Broadcast motivation

Ok, so it's time to get back on the horse and go back to the pre-holiday routine. I admit, I went off the rails a bit. I'm not beating myself up too badly though - to me, it seems pretty normal to eat a little more and gain a few pounds in December. It'll come off just getting back to doing what I should be doing. The key to holiday overindulgence is not to let it become a habit. It's easier said than done, I know, but really...un-doing all my hard work over a sugar cookie just ain't gonna happen.

Plus there's new incentive to do well. A good friend of mine, Debbie, has set up a group called Bo Peeps through the show The Biggest Loser for their Pound for Pound Challenge. For every pound we lose, the show will donate 11 cents to Feeding America. That's enough for one pound of food for the local food bank of your choice. We are pledging for Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee which is a charity close to Bo's heart. Uh. That's Bo Bice, of course. Do you know me at all? If you check us out on the teams page, you will see a link to our Facebook page. Why not try it? You just click on the 'pledge' tab and follow the steps. If you want to pledge for Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee, use the zip code 37228. But you can pledge for any food bank you like; just join the Bo Peeps team! So far we have 76 members pledging 2,168 pounds. You can also pledge maintenance, which they count as the equivalent of 10 pounds.

Here is Bo volunteering for Second Harvest. I love the first line - Bo is a joker!


I pledged 10 pounds. That'll take me to 189. I know I always said that 194 was my goal and I didn't care if I lost any after that but it wouldn't kill me to lose a few more, as my BMI is still in the 'overweight' category. I hate the frickin' 'charts' that tell you what you're supposed to weigh but I think I need another goal in mind to keep me on track for now. Like I said, it won't kill me.

There's a plethora of motivation on the airwaves to start off the new year! I love to watch shows that focus on weight loss because it gets me off my ass. I watch and think 'if they can do that so can I.' Here are a few to consider. I have my PVR set to record them all:

The Biggest Loser Of course! I was surprised that a new season started so soon after the end of the previous one (less than a month ago), but very happy nonetheless! Last season was a bit of a downer as game play seemed to be more important to some of the contestants than losing weight, but so far this season looks to be quite interesting. Two new trainers are available to the contestants and this is Jillian Michaels' last season at the ranch. That's kinda like Simon Cowell leaving American Idol. The show will never be the same. It's brought me tremendous motivation and clarity over the past two years and I highly recommend the show to anyone, whether you're trying to lose weight or not.

I Used to be Fat follows teenagers in the summer between their senior year and first year of college. I've watched the first two episodes and am reminded of the time I took off 80 pounds my senior year of high school. It was so incredible to be normal. Being fat as a kid or teen is incredibly hard. My weight loss didn't last very long, unfortunately. I'm rooting for these kids, bless their hearts.

Heavy follows people for 6 months as they attempt to transform their lives. It's not a competition; click on the link and watch the video. Inspiration? Oh yeah. It starts January 15 on A&E.

Ruby starts its third season in March on the Style network in the States. Canada has to wait a while after that for it to air on E! Canada, but it's worth the wait. Ruby Gettinger has lost almost 400 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. If she can do that, you can lose whatever you need to lose. That's it, end of discussion. I watched the first season faithfully then lost track of the second season - they kept moving it around on me! I hope they release it on DVD - the first season is available but only in a 'best of' package which I don't understand. Why not offer full episodes? I love her, she is awesome!

There are also magazines that I'll buy just so I can read the success stories for inspiration. Off The Couch, special editions of Oxygen magazine, is one of my favorites. I'll also buy Wight Watchers, Self, anything I see that can be of help to help me stay on track.

Look around and you'll no doubt find someone's story that will resonate with you. Relating to others helps me in a big way.

Approaching milestone

I've been gone for a few days - I went home to Ohio for our family reunion. Usually, I'm there for over a week but I decided to only go for a few days this time. Since my grandmother's death, I was afraid this might be the last get-together. I was exhausted and still recovering from surgery but I decided I needed to make the trip.

It was good to be home, even for a short while. Everyone commented on my weight loss - and I was just there in late May for grandma's funeral so I guess the metamorphosis is happening quickly. My mother insisted on taking me shopping for some new clothes. What a whole new world already! In the past, I would look for things I could wear, not necessarily what I liked. I might take 3 or 4 things in the biggest size the store carried into the dressing room with me. Nine times out of 10, I wouldn't be able to wear a thing. This time, I had room to move up or down a size and had to pick and choose things to buy because I could wear everything I tried on. Wow, that's pretty cool. And my feet are shrinking right along with the rest of me. Interesting!

