Reaching my 5% weight loss goal

At last night's Weight Watchers meeting, I found out that I reached my 5% goal. Basically, this means that I've lost 5% of my starting weight. While I know this is a great accomplishment, I can't help but have mixed emotions about it.

On one hand, I'm loving the fact that I'm making great progress, especially since I haven't followed the program as well as I should. With the stress of school and work, along with my foot injury, I see this 5% goal as an absolute blessing from above.

BUT then...negativity starts to creep in and I tell myself ,"5% means nothing when I have over 100 pounds to lose." I feel like I'm one of those cartoon characters with God on one shoulder and the devil on the other, struggling to determine which voice I'm going to listen to.

So what's the solution? It's easy to say I should ignore the negative thoughts, right? BUT, I think that's being unrealistic. The fact of the matter is that I do have over 100 pounds to lose, and that's something that I never want to lose sight of. I think the key is to not allow myself to focus solely on the amount of weight I have to lose. I have to learn to celebrate the small victories both on and off the scale, so that I don't become discouraged and quit like I've done so many times before.

Anyone out there share a similar struggle? What are some things you did to work through the negative thinking?

Is Jessica Simpson a good spokesperson for Weight Watchers?

Jessica Simpson in her Weight Watchers commercial

Every time I go to my Weight Watchers meeting and see Jessica Simpson’s face, I’m annoyed. Not because I have anything against her as an entertainer, but my annoyance is rooted in how she as a spokesperson perpetuates negativity toward overweight women.

If you didn’t catch her commercial, here’s a quick recap. Basically, the commercial is 30 seconds of a close-up of Jess’ fluffy face as she talks about “eating real food in the real world”. Yes, that’s right, all we ever see is a close up of her face. We never see her entire body, just her pretty face. This, to me, is problematic.

In my opinion, this commercial isn’t about selling a weight loss solution, nor is it about motivating women to lose weight. Unfortunately, the commercial is more about hiding a body that does not meet the world’s pre-defined standard of beauty. Not showing Jessica’s body implies that there is something that needs to be covered up…something that she’s not proud of…something that she is not comfortable with the world seeing. Many of us on Weight Watchers already have our own body image issues, so seeing this commercial certainly doesn’t help us change our negative thinking.

What makes Weight Watchers so special is that while it teaches you to make lifestyle adjustments for weight loss, they also do a great job encouraging members to embrace the “skin that they’re in”. Any member that is ashamed or discouraged by their body always receives loving encouragement that helps them accept who they are, and where they are at the moment. Hiding a “less than perfect” body is not part of the Weight Watchers philosophy, so unfortunately the Jessica Simpson campaign does much more harm than good.

I realize that the commercial was done to preserve the Jessica Simpson brand, and I’m sure if I break this down from a marketing standpoint, it makes perfect sense. I still wish that Weight Watchers would have selected a celebrity that was willing to be open and transparent about their weight loss journey from beginning to end. In my opinion, this would have made a huge impact on women nationwide, regardless of whether or not they are on the program.

Oh, this just in. Jessica has lost 60lbs, and has just finished shooting a new Weight Watchers commercial...AND, I’m assuming that you’ll be able to see her entire body in this one.

Coincidence…I think not.

Check out this image from the set. Jessica is the blonde on the far right.

On the set at Jessica's new WW commercial

Stop that stinkin' thinking

Yesterday, I spoke to a good friend who told me she was challenging herself to read the entire Bible...cover to cover...everyday until she finishes it. AND wouldn't you know that she kindly invited me to do the same.

I know that for some, reading the Bible is not exactly the most exciting activity. But, for me, reading it in its entirety is something I've wanted to do for quite some time. As I thought about how great of an accomplishment this would be, I immediately began to talk myself out of it. Yup, before I even got started, the negative self talk began:

"You can barely read the Bible as it is, soooo, how do you think you'll be able to read it everyday?"
" You don't like reading PERIOD, so why would you try to do something you don't enjoy?"
"You're too busy to commit to something for that long"

....and so on and so forth.

Making this decision called attention to some negative thinking that's been holding me back in life. It's like, even though completing this goal would be a fulfilling and enjoyable accomplishment, I won't even allow myself to TRY to do something that would make me happy. How could I treat myself this way? Do I really think so little of myself that I won't do things that I enjoy? Is comfort and familiarity more important than my happiness? Something has got to change.

I wish I understood why I function like this, but my guess is that it's much easier for me to talk myself out of doing something rather than trying something new and failing at it. As much as I hate to fail, I'm starting to think that the only true failure in life is the failure of not trying at all.

Well, I've got to cut this post short folks...the first three books of Genesis are calling my name =)