Skip to main content

Roll out the barrel


It seems appropriate, in a strange-only in my head-sort of way, and keeping with my theme recently of rolling, that the song playing in my head lately is 
"Roll out the barrel . . ."

As I've been rolling lately instead of walking, I seem to have added to my girth and it has landed, like a big ole roll around my mid-section. It's happened gradually over the last year and I attempted to:
1)   Deny and/or;
2)   Cover and/or;
3)   Exercise and/or;
4)   Change my diet.

Well, the "And/Or Plan" wasn't working because my waist kept expanding and with that expansion my motivation (which is minimal on a good day!) was dwindling.

So, with a roll around my midsection and "Roll out the barrel" playing in my head, I rolled into Weight Watchers three weeks ago.

I had weighed myself at home and the number on that scale was sad - but I guess I should have had my glasses on when looking because the scale at WW showed me a number that was 8 pounds sadder!! Have you ever heard of someone gaining 8 pounds at their first WW meeting??!! 

So, I came home and my darling daughter and accountability partner, Delaney, refocused me and we made our grocery list. Re-motivated, I got on the recumbent bike and rode that damn ... I mean darn bike six of seven days between weigh-ins at WW. I worked it. I ate well, not great, but better, and I exercised.

So, when I rolled in to my second WW meeting, I was confident that the scale would show I was working it . . . WRONG! I'd gained 0.2 pounds. "Roll out the barrel" played again and I almost rolled right out of that room because tears were starting to roll. But I stayed, and boy am I glad I did because had I left I would have missed the amazing support of the people at that meeting. Had I left, I would have had the mindset of a loser - and not a weight-loss loser, and based on previous experience I could have made some bad choices with that "Roll" song playing in my head. Instead, I stayed and got refocused. I was advised to turn off that song playing in my head because it wasn't working for me - bad thoughts never do. I came home and continued to make good choices the next week. I worked it. I ate well, better than the previous week, and I moved more.

So, when I rolled in this week, I was really nervous to step on the scale. I was thrilled at a 2 pound loss! I sure have to work a lot harder to lose 2 pounds than I ever did before - but age and the immobility restrictions of MS aren't going to discourage me from working it! I can't let those restrictions restrict me from moving more and eating better. After the meeting, two women I hadn't previously met, said I was an inspiration to them. ME - an inspiration to anyone at a WW meeting?? There are many inspirations - and weight losing/loss stories and these will keep me going and working it. 

So, what will meeting #4 hold for me? It all depends on me and how I roll!
I will carry the motivators - my daughter and the women in WW- with me through the week.

For now, I've got to roll - time to ride the bike!

Comments

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

When an ass is so much more

  Body image. Body positivity.  Or about coming to an appreciation for a previously much maligned back end.  In junior high (that's middle school for all of you non boomers), I was given the nickname "big butt Bowen". It was a nickname that stung because I did indeed have a large ass. I tried to mask it, a difficult endeavor since the current fashion (and remember this is junior high when fitting in was paramount) was wearing hip hugger jeans with midriff tops and my disguise of choice were peasant blouses or dresses. That style choice earned an additional nickname, Mama Cass. For those of you that don't know who Mama Cass was, she was part of the Mamas and Papas and known for her beautiful voice but also for her large body.  All about Mama Cass I was cruelly nicknamed at a time when nicknames can really mess with a girl's psyche. And I spent a lifetime as that girl with the messed up psyche. I'm sure there are more than one of you out there that can relate. B...

Fall of Giants

I've long been a fan of historical fiction and just this past Christmas I received from my son Michael Ken Follett's most recent book, Fall of Giants. It is the first book of a trilogy that covers the 20th century and the first installment covers the early 1900s up to just after World War I. It includes characters based in Russia in the time of their revolution. While I studied the Russian Revolution in college, this book brought much back to me - including the chaos that reigned for years leading up to the revolution and continuing throughout. I write about this today because the Egyptian revolution reminds me of the Russian revolution. The Russian revolution started out quietly and largely as a protest against a harsh and autocratic government - the Tsar. The Russian people didn't have a say in their government and were very poor while the royalty in Russia lived large. The secret police in Russia often killed and imprisoned people for no apparent reason and there were ...

Vulnerability hangover

I recently blogged about my own #MeToo experiences and then went silent. (At least on the blog). Those posts have been read by over 1000 people, and that's a lot for this tiny little blog about living a life with MS and God and with a sense of humor. Suddenly, I felt like I was living in a world where people that read my blog had x-ray vision and could see my nakedness - but I didn't know who they were. It wasn't a good feeling. And then I heard someone discuss Brene Brown, in particular what she describes as a 'vulnerability hangover'. It's essentially the feeling of regret, like after a night of binge drinking, when you think "What did I do/say?" and then "I think I'll just hide out from the world." If you've never had that experience, kudos to you. It's shame, pure and simple, ugly and raw. So, now I'm on a Brene Brown binge, including all of her TED talks. Including this one on shame:  Brene, listening to shame ...