Wednesday, February 23, 2011

My Mother the Wii

Finally bought the Wii Fit Plus last weekend.
Got it set up with all my people coordinates - age, weight, height. How exciting!!
After I figured out how to get the thing going, I picked my Mii and put in my weight. And the computer in the game made my Mii bigger. A lesser person may have been upset - I found the humor and the truth in it.
Next, I picked a trainer, an exercise and was ready.
"Please step on the board" What manners I thought, as I stepped on.
"Oooh!" Excuse me? I got back off. And stepped back on.
"Oooh!" You are kidding me, I thought. Because this wasn't "Oooh" as in "Oooh lala!"
This was "Oooh!" as in "Oooh my aching back!" I absolutely couldn't help myself and laughed right out loud. "Ah well," I said to the game, "could have been worse, you could have said "OOMPH!"
I have to be honest, I cannot do a lot of the things yet. I fell twice off the tightrope before I moved to twists. I did fine there, but regular calisthenics are a bit boring, so I tried this bike ride around the island game. You know, that was a hoot! The faster you march in place the faster the bike goes and I had to slow down twice before my Mii simulated a wipe out!
I did try some sort of hit the number with a simulated hip movement to the back, sides and front game where you try to hit the numbers that add to 10. While I did fine side to side I could not hit a thing correctly with my backside. Which both confused and delighted me. Because there is a lot of Mii ... er... me .... back there.
At work Monday I was telling two co-workers about the "Oooh"ing. "When you gain weight it tells you," one of the said. Excuse me? "When you gain weight it says "Oh! You've put on a little weight!" The other one chimed in. "And asks where you are." What? "If you don't get on it for a while, and someone else plays, it will say 'Where is Ann? She hasn't been on in a while.'."
Nice. Nice. And now you know why I chose the title for this blog that I did.

A few people have asked why I don't have an email for comments. In the beginning, I thought it to be a little self serving. Their thought was if someone wanted to ask a question or offer advise, they may not want to do it in the comment section, so as they made their case, I decided I would give an email address at the end of each blog - which is weirlosingit@gmail.com
So, there you go - and I leave you with this - I hope you all are having as much fun exercising as I am! And again, thanks for reading this... it really does inspire me to continue!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Trepidation

I wasn’t going to report a weight loss until 10 pounds were shed. But 9.7 is close enough. Boy was that a hard fought fight. I hope the rest don’t take me this long. I know, I know. You didn’t get fat overnight. I have to be honest, that’s even more halting for me because this has been 50 years in the making. OK, not 50. Just seems like it.
I have gained some along the way, and lost again. This week I am sitting on a small gain. Actually, judging by the way my pants feel, I am more than confident I am sitting on it.
When I look at that 9.7 as an overall loss, I am a bit proud of myself and a little worried too, because, my goodness, the thought of being a healthy weight, though still a ways away, is daunting. You see, not only have I gotten comfortable, I have taken advantage of my girth. This weight of mine has gotten me out of riding roller coasters “Sorry, I don’t think the bar will fit me, you go ahead”, swimming (which I do not know how to do) “Oh, no, no thank you, I don’t look good in a bathing suit”, and I have used it when people don’t like me. “Oh, they don’t like me because of my weight.” Even in college, when I was up and down the scale, I used it as a reason for not having a boyfriend. “Well, I’m not skinny enough.”
And it’s those last two – reasons for not liking me - that frighten me. Because, what, after all is said and done, what if I find out it’s really me someone doesn’t like? What if someone doesn’t like my sense of humor? My laugh? The way I am direct? What if it’s really me? I do not like not being liked. I think most people feel that way.
What if I have a personality change and am no longer funny and witty? What if I drop friends along the way? What if I get new friends and wonder if they would have liked the old me?
It really shouldn’t be hard and sometimes I do put too much thought into things. But I know, from talking to people here and there who also have substantial weight to lose, that I am not the only one that feels the way I do right now.
I am going to be a whole new person. What if I change too much? In the past I have really let that one thing torpedo my diet – but I cannot anymore and I am really having a battle within.
I hope I succeed.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

What's Your Pleasure?

My mission?
Write about Guilty Pleasures.
You would think, since I blog about my struggle, and hopefully success, at downsizing my size, I would write a piece on foods. While food does bring me pleasure, and sometimes guilt, it is not my guilty pleasure.
You know that song "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney? I don't like that song.
But I do like silly sappy love songs.
Yes, me, the one who likes the Rolling Stones and Bruce and Santana. Heck I even like a little Guns and Roses and a bit of Eminem!
I love love love silly sappy love songs.
Celine Dion, Air Supply, Whitney Houston, Chicago. Richard Marx. The sappier the better.
I do not like to disclose that info. I like that people don't know I turn up Michael Bolton full blast on my car radio.
Those that know me a little, or don't know me at all, probably are thinking “What's the big deal?” but those who do know me? Do you know what they are thinking? “You have GOT to be kidding me!” because they know what I listen to. They know I like good music.
Sorry fellow love song aficionados. But you need only take Lyric Writing 101, and basically pass with a “C”, to write a good sappy song.
I give you as evidence “Honey” sung by Bobby Goldsboro, written by Bobby Russell. “See the tree, how big it’s grown, but friend it hasn’t been too long, it wasn’t big!” I mean, that line doesn’t even make sense! But, it is a great sappy song. It has all the requirements – sensitive singer, sensitive lyrics, soft musical arrangement, even a tearjerker ending.
Yes, sometimes those silly sappy songs can even bring a tear to my eye.
I can darn near feel the heartbreak, the need, the desire put fourth in three or four verses and a couple choruses.
It does not get any better than that.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Cheating? No not really

Morning Mind Bender on our local radio station: What number in the English language, when spelled out, has all its letters in alphabetical order?
I was the first caller and won! An extra-value meal at McDonald's! Wow, I thought. I can put this in my husband's lunch or give it to my son! How great is that!
Except I did not do either of those things. I, instead, upon picking up the coupon at the local radio station, went right to McDonald's for a #2 - Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal.
I wasn't going to worry about calories or points. I deserve this! I reasoned. My husband didn't call in and win. My son didn't call in and win. I did all the work. Besides, I work hard all week, go home and work. It's all work, work work! I deserve a break - today - just like the old jingle went.
So, as I sat in my cube, enjoying my meal, my supervisor's supervisor came down the hall. "I smell French Fries!" then she looked in my cube and gave me a look "I smell French Fries?" as in, "Coming from your cube?" I tried to reason with her - they were without fat, calories or points because I won them.
Nope, she wasn't buying what I was selling. I heard laughter from other cubes.
So, as it goes, I do not deserve a break because I knew the answer, because I work, or because I make up rules as I go along.
I do deserve to be healthy and pay attention to everything I eat and adjust the rest of the day accordingly - by not starting over.
So, here I sit, full on a 23 points plus meal. I have 12 left for snack and dinner and I can use my weekly points. Five minutes ago it was worth it - now? Not so much.
But it's in the books.
We do need breaks, all of us. But better alternatives are reading, soaking in a hot bath, walking, even emailing friends, these are all positive ways to have a break.
Oh, and that number that caused all this trouble? The one spelled alphabetically correct?
Forty.
Have a good week! And count what really counts!