This would be an example of a good Weight Watcher:
This is more like me ;) :
I am however very very very supportive of my Accountabilibuddy and her efforts and she is a good Weight Watcher. So when my Accountabilibuddy said "I decided to do a 4-week challenge and you're gonna do it with me", I was on board...of course.
Here's the challenge (exactly as written on the original doc):
A brand new year is the perfect opportunity to dust off your resolve and climb back on the wagon. Whether you’re new to Weight Watchers, or simply looking for a framework to help you recommit or stick to the plan, we’ll help you succeed. With its cold weather, post-holiday anticlimax and, for many, uncomfortably snug pants, January is not the kindest month. Why, then, do so many of us also spend half the month beating ourselves up about what we ate and drank in December? Right here and now, we are officially declaring the holidays Behind Us, and instead are here to help you focus on your goals for 2010. Your goal might be a sizeable one, or it might be just a few pounds away. Whichever camp you fall into, contemplating a whole year stretched ahead of you can feel overwhelming. So, instead of worrying about the next 12 months, we’re giving you a far more manageable four weeks of activities, ideas and motivation. By committing to this four-week New Year, New Resolve Challenge, you are pledging to look forward, not backward. Each week you’ll have three key tasks that will focus on food, activity, and behavior. None of the tasks are overly challenging or hard to achieve; rather, each one is designed to help you stay mindful of the choices you make, and to find new ways of traveling along the road of your weight-loss journey without getting bored and succumbing to a detour.
The first order of business is to decide what your goal is over the next 4 weeks. Well, think about it and write it down. Now! Do it Now! I'll wait....
I can never decide on just one goal so I have several. Would you like to hear them? Okay.
I'd like to play racquetball twice a week, get half way through my ACSM study materials, and do 8 of 10 actions for success every day.
Second order of business is to decide what your next goal will be once the 4-week challenge is complete. Again....go ahead and do it right now. This isn't hard stuff people. You can do it. Take a couple moments and just think about what you want to do after you make it through the next 4 weeks. Simple.
I decided that I want to pick another activity to do after I'm done with the racquetball fiasco and complete the studying for my ACSM exam by March.
Now here's the next order of business. The people over at WW have decided that those of us doing the challenge should come up with 10 reasons that we want to challenge ourselves. You know, motivation? I ran into a bit of a mental block here. Well, maybe not so much a block as an epiphany of sorts. I started writing down all the reasons that I've been clinging to for the past few months. Here they are:
1. When I do these things, I feel good, happy, peaceful
2. I want to be proud of myself
3. Life should be fun and enjoyable
4. To go shopping for cute clothes and enjoy myself
5. To teach Punk Rope
6. To live an active and healthy lifestyle
7. To reach my weight/body goals by year end
Then something in me just clicked. I had a thought. Wanna know what my tiny little pea brain thunk up? I thought, "these are all BULLSHIT!" Brilliant right? Of course it's brilliant. Here's why. For some reason, we people who walk the earth have decided that in order to find the motivation to accomplish something meaningful or worth while in our lives, we have to have a carrot dangling in front of us. I don't really understand this logic that someone concocted up in order to sell tickets to their motivational seminar or to sell more books or whatever. I never really even challenged the concept until my brilliant brain child birthed itself as I attempted to write down the 8th reason above. But, the child is born and I must recognize and give it the respect that it desires. So, I have to ask why.
Why?
Why do we NEED this dangling carrot? Why do we feel that a list of external motivators are in charge of our success or lack thereof? Why do we need more than one reason? Why can't we just WANT it? Why must there be options? Is it really so difficult for us to accomplish what we want that we need to have a list of stuff to do it for? Do we all really need a list of rewards for our efforts?
I think people are selfish creatures. We are. We all do what we want, when we want, because we want. And we don't do things we don't want. And if we do things we don't want, we aren't happy about it because it's not something we wanted.
So if that's true, then why can't we just choose to do things because that's what we WANT? If want is the driving force in the human species then why don't we just use that as the carrot instead of all the stuff and rewards that we're told to want?
Here's what I've decided for myself. I've decided that all those reasons I gave above are nice rewards to have. But to me, they're just the trophy after the success. I'm not motivated by a trophy. I'm motivated by the satisfaction I get after accomplishing something I set out to do. I'm motivated by the pride I feel in myself. I'm motivated by my feelings, not the trophy.
Reason #8: BECAUSE I WANT TO
Reason #9: BECAUSE I WANT TO
Reason #10: BECAUSE I WANT TO
That's what I decided.
I don't need to do anything. I want to. Why? Because I want to. Why? Because I want to. Not even I can argue this logic.
Thus endeth thy soapbox rant.
Week 1 Challenge:
1. Plan a menu for the week
2. Add five minutes to your daily activity/exercise
3. Take your measurements
Week 2 Challenge:
1. Added two filling foods every day (not sure what this means, it's a WW thing)
2. Earned two more Activity Points than last week (not for me, I'm not a WW but I can exercise one more day)
3. Ask for help
Week 3 Challenge:
1. Try a new recipe
2. Dance
3. Go to an extra WW meeting (again not for me, but I can do one more blog)
Week 4 Challenge:
1. Cook with a buddy
2. Do yoga or pilates
3. Identify the "Oh-no! o'clock" beast (I'll talk about that when we get there)
There you have it. Week 1 starts now. Who's with me?
If you would like to participate in the 4 week challenge, please just comment on my blog and post your own blog about it. I'll do some link love every week to spread it around.
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