Week 3

There is no triumphant tale of weight loss for this last Saturday. Fortunately, there isn't a tale of woe instead. No, what happened was that Keem went out of town for the weekend and we did not go to Weight Watcher's. This is actually a good thing because it was a totally crappy week. I was stressed out over some financial difficulties (still am but not as much since I now have somewhat of a game plan), work has been extremely hectic and there is that dreaded birthday approaching. This may or may not have led to some creative calculating of calories (Mark, that alliteration is just for you). I am pretty sure that I may have gained some of the weight back.

We are going back this Saturday. I am not as stressed out, work is still hectic but Joe made me laugh about it with his comment about calculating his cost basis (Joe, I told Beth that if I ever meet you, I'm going to have to smack you for that. But gosh, it was funny) and the birthday blues seem to have passed on by. Amazing what actually taking my Effexor can do for me. Plus, Weight Watchers recommends that you take a multi-vitamin when dieting and I seem to have a bit more energy (case in point, maybe 3 hours of sleep last night but I have not yet fallen asleep on any of the stock owners). This is a good thing.

For those of you that are interested, here are the links to week one and week two. At last count, I have lost 11.6 pounds. In the spirit of complete and total honesty, which we all know that I am (except for the occasional exaggeration for comic effect), I will tell you that my goal is to get to 150 at the very least. That is exactly 209 pounds from my starting weight. Scary, huh? I have no idea how I managed to pack on 200+ pounds in 20+ years (my weight when I graduated from high school was 180) but I did and I have to deal with it.

I had mentioned to Beth that I wanted to do a scrapbook when this was all finished, documenting my weight loss and what I was feeling while it happened. This is one of the reasons for the blog posts. It's a great way to keep track of what is going on, what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling and it works so much better to do this than keeping a seperate blog did. Anyway, Beth has taken pictures of me each week.

Here is the picture taken right after I started Weight Watchers. When I learned that I weighed the most I ever had in my life (although this is the most that I ever knew about, Beth is pretty sure I was heavier in Portugal which is kind of scary).

Here is the picture from week one, after the 7 pound weight loss.

Here is the picture from week two, after the 4.6 pound weight loss - grand total 11.6 pounds! This is my favorite picture so far. I love the pig tails. Beth put them in for me at karaoke. She also gave herself braids and Bryan referred to her as the Swedish troublemaker (I think it was troublemaker. Now I don't remember).

Last night, Angie and James sang "Islands in the Stream." James had been picking songs for us last week and wanted Angie to try it. She informed him that she didn't know it very well and she would learn it but only if he sang it with her. We were very amused by this, especially at the look on his face when he realized that he had trapped himself. It may tell you about my incredible like for James when I say that I think he's a great singer. I know he really isn't but I'm biased. Apparently like is not only blind but tone deaf. Anyway, Beth took a picture of them and then realized that she didn't get one of me for this week.

I went up to the stage and asked Bryan for a microphone. He looked at me puzzled. "I just unplugged them," he said. "That's okay," I told him. "I just need to get my picture taken." He was even more puzzled and Beth explained we were documenting my weight loss. He thought that was a cool idea. So there will be a picture soon.

Anyway, after karaoke, while Beth and I were talking about the evening, I was yet again reminded of why I'm so glad that I didn't give into the suicidal impules from my past - I have a great bunch of friends. The people I hang out with in real life are so cool and fun and great to be around. They're very supportive of me and willing to listen to when I need someone to talk to. And the people that I have "met" through the blogging world are also cool and fun and great to be around on the internet. You guys all rock. Thank you for your support.