We drove onto Ohio after I went to my re-scheduled appointment at Henry Ford on Wednesday. Evidently I'm still doing everything right, which is a relief. I'm really afraid of screwing this up. LOL! I was told I wasn't eating or drinking enough, though. I never thought anyone would ever tell me I wasn't eating enough! So I need to up my caloric intake but it's hard. I'm rarely hungry and still can't eat much more than 1/4 cup at a time. The drinking is a whole 'nother thing. The math doesn't add up, dude. How can I get in 64 oz. a day when I can't drink 30 min. before or after meals and they want me to eat 5 times a day?? Plus I can't drink much at one time, soooo....I'm lost. I guess I'll just do the best I can.

My weigh-in went well and I now know that, as of today, I have lost 97 lbs. I'm using a different, lesser-capacity scale at home and it's more in line with the scale at Henry Ford so hopefully I won't get confused anymore about my total weight loss :-)

The 100-lb. milestone will be here before I know it. I want my tattoo! I've talked about getting a tat to commemorate the whole Bo Bice experience for years. A baby chick, or something 'peep' related. *Bo refers to his fans as Bo Peeps* I am definitely not interested in getting his name, initials, picture or anything like that - um, no. I love the man, but I love my husband more and I think that's disrespectful to him. The peep is Erich approved, however. LOL! There's a guy here locally, Tim, who's tattooed and pierced many people we know and love (including Erich) so he is the one I will go to when the time comes. I already have one tattoo and it HURT. A lot. So this is a big deal for me, getting another one!

Thanks bunches for hanging in there with me! I know I have several new subscribers so 'hey'! *waves irrationally* The blogspot subscriber thing is weird. I have 'followers', which can be seen at the side of entries, and I have subscribers - who number far more than the followers. I wish there was a way to combine them?? Probably is and I'm too dunce to figure it out. Ah well. Welcome everyone and I love ya'll!

Reward system

Well, I lost the 4 lbs. I gained last week, but I'm still frustrated. I realized I'm only down 4 lbs. since I saw Dr. Genaw on April 24th. That ain't good enough. I'm doing what I always have - maybe a slight plateau is setting in? Sigh. This week I plan to concentrate on moving more. Exercise, exercise, exercise. That scale needs to show me something good next Friday.

I decided I'm going to institute a reward system for myself. I've read about lots of people doing this so I'm gonna give it a go. I deserve that, I think. Losing weight is hard and it's good to have a treat to look forward to. So here's what I came up with so far.

50 lbs. = pedicure. I've never had a professional pedicure in my life. I just do it myself. I have a thing about people messing with my feet. In short, I hate it. But I do see the need for pedicures and have always wanted to get one done by a pro. So I'll bite the bullet and overcome a fear while treating myself nicely.

100 lbs. = peep tattoo. Ok, I got a tat back in 2006 on the Bo trip to Texas with my fellow staffers at The Bice Effect. Most of you know the story: We all went to Texas for 2 shows and were together all in the same place for the first time. To commemorate the occasion, we all got tats (yes, even Lecia). Mine is a dark green, circular Celtic knot on the inside of my right lower calf. I love it! I've wanted another one ever since but as I've mentioned before, I'm a wuss when it comes to pain. That tat freakin' HURT. It hurt more than I thought it would, even! But I really want a few more, especially something to honor this experience of being a Bo Bice fan. It's about so much more than him at this point. Being a Bo Peep is a lifetime gig, as one fan put it. I'd like to get a little yellow chick somewhere. Again, it's about accomplishments and overcoming fear. I'll sit in the chair again for the peep. ;-)

Beyond that, I don't know. Every 50 lbs. seems a good system. I'll have to think of something big for the 150-lb. mark. Yes, I want to lose that much and more. Hmm. By that point, maybe it'll be something to do with being smaller - like doing something I've never been able to do since I'm so big. Riding a roller coaster maybe.

Just a final FYI - if you subscribed to this blog in the beginning and don't get notifications, I encourage you to re-subscribe via email. My feed wasn't working properly when I began this thing (totally my fault) but it seems ok now because I know some people do get notifications. Peace! And thanks for reading.