I decided to re-join Weight Watchers. The decision sort of came out of no where.

Well, not really.

My clothes weren’t fitting correctly [read too tight]. And recent blood work suggested the onset to various illnesses if I didn’t change something. So with more than a little internal resistance, I attended a lunchtime meeting near my house.  I sat in the back row of the meeting room feeling a weird mix of smugness and embarrassment.

Back in 2001 I was the lunchtime Weight Watchers leader. A part of me felt there wasn’t anything the meeting leader could say that I didn’t already know. But then shame kicked in. Why was I in my current predicament?

At the end of the meeting the leader invited all the new members to come unto the front for a orientation of the new program. I wasn’t going to stay until the other two new members shared that they both had been leaders. The orientation changed into a discussion about how the program has recently changes and the leader offered tips on getting back on track.

But that evening things spiraled down hill pretty quickly when I discovered the number of points in one glass of wine. By the end of my first day, I had already used 10 of my weekly points in addition to my daily allotment. By Thursday, I had stopped counting.

It wasn’t my intention to return the next week, but for some reason I found myself once again at the lunchtime meeting. And to my surprise, I had actually managed to lose .8 pounds.  But to be honest, I was discouraged. The previous week had been so stressful. I couldn’t see myself sticking to the program if I had to struggle every step of the way. I stayed for the rest of the meeting, but admitted to the leader that I didn’t think it was going to work for me. The last time I lost weight I ate a lot of low fat/low calorie food [read tasteless] and I wasn’t going to do that again. I announced that I was a “foodie” and enjoyed good food with good wine. The leader countered with the Weight Watchers rigmarole about choices, which just about solidified my decision to quit. But then she said, “You can do this.”

It felt like a challenge of sorts. And I left the meeting determined to make it work.

After a few days of being extremely intentional about my food choices, it occurred to me that losing weight was a lot like writing. They are both about making choices.

As writers, if we want to complete our projects, we have to be deliberate about how we spend our time. We have to set specific goals and hold ourselves accountable to do the types of things that will move us in the direction of those goals. We have to make a commitment to honor our work regardless of how we feel.  And as we face each challenge or setback, we must remind ourselves – I can do this.

In case you’re wondering, I went back for my third meeting today and this week’s weigh-in was much more inspiring. I’m down 5 pounds.