Virginia is for Walking

I just spent a lovely weekend with my mom in VA. We went for 3 walks - one around a neighborhood near where my sister lives (and be amused by all the McMansions and carefully trimmed lawns), one around Lake Fairfax and one on the W&OD trail. The picture above is from a "friends of the trail" website. It was great to be outside and among so much green for a change. I love my morning walks in NYC, but it was really great to have longer, greener trails, and some company :)

I have made a commitment to get weighed at WW this weekend, or sooner. I'm trying to find a place to get weighed before I go. I hate to say it, and you all know I never say anything negative about WW, but sometimes the receptionists aren't the most supportive people when you are up - especially, I assume because this hasn't happened before, if you are up above your goal weight when you have already been at lifetime. If I am above my goal weight, does that mean I have to rejoin again, or can I just keep coming and getting weighed? I really don't know how much I've gained. I'll let you know! (Full disclosure!) I even found my old WW meeting leader on Facebook. I had had his email address and then found him on the site. And I told him I was going to a meeting, so now I have to!

Ohhh! Good news! I got my consent forms from the National Weight Control Registry last week! You are supposed to provide proof of your weight loss in addition to signing all the consent forms to be in the study (and, separately, agree to have reporters call you for interviews). You can either send in photos documenting your weight loss, a contact like a doctor or WW meeting leader, or documentation like our books that record our weekly weights at WW. I'm going to opt for the last option, since it is the most accurate, comprehensive and doesn't require any work by anyone else. (And, I'm not so sure I want to just let them have photos of me if I can't control who they send them to. I'm all for you guys seeing my before and after shots, but I don't want to get surprised if my photo is on the NBC Nightly News without my knowledge first :) So, being in the study means that you are surveyed about your eating and exercise and lifestyle habits once a year for 5 years. I'll let you know what the surveys are like once I get it! You guys should totally look into this and do it with me!