I Lost Something

I’ve counted my points and did my journaling. I’m still working on drinking all those glasses of water, eating more fruit and veggies. But the main thing is I stuck to the program and I felt good.
Saturday I spent the day with my niece Kenye (Kenay) and we did Girls Day Out. It was a blast hanging out with her; it took me back to the times that her mother and I would spend an entire day exploring one part of the city or another. The day started out with a trip to Intimacy, a great lingerie shop in Manhattan (http://www.myintimacy.com/homepage.html). We had to wait an hour before being served; this was my fault because I didn’t make an appointment. It didn’t matter, because the service and merchandise was worth the wait.
One of the questions on the store questionnaire, was do you believe a bra can change your life? Well, I’m here to tell you yes it can. I was desperate need of a new bra, because the old ones had developed wild wires. You know when the under wires of a bra go rouge, it can be a painful experience! Anyway I promised Kenye a bra if she drove to the story. She was so excited with her new one; I thought she might just want to wear it outside without her shirt.
We continued our day by going shopping for beads. Niece had never been to the bead shops in the city. To say she was overwhelmed would be an understatement. We had a great time. Next it was down to Greenwich Village.
Our venture to the village was because of a cupcake shop. Cupcakes! How many points will that be? Okay, I guess this is where those 35 extra points come in. Traversing the city was a breeze; it was the Fourth of July weekend and people were still out of town. We found a parking space a few doors down from the shop, believe by NYC parking standards this was miraculous. I know I should have only purchased only two, one for me and the other for Dan. However, the choices were so great; I wound up ordering a dozen cupcakes. I told myself that I had no intension of eating the majority of the tempting little cakes.
As I stated I faithfully wrote in my food journal. The juggling came in when I discovered that one cup cake was 12 points. This really let me know that I was not going to sabotage all the hard work I had done for the sake of some cake. I used my points and told Dan he could have the rest of the cup cakes. He’s running so he will get ride of those calories.
Yesterday was Thursday and my first full Weight Watchers meeting. I wasn’t afraid as I stepped on the scale. The shorts I had on felt more comfortable today then they had several days ago, so I thought I had lost a few pounds. Yeah!!! I was down three pounds! I didn’t do the happy dance, but in my mind I was jumping for joy. After the meeting I sat with Danielle, our lecturer. She reviewed my journal and told me that I needed to up the veggies and water. Danielle stated that when I eat more vegetables I would see a significant lost in my weight.
Well, I’m off to a good start and will continue to follow the plan. I want to be a happy and healthy camper. Pass the salad please.

And I'm Off!

Well, Thursday finally arrived and I was ready. I didn’t want to be late so I kept a close watch on the time. 5:20 pm arrived and I was off.
The basement of the synagogue looked familiar, chairs in a circle and the fans blowing. I was prepared for the stifling heat but surprisingly the fans were working and the place was cool. As I approached the sign in desk, I observed that I didn’t see anyone who liked they were the group leader. My suspicions were confirmed when the receptionist told me that the group leader could not make the meeting. She wanted to know if I wanted to sign up now or wait until next week. I told her now was the time. Then she called over a member and asked her if she would walk me through the program. Next week when the lecturer returns I’ll stay for the formal welcome and walk through.
As Cathy took me through the plan I noticed that the Points program had been refined and looked a lot easier than I remembered before. I was excited and saw that I had a food diary I had to keep in order to keep track of my points. Okay so now I had a little writing and a little math, I’m good.
So now that I’ve weighted in here are the vitals and my immediate goal. Weight: 273 lbs goal -27 pounds. My daily point count is 32 and I have 35 points that I can spread out during the week. I know one thing I will really have to work at squeezing in 6 glasses of water and all the vegetables and fruits that are required. I guess I better have a V8. No, I’m not complaining, just saying it’s going to be interesting trying to work this all in. This is the reason why I decided to start this program during the summer, so that by the time school is back in session I can be well on my way with the routine.

