WW and the 11th floor invasion

I have decided to commit to the challenge of losing weight. This is not solely for the want of being lighting, feeling better, or any sense of vanity that I might have. You might say that I have a financial interest in losing weight.

My wife and I are presently planning a cruise to Alaska. One of the excursions we are planning on taking is a helicopter ride out to land on one of the glaciers. Once we are there we can get out and walk around. Well, since not everyone weighs the same, but the helicopter only has a certain number of seats, there is a 250 lb. limit per person without having to book a second seat and pay a weight surcharge. I am presently hovering around 260 lbs, and I don't want to pay extra for my additional weight, or deny some other person the opportunity of riding the helicopter out to the glacier. I would be upset if I was not able to fly out to the glacier based on someone else being overweight.

As chance would have it, last month one of the ladies I work with mentioned that in January we were starting a Weight Watchers at Work meeting. If we get 20 people or more we can have it hosted in our building. It would make it very convenient to meet, weigh in, and be accountable to each other for proper eating habits and food ideas. I thought this would be a good thing, and a way to motivate myself to stick with a weight loss program, and possibly an eating lifestyle change.

Today was the introductory meeting. I met up with my friend, and two of her girlfriends from her floor, and we all rode the elevators down to the 11th floor. As I walked into the conference room with them I noticed a few other ladies that I recognized. I thought to myself that this was good. There would be other people that I know in the group. I moved to the back of the conference room. More ladies. I sat and the back table of the room. This is where I found myself in a situation I realized I had not been before. 26 Ladies ..... 1 Man. Me.

As we listened to the instructor, I realized that any of my usual "jokes" that I could have thrown out would not have been well accepted in the present company. I think I really had a good feel of what being a "minority" is like. There was one moment that I really had to hold myself back from raising my hand. The instructor had asked if there were any nursing mothers in the room. I realized that I will have to face these women for the next 17 weeks. Best not to be "that guy" on week 1. Apparently if you are a nursing mother, you get some extra points each week. I'll keep that fact in my hip pocket in case I need it for a joke later.

I will update you as I work on this challenge. Hopefully if I show that I can do it then maybe someone out there that doesn't think they can make a change will be inspired to give it a try. I'll also update you on the secrets that I discover from continuing to infiltrate the "land of women".