Watching the Weight

If you are expecting to read another uplifting post about my weight loss journey, you can stop reading right here. No, really. Today I am not my normal inspirational self. Today will be my official whine post and for those not interested in hearing me whine, I will wait a few seconds for you to leave the blog. (For everyone else, hum the jeopardy song here)

Okay, so can I assume that the rest of you are either one of my truly committed readers (thank you), or a little curious or otherwise downright bored? Why else would you bypass my whining disclaimer? Last week, I gained weight (1.5 pounds) and the scale will probably show that I have gained another pound today. Yuck.

Prior to rejoining Weight Watchers a few weeks ago, I was 3 pounds shy of losing 20 pounds. 3 pounds shy! Lately, it seems that I have truly been "watching the weight" and not in the way that I'm supposed to. :( Now, before the curious naysayers get their trigger finger close to the keyboard, back up and put the finger down. I AM NOT BLAMING Weight Watchers, my leader or anyone else other than my brain, my tongue, and my hand. Weight Watchers is a great program and if you follow it, it works. If you "sorta" follow the plan, you "sorta" get results. If you wing it (like I THOUGHT I was doing), you shouldn't be shocked when the weight decides to stick around.

Occasionally, we all fail or fall down. Falling down is not a problem. Staying down is. Tomorrow I will share the series of untimely events between my brain, my tongue, and my hand.

Nancy Johnson

I'm not as Good as I Once Was

I believe its the country singer Toby Keith that has a song with the line "I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was." Nope. Not true for this old guy. Instead of a traditional bachelor party for my new son-in=law this past weekend, we had 14 guys spending the day "killing" each other with paint ball guns.

My attempts to "sprint" across a field while being fired upon by opposing paint ball team felt like I was on another planet with maybe 1.25 times our Earth's gravity. I was running and my feet were moving, but my time/distance equation was all slow motion. Did I mention that a 200 mph paint ball can sting a tad when you are shot by one?

Oh well. Just another reminder that while I've had some success with my exercise so far this year, I've got a long long way to go.

So, I'm not as good as I once way but I'm shooting for being better than I would be without a major lifestyle change.

Today I'm scheduled to mow the yard for an hour with a push mower and walk 3.25 mile course and plant ten new azalea bushes. Its going to be a good day.

Eat, Drink and Being Married

My daughter's wedding was fantastic, both times. Due to the expected tornado weather predictions, we moved the outdoor Duke Garden ceremony up one day and then had another full ceremony indoors the following day. Tons of food two nights and gallons (not just a figure of speech) of high-calorie hallucination inducing drink.

Exercise? Kinda. This old fat guy tried to hang with 13 "twenty somethings" for some paintball warfare. Lots of running and ducking behind trees and barriers and shooting and being shot with welt producing paint balls.

The other unfortunate news is that I'm up 3 pounds as I write this. Hopefully that will come off as fast this week as I put it on the last few days.

One daughter married . One new member to our family in the form of my son-in-law. One great time in the flow of life.

Now its time to hit the pavement and sweat out some pounds. No more kids to marry off now and no more huge parties planned anytime soon. So this is the time to get back to being a Loser.

Now lets all go for a long walk.

I'm too Sexy for my Tux

Good morning from Durham from the father of the bride!!!! Yep. Girl child getting married tomorrow (Saturday) in Durham. Weather looks terrible for an outdoor wedding. All the eating and drinking, however, to be inside. Good thing the Tux uses suspenders to hold the pants up. I'm at least two inches smaller in the waist than earlier this year. Last time I wore a tux was in ballroom dancing events a few years ago at 170 pounds.

My daughter's wedding is one of the life events for this weight loss year. The others you may recall are turning 60 years old, participating in a half marathon, 38th wedding anniversary and the "bonus" life event I didn't expect...... being laid off from my job.

So what? Life goes on. I'll certainly participate in eating and drinking and being merry this weekend. I will, however, try to also get in a walk or two at the Hilton exercise room and occasionally chose celery instead of another load of Italian food.

