I have struggled with weight for much of my life. My first serious attempt to lose weight was with Slimfast, before my wedding (way before they had all the yummy food). It worked, but not for long.
The next was Weight Watchers. It worked, too, and for the first time in my adult life I was thin. I really had no clue about healthy eating before WW. I became a leader. I struggled, though, for the next decade. I was never too far from my goal weight.
Then my late 30s hit. ...
I have struggled with weight for much of my life. My first serious attempt to lose weight was with Slimfast, before my wedding (way before they had all the yummy food). It worked, but not for long.
The next was Weight Watchers. It worked, too, and for the first time in my adult life I was thin. I really had no clue about healthy eating before WW. I became a leader. I struggled, though, for the next decade. I was never too far from my goal weight.
Then my late 30s hit. And my weight just shot up. I went back to WW, but only once a month, since that's all I had to do. Surprise, surprise, it no longer seemed to work.
Finally, this year, something clicked. I have eased into weight loss. I started without a goal to actually lose weight; I just wanted accountability so I began to write down everything I ate. Slowly, slowly, that goal changed to wanting to lose weight. I am back going to weekly WW meetings. I'm a lifer, for sure.
I don't lose weight fast. I never have. But I try to concentrate more on eating healthy than the weight. My top goals are to have more energy and to be healthy. I hope that this is the last time I have to lose a significant amount of weight, but if it isn't, I have the tools.
I am a flexatarian. Which means that while I am not a vegetarian, I do eat mostly vegetarian food. I don't think I could give up fish. Beef, chicken, and pork I can live without. Unfortunately my husband can't. Sometimes I eat vegan, sometimes I eat raw -- I'm relatively adventurous when it comes to food. Visit my blog about cooking & cookbooks -- http://www.cookbookmaven.com
Animals, as you might suspect, are my true passion.
SparkPeople has been incredibly motivating for me. It's like having a WW meeting available to me 24/7!
I have made a lot of buddies here. I also have several buddies I email most days. You can never have too many friends. If you're interested in being an email buddy, you can find out more about me here: http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_pu blic_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=12 58427
A lot of people have mentioned how close I am to the goal weight on my ticker; it's not my ultimate goal weight. I haven't even picked that yet. It's 10% of my starting weight. Once I get there, I'll change it to the next 10%. And so on.
My Goals:
1. I want to have enough energy to keep up with the dogs!
2. I want to be healthy -- which means lowering my cholesterol, hopefully without drugs.
3. I want to be happy when I see photos of myself.
4. I hope to be at my goal weight by the time I'm 50, which is about 3 1/2 years away.
My Program:
1. Weight Watchers. Finding the right meeting is key. You may have to try out several before you find one that really motivates you.
2. Journaling (not blogging) every day.
3. Walk the dogs every day. Do jogging/walking intervals 3 days a week.
5. Weight train MWF, and do abs Tuesday& Thursday. Usually yoga on the weekends.
Personal Information:
1. I love to read. This includes a large collection of cookbooks, to which I am always adding and subtracting, which I actually read (and use).
2. I love to cook & bake, but hate to clean up. In fact, I hate to clean in general.
3. I love to knit and paint, but usually can't find time for both.
4. I love to eat out.
5. I particularly love sushi.
6. I love the movies, but sadly, rarely get to go these days.
7. I had my own graphic design business for a long time. Right now I'm trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up.
Well now - Spark is not only helping us get fit &healthy, and make friends internationally - but now we are helping each other's general knowledge &geography. Do you know - I had no idea that Cancun was not on the mainland. Sorry - but the Olympics took rather a centre stage (together with most other sports) in my family and our schools always had quiz questions &swatting and I can remember such trivia
I managed not to punch anything! In fact I patiently arranged a 3G modem with my Korean student who understands very little English and think I got him to understand the South African internet system pretty well.
Still disappointed though but not so frustrated. Something will materialise.
Thank you so much for your support on my Feeling Challenged blog. It was (and still is) greatly appreciated. I wasn't exactly trying to wow anybody, I just know that I feel stronger when I look my best - and I wasn't feeling it on Friday. But I made it there safely, DID wow some people, and am so grateful that I was able to be there. It was heartwarming to see how many people love him. I knew it all along, but to see everybody in one place was truly amazing.
