Today I went back to WW meetings for the 5th and FINAL time!  It was a really great 5th experience too I might add. Maybe it was due to the extra attention that my leader paid as, thanks to the school holidays, only two people stayed back for the meeting part and I was one of them.  Either way it was a great meeting and I'm glad I'm back.

Today the meeting topic was all about socialising AND losing weight - As it's coming up to BBQ and Xmas party time this was a very topical focus!  How can we build incidental exercise into social events?  I got a lot of great takeaways from this week's topic.  Such as always making sure you've got some sports gears in the boot of your car - just in case you are picnicking and need to burn off that extra bit of cake.  Or walking from one restaurant, where you just had your mains, to the next for dessert...

The best part of the meeting was talking about surviving Family BBQ's - as my whanau has ALOT of these - especially leading up to Summer and beyond my ears pricked up when she mentioned that we can build exercise into these eating fests!  Being the person who suggests that we all pick up after loading up our stomachs beyond recognition isn't always the most popular role to play, but the leader quite rightly said that you will always have an allie - that one person in the crowd that will support you and think it's a great idea. 

It reminded me actually of a time that the whanau were all sitting around a heavily laden table (And this was AFTER second helpings), rubbing our swollen bellies - when I bravely suggested we all go for a walk around Virginia Lake.  One by one my whanau members all chucked off at me - at my ludicrous suggestion - however my mother in law, the matriach of our family, piped up and said "Well - that's not such a bad idea, you know"  From that moment on my idea was a winner - You see everyone in our family listens to mother-in-law, whether they like it or not - she's just got that kinda of power.  Next thing we knew we were all literally stuffed into the van and heading off to the lake.

So the meeting topic today was great for me - because it reminded me of a time where I was losing weight really consistently and incorporating healthy ways into my life - my entire life, socialising and spending time with my family.

So - here I go again with a great attitude!  I've got a lot of weight to lose, but I know that I can do it.  This is not a sprint, it's a marathon... slow and steady wins!

(The picture is from a couple of weeks ago, when I was in Wellington for the weekend - I was contemplating returning to meetings when I stumbled across the WW logo randomly stencilled onto the footpath - now if that isn't a sign, I don't know what is!!!)