As I settle into this new life of “that person that lost 200lbs” one thing is becoming more glaringly obvious to me, I have this deep feeling that I am supposed to do more with this accomplishment. Losing the weight was beyond, life changing, but I feel like there is something even bigger calling at me to do something even bigger because of my life transformation. There is something inside of me that is seeking the next step. I feel like I need to do more with what I have learned with this journey. There are tools I learned along the way, outside of any weight loss program, that I could share with others in a similar situation. There are emotions I experienced that, unless you have accomplished or need to accomplish similar feats, I just don’t think you can understand what it is like or what it takes. One thing that stood out to me as I went through my journey was the need of emotional support that one requires at different parts of this journey. As amazing it was to lose the weight, it came with some real challenges, especially if you are dealing with these challenges with out any counselling or support. I had my family and it’s safe to say I have the most patient husband who had to sit there for literally months on end and just listen to me be confused. Confused for so many different reasons, all for good reasons, but still very difficult to go through and without having those supports, it could become something that spirals you into an emotional hurricane. Depending on how you deal with these emotions and the confusion can have a real impact on sustaining your new life.
As a Weight Watchers member, I have experienced online and meetings, and both were a positive experience but I would say that, that program currently lacks the individual coaching that one requires to go through such a journey I have. The weekly meetings are great but when you must accomplish the “impossible” you need almost daily support at some points to get you through this so you can maintain a healthy mind. I can safely say, losing 200lbs was the most confusing thing I will ever go through in my life time. I haven’t spent anytime researching what other weight loss programs offer for emotional support but it’s something that should be looked at for any program, in my opinion. I almost wonder if each person should be approached differently depending on their individual needs, like what we would do in post-secondary by each student having their own “learning plan” maybe programs should build each member their own “health plan”. That plan may change throughout their journey, for example, I wouldn’t have wanted a high touch program earlier because I felt like I just needed to figure this out and get control over myself, but eventually I would have embraced a “health plan” which would have provided me the emotional support needed as I became this new person that I didn’t recognize.
I am currently exploring coaching programs to see if this might be a fit for me down the road. Who knows maybe one day I can take what I have done and help others.
