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

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

Lemonade out of lemons???

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Have you ever made lemonade from fresh lemons? I haven't but I've got to believe it's a lot of work. I mean first you have to buy a LOT of lemons. One recipe I found said that you'd need five pounds at an average cost of $2/lb means your lemons would set you back $10. I'm not a mathematician, as my friends, family and coworkers can attest, so I used a calculator so you can trust my math. And then you'll need 2 cups of sugar - at a cost of about $1.70 for 32 oz. that equates to (again, I used a calculator so you can trust my math) 85 cents for your pitcher of lemonade. So, for your pitcher of lemonade it would cost $10.85 (again,  the calculator was used). According to my research and the recipes I read, it will take approximately 15 minutes to make your pitcher, because you have to boil the water with the sugar, squeeze the lemons, remove the seeds, stir and I'm guessing sweat and swear at why the hell you...

Another one bites the dust!

I am elated to be sitting here, post-physical, done for another year!!  I love my doc - she's a friend that I enjoy talking with about nearly everything, but is there anything worse than a physical for women??? It starts with the dreaded scale (that's surely calibrated to add 10 pounds so that you focus on the stress of the number instead of whats to come) and then to the peeing in a cup (and you're to read the directions and do it correctly!).  Once you're dixie cup is put in the compartment you're led to an examination room and told to remove your clothing and dun a paper 'gown' opened in the front. I know these are surely shrinking because they just don't cover the way they used to and this can't have anything to do with the number on the scale!! Once on the examination table, you realize that your backside is uncovered and that once the door is opened it is certainly going to be the first thing the doc and all others in the hall will see. Bu...

Dick Clark

I know I don't look, or act, old enough but Dick Clark was a huge part of my childhood and adolescence.  I watched American Bandstand on Saturdays throughout my school years. I loved to dance and I could watch and dance along with the 'really groovy' dancers on the Bandstand. It was my view into the latest music, dance moves, and fashion! I could see what the girls from the big city of Philly were wearing and try to adorn myself in something similar in the big suburbs. Next to Seventeen magazine, it was my best source for fashion!! Now mind you this is 'back in the day' when most homes only had one TV. And I don't think ours was color until the mid-to-late 70s. So, I would have to announce to my four siblings that it was my turn for the TV at 12:30 when the Bandstand came on. You can imagine the number of times actually sibling warfare broke out - you know name-calling, pillows flying, arms flailing. Often times we'd end up laughing. And then later the...