Weighty Matters

Okay: when I was in 7th and 8th grade and Thriller was the hot LP, I liked Michael Jackson. By the time Bad came out, I was in college, and liking Michael Jackson was not so cool. At the same time, I was pretty involved with my service fraternity, and idealism ran through me like ExLax through a widow woman (don't ask, it's a long story but a damn funny visual). And "Man in the Mirror" was a good song to remind me that as much as I wanted to change the world, the first place to start was with myself. And so here I am .... dare I say it? twenty-three years later (23??? REALLY?) and the song is still applicable. Tonight in our meeting, we spoke about the buddy system .... and I mentioned that while I don't want a drill-sergeant "enforcer" I do need someone who will be honest enough with me to tell me when I am slacking, when I am hiding behind an excuse, who'll give me the real deal and love me anyway...... and someone who feels safe enough with me t...

"The chocolate was medicinal in purpose and for the good of all society, as it kept me from killing people. Prison orange isn't my color, but dark chocolate is." Truer words were never spoken. Today was one of those days when everyone and every situation needed my urgent utmost attention .... and I am sorry, there is only one me and only so much to give. Holy schmolies. I started the new hormone therapy regimen today. I am hoping it works and helps my overall health (as well as assisting in getting things regulated with me!). And I met with the surgeon regarding the cyst -- appointment set and in less than a month, I shall no longer be "EYE-gor!" or Quasimodo. And thank God for a great workout tonight...... it was AWESOME! I was exhausted when it was over but worn out in the good way. I came home and made Elvis Oatmeal and an egg-beater-n-cheese wrap ..... What is Elvis Oatmeal, you ask?...... 1 cup plain instant oatmeal, cooked 2 Tbsp chocolate PB2 half a b...

There is a post on this morning's PostSecret that really touched a chord in me: Notice Me I had to respond -- so here is the response I sent over to PostSecret: I used to fear losing the weight I needed to (over 200 lbs) because I thought it would negatively affect my singing performance. Was I ever wrong - my voice and everything about my singing is much improved. But aside from all that, I would say do it for yourself. Seeing myself in the mirror and loving who I am now is a far better gift. And when you love yourself and treat yourself as you deserve, Mr. Right will notice and come your way. Validate yourself, don't rely on someone else. I really did think that my vocal performance would suffer. I know, crazy isn't it? I somehow thought I would lose something of my strength if I lost my Mama Cass body. (And as an aside for the record, Mama Cass was a gorgeous person, gone too soon, and I weighed LOTS more than her at my peak weight. But I still laugh every time my ...

Last night, I had a training session for Weight Watchers, and on the drive home, I was thinking about some of what we had gone over. A few weeks ago, I did a post on the biggest change in me since losing the weight, and getting healthier. But last night I realized that even this wasn't as accurate an answer as it could have been. But I found a phrase that describes it perfectly: I have gone from 'ignorance is bliss' to 'knowledge is power'... This, my friends, is what has transpired in my life. With my health, my happiness, the old phrase of "what I don't know won't hurt me" no longer works. It's "let me find out and go from there." Once again, I am digging for answers -- not for saying "Oh I can't because of...." but to say, "Okay, so there's (this) and so here's what I have to do to compensate." I have learned of some interesting medical background in my family, and wondered if it plays into some of ...

(of sorts) I realized a couple of weeks ago that I've been working our Saturday morning meetings for over a year now. In that year, we changed locations, merged with another meeting or two, and even changed leaders twice. And in reflecting on our changes, one very sad fact leapt out at me: I can only think of 3-4 people from that original meeting who are still attending our Saturday meetings -- and even then, it's sporadic. I really, really hope that they are simply attending another meeting date or time -- and that they haven't given up on themselves. I admit: I get a little sad, a little angry, a little bewildered .... I can understand when money or time or another circumstance really is a factor. I have no problem with that. And I know how a seemingly temporary or short-term situation can so easily get us off track. The problem lies in when it becomes a handy excuse for not getting back on track. For example, I know someone who is still using an incident from 2001 as a ...

(....is not just a Donna Summer song) I just signed up for the Little River Bridge Run/Walk in less than 2 weeks (the 5K portion). Luckily it's an evening race.... gasp, don't get many of those, so this time I don't even have to find a sub for work. I guess it's official: I'm one of those crazy competitive ... um, athlete? types. It's a tag that I don't often -- or lightly -- toss around: ATHLETE. I was a klutzy kid, always falling head over feet and elbows over rear ends. If you had a betting pool on who'd suffer the first "game injury" I'd be an almost-sure-thing. Even now, I cannot wrap my brain around "me" and "athlete" in the same room, let alone the same sentence, or the same space. I laughed at the doctor's office when the nurse told me my pulse rate was low enough that they called it "athlete's rate." Maybe I shouldn't have laughed after all. So give me a sec while I do a happy dance and a Y...

Old man in restroom: "What are you doing?" Fletcher Reade (Jim Carrey): "Do you mind? I'm kicking my own @$$!!!" (from the beating-himself-up-in-the-bathroom scene in Liar Liar) For the first time in forever, I have managed to actually get more than one workout in within a 7-day span! I'm aiming for a 3rd if I can get it! :D And let me tell you, this new workout is kicking my butt six ways to Sunday and I'm loving it. Good Lord, I am exhausted during it and shortly after it's over, but it's a great workout! And it tied in so well with David Kirchhoff's Man Meets Scale blog post today.... it's about competition and how that sometimes is a motivating factor in our workouts or weight loss. For me, it is. Don't know why, but as much as I appreciate teamwork, for workouts I have to go it alone. I need the solitude and yet I need people around me when I work out -- not as "buddies" but as benchmarks. Saturday, I was pretty much t...

As part of National Nutrition Month, one of the items that is suggested is to eat a variety of foods from a wide variety of colors. That's the nice thing about healthy eating -- you can have a very artistic plate! I was thinking about my own day today and wondering just how well I did myself..... Breakfast: brown, yellow, blue, white (multigrain cereal, banana, blueberries, milk... and coffee!) Snack: purple (grapes) Lunch: brown, red, green, orange, white-ish, pink (a turkey stew with black beans and tomatoes, a huge salad with orange pepper strips and mushrooms, and a whole grapefruit) Snack: white (popcorn) Dinner: brown, yellow, red, green (a lovely homemade cream of mushroom soup, half of a veggie frittata with red peppers, broccoli, tomato, mushroom and cheese, and an apple) Pre-bed snack: orange, blue (vanilla-mango-blueberry smoothie). Yeah, I pretty well hit the rainbow on that one! And the amazing thing is that it didn't take all that much effort to put it together......

In the meantime, while I'm formulating my next post, you can learn more about healthy, nutritious, delicious eating ideas, activities, etc. at this website..... National Nutrition Month