Skip to main content

All in!


I'm especially good at finding lost or missing objects - a skill I attributed to my "ULD" (uterine locating device).

This includes my previously lost pounds always inevitably finding their way back to me. Damn them!

In an attempt to keep those pounds permanently lost, this time, I had approached my Weight Watchers experience as a lifestyle change instead of a diet. So this time instead of working hard to lose the weight, reaching goal, doing a happy dance, buying new clothes and celebrating the weight loss success by promptly going back to living and eating as I had before the diet and then wondering why the new clothes were getting tighter ( blaming the damn dryer, or cheap fabrics, or temporary water weight gain) - I decided instead to look at Weight Watchers as my own 12-step program. While I'm not a food addict, I don't always make good choices about food- I prefer asiago cheese bread and bagels to Tumaro wraps, and I prefer cheese on just about anything and being Irish I love spuds (they're a vegetable!), and who doesn't like alfredo or pesto sauce ... you get the picture. I've learned I can still love these things but just not as frequently or in the quantity I had been accustomed.

That decision had already been made when about three months ago, I was asked to think about working for Weight Watchers. Initially, I laughed. I mean I'm not a very good role model with my asiago cheese and spuds addiction and my inclination to lassitude over exercise and the fact that I've lost (and Found!) the same 35 pounds in my life and the fact that I'm mostly in a wheelchair ... and then it hit me - that's exactly why I should work with Weight Watchers! I mean who would you rather journey with through weight loss - someone who hasn't struggled and cannot relate or a real failure like me??? 

I have so many strikes against me for a weight loss home run. The number of times I've tried and tried and tried. The fact that I have M.S. and the limitations it can impose (fatigue, heat sensitivity, inability to walk without falling to name a few). The reality (I still try to deny) of my wheelchair. That I have a preference for cheese, spuds, bread, wine, pasta, chips, crackers,cheese, popcorn with lots o butter, cheesy popcorn, fried rice and of course cheese.

 So, I started with Weight Watchers as a meeting receptionist about a six weeks ago and in January I will begin training as a leader. I love it! I get to spend time with people (and I love people more than cheese!). I get to encourage and cheer-on (may not have been the high school cheerleader just the mascot but I get to cheer now!) people. I am surrounded by an infectious positivity and energy. And, this is the biggest bonus, I remain focused on making positive food and lifestyle choices. 

Did I mention, that I love it!

Weight Watchers - if I can, you can!

Comments

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

A Hole in My Heart Where Sandy Should Be

The past two days have passed with little joy and I find that I'm restless and cannot focus. I don't like being home because of the thousand reminders of my sweet Sandy and yet I can't be away because I don't feel like engaging in anything other than my own personal sorrow. Yes, she was 'just a dog' but oh what a dog she was. . . I learned a lot about loyalty and unconditional love from Sandy. And in that, I believe that God gives us these loving dogs so that we can learn a little about His love for us - that unconditional love. Even on my worst day when I might not have been paying much attention to Sandy, she was still there and still loving. Wow. There is no doubt in my mind that putting her down and out of her misery was the right thing for Sandy - she must have been so riddled with cancer and in such pain. Her last day she couldn't even keep water down; I imagine that her entire body must have been affected by the cancer. Then I think back to her last d...

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

I put my pride aside and got my ass off the grass and into the wheelchair. {I spent a couple minutes deciding whether to put an exclamation mark after that declaration or to put the period after that statement. I think the period better suits my mood about getting said ass into the wheelchair!} On July 4, Saugatuck has a wonderfully unique parade that includes quirky participants like the artsy-fartsy campers at OxBow art colony and the LGBT members of a local foundation along with the more traditional participants like Girl Scouts, fire trucks, and local politicians. It had been a couple years since I had been to the parade, this year, though, my Mom and sister were in town and I wanted to take them. So we loaded up in the van, including Kerri's wheelchair and my own. Once we parked, John asked if I wanted to use my chair and I initially balked but then remembered that it can be a long, hot parade and it might be better to have a place to sit. So, I acquiesced and took the cha...

Ch ... Ch ... Chemo

I was ready. I was prepared. The potential side-effect list was long and one I'd had some familiarity when John went through his treatment.  So I gathered my arsenal. I had my compazine, zofran and antivan. I had my ginger chewables and chicken noodle soup. I was armed and potentially dangerous. So, chemo day with the toxic chemo cocktail starting to do it's job, I envisioned it as either PacMan, eating away at the cancer cells or a Chia Pet, allowing my good cells to thrive. With these visions, (that aren't quite Christmas Eve sugar plums dancing) and tired from the chemo, I went to bed early. Friday, under the watchful eye of my caregiving hubby, I slept most of the day away. Not really hungry but not nauseous either. I spent the majority of the day horizontal on the couch listening to my book on Audible (despite the sleep timer, I probably missed 1/3 of what I 'read'), dozing, answering calls and texts, and snacking.  Perhaps the highlight of the ...