Back to School — An Exciting Time for Me!

I had a really good summer, in so many ways. My kids and I spent a lot of time at our fabulous town pool, I relaxed with my friends, and we took a great family vacation at the end. It really was a great time for me and I have no regrets.

Well, maybe I do have one regret. See, unfortunately for me, the summer was a little too good for me. I spent the summer enjoying myself in many ways, and made a very conscious decision to enjoy myself with complete abandon….in my world that means not worrying about what I eat.

Let me back up a bit first. It goes back to my teenage years, when like so many teenage girls I started having to watch my weight. Adolescence and the college years were definitely transition years for my body and I had to get used to what my adult body was like.

I am a runner, so throughout my 20s and 30s my fitness routine was ample enough to keep my body in check. I could enjoy my morning bagel with cream cheese without any concern as long as I had completed my daily run.

And although I did so many great things this summer that allowed me to enjoy the summer thoroughly, I was not so great about my fitness routine. Sure, I still went out a couple of times a week to get the run in, I just wasn’t very committed and I certainly wasn’t compensating for the way I was eating. Lobster rolls, Sam Adams Summer Ales, and ice cream all took their toll on my body.

By the end of the summer, I had to admit something to myself – I had gained weight. I wasn’t certain how much I had gained, but on my petite frame even a couple of pounds of extra weight shows and I can see it in my face. It wasn’t a happy place for me.

What was a happy place, however, was the thought of the kids going back to school. The boys and I had enjoyed each other’s company about as much as I was capable of doing, and it was time for the three of us to part company for a large portion of the day and give each other some breathing room.

As the first day of school approached, I started getting more and more excited for the time away from the loves of my life. The more I thought about how energized I was feeling about the new school year, the more I realized I should take that positive energy and pour it into something good for me – and so I did it.

What did I do? Well, I signed up for Weight Watchers and attended a meeting. It was a great feeling. If you know that Staples commercial with the song “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” playing while the father is skipping through the aisles of the store as he takes his children school shopping, then you know how I was feeling as I left that first meeting.

I’ve successfully done the Weight Watchers program before, after my second son was born. It is, quite simply, the best and most effective way to lose weight (in my opinion). So I knew that this was a good program for me. I hate to sound like a commercial, but seriously the new program they rolled out in January is even better than the one I had done several years back!

It turns out a lot of other people were feeling that “back to school” positive energy I was, because at that first meeting of the new school year there was a line of people signing up for the program. I wasn’t alone in my commitment to myself this school year, and that was an encouraging sign.

And so far, I have had success. I’ve lost a little bit of weight and am on my way to hitting my goal. The crazy thing is, I am finding it so easy that I keep asking myself if this is all there is to it. I admit that I am luckier than your average person, as I have my identical twin sister sitting at each meeting right next to me. And although Linda’s weight loss goal/need is much smaller than mine, she is as fiercely committed as I am.

I know when I look back on this September and the autumn of 2011, I am going to be saying the same thing I did about the summer – what a good autumn it was for me. Of course, this time it will be because of an entirely different reason, and I am so excited about that!