LOSE WEIGHT NOW!

Why another blog about weight loss? 

Well, there are several reasons. 

 

First, it doesn't take more than a quick glance in the mirror to remind many of us that it is time---perhaps way past time---to get serious about our need to lose weight now, especially if we are feeling a bit "hippy" right now.

Secondly, as someone who has been overweight more often than not during my entire adult life, I need to drag out the exercise bicycle, start  counting calories, and make myself accountable for the shape I have allowed my body to drift into, once again.

Finally, I am alarmed as I see older friends starting to use canes and walkers just to get around, and to hear of knee replacements, back operations,  and all kinds of digestive problems all being blamed on overweight. By losing weight, I'm hoping to avoid at least a few of these ailments that seem to plague older Americans.  

I am hoping this time, to keep the weight off instead of letting it gradually creep back on again as my habit has been in the past.

Many years ago, I attended the funeral of an extremely overweight lady.  After the service, the casket was carried up a short incline behind the church, when, about halfway up to the gravesite, two of the pallbearers stumbled under  the weight of the casket---resulting in a few awkward moments as they struggled back to their feet, and resumed carrying their heavy burden to its final resting place.

"How embarrassing," I remember thinking to myself.  "I'll never get so fat that 6 men have trouble carrying me to my grave."

Well, I'm not quite to that point yet, but probably further on my way than I would like to admit. Thus, I introduce my latest blog, LOSE WEIGHT NOW!  Maybe, if your scale, too, is creeping up faster than you would like, you'll join me in the battle and share a comment now and then.


YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO EXERCISE

"I'm too old to exercise," has been one of my favorite excuses for not getting serious about losing weight. Without telling you how old I really am, I've raised my three kids, spoiled a bunch of grandkids, have several great grandkids, and was recently informed that the first great-great is on the way. If I'm not old yet, I should be soon.

Maybe, like me, you have started to use the excuse of being too old to start an exercise program.

Not long ago, I read an article about an 84-year old Chinese lady who rode her bicycle 150 miles to raise money for victims of Multiple Sclerosis. And, to make an impossible task seem even more impossible, she did it wearing her church clothing, a dress and pumps instead of the blue jeans and tennis shoes you might expect.

Believe me, I am a champion when it comes to making excuses. Last year, I ordered a CD called, The Fat-Burning Furnace,which had exercises to do at home. I was really enthused--for about a day-- before I decided I didn't have the right weights the demonstrator suggested. Besides, the exercises hurt my legs, and I was just too old to start a new exercise program anyway.

But, after I saw the article about the Chinese lady's bicycle ride, I decided that a can of soup would be about the right weight for me to use when doing my exercises, and that if I used some common sense by not trying to do as many sets of each exercise as the man on the tape, maybe, just maybe, I could make some progress and not end up being so sore.

That worked for a while, but you know how it goes. You take a day off and then another day until, before you know it, you have forgotten all about your goal.

At least until you hop on the scale one day and gasp, wondering how you failed to notice such a gain as it was happening. You seek out your fat friends and get together over coffee to commiserate together, vowing to start a new weight loss program soon.

Several months ago, I bought a new computer and, in the process of tranferring all my "stuff" from the old computer to the new one, I ran across that, Fat-Burning Furnace, CD and got all excited again.

Maybe it really is time to stop using my age and my out-of-shape condition as an excuse and work steadfastly toward my goal just like that Chinese Lady riding her bike did. I'm still a few years younger than she is, so if she could do it, I should be able to do it, too.

Join me if you like. Maybe we can encourage one another.

P.S.  In the last couple of months, I have managed to do some kind of exercise at least 5 days a week, and, for me, that is a major accomplishment.  I have also given up my favorite treat---chocolate, and am proud to say that I have lost a few pounds, and have much more energy than before.

I was so proud of myself that I sat down and wrote a short Kindle e-book on the subject of how to plan ahead to avoid gaining those extra pounds we usually put on during the holidays, by getting a head start.  If you are like me, and usually wait until the damage is already done, after the holidays, this e-book might be helpful for you.Take a look at it at
Amazon by clicking on its cover picture below.

MISERY LOVES COMPANY (PAST ATTEMPTS TO LOSE WEIGHT)

                                      

 

I was downright skinny when I was a kid.  So skinny, in fact, that my classmates nick-named me “Stringbean,”  and my mother worried constantly about how my ribs stuck out.  All of her attempts to fatten me up got nowhere.

 

Unfortunately, my lean physique didn’t last. I grew up, got married, and, by the time I had gone through several pregnancies, I was more than 40 pounds overweight.

I tried diet candy, first. You can imagine how that worked.  I must have become addicted to it because in a short time I had put on an additional 10 pounds and was more miserable than ever.

They say that misery loves company, and I guess that is true. I had a friend in those days who was also tremendously overweight. You can guess what our main topic of conversation was every time we got together. Right. We obsessed over our weight and our lack of will power to do anything about it, and, for many years, we didn't really try.

Finally, in desperation, we joined Weight Watchers together, and started on a year-long quest to get control over our weight. The pounds began to inch off in quarter-pound increments, but at least we were headed in the right direction.  Although I still think Weight Watchers has one of the best programs available, it wasn't their program that encouraged me the most.  It was a picture someone in the group had showing 50 pounds of butter in quarter-pound cubes all stacked into a huge pile. That picture began to haunt me until every time I looked at my fat body, I saw quarter-pound chunks of butter.  Ugh!