Progress

  Thank G-d I did not gain this week- I stayed the same, which considering my overeating over the weekend, is good enough.  I probably managed that because this week I REALLY tried hard to keep to my plan,

[image: Drawing of swimmer.] 

  But my real progress has been with exercise. My aerobic walking speed has increased from 1100 steps in 10 minutes to up to 1200. And tonight I swam 50 laps-which I have done in the past, BUT the first 40 laps (my normal amount) I did in record time. Once it took me an hour to do the 40 laps (which equal a kilometer), and recently I managed to do them in about 56 minutes. Tonight I did them in 53. THAT'S progress!

Feeling Young, looking older

When I was obese, people used to tell me I had a "young face". Well, the last five to ten kilos (I have lost 75) have given me a LOT of wrinkles. But I knew that this would happen, and when I started losing I said: 
I can look young and feel old (staying overweight) OR 
I can look old and feel young. 

And I am glad I chose the second! 
I FEEL SSOO much younger.  

The only problem is that now I want to look young, too!    In spite of reading Batya's post...)

The Weight-Loss Black Eye

    Now it would certainly be an acceptable query to ask "What in the world does weight loss have to do with black eyes?"  

So here is the answer:

   Saturday night I discovered to my horror that not only had the thingamajig that hold the toilet seat to the ceramic seat broken, but that when the seat had broken previously, I had neglected to buy (as I generally do) a replacement thingamajig ("pin"?) so as to have one available NEXT time as well. AND I was expecting a daughter in law for the holiday (sundown Sunday to sundown Monday)…..so buying a pin PRONTO was clearly mandatory.

  So although I knew I would not be able to purchase one nearby, hardware stores in our town being closed for the holidays, this was not really a problem. I wanted to get an hour walk in on Sunday, before the holiday, so I would make the half hour walk to the big shopping area just outside our town at a good aerobic clip, and back and forth would give me my hour of exercise. So I set out…..

   As I neared the store, I suddenly found myself face down against the sidewalk, having tripped over something, although I could not identify WHAT. Someone from a passing car (that stopped) answered my "I'm OK" with  a pointed observation that my face was bleeding. I had a gash, and they graciously gave me water to wash up with, and a tissue to use to apply pressure. I checked the wound in their side-view mirrors, and determined that I could survive without further treatment for an hour. So I completed my quick shopping spree (checking for bleeding every few minutes), and on the way home stopped in at a quick mini medical service ("TEREM"). They glued the gash together, but the doctor warned me that I would have a black eye as a result. And yes, by that evening I definitely had one, which grew over the next two days to this:

   So WHAT (you may still be wondering, does this have to do with weight loss? Because two weeks ago I ALSO fell, as well as a few days ago (although I managed to escape that second fall with no more than some bruising to my shoulder and knee). And every time I was wearing the SAME skirt. The same bit-too-loose skirt that needed repeated hitching up. So since I have NOT fallen while wearing other skirts, I am NOT running to a neurologist, but am finally chucking out the old skirt.

  So treat yourself to new clothes as you lose, rather than opting for a black eye (or two or more).

Josh's Laugh

    It was Saturday evening. My son Josh and his family had been with us for the Sabbath, and would soon be heading home. But before leaving, he sat his girls down next to my computer, in order to show them an "album" of pictures I had prepared of Ricki. After all, his young daughters only knew Ricki in the last few years. They had never seen earlier photos of her.

    Suddenly from the kitchen (where I was washing dishes that had piled up over the weekend), I heard Josh give a big chuckle in the other room. "Mom," he called me, "You just HAVE to come here and see this!"

  

    As I entered the room Josh pointed to this picture, which was taken in 2007 in Colorado, when Ricki and I visited my parents. Josh then smiled, and shared with me that when his eldest daughter saw the photo, she pointed to the figure on the left, saying "There's Ricki!" Then she pointed to the figure on the right, "But WHO is THAT?!?"

    "That", concluded Josh to his daughter, is your 'Bubee' (grandmother)!"

(GRIN)

So Far, It is Working

    For about a full week already we have a gate to the kitchen. Not a "keep-the-toddler-out-from-under-my-feet" gate, but a "let's help-Ricki-live" gate. Ricki's continued weight gain has reached terrifying proportions, despite all of our attempt to cajole, threaten, plead, and teach.We have tried dietitians, adjusting her medicines… all to no avail. So we finally realized that we had no choice but to lock the kitchen and refrigerator off bounds. Which we have done.

   We thought that Ricki would throw tantrums, but she didn't. It is almost as if she is relieved. SHE WANTS to be healthy, but she doesn't manage to fight her evil inclination, as is true with many of us.

No Shortcuts!

   Why am I sitting down in the middle of the morning to write this blog post, when I really have better things to do?

   Well, I am one of those persons that our sages call “truth zealots” – people who have trouble seeing lies and shutting up about it. That’s one factor.

   The second factor is that due to religious restrictions (lasting about a month) on listening to instrumental music, I have been listening to a (religious) radio station while working, rather than my MP3 music collection. And, invariably I am subjected to their ads. And the problem is that whenever the ads play, my blood boils, until finally I gave up and say now to write my reaction….

