Note:  The easiest way for me to share where I’m at was to write a letter, but this may or may not actually get seen by the WW corporate.  🙂

Dear Weight Watchers,

I bet no one ever writes to thank you for helping them lose absolutely nothing their first year on the program.  In fact, that’s probably not even good for business, but I’m here to do just that.

A year ago this month I walked into a Weight Watchers building a desperate, nervous wreck knowing I needed some healthy boundaries to reign in two years of gaining back half of 70 pounds I had lost on my own.

I had maintained that 70-pound loss for over a year, but when tragedy hit my life I didn’t know how to properly handle it with regards to my weight.  As our family worked through loss and healing we were faced with a last-minute change to our life plans and a new hometown and state left me reeling a bit.

To sum it up, I had gained 35 pounds back over two years and found myself slipping into the old-Leah thinking that none of it mattered.

And that scared me.

I had fought too hard to lose that weight, I had tasted and lived a new life as a healthier, fit mom and I knew I couldn’t quit.  However, simply tracking calories wasn’t enough of a plan for me, so I began seriously pondering Weight Watchers again.  I didn’t even know about the switch to Smart Points, but my many attempts at the plan had taught me Weight Watchers was always well balanced.  I knew I didn’t need anything extreme, just some healthy boundaries to get me back on track.

So, on a Monday in April 2016 I walked in the doors literally a nervous wreck that I wouldn’t be able to lose weight and signed up for the program.

I did lose weight, steadily and began feeling so much better.  My cravings for sweets went away with this new plan and I raved about how now sugars are taken into account to my health-interested friends.

However, more stress came and over the past year I have lost and gained the same 10 pounds at least two times leaving me weight exactly the same at the end of March 2017 as when I began in April 2016.

Waves of guilt began to wash over me and feelings of failure crept their way into my heart and mind.

I still made attempts at exercise, but my food just wasn’t getting with it and I felt like that’s a horrible example of being “on Weight Watchers”.  I would note my feelings and beyond-the-scale efforts on my Instagram account, but I found myself wanting to shut down my blog because I wasn’t getting anything done worth writing about.

And then it hit me, maybe I didn’t lose any weight last year, but I didn’t gain any weight either. 

After two years of gaining back 35 of the 70 pounds I had lost I finally maintained my weight for a year!

In an effort to regain my sanity my leader helped me reset my starting weight and we have started a new book for this second year on the program.  My meeting group and leader have been so supportive and encouraging about my journey, but I wanted to let you know what had happened as well.

It’s a beyond-the-scale kind of victory that someone like me, who struggles with emotional eating, is finally accepting as a success of some sort.  It’s the kind of non-scale victory that gives me hope to continue on this journey.

And for that I thank you.

Sincerely and hopefully yours,

Leah