weigh-2-go.org

This is Part 1 of 4 topics based on a seminar I give for the Ladies Get Fit class at the YMCA. To see the series, click the “weight loss seminar” category.

A long time ago, I would make up my mind to lose weight, but I would keep my resolve a secret. I think there were many reasons for this:

• It’s my life and my body and nobody else’s–so my motivation should come from inside.
• Weren’t people tired of hearing about me wanting to lose weight anyway?
• If I failed, no one would be the wiser!

It’s the first one that I think is the real killer. I’m not sure if everybody feels this way, but i know I have talked to other people (happened to be women, for what that’s worth) who felt this too. It is as if we are supposed to have enough motivation from within that we should be able to meet these goals and fight these battles on our own.

So, for all these reasons, we try to do all this on our own.

What made the Ladies Get Fit class work for me was that I knew there was a whole gang of women trying to do the same thing I was. I knew that if I didn’t make class twice a week, I would be missed. And, I kept a journal for the class leader that had my food and my other exercise (not all the exercise was in class). So I was accountable for the entire process.

Later, when I joined Weight Watchers, the same principle applied. I knew someone would miss me at the meetings. And, even though my weight results weren’t public, I knew that they were being recorded…and that I would get a gold star every time I hot a 5-pound mark.

So, the accountability piece doesn’t have to be heavy handed. No one was ever grilling me on my behavior or results. But the little, subtle things made a huge difference–like that gold start at Weight Watchers, or being able to lift as much weight as all the other women in the class.

So my first principle is: Put other people in the plan. And look for little ways to be accountable to them.

In addition to the usual email solicitations, I am organizing a “coffeehouse” style musical event to raise money for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. So far the time and date are set: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett (right next to Ronald Reagan Parkway on Bethesda Church Road exit), on Saturday, October 11.

So far the performers include myself (yes, I will blog about that), the UUCG House Band, and singer-songwriter and recording artist Jeff Silver.

Save the date!

My real weight loss progress began in a program called Ladies Get Fit at the Ashford-Dunwoody YMCA. It’s a multi-faceted program that includes exercise classes, nutritional counseling, and some motivational seminars. Since I’ve had success in the program, I now offer one of those seminars. Last week I gave the quarterly talk.

It is always good for me to give the talk because I get reinforcement for sticking with my own plan. Plus, preparing for it is an occasion for me to sit down and remember how I did it, and what new approaches made me successful this time.

The basic points of the seminar would make good blog topics, and I hope that my readers will chime in with additional insights.

The basic points of my own experience are:

• Big changes in our lives involve other people–and the process of losing weight, especially if it involves a change to body image, is no exception.
• Everybody already knows how to lose weight.  (Sounds simple, but there are lots of corollaries to this point.)
• The process is not linear, and can’t be perfectly planned out.  I want to bust what I call the “Bowflex Myth” that you can change your life in just 20 minutes per day, 3 times per week.
• The process is iterative, meaning that you start over and start over and start over, all the time.

I’ll go into detail on all of these points in future posts.

It’s Wednesday night and I have a half a pint of ice cream in my refrigerator.

It’s been there since last Friday night, when I ate the first half of the pint. That’s 5 days.

It is Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough with Brownies. One of my favorites.

And still it sits. 5 days!!!

Maybe tonight. Maybe not.

A year ago, a month ago, I would have never conceived such a thing to be possible.

You might say, “Well, if you’re not hungry, you wouldn’t eat the ice cream.” To which I would have replied, “Hunger? Hunger? It’s ice cream! It’s Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough with Brownies! What does hunger have to do with it?”

But alas, I think hunger is the issue. Fascinating!

