Goodbye Weight Watchers (or, how the Curvy Catholic killed yet ANOTHER small business!)

Hmm, well, apparently I am death to certain types of small businesses.

First I killed off Downtown Curves at Bunker Hill.

Then it was It Figures in Sherman Oaks.

Now, as of Saturday morning, approximately 7:30 a.m., I managed to kill off the Saturday 7 A.M. Weight Watchers meeting (in the same strip mall as the late and lamented It Figures).

Let's hope whoever's pulling all these strings doesn't notice that I've fallen head over heels in love with a certain location of 24-Hour Fitness!!

Happy New Year! (or What do you mean, I haven't posted for a long time? Define "time"!)

Hi everyone!

Well, it's only been, what, a month and a half since my last post? Less than that, really. What can I say, it's just been a busy time for me.

And yes (sigh) if you're going to drag it out of me, I did get a little discouraged there, for a while. Because my weight just kept creeping up and up and up and UP and I couldn't seem to get the little needle on the scale to bounce in the opposite direction.

But here I am, happy to report that, although I was, indeed, all the way up to ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE POUNDS last Saturday, I treated that like the wake-up call it was, and took the following actions:

1. Bought a two-year nonrenewable 24 Hour Fitness membership through Costco for $299.

2. Used it.

3. Also went for a couple of long walks around Lake Balboa (in the Sepulveda Basin).

And thanks to those, and my decision to get back on track and start losing again, I am proud to report that at this past Saturday's weigh-in, I did indeed FINALLY make the needle move in the right way. Left, that is. I mean, depending on your viewpoint. I mean, there really isn't even a needle, it's a digital scale and --

What?

Oh yeah, my weight. Down 1.8 pounds, to 193.2. Happy now?

At what point does a "plateau" become "your normal weight"?

Sorry I haven't updated the blog for a while, but you know the whole point of this blog was to track my weight loss progress - and for the past three weeks, my weight has been exactly the same: 185.4

Not that I'm complaining! Better to stay constant than to fluctuate or (God help us all) to rise uncontrollably - right?

But to be honest, I've also been spending more time on Facebook and other online networking sites. It's SO hard to keep track of all one's online multiple persona - ain't it?

Anyway, I'll try to do better.

And in a couple of weeks, I won't be able to say I don't have the time. Since my Termination Date (isn't that a nice way to phrase it?) from PwC is FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009. And after that - it's ME time, bebe!!

When is a gain really a loss, and a loss really a gain? Why, right here, of course!

To wit: This past Saturday, I LOST the Toastmasters Division 52 Tall Tales competition at the fabulous Jon Lovitz Comedy Club, right in the heart of breathtakingly exciting Universal CityWalk.

BUT - thanks to the generosity of the wonderful Jon Lovitz, I GAINED two free passes to any show at his Comedy Club - all because I prepaid my admission to the Club for the contest. At least that's what the nice lady who handed me the passes said, and who am I to doubt anyone who's giving me free passes to a comedy club run by someone I absolutely adore? Not me!

And - this past Saturday, I finally got an official weigh-in from Weight Watchers, which showed that I had GAINED 0.8 pounds since my last official weigh-in, two Saturdays ago.

BUT - if you recall, last Saturday I weighed myself at HOME and was UP a heart-stoppingly huge number of pounds - up to 186.0! And every time I checked our Weight Watchers brand scales at home during this past week, the number kept going up - and up - and UP!

So in my own happy little mental ward which I call "my brain", I have actually LOST 0.5 pounds! So there!

And this morning we started the Philip's Fast, so I'm temporarily back to veganism for a while. So I fully expect that number to creep down again.

Oh, and in other news, I think we need a new battery for our scales. At least, I keep telling myself that ... ;-)

Going back to veganism - but just till Christmas morning!

Well, I've just checked out my weigh-ins for the past month and I'm no dummy. Obviously the switch from vegan to non-vegan has had a negative effect on my weight.

Fortunately for me, starting Sunday afternoon (or evening, actually - after Vespers, to be precise), the Eastern Church begins what's called the "Nativity Fast" (also "Philip's Fast").

