"So what are you going to do about?"

This was the exact question asked by two people in completely different conversations when I complained that I was getting fat.
To which I replied, "Nothing, I'm going to wallow in it for a while." (I really said that. Sister will tell you.)
I blamed my old job for making me "solid" and, of course, 15 lbs. makes clothes fit not-cute-and-too-tight. Now that I have a new job and am not wallowing in self pity, my excuse to stay complacent is gone. So what the hell am I going to do about it?
Obviously this is a "Bitch about Gaining Weight" entry. I figure if I put it out there, I will have to go through with a plan to change myself. I know that other people fight much bigger battles than me and I'm fortunate to be somewhat healthy. But it's still my little battle. Losing 15 to 20 lbs on a five foot frame isn't exactly a walk in the park!
A few years ago, I joined Weight Watchers when I was at my heaviest. (Ironically, my heaviest now is 2.8 lbs more than my previous all time high.) It worked and I lost 15 lbs! I was so excited! Then I went to grad school, started dating Jon, and got "comfortable." You know what I'm talking about. I tried joining again a couple years later but, unfortunately, it wasn't effective. I didn't make it to all the meetings and I finally just quit because I was paying but not truly making an effort.
I know WW works. It worked for me before! But failing at my second attempt shook my belief that I could lose the weight again. Because I failed. But it really has been the only thing that has helped me lose weight. Mono doesn't count but it did get me down to a size 2. So last week I signed up online for Weight Watchers. My friend told me it's $9.22/week with e-tools access. I didn't make the time to attend a meeting, though. And if I'm going to lay it all out there to tell the truth - it's because I didn't want to find out how much I weighed. But I would have to eventually find out so I got my tuckus to an 8:00am meeting today. Know something funny? The lady that was leading it was the same lady from six years ago. And although she didn't know my name, she looked at me and said, "Welcome back. How long has it been?"
Hot damn. She remembered me.
I wish I could say that I could relate to the people that were there. I remembered even back then the lady drew big crowds. There were 20+ people at this meeting. I guess I just wish there were younger people. For the most part, everyone was over 45. Oh well. I like the lady leader and she remembered me so I want to keep attending this particular meeting time because she is a good motivator. So of course I bought the new starter pack because all the literature has changed.
I decided to go on the Flex Points plan just because I love me some bread and chocolate so it's a heckuva lot easier to do Flex than Core. I almost fell out of my chair when I found out I only had 18 points a day (I think some Jamba Juice smoothies are more than that.) 18 points are supposed to last me an entire day! Last time I was on WW I only had 20 points and that was a struggle. Oh lawdee. But then leader lady told me that I had 35 extra points to spread out in the week so I could split it up, add 5 more points to the day and that would bring me up to 23.
If you have ever done Weight Watchers, you know that makes a BIG difference. Thank goodness!
So there. I done did it. This and exercising more is my answer to "So what are you going to do about it?" My work sponsors half and full marathons so I'm also going to train for a half marathon in August. I'm also going to try to go back to yoga. It's a little tricky just because it's not close to work but I desperately want to go back to it. It makes me FEEL good. I'm also trying to psyche myself up to either go to the gym with Jon or bust out my oldie but goodie exercise DVDs.
I'm nervous to fail but excited to finally be doing something about my weight gain. I'm relieved that I have a friend to call if I ever need support and will understand me when I scream, "But is cheating 10 points REALLY a big deal?" and will talk me out of it. So yes, I'm jumping back on the band wagon and drinking the sugar free Kool-Aid, too.
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R.I.P. BLOGS - It appears that three of the blogs that I found to be really cool have either gone on to greener pastures (damn that MySpace) or just have too much going on to update.
So VS, XT, and Sassy, thank you for the entertainment and for giving a gal some good reading. If any of you should ever decide to go back to your blogs, please let me know and I will immediately put you back on my list of favorites. I truly miss reading you guys!