The Fatty Chronicles

So, I've decided to get rid of the Gazelle. It's $175 if you want to take it off my hands. The good news is, I've decided to start walking outside. Yes, even in this hideously freezing 43' weather, I will be going for walks each day. I decided it was time to use my iPod nano for something other than my car stereo.

Does anybody know how a fat person puts on a pedometer? And have it record your steps correctly??

I don't want to alarm anyone, but I exercised today of my own free will and choice, and not out of guilt.

For a whopping 4 minutes.















I think I may do it again.

I have been having so much fun with my new Gazelle! The footpads came off so that ticks me off, but I can just superglue them back on. Plus, it would probably help if I had shoes on and not in my bare feet.

I feel so happy lately... I wonder if there's a Mack truck in my future?

I belong to the popular weight-loss support group Sparkpeople. It’s a great place to educate yourself on weight loss. It seems that almost daily I get an email with an inspirational quote and question to get and keep me motivated on my journey. I should spend time doing that every day, writing in my journal blog about the ones that touch me, but my brain farts and I just keep filling my inbox with them. So today I’m going to marathon blog and use some of those quotes and questions not only so I can empty my inbox, but so I can spend time pondering on them.

So here goes!

“The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day when we truly grow up.” – John Maxwell, author and public speaker

Many things happen to us or around us during our lives. For a time, we can “blame” these occasions for our thoughts and actions, but there comes a day when we must accept responsibility for ourselves and what we say and do. My father died when I was 7. Apparently the way I dealt with it was eating. That’s what started the snowball rolling down the hill. At some point that excuse became unacceptable for my reason for being fat. When that occurred I’ll probably never know but I can accept responsibility now. I put that donut in my mouth because “I deserve it”. Because I want it. It doesn’t really matter why I do it, the point is I do it and I must stop. For me to get what I deserve in life, I must stop.

“A great obstacle to happiness is expecting too much happiness.” – Bernard de Fontanelle, writer

I truly believe that happiness is a choice. There can be circumstances which make it hard for us to make that choice, but ultimately it is up to us to decide how happy we are and why.

“If at first you don’t succeed, you’re running about average.” – Unknown

Isn’t that SO true? I mean, honestly. How many people are truly successful? Here’s the rub: How do you define success? Some might look at me and my situation and think that I am decidedly Unsuccessful. I choose to believe otherwise.

“Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children.” – Kenyan Proverb

The whole “loan from your children” thing isn’t what strikes me. It’s for selfish reasons I want to be a good steward of the Earth. I love it. There is no other place in the galaxy like it. I enjoy having clean air to breathe. I think that thechnology is necessary, and that the Industrial Age brought on so much so fast, we didn’t have a way to know what was/is good and bad. People get so caught up in squeezing every second of productivity that they can out of the day that many of our modern conveniences have also caused us great harm, both physiologically and as a society. It is not okay that we don’t know our neighbors. We shouldn’t have to sentence prisoners to cleaning up our highways because we should appreciate beauty so much that we would never do anything to degrade it like littering.

I think that’s good for now. The morning is marching on and I’ve got laundry to do.

Peace!

I am in love. With a tomato. A teeny, tiny, scrumptious little red tomato. It's about as big as my fingernail. I bought three pints of them and have forbidden my children from eating them. They can have the other tomatoes we have, but these are MINE!!!

I've been having a difficult time lately. My will and esteem have been low and going lower. It's been too easy for me to make the wrong choice in a given circumstance, and today I decidecd to take myself back. The boys are starting school on Monday and I will be all by myself with just the little one. Nobody will be whining at me to take them out to lunch, nobody will be whining at me because they don't like what I've fixed for lunch at home, I can eat all the gourmet and healthy foodstuffs I want!

And I'm startin' with these termaters...

I've decided to become as HCFS (high-fructose corn syrup) free as I can. I believe strongly in the "think globally, act locally" mantra. I started by giving up soda, and I'm moving into other realms. HCFS is a super-sweetener. The less you need of an ingredient, the more powerful it is. You could think of it as you might heroin, for instance. The more you use, the more it takes for you to get high. We no longer crave the sweetness of fruit for dessert, we want super-sweets!

"You must be careful how you walk and where you go, for there are those following you who will set their feet where yours are set." - Robert E. Lee, Civil War General

Well now that's a scary thought! Or is it? The reasons for my being fat are many. If my children become fat, there will only be one: ME. They watch what I do. They eat what I eat. They want what I want.

I must have done something right with my firstborn, he eschews sodas & snacks for healthier things. Given a choice between french fries or a side salad at the drive-thru, he'll pick the salad. My other two sons go for the fries and soda (or chocolate milk) every time. They've been watching me a little too closely! Aside from wanting to lose weight because I am disgusted with what I see in the mirror and how I feel physically worn out every day, I want to set a good example for my children. I don't want them to struggle as I have. So I finally gave up soda for good. In the last 4 weeks I have broken down and had it 4 times, but aside from the time where I had none for 2 years straight, this is the best I've ever done. And it hasn't been hard. Just expensive! I've started buying flavored waters and other drinks to treat myself, and my husband noticed. He's proud of me, but more than that, I'm proud of me too. Now, if I can just get my younger ones to follow suit...