Before I start in on today’s main topic, here are last week’s winners: Marguerite Guinn and Cathy Dixon. (Your prizes are on their way as we speak–Jen just left for the post office.) As always, the new round is up and running, so be sure to comment. Eventually, you’re bound to get lucky–so to speak.
That said, I planned on writing this blog yesterday, but it just didn’t happen, as you might have noticed. 🙂
Tomorrow is my Weight Watchers meeting; looking forward to it as always. I’m serious–it’s a great gathering, with good information and lots of stories and sharing in general. Last week our leader asked all the Lifetime Members to come up and stand in the front of the room, and I swear, that left half the chairs in the place empty! (Lifetimers are those who have reached their goal weight and maintained it, within two pounds in either direction, for either five or six weeks, I forget which.) Many of these folks have been at goal for YEARS, and that is MEGA-inspiring to me. Their main success secret is obvious: they keep attending meetings, staying accountable by showing up and stepping on that scale. That was my mistake–I’ve been a WW lifetime members between 3 and 5 times–(yeesh)–but I always got it into my hard Lael-Dutch noggin that I’d gotten this–I didn’t need meetings. I didn’t need to write down what I ate and step on that darn scale. Heck, no. I could handle healthy eating on my own.
Not. For a while, I got away with it, or seemed to. Inevitably, though, I started to gain a pound here, a pound there. Still blithely unconcerned, I went up a size, then another size, then another–well, you get the idea. Was I smart enough to come back when the problem was still relatively manageable, when I could still get into my size 8 jeans without lying on my back and using pliers to pull up the zipper? Heavens, no–that would have been too easy. Where’s the challenge in that? Where’s the drama?
Knowing full well that WW is the plan that works for me, that I always feel better in every way when I’m on it, I still did my best to avoid going back. I explored other options–expensive food shipped in once a week–(Tofu Curry? Seriously?) This food was actually pretty tasty most of the time, and I lost 35 pounds, but eventually I got tired of having my meals planned FOR me. Besides, I travel a lot. What then? In addition, I enjoy going out for lunch or supper with family and/or friends once in a while–what was I supposed to do then? Hand the waitress a frozen entree and ask her to have the cook nuke it for me? PLEASE. Besides, it’s my philosophy that into each life, SOME cheesy nachos must fall…
My point? I’m tired of letting food be a problem. So it’s WW for me, from now on. And it will be great, I must admit, to be one of those wonderful men and women who’ve reached and maintained their goal and can thus encourage and inspire others.
So, what’s up with the title of this blog? A reasonable question. I intended to tell you–much sooner, in fact–about a few favorite iPhone apps–so here goes. I love Waterminder–with this one, you input your height, weight and age, and a human figure appears, just as an outline. As I drink and record my water–a lot of us are dehydrated, you know–on-screen Linda slowly fills up with virtual liquid that actually sloshes back and forth. (God help me, I so love a gadget!) I was one of those kids who loved to earn a gold star for some accomplishment, so filling up the figure with digital slosh makes me feel great. And there’s the added benefit of being able to make comments like, “I’m only hydrated to my knees”, thus flummoxing the cast and crew of my epic life story. 🙂
My Podcasts app certainly gets a work-out–I’m a big fan of Jim Harold’s Campfire, Real Ghost Stories Online, This American Life, The Moth, and others. I’m always looking for new ones, too.
I use the Audible app constantly, along with the Daily Audio Bible, Jesus Calling and A Course in Miracles.
Guess I’d better wrap this blog up for today, since I still have some work to do.
Plus, I’m only hydrated to my hips.
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
