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 ...

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 ...

The "I'll Nevers" of growing older

  Years ago as a freelance writer, I submitted an essay entitled "The I'll Nevers of Parenting". It was a list, mostly, of things I had said prior to having children and the crow I was then eating because of the stupidity of the claims. You know little pearls of 'wisdom' that only someone who hasn't experienced the joys of  parenting could utter, like: I will never yell at my child in public or I will never let my child eat dinner in front of the television or my children will never stay up past 9 pm. I yelled at my children (usually when we were both tired and totally irrational!) in public. One time, as we were in the drop off lane at school with a long line of cars behind us, the boys hoped out of the car but Delaney was insisting on something that for the life of me I cannot recall and I was insisting that she get out of the van. We crept along, van door still open, until I got to the end of the line and yelled at the top of my voice, "Delaney get the...

Values - pass it on.

If you have read my blog in the past or know me at all, you know that sports in general and football in particular are not one of my favorite things to watch. Unless of course, one of my sons is playing - then get out of my way as I cheer them on! It is with a lot of frustration that I have seen more televised football games in recent weeks than there are hairs on my head. Okay that might be a slight exaggeration - but only slight . So if you're like me, you have seen the plethora of commercials from the Foundation for a Better Life. They are wonderful, heartfelt little life snippets - and they all end with the tag line, "Values, pass it on." Some of the most memorable are: The girl with Downs syndrome that is crowned prom queen. The skater 'dude' that is seen running through the alleys and streets with a woman's purse in his hands until he gets to the city bus where he gives the purse to a woman that is disembarking. He says, "You left this on the b...