D Day Minus One

Well, I am one day away from starting my weight program. I’m excited and a bit anxious. I don’t want to fail this time; my future health is hanging in the balance.
As of yet I haven’t purchased any food stuffs, I’m waiting to see what’s on the acceptable food list. One thing I have found out already, and that is Skim milk gives me gas! I have been walking around feeling bloated and making enough methane to fire up a city bus. I was trying to figure out what the heck was turning me into a fart box and then I realized it was the milk I was putting on me cereal. So, now I’ll have to add Lactaid to my med regime.
Anyway, tomorrow at 5:30 I’ll face the scale and stay to listen to my lecturer. I’m looking forward to getting the ball rolling and taking off some pounds.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

This was during my blond phase, I loved the Rod Steward hair.

One of the kids brought his guitar to class and we all took turns playing. No I don't play but
it was fun faking it.

My Senior Prom, June 1964.
I made my gown and thought I looked great. I know I will not see 135 pounds again, but I love seeing this picture.

In the summer of 2000 NYC had artist paint or deocrate statues of cows across
the city. This cow was covered with the MTA Subway map.
This is the latest picture of me along with my sister, Wilma (left), who was celebrating her retirement and her daughter Kenye.
The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. I’ve decided that I need to include some photographs of myself in my blog so that I will have some reference points as I start on my weight loss venture.

Getting it Off!

First of all here is my confession, I have been fighting with baby fat for over 40 years now and it really is time to get this stuff off!
The knees are going faster and faster down hill and the Orthopedic doc said I needed to loose 100 pounds. He suggested going the LAP band route, but I developed ITP and I’m taking that idea off the menu. The only slicing and dicing I’m willing to go for is the boob reduction and that’s coming soon.
When I realistically take a look at all the weight lost programs out there I feel Weight Watchers will work the best for me. Some time ago I had told my primary care doctor that I wanted to loose weight and he suggested that I keep a journal to record what I was eating. He also suggested that I stop drinking soda and juice. He said have the real fruit and not the juice. Stopping the soda wasn’t too bad and since that time I don’t drink Pepsi like I use to, but sometimes I just have to have a Pepsi jolt. As far as the juice is concerned it’s still easier to drink than to always have the fruit around. Now though we look for sugar free juices.
So now to the reason for creating this blog; I realize that I enjoy writing and publishing my work and getting feed back from other people. I figure I just might do a lot better in my quest for losing weight if I have some way to vent my success and set backs. I also like the medium better than keeping a paper journal, in that I can add pictures and things along the way.
I’ve known for many years that my weight was creeping up, but like some people I didn’t keep a scale around so I didn’t have a constant numeric reminder of the pound attack. I kept track by the way my clothing size steadily increased; from an 18/20 to 22/24 and now 26/28!
Even though I knew that my weight was going up I still told myself that I looked good. Then one day while I was out with my girlfriend, Deb, I saw myself in a walled mirror and nearly had a cow! Was that really my ass sticking so far off my body that it looked like a trailer! I was horrified. I always paid close attention to the front part of me, but the rear was in the back. Plus since I didn’t wear dresses I wasn’t worried about the skirt part being hitched up in the back. You know what I mean, where the back part of the skirt looks like a piece of window curtain.
People gain weight for a mired of reasons. Me, I just like to eat and enjoy good food. I’m not a junk food junkie, but I do admit to loving food. As a kid I went through the usual puppy fat stage and promptly loss the weight when I entered high school. I was also a smoker than too, and constantly on the go with school activities. Along came college, nothing changed except the location. Then marriage and baby and life as I knew it changed. During the years the weight crept up and up. Every so often I would try some silly thing to bring it down and it wouldn’t work.
For years my doctor and family had been after me to quit smoking. I knew it wasn’t doing my health any good but I really enjoyed it. Anyway I finally stopped smoking and promptly gained umpteen pounds.
I don’t remember how I wound up at a Weight Watcher meeting, I think it was because of one of the girls at work, I don’t know. Anyway I do remember that it did work and I loss weight and was happy. Well, here I am some 35 years later and I’m giving it another try. I want to be successful this time.
So join me on this voyage through the calorie jungle. My eventual goal is to loose 100 pounds; however, I will celebrate my small losses along the way. I plan to sign up at the local Weight Watchers meeting on July 3, 2008.