HOT*HOT*HOT and I’m not exaggerating! Above you can see the temperature gauge in my car this afternoon when I left the Sycamore Weight Watchers meeting!!!! Please note for the record, I was in “P” for PARK, not driving, while I snapped the photo!

Yesterday was AMAZING! Feels like we skipped right over spring and went straight to summer! Yow! No complaints from me though!

So when you put on your shorts yesterday for the first time, was it a “Ahhhhhhhh, this feels so good” or was it “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, who shrunk my shorts?!?!?!?!?!?!”

If it was the former (Ahhhhhh), congrats on making it through a successful Chicago winter while maintaining your weight. That is a tremendous accomplishment and you seriously need to be proud of yourself. I really mean it! Way too often we take weight maintenance for granted and it isn’t until pounds start to creep back on, that we appreciate where we were before. Don’t wait to be happy with yourself. Stop and smell the roses TODAY and enjoy those summer clothes and how YOU made them fit!

If it was the latter (that was the AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!)…….it’s time to get back to our Weight Watchers meeting and get the weight under control. Let’s not let our precious summer months become overshadowed with disappointment or frustration over our weight. I know these last few months have been tough. It’s either been freezing cold outside or, on the rare days it has been decent temperatures, it seems to have been accompanied by unbearable wind and/or rain. And rain. And then some more rain. I know. Believe me, I know, but it’s coming to an end and it’s time for us to make a new commitment to regaining control of our healthy lifestyle. So where to start?

Well, we know that it’s a proven, statistical fact that people who attend Weight Watchers meetings (AND stay for the meeting) lose THREE TIMES MORE WEIGHT than those who try to go it alone, so that’s STEP ONE. In my opinion, that’s a pretty simple way to start. Even if you don’t want to go, just do it anyway. Get yourself in to see us and I can almost guarantee you that you will feel better and more energized when the 30 minute meeting is over. You will have ideas and thoughts to take with you on your new week’s journey and you will remember how good it feels to be back on track. I will list my meeting times at the bottom as a reminder and hopefully you can make it to one of the meetings I lead.

STEP TWO is a good reminder for all of us…..remember that this is an ongoing journey. It’s our life and we don’t have to see some magic number appear on the scale at our feet in order to feel good. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BEHAVIORS. It’s the behaviors that make feel better by giving us back the control that we might have temporarily given up. Being at our weight goal does feel great….so it stands to reason that if you proceed in your behaviors NOW as if you were at your weight goal, you will start to get the same amazing feelings.

Step three: Breath the fresh air, listen to how alive it sounds outdoors, smell the fresh flowers that are in bloom enjoy the lush, bright colors that have replaced the greys and browns we have been surrounded by for months. It’s like the Wizard of Oz…Life is in technocolor right now and it’s all ours to embrace and enjoy!