Face the Truth Friday: The Last Friday of 2010 and the Single Main Truth of Weight Loss; the True Friends of a Fat-fighting Blogger; A Medication to Look Into if You have Hypothyroidism and Mood Issues; and the Books that Helped Me "Flip the Switch" and Get Diet-Serious...

Face the Truth Friday: The Last Friday of 2010 and the Single Main Truth of Weight Loss; the True Friends of a Fat-fighting Blogger; A Medication to Look Into if You have Hypothyroidism and Mood Issues; and the Books that Helped Me "Flip the Switch" and Get Diet-Serious...

New Blog Updated: Day 25 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Holding at 233.8, Prepared for "Feast" With good Breakfast, and Hoping to See a New Low for the New Year! HAPPY 2011 EVEN, PEOPLE!

Day 25 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Holding at 233.8, Prepared for "Feast" With good Breakfast, and Hoping to See a New Low for the New Year! HAPPY 2011 EVEN, PEOPLE!

New Blog Updated: Day 23 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Is My Scale Wonky? Or is it just a good week so far? My Two Meals Yesterday; GIANT KILLING has me hooked and inspires a dieting metaphor, natch...

Day 23 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Is My Scale Wonky? Or is it just a good week so far? My Two Meals Yesterday; GIANT KILLING has me hooked and inspires a dieting metaphor, natch...

New Blog Updated: As One Dieting Year Closes, A Grateful Shout-Out To Some of My Bloggy Commenters/Supporters! HUGS GALORE!

As One Dieting Year Closes, A Grateful Shout-Out To Some of My Bloggy Commenters/Supporters! HUGS GALORE!

New Blog Updated: Day 22 Spawn of DDDY Challenge: Another downtick and Feeling bones! The pleasure of sensual, though unhealthy, fat...some good links...and Enjoying new Athletic Shoes...Oh, and Stay warm, ye snowbound!

Day 22 Spawn of DDDY Challenge: Another downtick and Feeling bones! The pleasure of sensual, though unhealthy, fat...some good links...and Enjoying new Athletic Shoes...Oh, and Stay warm, ye snowbound!

New Blog Updated: Day 21 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: All is Calm Appetite-Wise and All is Bright Mood-wise, but I'm COLD! And pondering the special New Year's Food traditions that will come a-tempting, notably "empanadillas" Cuban-style...

Day 21 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: All is Calm Appetite-Wise and All is Bright Mood-wise, but I'm COLD! And pondering the special New Year's Food traditions that will come a-tempting, notably "empanadillas" Cuban-style...

New Blog Updated: Spawn Weigh-In: A good week despite 2 Christmas Parties and 2 Pizza Events

Spawn Weigh-In: A good week despite 2 Christmas Parties and 2 Pizza Events

New Blog Updated: Day 16 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Where finally the body releases its fat hoard and Tanita-San grins at me, the veggie illusion pasta, and where I know I will not get enough sleep tomorrow so I'll go from Vampire to Zombie...

Day 16 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Where finally the body releases its fat hoard and Tanita-San grins at me, the veggie illusion pasta, and where I know I will not get enough sleep tomorrow so I'll go from Vampire to Zombie...

New Blog Updated: Day 15 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: The deliciousness of fatty Cobb salad convenience, a few chilly glimpses of eclipse, and amazement at the self-sabotage all around us while I have a full-on rant about holiday food nuttiness....

Day 15 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: The deliciousness of fatty Cobb salad convenience, a few chilly glimpses of eclipse, and amazement at the self-sabotage all around us while I have a full-on rant about holiday food nuttiness....

New Blog Updated: Day 14 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Pilates, Rediscovering My Love of Orange Pekoe, and Not Weighing Today since I did the Soy Sauce thing Yesterday...and that means..well, you know. :)

Day 14 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Pilates, Rediscovering My Love of Orange Pekoe, and Not Weighing Today since I did the Soy Sauce thing Yesterday...and that means..well, you know. :)

New Blog Updated: More "Shopping in My Closets"...piles and piles of stuff, some even from the early nineties!

More "Shopping in My Closets"...piles and piles of stuff, some even from the early nineties!

New Blog Updated: Day 12 Spawn of DDDY Challenge: Where I missed a day of blogging, got new bras and undies (in a smaller size) and hit the salt again, cause, you know, it's my weakness, hunger when water is delayed..... food/fluid log

Day 12 Spawn of DDDY Challenge: Where I missed a day of blogging, got new bras and undies (in a smaller size) and hit the salt again, cause, you know, it's my weakness, hunger when water is delayed..... food/fluid log

New Blog Updated: Day 10 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Yes, yet another drop, and noted BMI is below 39 now... food/fluid log

Day 10 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Yes, yet another drop, and noted BMI is below 39 now... food/fluid log

New Blog Updated: Day 9 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Another drop, Which Makes me Think Shivering is Good For Weight Loss! A look at my ratio and where I fell short in nutrients on my "vegetarian eating day", and Clothes I blew Right Past and Never Got To Wear!...Plus food/fluid log

Day 9 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Another drop, Which Makes me Think Shivering is Good For Weight Loss! A look at my ratio and where I fell short in nutrients on my "vegetarian eating day", and Clothes I blew Right Past and Never Got To Wear!...Plus food/fluid log

Reminder: I have moved to ANOTHER blog for my weight loss blogging....take note, please

Got a comment today that someone was confused about the blogs.

I stopped posting to this blog. I started a new blog in September to follow me as I made specific goals for the next two years of health/weight loss. I'm doing fine and losing steadily. I blog THERE; I just link up to those posts HERE.

So, if you've been kind enough to follow me/link me here, consider updating to the new blog, which is at the following url:

http://happyweightafter.blogspot.com

Thanks for your support--past, present, and I hope, future...

...Princess Dieter

New Blog Updated: Day 8 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: OMG! My Body is Such a Freak! hahaha Where I go Whoosh again the day after eating 500 calories MORE than the week of the Big Fail. Who understands this crap?! And one other "Honest Scrap" to Share with you. Plus food /fluid log.

Day 8 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: OMG! My Body is Such a Freak! hahaha Where I go Whoosh again the day after eating 500 calories MORE than the week of the Big Fail. Who understands this crap?! And one other "Honest Scrap" to Share with you. Plus food /fluid log.

New Blog Updated: Day 7 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Where ground is gained, Pilates is done, Knees ache from Bowling, and Good Mood is Back! Plus food/water log

Day 7 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Where ground is gained, Pilates is done, Knees ache from Bowling, and Good Mood is Back! Plus food/water log

New Blog Updated: Spawn 6 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: The Horrendous Weigh-In and BAck to Goal Level Caloric Intake, Cause Clearly, 1200 Calories Raises My Expectations Too Much and My Inner Dieter is Not as Mature As I Thought...But where I got back on the horse fast, unlike years/decades past...

Spawn 6 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: The Horrendous Weigh-In and BAck to Goal Level Caloric Intake, Cause Clearly, 1200 Calories Raises My Expectations Too Much and My Inner Dieter is Not as Mature As I Thought...But where I got back on the horse fast, unlike years/decades past...

New Blog Updated: Day 4 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Where I Scream, Calm down, Enjoy some Hawaiian Mokka Java, look forward to purdy Christmas Music, and Refuse to Let Frustrating Weigh-In Get to Me! ...and food/water log

Day 4 Spawn of SoDDDY Challenge: Where I Scream, Calm down, Enjoy some Hawaiian Mokka Java, look forward to purdy Christmas Music, and Refuse to Let Frustrating Weigh-In Get to Me! ...and food/water log

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Fridays: My Body Must Be Effed Up! How Can I have the lowest eating week of my adult life and weigh MORE?

Face the Truth Fridays: My Body Must Be Effed Up! How Can I have the lowest eating week of my adult life and weigh MORE?

New Blog Updated: Day 3 Spawn of SoDDD Challenge: Finally a wee drop, shivering in Miami AM, ready for Pilates, and need to get more fiber!

Day 3 Spawn of SoDDD Challenge: Finally a wee drop, shivering in Miami AM, ready for Pilates, and need to get more fiber!

New Blog Updated: Day 2 of Spawn of SoDDD Challenge: Running Around, Tempted at Bagel place (but persevered), Haircut, Blood Drawn, and Body is in Stall Mode, Methinks!

Day 2 of Spawn of SoDDD Challenge: Running Around, Tempted at Bagel place (but persevered), Haircut, Blood Drawn, and Body is in Stall Mode, Methinks!

New Blog Updated: Day 1 of the SPAWN of SoDDD Challenge: Can the Princess Dieter convince Princess Wuss to do the 1200 Calories? The Battle's On! And some thoughts on eating at goal weight level and the upcoming holiday temptations...

Day 1 of the SPAWN of SoDDD Challenge: Can the Princess Dieter convince Princess Wuss to do the 1200 Calories? The Battle's On! And some thoughts on eating at goal weight level and the upcoming holiday temptations...

New Blog Updated: Power Foods on WW Points Plus AND The 242 Pound Pics compared to the 252 Pound Pics...at the Pilates Studio

Power Foods on WW Points Plus AND The 242 Pound Pics compared to the 252 Pound Pics...at the Pilates Studio

New Blog Updated: Day 28 Son of DDDY Challenge: Is this finally the dreaded carb uptick? Dunno. But Sucks...food/water log

Day 28 Son of DDDY Challenge: Is this finally the dreaded carb uptick? Dunno. But Sucks...food/water log

New Blog Updated: Day 27 Son of DDDY: Quickie Sunday update

Day 27 Son of DDDY: Quickie Sunday update

New Blog Updated: RESOURCES: Meal Plans and Tips Links For Those Planning to Lower Daily Calorie Limit for the Upcoming Tougher, Spawn-y Phase of the DDDY Challenge Series

RESOURCES: Meal Plans and Tips Links For Those Planning to Lower Daily Calorie Limit for the Upcoming Tougher, Spawn-y Phase of the DDDY Challenge Series

New Blog Updated: Day 26 Son of DDDY Challenge: How do you see .8 lb up on the scale while eating 560 calories less than diet allotment? Well, let me tell you, so you don't freak when it happens to YOU....food/water log...

