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

There is a post coming, I promise. I have been busy this weekend, but not the harried-and-hurried usual kind of busy for me. So hang tight!

If you don't know who Margaret O'Brien is, she was a child actress of the early 1940s. She appears as "Tootie Smith" in one of my favorite movies, Meet Me In St. Louis . It's a very charming film taking a nostalgic look at a family in 1903, living in St. Louis as preparations swirl around them for the 1904 World's Fair. One of the scenes from the "Fall" vignette features young Margaret telling her older sister (Judy Garland) that their neighbor -- the boy next door for whom she carries a serious torch -- tried to kill her. It's the weak, sad little voice, "It was John Truett. He tried to KILL me." (Later on, she reveals that it was all part of a scheme that she concocted to try to get a trolley car to derail... he actually pulled her to safety. Long story - watch the movie). About 3:00 this afternoon, I was doing a MEAN impression of young Margaret O'Brien.... only it would have been, "It was Dave. Dave my trainer. He tried to ...

This is yet another week when exercise simply hasn't happened. It's all on me, and I admit it. I could have stopped by the gym on Wednesday night -- in fact, had the bag in the car -- but I was just too tired, and I mean truly tired. As in, head was bobbing at my desk, and all I wanted to do was get home and rest. I do not rest enough. I know this. I don't know how to fit it into my day, short of taking sleeping pills to knock myself out at 9:30 and trying to rewire my body to actually fall asleep before 11:00 (good luck breaking a lifetime of being an late-evening owl). Getting up later than 5:00 AM isn't an option for getting to work on time; and I'll be danged if I get up any earlier than 5:00 to fit in a workout. Like I said, I don't sleep enough as it is. So with that in mind, I am 90% there at letting my current gym membership go, and finding a gym or workout closer to work. I figure at the least, I can try to get it in on my lunch hour (if it's close ...

First, the confession: This past Wednesday was the first day I'd hit the gym in nearly 3 weeks. I have had some serious changes to my schedule over the last couple of weeks, and now I am trying to decide my options. I am meeting with my trainer anyway next week to change my weights routine, and I am going to talk to him about some other changes. I need to work on my cardio, and I've let it go at the expense of the resistance training. As much as I really do enjoy the elliptical, if I do only that for cardio, I am going to be bored and disappointed. So I am considering Tae Kwon Do or one of those new kickbox/cardio studios that have opened up around here. My other idea is to find a Zumba class -- I have the DVD and I'd like to get in on a class just to see if it's more fun that way. I'm not usually the class type.... There are some exercisers who have to have the social interaction; to me, it's a distraction. I'm not there to make friends and influence people...

About halfway through my weight loss journey, I began to be asked a question, which I am still occasionally asked..... the basic gist of it is: "So how have you changed?" And for years, my stock response has been that I haven't really changed; that the essential me is the same, only improved; that I'm simply better than I was before. I've come to discover in the last few weeks that this is not really true. The essential me has changed. The core me is different. All in a good way, of course, but there is a huge paradigm shift in me. How? Here's an example: ten years ago, if you had asked me to go on a ski weekend, I could not have immediately said yes. Or if I had, I would have been all, "GREAT! I will be happy to be the hostess back at the lodge while y'all are out on the slopes!" Because let's face it, they don't make ski clothes in certain sizes. Would I need heavy-duty skis to support my weight? And if I could do it, would I be needing...

Some days, we all need a little inspiration. If you need it, please use and succeed!! When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest if you must, but don't you quit . Life is strange with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a fellow turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out. Don't give up though the pace seems slow You may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor's cup; And he learned too late when the night came down, How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out - The silver tint in the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It might be near when it seems afar; So stick to...

Winter definitely showed up this week! On Sunday, after I left a special Weight Watchers event, the sky was graying and it turned way colder. I fell asleep on Sunday night and woke up to 5 inches of snow on the ground. Okay, for South Carolina, that's HUGE. We got somewhere around 7-8" of the white stuff before it all wrapped up during the night on Monday. On Monday, my office was closed and I worked from home. No one else was able to go into work either... but they made it over to Domino's. And so I took a few of my weekly PointsPlus allowance and ate pizza with it. Hoo boy, it was delicious but a treat that I will enjoy occasionally. I got a little poofy (heh heh heh), but drank plenty of water the next couple of days to make up for it. I didn't get in any exercise like I had wanted -- even my plan to use DVD's was an epic "fail" because the DVD player doesn't work with the HDTV (at least until the correct cable can be obtained and hooked up). Jump...

Yesterday was one of the last days before my deadline for turning in my monthly weigh-in. Let me tell you, all this week, I was sweating it. Not only was I trying to get rid of the Christmas Creep and the New Year Nibbles, I had attended a "child shower" for a friend who is a newly adoptive mom to a toddler -- and let me tell you, we had a spread! I was awfully afraid it might just spread on to my backside. But I got back on the exercise track this week, drank more water, made sure I did everything within my control to stay on plan .... and it worked! I was within range!! This week I have really had the opportunity to examine just what it is about PointsPlus that I am enjoying so much. And honestly, I think it's the freedom and flexibility I feel that I didn't necessarily feel in previous programs. I wasn't one to regularly dip into my Weekly Points Allowance -- or at least not without feeling guilty about it. And now, I don't worry about it as much. I also li...

Tomorrow night, we shall again sing "Auld Lang Syne" and bid a big ol' sayonara to 2010! I think we ought to sing a different tune: "You say you wanna revolution, well, you know...." Last year, I wrote that I had decided I would not do resolutions, but do revolutions instead: " Revolution: a turning around. What are you doing to turn your health ... your lifestyle ... your family's health ... around? How are you moving from the negative into the positive? Join the revolution. " In 2010, we had revolutions along with revelations. And I'm glad that I was part of a move toward being even healthier. I learned to be proactive and take charge for health -- both mine and for others. The words that kept coming up for me, over and over, were "educate and advocate" ..... in ways I never imagined, I find that I am doing exactly that. I took great joy in learning more about preparing food, and finding just how much better my own food could ...

In the holiday madness, I just realized it's been a while since my last post. So how did the holidays go? I will be so glad to have the Season of Carbs behind me, I won't know what to do!! I love this time of year, but I'm tired of the endless parade of carbs (especially sweets!). Oh, don't get me wrong.... I love the taste but holy cow, it's gotta end. I am on a mission to get back to the basics: good lean protein, more fruits and veggies. Real foods. And I have to get my rear back in gear with exercise. With this event and that event, and this thing to do and that, it's been pretty hard to stick to a routine the last few days. I did manage, of all things, to hit the gym on Christmas Eve .... but that was my last visit. OOPS. And I have a couple more events just after the New Year. As much as I enjoy my strength training, I have neglected my cardio workouts. That needs to change as soon as possible -- but how to work it all in? Much to ponder as 2011 comes arou...

Today, my dad found some old photos from a family Christmas dinner, circa 1993. There are a couple I want to share....... First, this is a picture of myself and my cousin; I'm on the right, as if you couldn't guess. I apparently must have been trying to do an impression of the Michelin Man ... or auditioning for the next Ms. Stay-Puft (because "puft" I was!) And next up is a small shot from a picture where I was enjoying dessert; I couldn't tell you if it was a first trip, a return trip, or a "hey let me eat something for the road" plate..... Now I ask you: what in heck was I doing with TWO monster slices of red velvet cake? You know, I can't even tell you whether or not it was worth it. I mean, red velvet is pretty much the same, no matter who makes it. You would think I'd want to distance myself from those days as much as possible: shred every picture, never to be seen again. But actually, I want to remember. I want to recall what it was like t...