Pre-Stu weight

Stu and I laughed and laughed this week about this. When I met Stu more then 18 years ago he said I was string bikini weight. Now I never thought that or did that but it is nice to know he thought that.

Within the first three months of meeting him I gained over 20 pounds. We were living the good life then and still are. By the time, we married I am sure I was up 30-40 pounds and stayed at that weight until we retired in 1997 for the first time. After that, I even gained and lost a few more pounds.

I have never dieted since about 1993/1994. We married in 1991. Stu and I were in the LEC Wisdom Course for the third or fourth time/year in a row. We love/loved our Wisdom community in Houston. That is why we did the course so many times. During one of the courses, I realized I was complete about my weight and what I weighed. I put practices in place that helped me keep my sanity but I have never dieted again.

My practices included...walking everyday when I worked at UTMB. That will help you keep VERY sane with what you weigh. I also ate low fat and I drank lots of water. But one of the BIG reasons I was ok with what I weighed is that Stu was ok with what I weighed. That was very freeing. I knew I was ok with my weight when I started buying clothes that fit me right then and now. Not at my gonna be someday weight or waiting to fit in to the clothes in my closet. I gave all those clothes away to my (step)daughter and her best friend.

This year (2009) Stu and I decided at the beginning of the year that we wanted to get better control of our weight for health reasons. I had already been walking again an average of over 5 hours a week since 2007 but not loosing weight. This year, I kicked it up a notch. I now average over 6 hours a week but I picked up the pace a little also. I usually walk 7-9 hours a week most weeks. This is so I can keep up my average to 6 hours when I go on vacation. I also started drinking more water and an added a light weight lifting program three days a week...most of the time.

The thing that has really made all the difference is I started logging my food. Stu and I both joined The Best Life (thebestlife.com). This is run by Bob Green, Oprah's diet guy. Bob does not make you follow a lot of rules. He even doesn't require you to log your food but recommends it. In all my years of dieting, I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER logged my food. What I realized when I started doing this is that I could make small changes in the way I eat and drink, enjoy myself and loose weight. I can even still eat out 4-5 times a week and still loose weight. I do have to walk, drink water and watch what I put in my mouth for the most part.

I have lost over 27 pounds this year. Stu has lost some but not as much. I don't even care what he has lost or how much. It is between he, himself, Bob Green, and God. I don't care if he logs his food or looses weight. I am not his mother or his keeper. I have just been blessed to be his life partner.

I do not even log my food anymore...sort of. I weigh once a week. If I have gained weight that week, I promise to log my food until I get back to that weight. To date, I have never gained weight in a given week. I have stayed the same for a few weeks but NEVER gained weight. I came close once. The trip to Texas will be the test but we have put our friends/family on notice that our eating habits have changed and we our going to keep our plans. For one thing, our BIG meal is at lunch...no ifs, ands or buts about it. We will break that rule only for VERY important reasons. I will walk at least 20-30 minutes every day in Texas but probably even more. Got to keep my daily streak up and my hour average above 6 hours a week. But if I sin, I will log my food as a sort of penance. The truth is I will feel horrible and I will pay for it over and over in many ways. That even happens if I eat late, eat too much, or on occasion drink too much. I still love my glass of wine or in the summer a vodka tonic or margarita...Mmm Mmm...Texas Mex is coming soon...nothing in Arizona or anywhere else like it but I keep searching.

So no, I am still not dieting. I am just loosing weight. When Stu said out loud this week, that pretty soon I would be down to my pre-Stu weight, I almost spit water out of my mouth laughing. He and I laughed out loud in the restaurant. I am sure people wonder about us at times because we laugh so much. We've even been called the laughing couple by some of our boating friends.

So as Susan Powter said many years ago in her book, Stop the Insanity...stop dieting...stop it now...please, please, please. That book still lives on my bookshelf today. It is one of my many weight loss "bibles" even though I have not opened it in years. It helps remind me of the insanity of dieting.

In joyful partnership,

Cathy

cathy.the.teacher@gmail.com