Day 26 Son of DDDY Challenge: How do you see .8 lb up on the scale while eating 560 calories less than diet allotment? Well, let me tell you, so you don't freak when it happens to YOU....food/water log...

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Friday/Day 25 Son of DDDY Challenge: Getting really close to next "decade" and hips give up another 1/2 inch, craving potatoes and that hunger thing...plus food and water log

Face the Truth Friday/Day 25 Son of DDDY Challenge: Getting really close to next "decade" and hips give up another 1/2 inch, craving potatoes and that hunger thing...plus food and water log

New Blog Updated: In case you're wondering if all this water REALLY does any good....

In case you're wondering if all this water REALLY does any good....

New Blog Updated: Rules of Weight Loss: #2 -- Keep Track of What You Eat

Rules of Weight Loss: #2 -- Keep Track of What You Eat

New Blog Updated: Okay, so the problems with the new WW Points Plus Plan...I think Roni's Right....and don't get suckered on kits sold on eBay and Amazon

Okay, so the problems with the new WW Points Plus Plan...I think Roni's Right....and don't get suckered on kits sold on eBay and Amazon

New Blog Updated: Day 23 Son of DDDY Challenge: Where I salted my way up 1.2 pounds and where I wonder why it's so hard for me to heat high carb/low fat...food and water log, too!

Day 23 Son of DDDY Challenge: Where I salted my way up 1.2 pounds and where I wonder why it's so hard for me to heat high carb/low fat...food and water log, too!

New Blog Updated: Day 22 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Breathing is getting almost to normal, about dang time, and I slept 13 hours, and here's some nice J-Pop.

Day 22 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Breathing is getting almost to normal, about dang time, and I slept 13 hours, and here's some nice J-Pop.

New Blog Updated: Day 21 of Son of DDDY Challenge: No Weigh-In, Made it to Pilates (a bit late), wheeze is improved, and the new WW encourages more healthy produce consumption!

Day 21 of Son of DDDY Challenge: No Weigh-In, Made it to Pilates (a bit late), wheeze is improved, and the new WW encourages more healthy produce consumption!

New Blog Updated: Day 20 Son of DDDY Challenge: 3/5ths of a Pound Down and Still With the Wheeze, Anime-watching Day, and Now my Ears are Getting Stuffed Up!

Day 20 Son of DDDY Challenge: 3/5ths of a Pound Down and Still With the Wheeze, Anime-watching Day, and Now my Ears are Getting Stuffed Up!

New Blog Updated: Day 19 Son of DDDY Challenge: Where I just keep doing what needs to be done and skim through the scads of lowfat cooking books, old and new, to find recipes!

Day 19 Son of DDDY Challenge: Where I just keep doing what needs to be done and skim through the scads of lowfat cooking books, old and new, to find recipes!

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Friday: Black Friday Edition, with my best weekly weight loss of the year and one old and one new truth in my face....

Happy Black Friday! Don't Overspend!

Face the Truth Friday: Black Friday Edition, with my best weekly weight loss of the year and one old and one new truth in my face....

New Blog Updated: Thanksgiving is past (maybe the leftovers aren't though). Start a Controlled Eating PlanH for CHRISTMAS today!

Thanksgiving is past (maybe the leftovers aren't though). Start a Controlled Eating PlanH for CHRISTMAS today!

New Blog Updated: Day 17 Son of DDDY Challenge: The Asthma-Plagued Thanksgiving Edition and where drinking 40+ fewer ounces of water when eating high-sodium foods does actually take a 1/5th of a pound toll....food and water log....HAPPY THANKSGIVING! FELIZ DIA DE ACCION DE GRACIAS!

Hope you were happy and grateful today!

Day 17 Son of DDDY Challenge: The Asthma-Plagued Thanksgiving Edition and where drinking 40+ fewer ounces of water when eating high-sodium foods does actually take a 1/5th of a pound toll....food and water log....HAPPY THANKSGIVING! FELIZ DIA DE ACCION DE GRACIAS!

New Blog Updated: Wired from Sudafed, Some Assorted Thoughts on the Biggest Loser Show With Past Contestants/Winners, thoughts on losing and regaining, and on Thanksgiving....

Have a blessed Thanksgiving with your loved one.

Wired from Sudafed, Some Assorted Thoughts on the Biggest Loser Show With Past Contestants/Winners, thoughts on losing and regaining, and on Thanksgiving....

New Blog Updated: Been Looking for Plus Size Workout Wear? Get 40% off starting NOW at Danskin's Black Friday Sale!

Been Looking for Plus Size Workout Wear? Get 40% off starting NOW at Danskin's Black Friday Sale!

New Blog Updated: Day 16 Son of Double Dare Challenge: Still with the asthma/congestion, down another 1/5th pound, the quest to up carbs even as my subconscious objects, and Thanksgiving Eve thoughts! Plus food/water log...

Day 16 Son of Double Dare Challenge: Still with the asthma/congestion, down another 1/5th pound, the quest to up carbs even as my subconscious objects, and Thanksgiving Eve thoughts! Plus food/water log...

New Blog Updated: Day 15 Son of DDDY Challenge: 4/5ths of a pound down in one day (did I poop it all out or what?), and where the wheeze continues, making me worry about health and the holiday, and where carby love continues...food/water log, too

Please update links/follows as needed and read the entry at the new blog:

Day 15 Son of DDDY Challenge: 4/5ths of a pound down in one day (did I poop it all out or what?), and where the wheeze continues, making me worry about health and the holiday, and where carby love continues...food/water log, too

New Blog Updated: Day 14 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Where I begin my Carby Path, and Where I Still Can't Breathe Like a Normal Person, But Go Work-Out Anyway to Find that Lost Fat Makes some Pilates Stretches and Moves Soooooo Much Easier...plus food and water log...

Kindly follow me/link up to the new blog. THANKS:

Day 14 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Where I begin my Carby Path, and Where I Still Can't Breathe Like a Normal Person, But Go Work-Out Anyway to Find that Lost Fat Makes some Pilates Stretches and Moves Soooooo Much Easier...plus food and water log...

New Blog Updated: So, How Much Water Weight Is Gonna Return?

Please update your links/follows as needed. THANKS:

So, How Much Water Weight Is Gonna Return?

New Blog Updated: Day 13 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Down 1/2 pound, Not hungry at all so far, drinking my water, still breathing poorly and itchy and congested, and wish I'd cancelled training tomorrow...

Kindly update links/follows as needed. thanks...

Day 13 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Down 1/2 pound, Not hungry at all so far, drinking my water, still breathing poorly and itchy and congested, and wish I'd cancelled training tomorrow...

New Blog Updated: The Results of my DNA testing for optimal diet/exercise as per my genes

Please update links/follows. Thanks:

The Results of my DNA testing for optimal diet/exercise as per my genes

New Blog Updated: Day 12 Son of DDDY Challenge: Where breathing issues persist, where I'm 1/5th of a pound down, and where I refuse to self-comfort with food...

Updates links/follows as needed, please. THANKS:\

Day 12 Son of DDDY Challenge: Where breathing issues persist, where I'm 1/5th of a pound down, and where I refuse to self-comfort with food...

New Blog Updated: Day 11 Son of DDDY Challenge: Weight Loss goals met so far since September, plans calorically for 2011, comparisons with older sis aka The Body, and accepting limitations on one's future food life...

Please visit new blog to read:

Day 11 Son of DDDY Challenge: Weight Loss goals met so far since September, plans calorically for 2011, comparisons with older sis aka The Body, and accepting limitations on one's future food life...

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Friday: 54 pounds down, waiting for those DNA results, still wheezy, still motivated, but more cravings this week...and begging the Young and the Fat to face their truths ASAP!

Please update links/follows as needed. THANKS.

Face the Truth Friday: 54 pounds down, waiting for those DNA results, still wheezy, still motivated, but more cravings this week...and begging the Young and the Fat to face their truths ASAP!

New Blog Updated: Day 10 Son of DDDY Challenge: Still Wheezy and Lethargic, Cancelled trainer session cause, well, can't breathe much, on commitment in the face of wanting comfort foods, and forcing myself to blog for accountability...

Please update your links/follows as needed. THANKS.

Day 10 Son of DDDY Challenge: Still Wheezy and Lethargic, Cancelled trainer session cause, well, can't breathe much, on commitment in the face of wanting comfort foods, and forcing myself to blog for accountability...

New Blog Updated: Day 9 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Milestone crossed, history in "numbers", blogging as a weight loss aid, water as "Gastric Band" for surgery-wussies, WonderSlim Discount, and Realizing I'm gonna have to learn to make soups....

Please visit me at my new blog and update links/follows as needed. THANKS.

Day 9 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Milestone crossed, history in "numbers", blogging as a weight loss aid, water as "Gastric Band" for surgery-wussies, WonderSlim Discount, and Realizing I'm gonna have to learn to make soups....

New Blog Updated: I am officially no longer MORBIDLY OBESE! Even exacerbated asthma can't bum me out today!!!

Yay. I'm celebrating!
Please update your links and follows as needed to the new blog. Thanks.

I am officially no longer MORBIDLY OBESE! Even exacerbated asthma can't bum me out today!!!

New Blog Updated: People Talking About Cheat Days, huh? Maybe they don't have conditioned hypereating, huh?

Please update links/follows as needed. THANKS.

People Talking About Cheat Days, huh? Maybe they don't have conditioned hypereating, huh?

New Blog Updated: Day 8 Son of DDDY Challenge: Bloat uptick (no worries, just sodium), the pee challenge at Pap Exam, and happy that 97% lean beef has fewer cals than I guessed! Oh, food and water log, sure.

Kindly update the links/follows. THANKS.

Day 8 Son of DDDY Challenge: Bloat uptick (no worries, just sodium), the pee challenge at Pap Exam, and happy that 97% lean beef has fewer cals than I guessed! Oh, food and water log, sure.

New Blog Updated: Considering WLS? Read this...

