"5 or 50" Changing Lives

Our NEW poster

Have you ever thought of an idea and without much forethought -- just went for it? Well, I have. Three months ago, an idea came to mind. An idea to start a women's group to support, encourage, and motivate.

After years of blogging about weight, health and fitness -- I've talked to a number of women.  Sadly, there seems to be the same common issues among us. Often times, women will come to me for advice, support and I'll exchange a few words with them on the blog, FB, at an event, maybe back and forth via email, but that would be the extent of our dialogue. I started feeling like there was more that I could do to help. More that I wanted to do to help. It's one thing to hear from a doctor, nutritionist, or trainer, but it's entirely different to hear from someone who lives it every day.  And so I created "5 or 50" Women's Sustainable Weight Loss and Healthy Lifestyle Group so the dialogues could continue. So we could share, grow, support, encourage, inspire, and motivate one another. So we could cast out negative self image, look beyond physical attributes, and stop obsessing over our weight and every bite we put in our mouths.

Last night, we held our third meeting, had our second guest speaker, welcomed five newcomers, and had a nice time sharing our "Outside of the Box" changes we've been making. At our August meeting I asked the ladies to think of things they could do differently that they would normally not do "Outside" of their comfort zone.  It warmed my heart to go around the room and hear the ladies comments. Here's a few of them:

"I've started walking in the evenings even on the nights I don't feel like it." ~Maria
"I volunteered to be the President of TOPS. I would never have done that before, but something just came over me." ~Jaleit
"I had my hair cut and colored." ~Jennifer
" I mowed my lawn. I wanted to see if I still could." ~ Carol
"I really have been trying to eat less packaged food. I cook at home a lot more." ~Toni

And then this morning, I received this FB message from Debbie (it just about killed me over): " I have so much new information from last night! Can't wait to check out the books mentioned and the Costco 21 spice idea."

My heart is full. It's such a beautiful feeling to know that I'm creating an environment for women to share, bond and realize their potential. My short sighted idea is working, I'm helping change lives.

Read the blog that started it all: "5 or 50"

Sue sharing her story -- she's lost 100+lbs.

Debbie sharing her juicing recipe/tips

The ladies