Week 3 - Woo Hoo!

Three weeks into this weight loss, and I'm now down 17.5 pounds.  After last week, I only expected to lose two or three this week.  But another 5.5 pounds!  I have a long way to go, but I can feel a little difference in the way my pants are fitting.  I haven't tightened up the belt yet, but it's not far off.

After hearing how it's going for me, Jane wanted to try give Herbalife a try.  I bought some for her, and we'll see how it goes for her.  I know Mom started it about a week ago, and I think she's down a couple of pounds already.

I'm going to keep on doing this until it stops working, or I have a breakdown and attack a girl scout for her cookies! 

Ticketstock 2014

January 24, 1994.  I remember that day very well.  It was the first day of the first all-sports radio station in the Dallas/Ft. worth area.  I remember thinking that it was going to be cool to listen to a fun sports station.  But I didn't know how attached I would get to the personalities on the shows.

I was just back from spending time with my family in Borger over the Christmas holiday.  It was a different kind of holiday.  It was the first Christmas since my Dad passed away.  Everyone tried their best to go on, and make it as normal as possible.  But it was still different.  Difficult at times.
I always love seeing my family, but it did hurt to see everyone act as if nothing was different.  I remember doing my best to stay upbeat and positive, but when I got back to Arlington I had a hard time.  I'm not sure why it took almost 10 months after my Dads death for it to really hit me, but it did.  I remember going to work and having to hold back my emotions just to keep from crying during the day.  When I would get home,  I just wanted to go to bed.  It was not a good time.

So when this dumb radio station started up, I didn't think much about it.  But from the very beginning, I was hooked.  With time, I started laughing again.  The guys on the radio brought me out of my depression.  It didn't make me miss my Dad any less, but I realized I could still enjoy life and not wallow in my own sadness.

So this weekend I went to the Dallas Convention Center, and laughed my butt off as I watched and listened to the guys on the Ticket celebrate their 20th anniversary.  They told all kinds of stories about their last 20 years and it was so much fun!  They'll never really know how their humor helped me out, but I'm really thankful they were there.

I think Dad would get a chuckle out of them too.

Week 2

The weight loss continues.  I lost 4 more pounds this week, so I'm down 12 pounds so far.  I'm kind of surprised that it hasn't been more difficult so far.  I'm usually good for about a week, and then I lose interest.  So, when I say I'm two weeks into this and it's not too bad, that's kind of amazing to me.

In a way, I had hoped for more.  But I've read that a healthy weight loss is about two pounds a week.  That's kind of what I'm expecting from here on out.  But if I can do a couple of pounds a week, I'll be OK with that.  I'll just have to stay away from the beef jerky I found so tasty this week!

Today was my first weigh-in since I started my "lifestyle change".  I had no clue if I had really lost any weight until I stepped on that scale.  So, after 7 full days of being good, and following what I'm supposed to do, I lost 8 pounds.  Woo-Hoo!  I'm so relieved to know that it was actually working. 
It's way too early to tell any kind of difference in how I feel or clothes fit, but it's a start.  I may have to give this thing another chance.  So today I'll start week two, and see where it takes me. 
I haven't really set a goal, but I created this graph to keep up with my progress.  I would like to see if I can lose 50 pounds by the July 4th holiday.  (maybe even more)  So I'll update this each Wednesday with my progress, good or bad, to keep myself honest.  Now I'm off to have lunch!

Yesterday would have been Mimi's 100th birthday.

I had a dream about her the night before last.  In the dream a bunch of the family was going shopping at a big mall in the Dallas area.  We had to park our car in a parking garage, and then walk a couple of blocks to get to the mall.  As we are walking in this crowded area, I noticed an older white car coming down the street in the wrong direction.  The car was moving real slow, and weaving back & forth.  All of a sudden, I realized it was Mimi.  She was trying to find us, and she was lost.  We were able to safely stop her and get her out of the car.  She was so happy to see us!  I remember hugging her and not wanting to let her go.  That's when I woke up.  Dang it, I wanted a few more minutes to hug her and talk to her.

Dreams can be so dumb sometimes.  But other times they can give you a moment you want...or need.
So I decided to post a note about Mimi on Facebook.  I did it for myself, just to make me feel better.  I didn't expect all the responses it got.  Some people posted nice comments about what I wrote.  But what I didn't expect was to hear from several friends I hadn't heard from in years.  That was really unexpected, and fun!  I even had some folks at work come up to me the next day and tell me how nice the Facebook posting was.
Happy birthday Mimi.  I miss you.

OK, it's been years since I put anything on this blog.  But its a new year, and I feel like its going to be a new me.  I'm finally going to try to take some weight off and get healthy.  It's going to be a long fight, and I don't expect it to be easy, but it has to be done.  I'm going to post honest results here each week.  I hope each post will be good news, but if I struggle every now and then I've got to be strong enough to continue.  I'm so dang proud of my sister Julie, and the success she's had in losing weight.  She looks great, and more importantly, she's happy with the way she looks and feels.  That's where I want to be.  Cliff has also lost a bunch of weight over the last few months  He also looks great.  Wendye is also losing a lot of weight doing the Herbalife system.  It sure seems to be working for her too.
So, with all that said, I'm giving myself a whole year to reach my goal.  I didn't get this big overnight, so I can't rush getting it all off.  I'm hoping to be down to 200 pounds (or less) by this time next year.  Here we go...