My Transformation

trans·for·ma·tion: 

a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance

Several people have told me over the past few months that they miss reading my posts. Last weekend, a relative actually asked to take a picture with me so she could share with her friends who read Pass the Honey. I was more than surprised; I felt like  a celebrity! I also felt a little guilty that I hadn't been delivering the goods to my adoring public. It's just like waiting for the next album by your favorite artist to drop or the next book by your favorite author to hit the bookstore shelves. (Picture my giant ego here. 😁)

Two years ago, I wrote about my healthy lifestyle commitment with Weight Watchers (here). At that point, I had lost 21 pounds by following the plan, tracking points and walking every day. In October 2016, I started working out with a trainer once a week to build strength and muscle. Since then, I have continued in the same manner and have lost 62 pounds. 

April 5, 2015 and April 5, 2018

In the fall of 2017, I became complacent. School/work started back, and I was teaching an additional class. I didn't think it would be much different from the previous year, but one more class of college essays takes more than just one extra hour a day. I earned more money, but I'm not sure it was worth the extra time. I stopped walking as much and didn't take the time to prep meals. I was bored with my workout routine and needed to do something different. I told myself that I was satisfied, not complacent, but I was lying to myself. A healthy lifestyle is a mind game, and I didn't want complacency to win. I needed a challenge.

In January 2018, I added more training time. I worked out with the trainer twice a week for 30 minutes each. I also attended boot camp three times a week for an hour each session. I began tracking things other than food, like flights of stairs climbed and active minutes each day. 

I also started measuring my waist, hips, thighs, calves, and arms on the last Sunday of each month. When I first started my healthy lifestyle journey, I didn't take "before" pictures or measurements. I didn't see the need because I had failed so many times in the past. I didn't want another record of my failure. The present Weight Watchers program is all about non-scale victories -- other ways to record successes. 

Since January, I have lost a total of 17.5 inches. 

• waist: -2
• hips: -4
• thighs: -3.5 each so -7 total
• arms: -1.25 each so -2.5 total
• calves: -1 each so -2 total

I feel wonderful, and it's not just about the weight loss. I love being strong! Last week, I wore a short sleeve shirt to school, and one of my students said my biceps looked swole. That's a compliment, by the way.

Family fitness day is boot camp after church.

Before my recent lifestyle change, I was always the person taking the pictures instead of being in them and the person sitting in the bleachers instead of playing the game. Now, I don't automatically move to the back row in pictures and am eager to participate in activities I always avoided. 

There's an AA saying that applies to almost anything in life: "In order to keep it, you have to give it away." I thought about that saying when I started this post. I'm sharing my healthy lifestyle story with you because I want to keep it -- FOREVER. 

I failed so many times in the past because I wanted to do things my way and I wanted fast results. I had so many excuses as to why I couldn't change -- expensive, no time to spare, cooking for others. Now, I take my time and my money to do what it takes to keep me healthy and I hope, living longer.

If I can do it, anyone can do it.

April 7, 2018 with my handsome son, Drew

Mentally Strong in 13 Steps

"Good habits are important, but it's often our bad habits that prevent us from reaching our full potential." -- Amy Morin, 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do

Over the past year, I’ve been working on making myself a better person.

My earlier posts tell my journey to better physical health by following Weight Watchers and exercising. I’m pleased that I’ve been very successful in that area and at age 59, I’m in the best health of my life.

My physical health is easy compared to my mental health. It seems like the more I want to improve my brain, the more it goes to mush. Supposedly, people my age are destined to have a sloppy brain at times, but I’m not ready for my mind to become porridge. Going back to work after a year of retirement forced my brain to get into shape. A teacher must have a pretty sharp brain to keep up with teenagers.

I also decided to focus on a positive attitude. I’ve listened to many podcasts and read several books on this topic. One book that I liked is 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin.

I don’t remember how I found out about this book, whether it was suggested in a magazine or online. However, I’m glad I did find it. I wouldn’t say that it’s a life-changing book for me because I knew about these ways to stay focused on happiness and to stay strong minded. After all, I read Dr. Phil’s books back when he wasn’t so into shocking his audience for ratings (example: "cash me outside how bout dah").

What I like about the book:

1.  It takes a different approach to handling problems. Instead of telling me what I should do to make life better, it tells what I shouldn’t do.

2.  Morin gives examples of everyday people who have come to her for therapy sessions as well as stories of well-known people’s struggles. In Chapter 7 “They Don’t Dwell on the Past,” Morin writes about 55-year-old Gloria whose adult daughter kept moving back home after short-term, failed relationships. Gloria felt guilty because she had not provided a stable childhood for her daughter and was presently allowing her daughter to take advantage of her. Trying to right the past was keeping Gloria from being a good parent in the present.

Morin tells of Milton Hershey’s struggles with his candy career in the chapter “They Don’t Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over.” After several failed attempts at establishing a candy business, Hershey changed strategies but stayed focused on success and not on his failed attempts. In the end, he owned the world’s biggest chocolate company.

3.  Amy Morin writes of many personal experiences to which I can relate. The introduction describes several heartbreaks she experienced due to deaths in her family. Tragically, Morin’s mother and husband died suddenly within three years of each other. She describes grief as “an emotionally, mentally and physically exhausting process.” Amen to that! When dealing with the impending death of her father-in-law from cancer, Morin came up with her list of 13 Things.

