Finding missing puzzle pieces

I think I'm slowly finding more puzzle pieces that were missing from this puzzle of working towards a healthy lifestyle.

I went to Weight Watchers yesterday after work, figuring that it was important to just go and weigh in since it had been weeks since my last weigh in. As I was driving I kept debating with myself if I really wanted to go or if maybe I would just rather wait until Saturday or Sunday. Finally I convinced myself that I only had to weigh in to get back to being active, and that I did not have to stay for the meeting. Once I was there and met the staff I decided to stick around for the meeting (still not knowing which was the meeting leader). I am SO glad that I stayed for the meeting. I really like the leader, and the regulars seem like a fun and friendly group. The last time I weighed in at this meeting there was a crazy long line and I didn't stick around for the meeting.

I really think this is going to be my new weigh in day and meeting. The leader has been doing little weekly challenges, and if you complete them you get a coupon for a box of WW snacks and then there is a drawing at the end of all the challenges for a "grand prize" of goodies. For all I know other meetings and leaders are doing this too, but she seems to be having a lot of fun with it, which makes me want to participate.

I am still a bit nervous about weighing in so much later in the day than I used to and weighing in wearing my work clothes, but I know that I can come up with similar meals and outfits to wear each week to keep those things somewhat consistent.

Right now I'm going to work on small changes with my eating to get me back to where I need/want to be. My hope is to be in much better shape by October, when I'm hoping to move into my own apartment. After that I will work on restarting an exercise routine for myself. My goal for all of this for the short term is to be at a weight that allows me to feel better about how I look in photos/dresses by next summer as I'm going to be a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding, and would like to be significantly closer to my goal weight by then. I feel that a somewhat reasonable and obtainable goal is to weigh 165 by the first week of June. That gives me 41 weeks to lose 30 pounds (based on last night's weigh in). That is an average of 0.7 pounds a week. In the past when I was losing consistently, I would lose 0.6 or 0.8 a week, so this is really a doable goal for me.

One of the mental hurdles I've had to overcome is the fear of losing daily points as my weight drops. I've been struggling to wrap my mind around the fact that because I'm at the lowest daily point target my daily points will not change until I am on maintenance or potentially after a future birthday. I only realized that this was floating around in my head over the weekend, so the concept is still sinking in, but I can feel the wheels turning in my head and helping me re-frame my mindset.