There is no "I" in Team! Recovering from my meltdown!

Tuesdays are always hard for me. The battery in my scale has been broken since the Challenge began and I refused to replace it, at least until last night! So in we go, we all have been doing a great job sticking to the plan and getting out workouts in so this should be a no brainer right? WRONG! How about last night, after I was all excited about hearing the word that Potomac River Running was able to secure Heart Rate Monitors for everyone valued at $180, I go to the weigh in with the gang all gung ho waiting to hear that I hit the 15 lb mark. NOT SO! Yup, that's what I said NOT SO! And to make matters worse, I go through the same weigh in ritual that I do every week, only this time our wonderful and beautiful Gazette reporter/photographer, Anath,  is there to report on our progress and I have NONE to report! When I got on the scale and saw the number I was excited, at first...but then I realized I was thinking about the numbers that are reported in the paper (which is are actually a week behind). In actuality, I had gained 2oz since our last weigh in (which to me felt like a million), while everyone else on the team had reduced between .4oz-6.5lbs! What the heck! I felt like I let the entire team and myself down! Funny part was I could believe how upset I was.

If you would have told me that I gained 2oz two months ago it wouldn't have even phased me. Oh what a difference a few weeks and accountability to others makes. The fact that I had kicked up my workout routine to 6 days that week and added a rigorous resistance training schedule 3 times made 2oz hit me like a brick. So I pouted, emailed my team apologizing, treated my family horribly (even though my daughter kept telling me I looked great) and finally went to bed feeling like a loser, but in the other sense of the word. 

It wasn't until this morning that I realized just how wonderful being part of this amazing team is! I got up to encouraging messages and support. I realized at that moment that it there is no "I" in team. They all made me feel like it didn't even matter. Even Laura, our Medifast Coach, sent a humours but serious message to get me right back on track mentally and emotionally and keep me moving forward.

They are right, we are in this together, as a TEAM! The Green Team, 5 member lean machines!

So what have I learned in all of this? Just because I have spent the majority of my life going it alone and having to do things for myself with little or no support, I am not in this one alone! I'm learning to love and appreciate others being there for me and welcoming it when it happens. For once, someone cares enough to have my best interest at heart and wants me to feel good on the inside more so than for how I look on the outside. I've learned that what you think people are perceiving about you is probably far from being accurate. In fact, when you allow yourself the opportunity to let someone into the places that you've guarded for so long to protect yourself from the all so familiar hurt and pain, you open yourself up to beginning to heal and experience a sense of liberating freedom.

Thankfully is doesn't just have to be about me and what I can and cannot do. I'm at a better place than I was four weeks ago because I have the encouragement and support of others. 

How motivating it is! This morning I drove into work with a smile on my face, ready to take on whatever the day would bring. And guess what? When I got into the office the first words I heard were, "Oh my goodness, you look great! You are getting sooo skinny. You are going to have to give me your secret." All I could say was thank you and think to myself, wait till I tell my team!