4.  The book doesn’t have to be read in its entirety to get its essence. Each chapter is helpful in its own way. I have re-read the chapters “They Don’t Give Up After the First Failure” and “They Don’t Expect Immediate Results” to keep me focused on my weight-loss journey.

When Amazon came out with Kindle e-reader, I got one. Some may consider it strange that an English teacher would rather have a digital book than the real thing; most bibliophiles want the feel of paper and the smell of a new book. The truth is that I was tired of storing real books. I had shelves and shelves of books I had read or were planning to read, and I was tired of dusting them. The Kindle allowed me to give away my books and get rid of some clutter. I don’t have to dust an e-book. However, some books I buy in hardback format because I want to loan to them to friends. 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do is such a book.

I Have No More Excuses!

About nine weeks ago, I made a life-altering decision.

I joined WeightWatchers.

Again.

Actually, this may be the tenth or twelfth time I’ve joined Weight Watchers. My history with this organization is like many people who are unsuccessful:

1.       I stayed for about four weeks. The weight didn’t drop as quickly as I wanted, so I quit.

2.       I didn’t have the extra money to pay the monthly fee, so I quit.

3.       I got too busy at work/home and skipped meetings and then quit.

4.       I could do this myself; I didn’t need them. All I had to do was write down what I ate and weigh myself, so I quit.

Last year, I wrote a post about all of my weight-loss attempts. Some are pretty outrageous, I admit, so I knew what I didn't want to do. If I lost weight quickly, I’d gain it back.

Weight Watchers was my choice.

Several recent events led to my return to Weight Watchers. In January, my husband passed away after a year-long battle with lung cancer. During that year, especially the last few months, I experienced the roughest times I’ve ever known. I was a full-time caregiver to him while managing to take care of my son who has Down syndrome and my 11-year-old granddaughter who lives with me. What little time I scratched out for myself was usually late at night after everyone was in bed. I’d sit in front of the TV, mindlessly watching while consuming empty calories. 

Last fall, my annual blood work showed elevated levels of everything bad. My doctor said she would redo the labs in three months. What she meant was, “You’ve got three months to get your crap together and work on your health.” I knew I had to do something, but I was in a one-day-at-a-time existence, trying to keep everyone’s schedules in sync and putting on that brave face. There was no time for me.

In March, one of my good friends died. He was six years younger than I am and had battled weight issues most of his adult life. He died alone in a hotel room from heart failure. I assume that his yo-yo dieting had a big impact on his heart.

After these two deaths and my doctor's warning, I didn’t even have to stand on the scales to know that I had to make a change for the rest of my life. I was done with thinking I could battle my weight alone and with quick fixes.

I had no more excuses. 

I didn’t have anyone to take care of really. I still had my family living at home, but they were at school/work all day. I didn’t have a job that would take up my time. I justified spending the money on meetings because if I didn’t do something, I would have to buy all new clothes and clothes get more expensive as they get bigger. I'd also have to start spending money on expensive medications.

Besides, I just knew that Oprah wanted me to do it. 

And after eight weeks, I have to say that I’ve been very successful, not just with losing weight, but also with my general health and mental state. Some of the changes I’ve noticed are

1.       I keep track of every crumb that I put in my mouth. With my smart phone, I can easily input everything and can even scan an item to see how many points it is. Then I decide if I want to spend those points on eating it. Is this item worth the sacrifice?

2.       I bought a FitBit, which syncs my fitness to the WeightWatchers app on my phone. I don’t have to figure out Fit Points because the app does it for me.

3.       I walk every day. I hit at least 10,000 steps, not all at one time, but I have at least 45 active moments during the day. That means I’m exerting myself during those minutes.

4.       I broke my sugar addiction. The only sweet items in the house right now are strawberries and pineapple. If I really crave chocolate, I put 1 tsp. of chocolate syrup (1 point) on chopped strawberries (0 points). I’m satisfied. 

5.       My shopping trips to the grocery store have changed. I even enter the store in a different door. I have always entered my store in the door that leads through the pharmacy and then followed the path of up-and-down aisles, putting whatever I thiought I’d like or whatever would please my family in my basket. Now I enter the door that leads to the produce first. I shop for fresh vegetables and fruits and then meats. I look down each aisle to see if there’s something I need, but most often I don’t go down the aisle. I shop in the U pattern, hitting all the outside aisles and leaving the processed/refined products sitting on the shelves.

6.       Every Monday morning at 10:00 a.m., I’m at my Weight Watchers meeting. I’ve met many people and we exchange tips and ideas. The leader is caring and really motivates us by letting us be part of the discussion.

7.       I don’t think about food so much. I used to worry about what I was going to eat for lunch before even finishing breakfast. I think I’m now eating to live instead of living to eat.

In these past weeks, I’ve lost 21.8 pounds and have dropped 2 sizes in pants. I’ve got more weight to lose, but I concentrate on 5 pounds at a time instead of the big goal. I’m seeing my doctor next week, and I’m certain my lab work will show improvement.

I’ve always known what it took to lose weight and get healthy. I just wanted to do it my way – to have my cake and eat it, too. This time, the timing was right and everything just clicked in my brain.

I guess it’s just my time.

I have no more excuses. 

May 2016

May 2015