Words from my diet buddy
December 17, 2008 by lisagriffis
Filed under Uncategorized
Mary and I during our weekly weighing in the company mailroom. It was the only scale we could find at work. But it worked, we are both winners.
I’ve been the quintessential yo-yo dieter all my life. I was on the way-too-high end of my adult weight range when my colleague Lisa Griffis threw down the gauntlet — Let’s do a weight-loss challenge.
I’ve done such challenges before with good results. But this challenge felt a little different. Lisa is my weight-loss heroine. How could I compete with the woman who lost more than half of her body weight by eating right and exercising sensibly?
Lisa asked me for a dollar bill. She framed my bill with one of her own — that’s the plaque to which she has referred on more than one occasion. It’s the talisman of success that we’ve passed between us since the middle of May, based on which one lost a greater percentage of weight.
Yes, I’ve lost more weight than Lisa has… until recent weeks. I had more weight to lose than she did. But my mother’s death of heart failure a year ago, partly caused by lifelong obesity, had stopped motivating me to get my weight under control.
Lisa went to New York this fall to be on the Joy Luck Club show. She accepted a new challenge from Joy — lose the 20 pounds that stood between her and her ultimate goal. Lisa’s narrowed that gap by more than half. Now, it’s Lisa who’s kicking MY butt.
