Last week I came clean and discussed my struggles with my weight. While I don’t intend for this to become a weight loss blog per se, I am going to use it to document my journey and all the ups and downs along the way. And this week there were ups. I gained 0.8 pounds at my weigh-in this week and I was dismayed to say the least. I wanted to reach for the nearest box of Tagalongs or Samoas that I have thus far resisted because, fuck it, if I’m gonna gain, I at least want a reason! My meeting coach did a good job of talking me down, and I sat down for the meeting frustrated and vowing to go even lower on my points this week.

But the thing with Weight Watchers is, they stress that life is a journey and you could be doing everything right and you still gain. But that doesn’t mean that the next week you won’t lose and be right back on the path to a healthy weight. This week was a week where they focused on setbacks—talk about timely! The testimonies of the other members had me convinced that I’m doing the right thing. I should continue to live my life, watch my points, exercise, and the weight will indeed come off. My body is just calibrating.

And I got to thinking about how this applies in other areas of my life as well. Few know this, but Adam and I are trying to buy a house. We are at the beginning of the process, but we’ve been prequalified and have been working with a real estate agent. Our current 3 bedroom 1 bath mobile home isn’t cutting it, as Paisley and Rhett are sharing a room. I have been informed many times by both of them that it is cruel and unusual punishment to make Rhett share a room with his sister, but that’s the space we have right now and we are working with it.

So back to how Weight Watchers ties in….Adam and I have been doing everything right lately with regards to increasing our credit scores, mine post-divorce fallout and his post 20-something decisions–and getting ready for home ownership. The other day we found a foreclosure that was in relatively good shape as far as foreclosures go, and we had visions of fixing it up and making it our own. The best part? It had 5 bedrooms and was just over $100K. Perfect. Unfortunately after further research, we discovered that the government was not accepting FHA loans, the type of loan Adam and I qualified for. So the house was not even a possibility. And just as quick as we had visions of painted walls and family gathered in the kitchen, we were left back at square one, frustrated and discouraged. We have been doing everything right and still we lose.

Our despair didn’t last long, as it is spring in Cincinnati and that’s when we Ohioans wake from our winter slumber and decide to put our houses on the market as jobs change or families grow. We are looking at another house tomorrow about which we are very hopeful, but if that one doesn’t work out, we know it’s a journey….a process. And as long as we stay the course, we can only come out winners in the end.

I love you all, some more than others.