Tricia Meyer

Affiliate Marketer, Blogger, and Consultant

My Old Friend Weight Watchers

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If you’ve seen pictures of me over the last few years, you know that I struggle with my weight. In fact, I’ve struggled with it since I went away to college. In law school I joined Weight Watchers for the first time. Over the years, I experimented with pills (all legal…but still bad ideas!) and lots of different diets. When it came down to it, I learned to love Weight Watchers. It’s kind of like a challenge to me to arrange the puzzle pieces every day…how do I make the points fit and still eat what I love?

Inspired by Shawn Collins and his Fatblogging, I’m going to start posting a little about my trials and tribulations. I will NOT be disclosing my weight though. It’s just too personal for me.

I’ve belonged to the WW online program for years. Maybe 6? Even when I fall off the wagon, I keep my subscription. I know that it is always waiting for me and I have to be accountable and go back and weigh in again. Since I am on the computer all day anyway, it’s convenient for me to use the online tracking.

I had done a great job of getting in shape before our Sunshine Rewards cruise last October. It was the best that I had felt in years. But then the holidays came and I gained about 7 pounds. I started training to run the mini marathon and stopped counting points. I thought the running alone would keep me in shape. Wrong! I gained another 5 pounds! So I found myself up 12 pounds from the fall. Disappointing for sure. But I’m back on the points and the tracking and know that I’ll turn things around by varying my exercise routine and making better food choices.

Have some Weight Watchers tips and tricks? Leave a comment. Over the coming weeks, I’ll post some of my own. First tip? Record as soon as you eat. In fact, if you know what you are having for lunch, record it before you even eat it so you can see how many points it is going to be. You’ll be less likely to get a second helping or dessert if you already have committed to the points in your tracker.

The Return from Vacation

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I think no matter what your job is, returning from vacation is difficult. But when you are in affiliate marketing, it can be brutal. Even having two employees continuing to work last week, I came back to such a mess! Merchants are lowering commission rates and cookie times (no more promoting a certain sporting goods store for me!). The affiliate tax issue is escalating. My Helping Moms Connect site hasn’t had a new post in weeks. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I tried to get organized before I left for vacation. But between packing for the family, cleaning up the house, and finishing up some PTO duties, I didn’t get very far with my affiliate work. Sure, my email was caught up and I sent out a ton of Disney Gift Cards. But when I already feel like I am never caught up, I’m feeling even worse right now.

Everyone always jokes that they need a vacation when they return from vacation. I just need a Fairy Godmother who can magically make the work disappear. Or maybe Seven Dwarfs who can do the work for me. A broom (or brooms) that will clean up the house by themselves (to the tune of classical music). I guess you can tell where I spent my vacation!

Komen Indianapolis Race for the Cure

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The first year that I was married, my husband’s company was getting together a group of people to walk the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Indianapolis in honor of the company attorney, who at the time was battling breast cancer. It was my first experience with the race and I just kind of faded into the crowd. A few years later I was working with two women who were fighting breast cancer and remembered the walk years prior. I decided to get a couple of friends together and take it seriously. I raised a little money and dedicated it to my two grandmothers and my friends from work.

As the years went on, Race for the Cure became more and more important to me. I started actually training for it and attempted to run it. After that, I involved my business, Sunshine Rewards, in the fundraising. I went from walking the race to running it to using it (this year) as practice for running a mini marathon. I went from raising no money to asking a few friends to donate to matching my members’ SR contributions.

I’m not asking you for money, but I’m asking you to get involved in some way. Check out my Race Page and get some education about breast cancer. Tell a friend about it, too. Find a race in your area and get together some friends to walk. Or you could always donate. 🙂

That Spring Feeling

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The other day my daughter mentioned that it “felt like Hilton Head outside.” That made absolutely no sense to me, seeing as how we live in Indianapolis. But then I got to thinking about it, and she was right. This time last year, we were in Hilton Head for Spring Break. Warm days and cool evenings. The smells of Spring waking up the plants and flowers. It was that “Spring feeling.” And now it has arrived again!

I live in the midwest for many reasons, but one of the most important is that I love the seasons here. Every time a new season arrives, I think it is my favorite of the four. Not surprisingly, I’m pretty certain today that Spring is my favorite season. The smells and sounds associated with Spring are energizing. After not hearing the birds all winter, the sound of them chirping in the trees contents me while I am walking. The smell of fresh grass and new flowers has a clean feeling to it. Why else would the detergent companies all have detergents and fabric softeners that supposedly smell like Spring??

Spring is a time for rebirth…like a second chance or starting something new. And getting a second chance or starting something new are always wonderful feelings to me.

St. Patrick’s Day Reminds of Lack of Heritage

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It’s St. Patrick’s Day today, which is a fun day in my family. With our minor Irish background (my grandmother on my mother’s side was born Emma Lou O’Malley), we always take St. Patrick’s Day seriously. This year it is green shirts for everyone (with cute sayings), Shepherd’s Pie, and green fluff for dessert. And yet, it feels like something is missing.

What is missing for me is that my kids do not really even know what St. Patrick’s Day is about. They don’t know all of the Irish songs that I learned from my grandmother when I was a kid. They don’t know anything about their true heritage. In all honesty, they are really only 1/8 Irish. But I don’ t even know for sure what the other 7/8 of them is. So with their blue eyes and fair skin, we just go with “Irish.”

It’s sad to me that my kids do not truly have a “heritage.” They (as well as my husband and I) are truly “mutts” when it comes to ancestry. No one in either of our families celebrates anything related to the countries from which our ancestors came. In part that’s our own fault. In part, it’s just the way each generation passes and melts into another.

On the plus side, we love to celebrate every holiday that comes along. So even if I weren’t 1/4 Irish, I would still be wearing my “Kiss My Irish” shirt today and trying to find fun Irish foods. I don’t think anyone in my family even speaks Spanish and yet we will have margaritas and tacos on Cinco de Mayo. And don’t get me started on Oktoberfest…