And so it begins . . .

What spurred this on? Well, a blood pressure recheck and a chat with the nurse. I have blood pressure monitor at home, the kind that goes on your wrist. I have monitored my blood pressure before and it was always within normal range. But, when I go to the doctor, it reads high. So, I had my orders to pop in and see the nurse for a recheck a few weeks after my last doctor visit. Well, both my wrist cuff and the “real” one clocked me at borderline. Lucky for me, it was a friendly, chatty nurse, and she admitted to me that she was in the same boat. Then she mentioned Weight Watchers and how losing weight could bring my blood pressure into normal range. Yikes . . . can I go now???

I do have some prior experience with Weight Watchers. In 2002 I joined “Weight Watchers at Work” – for about 3 weeks. The leader (sorry whoever you were) was hardly motivational, and bordered on straight up rude. Needless to say, to think of voluntarily subjecting myself to that again was the furthest thing from my mind. But this nurse just went on and on about how motivating it was, how they got free samples to taste (my ears perked up a little here), and so on and so forth. She mentioned she went close by, so that would be the closest location for me, too.

But, she did get me thinking about it, and by the time I got home, I decided I would go check it out. Funny enough, after I made that decision I did start to get excited! I pre-registered on line, and waited out the days to the following Monday's meeting.

Finally, the night I had been waiting for arrived. I showed up to the Weight Watcher store, all bright and hopeful with my forms in my hand. That was the easy part. The scale came next. No surprise there, and at least I wasn't the heaviest I'd ever been. But you have to start somewhere, right? And hopefully that is the last time I will see that number on the scale! I found a seat, and waited for my nurse-friend to show up, thinking how excited she'd be to see me and how we would become such good friends. She never showed up. What the heck?!? I thought she couldn’t live without her meetings? Hrummph.

I chatted with a few other girls, and the meeting was so-so. And wouldn't you know - there were no free samples to eat either! I had been duped, I tell ya. Got all excited for this meeting and now, no nurse-friend and no cookies. Then they tell me that since the following Monday was Memorial Day, they were closed and I'd have to pick another time to come. Grrr.

I left the meeting with my little packet of materials, and in spite of all the "disappointments" I still felt excited! Wait - what? I know! But I was. Ok - let me look at their schedule. I decided to go on Sunday morning at 9:30. No need to juggle my work schedule, I am already off.

I thank the calendar that I had to reschedule my day. Sunday morning's meeting was absolutely fabulous! A different leader who was funny, entertaining, very caring and seemed genuinely interested in me doing well. The group of men and women were very friendly. You could tell they were all regulars - their camaraderie was contagious and just what I'd been hoping for.

These days I really look forward to going to my Sunday morning meeting! It is motivating, and I am enjoying the heck out of this program. I even have a little routine going and after the meeting I grocery shop and pick up some of the new, cool stuff I learn from the others. For me, the electronic tracking, both on my iPhone and through eTools has made a world of difference. SO easy! I love the bar code scanner app too, and wander through the grocery store scanning away. My food in my cupboards are all labelled with PointsPlus values. I'm even recruiting my friends to join! It has been 7 weeks, and I am down 15 pounds. I hope and pray this lasts!

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