Scale Whores Anonymous ~ Lap BAND GROUPIE

ABOUT 'SCALE WHORES ANONYMOUS'

- INCEPTION:
In February of 2009 I admitted in my blog (while it was on LBT) that I was Scale Whore and that I liked weighing myself every day...that I found it helpful, and well...downright motivating (gain or lose). I found that I had company...LOTS of company...thus was the spark that was the beginning of 'Scale Whores Anonymous'.

- BYOS:

o Bring Your Own Scale to all meetings (but then I'm sure you drive around with it in your car or mega purse at all times anyway).

- OUR CREED:

o First, place your right foot on your scale, then recite the Creed with me.

o I am a Scale Whore. I wear this title with pride. Keeping track of my weight and use of a scale is an important tool in my journey toward or at a healthy weight. I am only one of many others like me and together we are a group. Although our journeys and choices may be different, we are bonded together by the common strategy of keeping a careful eye on our weight. I will share freely and will educate others on my strategies so that others may learn from my experiences. I will accept, respect and support my fellow Scale Whores regardless of their choices and alternate strategies without passing judgment, regardless of my personal views. I will unite with this group to defend against the prejudices and intolerance of others in order to preserve the support and accepting atmosphere of this group. I am here to teach and to learn, to find support and give it, so that I can more successfully reach or maintain a healthy weight.

- REVIEW OF QUALIFICATIONS FOR JOINING SWA:

o Join Us!!! What?!! You don’t know if you qualify as a Scale Whore (or 'Gigolo'...the 'G' is silent in our title, but we all know it's there...like a deadly fart...not that you're like a fart men...but don't guys like farts...I'll just stop now and say you're in)? Well, here are the qualifications for becoming a member. You only need to say ‘Yes’ to last one* and ‘Yes’ to any one other item listed below, and you’re in:

o Do you enjoy getting on your scale often (OK, maybe ‘enjoy’ isn’t the right word when getting on a scale)? This can be anywhere between at the Doctors to every hour. More often than that and you just need help and you’re too afflicted even for us (getting on and off 3 times in a row to average doesn’t count as too much, as any Scale Whore can tell you, this counts as 'one').

o Do you find yourself trying to wear (or naked) basically the same thing every time you weigh yourself (let's not even get started on bathroom habits)?

o Do you weigh yourself, or your clothing/shoes before you go to the doctor so you can figure your exact weight and if your scale matches your doctors (and then almost pee yourself holding it until you get home and on the scale)?

o Do you somehow chart or spreadsheet your weight (or track it on your bathroom mirror)?

o Do you try to somehow predict what your weight will be in the future? Those with magic crystal balls need not apply (that’s cheating and considered an unfair advantage…the rest of us are at the mercy of the Weight Loss Gods who take great pleasure in messing with our predictions daily).

o *Do you NOT want help for any of the above? Meaning you’re secretly OK with the fact that you’re a Scale Whore (so pretty much anyone who doesn’t want help or doesn’t think this is an affliction)? I'm going to say this one more time...We're not here to help you stop weighing...We're all about weighing yourself MORE, not less, so please join another 12 step group if you think weighing is a problem...move along (and you must be missing the WL gene).

Then come out of the closet (or bathroom) and join us!

- SWA WL AWARDS:

o At each biannual meeting, awards are now given out for WL (you'll need to get out your spreadsheets or mirrors and do some high math). Please note that award pounds have been adjusted. Calculate how much you've lost in the last 6 months (I'm sorry I flunked 'metric', I'm blonde...you'll have to do the conversion). Here are the awards you can claim/post/pin to your shirt and medal/trophy winners are also listed (send me any updates with your name/link if you want it listed...at ANY time).

---Bronze to members having lost 0-29 pounds/6 mo.; congrats, you've lost weight (because no one goes home empty handed) and those losing more than 26 pounds have lost more than the 1 pound minimum per week the docs promise!
* Sally at 'Ramblings From The Other Side' http://myspats.blogspot.com/
* Sandy Lee at 'The Weight Loss Rollercoaster' http://rollercoasterdieting.blogspot.com/
* Tracy Z at 'One Foodie's Band Quest' http://bandstertracy.blogspot.com/
* Kristin at 'Catchy Title Here' http://catchytitlehere-elise.blogspot.com/
* Lori/LDSwims at 'A Journey to Embrace' http://ldswims-journeytoembrace.blogspot.com/
* Jennifer at 'Jen's Lap Band Journey' http://jenslapbandjourney.blogspot.com/
* Rebekah at 'The Losing Battle' http://theloosingbattle.blogspot.com/
* Band Groupie at 'The Sweet Spot' http://bandgroupiethesweetspot.blogspot.com/

---Silver to members having lost at least 29-39 pounds/6 mo.; that's about 1.5 pounds/week...way to go!
* Gilly at 'something something something Fat Chick' http://somethingsomethingsomethingfatchick.blogspot.com/

---Gold to members having lost at least 40 pounds/6 mo.; that's about 2 pounds/week...awesome...we all bow down before you (just hum your national anthem as you collect your gold medal please). Anyone, Anyone? OK, bust out the karaoke machine and then she'll come forward!
* Grizzlyrider

---A special award, the SWA Goal Trophy, will now be given to anyone at their goal who has maintained their goal weight for the past 6 months.
* Sally Hamilton at "Sally's yourney with lapband surgery" http://sallyslapbandjourney.blogspot.com/

PAST CHALLENGES

Participants/Whores: Challenge Pic (Yes, there's one for our Gigolos too!)