Basically, you go vegan for most days of the week - giving up red meat, poultry, meat products, eggs, dairy products, fish, oil, and wine - but are allowed to eat fish, wine and oil on Saturdays and Sundays, and certain feast days.

Well, being the rogue Christian that I am, I've decided to arbitrarily add a few more feast days - Monday, December 7 through Friday, December 11th - my last day of employment at PricewaterhouseCoopers! I've been invited to lunch with several people who really, sincerely hate to see me go (mainly 'coz now THEY have to do all my work - nyuk nyuk!).

So I'm just gonna schedule 'em all, every day that week, culminating in what I
fully expect to be the farewell party to end all farewell parties.

Er ... at least, it will be for me, since, like it or not, it'll end all MY farewell parties!

So anyway ... I'm prepared for a pretty shitty weigh-in Saturday morning. But hark! Saturday afternoon, I'm competing in the District 52 Toastmasters "Tall Tales" competition at the fabulous Jon Lovitz Comedy Club at Universal City (California, that is!).

And Sunday - after one last meat-and-cheezy lunch - it's back to the vegan - with a few exceptions - till bright and early Christmas morning!

GOING up but not GIVING up!

Didn't go to the Weight Watchers meeting this weekend, as Steve and I traveled to San Diego super-early Saturday morning to sing at a friend's memorial service for his dad.

But I weighed myself at home, on my official Weight Watchers(tm) scale, and am sad to report yet another gain. About another pound. Doesn't sound like much but in the past few weeks I've seen my weight slowly but surely creep up from 180 to what it is now, @ 186.0.

Before anyone suggests it, I did a pregnancy test this morning. Negatory, ol' pal, sorry! Nope, it's just plain ordinary why-aren't-you-exercising-more-Chrissy? fat.

I've decided to try a couple of things, as detailed below:

1. TRACK. I'm supposed to be in Weight Watchers, right? So why not actually do what they tell me to do and track my food every day? Sigh. Well, the reason is I really HATE having to track my food every day. And I got out of the habit of doing it. But I'll try, this week only, and see if there's something I'm missing in my eating habits.

2. MOVE. I did this last week and it didn't seem to have any effect; but I'll continue to do my treadmill workout every other day.

3. RELAX. I have to be careful about this one, because it might sound like I'm just giving myself permission to sit in front of the TV and eat bon-bons all day for the rest of my life. (Mmmmm ... bon-bons!)



That's not it! But perhaps I should relax a little and not worry so much about the numbers on the scale. Because here's the thing:

a. I'm eating good food, for the most part. No more marathon binge junkets between KFC and Popeye's anymore.

b. I do exercise fairly often - I have a nice leisurely walk of about half an hour every morning, from the train station to my office. At my job - which is going to end on December 11th. Which leads to:

c. When my job ends, I have faith that I will not just sit around and watch TV all day. The first week I'll cut myself a little slack, but I plan to work out a schedule that incorporates my online classes, working around the house and the garden, and yes, EXERCISING!

But meantime I'm not going to beat myself up if I get a little nuts about food issues for a while. I'm losing my job, dammit - if eating a Beard Papa Vanilla Cream Puff at Famima's once a week helps me deal with that, then so be it!

Facing reality

Whoa, up another 0.6 pounds Saturday.

And it's time to face reality: the reason has NOTHING to do with food. At this point I KNOW the basics of nutrition and how I should be eating (whether vegan or non-v).

No, it's not the food - it's the movement.

Ever since Curves and It Figures closed down, I've been doing my best to go it alone. But it hasn't been the same. There's something about paying someone else that keeps you honest.

It's the same with Weight Watchers. Saturday after my weigh-in I decided to skip the meeting part and just go do a walk at Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park (a great place to walk, by the way - lots of people around, so it's secure - but not so many that you feel crowded).

And it was great - I walked for an hour! So I started thinking, hmm, maybe I should just quit Weight Watchers and do this instead.

But then I realized - if I quit Weight Watchers, there's no way in hell I'd get up that early on a Saturday morning!

So even though I'm kinda bored with the meetings right now, I'll compromise - I'll still go to the Saturday morning weigh-in, and then just go do my walk. And try to do more treadmill workouts during the week.

After all, that thing cost me two hundred bucks - I should get SOME use out of it.