
I went to see the movie, “The Bucket List,” yesterday morning. I really enjoyed it and it made me do some thinking. The premise is that these two men (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) have learned that they have six months to a year left to live, so they create this Bucket List, or a list of things they want to do before they “kick the bucket.” Morgan Freeman’s character in the movie states statistics in which they asked 1000 people whether they would want to know the exact date of their death. He said that 96% of the people stated they [ ... ]

It seems like every time I turn around there’s another product touting it’s 100-calorie-ness in my face. Don’t get me wrong, I swear by these things. I couldn’t have lost the weight I have without them. If your problem is portion control, they’re a god-send. If your problem is portion control combined with a tight budget, they’re horrifying.
I know that in the interest of saving money, I should just buy a bigger bag of the same product and divide it out into individual portions. This is easier said than done, however. I just don’t trust myself. It’s way too easy to say, “hey [ ... ]

Kraft Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese is a beautiful, beautiful thing. I’ll start out by saying I hate salad. Okay, I don’t really hate it, but it is pretty far down on my list of things that I would choose to eat if I were hungry. I do, however, want all of the lovely nutritional benefits that go along with it. I’m not a dressing person, so I can take the dressing or leave it, but cheese….ahhhh, cheese. Beautiful, blissful, utopian cheese. I could live on cheese.
I hate, however, using part of my daily points allowance (Weight Watchers’ Flex Plan) on [ ... ]

Collar bones. Most people don’t even think twice about them, other than to say perhaps, “hey those are cool.” But to someone who has lost a lot of weight, they’re fascinating. I’ve always looked at other people’s collar bones in envy. I mean, I knew I had them, but I have to admit I’d begun to doubt it.
For the past 15 years at least, I could barely feel them, let alone see them just by looking. I think of all the *perks* (and that tells you how sad I am that I consider this a perk) of losing weight, finally being [ ... ]

For my birthday, I went to Branson, MO for the weekend. I know, I know – why Branson? To be honest, I just wanted to see the World’s Largest Titanic Museum (which I highly recommend to anyone with the slightest bit of interest in the Titanic).
While I was there, however, we visited The Butterfly Palace. You’ve probably heard of these types of places before. You go into a large room in which hundreds of butterflies fly around your head. At times it was both stunning and frightening (coming from someone with a distinct dislike of bugs). Many of the butterflies [ ... ]

I firmly believe that overeating (or food in general) can become a serious addiction. As with any drug, food can become a compulsion – eating can become a need that you find yourself unable to control. You can find yourself in a state where suddenly you’re halfway through a bag of Cheetos and you don’t even realize what you’re doing.
Unfortunately, within our society, drug addicts and alcoholics seem to be looked on with much more sympathy than an overweight person. Overweight people are merely assumed to be lazy, stupid people. Often, this is far from the case. Some people are overweight due [ ... ]

When you’re on a weight loss journey, nothing feels better than what in Weight Watchers they call a Non-Scale Victory (“NSV”). A NSV is any achievement that cannot be measured by the scale. Today, I am celebrating one of the best. Today, I am wearing clothes in a size that I haven’t worn in about 20 years. How exciting is that! I have to admit I’m feeling pretty good today. Seeing the results really helps keep me motivated.

Since I’ve lost 145+ pounds, the term “skinny” has been getting bandied about quite a bit. As in, “you are getting so skinny,” “look at you, Skinny Minnie,” etc. “Skinny Minnie” being a phrase I abhor. But what does it mean? I may have lost a lot of weight, but by society’s standards, as well as a physician’s standards, I am still a great deal overweight. I still have approximately 40 lbs to go. I am far from skinny. The only thing I can determine is that because they knew me before I began losing the pounds, I am indeed, in [ ... ]

Just over a year and a half ago, I joined Weight Watchers online. Before I begin, let me start by saying that I am not here to promote Weight Watchers in any way, but you should know up front that that is how I have lost 145 lbs so far. It obviously works. I still have a bit of weight to lose to be where I need to be, but even now I’m struggling with learning about who I really am. For so long, I was the “fat girl.” Now that I’m not quite so fat, who am I? Perhaps [ ... ]