[CyberTOPS] CHARLOTTE'S ROLL CALL - Positive news on the weight front - and a lesson to learn

[Charlotte W.]

Hello Everyone,

Positive news to report tonight.....after a week of counting calories, food
charting and journaling.....I lost 5.00 tonight.....the best looser of the
week in chapter...moved my marker to the loosing side of zero on the "2009 5
lbs at a time" contest (this after such a big gain last week).......and walked
in and out of chapter with my head held high because I knew I had done the
right things.

I do want to share with my TOPS email family something that I shared with my
chapter tonight.  One of my chapter members came in tonight also feeling good
about herself because she had food charting and journaled all week as well. 
She is one of us that starts the week out with good intentions and by saturday
is having more and more trouble finding the food chart/journal paper, and by
monday does not even care where it is.....

As she entered the room after weighing in she made the commit, "I lost, i know
that food charting/jouraling work."  I asked her why she felt food
charting/journaling caused her to loose weight.  She replied, "because I pay
attention to what I am doing and eating when I am doing both of them."  So
anyway we talked about this as a chapter for some time and then out of one of
the ladies that is struggling the most, come the following, "yes food
charting/jounaling work if you do them every day, but i can't do it more than
a couple days.  it is so negative."  Here is what I shared with her:

Your journal should be there to remind you of the GOOD, the BAD, and the
UGLY.  Don't fill your journal with everything bad and ugly, you have to put
the good stuff in there also.  Use this time to tell yourself you are doing a
good job as well.  Highlight, circle, smiley faces by those things that worked
or when goals are achieved. Some of the examples that I shared from personal
experience with the chapter follow:

1.  Day 3 and i am still food charting/journaling.....I KNEW I COULD DO
THIS...KEEP GOING!
2.  Tonight weighed in and lost 5.0 lbs GREAT JOB CHARLOTTE KEEP UP THE GOOD
WORK......
3.  1500 calories a day is my goal......today i only ate
1489....CONGRATULATIONS.
4.  I have been struggling with the exercise portion of all this......so when
I manage to get 5, 10, or 15 minutes of walking and moving while watching the
tv or park on the far side of the parking lot whether i have the time or
not......I write it done and PAT MYSELF ON THE BACK.....
5.  the weather outside....we know that effectives how we feel, eat, and
move.
6.  HATS OFF TO ME!!! I had a craving for OREO cookies today....so I had one
serving (3 cookies) and I enjoyed them.  I was able to walk away from the
package and was satisfied.

I know my chapter is there for me during the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY but
they can't be with me every minute of the day, every day of the week, or every
week of the year.  So if I can't tell myseslf GREAT JOB - who will.

So here is the point of this.....your journal should be there to motivate you
along...I don't know anyone that could be motivated by reading a journal full
of negative things about themselves.  Yes you need to put the BAD and the UGLY
in there but make sure you put the good stuff in there and make it stand
out.....as well.

HERE IS TO A HAPPY/HEALTHY NEW YEAR IN 2009

HUGS,



Charlotte Wilson
Chapter Leader - TOPS MN #0414, Park Rapids
Area Captain - Becker, Cass, Hubbard, and Wadena Counties in Minnesota
Park Rapids, MN 56470
www.topspride.org/Minnesota/CharlottesWeb.html
www.topspride.org/Minnesota/index.html
www.tops.org