Halfpounder’s Blog

Hello Everyone,
No… I didn’t fall off the face of the earth. I didn’t die… just been lazy. Sorry I haven’t kept the site up-to-date. I will work harder to be a more regular contributor. (And many thanks to you who keep visiting the site.)

I hope you had a nice holiday season. I did and I gained a few pounds to show for it. Too much good food… bread… candy… and not enough exercise.

I heard a joke a few years ago… and pardon me if I’ve already shared this with you, but it is always funny to me.

Two people are sitting next to each other in a bar (I will use a bar because it is easy to blame alcohol for their rude behavior.) The person on the left is physically fit, but rather homely looking. The person on the right is overweight. The homely person turns to the fat person and says, “You sure are fat!” Hurt, but not missing a beat the overweight person exclaims, “Well, I might be fat… but you are ugly !!! And at least I can lose the weight…”

I share this story because it reminds me I can do something about the extra pounds I am carrying around. Because I have been successful over the last 20 months, losing over 170 pounds, I have hope and optimism when I start creeping back up the scale.

Please don’t be calling people hopelessly ugly… but please do remind yourself regularly that you can do something about being overweight. Just remember TWO things: eat less and move more. Consistently that is what works. When I get regular exercise and control what and how much I eat, I can lose weight and keep it off.

I still struggle with my favorite foods: fresh bread, pizza, Almond Roca candy (and basically any crunch English Toffee-like candy, baked goods, etc., etc….) You all have foods that are hard for you to manage. Identify them and work harder to be their master. You are not a slave to food.

I got down to 273 pounds just before my knee surgery last May. Over the summer my exercise was greatly diminished and I had a hard time just maintaining my weight. I did well, and only gained a few pounds between May and October. Over Thanksgiving I gained a few, then lost a few, and BAM !!! Christmas smacked me hard in the face. I have felt out of control with my eating for the last couple of weeks. I gained a pretty good chunk again and when I weighed myself last Saturday the 299 on the scale was very disheartening.

But, like I mentioned earlier–I know what it takes to get the weight off and I will recommit. There is no better time than the start of a new year to recommit our goals and priorities.

I want to share something I read from Jillian Michaels’ website the other day. I love this, she wrote:

“It happens — you over-indulged over the holidays, missed a few workouts and now you feel like you’ve fallen off the weight-loss wagon. It’s tempting to mentally slap yourself around, right? (Or head for the fridge.) Before you start, I want to remind you of something: Being hard on yourself is so 2009 — that’s the Old You.
The New You knows how to deal with setbacks and get back on the wagon. And after all, there are no mistakes, just learning experiences. Weight loss is a process — it takes time. You will encounter small failures — everyone does — but every pound you gain can be lost.” Jillian Michaels, Losing it with Jillian Michaels, 1/10/2010

Being hard on yourself is so last year !!! (Isn’t that great…) It makes me smile to think about it. We are our own worst critics. Think about it. How many times has someone given you a compliment only you don’t really accept it and sometimes reject it? Someone will say, “You look nice, have you lost weight?” Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t lost as much as you would like. Get in the habit of saying, “Thank you.” Take the compliment and feel good about the progress you are making.

I have been tempted lately to say, “Oh no, I’m not doing well at all…” I’m thinking to myself about the 26 pounds I’ve slipped on since May. The person giving me the compliment has not seen me in awhile and is amazed at the 150 pounds I’ve lost. Step back… get a better perspective. You may not be where you want to be, but don’t discredit all you’ve accomplished. Are you trying to eat better? Make better food choices? Work a little harder at smaller portions and eating more regularly throughout the day? Are you moving more? Do you take time for cardio exercise? Have you tried a little weight lifting or resistance band training? If you can say yes to any of these questions you are probably better off health-wise than you were before. Congratulations. Keep at it. You are learning what it takes to be healthy, just keep moving forward.

I didn’t mean for that to sound so preachy. I’ll get off the soap box now–but just remember that you are not alone in your struggle to live more healthy. I think most people struggle with poor health choices (some more than others.) But the truly exciting thing is you can do something about it. Baby steps… start today and work on one or two things this week that will move you closer to a healthier you.

I really do hope each of you have a tremendous new year. And remember–putting yourself down for poor health choices is so last year !!! Welcome to 2010 and the year of personal growth and success.

Bye for now,
Kirk

I thought as I read it [Fat Tuesday...huh??? 24 Feb 2009] how sensitive we all become to aspects of ourselves we don’t like, or aspects we fear, or aspects that are different from the “norm”, whatever that is . Short people resent references to “short”, hence the uproar when Randy Newman wrote his song, “Short people got noboby”, tall people, fat people, skinny people, any racial aspect, frizzy hair, big noses, etc. The list goes on and on. This is just something I wonder. How is it we really expect to be treated? What is it we want others to see when they look at us or meet us? Do we really expect others to be able to look at us and see deep inside to who we really are, marveling at our strengths and genius? (Don’ we all see ourselves as something of a genius in some aspect of our lives?) I know I look in the mirror to find new wrinkles that weren’t there last month and shudder inside at the thought of growing older physically. I like the emotional part of getting older, but I have to learn to like the physical part. My mother fought it until the day she died. She lost. I want to be seen one way (young, beautiful, desirable, smart, svelt, etc.) but I really do very little about achieving those in my appearance. Of course, some of them I can’t do much about. I will never be young and beautiful again. I have to learn to accept being older and making the most of face and body as it is. Okay, I’m rambling and I’ve gotten off topic. You’ve gotten me thinking about what we want or expect others to see, but what do we do to achieve it. I really do believe aspects of our lives show in our faces and bodies. You’ve made people reevaluate how they look at you, especially at first glance. Those who know you are thrilled at what you’ve done. Truly, what it says to me is that you finally value the person you are and you want to stick around so that we can continue to enjoy that association. You’ve added years to your life, and that can only be good for the rest of us.