Please update your links/follows. THANKS!

Considering WLS? Read this...

New Blog Updated: Face Shot As Per Allan's Request--taken JUST NOW!

Please update your links/follows. Thanks.

Face Shot As Per Allan's Request--taken JUST NOW!

New Blog Updated: Day 6 Son of DDDY Challenge: Yes, Tanita-San likes me again! And looking to an end to my "morbid obesity" by midweek....and food/water log, sure

Please update your links/follows to the new blog. THANKS.

Day 6 Son of DDDY Challenge: Yes, Tanita-San likes me again! And looking to an end to my "morbid obesity" by midweek....and food/water log, sure

New Blog Updated: Day 5 Son of DDDY Challenge: Some bloat loss, still not additional loss, and the crazy hard job of establishing new habits re portions, fighting stimuli, strategies that may be nuts-sounding but necessary, and naysaying cues that lead to overeating...plus food/water log, natch.

Please update your links/follows to reflect new blog. THANKS!

Day 5 Son of DDDY Challenge: Some bloat loss, still not additional loss, and the crazy hard job of establishing new habits re portions, fighting stimuli, strategies that may be nuts-sounding but necessary, and naysaying cues that lead to overeating...plus food/water log, natch.

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Friday (Also Day 4 of SofDDDY): Feel Great, Eating On Plan, but Up From Salty and Carby Choices and maybe Hormonal Blippiness...and Learning to Love the Agua! (Food Log included)

Please update your links/follows. Thanks:

Face the Truth Friday (Also Day 4 of SofDDDY): Feel Great, Eating On Plan, but Up From Salty and Carby Choices and maybe Hormonal Blippiness...and Learning to Love the Agua! (Food Log included)

New Blog Updated: Day 3 Son of DDDY Challenge: Salt Uptick, Water Uptick, But Peeing Less!

Please update to add/follow/link to the new blog. Thanks:

Day 3 Son of DDDY Challenge: Salt Uptick, Water Uptick, But Peeing Less!

New Blog Updated: The Mirror NSV and The Co-op Bounty

Please add the new blog to your links/follows, thanks:

The Mirror NSV and The Co-op Bounty

New Blog Updated: Day 2 Son of Double Dog Challenge: Another 1/5th down and woke up thirsty. Huh?

Please update your links/follows or just add the new blog, please. THANKS!

Day 2 Son of Double Dog Challenge: Another 1/5th down and woke up thirsty. Huh?

New Blog Updated: Day 1 Son of Double Dare You: My minimum/optimum water intakes, what I should weigh on Dec 8 with each eating "goal weight maintenance", and investing in pantiliners....

Please update your links/follows to reflect the new blog:

Day 1 Son of Double Dare You: My minimum/optimum water intakes, what I should weigh on Dec 8 with each eating "goal weight maintenance", and investing in pantiliners....

New Blog Updated: The Day's Particulars and If Your Pooping Habits Changed With Dieting, Consider Magnesium. Warning: I speak poop talk here. And it's TMI.

Please update your links/follows. Read the new entry at the new blog:

The Day's Particulars and If Your Pooping Habits Changed With Dieting, Consider Magnesium. Warning: I speak poop talk here. And it's TMI.

New Blog Updated: Waiting for Son of Double Dare

Please update your links/follows to the new blog:

Waiting for Son of Double Dare

New Blog Updated: Day14 of the DDDY Challenge: Still Have My Caloric Savings Account even though We Ate Out

Day14 of the DDDY Challenge: Still Have My Caloric Savings Account even though We Ate Out

New Blog Updated: Day 13 of the DDDY Challenge: Beautiful Cool Weekend in Miami and I better learn where the good public toilets are...

Please change your links/follows to the new blog.

Day 13 of the DDDY Challenge: Beautiful Cool Weekend in Miami and I better learn where the good public toilets are...

New Blog Updated: Day 12 DDDY Challenge: Out and About and HUNGRY without the water

Please update your links/follows to the new blog where the new entry can be found below:

Day 12 DDDY Challenge: Out and About and HUNGRY without the water

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Fridays: Met Goal, Still In DDDY Challenge and My Big Accountability Button

Please add the new blog to your links/follows. Thanks:

Face the Truth Fridays: Met Goal, Still In DDDY Challenge and My Big Accountability Button

New Blog Updated: Day 11 DDDY Challenge: The revenge of salt and, oh, the crappy sleeping is back I see, plus links to interesting posts from yesterday

Please update your links/follows:

 

Day 11 DDDY Challenge: The revenge of salt and, oh, the crappy sleeping is back I see, plus links to interesting posts from yesterday

New Blog Updated: Calling All Tech-Calorie-Activity Monitor Wearers: Do You Love, Hate, or Otherwise Your Gadget--BodyBugg, GoWear Fit, DirectLife, Gruve...? Is It Helping Weight Loss?

Please read the new entry at the new blog and update you links/follows to add new blog, thanks:

Calling All Tech-Calorie-Activity Monitor Wearers: Do You Love, Hate, or Otherwise Your Gadget--BodyBugg, GoWear Fit, DirectLife, Gruve...? Is It Helping Weight Loss?

New Blog Updated: Day 10 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Where I blew past my milestone and fear the amount of peeing that the next challenge phase will bring...

Please change/update your links/follows or just add the new blog, thanks:

Day 10 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Where I blew past my milestone and fear the amount of peeing that the next challenge phase will bring...

New Blog Updated: Day 9 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: A "calorie savings account" opened early in the week

Please read at the new blog, and please update your links:

Day 9 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: A "calorie savings account" opened early in the week

New Blog Updated: What Successful "Losers" Do (no surprise, really)

What Successful "Losers" Do (no surprise, really)

New Blog Updated: Today I sent off my swabs for that genetic test for weight loss compatibility...and some links to others who've done the test!

read it at the new blog:

Today I sent off my swabs for that genetic test for weight loss compatibility...and some links to others who've done the test!

New Blog Updated: Day 8 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Thoughts on previous week and Today's Calories/Meals/Water

Read the new entry at the new blog. And Please update your linkies/follows:

Day 8 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Thoughts on previous week and Today's Calories/Meals/Water

New Blog Updated: My Fave "Dieter's Inspiration" Post This Weekend

read the  new entry at the new blog:

 

My Fave "Dieter's Inspiration" Post This Weekend

New Blog Updated: Double Dog Dare Day 7 Particulars--Repairing Damage Done

read the new entry at the new blog, and please update links/follows:

Double Dog Dare Day 7 Particulars--Repairing Damage Done

New blog updated: Best of Plans, Not Best of Actions

read the new entry at the new blog:

Best of Plans, Not Best of Actions

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Fridays: A new "decade" and maybe the Zone is worth considering?

read the new entry at the new blog:

Face the Truth Fridays: A new "decade" and maybe the Zone is worth considering?

New Blog Updated: My Award for "Self-analytical Blog Post that Made My Heart Fire Up and a Light Bulb Flash Today" Goes To....

read the new entry at the new blog:

My Award for "Self-analytical Blog Post that Made My Heart Fire Up and a Light Bulb Flash Today" Goes To....

New Blog Updated: What are your weight loss rules? My #1 and Stephen's #1....

Read the new entry at the new blog:

What are your weight loss rules? My #1 and Stephen's #1....

New Blog Updated: Day 4 Double Dog Dare Challenge: Scale,, Water, Calories, Etc.

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Day 4 Double Dog Dare Challenge: Scale,, Water, Calories, Etc.

New Blog Updated: I paid $149 to find out if I do better on low carb, low fat, or "balanced" type diet for weight loss!

Read the new entry at the new blog:

I paid $149 to find out if I do better on low carb, low fat, or "balanced" type diet for weight loss!

New Blog Updated: What 252 Lbs Looks Like on Me--AKA-- facing the fat without filters

Read the new entry at the new blog:

What 252 Lbs Looks Like on Me--AKA-- facing the fat without filters

New Blog Updated: Tracking for Day 2 of the Double Dog Dare

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Tracking for Day 2 of the Double Dog Dare

New Blog Updated: *The Challenge Particulars for Day 1 of the Double Dog Dare

Read the new entry at the new blog:

*The Challenge Particulars for Day 1 of the Double Dog Dare

New Blog Updated: Allan's "Math" Challenge: Eating at "160 x 11" Calories for 2 Weeks

Please read the new entry at the new blog :

Allan's "Math" Challenge: Eating at "160 x 11" Calories for 2 Weeks

 

If you want to join the challenge, please go to Allan's blog to do so (see link at entry on other blog).

New Blog Updated: Quote for the Dieter's Day: Think HEP, not DIET

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Quote for the Dieter's Day: Think HEP, not DIET

 

Have a slimming Saturday!

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Fridays: Met Goal at Week 7 (weekly and overall) and Learned I Can Overcome Urges for "Comfort Food" Self-Medication When Sick

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Face the Truth Fridays: Met Goal at Week 7 (weekly and overall) and Learned I Can Overcome Urges for "Comfort Food" Self-Medication When Sick

 

Have a fit Friday!

New Blog Updated: Yummy Big Breakfast The Day After Organic Co-op Pick-Up & Learning To Eat Less, bit by bit, cause I'm a Diet Marathoner, not a Sprinter

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Yummy Big Breakfast The Day After Organic Co-op Pick-Up & Learning To Eat Less, bit by bit, cause I'm a Diet Marathoner, not a Sprinter

 

 

~~

New Blog Updated: Just Checked My Fat% and BMI with the OMRON Fat Loss Monitor

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Just Checked My Fat% and BMI with the OMRON Fat Loss Monitor

 

 

~

Sick o' da Scale And Angry at My Wonky Immune System....

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Sick o' da Scale And Angry at My Wonky Immune System....

 

Please update links/follows. Be well this Wednesday!

New Blog Updated: Kirstie Alley Loses 50 Pounds. Big Yawn... What's REALLY Interesting? Regular Janes Who do it!

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Kirstie Alley Loses 50 Pounds. Big Yawn... What's REALLY Interesting? Regular Janes Who do it!

