There must be 2 pounds of hair there - cut it all off. That's dinner? Gee, thanks.
Here we are, with the first week of the family weight-loss challenge under our slightly looser belts. Time for a status update.
As I posted last week, my sister Terry issued a challenge for all the women in our family to lose weight this summer, or die trying. The winner will get cash and fabulous prizes. I am referring to this dark time of pain as “Celery Summer”
Most of us got off to a slow start because of Fathers Day. I think we all felt that being unwilling to consume mass quantities of fattening foods (or beers, or Sour Apple-tinis) might somehow send the message to the men in our lives that we don’t love them. This rationale made perfect sense to me as I was perusing the menu at my favorite Italian restaurant on Sunday. In retrospect; not so much.
Our sister-in-law, Lisa, joined the challenge as well. I’m so glad! Ever since December, I’ve been worried that she had the mistaken impression that I did not support her weight-loss efforts. Nothing could be further from the truth! Just because of a little post I wrote: “My Sister-In-Law is Ruining the U.S. Economy” , that was no reason for her to think I wasn’t behind her 100%. Now that the president has assured us that happy days are here again, it should be safe for all of us to diet.
I called Libby for a progress report, but it was so noisy where she was that we couldn’t really talk. All I could glean was that she was at Grandpa Tony’s with my Mom & Dad. The place is well known for their deep-dish pizza and extra-thick milkshakes. No doubt some very scientific, secret weight-loss stratagem at work here.
Judy said she didn’t have a scale. That would seem to pose a bit of an obstacle to tracking weight-loss with any degree of accuracy. Perhaps I should point out that she isn’t going to be able to walk away with the grand prize just by claiming her jeans fit better.
Mary Kay will bear watching. Her husband, Pat, is pushing for the win. He’s appointed himself her trainer, and is cracking the whip with gusto. He drags her out of bed before dawn each morning for what he calls a “brisk walk”, but which sounds more like the Bataan death march. I may have to call Adult Protective Services to make sure he’s letting her eat.
Mom went to Weight Watchers and lost 4 pounds. What’s with the sensible eating plan? The sneaky devil!
I haven’t heard from a couple of sisters. Which means one of two things:
a) They haven’t really entered into the spirit of the thing yet or
b) They’re lurking in the weight-loss weeds, chewing their celery in silence and lulling us into a false sense of security.
As for me, I won’t lie. It has been tough. I managed a shmeezly 3 pounds loss, which isn’t much considering all the painful deprivation I’ve suffered.
The big culprit is my raging sweet tooth. Last night at around 11 I was searching the cupboards for something sweet. All I could find were mini-marshmallows and stale graham crackers, probably left over from my junior-high scout camp days. I still ate them, fantasizing about the chocolate needed to make them into s’mores – pitiful! I considered a snack run, but that would have involved putting on a bra and changing out of my comfy, 20-year-old, holes in the crotch, painted-the-living-room-in-them sweats. Only deeply ingrained laziness saved me from my yearnings for Ho-hos. I may have to start going to bed around 6pm to avoid the late-night munchies.
Today I found the hidden little Dove candy bars I had bought in the before-times (2 weeks ago) for the office candy dish. This is a business office, for goodness sake, not Willy Wonka’s shop! Executive decision: no more candy dish.
Late breaking news flash from Lisa. After joining the fray late, she has already lost 8 pounds. Damnation!
I’ll keep you posted on our progress. In the meantime, I’m off to the YMCA to burn off some Dove bars. Then I need to do some online research. Anyone know how to send a candy gram?
Peg-o-Leg's Ramblings 
Slow and steady wins the race….. you can do it!
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That’s what I keep telling myself.
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http://www.candygram.com/
Good luck!
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Thanks, o partner in crime. I’ll get busy with the sabotage.
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Come on, Peg! Hey – 3 pounds is fantastic. And by the time you’re pulling into first, you can laugh at Lisa, who will be wallowing in the defeat of having hit a plateau. GO PEG! GO PEG!
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Yeah! What she said!
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Girls, I am going to Chicago for 5 days with Jim on Vacation this weekend. It’s going to be quite a challenge to not gain a pound while I’m there (damn that Gino’s Pizza and Taste of Chicago). I’ll bring my running shoes, with hopes of putting them on one time while I’m there. Sooo…if you’ve been procrastinating…now would be time to leap ahead! Ok…off to Physical Therapy for me….mmmm that was a good bananna for breakfast!
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The entire city of Chicago would be offended if you didn’t at least try the pizza. Do you want to cause another North vs South incident?
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Wow, you’re an all-of-nothing kind of dieter! Trading dove chocolates for celery – that’s hardcore!
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I’m an all or nothing kind of eater. Sigh.