This quote kept coming to mind today, so even though everyone has probably seen it a thousand times and might be sick of it, I’m gonna post it in a blog for about the 1,546,244th time. It’s by Marianne Williamson (here’s a Wikipedia entry about it). There’s a “God” angle to it, and if you’re not into that, please bear with me for the commentary below. The emphasis below (bold) is mine.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

This quote was on my mind because yesterday I did a pretty “shiny” thing: I put out a press release about myself. (More on the details later.) The act of publicizing my weight loss sometimes makes me feel so absurd that I laugh out loud, and sometimes just makes me think, “Hm!  Actually, who am I not to put out a press release?” Not that I’m on a particular crusade to liberate anybody, but on the other hand, my playing small–or being afraid to play big–would not serve the world. So I’m feeling a lot less self-conscious about the prospect of publicity than I would have thought.

I would never presume to speak for everyone who has struggled with weight, but speaking only for myself: I do think that when I was overweight, I was afraid to be fabulous. And now, truth be told, I don’t claim any strong inner sense of “fabulousness.” I have had butterflies in my stomach a lot since, oh, I got down to around Size 12. I wonder if this is a common experience. Yet I would rather feel my fear of fabulousness than bury it. So when I feel the butterflies, I want to remember to ask myself, “Who am I not to be fabulous?”

Today I trained with a 3-Day Team and walked 10 miles! It was challenging—maybe even more challenging that I was expecting—but we did it in less that 3 hours and it was inspiring to know that I could go that far already. Woo hoo!

There were 14 women walking all over the neighborhoods between Peachtree Battle Shopping Center and Howell Mill Rd. We must have looked like quite impressive walking through the neighborhoods in such a pack.

Many thanks to Mary Sorrel and Lara Lowman, (They are on a team called “For The Love Of Boobs”–click here for their web page) for being my connection to a great training group.

Shameless Solicitation: Support my 3-Day Breast Cancer walk by donating here.

This evening I attended an orientation meeting for Team in Training (TnT), for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. I have heard nothing but great things about this program from others who have participated. The events are mostly running and/or walking 10Ks, half-marathons, and marathons.

Unlike the Breast Cancer 3-Day, where travel is not part of the package, the L&L Society has fewer events and incorporates the cost of travel and expenses into your fundraising goal. So, I could sign up with these folks, get several months of coaching for a half-marathon, and get a “free” trip to a warm place next January (Phoenix or Orlando) in exchange for raising about $3500.

The L&L Society has their act together, too. Their orientation meeting was very well put together. They offer what looks like really great training and support. There were plent of TnT veterans on hand to tell personal stories about the positive impact of the fundraising, as well as the benefits for participants: camaraderie, inspiration, and doing something worthwhile.

My only reservation—only one!…but it’s a big one—is that if I start signing up for these events one after another, I will be asking my friends and family for money constantly. Not only will I have the hobby of training for a marathon…I will take on the hobby of fundraising for charity. Perhaps I have been naive but the depth of commitment required has only just now hit me.

Am I up for this?

Quantum Wellness is all the rage the last few weeks, since it was featured on Oprah. A co-worker was telling me about it today. It’s a 21-day cleanse from all animal products (so it is vegan), plus alcohol, wheat gluten (bread and all baked goods), refined sugar, and caffeine.

I have always known these things were detrimental to my health, and at one time or another I have given up all of them–but never all at once. This cleanse sounds fabulous. But could I do it? Magic 8 Ball says: “Outlook Not So Good.” At least that’s the way I feel now–even though in other respects I am still pretty disciplined.

What the Quantum Wellness story reminds me of is this: being healthy is not logical. We can’t just know what is good for us and act on it. We see this every day, but I’m not sure most people are really conscious of it. We are creatures of cravings and impulses. Health is more than what we know–it is a reflection of how we react to the culture we live in.

My culture is fundamentally unhealthy. I am surrounded by addictive substances everywhere–they tempt me. Plus, the air I breathe is polluted, and the job I do keeps me sedentary. I was not built for the lifestyle that my culture dictates.

(Gee, I’m just ranting here, but that’s what a blog is for, right?)

At any rate, I keep coming to the conclusion that health is counter-culture. We have to be radical to be healthy. Eventually, the sane thing to do is to change our culture–but meanwhile we must be subversive.