Weight

I remember my mother's weight yo-yo-ing all my life. I saw her "normal" and really heavy. My grandmother "Nana" (Reta Beaman) was always the same "normal" weight and so was her mother "Ma" (Martha Rasmussen). Mother said she was fat as a child and it followed her all her life. I wasn't fat as a child but got so in my early 20s. OK Bob, I'll join the "biggest loser" family initiative. Here's my December 2008 weigh-in receipt from Weight Watchers. The "Total: -14.4" refers to the amount I have lost since becoming a Lifetime Member in April 2006. Actually in spring of 2004 at my annual physical I weighed 195, then when I joined Weight Watchers in May 2005 I was at 188. During the 6 weeks from hitting my goal until I received my Lifetime Membership, I lost a few pounds and started that part at around 139--or whatever 124.8 plus 14.4 is. My goal weight was 143. My doctor says I shouldn't go below 115 so I have some wiggle room. I guess the absolute maximum I could lose and still be healthy would be around 7 or 8%--I will make 5% be my weight loss goal--maybe 118 pounds. (!) I want to write a little about my sister-in-law Karen (Martin). I am so proud of her, because I do know how hard this is--the maintaining part. She always looked great and the incentive to lose must have been much more difficult to acquire. She looks wonderful and I can learn a lot from her. When Grammy "Enid Martin" lost weight, I was really in her corner cheering her on. I think the main reason I loved it was because it made her so happy. She got new clothes, re-did her hair, went through her days with a "lighter" spirit. I loved seeing her that way. I wasn't really concerned with what she weighed, but I did notice that when she was fatter, she was unhappier. My maternal grandparents (Nana and Gramps) and Grammy's brother (Bruce) never had weight issues that I know of. But I remember Nana talking to me about keeping my weight down--so maybe she did, but had it under control. At that time (I was around 12), my weight was dead normal, so I think she was reflecting her thoughts about my mother onto me. I think Grammy took a lot of heat about her weight from her mother. Maybe Grammy felt her mother's critical eye on her and that added to her unhappiness about being fat. Whatever it was, becoming a tiny lady was one of the very bright spots during her last few years. I loved it for her. I know she was proud of me for my weight loss. Off the subject of weight, the other truly bright spot was her progeny--and they are myriad. She used to say, "We have the most darling babies!" as she surveyed the gallery that Cheli set up around her. She loved looking at the pictures of her babies. One more thing about weight: Grammy hated her wide hips. One of the last things she told me was something about her ugly wide fat butt. Whenever she looked at a picture of herself as a young woman, or even a little child, she commented on how fat she was. It made me think about how entwined our thoughts about our physical body are with our self-esteem. It makes sense, but it can be deleterious to our mental health if we're tryng to love ourselves while hating our bodies. I don't think we can separate the two. So, one thing that Bob's weight loss initiative will accomplish is that our family will emerge with renewed self-esteem, and that's really a good thing. I would encourage everyone to write down his/her weight, and keep track. Whatever method you choose (except fad diets or starvation) is OK, but keep track and we'll see how we do in July when we're all in Texas (Texas in July? Are we sure we have thought this out carefully?)