Met My Goal!

After eight years of ups and downs, I finally met my Weight Watchers goal at last night's meeting. I cannot begin to say what this means to me. This has definitely been a long and challenging journey. Over the years, I have come close to my goal, but this time I was determined to get there so I can become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and attend meetings for free for the accountability and the support of other members. As of last night, I have lost 32.2 pounds. It took me eight months. However, looking at eight years ago when I first started my weight loss journey, I am down 94.2 pounds from my start weight. That is still so unbelievable to me. Looking back at pictures of me from that time is a little embarrassing, but it also makes me appreciate how far I have come. I've also posted an "after" picture. This is a picture of our leader, Ms. Elizabeth, giving me my Weight Watchers charm for meeting my goal. Now I have to maintain this weight for six weeks to achieve lifetime status. I truly appreciate all the support I have received from my family and friends. Tim was always faithful to check with me each week after my weigh-in to see how I did and to support and encourage me no matter how I did. I also really appreciate my friend Cindy for encouraging me to join Weight Watchers again and cheering me on each week. It made the difference this time to have a friend doing the program right along side of me. I believe God takes care of us and leads us through difficult challenges if we just lean of Him. I know that I did not pray and trust as much as I should have, but He was faithful anyway. He puts people in our path to encourage us along the way and even sends us signs that He is paying attention. Yesterday evening when I got in my van after my meeting was over, the song on the radio was Garth Brooks "The Dance." This is a special song to me because it was the theme song for our New Hope softball team when we won our first state championship. The last line of the song goes: "Yes my life is better left to chance. I could have missed the pain but I'd of had to miss the dance."