In it for LIFE.

As most of you probably read, yesterday I reached a goal that all of us Weight Watchers members only dream of for so long....a goal that when we join, seems SO far away....a goal that solidifies and recognizes all the hard work we put in for countless weeks, months, YEARS! I achieved LIFETIME status with Weight Watchers.
In the technical form, reaching lifetime means that you have reached your goal weight and maintained within 2lbs for 6 weeks. You get free Etools and you meetings, a gold key for your key chain, and a lifetime membership card.

On a much deeper level, reaching lifetime status has way more meaning. The closest thing I can relate the feelings I had yesterday to are the feelings I had when I graduated college. I worked day in and day out, week in and week out, semester in and semester out, for a moment in time that I could say "I did it. I have achieved this milestone in my life because I WORKED for it". College graduation, for many, is exciting yet scary and an ending but a huge beginning. It's the end of a chapter....or for some, the end of a whole book. It's a clean slate to start the rest of your life.

That is how I felt when it sunk in that I have achieved lifetime status. I have been overweight my entire life. I have failed over and over and over and OVER in attempts to lose weight. I've lost some in the
past, got complacent, gained it back. I've accepted being "big boned" and "a pretty fat girl". I've tried and I've quit and I've given up on myself too many times to count in my 22 years prior to this journey.

But THIS time. This time.......failure hasn't been an option. Quitting hasn't been an option. This time, I set out to do it and I knew that this was the last time I was going to be "trying" again.

***Side story: I met a man a few weeks back who dropped a pen on the ground and told a group of us "Try to pick it up". The other 5 people in the group stood and looked at the pen on the ground while I bent down and picked it up. The man then said "There is no 'try'. There is a DO and there is a DO NOT. Choose one." ***

I did.

I stopped settling for less and I did.

For me, reaching lifetime status symbolizes the lifetime ahead of me that I will now live as a healthy, fit, woman. A lifetime that I could have spent overweight and unhealthy but chose to take the reigns and take my life into my own hands. Lifetime means OWNING my life. Lifetime means I have been given ONE life to live and I am choosing to live it as healthy as possible.

Lifetime for me means setting the example for my baby girl so that when she grows up and is creating her own life, it won't include worrying about her weight and her health. At the end of the day, she is what started this journey. She is what forced me to reevaluate the lifestyle that I was living so that I could live a long healthy LIFE with her.

Lifetime is a clean slate. *Raising my glass*..... "Cheers to the rest of my life."

Thank you, Weight Watchers.