 Please update your links and follow. Happy, trimming Tuesday!

New Blog Updated: It's Not Just Cancer that Medical Research Helps, aka as Thank You, Big Pharma, that I can breathe!

Read the new entry at the new blog:

It's Not Just Cancer that Medical Research Helps, aka as Thank You, Big Pharma, that I can breathe!

 

Please update links/follows. THANKS. Have a trimming Tuesday!

New Blog Updated: Quote for the Dieter's Day: It's not Self-Denial; It's Self-Love...

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Quote for the Dieter's Day: It's not Self-Denial; It's Self-Love...

 

Please update your links/follows. Have a healthful Saturday!

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Fridays: Face the Truth Fridays: Late Posting-- Some Loss, Sick and Sleepless in Miami

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Face the Truth Fridays: Late Posting-- Some Loss, Sick and Sleepless in Miami

New Blog Updated: Watch The "Self-Hate" Talk AKA Hate the Fat but Love the Fatty (especially if that fatty is you)

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Watch The "Self-Hate" Talk AKA Hate the Fat but Love the Fatty (especially if that fatty is you)

Please update your links/follows. THANKS, and be well this Wednesday!

New Blog Updated: "Just Ten" Challenge: Where Would A "Just Ten" Pound Loss Take You?

Please read the new entry at the new blog:

"Just Ten" Challenge: Where Would A "Just Ten" Pound Loss Take You?

 

And please update your links/follows. THANKS.

New Blog Updated: Cinnamon and Magnesium to reduce Inflammation and Insulin Resistance (and lessen diabetes onset risk)

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Cinnamon and Magnesium to reduce Inflammation and Insulin Resistance (and lessen diabetes onset risk)

Please update your links/follows. Thanks. Have a trimming Tuesday!

New Blog Updated: SparkPeople Email Quote, The Quest for Change, Dancing with Celia on Columbus Day as Hispanic History Month Nears End--Just to To Get the Week Going!

Read the new entry at the new blog:

SparkPeople Email Quote, The Quest for Change, Dancing with Celia on Columbus Day as Hispanic History Month Nears End--Just to To Get the Week Going!

Please update your links/follows.

Happy Columbus Day! Do something new (that's diet-friendly), discover something exciting (that keeps you motivated) today!

New Blog Updated: Motivation Mojo: Looking to those who've done it already...and "Refuse to Regain"!

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Motivation Mojo: Looking to those who've done it already...and "Refuse to Regain"!

 

Please update your links/follows. Thanks.

Have a slimming Saturday!

New Blog Updated: Face The Truth Fridays: More than a Half a Pound Up, But Fit Into Goal Jeans and Waist is 1/4 inch less. Huh?

Please read the new entry at the new blog:

Face The Truth Fridays: More than a Half a Pound Up, But Fit Into Goal Jeans and Waist is 1/4 inch less. Huh?

Please update your links/follows. Thanks.

I wish you a wonderful, wellness-enriching weekend!

New Blog Updated: I feel boring today; portion creep; salt overload; cytomel and my progress; dismissive docs; plugging along...

Read the new entry at the new blog:

I feel boring today; Portion creep; Salt Overload; Cytomel and my progress; Dismissive Doctors; Plugging Along...

 

Please update links/follows. Happy Wednesday full of Wellness...

New Blog Updated: Why Am I Losing Weight In My Feet??!?

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Why Am I Losing Weight In My FEET!???

 

Please update links/follows.

May Tuesday treat you well....

New Blog Updated: A lot more carbs on Saturday, a lot fewer clothes on Sunday...

Read the new entry at the new blog:

A lot More Carbs on Saturday, A lot fewer clothes on Sunday...

 

Please update your links/follows. Thanks.

Happy Sunday, and may this be a very health-bringing , fat-blasting week for you..AND ME!

New Blog Updated: Face the Truth Friday: Met Goal, Back on Track, & the Portion Thing

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Face The Truth Fridays: Met Goal, Back on Track, and The Portion Thing...

Please update your links/follows. Thanks...

Happy and Fit Friday to you!

New Blog Updated: The Two Main Reasons I Wanna Lose Weight and Get Healthier...

Read the new entry at the new blog:

The Two Main Reasons I Wanna Lose Weight and Get Healthier...

 

Please update links/follows. Thanks.

Happy and Fit Friday to Y'All!!!

New Blog Updated: I Wanna Be A Member of the 5% Club!

Read the new entry at the new blog:

I Wanna Be A Member of the "Five Percent Club!"

 

Please update your links and follows. THANKS.

Happy Thursday!

New Blog Updated: Intuition combined with Restraint? I guess that's how I see it...

Read the new entry at the new blog:

Intuition Combined with Restraint? I guess that's how I see it...

 

 Please update your links and follows. THANKS.

New Blog Updated: Allan, Intuitive Eating, The Pleasure Principle, Gluttony, and How It All Ends Up!

Please read it at the new blog:

Allan, Intuitive Eating, The Pleasure Principle, Gluttony, and How It All Ends Up!

 

And please update your links/follows. 

Thanks...and be well!

New Blog UPdated: Grappling and Taking Down the Emotional Monster

Read it at the new blog:

Grappling and Taking Down the Emotional Monster

Please update links/follows. THANKS.

New Blog Update: "Looking for what works ...not just what doesn't..."

Read the new blog:

 

Looking for what works...not just what doesn't....

 

Please change your links and follows. THANKS.

New Blog Updated: "Face the Truth Fridays: Did NOT Meet Goal, But a Small Loss and Back to Big Breakfasts, Less Late Night Snacking

Read the latest entry at:

Face The Truth Fridays: Did NOT Meet Goal, But a Small Loss, and Back to Big Breakasts, Less Night Snacking

New Blog Updated: "Scaling Back at Starbucks...Again!"

Read the new entry at the NEW blog:

Scaling Back at Starbucks...AGAIN!

 Please change your links/follows to the new location. THANKS.

Why Tracking Matters ~aka~ Take Online Calculators With a Grain of Dieter's Salt

New blog updated. Please change your links/follows as needed. THANKS.

Why Tracking Matters ~aka~ Take Online Calculators With a Grain of Dieter's Salt

New Blog Updated: My First Golden Kiwi, and Have You Ever Had a Sugar Apple?

Read it here: 

My First Golden Kiwi, and Have You Ever Had a Sugar Apple?

~~

Please update your links/follows to the new blog. THANKS.

New Blog Updated: Phat Pilates~~How Your Trainer Can Modify for the Big-Bellied so the Fat and Obese and Do Pilates!

Read it here (and see the pics):

Phat Pilates ~How Your Trainer Can Modify For The Big-Bellied so the Fat and Obese CAN do Pilates!

Please update your links/follows to the new blog. THANKS.

Happy Monday!

New Blog Updated: I wanted to Dive Into a Bar of Chocolate: I watched THIS Instead...

Read blog entry here.

Please update your links/follows to new blog: Two Years To Happy Weight After

Thanks. Have a healthy Monday!

New Blog Upates: AAAARGH...What Would a Pirate on a Diet Say on TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY?

Well, I have ten ideas about that:

AAAARGH...What Would a Pirate on a Diet Say on TALK LIKE A PIRATE Day

New Blog Updated: No EarthDancing, Just Routine Chores and Nookie....and a yummy breakfast

It's a new week. It's another post at my new blog:

No EarthDancing, Just Routine Chores and Nookie....and a yummy breakfast

Please note that I've moved to TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER and change your links/follows accordingly. GRACIAS!

Happy new week to all fatfighters!

New Blog Updated: Nice extra downtick today...Some Food From Yesterday...Pics from After Workout (front, side)

Please visit the new blog to read the update, and please update your links/follows to:

Two Years to Happy Weight After

New post: Nice extra downtick today...Some Food From Yesterday...Pics from After Workout (front, side)

Have a healthy weekend!

~~~

When I didn't Feel Like Exercising...This song got me UP ON MY FEET!!!

I played it over and over and just danced and did some isometrics to it!  Made me feel good.

They're gonna be in a local peace festival. I wanna go!!!!

New Blog Updated: FACE THE TRUTH FRIDAYS: Made This Week's Goal...surprisingly..and seeking iron resolve!

Please read it at the new blog. Please change your links/follows to TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER:



FACE THE TRUTH FRIDAYS: Made this Week's Goal...Surprisingly..and seeking iron resolve!

Have a beautiful weekend, you fatfighters!!

New Blog Updated: Restarting the Organic Co-Op and Planning for a New Life

Read it at TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER

Sorry, that one goes off on something of a rumination/rant/whatever. I don't even know what the heck happened mid-post.


Please change your links/follows to the new blog. THANKS.

~~~~~~

New Blog Updated: Why I'm Looking Eastward and Giving Switzerland a Dirty Look

Read it at "Two Years to Happy Weight After"


Please update your links and follows to the new blog. THANKS!

~~~~~~~~

New Blog Updated: Appetite on Calm, Wendy's New Smaller Size Premium Salads!

Read the post at TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER!

Please update your links/follows to my new blog.

Thanks. Be well today and fight the fat!
~~~

~~~

Remembering a Day of Tears, Anticipating the Days Without Tears

I've posted on my new blog:

Remembering a Day of Tears, Anticipating the Days Without Tears

 I hope your heart is comforted today with hope despite the terrible awfulness of the event we remember. Pray for families of 9-11 victims, pray for our soldiers still enmeshed in war, and pray for the success of those who are working to bring and end to war. May God send us a time of peace and understanding soon.

Please change your links/follows to my new blog. THANKS.

My pic at Suite 101: "Fat People Can Do Pilates Equipment Workout"

A pic of me from this blog post originally published on  this blog in June showed up in an article over at Suite 101. The article is titled "Fat People Can Do Pilates Equipment Workout."  And yes, I'm proof fat people CAN.


I've published a page with my Pilates workout pictures from both the June OUAD blog posts that featured them over at my new blog in a tab page: Phat Pilates.

If I was a trainer or Pilates stuidio owner, I'd start "Phat Pilates" classes and do an outreach to interest the overweight and obese and morbidly obese. 


