I could be a model . . .
for Peter Paul Ruebens! Hi to everyone! I started on a diet the Monday after Thanksgiving. I work as a medical transcriptionist and know a lot about what obesity does to people. I don't want to go there. I read a lot and one thing stuck in my head--if a woman gets fat around the middle, she is more likely to get diabetes. So here I was, 180 lbs., fat around the middle and not able to wear the clothes I loved.
"Know thyself" is advice we should all follow, and in my case I know what works for me as far as weight loss. I've tried several diets over the years with only short-term success. But I learned that I don't like to cook meals that only I would eat, buy special diet food, or restrict one food group. I learned that I am totally and hopelessly addicted to sugar. I learned that I like to exercise--movement feels great. So what I came up with owes to common sense and more reading. What works for me is:
1. Get all the candy and junk out of the house.
2. Divide a 9-inch plate into half fruits and vegetables, a fourth starch, and a fourth protein with servings no thicker than my hand.
3. Move around as much as possible.
4. Drink lots of water. It's not only good for the kidneys but also the liver.
5. If I fall off the wagon, get back on.
6. I didn't get fat overnight and I won't get thin overnight, either. (Well, duh.)
Those are just the basics. I soon felt better. Why do I choose to eat stuff that wasn't good for me and made me feel lousy? Mostly stress.
What I do for fun is read, play piano, and watch TV (very little of that). I like to travel when I have the money. I like going to museums, restaurants, and movies. I like high-school theater because I can afford it and it's usually good. I love reading about the paranormal--I'm a fan of the show Ghost Hunters. And I love-love-love to garden, and my husband gardens with me. We've planted so many things over the years. I got a lilac bush for Mother's Day one year. My two favorite things are a little patch of everbearing strawberries and a dahlia bush which has big 7-inch blossoms of purple like a Crayola crayon. We got hummingirds, too, which come for the mimosa blossoms. They left the first week of October. We're talking about planting blackberry and raspberry bushes next spring.
My family is my husband and my two children who are now adults. I have two cats--Nugget (aka Pesty) and Boomer (aka Trouble).
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