   So what has me up at arms? There are SO many things wrong in the world, but the blatant lies of a weight-loss pill company has me boiling.

   “Lose weight! Eat all you want! Abandon your unnecessary diets! Lose up to 8 kilos a month! Join the thousands who have lost (with our product)”

   Is there anyone who believes this  %^>*$##*$$& rubbish  ???

   The only way to lose weight in a healthy way, long term, is through SENSIBLE diet and exercise. And 8 kilos a month is not plausible. True, you can easily lose 2 kilos the first week of a diet, but it won’t continue that way.

    Losing weight sensibly means figuring out what is triggering your overeating, and finding other (non-food) means to achieve those things.

   And if anyone out there is hoping that maybe, just maybe, this   %^>*$##*$$&  works, the proof that it doesn’t is in their own advertising.

   If YOU had lost weight successfully with a miracle product, wouldn’t you tell your overweight friends? Of course you would. So IF they had “thousands” of successful weight-loss clients, believe me, they WOULDN’T have to pay for prime-time advertizing…….

   Sorry. There are no shortcuts. But believe me, this “long and winding road” to true weight loss is doable, enjoyable, and FUN!

The Sale

Once (about two years ago) I was in a big-size clothing store when I overheard a customer complaining about the truly exorbitant prices. The saleswoman noted that big sizes need more cloth, but that excuse was (and is) a flimsy one. The truth is that the store, knowing that their shoppers have few choices as regards where to obtain ready-made clothing in large sizes, can charge whatever they want. (The cloth in a 300shekel blouse, even in size 60, costs at the most 60-100 shekel.) The only option is for shoppers to wait until the end-of-the-season-sale, when they can buy the blouse at a regular (but not regular SALE) price. So this year I had a real pleasure. Finally I am what is considered a “normal” size. A size that appears in the racks of “sale” clothing in normal stores… So I went and tried on a few things, bought a few items that were a bit snug (they ought to be perfect next winter), as well as a few summer items that I found. Losing weight is FUN!!! GRIN.

On Dangly Earrings and Leather jackets ….

Once upon a time, I could only buy whatever clothes I could find in my size, and there were not many. They were few and expensive. But except when I had time to sew, I had little choice, and sometimes was even forced to purchase articles that I didn’t even like.
As I lost weight, I reveled in the new experience of shopping with the knowledge that I had a CHOICE.
Now the clothing we wear is telling. Some women prefer sporty clothing, and some more feminine. What we choose to wear tells a bit about how we identify ourselves.
Suddenly, having a choice , I discovered that my tastes in clothing is changing. I am purchasing clothing that is more “young” than I used to. Then a month and a half ago I got daring: I saw in a store a pair of VERY LONG earrings, which I LOVED. But they were awfully long. But I got them anyway.
(And to tell you how much I LOVED them, consider this: Ricki one day took the earrings from my closet, and went with them to the living room. Then apparently she heard me coming in, and she “destroyed the evidence” by pitching them out the window! I discovered this all two days later, by which time one was lost forever. So I went back to the store and repurchased them. At least they were not expensive….)
The a few weeks ago I was in a store and saw a LOVELY leather jacket. And it looked lovely on me. It reminded me of coats I had always adored but could never fit into as a teen. So even though I am probably the only almost-60 year old lady in my town with such a coat, I bought it anyway.
I like the jacket, but unfortunately it DOES have connotations. Last week I wore it to a meeting with some friends and they quipped as I entered “Where’s your motorcycle?”
But I really was looking forward to my soldier-sons’s reactions. I imagined them complimenting my taste. The other morning one of them saw the coat, and his reaction?

“Hey Mom, where’s your Harley Davidson???”
YIKES!

But I am wearing it anyway.
I have a CHOICE.

Already my Life is Safer

At nearly 30 kilos off my highest weight, I can confidently claim that my life is safer. Why? Because I can fasten the seatbelt in friend's cars when they give me a lift somewhere. Before, I often couldn't, and pretended to fasten the belt as I prayed that there would not be an accident.....

"Keep on Keeping On"

"Keep on Keeping On" is one of the regular phrases used by people in alcoholic anonymous. Now I usually do not get too excited by the rote repetition of phrases, or with people telling me what I should think. But Tuesday I saw that motto mentioned in Jeane Eddy Westin's TheThin Book 2, and it suddenly made so much sense. I was planning to weigh myself later in the day, knowing full well that my indulgences (again!) over Shabbas would probably do the whole week's loss in. But this phrase reminded me that one week's weight was not that important in and of itself. Much more of a concern is that this behavior is becoming repetitive….
So I decided instead to center on "Keep on Keeping On"… including a concrete plan to prevent the same behavior next week. (Number one being to NOT make pumpkin pie for desert…..).
And, by the way, this is true of SO many things. Years ago a wise young lady (my mom) told me that many times people can go through a hard time, a bout of depression, a period of bleakness. "The important thing is to keep on doing what needs to be done, to take one day at a time." Ie., to keep on going on.
So whatever your trials are, whatever you are struggling with… just keep on keeping on. Hopefully, eventually, the path will become a bit easier, or you will grow to walk the trail of your trial with head held high and confident.
(PS As it turned out, I even lost a smidgen of weight, although it was much less than what could have been.)