~~~~
~~~~

Face Up To It Fridays: Met Loss Goal, Didn't Meet Activity or Intrinsic Motivation Goals, Hubby noticed shrinkage, and Thoughts after watching THINTERVENTION...

New blog has been updated: Two Years to Happy Weight After

If you haven't changed my addy/follows, please do so. THANKs.

UPDATE: 
Face Up To It Fridays: Met Loss Goal, Didn't Meet Activity or Intrinsic Motivation Goals, Hubby noticed shrinkage, and Thoughts after watching THINTERVENTION...
~~~~

How to Set Goals For Weight Loss--or so they say... :)

New blog updated.

I've moved, so please change links/follows. THANKS.


How to Set Goals for Weight Loss--or so they say...

~~~

The Tapas won...and so did Taco Bell....new blog updated

Okay, so yesterday, the beast rose up again in my brain. Read about it here. Fortunately, a smaller beast than in many times past, but I want the halcyon appetite BACK!

Please change your links or "follow" to my new blog:

Two Years to Happy Weight After

Preparing for Tapas Temptation (new post at new blog)

I updated my new fatfighting blog called TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER:

Preparing for Tapas Temptation

See you there...please change your links for my blog journey....

Reminder: My Blog Has Moved...Please follow me at new site for TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER

I updated my new blog:


Two Years to Happy Weight After

New Start, Clear Goal: A move to a more clear-sighted, targeted blog. Please change links and follow me there!

Hi...Please follow my fatfighting journey at a new blog. I wanted a clearer goal and I wanted it reflected in the blog title. "Once" is too amorphous for me. Yes?

I've added a blog post there explaining the new blog and linking to the two fatfighting bloggers who inspired my move.

Please support me in my new "place". And have patience while I add links over there.

New Blog:

Two Years to Happy Weight After

THANKS...

Princess Dieter

OMG, those amazing Red Honedews!!!! And another downward change...

I've been pretty much not having as much fruit as I did in the past due to trying to make my eating plan "lower carb". But the cherries, plums, nectarines, papaya, watermelon and the latest orange honeydews of summer have called my name and I have answered, 'Yes!'

This crop of Orange Honeydews is amazing. So juicy, so sweet. Like a luxurious garden party in my mouth. You have to go get some!!!

On the good news front, my snail strategy continues. It took me 10 days to lose 1.5 lbs, but lose I did. No binges. No deprivation of any overt sort, other than fighting off the occasional craving for something really trigger (like fries or like cheese enchiladas). I am still using my protein snacks to control hunger. I sometimes have pizza or fried chicken, but then the rest of THAT day will be low carb and lower cal to compensate.

I expect the fruit might have triggering effects if I am not vigilant--cause I can seriously pig-out on fruit, especially summer fruit, moreso than chocolate or cake or junk food. I adore fruit and have since childhood, when sitting on a pile of protective newspaper and eating a mango right off the large seed or a pomegranate seed by seed (took me ages to finish one) were among the great joys of my young life. :)

I used to routinely sit and eat six oranges in one go.

I go nuts for fruit.

So, while the cherries and melons and plums are nice, I plan to enjoy them, just try not to go insanely fruit binge-y.

So, another week and, hopefully, another pound down. I can dig the one pound a week gig. I really can. Maybe it will help my skin get less "shocked" and adjust a bit better. (I like going downwards, but the sag in the inner thigh region is starting to be really unpleasant when I look in the mirror while creaming up after a shower. Eek.)

Have a great and healtful week, folks...

Being Slothful Is Not Good, But Sometimes Is Therapy

Sloth is one of my major besetting "deadly" sins. And I've been really slothful this week. No exercise at all. Lots of sleeping. (Medication may need tweaking.) And, weirdly, though I'm menopausal, I've had a crampy "period". I think it's cause I lost 10 pounds in the last couple months and may have a reaction to the estrogen release. Not sure, prolly. At age 50, I'm not thinking I've starting popping out eggs again.

So, I had to scrounge in the back of the linen closet for a box of unused tampons leftover from my last Aunt Flo visit...

But I'm happy to update my ticker and stats with another slow downtick. I weighed in at 256.6 for a total of 42.4 lost.

And I'm very happy to see the slow, consistent progress.

The sloth is not so great. I'm glad I'm seeing the endo in a couple weeks, and I got blood taken out yesterday. It may or may not be the thyroid/med change. It may be the killer heat of August. 97 degrees yesterday with triple-digit heat index.

Whatever.

Appetite is good and NOT binge-y. I still am feeling calm about food, though I certainly could eat plenty if I don't watch it. I'm happy with a 1 to 2 pound loss a week and not feeling at all anxious. Whether that's related to the slothful lethargy, who knows.

I think if I can get past the sleepies and move more, I can up my loss.

Then again, moving more can up my appetite, too, so I worry about that.

I'll be back to Pilates next week (my trainer was on vacation last week), and that should help, too.

I'm eating pretty normal (though lower quantity) meals and less fruit than I was used to eating in a quest to have lower carb--not low, lower carb--meals. I had raspberries with my breakfast of caprese salad with EVOO and teriyaki wings. Yeah, teriyaki has carbs, but my mouth wanted it, so it was nicer to feel satisfied on a small bit of it. I have some pretty peaches I can have with supper. I find if I have my WonderSlim protein stuff between meals, the meals themselves tend to be normal (not my usual pig-out). And if I have something late at night, say 3 hours before bed, I feel a huge reduction in nightly food cravings and wake up feeling less crazy to have breakfast like usual.

So, while I am not a low-carber, I do seem to be a lower-carber (I have pasta, I have bread, I have potatoes, and I like fruit), meaning just cutting back on the quantity of my starch/fruit eating and increasing the protein (and fat) to compensate. This really does seem to be calming me...so far.

Hope your weekend is lovely. Mine has been restful and full of Japanese manga and a comedy flick and smooching hubby so far. Tomorrow is a family event, so I'll have to deal with the "how to face temptation" issue at the birthday party for my brother. I can see myself having to tote some lower-carb options or just saying NO to the rice and YES to the "ropa vieja" and salad. (Though it's really tough for a Cuban-born gal to have "ropa vieja" sans rice, I tell ya.)

Later, y'all....

Balancing Big Meal with Small Ones Helps...Duh, right? :)

Hanging in there. Had a few dinners out with hubby which presented temptations and challenges, but I've gotten better at doing that balancing act: if one meal is higher in calories, compensate with the other meals that day.

So, when I had the big Italian dinner out (very sumptuous wild mushroom and truffle oil fettucine with parmesan, bruschetta with tomatoes/olive tapenade/sauteed mushrooms, a meatball sample, wine, and hubby and split a gelato with chocolate sauce), I simply had two high-protein, low cal meals for the rest of that day (one protein hot chocolate, one protein oatmeal and egg), and registered no gain. Another dinner out, same thing....just was very cautious the rest of the day. No gain.

I haven't been eating low enough since Friday to really make for significant loss, but I did make it to 258.0 today, so it's 41 pounds gone.

I'll take it.

I haven't gone shopping, so I have NO fruit and NO salad fixings in the house (though I do have leftover salad from yesterday's Middle Eastern supper we had--for me, Chicken Shawarma with basmati and fatoush without the pita as per my request, carrot soup). So, I'm hoping it won't be a big rainy day so I can get some healthful produce.

I do find that the WonderSlim Hot Cakes and Hot Chocolate (especially the raspberry one) have been great hunger stopgappers for me. They give me a sense of luxurythat has been satisfying and useful. The hotcakes with sugar free syrup or some frozen strawberry heated and dumped on top accompanied by scrambled eggs has been my fave breakfast for the last two weeks. Easy, fast and lots of protein. I just need to get the spinach, mushroom, zucchini, etc that I like to add to my eggs. The hot chocolate with some low-carb biscotti just feels like a nice dessert or late night snack to curtail binge inclinations. It can satisfy the raging of a sweet tooth.

Anyway, as long as the direction is downward, even if snail-slow, I'm happy. :)

So, here's to another week of fatfighting...

A Seeming New Phase In Relationship To Food at Summer Slimmin' Challenge's End...

So, I didn't meet my challenge goal of 250 lbs. I ended up just maintaining since I last checked in, more or less. 258.8 Thursday weigh-in, the final day of the Summer Slimmin' Challenge.

Began challenge: 267.6
Ended challenge: 258.8

Loss: 8.8 lbs

I am at fault, of course, for not meeting my goals. We are each at fault, when it comes down to it, when we don't give something our all. I simply did not consistently hold up to the challenge suggestions.

BUT...I did end up losing weight and getting into a new "decade" and trying some new stuff strategy/foodwise, and I ended up feeling oddly, mostly calm. Not feeling edge or bingey for most of it. In fact, I feel a lot more calm in general about my eating and I've found myself saying no more easily to pizza, even when I want it. I just have said no with more ease.

Ease.

Well, how much that will continue, who can say? I deeply hope it's part of a larger trajectory towards a better, more healthful weight for me, a place below 200 eventually, but I don't feel rushed, like I do occasionally when I feel like joining a challenge (where I have always lapsed). Lord in Heaven knows there have been plenty of "losers" who think they won the battle only to regain and find, oops, no they didn't. So, I don't ever think my battle will be over, but maybe, just maybe, I'm getting used to the warrior mindset. Not "in full battle mode" warrior, but the warrior in the less intense war zone who still has to be vigilant and make progress. I think maybe I should strive to be a more active, right in the midst of it warrior. But I think that's just not me. I'm a meanderer, not a fighter.

a fat-sorta-fighter? hah.

Whatever, I have not made any great strides in changing behavior other than simply feelng less prone to stuff my face, feeling more prone to leave stuff on the plate and for leftovers, feeling more inclined to DECLINLE inviations to danger zones (read fave Italian and Mexican restaurants).

We do have a gift certificate to a highly rated pasta place and that will be an interesting challenge, as pasta IS one of my danger foods (very easy to just go hog wild when the plate is in your face). But I'm going to assess myself before going (or reschedule). I do plan to have a protein shake BEFORE I leave to sort of take the edge off my appetite. Then, let's see how THAT goes.

