Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Moment of Reckoning

After an indulgence at my favorite Benicia restaurant last night with my son Will (fajita steak quesadillas, a margarita (okay 2), chips and salsa), I decided to suck it up and finally step on the scale this morning. This is months and months after falling off the Weight Watchers wagon, even though my WW membership is automatically withdrawn from our checking account each month.

While our 3-year-old daughter, Piper, lounged on our bed this morning watching the Mickey Mouse Club on television, I scurried to the scale, in the nude, hoping she wouldn't repeat the comment she made the other morning about my tummy being big.

Piper and me at a recent crab feed.

As a side note, I might add that it is projected that Piper will be about 5'10" as an adult, so will likely never have to deal with the "Casey thighs," and instead be graced with the Whitty family's long and lean genes.

As the three-digit number-that-shall-remain-nameless appeared before me, I tried to figure out what the heck I need to do to get it together and get a handle on my weight. I've been successful on Weight Watchers before, but this time couldn't seem to stay on it. I thought back to the first time I did Weight Watchers with my mom, and remembered how proud we both were when we met our goal.

My mom recently passed away, and when going through old photos of her, I came across this Polaroid picture of the two of us at a Weight Watchers meeting where we received our Lifetime Memberships after reaching our goal weight. It's been on our refrigerator for about a month and has quickly become buried by our children's artwork.

As I showered, I racked my brain for a way to motivate myself to lose the weight.  After all, I'm turining 40 this year. And I don't want to look like a mommy who has completely let herself go when I celebrate my 40th birthday.

While lathering and rinsing, it hit me. (My most creative ideas always come to me in the shower. Or on the toilet.)

I'm going to launch a 40 by 40 campaign, vowing to lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday, which happens to be on August 15th. And, to hold me accountable, I'm going to publicize this to all of my Facebook Friends, providing them with weekly updates of my weight loss along with a photo of how I look that week. Hey, better yet, why don't I start a blog? And, of course, I need a logo to publicize my effort! I'll call my graphic designer friend, Eileen.

For the friends and family who know me well, you'll understand and recognize this thought process. For those who don't know me as well, you'll soon understand that I'm not one for doing things half-assed. And I'm certainly not going to do so when I'm trying to halve the size of my ass!

So, here goes. I have just under six months to lose 40 pounds. It's going to be a little bit like the movie Julie & Julia. Just with a lot less butter.

6 comments:

  1. Jen, you are an inspiration! A blog is a great way to track your progress, and your writing style is so fun to read.

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  2. Ok Jennifer, I am going to be your first follower, and I will secretly play along, since I have gained back a few of the lbs I lost recently. You can do it! just make sure you use your new lunch bag to pack the wonderful food that you need to help you. You can write "40 lbs or Bust" on it!! LOL! You go Girl!!!!
    debi "do-rah designs"

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  3. Debi -- Hah! Yes, that's a great idea for a lunch bag message. Thanks for being my first follower:-)

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  4. Hi Jen, You are cracking me up with your stories. Good job at weight watchers. I go on tuesday's here in Sac. You have inspired me to lose my last 5 so I can get another charm for my keychain!!

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  5. Chris -- Yay, good for you! That's awesome that you lost so much weight. Thanks for sharing and let me know when you get that charm!

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  6. Jen it will be months before I get that last 5 pound charm....you might say I have been "skunked" the last few weeks.(stayed exactly the same)You keep up the will power!!

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