Saturday, March 12, 2011

Day 34 of Phase 5: Sent Weigh-in Today for Challenge, Thoughts on Approaching Onederland, Appreciating the Gift of Your Family In "Hug" Range, Watching Buffy TVS Reruns, Psyching Up For WorkOut and Errands...And You and I Are Not, and Should Not Be, Alone In the Fat Fight!

Tanita-san: 217.8



I rounded that up to 218 and sent that as my challenge weigh-in early so as not to miss the deadline. I doubt I'd lose enough in ONE day to make a difference when rounding is taken into account.

And that's 1.8 pounds from one of my milestones. Go, me!

I am still astonished that I'm in the two-teens. I had wanted to be here so bad a year, two years, etc, ago. I'd see other bloggers who started out within 10 to 20 pounds of me get there and I was dithering, stuck, unable to overcome inertia, though I was mentally and physically slowly always making some sort of progress. Stuck can be a sort of fertilizing period, ya know?

But now I'm here and fewer than 20 pounds from ONEDERLAND. Oh, man. I can taste that. I really can!

It's gonna taste good. Better than chocolate...dark chocolate...Valrhona dark chocolate.

Anyway....


I will be busy tomorrow getting stuff ready for my brother's visit to our family in Cuba. I have two brothers there--I've never met them face to face since I was a baby, and I have no memory of those years--and we get stuff together to take. Vitamins, hygiene products, clothes, medicines, cash. They are the two eldest and one has serious heart disease. It's scary that he might die and I'll never have known more of him than family reminiscences, phone calls, and some letters.

I have few photos, and if my brothers walked by me on the street, I'd be hard pressed to be ABSOLUTELY sure it was them. 

I never knew my grandparents. Never met any of my aunts and uncles other than the aunt who came to the US before we did. A lot of people related to me by blood that I never got to know and won't except for  in the "bye and bye".

So, if you knew your grandparents, great-grandparents even, and have your relatives about you, you are blessed. Exiles, refugees, "displaced persons" --we don't often have that luxury of the extended circle of blood relations.

Hug the people around you. Remember that is a blessing.

Anyway, I'm procrastinating today.  I have to workout. I have several errands to run. I'm sitting here in workout clothes doing...blogging. Hah.

Yesterday was emotionally draining and I had to switch away from CNN. I'm watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer reruns right now as I type (one of my all-time fave shows). I love how Buffy is resilient, how she doesn't give up, how imminent (and actual, for that matter) death cannot deter her. And her strength comes as part of her gift, but it's also from her character and from the strong circle of support. Her mom. Her friends (who are like extended family, they are so close). Her mentor.

Nobody can do life alone. I suppose there are those who try, but you can't. We weren't created to be solitary. We can't reproduce alone. We can't build communities alone. We'll always have a day when we get ill or old or weak or simply just lonely and need another person.

Or a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, tsunami, war, famine comes in and you realize just how much you need others to bring you water, food, clothes, shelter, comfort, hope.

Losing weight is, on its face, a thing you do yourself. But I find, and others have, that while the real work gets done inside by each person out to fight fat and externally in their environment and the outworking of strategy, we do it better with help. It's tough. It takes a long time. It takes a lifetime (to keep it off). It's not bad to need help. It's not bad to take support. It's good to give it.

So give. So take.

For those who come by and give me support, thank you. (Someone recently said they gave me a blog award. Can you link me up again? I brain froze on that one.)

And I hope my comments and posts can support you a little (or a lot), too.

Have a weekend that makes you healthier and happier and that fills your life with good things. Hug a loved one...a lot. :)

Later....

9 comments:

I'd Rather Have a Cupcake said...

You are well on your way! Very exciting when weigh-ins make you smile! I think it is sad you can not see your family face to face....very sad.....
I am heading down to Cuba next week (for the 3rd time) for a vacation. We love to explore off resort as much as possible.....I hope one day you get there too....

Princess Dieter aka Mir said...

Thanks...I won't go as long as the communists are in power. But we are trying to get my eldest bro in for a visit. Tried to get other bro here many times, but US gov't would not give approval. Happens.

Happy weekend!

FatAngryBlog said...

But remember, the 1st Slayer told Buffy, "Death is your gift."

I actually love Willow more than the Buffster and Vampire Willow most of all :>

Princess Dieter aka Mir said...

Me, too. Willow and Spike were my fave characters in BuffyTVS. Vamp Willow, DArk Willow, White Willow. She was just adorable, good or bad. :D I love A Hannigan in How I Met Your MOther, too. She's beyond cute.

Julie said...

YEAH!!! You go girl. That is excellent. I remember hitting the 2-teens it felt so wonderful. Today I hit the 170's, it's awesome. You will do this, you can do this. Keep up the great work. I am so proud of you!!
Take care my friend and God Bless!!

Bob said...

Hey, really great blog posts… I've enjoyed reading through your blog because of the great style and energy you put into each post. I actually run AceHealth.org, a blog of my personal research and experiences. If you're interested, I would love to have you on as a guest blogger. Please send me an e-mail: bob.mauer65(at)gmail(dot)com, and I can give you more information. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Karen Butler Ogle said...

I love your blog, Princess and I always look forward to visiting here. I'm glad to hear you are doing better. :)

Kelly the Happy Texan said...

I would love to hear your story of how you got here. I met one lady who came to the US years ago aboard a small boat. It was quite a story and a deadly one. I think we take our great nation for granted too often.

My heart breaks over the images on tv too. It's too much. And I feel helpless to do anything about it. Ugh. Let's change the subject.

I'm so excited for you getting so close to Onederland!! You'll get there soon. You've been doing so great with your weight loss.

lv2 said...

Made we think of how often we can see our family but they are not interested in staying in touch.....wish that you get the chance to have your brother(s) visit. Keep up the good job. My thoughts have been with Japan and the people from that accident in NY this weekend.