173.4 Seeing Is Believing!

Well, yesterday was my big day! It's amazing how much energy was expended for a 4 minute segment on TV. If you cut and paste this address you can see Jennifer Scott and me discussing hypnosis and my 80 pound weight loss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_58Ru__xNo

I thought it was good. Obviously I might have said things differently, etc., if I could do it over again. But who was that really fat woman whose pictures were shown while I was talking? I did send those before pictures to the station to use, but I had never seen them on a 52" screen like we have at home. Yikes! And what if I had never lost that weight, never experienced feeling so much healthier, younger and happier? What if I had settled, just sort of stayed the same?

I really hope that this TV appearance will help inspire others to lose weight and change their lives! Thank you Jennifer for your patience, your support, your hypnosis expertise, and your wisdom. Thank you.

174.0 So Much Younger

I just returned from getting my hair colored. I've been going to the same hair stylist for at least five years now so she's seem me at my largest and she's seen me about once a month since I started losing weight. So of course today I had to tell her about my TV appearance tomorrow that will probably last about 3 and a half minutes! But here's what she said that really pleased me. "Not only do you look a lot thinner, YOU ARE SO MUCH YOUNGER!"

Losing weight for me hasn't been all about how I look, although that has certainly been a big part of it. But I do feel younger, and I know I'm healthier. I no longer need drugs for high cholesterol, my blood pressure is quite low, and I'm no longer a risk for diabetes. I wonder what I'll say tomorrow and what I'll be asked.

I probably won't post anything on this blog tomorrow because after the TV appearance I'm off to a big dinner event. So check back on Friday, and wish me luck.

170.8 Delusion vs Reality

Did you see that? Just under a pound and I will have done it! We have house guests and activities and a trip to Tucson coming up in the next week, but I can do it! Lose that .8 of a pound.



I put this picture up for a little extra push. I remember the day and event we were celebrating when this was taken, and here's the amazing thing! I thought I looked great! If you're gasping in shock, that's okay. My point is that I really deluded myself about my weight for a long time. This was taken in 1999!

I'm not sure if delusion plays a big role in the lives of heavy people in general, but it surely was alive and well in me for many, many years. And, as I go through pictures of me taken during this weight loss journey, I do remember all along the way thinking how good I looked in comparison to how I looked in other photos.

So I think it will be important for me to make an album of these pictures of me at various weights so that I don't fall prey to this most excellent ability I seem to have developed. Delusion has to be replaced with reality, awareness, and the desire to stay slender, feel younger, and be healthier. You know that saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words"? Maybe so, but only if the viewer is grounded in reality!

174.8 On Becoming Younger, Healthier, and Happier

I am having a great 68th birthday! We all went hiking this morning, even Charlee our dog got to go, and I was thinking a lot about my recent birthdays and how I couldn't have done this hike with ease a year ago, and definitely not at all 2 or 3 years ago.

I just looked up my weight on my last birthday and I've lost 32 pounds over the year. It's a lot of weight, but not a spectacular amount for a year. But most importantly, I feel so much healthier and younger and happier. From the first visits with Jennifer Scott and on the hypnosis CDs that she made for me, she always talked about those three changes occurring as I lost weight. And hiking today I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the fact that all of that has indeed become my reality. When I was first seeing Jennifer I wanted to believe her, but her approach was all new to me and the sceptic in me was alive and well. No more! She was so right and I am so grateful for her help, wisdom and encouragement along the way. Today I feel more like 55 or 60!

Now that's something to celebrate!