Saboteurs can be external and internal

TOPS Chapter 9319 El Dorado Springs met in The Firefly Services building, on Thursday, May 8, for their regular weigh-in and meeting.

Our leader, Warren called the meeting to order, Carol led us in singing “We’ll Lose Weight.”

Warren led us in our TOPS and KOPS Pledges, and Roll Call. Marilyn led us in some exercise routines.

Sixteen members weighed in today. We had a gain of 3.0 and a loss of 8.2 giving us a net loss of 5.2 pounds! Our Best Loser was Pam with a loss of 2.8, congratulations, Pam.

Contest: Pat cleared up some confusion on this; the contest started with your April 28 weight, so starting with last week’s weigh-in you should record L or G on the spreadsheet she gave out.

Linda H caught up on some awards from April: We drew for free dues and Juanita was the winner for April. Rachael received her 500 miles walked certificate,

Pam received her back in black with perfect attendance certificate

Juanita received her back in black with perfect attendance certificate, her 45-pound loss certificate and her KOPS certificate and charm, and her 500 miles walked certificate. Congratulations Juanita and welcome to KOPS.

Linda H had the program today, she spoke on “Seven Saboteurs.”

Saboteurs can be both external and internal-from our surrounding environment to our feelings, and everywhere in between.

Saboteur #1: Poor Pitiful me…. Everyone’s been there “it’s not fair, she can eat anything she wants and not gain, I can’t”. Linda had members share thoughts of self-pity they have experienced.

#2 Eating cues: They are defined as external or emotional triggers that give us the urge to eat. What are your eating cues? Linda asked us to identify at least one eating cue. Perhaps a television advertisement for a certain food?

#3. Other People; sometimes our friends and relatives mean well but sometimes comment on your weight loss like “I miss the old you.” What can we do when this happens?

#4. The Inner Rebel: Many of us have the inner rebel in the form of the voice in our head “I’ve already blown it for the day!”. Linda asked us to write down this phrase “Go ahead and eat this if you want, but this is how you will feel” think about the last time you regretted eating something you knew you shouldn’t have.

#5 Entitlement: Often we think “I’m tired, I worked hard all day, and I deserve this high calorie treat, I earned it, right? Ask yourself: Will this food ultimately make me feel better?”

#6. Just A Bite: Sometimes just a bite of something can satisfy but often just one bite turns into two then three and more. It has been suggested the first bite is the most pleasurable.

#7. I’ll start first thing tomorrow” This does not mean you are allowed to indulge one last time! Think of the quote from Thomas Merton- “This Day shall never come again.” Remember, take one day at a time.

Thank you, Linda for a Great Program!

Marble Game: Only $3.50 in the pot as we had a winner last week. Pam won the right to draw but did not get the winning one!

With no other business we closed with our motto “IF IT IS TO BE IT IS UP TO ME”