The Power of We

38 days ago, in the middle of the Christmas holiday season, I ate 24 coconut petit fours in 24 hours.  When I was halfway through the butter toffee, I stopped.  I walked to the trash can in tears and tossed it, promising myself I was done with sugar.

28 days ago, I had weaned myself down to one diet soda per day after countless years of drinking it like water.  I cut out that last can of diet soda and promised myself to stop drinking chemicals.

25 days ago, I decided to give myself an imaginary lap band.  I had been considering lap band surgery and, after reading several patient experiences on an online forum, decided to give the pre-op diet  a go…just to see what it was like.  I had a food epiphany that helped me stop thinking of eating healthy as a chore.

And a little over 24 hours ago, I created my version of Motivation Marbles, pinned it on Pinterest…and your outpouring of support has absolutely overwhelmed me…and humbled me.  I am so absolutely grateful for each and every one of your comments, your “likes”, your shares, and your pins.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I had a pretty full day today.  In addition to my regular job, I had an interview for a promotion and needed to refit my resume for another job I was applying for within my company.  In between all these tasks, my phone would alert me that you were listening.

Bleep!   A new comment on the blog.

Beep beep!  A new pin on Pinterest.

Hoo Hoo!  A new “like” on Facebook.

I went down to the cafeteria to get a bag of Stacy’s Pita Chips to eat with my sandwich.  My eyes grazed over the lemon bars that I used to get every single day.  I try not to look at them for long.  (I think calories can smell fear.)  But just as my eyes were grazing over the lemon bars, Bleep!  New comment on the blog.  Oh look!  It’s from someone who has to lose 94 lbs.  I instantly identify with her.

Walking back to my desk. Hoo Hoo!  New Facebook likes on my Fan Page.  More smiles.  It was as if you were all following me today, reading my blog and enjoying yourselves as much as I was enjoying your comments.

By the way, remember yesterday morning when I promised that I would try the cucumber juice concoction I’d been thinking about?  Turned out to be 2 cucs, 2 oranges, a bunch of mint & basil  Here it is:

It was…mildly tasty.  I think I’m happier with the fact that it didn’t completely turn me off.  I want to try again!  Anyway, back to today’s events…

I came home expecting so see that the visits on my blog have settled down, but they haven’t.  They’re continuing to skyrocket.  I plopped down in front of my laptop and read more comments.  I will always try to respond to you – even if you’re only saying hi.  My husband came home and I was still replying to you.  He asked what I was doing and I said “Replying to my readers”.  My readers.  🙂

I sat here at this laptop for quite a while, knowing that I have promised myself that I will do 6 days of exercise in a row.  This is a weakness of mine and so this is the challenge I’ve extended myself.  I would much rather have sat on the couch – or that’s what I thought.  There was a big Saint Bernard head in my lap and I was being required to administer belly rubs.  I kept telling myself “Later.  I’ll do it later…before bed.”

More and more comments came in and, as I read them, I realized…I want to get on the treadmill.  I promised myself in front of my readers that I would exercise for 6 days in a row.  I thought of all the cheers you’ve given me and all the stories you’ve shared with all of us.  Suddenly the excuses fell away and I didn’t want to let you down.  I wanted to walk my own talk.  So I got on the treadmill tonight at a time when I am usually getting ready for bed.

The last several times I’ve been on the treadmill, I’ve lasted for 10 to 20 minutes.  Each time, I’ve tried not to watch the clock as it ticks off my time.  Why does that clock seem to move so slow?

This time, I remembered to grab my iPod and headphones.  I got on the treadmill.  Train was singing “Hey, Soul Sister” in my head…and I smiled.  I walked.  With pep, energy, and purpose – not the clunky, oh-crap-I-am-so-stopping-at-KFC-after-this lurch I used to do.  The music lifted me.  The idea that there are all these strangers out there who come to this blog and see what I’m up do…it gave me a little extra dose of sassy on that treadmill.

I started walking and I had my mental clock set for 20 minutes.  Let’s not get crazy here, I’m just starting back to exercise.  I trudged on while Caesar the cat lounged on the bed behind me, looking at me as if to say “Watching you clunk around on that thing only makes me more sleepy.”

As I walked, I thought about the comments that you’ve left here for me.  I couldn’t stop smiling.  And I never smile when I exercise.  I knew I was getting close to 20 minutes and looked down.  23 minutes.  But I wasn’t tired.  I was pumped up by your support…and also by the strong desire to show Caesar the cat that I can rock this treadmill.  I decided to go for 30 minutes.

“Like a Prayer” was blasting in my ears (the Glee cast version) and I love that song.  My 30 minutes were up, but I wanted to hear the end of the song…so I kept going.  32:06 was when I flicked the switch.

