Oh, what a beautiful sight! I was so excited this morning that I did something I don’t normally do — I jumped on my home scale before my Weight Watchers meeting. I just had to know if I landed in Onederland.

Since July I’ve set my sites on Onederland – that wonderful mythical place that all of us fatties dream about. I haven’t seen Onederland for nearly 25 years.

Today felt like Christmas. I woke up excited and I couldn’t wait for my Weight Watchers meeting. I don’t use my home scale that often, but this morning I couldn’t help myself. And sure enough, I finally reached the promise land – “Under 200 lbs.”

I ran down stairs and told my husband, who gave me a big hug and wisely told me to get to my meeting and lock it in before I drink or eat anything. Smart man.

Celebrate Success, But Don’t Lose Site Of The Ultimate Goal
When I stepped on the home scale this morning and saw the 198.5, I ran for my iPhone, got back on the scale and took a picture before leaping for joy. Imagine my surprise when I got to Weight Watchers and saw I was really at 198.2 lbs. — that extra trip to the bathroom helped a lot!

Why I don’t weigh myself at home: Weight Watchers had me down 0.6 pounds more than I thought. Sweet!

But about 20 minutes into my WW meeting, I set my next 2 goals:

1. Not getting evicted from Onederland during the holidays.
2. Hitting 190 lbs. by the end of the year (yes, I’m shooting for a loss over the holidays).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about reaching Onederland…it’s a huge milestone. I just immediately set my sights on some new short-term goals. You see, I just can’t revel in my success very long because I know I have 60 more pounds to lose. Oh, but I’m gonna celebrate — I’m buying some new winter workout gear today.

The truth is, what got me to Onederland won’t get me to my ultimate goal. After every milestone achieved, it’s important to recalibrate your strategy. My body gets use to what I’m doing, so I need to shake things up. Part of that is re-evaluating how much I need to eat in a day (I weigh less, so I should eat less, right?).

Also I need to secure my place in Onederland. I mean, a +2 lbs. gain puts me back into the 200 club. With Thanksgiving just 2 weeks away, it’s very easy for that to happen without a game plan.

Finally I need to watch out for diet fatigue. After hitting major milestones, I’ve noticed that boredom (and hubris) sets in. I start thinking I know what I’m doing so I don’t need to weigh food or log what I eat. Lazy mouse takes over and I get more careless with my good healthy eating habits. Not this time.

I have to keep pushing myself forward. So yes, I will celebrate today, but my eyes must stay firmly fixed on the prize. To reach my weight goal, I need to:

• Be more vigilant with food
• Forgive myself – I will screw up from time to time
• Eat out less
• Keep the wine consumption in check (sigh!)
• Rev up my strength training
• Track and measure my food
• Re-enforce good eating habits

All of these are doable, as are those last 60 lbs!