I like this non-frantic about food place. I do wish I were not merely maintaining and were more diligent about tracking, water, and more consistent with exercising on non-training days. But I just feel more hopeful, like before year's end, I can lose another 10 to 15 pounds, maybe even 20. That pace would be painfully slow for some, but 4 or 5 pounds a month would be significant in the long run and would put my mind more at ease about my skin having a chance to rebound.

I really continue to get freaked if I try to think about the skin hanging issue to come (and some already here). So, I don't overthink it. I just let myself think in terms of slowness--even if it means years--and keep using good oils and creams to keep skin soft, and keep taking my vitamins to nourish the whole of me, hoping I can have some snap back...

In time, I hope I am so much lighter that I will then have to consider the surgical implications. BUT....perhaps the slow turtle can hope that the skin adapts even a bit. I keep talking to my skin at bedtime, after I've used my Parisian huile de soin after my shower, after I've put the MSM cream on my batwings, thighs, and belly: Please, please, just pull yourself together, be elastic for me, will you, and knit yourself into a smaller size.

My skin may not be listening, but then, the human mind and body are strange, strange things. Maybe it is.

So, me and food are being quite polite to each other and I am not feeling antsy. For now, this is a blessing.

I missed my challenge goal, but I am glad I dipped into it. I'm lighter than when I went into it in June, lighter by just under 9 pounds.

Know what that means: I will look into another challenge. I'll likely meander through that one, too, but if I learn something, advance in my relationship with food, and lose some weight, even if not my goal of loss, the challenge is a success for me.

For my fellow challengers---hope you got something good out of it.

Thanks to Z for organizing it, even if her puter went kaput in the last weeks...

MILESTONE: Lost 40 Pounds, finally!

Okay, I thought yesterday was Sunday. hahahahha. I got ahead of myself with the SUMMER SLIMMIN' CHALLENGE check-in.

But that's fine. At least I did check in.

Today, I hit a milestone I've been so looking forward to. I've lost 40 pounds. Yay.

I weighed in at 258.6.

So, 40.4 pounds to be exact.

The extra protein is totally helping.

Today, hubby wanted a burrito, so we did a LIME takeout. I was afraid I'd do my bingey thing like I usually do with Italian or Mexican (my two major bingey fave cuisines). Nope. I ate a good amount of the lower carb South Beach beef burrito I ordered. But I didn't finish it. This is a RARE occurrence, having leftover burrito. Me loves burrito!!!

I left about 1/4th, which I wrapped for a leftover snack. I didn't finish the guacamole (I usually do) or the salsa (I usually do) and I didn't have a single tortilla chip. I had a few mouthfuls of refried beans, and have plenty for high fiber snacking.

Really happy I didn't go nuts.

Hoping my last two SS Challenge weigh-ins are satisfying ones.

This is a new week. Let's be very good to our bodies....

Summer Slimmin' Check-in Week 7: Damage Repaired, Momentum Back

Whew. Adding extra protein mini-meals worked. the 4 pounds I had regained during the "Carb-Wild Week of Family Festivities and Pizza Pig-Out" are bye-bye:

259.6

I wasted SS Challenge time when I lost my way, but I find my appetite is calmer adding those protein snacks (the pudding shake, oatmeal especially, since they're easy to make and eat, so no hassle for me).

I have not been eating at lower calorie levels I'd wanted. I'm eating at about 2000 calories average. My goal this week is to keep it under 1900 and to keep up the nutrition tracking and water (which I had totally slacked off on).

So, this has been the challenge progress (and backsliding):

Starting Weight: 267.6
End of week 1= 265.6
End of week 2= 263.2
End of week 3=264.8
End of week 4= 262.6
End of week 5: 259.6
End of week 6: 263.8
End of week 7: 259.6


So, basically I lost two weeks, cause I'm back to where I was at the end of week 5.  There's only  TWELVE DAYS left in the challenge, I don't see making my goal of 250. But I'm still hanging in and seeing that number as my objective. :)

I did get some help with my water intake in the last couple days when I went and got some cucumbers (Kirby's), fresh mint, and limes, and I added all that to a container and chilled in the fridge for a few hours. It was amazing. If you like Persian mast o' khiar salads (the minty cucumber yogurt salad you get as an appetizer at Persian restaurants), and I'm wild about the stuff, this tastes like it (sans yogurt). Love it. So refreshing this crazy hot summer.

Anyway, more reviews on the WonderSlim (alternate Medifast sorta) I tried along with my regular foods:

Oatmeal: Ya know, there were sooo many reviews about how much better this was than MediFast oatmeal, so like real oatmeal, five-star reviews, that I'm thinking that MediFast oatmeal must be incredibly awful, cause this was passable. Now, if I had been eating the world's ickiest oatmeal and had this, I'd give it 5 stars, too, I guess. I had the apple n cinnamon. It did have a nice apple and cinnamon taste and the rolled oats were REAL and so the texture was nice (if not overcooked, like my first batch. Use less time than the directions and increase as needed). But like so many of the higher protein, lower calorie diet stuff I've tried over the years, there is this aftertaste, this bitterish undertone. So, side by side with REAL oatmeal, it would get no more than 2 out of five stars (and that for the nutrients/low calorie/appleyness). If you compare it to some other diet protein/soy oatmeals I've tried, yes it fares better. I will say it fixes fast, is easy to eat once you get used to the aftertaste, and is filling for its portion. I like it as a side to eggs to quell my voracious appetite in the am, and as a snack between meals. Worth trying, especially if you are an oatmeal lover who has tried other diet/protein oatmeals and found them wanting.

Cheesesteak Macaroni entree: I cooked this stovetop since other reviewers recommended that. I watched it the whole time to avoid overcooking. It was all right. The final serving is about a cup. The "meat" has a slightly odd texture, but not totally offputting (chewy). The pasta was okay. The cheesiness was adequate. It's not something that made me gag and it's not an entree that made me go "Oh, that as fun." It's merely adequate. Although the cheese-addict in me was satisfied by having the cheesy flavor.

I am not sure at this point if I'd reorder this entree. I'd have to wait and see how it grows--or doesn't--on me and how the other entrees strike me. BUT...it does have a nice filling quality given the quantity. I had it with a side of sauteed spinach, a boiled egg, a small wedge of cheese, and had a creamy pudding for dessert. I was full and got plenty of protein. By itself, I would not be satisfied, but I do think adding veggies as sides--or a salad--or adding some extra low-carb pasta would help oodles. If you LOVE cheesesteak, then definitely try it. There aren't that many entree options, and this seems to be one of the more highly regarded WonderSlim ones. I'd recommend it to those who know it's special high-protein diet food and are willing to base their taste expectations on that basis.

Creamy Pudding/Shake: I almost didnt' try this as a pudding, cause the reviews at the WonderSlim site tend to skew towards this as a shake. But I think the problem is that this is NOT puddingy. This is like a mousse consistency--airier and less creamy than pudding. I like it. I took one star off cause it does have a bit of an aftetaste, but I expect this from high protein diet foods, so no biggie, really. Four to 4.5 stars (based on experiences with other lowcarb dieter foods).

Here's what I did: I prepared it with refrigerator-chilled water (really cold), a bit less than 4 ounces,  and let it sit while i ate my soup. Afte 10 minutes or so, this has set quite nicely. I added a tablespoon of Bob's Red  Mill Shredded organic coconut (smells good, low carb, about 30 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1.3 carbs per tbsp) and about 6 ChocoPerfection dark chocolate baking chips (sugarfree, lowcarb). Almost negligible calorie-wise, really. Just for appearance and to give a shot of chocolate. I found it to be a really nice high-protein QUICK dessert after soup (or even salad or a veggie joe bowl with veggies). I definitely will reorder this. I got the chocolate cream, which I will get again. And I want to try it with some fresh berries, too.

Really, don't be put off of it as a pudding. So quick, no blender to clean, slower to eat, which is always good for dieters. And you can pump it up with low-carb or fruity goodness. Mixes easily with a spoon. Nice "moussey" texture (and I like mousse). A tad gritty, but not horribly so. Just differently so. If they could find a way to rid it of the aftertaste, this would be pretty perfect diet fare.

I've also been enjoying the utterly wonderful bounty of avocados and donut peaches (my fave, fave among peaches) out there. Been eating berries and LOTS of spinach. The arugula has been a bit sad, which makes ME sad, in turn. Love that best of all salad greens. Watermelon has been faboo, too.

I'm still only exercising 2x a week, and part of that is that I'm just having my endocrine issues, and there's not much I can do about that.  I just gotta hold on until my status can be worked out with medication tweaking.

So, that's my check-in. Glad to have "backtracked" to the 250's, glad to be back on the momentum wagon, though, as usual, I suck at challenges, since giving it my all just seems to never work out with these things. I'm such a slacker. ; )

Anyway, I wish you all a happy week with losses! Of the fatty kind. And all sorts of beneficial health and joy and love gains!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until My Meds Get Checked/Tweaked, "Skaking" things up here & Do You Do MediFast Alternatives, like WonderSlim?

htt

Wow. I've been absent again. I missed the SUMMER SLIMMIN' check-in. I've been carbing it up at family gatherings (one day chicken and rice with sugar-topped plantains, the other a lo mein and steamed dumplings feast, and a pizza backslide last night).

I have been feeling off. My face feels a bit "masky", and since we changed my regimen a month ago, I think my previous thyroid med status has now sequed to the new one (lower dosage) and it's NOT helping. I have felt like sleeping more, and I've craved carbs (and been indulging, though until yesterday, not bingeing), and my attention is hard to focus. The scale is up. Yeah, something's off. I have an appot to see doc in August, so I gotta do something until then to not lose all traction.

I will say that despite feeling groggier and carb-happy, I only big-time overate twice in the last week plus. And even though I wanted to binge last night, it was a minor binge (and weighted in less than day before). I did NOT eat enough to gain 4 pounds, and the scale showed me up to 263.8. I know the carbs and sodium mix is mostly to blame.