32 minutes and 6 seconds.  That’s the most time I’ve spent on a treadmill in a year and a half.

This has been an amazing day for me.  Seeing your comments pop up in email, on my phone, on my Facebook fan page…it means more  to me than you know.  When I got home from work, I had so much to do I could very well have fallen back on another excuse.

I’m looking forward to moving some marbles VERY soon.  As soon as Mother Nature arrives and departs, I’m gett’in on that scale.  For now, I’m suffering through the water retention gift she gave me.  She’s such a bitch.

I hope you will all keep coming back, posting comments, and supporting each other.  It is really amazing what happens when we feel the support of others.  Tonight, I felt yours…and I am so grateful for it.

Thank you all for getting me on the treadmill tonight.

52 thoughts on “The Power of We

  1. Now THAT’s some motivation, right there. Sounds like a most productive day. Give yourself 32.06 gold stars. Woo hoo…way to go. .

    1. Thanks, Lauren!  Believe me, there was some dust on my treadmill last night…I was kind of shocked at how much.  LOL.  It’s gone now!

    1. Thanks Tanya!  Hugs back.  🙂  And I will definitely keep the stories coming…it helps!

  2. I came here yesterday via Pinterest and bookmarked your blog so I could come back. This post was very inspirational. I’ve got about 95 to lose and after reading this I am considering blogging my own journey. I must have 10 blogs floating in cyberspace that I’ve abandoned over the years so I don’t have a very good track record but I just might give it a go.

    Either way, you’ve gained yourself a new reader.

    1. Hi Michelle!  Thank you so much for such wonderful comments.  Be sure to let me know if you start blogging…I will definitely visit.  🙂

      I’m so glad you’re here and that you’re coming back!

  3. Ever since I ran across a comment you posted with your blog info on Pinterest, I’ve visited everyday. I look forward to it…you inspire and motivate me! It’s an amazing feeling to have a connection to someone who can relate so closely to my journey, as well as so many others. Another one of your readers said it very well a day or so ago, you know just how to say what we’re all thinking! Thank you, for being MY motivation!

    1. Allison, thank you so much.  🙂  It IS an amazing feeling to have a connection with people who can relate.  There are many people in my life who questioned whether I should write this blog and didn’t believe that it would be beneficial…but it’s beneficial to me to be able to connect with others who can relate – and it means the world to me that you feel the same way.  🙂

  4. I am loving your blog! Good job on the treadmill, that is awesome. 🙂 And I am so going to have to make myself a jar, it’s such a great way to remember that a pound isn’t “only just a pound,” especially when they add up. 🙂

    1. Thanks Courtney!  I think I’m going to have to create a gallery just so everyone can send in pictures of their jars!  (Actually I’ll see if Matt the Wonder Ninja can do it…he created and runs my site for me).  I would love to see what everyone comes up with.  🙂

  5. Hi Dianne!  I’m one of the newbies from yesterday that found your blog.  Let me just say, you had me at ‘Ode to my right boob’!  I hadn’t laughed that hard in a while, and I shared your blog with 2 friends immediately! 

    I have 100+ pounds to lose.  My goal is to go on a mission trip to Haiti after I lose the weight…I refuse to go feeling as exhausted and disgusting as I do now.  Haiti is my passion, and lately I’ve lost some of the passion and I think it’s because I feel like CRAP.  All I want to do is sleep and eat.  But finding your blog has really boosted me…I’m going to get off my ass and start taking care of me.  I look forward to following you on your journey, and hope that I can encourage you along the way!  Keep writing like you do, because that’s encouragement for me! 

    ~Amy in WI

    1. Amy, thank you soooo much for liking that boob story.  LOL.  I was not sure how well that would go over, but it was a story that needed to be told.  🙂  Thank you so much for sharing my blog – I appreciate you more than I can say!

      I had a very good friend volunteer in Haiti just after the earthquake there…it was an extremely moving experience for him.  I admire your commitment and bravery for having such a goal.  Just think of how much more energy you’ll have when you get there if you start taking care of yourself now and get yourself in better shape.

      You don’t have to be perfect – so don’t buy into that stuff.  Just do more than you did yesterday and then a little more the day after that…you’ll get there.  We all will!  🙂

  6. I’m a new reader to your blog…and am now hooked. 
    Rooting for you.  You go, girl! (watch out though…you might turn into one of us peeps who LIKE to exercise.  At the beginning of my 60 lbs. loss I never thought I would.  Now, it’s a high I enjoy)

    1. I hooked a Zombie!?!?!?!  🙂  I love your name.  LOL.  Thank you so much for your comments…and I hope, hope, hope I do like exercise one day.  I am pretty optimistic that I will once it’s no longer painful (overweight painful, not healthy painful).  

