Why I Now Love Wednesdays

Alarm goes off at 6:30am and I immediately jump out of bed like any other week day to start my morning off.  This is not any normal work day though, this is Wednesday and that means weigh in day.  Why would Wednesday be weigh in day I hear you ask?  That is because Mich says so!  Strangely enough this is the one morning of the week I do look forward to as I get to see what my weeks work in counting and burning calories has amounted to.

Now weighing yourself seems like an easy enough task, but after following the forums and reading the posts by the seasoned campaigners there is a process to follow here.  You need to get straight out of bed, have a tinkle (at least) and then jump on the scales butt naked.  Nothing major you might think, but then the all important numbers need to have dropped in order for you to start the day off with a smile and a glow about what you have achieved. 

Thankfully for me, this morning showed a great number.  First thing I could see was that I had lost weight in the last week. BONUS!!!! Second I had lost 2.3kgs for the week, which gives me a total of 8.3kgs in 16 days.  BONUS!!!! Third and most importantly to me is that I am now under 140kgs in such a short time.  This is a huge watershed moment for me as I intended to break my weight loss into bite size chunks (probably not the appropriate term for a fat guy on a diet) but I had never envisaged losing this amount so quickly.  I have been so excited about this time of the week the last 3 Wednesdays because I have been confident that the changes my wife and I have made and the work I have put in would show me results.  This is sadly not the same for everyone.

I have read numerous posts on facebook and the 12WBT forums, where people have not lost and some gained and they are not able to comprehend why or what they have done wrong.  I know if this happened to me and it may well at some point, I would be heartbroken about the lost week but it would not deter me.  That is what I like to say now, but the realisation of the whole week being supposedly wasted may cause a different reaction. 

This is where I believe the mindset tasks are so important.  I have watched my wife lose a heap of weight on Weight Watchers only to put a lot of it back on.  She was committed and for whatever reason, which possibly could have been me, she stopped.  This time we have evaluated what we both want and we have found this program to be brilliant for us.  We do not look at this as a 12 week program but a lifestyle change which will enable us to continue the process of healthy living and not being obese anymore so we are more active and better role models for our 4 wonderful children. 

For me one of the saddest parts of my life before this journey, which I only thought about whilst reading the 12WBT forums is that my 4 kids have not known me as anything else other than a fat dad.  How sad is that?  Why have I not done this earlier?  I can only put this down to not having the right mindset or motivation.  I have previously had the motivation otherwise I would not have been able to finish the Kokoda trail in just over 6 days, so what happened to it?  

Now I have that motivation, thanks to Mich, her crew and the awesome people that allow my wife and I to feed off the inspiration of the other members.  Strangely I now look forward to the exercise and I can’t wait until I fit into the size 38 shorts I bought 2 years ago (with every intention of wearing them soon after I bought them) and have never worn.  More importantly I love Wednesday mornings as it sets me up for a day with a smile on face and the energy to start the next weeks work to see another great number in 7 days time, providing I see what I want to see on the scales.