We’ve all heard of the Freshman 15 but what about the Menopause 15 or the COVID 15? I’m a little too old for the Freshman 15 but I’m currently in the midst of the Menopause 15 or quite possibly the COVID 15. It’s hard to pin down why these pounds have piled on but it’s flipping hard to take them off.
I’m 57, I think, I don’t know about you but some days I can’t remember. Is it because I subconsciously don’t want to remember that I’m now a more “seasoned age” or is my memory is going? Who knows, but I have bigger fish to fry right now, like how am I going to fit into my cute summer dresses or more importantly a bathing suit, YIKES!?
Over the last couple of years, I’ve had several half-hearted attempts at losing this weight, but I just have not stayed committed. I’ve used the Noom app to track my food intake and then just stopped using it because it’s a pain to record all my meals. I tried intermittent fasting, which I will say was working until I started taking anti-anxiety medication and then the pounds really crept up (a story for another time).
These tools have worked but I have self-sabotaged myself once I’ve started to have success. Now there’s something to ponder…
So here I am today, trying to squeeze into my clothes and thinking nothing looks good on me. Sigh, I’m going to have to do something.
Several of my incredibly good friends have hinted that we should be accountability partners and lose weight together. I’ve entertained the thought and although it’s something I’d like to do; I just have not had the mental energy to follow through.
I’m fortunate to have this wonderful tribe of friends supporting me and looking out for me but how am I going to do this? Lorna, I say, you NEED to do something, it’s not healthy to be in the obese category (yes, I’m obese per the charts in my doctor’s office). I’m not very tall (5’5 or maybe 5’4 because my sons insist, I cannot be 5’5, again a story for another time). Obese, YIKES again, how did this happen?
Recently, on a walk with a dear friend she and I were talking about our weight gain and discussing was it menopause, depression, COVID, etc. that contributed.
We didn’t arrive at an answer, but we were both in agreement that we would like to lose 15 – 20 pounds (YIKES, how did I get here?) and as we talked we decided that we could be accountability partners.
She in fact had the idea that we should set a goal and decide how we would celebrate our success. There is an awesome resort near us that has a world class spa that we both would love to go to, but it’s expensive. Great idea friend, that will be a wonderful reward. It’s on our bucket list and it would be a delightful place to celebrate our thinner selves. Nemacolin here we come!
We met at Claires,’ one of the nicer restaurants in our town to have a weight loss strategic planning session (my other gig is strategic consulting).
One of the traits I love about her is that she is organized. We have been friends for over 20 years and she’s one of my “keep Lorna on track” friends. (As I reflect on that comment, I seem to have lots of those types of friends!). I “slide” into the restaurant after a long day collaborating with a client and she has a cute journal, a list of goals and a printout of our green, yellow, and orange foods. I love her, because I walk in with nothing. In fact, I had forgotten we were meeting to discuss our weight loss because I was so focused on our goat cheese salad dinner Hum, could that be the source of this predicament I’ve found myself in?
So, we establish our first goal and since we both love flowers on our deck decide our first reward will be to visit a garden center to pick a pretty plant to put on our deck so that we can look at it and think “I did it and I’m on my way.”
I’ve written down my plan and have an accountability partner. I’m going to have to stick with the plan otherwise I’m not going to lose this weight and it’s not like it’s something I can say I’m doing and not do it because as the saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”. Let’s be real, I will still be fluffy if I don’t do something. I can run but I can’t hide.
I’m finally in a good mental space to do this, I’ve done it before, and I realize it’s important for me to be healthy and at a good weight to live my BEST life for the REST of my life.
Stay tuned…
Action Step: Decide on a weight loss accountability partner and give her a call to get started.
