Make My Meeting Move

I'm still plugging away at my weight loss. I'm down another 1.6 pounds (that's three weeks in a row, 1.6, 1.6, 1.6... ) for a total loss of 27.2 pounds, thus far. And I'm edging closer to getting out of the 190's. I'll be happy to kiss those good bye!

So, Beth, our meeting leader, was profuse in her appreciation of her Monday Meetings yesterday.

"I wish all my meetings were like this; you guys aren't afraid to laugh. Or talk."

"Or correct your spelling!" Pipes up Al, from the back of the room. We do that, too.

She goes on to tell us that in her other meetings, she has to practically carry the whole thing herself, or enforce participation by giving people handouts to read out loud. I confess myself tempted to get her schedule and go to one of her other meetings, just to see if they're really that bad. (There's the cynical part of me that wonders if she says the same thing to all her meetings, as a sort of ego boost. We're "better" than the other meetings....)

Yesterday's theme was Actunity.

Thomas and I always sit in the front, so while we're waiting for her to finish off the weigh ins, I'm staring at the display pad.

What the HECK is Actunity? It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but I had it before Beth started up the meeting. It's a portmanteau for "Action Opportunity." We talk about Move More a LOT in our meetings. Beth was actually pretty frustrated with this meeting topic. "We just talked about activity what, three meetings ago?" she says, putting her hands on her hips. "I was talking to one of the other leaders about this and said to her 'what am I supposed to say, we all know about parking further away.'" She looks out at us. "Ok, I need some suggestions... what activities do you actually do? Does anyone actually park far away from the meeting?" More than half the meeting raised their hands.

"But," Al pipes up again, "it's only 'cause there's never any parking spaces nearby!" We laugh. It's true... there's never any good parking out in the lot. (Of course, it's also true that Thomas and I tend to walk over to the Food Lion after the meeting and back with whatever interim groceries we need to tide us over til Wednesday. Last night, tomatoes and bananas. And the popcorn seasoning that our regular grocery store doesn't carry.)

So, we discussed our activities. Again. We're not talking about going to the gym... gym rats are fine, Beth says, but a lot of people don't like to do that. We're talking about little things. Tiny, really.

She told us a story about one of her members, years ago, who was so heavy that she couldn't even stand. And how she started really small, playing basketball with her son in her wheelchair. Her son would bring her the ball, and she'd throw it. And he'd bring her the ball, and she'd throw it. And after a few months, she could stand, and throw the ball... and eventually, maybe two years later, she was actually managing to move around the court with him.

One of the ladies in our meeting takes her son to the park, and kicks a soccer ball against a wall while he's on the monkey bars and swings. Another girl dances while she's doing the housework. (Ok, I confess, I do this too... I've been known to play air guitar in the kitchen with my broom...) Al and his wife square dance. I sweep the porch. (Hey, that's hard work! And the lawn care guys are so courteous and are constantly refreshing the cruft on my porch to sweep back off!) William walks to the downstairs bathroom, while he's at work, taking 2 flights of stairs down and back. Judy does wall-pushups while waiting for her popcorn to pop.

So, what do YOU do, to Move More?