and she looks wonderful!!!

Oh my what a difference two weeks and meeting one of my WW heroes can make in my life!!!! Two weeks ago, I felt "lost," discouraged, hopeless, scared, really scared......................

June 17th, I got up early on my day off and picked up a friend on the way out of town. A couple of hours later, we arrived in our destination city in time to visit Whole Foods and see what delightful treats we might find there. Didn’t buy much but sure do wish we had one of these in our town—all the veggies and fruits looked so delightful and fresh.

Then we headed over to the WW class where I would finally get to meet one of my WW heroes, Sheri. To be honest, I am in awe of those folks who have lost the amount of weight that I need to lose. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy for those who have lost 20, 30, 40 or more pounds and are living at goal.

But there is something about meeting someone who has lost 200 pounds the healthy way—by eating, not starving it off.

This particular hero of mine has lost 202 pounds and kept it off for a year now. She is now a Weight Watcher leader and is encouraging others to reach for their dreams.

After class, we enjoyed lunch together at Jason’s Deli. I had learned about another buddy from the WW message boards lived in the area and she was able to slip away from work and join us for lunch as well. FUN!!

I laughed when Sheri sat down with her delightful PointsPlus®-friendly lunch and quickly said something like this, “If any of you are monitoring my PointsPlus today, just know that I am soooo having the ice cream for dessert.” Love it!!! (Isn't it GREAT that we can have treats like "real" ice cream on WW!!!!)

During lunch I shared where I was at this point in my journey—struggling and can’t get it going again. I shared how I was scared, really scared that I couldn’t get back on track. Sheri looked at me and said she hoped not to offend me, but……. (I gave her freedom to just say it. I know I needed to hear it.)

What words of wisdom did she share with me? Well, here’s the list.

1. Choose what you want to deprive yourself of!! Yes, you can eat cupcakes and ice cream, but what will you be depriving yourself of if you eat those things out of control?
2. You still eat with your same eyes.
3. You don’t want to lose the weight more than you wanted those cupcakes.
4. You can get back up when you fall down.
5. Be accountable to someone.
6. Be brutally honest in your accountability.
7. You don’t have to exercise 2-3 hours every day of the week in order to lose weight or maintain the loss.
8. You can go completely off plan when on a special trip (and gain quite a few pounds while on that trip) AND get back on plan when you get home and still end up losing 202 pounds.
9. This is for the rest of our lives.
10. It can be done!
11. Become whatever you dream! You can do it!

Okay. There it is!!

Did she share any earth-shattering new information with me? Actually, no, nothing completely new.

For me, the most significant thing she shared was not WHAT she shared, but from WHERE she shared it.

You see, she shared with me as someone who has done what I need to do—lose 200+ pounds. She understands not being able to walk up stairs without gasping for breath. She understands not being able to do things in life because of weight. She understands how overwhelming it is to need to lose 200+ pounds.

So, my dear Cynthia, you have been face-to-face with someone who has done what you must do—not just lose weight, but lose 200+ pounds. It can be done.

So, what’s my choice? Where do I go from here???? One thing I know for sure is that I cannot and WILL NOT give up!!! If Sheri (and others I know from the WW message boards) can do it, then so can Cynthia!!!!

PS: I carried my copy of People magazine and had Sheri sign her page.