Lose For Good

I finally reached my goal of 20 lbs. lost since London was born a year ago! I started to head out to Weight Watchers meetings a few months after London was born, and I always look forward to going every Saturday morning. It's always such a great way to connect to others and to recharge for the week ahead. It's also a great way to be accountable to something outside of myself to help me reach my goals. I still have about 4 lbs to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight, but I feel so darn happy with how far I've already come. I know the key to my success is the fact that I'm not in any rush!

To top the momentum of reaching my exciting goal, this past week's meeting discussion was about a new program called Lose For Good. As Connie, our Team Leader began sharing the details, I became more and more excited about ways to get involved. The two major partners involved in the program are: Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. The mission of these two organizations is to eliminate hunger by tackling the underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition in this country. Share Our Strength is committed to making sure that no child goes hungry, and that every child receives the nutrition they need. As a mom, and having a background as a nutritionist, I feel compelled to make a difference to help in any way I can locally and globally. As I sat brainstorming on ways I might be able to make difference, I thought what better way then to start through this blog? So, from 9/15/09 - 10/15/09, I will be donating 10% of all sales made from my igottknits Au Petit Paris Collection to Action Against Hunger.

Connie posed this closing question to the group: "Now that you know a little about Lose For Good, how do you think it will help your weight loss goals?" At first, I couldn't really think of any strong connection to my own weight loss goals and how to directly fight national hunger without actually giving away my food. But then as I was driving home from the meeting, my mind started to fill with all kinds of inspiring connections. The first overwhelming thought I had was how blessed I am with being able to put food on the table for myself and my family. Also, it's a blessing to have the ability to prepare meals that are not only nutritionally sound, but also delicious. Helping others in need also places the emphasis on something outside of myself, instead of obsessing about reaching my own goals, or getting caught up in my own "head" so to speak.

I know right in my backyard there are children and families going hungry. Sadly, I'm reminded of it every day when I see people holding up "hungry" signs on the major intersections that I pass here in St. Pete quite often. I always think to myself- "But what can I do...aren't we all trying to keep it together with the way things are in the world today?" But just one day at a soup kitchen, helping at a shelter, or giving away a few cans of food is helping someone in a tremendous way. Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sales are held around the country, and when you read some of the inspiring stores, you may just want to have your own bake too! Check their stories out here. You can hold your bake sale just about anywhere. Check out some ideas here. I'm feeling so inspired, I might just hold my own sale too!

So if we all take that first little step, together, they will all add up to a heck of a lot of steps to help fight this serious problem with hunger in our very own backyard. It's not hard to do, and we can ALL make a difference!