Love Yourself

"Because you can't be there for anyone else until you love yourself," Victor, our cute, spunky Weight Watchers leader, said last night at my first meeting.

That's right. My first meeting. My first Weight Watchers meeting. I never thought I'd succumb to any kind of commercial weight loss plan. Never thought I'd attend a Weight Watchers meeting in my life. And certainly never thought I'd be nodding emphatically at a cheesy inspirational line like the aformenetioned. (After Victor said the line about loving yourself, he proceeded to dole out star stickers to members who contributed thoughtful insights about the weight loss process. No joke.)

But things change, right? And it's a new year, and there are new resolutions. Ones that I intend on keeping, for once.

When Tristan and Miranda started talking about the weight they had been losing on Weight Watchers, I became intrigued and started asking questions. How does it work? How many points can you have in a day? And, most importantly, how many points are in a bottle of wine? The answer is eleven--this blog's namesake. Tough, but doable, I thought.

So when Miranda approached Jen, Erika and me last week and suggested that every Wednesday, the four of us attend the Wednesday night meeting and go out to our favorite sushi place afterwards? Well, done and done, I said. (After, of course, I made Miranda give a detailed description about what, exactly, happens at the meetings and what, exactly, she meant when she said "confidential" weigh-in. "It means it's posted on YouTube and closed-circuit TV," Erika joked sarcastically.)

Getting on the scale for the first time last night was tough for me, but I got through it. (I'm sure the promise of delicious salmon nigiri afterwards didn't hurt.) And as I sat in the meeting afterwards listening to Victor talk about loving yourself while doling out star stickers, I took a good look around and realized, to my own shock and amazement, that he was right, and that this was exactly where I should be in order to get where I want to be.

The thought stuck with me as I sat in Warakabune 30 minutes later chowing down on salmon nigiri. (Only 2 points!)