Lifetime

Yesterday I reached one of the pinnacle moments of my life as of late. I became a lifetime member of Weight Watchers. Essentially that means that I set a goal to loose a certain amount of weight and was able to reach that goal and stay within two pounds of that weight for six weeks. I realized that the health benefits are tremendous, but the knowledge that I could harness my own bodily appetites, exercise self-dicipline, and set a goal and achieve it are the truest rewards. I also feel like I have shaped my life and that of my family for a bright and healthy future.

Here are the brief stats:

September 2006:
weighed around 174 pounds (more than when I was eight months pregnant).
started running (very, very slowly) nearly every day and actually decided I liked it. I attribute so much of my innitial motivation to Erin. Thank you so much. I don't know if I could have dug out the stamina without your support.
began attending Weight Watchers
December 2006:
Reached 10% goal. I had lost 10% of my body weight, 17 lbs.; rewarded myself with the new Gladys Knight CD.
January 2007:
First weigh in of the new year showed that I had LOST 2.5 lbs over Christmas (WOW)
September 2007:
Started attending a different meeting with a different leader, who I love. This kickstarted me all over again and helped me really decide why I was doing all this. I had been trying to loose about 12 lbs for six months.
October:
Decided I wanted to set a goal to loose 5 lbs by Thanksgiving.
November:
Weigh in just before Thanksgiving showed I had lost nearly 5 lbs. It felt good to set a small goal and meet it. Thanks to Sundee for joining me in that goal.
December 2007:
Reached my goal weight of 127 lbs.
February 7, 2008:
Became a lifetime member of weight watchers.

Total Weight Lost: 45 lbs
Time: 70 weeks

I feel a little like the blue engine in A's favorite book, The Little Engine that Could. She just kept telling herself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." And after she did it, she said, "I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could." Through most of those 70 weeks I never doubted.

But, as Satan will always do, just as I was coming down to the last few weeks, I was overcome with doubt. I didn't think I could do it. Then I read a portion of a talk by Elder David A. Benar, "Clean Hands and A Pure Heart." Essentially it said that it will never be enough to think we can have enough willpower to change our lives; we must solicit a higher power. I had kept the Lord abreast of my goals all through this process, but in that moment I read Elder Benar's talk, I realized I hadn't trully turned it over to the Lord. I still let my pride roost inside of me. After all, I had done it "by myself" for so many months before. Why not now? Well, the Lord is a great humbler and a great healer of our souls. He will give us the power to manage our temtations and bodily appitites if we will let him.

I did it! I'm so glad and so greatful and learned so many other lessons. One of these days I'll post a list of the life-lessons I learned. So, here's too a lifetime of success!