Old pals: new challenges

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Silence between friends

So when the emails stop there is usually a reason. I have been in my usual winter funk and I thought it was time to email Deb, my old pal and see what was going on in her life.

Wow, weird. I was JUST thinking about you…and your message pops up!

I can’t write a lot right now. Gotta get some work done, and at lunch I am putting on my sneakers and walking.

Time for me to get ON the horse….get my head in the game, etc. etc.

The month of January was a bust in some ways, but productive in others. I gained and lost the same 5 pounds…sigh…my scale was screaming this morning too.  I walked the dog for 15 minutes this morning and then did a 30 minute exercise tape. Brought healthy whole food.

I have done a lot of soul-searching and thinking this month. I think (once again) I set too many goals at once and didn’t do any of them well in January. 

So February is one thing and one thing only. From now on, I pick one goal per month…do it until it is a habit and then move on to the next thing. This month my only goal is to get the exercise into my daily routine and KEEP IT THERE. I will try and eat healthy, but if nothing else I MUST move my butt. I must set a goal I can stick with…so aside from walking the dog I want to try and do my exercise tapes 5x per week and throw in walks at lunch as much as possible. I even fear 5x per week is too much…but this month the scale has to MOVE…

I would love to be 20 pounds lighter by my birthday in April…but not sure that’s going to work.

I don’t want to set myself up for failure there either. One pound at a time…baby steps.

Gotta run…

My email to Deb.

Truth is that I did a shitty job of sticking with my New Year’s resolutions. I hate winter and I have let it once again sidetrack my efforts. But it is time for me to do the same as you. I need to set my goal for this month. Mine is to stop letting stress rule my life. I am realizing that it is my trigger to over eat. I am taking a new pair of tennis shoes to work and I am going to follow Joy’s advice and walk off my cravings. I am also going to take a yoga matt to work and steal a few minutes a day and stretch out after sitting for several hours. Then if I feel the need the eat something I am going to reach for my water bottle and drink until it feel full. At least, I will burn a few calories by running to the bathroom. You know that is one of the reasons they say that drinking water can speed up your metabolism. You got to burn calories getting rid of it.

Stay tuned to see how we do this month.

 

 

Old Pals New Challenges

Funny how those pictures in your scrapbooks can bring back memories of times gone by. You stick photos in the pages and close the book and time just goes by so quickly. Debbie and I were friends in college and then we were room mates when we moved to Washington D.C. after graduation.

We have many things in common like our midwest roots but it is our ability to make each other laugh that has kept us friends for nearly 30 years. We both have struggled with our weight for years. My problem was far greater than hers but a struggle is a struggle no matter how large the problem is.

Debbie has had health issues that has made her weight go up over the last few years and I am lending a friendly hand to teach her what I have learned as I overcame my own weight problem. Every journey begins with a single step so I asked Debbie to start holding herself accountable for her actions. I want my friend to be happy with herself and to be around for years to come so that I can torture with my antics forever.

Debbie’s first assignment was to write down her goals for herself for 2009. I also asked her to start holding herself accountable for her actions. She is wife and working mother of two. She is taking care of her job, her family and her freelance business on the side. The last one on her priority list is herself. I told her that the first thing that has to change is that she needed to start making time for herself. She has to be healthy for herself and her family and that will take her making time for it to happen. Not a great deal of time but yet a commitment none the less.

Over the next year we will be working together to teach her new habits that will allow her to feel better about her health and ulitimately about herself. Her first assignment was to write down her goals for 2009. Then I asked her to look at several of the diet plan books that worked for me. So off to the library she went and she liked the Suzanne Somers — “Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat Away”. In order to help her time manage her day I asked her to write down her daily routine so that I could get a picture of what her busy day is like. Here is her first homework assignment.

6:15 arise and make sure kids are up and getting ready for school.

6:30 pack kid’s lunches

6:45 walk the dog (usually 15-20 minute walk). Then shower, pack my own lunch and do small housework.

8:15 leave for work

8:30 - 5:00 work

5:15 home to feed the dog and start dinner.

6:30 dinner, dishes and clean up

7:30-9:30 freelance work (if any), banking, housework, laundry, ironing. There’s always something that needs done!

9:30-11:00 read, watch TV. I am a night owl. I often stay up too late (midnight and beyond). Trying to stop that habit!!

An email from her:

Hey Lisa,

I’ve been trying Suzanne Somers’ combo eating for the last two days. I have cheated twice, but with small things and have dropped three pounds. I realize those pounds might not be “real”…. sometimes over the holidays I “blimp” up, then when go back to regular eating I drop it. Who knows?

I’ve been thinking about the goals and think I was trying to formulate a much larger list. You are right, take it in small steps. One month at a time.

So here are my goals for January:

Begin a food and exercise journal.

Learn and follow the combination eating method from Suzanne Somers’ book.

Add 5 extra minutes of exercise 6 days per week. (so an extra 30 minutes per week).

Weekly check in: Debbie lost another pound and was holding herself more accountable for her actions. She walked the dog for 10 more minutes a day and realized that cookie dough is her enemy in the kitchen. Great start pal! By the way that is why I don’t bake cookies.  

 

Where do begin when you have nearly 30 years of memories to draw upon. Debbie and I met when we were both attending Ohio University. I was a photographer learning graphic design because well I was just drawn to the subject. Debbie was design major and we became friends when we spent countless all nighters in the old art building. There were many laughs then and it never stopped over the years. After college, I moved to Washington D.C and asked Debbie if she wanted to make the move and we became roomates. Two Ohio gals living in the big city. We loved our pad in the heart of the city. There were many parties at our cool apartment and many diets that we went on to try to offset all the parties that we attended. Recently, we had a good laugh when I brought up the cabbage diet that we tried. It was a large apartment but not large enough when we were both eating cabbage three times a day, if you know what I mean. I moved back to Ohio and Debbie stayed in D.C. and got married and had kids. We never lost contact but time and distance does have a way of coming in the way of old friends. When I would return to the city she was the first one I would call and say that I was coming to town just like when I did the weekend that the photo was snapped that began my weight loss journey. She is the one standing beside me. She like many of my friends are amazed that I was able to overcome obesity. Debbie is now battling a weight problem brought on by a busy schedule, a health condition and old father time. I asked her if she would like to join my blog and try to lose some weight by following my tips and she agreed.

We are excited about rekindling our friendship and we hope that our blog amuses you. Just two old friends talking about what gals talk about most, food, dieting and life.

Here are a few words from my pal:

My name is Debbie. I have been married for 19 years and have two children.

My daughter is 17 years old and my son is 14. I am a graphic designer by trade and I live in the suburbs of Washington, DC.

I generally was in good health and maintained a decent weight until I hit my 40s.

My metabolism began slowing down and I was slowly putting on weight.

Then I began experiencing symptoms over the course of a year including joint pain and debilitating fatigue. My blood tests were not within normal ranges.  In the fall of 2001 I was diagnosed with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) and began a battery of medications to get me back on track. By 2002 I had accumulated a weight gain of 50 pounds. I was miserable.

It has been 8 years now. It has been a long journey back to “normal”. For the past 3 years I have been maintaining my health with the exception of the extra weight.  It’s time to deal with the weight and start an exercise program I can live with.

Next week: I gave Debbie an assignment to write down her goals for this year.  I also asked her to write down her normal days schedule. Every Monday we will be checking in to mark her progress.