TOPS is a weight loss support group that stands for Taking Off Pounds Sensibly. While I never had a lot of weight to loose after the birth of my third child last year I had a little baby weight that I hoped to get off. And I am not good at loosing weight because I just love to eat. I love food of all kinds and sweets and treats and goodies. I realized that I would benefit from having support and having to weigh in weekly. So I joined our local TOPS chapter, which happens to meet right down the street from my house. Every Tuesday night we weigh in and then have a small meeting afterwards. The women there are so encouraging and there are so many helpful hints and tips that they share at the meeting. It does encourage you to try to loose weight if you know you have to face the scale each week and it feels wonderful to be able to say "I lost this week!" at the meeting. And if you gain they don't scorn you but instead encourage you. It works! In the past year I have lost 30 pounds and just recently reached my goal weight (set by me and my doctor) and became a member of KOPS (Keeping Off Pounds Sensibly). And that was why I was awarded a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the last meeting.
Losing weight is a lifestlye change. Too many people go on diets and loose a bunch of weight and then crash and gain it all back. It just is not realistic to limit your food intake so much for the rest of your life, which is why diets just do not work. TOPS tends to work because they teach you to make lifestyle changes that you can keep for the rest of your life. You can lose the weight you want and then keep it off with a few different lifestyle changes. For me it was making sure I took the time to exercise and also cut out a lot of the sweets and fatty foods in my life. I am not deprived, I am just aware. Instead of eating out of the bag of chips I will put some in a bowl so I am aware of how much I am eating and am done when my bowl is empty...not when the bag is empty! Instead of eating a sugary snack I will snack on an apple or eat some fresh vegetables and dip. Little changes like that make a big difference.
If you have been trying to loose weight or are interested in finding your local TOPS group check out http://www.TOPS.org
Congratulations Elizabeth! That is wonderful! Here's another flower from me! @-->
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your weight loss. I need to lose a lot more than 30 lbs, but I just started exercising and watching what I eat, so maybe I'll start dropping the pounds. Your flowers are nice, but honestly your hubby should be ashamed of himself for almost never giving you flowers. I think that is terrible.
ReplyDeleteGood job, Elizabeth! I'm trying to be good myself..but it gets harder and harder. I'll tell my hubby about the flowers! That's a great incentive! You have a sweet husband :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats! I hate exercising and dieting - I'm so impressed by your perseverance (and your rockstar hubby!)
ReplyDeleteWanna claim your award? It's on my blog :-)
Actually, after reading some of these comments and then re-reading my post I see that I didn't make it clear where my flowers came from! Nope, not from hubby, but rather the group at TOPS! I'm not complaining really that hubby doesn't give me flowers (sometimes they are an awfully expensive item to spend money on when they only last a week or two) but was just pointing out how blessed I feel to have had two bouquets in a month since I rarely have fresh flowers in the house!
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