The Smallest Winner

Well, a team of us from work have signed up for a weight-loss/fitness program through our local pool and the hospital. It is a 10-week program and there are prizes for the "smallest winner"... It's focused on healthy weight loss, not the bootcamp torture we all so enjoy watching on television.

We weigh-in once a week, attend a weekly support/education meeting and can use the pool on Tuesdays as part of the program. Great, right? Well, yes, I get to have some extra support in my weight loss goals, and I get to do it with ladies I really enjoy spending time with. And they are ladies who are good to lose weight with... There are some people that I don't even want to talk about my weight with (Oh, these sentences ending in "with" are killing me!) But I feel like these ladies are and will continue to be (you better be!) supportive and encouraging. And there's no awkward competition. (Although I am the heaviest among us and don't think I haven't noticed!)

I have a friend who participated in a biggest loser type challenge with a random group of ladies. All participates put money into the pot and the one to lose the most weight got all the money. My friend won and I was excited for her. I followed along as she checked in about the challenge (on someone's blog, I think). But I was also glad I was not in the challenge. I am not particularly motivated by money, so the prize was not that enticing. And some of the interactions just seemed so competetive and almost nasty. I don't really want to compete against my friends... I want to encourage them and cheer them on. So, I'm glad this is a team effort, so I won't feel tempted to bring krispy kremes to our work meetings.

So, last night we went to our first support/education group. To describe it in a word: BORING. Oh, and ANNOYING. Well, it was only slightly annoying, because I am motivated right now and I was sitting next to a dear friend whose cheerfulness and enthusiasm for EVERYTHING rubs off on me. It was boring because it was a lecture. And it was a lecture on stuff I have already heard and read and studied and tried a thousand times. It was annoying because two VERY thin women who exercise more than I eat (and that's a lot!) were up there talking about their weight-loss goals and how hard it can be to get motivated.... The one young woman with the amazing body wasn't so bad. She is just so gorgeous, I can not be annoyed by such perfection. The older lady, who was tall and thin, just kept going on and on about her struggles with eating cheese and not wanting to go on a run some days. When she said "running in the rain is no fun" I thought "ah, running is no fun!"

When she was describing the cycle of dieting, she talked about how it's Monday morning and we are all pumped up to start this new program. Then we go gung ho for awhile and then start to feel deprived... At which point I said, "and it's Monday afternoon!"