Just because we abundant size folks are on a journey to better health and fitness doesn't mean we can't have a life and enjoy it. Monitor it, plan for it, make up for lapses and most of all, look forward to the better life we are working toward. I raise a glass of bubbly to all you "losers" out there and wish you all a weekend of fondness for life. Now get out there and go for a walk.

The Man in the Mirror

One of my favorite songs of all times is Michael Jackson's, "Man in the Mirror". The theme of the song is that there are so many bad things happening in the world, but the only way to make the world a better place is to start with the person you see everyday in the mirror.

This blog has been an interesting journey thus far. The support given from my family (especially my daughter), my friends, fellow Toastmaster pals, co-workers, Weight Watchers, the YMCA, and the like has been phenomenal! I definitely feel the love. To date, I've lost 17 pounds (gained 1.5 this week), but more importantly my daughter has lost over 40 pounds.

This statistic is the most exciting for me because my weight loss journey started with a newspaper article that I did not feel accurately portrayed me. But because of some of the comments that followed that article, I finally decided to make a change. The journey to weight loss and a healthy lifestyle can be overwhelming. That's probably why the weight loss industry has been so profitable. The promise of quick results without incremental work usually ends with a return of the weight and the cycle begins again. I have not been perfect in my eating habits or exercise. There is a LOT of opportunity for improvement. But I now realize that small changes repeated every day, can and will net big results. It just takes time, discipline and a mind that is focused on the goal.

"Man in the Mirror" had a message repeated throughout the song: And no message could've been any clearer.  If you wanna make the world a better place.  Take a look at yourself and then make that change!  Moms, our kids are watching what we are doing. The good and the bad. One article made me think and finally decide to make a change. I am so glad I did!

Nancy Johnson

Can I finally get an Easy Bake Oven?

 Nancy Johnson:

Let me tell you one of my secrets.  I am a little challenged in the kitchen.  Okay, I guess since I mentioned in it my second post, "When Pigs Fly", it probably isn't a secret for our loyal readers.

BUT REALLY, I CAN'T COOK!

You probably think I'm joking, right?  Well, I am not.  My brother, my daughter, and even my ex-husband will gladly certify this to be a fact.  I am sure any one of them might even post a crazy comment to this post.

My culinary disability must have appeared when I was young because I wasn't even allowed to own an Easy Bake Oven as a little girl.  Apparently my mother could see that my domestic skills just weren't there.

I do cook, but it often ends with tasteless food and a smoke-filled room.  Because of this fact, I eat out more than most.  This is a HUGE problem when trying to lose weight.  I have often said that it would be so nice to have a restaurant that specialized in fresh, home cooked food that was also healthy, you know sorta like a Weight Watcher restaurant ala carte. 

It looks like I might finally learn to cook healthy foods!  A new company, Flex + Fit, will open in May in the Duke Energy Center.  Flex + Fit will offer fitness classes but there is one amenity that really got my dormant cooking skills' attention -- healthy cooking classes.  Soon they will offer classes led by Johnson and Wales chefs and students.  

I hope to take a few classes to help me improve my healthy eating. I guess I really should warn the owner to make sure there are batteries in the smoke alarms.  If they can teach me, they can teach anyone.  If I get really good, maybe I will finally get my Easy Bake Oven!

Until next week, have fun and enjoy life! 

America's Sumo Future

You've seen in my blog comments I've made about walking in my neighborhood. My normal walking route is GPS measured at 3.25 lovely miles. Its a pleasant place to walk and a safe place to walk.

I live on the main corner in our community and its the bus stop 6 times per day for school bus pickup. 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon for elementary, middle school and high school.

As many as 15 kids gather at the four way stop intersection at times. I've noticed, however, during my walks, that some of the kids are brought to the bus stop in their parents CARS!!!!

The furthest point any of these kids could possibly live from the intersection/bus stop is a quarter of a mile. One lousy lap around a typical school track. I'm not talking about inclement weather days. I'm talking about gorgeous weather days.

Hey parents, do your kid a favor and let them walk. If an old man who is overweight can walk 3 to 5 miles most days...your little cherub kid can too.

Hey, maybe this is the start of America getting into a new sport in the future. Sumo wrestling. We'll sure have enough fat folks to supply the sport with. Now get out there and go for a walk. Consider taking your kid with you.