Skip to main content

Down more than 24





NewsFlash NewsFlash NewsFlash!!

 Updates to this original story read below. Monumental turn of events!

 My life has been a lot like this roller coaster. Not just ups and downs, but several twists and turns. Sometimes I am whooping for joy, hands in the air ready for the what lies ahead while at other times I can see a loop or drop coming and the dread is palatable, the nausea is real.

And also like a roller coaster is my weight. I've never been svelte but I have been within the BMI range. I have also been overweight and more recently the scale put me in the obese category. And that should have scared me into action but instead I just made excuses or rationalizations like "It's because I use a wheelchair to get around," or "I'm sure once X happens I'll lose that weight." 

I have lost 25-plus pounds so many times and but those pounds gather friends and come back to find me. I know I'm a friendly sort, but I didn't want them to come back especially with 5, 10, 15 or 20 friends. I've tried Diet Center, Medical Weight Loss Center and Weight Watchers. And I've tried combinations of those plans to create my own special plan (because wine or cheese aren't included in some, I've even adapted these to fit my tastes!). I've tried Slim Fast and Shakelee, diet pills and starving. I am a weight loss professional. Except, I'm not because I've never been able to keep it off. I'm more like a losing loser with a big L on my forehead.

 So, this battle of the bulge is something I've been fighting nearly all my life. When I was pregnant with Michael and Delaney I gained over 40 pounds (with Matthew it was only 22, and it was because I was doing water aerobics four times a week and running around with toddler Michael).  

In January, I joined half of this country in making a resolution to lose weight. And this is a resolution I've kept. I signed up for Weight Watchers. And it's working - so far I'm down 25.4 pounds. The first couple weeks it was slow going - losing a .2 or .5 pounds. I tried not to get discouraged and vividly recall one woman at a meeting say she'd lost 60 pounds by losing .2 or .5 pounds a week. And there are women (and Jack) in my group that I look forward to connecting and sharing with each week in my meeting. It's a challenge having a 50-something metabolism that is slower than molasses (4 points for a tablespoon) in January. And that challenge is made even more monumental by the fact that my movement is hampered by MS and the fact that I use a wheelchair as my primary mode of transport.

Funny thing happened though- about three months ago, I found a fun and funky chair aerobics to add to my exercise routine (which up to then meant the stationary bike which can get tedious). It was just the ticket because after doing these fun routines, I felt stronger and had more energy and suddenly my weekly weight loss has been more like 1 to 2.5 pounds. And now I've added a couple music videos (Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars) that I dance around to after the aerobics are done. It's not pretty to watch but it sure is fun for me!! So Uptown funk me up because I got a feeling!

I'm not done yet. I probably have another 15-25 pounds to go to reach my goal and become a lifetime weight watchers member. And I want to be a lifetime member because I know that this has to be part of my life to be done with the roller coaster.

 NewsFlash NewsFlash NewsFlash!!!

 Kathleen Bowen Piggins reached her weight loss goal while on Weight Watchers and even exceeded her original goal by 10 pounds. So enthralled by the program, Ms. Piggins joined the Weight Watchers company in November of 2017.

 The total loss is 43 pounds.

 "I won't give the actual weight," Ms. Piggins said, "but it is within the BMI range for the first time in many years. AND, I've been maintaining that loss for three months so far."

 She attributes her ability to maintain the loss by looking at the Weight Watcher program not as a d-i-e-t (a word she claims to be 'dirty' and unproductive) but as a lifestyle. 

 "I am balancing the roller-coaster that has been my life by not celebrating the loss by getting off the ride," she explained. "Instead, I've taken ownership of the ride and am working to lessen the ups and downs, creating a smoother journey."

 She said that working for Weight Watchers gives her focus on healthy living and is a good fit, because she gets to be with other people with the same life-long struggles. She has always enjoyed helping other people and hearing their stories, which makes being a professional Weight Watcher a natural fit.

Comments

Post a Comment

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

Tough time to be a Pollyanna

Remember when 9/11 was just a date or a number you called in an emergency? Our lives changed dramatically post 9/11. For weeks after that September day, we seemed to walk around in a fog, like the haze that loomed over the now-fallen twin towers. I remember trying to minimize my obsession with the news, trying to keep the three little Piggins away from the enormity of the disaster. Remember when corona was simply a beer best served with a lime wedge? It now and forever will be instead associated with this virus that has upended our world in ways we could never have imagined. This tiny little, microscopic virus has brought the mighty to their knees. It has us quarantined and distancing socially (though I believe we've been doing this emotionally for years) and working from home. As anxiety peaks, our economy tanks. As toilet paper and hand sanitizer flies off the shelves, we are looking for new ways to stock our pantries. A good friend observed, "I never thought I'd...
Post a Comment
Read more

They just don't get it . . .

If you're anything like me (I know no one wants to readily admit to it but there are people like me) you've come away from recent elections shaking your head and thinking, "They just don't get it . . ." The Sequester - more of the same. If your representative is a Republican, then they have to side with speaker Boehner or if a Democrat they have to side with President Obama. I use the term 'have to side' because in recent years there have been a few politicians that didn't tow the party line (or is it 'toe the party line'?) and they didn't receive financial backing or otherwise in future campaigns from their own party. Seems the parties have more sway than the issues. No matter what happens in an election in recent years, it comes back to party politics. Like a fight - the fighters (in this case our representatives) retreat to their corners where 'experts' and advisers whisper sweet motivations in their ears and the fighters c...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 th...
Post a Comment
Read more