Weight: 22.4 lbs lighter
Mood: Pretty good!
Listening To: Clumsy by Fergie
Remember when you were a kid and during any game you could call "Do over!" whenever you didn't like the outcome and everyone would repeat the play? What was amazing about the do-over, what we never really realized, is that no one ever challenged it. It was a widely-accepted rule among all of us, and at some point during our process of growing up, the do-over became invalid. During the past few months, I have been trying to call "Do over!" on this whole weight loss thing. As you can see in the dates between entries, I haven't really lost that much weight and it's taken me awhile to figure out why.
As much as I appreciated Weight Watchers for the first 20 pounds, the meetings were no longer cathartic. It was just a bunch of old ladies sitting around trying to figure out new ways to fit as much food as possible into the points they had been allotted. With that, I stepped out of my last meeting, knowing I would not be returning. It took me two months to accept that I had let go, and cancel my membership.
Then I realized something about myself, I need a gimmick. God has blessed me with a very short attention span, one that gets bored incredibly easy. I remembered some of my girlfriends talking about this Herbalife weight loss program, which was successful for them. I approached the whole thing knowing they were going to try to sell me, and I refuse to be sold. I'm too knowledgeable for that and I have used all of the sales tricks myself.
I met with the rep, who was very touchy-feely from the get-go. Wanting to hug, touching my arm, smiling and repeating things like "Love it, love it!" Good thing it was a girl. If it was a guy, I probably would have walked out. I don't know you! Stop touching me!
I've been rather judicious with what I've purchased, but it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated. Sure, I really haven't lost any weight with them, but I have noticed a few changes. One thing I that I have always agonized over are my more than unusual weak nails. I could never grow them out because they always split and broke, and I've always been able to bend them with no pain. In the two months I've been slurping up these protein shakes, my nails have stopped splitting and breaking and are the longest I've ever had them. Genius! Also with the help of my rep, my diet is slowly changing for the better and I'm working up that mental muscle of self control. Hebalife is no magic bullet, but it has been helping me make some changes. Sure as hell slowly, but surely.
I also realized that I'm totally bored with the gym and I don't want to play anymore! So I've been trying to vary my activities, like climbing the steps at Baldwin Hills that kill me almost every time. And I signed up for a dance class. A pole dancing class, to be exact. There are only a few girls in the class, taught by a rather talented stripper, in a nicely dark-lit room. You know what happened when I started learning those tricks on that pole? I remembered what it was like to feel sexy.
When I was a performance dancer in school, I was skinny, strong, sexy, and I knew it and loved it. I constantly teased the boys, went through them one by one and had a great time doing it. I had lost that spark years before the weight gain, right when I stopped dancing. It started to bubble back up when I felt my hand grab that pole, threw my weight to one side and spun myself around. I just knew I had to find that place again. So what if it was found in a darkly lit room with my eyes closed, dancing in high heels. I needed to get back to me! So I signed up for more.
So with my pole dancing classes, new activities of hiking and stair climbing, I'm calling "DO OVER!" with a protein shake in my hand.