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I was nervous when you started the post by saying “lose weight this summer, or die trying.” I was worried you were going to report somebody in your family had died.
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Not yet. But there’s still a lot of summer left to go.
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Pat’s out of town for 2 days so I get a reprieve!! Yesterday we went on a 5 1/2 mile bike ride on the trails around us. Haven’t biked in forever. I had to turn around, Pat and Katie were going to keep going. On the way back, I tried to stop and put my legs down and they buckled and I tipped over, luckily into the grassy ditch! I don’t think I’m going to survive this challenge and THEN Pat said we couldn’t stop for ice cream; undo all our great exercise. And we have only been on this challenge 2 weeks. Save me!
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A Ho-Ho-gram is on its way. Hold on!
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It is impossible to chew celery in silence. So I’m going with the theory that the other sisters haven’t started yet. As for you, I say you’re going to be more successful in the end than Lisa. Slower is better. 🙂
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You are so right – I hadn’t thought of that! Unless the sneeky devils are silently sipping celery soup (say that 10 times fast).
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You’re doing great! One thing I’ve heard about sweet-cravings is to go for a walk… if you are 10 minutes into the walk and still strongly craving it, have a small amount, just enough to satisfy the craving. Either way, at least you get a walk in 🙂
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Craving-reducing walk. Check. The Tastee Freeze is a brisk 2 mile walk from my house.
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😀 haha… at least it gets you walking! And if you have more complicated cravings, you might have to walk further to get to their locations 😛
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Very entertaining! You make a weight loss challenge seem like a lot of fun (at least to write about).
You find toady’s post on http://magnetforfoolishness.wordpress.com/ interesting. It’s all about 10 zany tips for weighing in…
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Thanks Lorna. I’ll check it out!
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I have been remiss in reporting today until later, via email. I haven’t heard anyone’s report on progress for this week. Me you ask??? Well, another measly 1lb…hanging head in shame. Guess I best get serious about my own challenge, eh?
MK – hope you are OK from your biking fall. I took a fall Sat night but I wasn’t biking, only walking around at a big summer bash/party. Hit an uneven patch, bad knee gave out, down I went. Now a nice bruise on the OTHER knee to keep my walking time limited.
Lisa, have a blast at the concert. Not sure if I’m going to make it to the IL bash.
Things will get better, we’ll get into a groove, right? Another week, another chance to start again with renewed vim and vigor!!!
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You can do it, Tar. Hang in there! Every pound is a victory of sorts, so don’t be discouraged.
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Hahahaha fantastic. You make all fun of having diet. That’s the spirit!! I know I am not big ass lady but I have other issue called ‘I want my high school weight’ !! I know, I know…. sick!! To avoid tortilla chips with chilly humus or good chocolate is my weakness!!! Luckily I really do enjoy eating celery .. mmm celery with humus?! nice!! :)))
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That’s the problem – I only like the celery with humus, or peanut butter, or something else fatty. Good luck getting back to your high school weight!
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As long as you are moving in the right direction, it doesn’t matter how fast you go. Congrats. I’ve gone to bed shortly after 6 pm myself to avoid further eating. But it just made me get up earlier for breakfast. Good luck.
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Thank goodness I’ve got my slug-a-bededness (new word!) to keep me in the sack in the morning! Thanks for the encouragement.
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New research states that feeling guilty because you slip up and cheat actually hinders weight loss. But through months of attempting to lose weight, I’ve found that not feeling guilty doesn’t do a whole lot for weight loss either. I asked my doctor for the best way to lose weight. He insists that a person should forget the diet plans, eat three quarters of what they normally would, and skip desserts. (That last part is giving me a little trouble.) So I tried something new. I’ve lost nine pounds in the last two weeks by limiting my soda consumption to one can a day and substituting water for the rest of my liquids. (I drink a lot of Mt. Dew. Bad for me, I know.) I stay away from the diet sodas. They just seem to make me hungry. It’s working so far. Now if I could just keep my hand out of the cookie jar…
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Jeez Louise, you’re doing great! I’m coming to the conclusion I need to cut out the diet soda as well. Back to bread and water.
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“I considered a snack run, but that would have involved putting on a bra and changing out of my comfy, 20-year-old, holes in the crotch, painted-the-living-room-in-them sweats.” — ain’t that the truth? so funny!
I stopped drinking “ZERO” calorie soda and lost 6 pounds right away. As soon as I started drinking it again, the weight started creeping back up. Back to no more for me.
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Zero calorie soda makes you gain weight??? I knew it wasn’t good for you, but jeesh. I cut it out a couple of months ago but went back to it to lose weight. Guess I’d better get rid of it again – thanks for the tip.
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You and I have the same pants, Peggy! Three pounds is a good start…yay!
Wendy
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