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!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

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

Happy Birthday Michael Bowen!

This is a face I don't see anymore - except in my memories. That of my little brother Michael. Today would have been his 46th  birthday - but this senior picture is how I will always remember him because he was taken from us just a couple years after his senior year. I don't want to dwell on the sad details - because there are many and they can still all these years later bring me to tears. Because today is his birthday, I want to write about the many gifts he bestowed on those that he loved. Bernard Michael Bowen was the youngest of five. The rest of us have names that start with the letter K - but Michael from birth was going to be unique. Named for his paternal grandfather, whom everyone called Barney. No one called Michael, Barney, until high school when many were adopting nicknames. His friends would jokingly call him Barney! And like nearly everything else in his life, he seemed to smile and shrug it off and go with the flow. He played, and loved, football. A...
3 comments
Read more

Time

I have been reading through the blog entries for John's caringbridge site and am marveling that it was only a year ago we were on that awful cancer journey. In a way it seems like so much longer - especially when I look at the Patient Patient and see just how wonderfully handsome and healthy he looks! John still has periodic visits with the docs in A2 and prior to each we are both a little nervous that the docs might find something. He calls after each visit and we breathe a sigh of relief when the docs declare that all is clear! We know patients that went through treatment at the same time haven't received the same news; our concerns are grounded in reality and our sense of relief immense. In the past year, we have heard of far too many people that have received a diagnosis of cancer - prostrate, breast, throat, etc. While the type of cancer may be very different, the family's reaction and the ultimate course of treatment may vary greatly. The family and loved ones g...
Post a Comment
Read more

The world according to Gimp

  I understand that there are those who may believe my use of the term 'gimp' is derogatory or demeaning. I do not use it lightly or to belittle anyone, it's just a lot easier for me to than 'disabled' or 'handicapped' because it uses a little snark or humor to something that could use a little of that. Or in this case, I specifically want to make light of my situation so that it doesn't feel depressing. For you or me. Let me try to explain.  One of my pet peeves is the look of sympathy I get from well-meaning people. Like, "Aw, sweetie, I am so sorry that you are less abled, confined to a wheelchair and less able to live the full, active life that I lead."  I am in a wheelchair most of the time and my life is different because of that but in truth I never wanted to run a marathon of play pickleball or climb Mt. Baldhead (I've done the latter too many times usually bringing up the rear of the group I was with and/or being cheered on by the ...
Post a Comment
Read more