Two things happened this week — neither of them involved logging a weight loss, but both were inspirational.

First, a little over a week ago, I decided to convert my online only Weight Watchers membership to one where I can attend meetings. I’ve now attended two meetings. At both meetings, I mostly listened, but chimed in when I thought I had something worth contributing. In both instances, my comments were things I say often to people who ask about my weight loss. I really didn’t think anything of it.

When the second meeting ended, I was talking “shop” with several fellow members. This is common practice at a Weight Watchers meeting, and comforting. We’re all there for the same reason. There’s an instant camaraderie.

What I didn’t expect, was the woman who said she’d thought about me during the week based on what I’d said at the previous meeting (I had shared that at the beginning of my journey I choose to have a Culver’s Chocolate Malt and took the hit for the 28 points — the equivalent to almost an entire day’s points — all in an effort to avoid feeling deprived). The second surprise, was the woman who told me how she’s been struggling to lose anything significant lately, but what I said about taking control — and knowing I CAN control what I eat in a world where I can’t control a lot of the things in my life — resonated so strongly with her it brought tears to her eyes. By the time we finished talking we were fast friends and hugged before going our separate ways.

I started this blog not only to chronicle my weight loss journey but also to help others succeed in reaching their weight loss goals. Saturday was the first time someone told me that what I said made a difference to them. It inspired me to buckle down and have a really amazing week as I, too, have been struggling a bit, of late. I’m not gaining, I just keep going up and down in the same 3 pounds. Then, I’ll lose a few pounds entering a new “weight category” and then it starts over again. It’s annoying. It’s aggravating. But, it’s progress. Slow but steady wins the race, right?

Perhaps, if I actually exercised this wouldn’t keep happening to me. Which brings me to the second thing that happened. I was on the Weight Watchers Connect community, browsing through people’s stories and successes — which are so inspirational. I stumbled on a post that belonged to a friend of mine. In early April she posted that she had reached her step goal of 10,000 steps a day, every day for an ENTIRE YEAR. She commented that she and her daughter find places to go walk (think the aisles of Costco) in order to accomplish this. I am in AWE. I am JEALOUS. I am MOTIVATED. I have so much trouble getting my steps in that my goal is only 6,000 steps a day — and I have trouble accomplishing that. It’s embarrassing. So, starting today — May 2, I am going to reach my goal of a MINIMUM of 6,000 steps a day. I’m not sure how I will do it, but I will find a way. It just takes commitment and dedication. I can do that! I may be visiting Costco a lot myself. If only we lived in the same city, I could possibly run into my friend!

This was such an interesting week and I feel so inspired as a result. A huge thank you to my new friends in my local Weight Watchers meeting who welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home right away. Thank you to my friend for sharing her step goal accomplishment with the universe. Thank goodness I stumbled upon it. You’ve all kindled the fire inside me to work even harder. I appreciate that more than you know.

What inspires you to keep working towards your goals?