Yesterday, it was pizza. Damn the Dominos 2x Tuesday. I had not been shopping (due to feeling lethargic) and so there was NOTHING in the house to give hubby. So, I fell into the order-crap hole and got the 2 pizzas for one price. I ate 3.5 slices and a salad and stopped. I wanted more. I wanted the whole fricken pizza. But I took the slices, bagged them, froze them. I wasn't gonna throw them out, as hubby can take them for lunch (as he did today, two slices).

I haven't had an all-out, stuff until I hurt binge in a while. In fact, even when I wanted to eat MORE at the family functions, I didn't. I avoided cakes and sugary snacks for the most part. I didn't have more than one mojito (and that has sugar), and ended up having half of it. I took my own beveraged. I ate something before showing up.

Even the late night eating (the other night I overate), I ordered HALF of what I would when I binged.

I like to think the sense of calmness on most days is progress. Even with the regain.

So, I'm not stressing overly.

I am taking a different tack until I can see the doc (it's too coincidental that I feel off when we're trying a new combo, which I researched after and found was LESS strong than the original one, though should be better absorbed.)

I have watched with good cheer and interest, Lyn of Escape From Obesity's progress on MediFast. (She has a coupon code for those wanting to use the plan. See her blog  post on the MediFast winners.)

I can't do that--first, saw too many reviews of the horrible taste of the stuff and, second, too much soy. I am not euthyroid, and I don't want to take in THAT much soy every day and then have to worry about rejiggering my medication all the time. Nothing worse than unstable thyroid levels when you're hypothyroid. Sucks bigtime. And makes losing weight virtually impossible for me when I"m out of my limited "happy range."

And I wondered about all the folks who have seen our Lyn do so well and want to try something like Medifast, but without soy or with LESS soy. Who worry about soy or are just sensitive or allergic to it. What are their/my options?

So, I did googling. hahah.

Then, I ordered stuff from Diet Direct. Stuff related to WONDERSLIM (though I'm not doing the plan.) I heard about Wonderslim from two sources within one week: 3FatChicks.com's forum and Impatient Dieter. And I saw that soy sensitive folks have used it as an alternative to MediFast (though MediFast seems to work better, it tastes worse and is more expenseive). Trade-offs for people to research.

I am not doing "the program". I simply feel too draggy and demotivated by that dragginess to want to shop/cook/plan, etc. I want simple stuff here that is high-protein, low-to-medium carb, easy to fix, so I don't have to think about food some days (or several days in a row). So, that's my rationale--just holding on and maybe make some progress until we fix me up medication-wise.

BUT..you can use the Diet Direct WONDERSLIM stuff for your "cheaper and tastier alternative to Medifast" regimen if you choose. Others have done it (check 3FatChicks forum to see). You can read up on both plans and see how to work it. In truth, if you have the patience and bucks, you can order stuff from both and see which flavors you can handle before you choose a plan.

For those following Impatient Dieter--who used a regimen of 7 Wonderslim shakes of 100 calories each and two lean/green meals a day of 250 calories each with full fat dressing to lose an astounding amount of weight FAST--and who were curious to try that regimen, I'll happily post reviews of the drinks and meal equivalents for you.

WonderSlim has some soy items, so you do need to read ingredients and decide how much you think you can handle. The shakes and drinks are not soy-based. They are whey-based. You can read nutritional info on their products here: WONDERSLIM

From what I understand, MediFast has more fiber and probably a higher nutritional profile than WonderSlim. It has fewer carbs in its entress. (WonderSlim offers some pasta dish options). WonderSlim's oatmeal is supposed to taste LIKE OATMEAL, unlike the MF weird one. The shakes are supposed to be tastier and without aftertaste like MF. BUT..the WS stuff uses in many cases aspartame. So, some folks don't do that.

So, I do recommend you compare ingredients and carbs, etc, and also if you do WS, to get a fiber supplement. Not a biggie, really. Everyone should review ingredients in what they eat, anyway.

QUICKIE REVIEW: I had the protein WS Hot Cakes for breakfast with two eggs with cheddar and some Almond Breeze. (All stuff I still had at home and easy to prepare). (I'll revise this post with a pic when I upload and rescale. I'm feeling draggy, remember?)

Lots of protein!

The hot cakes would not be confused with regular pancakes, but I found them pleasant--nicely vanilla-ey and with some sugar-free syrup and cinnamon sprinkled on top, satisfying. (One packet makes 3 very small hot cakes. Cute, too.) Don't overcook. Easy to prepare.  Add 1/4 cup water to one packet, stir, let stand for 1 minute (it thickens and becomes frothy), scoop onto pan that's been preheated low-medium heat. I spritzed Pam for the "greasing". I added a tiny dollop of Smart Balance over each pancake (like a pea sized drop) for some healthy fat.

SparkPeople's Nutrition Tracker lists my breakfast as 491 cals,  27g carbs, 35g protein.

It's now 4 hours since I ate--yeah, yeah, I'm not eating every 2 hours, that's up to you if you do the whole plan, which I'm NOT doing--and I"m not remotely hungry, but plan to eat anyway to keep me from GETTING to the point of hunger.

This is not CLEAN EATING. You see that, right? :) It's not "wholesome" eating.

MediFast and WonderSlim are what I call Frankenfood Diets (although others define it differently)--foods that are not what nature makes or near-natural. Processed, reconfigured, "isolated" this, added vitamins, removed THAT, preservatives, all sorts of stuff in there that's hard to pronounce. If you prefer to stay close to nature--as I generally do, but man, I'm zapped right now and justt balk at the idea of toting bags full of produce and proteins home and chopping and cooking... aaaaaarrrgggghhh-- this is not for you.

If you can get tired of flavors easily, this is not for you. Shakes and drinks have limited flavors , there's lots of chocolate , sure. Most of the entrees seem to be similar in spice structure. But your lean meal can be whatever you want that fits the parameters, so make that one happy for your mouth. Lyn has great recipes. See her site for that. Make the most of your REAL FOOD. (I have some frozen asparagus, some fresh Spinach and zucchini, but no meat or poultry at home right now. Dang.)

I plan to add stuff I have in my pantry to use them up, like my nice FiberGourmet high-fiber, lower-carb version of pasta. I like the fiber in that and the texture. I have many soups that I can easily heat up (most are veggie-based). I have frozen Diet-To-Go suppers that can fill in a pinch (though not low-carb, they're vegetarian and lowfat).

I didn't want to ditch the challenge, though exercising is really hard--and I have been tempted to cancel Pilates, but dammit, I refuse to give in THAT much!

If anyone has tried a MediFast alternative (for folks who can't afford/don't like taste of/can't do all soy), please post a link to any post you've done so others can see the resources you have. I don't mean SPAM or PR. I mean YOU use it and it works well for you.

If you've used WonderSlim, do you blog about it? Please comment and link.

If you've done Medifast and found a way to construct your own using more accessible ingredients from your supermarket/health food store--post and link.

So, right now, I was up 4 lbs from last weigh-in, then today down a bit, but still up 3 lbs. Let's see what next weigh-in brings.

On the plus side my natural hair journey has yielded nice results. Here is hair on Saturday on way to one of those carby family gatherings:

Happy week to you all.

WONDERSLIM / DIET DIRECT NOTE: If you spend more than $79, shipping is free. Spend 99 bucks, get 10% automatically off. I got my stuff  IN FIVE DAYS via FedEx, and would have gotten it sooner, but I ordered on a Saturday night.

Legal Note: I did not get any free products (other than usual few samples added to orders). I bought these products on my own dime and my review is my own. I am NOT at this time an affiliate. I am considering becoming one, and it depends on if I enjoy the products.

ETA: Okay, as of Thursday afternoon, I am an affiliate. Just  updating.
GHHCDSV15446258

ETA: Okay, so I just changed my mind and emailed them to remove me as an affiliate. I feel dumb. hah.

Summer Slimmin' Check-In, Week Five McLinky

Since Z is having 'puter issues, here's the McLinky for the check-in for Week Five:

Summer Slimming Challenge: IN THE 250's! But totally lapsing with the elements of challenge

Okay, so I suck at challenges. I didn't journal this week. I didn't drink all my water on all days. And I only exercised 2x. I did some blog support. I had some bad meals (bad meaning ate too much, period, and caved to some sweets.)

But I still did better portion control on the majority of my meals this week, and that was enough to get me into the next decade down with a nice loss, even with chocolate every night. :)

Starting weight for challenge: 267.6
(End of week 1= 265.6, end of 2= 263.2, end of 3=264.8, end of week 4= 262.6)

Today's Weigh-In:  259.6

Loss since last Sunday 3 lbs.

Total Loss for challenge so far: 8 lbs.

So, while I do suck at challenges (ie, I really don't go 100% at it with steely discipline), this one has helped me not stagnate like I had for a year, and for that, I'm really grateful and happy.)

Can I make my goal in 3 weeks and 5 days? Well, yeah. If I'm really good and don't go bonkers, I don't see why not. (Even though I gotta stay indoors cause this summer heat is LITERALLY  making me sick.) Barring a hurricane or someone kidnapping me and force-feeding me, it's all on me, right?

My goal was to get to 250. So, that's nearly ten pounds...ten pounds. I'd have to lose a bit over 3 pounds a week. For me, that's radical. I don't tend to lose that much (this week being kinda flukey). But it's not impossible. So, I'll stay gently optimistic.

Let's have a good week full of sound and healthful choices.

Oh, Man...my toes are in the 250's!

I got on the scale right now and shocked myself.

259.6

I've dipped into the next "decade" down. Whoa...I'm .6 lbs from having lost 40 lbs.

Yesssssssssssss!

Fat Gals on Television--Drop Dead Diva and Huge and why I watch them...

Warning: I ramble like mad. Sorry. Don't feel like revising and proofing over and over to get to essay-like laser focus. Heh.

Television--and cinema--tend not to depict US folks the way we really look. Most of us aren't toned, trim beauties and hunks with white-white teeth and perfect makeup, hair, clothes who look stunning the second we wake up and don't look droopy and pooped the moment we go to bed.