      I don’t think I will ever be the type who says things like “Dude, I am totally maxing out my planks today and then downing some Extreme Chocolate Landslide Protein Shakes instead of eating actual food later…I am so pumped!”  🙂

      Yeah, that I’ll never do.  At least not with a straight face.  LOL

  7. Hey, I feel special!  I’m the lady with 94 lbs to lose!  🙂  Good job on the treadmill!  I had to sell my treadmill before we moved a few months ago.  Hoping to get an elliptical soon!  *high 5*  :-0

    1. LOL   Hi EmJP!  Thanks for inspiring me!!!

      Hubby tried to make me dump the treadmill when we moved, but I got all stubborn with him.  LOL.  

      An elliptical is definitely my next exercise machine purchase…but that may be a while.  My paychecks are quite depressing & I need to save up for a lonnnnng time before I do that!

    1. Hi Marcy!  Something appears to be wrong with your link – but I know it was working earlier because I clicked on it from work (sssh!).  

      Stay tuned, because I am trying to see if I can get a marble page going on my site where people can…well…show off their marbles!

      I’m so glad you found me & hope you come back often.  🙂

  8. Keep on moving….Don’t Stop…ooooooooo.

    GAIN CONTROL
    LOSE WEIGHT

    LOSE CONTROL
    GAIN WEIGHT

    Hold on tight to that control! We are all praying for you and cheering you on!!

  9. This is so motivating! You’re doing a great job and I love your blog. It is witty and touching. At the young age of 22, I am on a journey to lose over 80 lbs. Your story is inspiring and I’m glad I found it.

    1. Thank you so much, Rosinda, for your wonderful comments.  Sweetie, you can sooo do this.  I’m glad you found my site – we can all do this together.  🙂

  10. You are an inspiration! This is the first time i’ve been to your blog, as i came across your post through Pinterest with the marbles (LOVE IT!) and i will be checking back in frequently as i want to read of your success and i want to feed off of your motivation and happiness. We’re all in this with you 🙂 keep up the great work!

    1. Thanks so much, Skurvywithak!  I hope to see you back here frequently…I need all the help and support I can get.  Don’t we all?

      Mother Nature is here this week, so I’m holding off the scale until early next week – but I am sooooooooooooooo looking forward to moving some marbles when I get on that scale.  🙂

  11. Keep up the good work! I also am on a weight loss journey! I have 56 pounds to go to my goal. It is overwhelming at times but I am so sick of feeling the way I have for years that I decided to make a change FINALLY!!! I am going to follow your blog, it is always nice to have the support of others and to see that you’re not alone! I made a marble jar as well and can’t wait to fill up the “lost” jar!

    1. Hi Manitou!  Your name makes me flash back to an old Tony Curtis movie.  🙂  Do you know the one I’m thinking of?  LOL

      I’m so glad you found me here.  Stay tuned because I am working on a way to let my readers post pictures of their marble jars here…I would love to see yours.

      Good luck on your 56 lbs to go…I am cheering for you!!!!

  12. You crack me up and remind me of myself in so many ways.  I have only been reading for a few days and now look forward to your posts.  I to have a weight problem and have been up to about 80 pounds overweight at one time.  I did have lapband and lost about 60 pounds with it but it was more, ” I spent all this damn money, I better loose weight!”, I have now started to gain it back because I realize it is our brains and not our stomachs that need to be banded!! It has taken me years to figure this out. I would not recommend lapband to anyone except as a desperate last resort.  You are an inspiration to me and your posts are hilarious!! Keep up the good work!!

    Sandra

    1. Thanks so much, Sandra!  🙂  It’s good to have you here…and your story about lap band makes me feel that I made the right decision today (more on that later!)

  13. Just discovered your blog and boy do I relate to you!  You do it in a funny but…. a good way that really made me think.  I have enjoyed reading some of your posts and have subscribed.  Look forward to more.  Maybe you can motivate me!

    1. Hi Diane!  (Love your name, sister!!)  Thanks so much and I’m glad you found me.  🙂

  14. Great job today!!! You are helping me get motivated. I have to to start moving more. I have a stationary bike that I want to get out of storage and start using again. I have lost over half of my goal weight loss but I have sort of flat lined and need something to push me over the bump! I love your posts. They are honest and funny. Keep up the great work and hopefully all of us will reach our goals!
    (((HUGS)))

    1. Thanks, Missy!  I have been in that flat lined spot a couple times…it sucks because you so badly want to get moving and yet you just don’t have any more umph.  Maybe you can inspire me to get over mine when it comes along…and I sure hope I can do the same for you.  🙂  

    2. Thanks, Missy!  I have been in that flat lined spot a couple times…it sucks because you so badly want to get moving and yet you just don’t have any more umph.  Maybe you can inspire me to get over mine when it comes along…and I sure hope I can do the same for you.  🙂  

  15. Don’t you hate that the Nike ad is right?  “Just Do It”  – I actually have to say this to myself on a regular basis. If being healthy was easy then obesity wouldn’t be such an epidemic.   

