I’m in.

Monday I was a guest speaker at a group called TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). I go to the same gym as one of the members, Kathy, and she asked me if I would come and say a few things to the group about how I got started with my weight loss, and how I stay motivated.

I’ve never been to a weight loss support group meeting before, and I didn’t really know what to expect. I was a little nervous as I prepared for the meeting. What would I say? How could I speak about weight loss and sound motivating and knowledgeable when I have only been doing this for six months?

I arrived at the meeting a few minutes early, and sat in the car with my wife going over the notes I’d made. Since I was early, I was able to watch people arrive and go inside. When I actually saw the people I was supposed to talk to, I got even more nervous. All female, all several years older than I am. I turned to my wife and said, “I have nothing in common with these ladies.” What could I possibly have to tell them that they didn’t already know? I resigned myself to an uncomfortable hour and got out of the car.

At the meeting there were about ten women sitting around a U-shaped table. Everyone chatted while the ladies took turns weighing in privately at the front of the room. Once everyone had finished weighing, the ladies took turns introducing themselves to me and each lady shared with the group how much she had lost or gained this week. As I listened, I could feel myself start to relax. I understood this. I have been doing the same thing every Monday for the last six months.

When it was my turn to speak, I got up and started to share my story with the group. It turned out that I had a lot more in common with this group of women than I’d expected. As I spoke, they asked questions and shared their own experiences, and we understood each other. I had a good time. And here’s something that came as a surprise: these ladies inspired me. They were honest with each other and with me about their struggles, but they were also upbeat. They were joyful. They were funny. They were at a weight loss support group, but they weren’t crying into each others’ shoulders; they were giving support, applauding each other, and sharing ideas. When I talked to them about how I’d found a sense of accountability through my blog, a way to ask for encouragement with my weight loss instead of trying to do it alone, I could tell they’d already been there, done that. They know firsthand how helpful it can be to have someone cheer you on.

One of the things that this group made me think about is that I can’t plan to live healthily for a year and then quit. When I mentioned being overweight since high school, one of the ladies asked me what year I graduated. When I told her 1996, she laughed and said that this group of women had been doing this for longer than I’ve been out of high school. This is not something that they work on for a while and then stop when they finish. This is a lifelong struggle for them. It really made me think about my own struggle. I’m planning to reach a healthy weight, of course, and then switch from losing weight to maintaining it, but I have never really thought clearly about the fact that managing my weight will be something I will always have to work at.

I went to the TOPS meeting to try to inspire, to motivate, and to share my experience. I don’t know how inspired the TOPS members were, but I do know that I, for one, went home on Monday more motivated than when I arrived. The ladies I met shared their wisdom and humor, and left me with a fact that everyone who’s ever tried to lose weight has heard a million times, but in the end has to learn personally: This isn’t a one year journey to lose weight. It’s a journey for life.

I’m in.

Tagged as: life, pictures, things I've learned