Go to a mall (one not frequented in high numbers by foreign tourists) and look around. What do we look like? For the most part, we're decently groomed, but not glamorous. There will be the occasional really elegant or really updated stylish types, but most just go for comfort. And we tend toward the pudgy side of things, with many of us walking around sporting quite a bit more adipose tissue than is desirable, fashionable, even healthful.

But on television, size 2 rules among women. Should an actress dare to show 10 lbs more than she should by the Hollywood standard, she's gonna have her butt or belly or thighs pasted across tabloids and talked about on Access Hollywood or TMZ and some celebrity blogger will taunt her. (Jennifer Love Hewitt can attest to this.)

Should a formerly glamorous beauty turn flabby and fat (Elizabeth Taylor years ago, Kirstie Alley today), she will be made fun of by late night hosts and everyone under the sun. Maybe they'll be sponsored by some convenience diet program. Because, God forbid, a celebrity look like the rest of us.

Oh, and don't grow old. That's another sin, unless you're a man, who can still get great roles and be a romantic lead at age 65+ (Harrison Ford, Sean Connery,Robert Redford, etc).

But television is right there in our homes, and while it will happily lead or reflect changes in public mores and attitudes about sex or family structure or work or etc, it's sometimes really slow in showing the changing face --and ass--of America.

As a Latina, I know that some years ago I kept asking, "Where the hell are we? We're like 20% of the population, so where are we?" I mean, Freddie Prinze and Desi Arnaz are way in the past. What's happening now?

Then  Jennifer Lopez made box office, Cristina Aguilera and Ricky Martin and Shakira made the charts and MTV's videos, and George Lopez's show gave us a family-face. Sophia Vergara is on Modern Family now (and funny, too). Cute young Latin performers are on TV (the half-Puerto Rican family on Wizards of Waverly Place). Hunkorama Adam Rodriguez makes the girls go mmmm on CSI: Miami. (Although, really, for a city that's more than 50% Hispanic, that show needs some more Latin face flavor and don't get me going on CSI: NY's dearth of Hispanics.)

So, I ask less often about the ethnicity factor and more often about the fat factor. Where are the pudgies, chubbies, zaftigs, chunkies, and fatties? We're a fat country. We're not a country of ectomorphs. We're roundies. J-Lo made the big Latin butt popular among non-black, non-Latin folks, will Drop Dead Diva and HUGE make the bigger gal popular in television programming of the future?

Dunno, but I tune in. I loved DDD from day one and haven't missed an episode. The actors are excellent and the show is fun and funny while often addressing important issues other than fat-related ones. Even my husband sits to watch with me without fail. The lead actress is plus-size who comes across smart AND pretty AND talented. She may have the soul of a skinny blonde inside, but what we see is an attractive, successful lawyer of a Lane Bryant size brunette. And it's about fricken time a plus-size lead actress can be seen as SEXY AND COMPETENT.

While we've seen big gals featured before--notably Roseanne, whose eponymous show let us into the often cantakerously dysfunctional world of a supersized wife/mom/blue-collar worker. But Roseanne wasn't put out there as desirable or super-successful. She was the tough-talking, no nonsense, unglamorous big gal married to a blue-collar supersized hubby with often rebellious kids.

But at least she wasn't a vindictive whack job like Mimi in Drew Carey Show--with the clown makeup and insane outfits that said, "I'm fat, so yeah, I am a big joke." It was okay for Drew to be the fat guy who gets the cute gal. Mimi was just the fat gal with no fashion sense and a psychosis.

Blasting to the past a bit, I have fond memories of tuning in to a new show called THE PRACTICE and seeing a size 22 or so Camryn Mannheim as a regular (even with her notable man woes). A less-cute precursor to DROP DEAD DIVA's Jane, she was a a smart lawyer gal (though not as brilliant as others in the team). Again, though, unlike DDD's Jane, who gets warm "almost passionate" looks from one of her colleagues and has a passionate relationship (spoiler: now off) with a prosecutor, Camryn's character was not drawn as an effervescent object of like and some lust.

Anyone remember LESS THAN PERFECT?  A show with two less-than-slim gals. Both Sherri Shepherd and Sara Rue have lost weight now, and Sara, who was the show's lead actress, now plugs Jenny Craig. But hey, I liked seeing a show with gals who displayed more "average" American bodies.

Back to today: I'll say this--at least the characters in HUGE are more like regular fat teens. Some are overprotected and meek, some are rebellious, some are super-hot-to-trot, all have issues with either their bodies or society's rejection of their bodies or both.

I don't remember my teen years as being all lightness and joy. I was chubby --by my own estimation and by size category, as I wore a size 10 at start of my teens and a 12 by graduation from high school. Old school measurements, not the revised ones of today, meaning I wasn't really THAT  big, geesh. My hips were 41 inches at age 18, and I weighed 139 pounds, which I remember one cousin going, "Whoa!" when I measured them. I wish my hips were that "big" now (for reference, they're 54.5 inches) . I used to read diet books that had calculations that told me I should weigh 123. Right. Yeah. Like that ever happened.

No wonder I couldn't enjoy being NORMAL weight

I rode bike. I did yoga. I walked for miles. I swam for hours in my sister's complex's pool. I loved the beach and let my poochy belly (got it from mom) show in bathing suits. I didn't FEEL fat in my activities. But society/diet books told me I was overweight and should reduce. So, I couldn't enjoy my body fully, though I was normal.

It makes me furious to this day to think about it.

So, even with HUGE not being anything outstanding yet --one can hope. I base that hope on the really charismatic presence of unkempt, snarky, cellulite-baring Nikki Blonsky. (I never saw this gal in anything else she's done, but man, she's good, good in a way Ricki Lake never, ever was when she was "the cool young fat actress of the moment." Although, to give Ricki her props, she's gotten better. Saw her in an indie flick not too long ago, and thought, "Oh, she's finally learned to act.")

HUGE is the television drama version that reminded me of an MTV documentary I watched a while back that showed teens at a weight loss camp.  It had the same vibe as HUGE, maybe was an inspiration, dunno.

 Some critique the fact that the show doesn't feature someone with total body acceptance without reservations (ie even Will has issues). Well, I had fat friends as a teen. Not merely "a bit fatter than me", but fat. Big. Round. Obese.

And not one had total body acceptance. Every single one wanted to lose weight. One underwent a radical weight loss over one summer vacation: left school in spring quite obese, and returned to the new year's term normal weight. She must have pretty much fasted, and protein fasts were very popular in the seventies. She got a huge boost of confidence, was more active in social events, and got a boyfriend. Clearly, it made a "huge" difference to her life.

I'd find it unrealistic if the characters in HUGE really were totally happy being large in a society that hates large, big in a culture that considers big a fatal flaw, particularly for females. I might believe in a character that believes in fat/self acceptance, but still wishes she could "fit in" to a slimmer world just cause it's EASIER. I've heard that view spoken by gays: "It would just be easier to be straight." Doesn't mean they hate themselves, just means that they wish day to day life was less full of obstacles.

I suspect Nikki Blonsky's "Will" may say she likes herself the way she is and it's going to prove to be nearly all talk by season's end. Maybe she doesn't have the profound self-loathing so many of us have had/have about our fat, but I suspect that it was universal in my teen circle in high school: the chubs all wanted to have the figure of the bat girls, cheerleaders, desired girls in school. The ones the boys rated 9 or 10. We wanted to shop in normal clothes stores, not Lane Bryant.

But even so, a drama needs conflict. External and internal. Otherwise, boring.

HUGE has an assortment of issues under the skin of its fat characters, and I hope the show improves so I don't just tune in cause "Hey, a show with fellow fatties." No, I want it to be a show that really delves into the issues big teens (and by extension big adults) face in a big-despising society.

At least Gina Torres and Nikki make it really watchable (as do a couple other actors doing a very nice job, imo). I like these two ladies a lot. They both have charisma.

And I admit, that I had this moment of intense sympathy and even admiration when Gina Torres' camp director character, when offered a special food one evening, says, "I don't eat after dinner. Ever." (I paraphrase, as I don't remember the exact wording of the script.) And she repeats it.  This is a character who has lost a lot of weight and is paying the price, in terms of discipline and self-sacrifice, to keep it off. The total seriousness and even bit of anger in the tone as the lines were delivered gave me chills.

It's not easy being fat. But it's not easy staying slim, either, as I think we're going to see more of in the show.

So, I'm hanging in there with DROP DEAD DIVA (yay, me loves Jane!) and HUGE (just okay, but me loves Gina and Nikki). I'm all for employing the fat in Hollywood. :D

The Sleep Factor, Confirmed Yet Again and Today's Food

I think a couple of times in the past three years, I've posted about how I do better on the scale when I sleep well and sufficiently (ie, 8+ hours). I find that the combination of morbid obesity and peri-and-menopause had caused me to have BAD SLEEP, when prior to this combo, I tended to sleep easily and well. Not so the last couple years. Sleep apnea and hormonal chaos really did a job on my ability to sleep deeply and adequately and, really, at any time. I used to be able to nap like a cat--at will.

But I had a lovely catch-up on lost sleep and the scale was nice for a peek weigh-in: 261.0   New low...again.

I hope I can somehow get my sleep back on track, but that usually means back to "vampire time" (ie sleeping days, awake nights), but I don't want to do that. I'm struggling to stay on daylight hours, but this makes life so much easier, if not Zs.

I had breakfast of pomodoro omelette (Diet To Go version), which is a high protein egg mixture firmly cooked with a creamy spinach and marinara sort of sauce combo with some asparagus on side. I cooked up a bunch of spinach with EVOO to up my veggie count and had some coconut water and coffee. Oh, and a slice of rye toast with Smart Balance spread. I had three pieces of avocado sushi with wasabi and pickled ginger for a snack.

For my next meal, I ordered vegetable pad thai with steamed veggies side order (cabbage, carrots, pea pods broccoli, squash). Hubby wanted cashew chicken (which he ate for early supper), and my pad thai is waiting for nuking when I'm hungry.