    I am so proud of the strides you are making in getting back onto the right track, and I know you will continue on this path – especially now that you are getting the loyal readers that you deserve. This kind of accountability is going to make all the difference in your success.  Just don’t forget your original fans when you get around to publishing your book  (and when it becomes a screenplay, you can cast Michele Williams to play the younger version of me)

    Hugs

    1. What a perfect person to play you, Jackie.  LOL.  As long as Rosie O’Donnell doesn’t play me I’m fine.  🙂

  16. So, I also ended up here due to your marbles on Pinterest and your blog has me laughing. I love your writing, humor, and that there are so many of us out there on this craptastical journey of losing weight.

    Lots of love,
    A girl with 80 pounds to lose.

    1. Lori, I love that word:  craptastical.  LOL.  Awesome!

      Thank you so much for your post and support.  I hope to see you around here often!!

  17. Made it here from Pinterest just like a lot of people on here. I wanted to leave you a quick comment, and to send you some mega encouragement! What you’re doing is really inspiring and uplifting. Your story is powerful, and your determination to overcome is a beacon for the rest of us. Look forward to seeing more of your progress, we are cheering for you 🙂

  18. Way to go….over 30 minutes on a treadmill…guess I need to haul my jumbo petite ass to a treadmill now to catch up with you!
    You are a very good writer….you have a book here…The Year of the Imagainary Lap Band…really, I would buy it

  19. All I can say is WOW! I’m like so many others who found you on Pintrest and YIPPEE for me I clicked to find out more. I have sat this morning and read all your posts and am thinking she has to be my twin! I can so relate to all the weight issues comments you make and oh the lap band idea… I cried when you said you wanted to lose weight to ride a roller coaster- I have a 6 yr old son and so want to enjoy his childhood. I’m 33 yrs old, married working mom with a 6 yr old, 18 yr old step son, and a 22 yr old step daughter and a 22 month old grand daughter. I have always been chunky but until resently have actually come to the terms I am morbidly obese. Hitting my top weight of 309- going to the dr after the first of the year and her saying alright this is the deal your heart can’t take this your looking at 1-5 yrs if you conintue to gain weight of your life being limited if not gone.  I have a 6 yr old I want to see grow up even though he acts tough and all he still needs his mommy and I need  him. I want to ride the ragin rapids and even the seat belt extender wouldn’t work they kicked me off the ride and I was absolutely devestated. I have joined weight watchers 2 weeks ago and have lost 11 pounds.. YEEHAW Im not under 300 but refuse to by any new clothes only because they are hideous… Thanks for the laughing, tears and encouragement. I think I might blog to possibly help myself also..

    I am so tired of hearing you have such a pretty face- dang it people I am so much more than just a pretty face!!!
    THANKS AND BEST WISHES-

    1. Oh, Amy, I think we ARE twins.  LOL

      I was kicked off a roller coaster too…so horrifying.  

      I know every time I crested the 200 mark…and then the 300 mark…part of me just gave up and started eating.  So when you said you’re 309, I immediately remembered being that weight and being so upset that I was in the 300’s that what did I do?  Starting EATING.  How much sense does that make?

      You are in a great position to get back to the 200’s pretty quick, girl…you better not let me beat you.  🙂

      You are definitely more than a pretty face, girl.  Don’t give up!

    2. Oh, Amy, I think we ARE twins.  LOL

      I was kicked off a roller coaster too…so horrifying.  

      I know every time I crested the 200 mark…and then the 300 mark…part of me just gave up and started eating.  So when you said you’re 309, I immediately remembered being that weight and being so upset that I was in the 300’s that what did I do?  Starting EATING.  How much sense does that make?

      You are in a great position to get back to the 200’s pretty quick, girl…you better not let me beat you.  🙂

      You are definitely more than a pretty face, girl.  Don’t give up!

    3. Oh, Amy, I think we ARE twins.  LOL

      I was kicked off a roller coaster too…so horrifying.  

      I know every time I crested the 200 mark…and then the 300 mark…part of me just gave up and started eating.  So when you said you’re 309, I immediately remembered being that weight and being so upset that I was in the 300’s that what did I do?  Starting EATING.  How much sense does that make?

      You are in a great position to get back to the 200’s pretty quick, girl…you better not let me beat you.  🙂

      You are definitely more than a pretty face, girl.  Don’t give up!

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