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Saturday, December 31, 2005

New Year's Resolutions

I hate them! Loathe them! Detest them!

I can't stand the way that those of us who don't make them are made to feel as though we're somehow lazy. I hate the smugness that often comes my way from those who make this an important part of this time of year. I pity the same people when they put themselves down for having failed to keep their resolutions.

I am making a resolution. This happens to fall on New Year's Eve, but let the reader understand that this is most emphatically not a New Year's resolution!

I started a new job in September 2002. Life was going rather well, and I was quite pleased at being able to wear rather closely-fitting garments, as I had just made my way down to 11st 2lbs from in excess of 13st. My ideal weight is between 10 and 12st. I recently saw this photograph of myself from a Ship of Fools meet in Leeds, dating from the spring of 2003, (which shows me with glass-in-hand, as usual). I did a mental comparison of how I looked then to how I look now and reverted back to the denial that I have been engaging in for some months now. The last time I weighed myself was about 6 months ago, and I weighed just under 15st. I mentioned earlier on this blog that I haven't been getting out very much lately for certain reasons. One of the results of this is that I have spent very little time doing the activities that I usually would be doing, and so have put even more weight on.

The worst of it was yesterday, when I saw my best friend for the first time in months, and, knowing that I had gained weight, was embarrassed to have him see me. This is somebody I love dearly and whom I know loves me, and so I know how foolish it was of me to have felt this way. I decided today that I have to do something about it. (Again, the time of year is pure coincidence).

I have tried various diets over the past two years or so but have realised that the first time I intentionally lost 2st nearly three years ago was at a time when I followed my own judgment on these matters and not some fad diet. Therefore, I'm going to do the same again. I'm going to face the reality that there is a lot more of me than there healthily ought to be and so I have just ordered a scale from Argos, which should arrive on Wednesday, at which point I plan to mark my starting point, and see where I go from there each week.

I ask for your support and prayers.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

My prayers too, comin' atcha across the Pond. I think you are very handsome, you guys, and I've got your photos to prove it!

Here is Leetle Masha's golden plan for being happy, healthy Orthodoxen.

Don't worry about personal appearance, just try to look clean and neat.

We need a body that does not catch every virus that comes down the pike, is able to lift 50 lb. and is thin enough to crawl out of tight places, such as if we get buried by falling debris in an earthquake.

Body is house for soul. We need to feed the soul and make the soul gorgeous with God's help, and then the body will be radiant.

Leetle M.

Jo said...

you of course have my prayers as I am in the same situation (trying to loose 68.5 lbs by the time I move in March).

Now what on earth is a "st"?

Joe Zollars

Michael said...

Thanks, everyone!

We should start a little club. Shall I print membership cards?

Ian and Joe, you definitely have my prayers as well. Leetle M is right, though. It's what's inside that counts first, and it isn't unhealthy to focus on what we're carrying around with us, so long as it doesn't become obsessive.

Joe, over this side we measure weight in stone and pounds. There are 14 pounds to the stone. (The plural of stone is also stone - it doesn't take an s). I believe you use pounds alone over your side. Is that right?

M x

Jo said...

ah now that makes sense---not. Ah there is so much about our english systems that have no basis in reason.

Joe Zollars

Anonymous said...

The metric system is the only one with a basis in reason, which is why I can't figure out metric measurements without a pocket calculator.

Leetle M.

A stone would be 5.6 kilos?

I'll get me chotki.

Jo said...

lol Leetle M.

Michael, you have my prayers. its a difficult road--made more difficult by the stress of dieting and exercise.

fatly yours,
Joe

Jo said...

PS: I will be struggling especially hard with you. I gained 18.5 lbs in one week (from Christmas Day to New Years day). I didn't eat that much, but I went from being a strict Vegan to being a "normal" eater. My body has not been used to processing all that animal fat in a long time.

Joe Zollars

Michael said...

Ouch. Fortunately, unlike me, you've had the good sense to adopt a regular eating pattern that is healthy. Your weight should sort itself out soon enough, once you settle back into your regular pattern.

I'm funny with metric and imperial measurements. With things that are part of everyday life, such as talking about height and weight, I use imperial measurements, yet with things like distances, or when measuring items, it seems more natural to use metric. I think it's because the metric system is what I was taught at school.

When people say "ooh, it's about 50 yards down the road", it means nothing to me, as, although I hav a concept of a yard, I can't really estimate distances based on that. I can with metres.

Well the scale didn't arrive here yesterday. I contacted Argos and was told that it was certainly delivered and signed for, and after checking with the neighbours, I was able to get my hands on it, and weighed in at a shameful 15st, 12lbs. So here I am, munching on celery (which burns more calories in digestion than it actually contains) and looking at the recipe for cabbage diet soup, which will probably taste like Lemsip.

I really fancy a gin.

Anonymous said...

Tsk.

Do you have spicy V-8 juice over there? If so, put some in a tall glass. Cut your celery into sticks 1/4 inch thick and put them in the glass of V-8 juice to soak overnight in the fridge.

Tomorrow, your celery will have more flavor and more vitamins too. When you have eaten all the celery, drink the V-8 juice. No gin, no vodka till Saturday.

Leetle M. hath spoken.

Anonymous said...

egads. you might as well drink a tinkard of dark ale. Put the gin down.

Then pick up one large glass, fill with ice cubes. Pour two to three fingers of clear rum (might as well go cheap as the expensive stuff doesn't taste better) and fill with diet coke. there you have it, the original dieters drink.

Yes I know how utterly horrifying this concoction tastes, but as the saying goes "no pain, no gain" err rather loss.

your friendly alcoholic,
Joe Zollars

dutch said...

where the h*&l are you on my Trimming the Fat thread? Momma doesn't see you!

Michael said...

LOL

Thanks, everyone,

We have V8 juice. In fact, it's the base of the cabbage soup I've been having. I'de never thought of soaking the celery in it first, though. That makes sense. I could always soak the celery the night before I plan to make the soup, and then just use the soup for that purpose the next day.

Joe, you wouldn't hapen to have an interest in promoting the business of selling alcohol now, would you? ;-) :-D

Duchess, I've seen the thread but I'm not sure. The Ship's a place where I'm often quite forthright and forceful in what I'm saying, whereas sharing weight issue places us in quite a vulnerable position. I'm happy to do that here, as it's where I've been open about personal faith and other issues that have put me in a vulnerable position, but the Ship can be quite different. I may still pop over there, though, and join in. I'll have a ponder about it. ;-) Thanks for inviting me onto it, though.

Anonymous said...

I know exactly how you feel about being embarrassed to see people since you've gained weight. :( My weight in the past several years has been up and down and now up again, and I am always embarrassed about my visible changes especially when seeing someone who last saw me when I was a substantially different weight. I just want to hide until I'm slim again. (But actually, even when I'm slim, I'm embarrassed about seeing someone who hasn't seen me since I was fat, because I don't want to be ooohed and aaahed over, etc.)