Well, howdy, friends, relatives, and well-wishers!
As promised last week, I’ve got some thoughts on what to do now that my breast cancer seems to be cured.
To whit, my weight! Long-time readers may recall that last November, when I transitioned the blog from “weight loss” to “all cancer, all the time” like Debbie Downer channeling Funky Winkerbean,
my final weigh-in was 210.2 pounds, and as I said at the time, “when I started this blog on 9/2/17, I weighed 240.2! So as of today, I’ve lost, and kept off, a total of 30.0 pounds!!“
However, since the Big C hit, due to a combination of stress eating and general sedentariness, I’ve regained about 15 of those hard-lost pounds.
Not that I’m blaming myself, you understand! I mean, I did have CANCER, and IMHO if my poor ol’ body needed to be self-indulgent for a while and put on some extra padding, I’m fine that with! You do you, body!
And even while working on the weight loss, I hope I’ve made it clear that I don’t think anyone else HAS to lose weight, and I’m totally supportive of the whole “body positivity” movement which says that (for example) Joy Nash of the excellent Hulu series “Dietland” is EVERY BIT as gorgeous as her costar, Julianna Margulies!
I also totally agree that the diet industry is cynical and manipulative and focuses way more on profits rather than health and slow, long-term weight loss success. After all, people who manage to lose weight on their own, and keep it off, don’t keep buying prepackaged diet food from Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, now, do they?
But here’s the problem — from a pragmatic standpoint, sometimes people really do have a little bit more poundage on them than is good for them, and which may impact their bodies in a negative way. In my case, I have this bone spur on the top of my right foot which has been there for years.
When my weight is down, it doesn’t bother me too much, although I do have to be careful to wear comfy shoes, like the Skechers Summits, which are super comfy and are pre-laced with stretchy material on top, so they don’t irritate the evil spur too much!
I buy those whenever they’re on sale, and they do help a lot! However, when my weight goes up a little too much, as it has over the past few months, even my beloved Summits get uncomfortable, and walking becomes way too painful, to where I feel like Phoebe in 30 Rock with her “avian bone syndrome”!
So I have to switch to other types of cardio, and even (ugh) go to the gym and use the stationary bike, which is okay but definitely is NOT the same as striding confidently along Nature’s Treadmill!
And yeah, I might be able to persuade a podiatrist to cut the thing off, but right now, I’d kinda like to avoid more surgery of ANY kind for a while. So — I guess I’m gonna have to try and lose some weight, huh?
Here’s my question: how do I balance my “body positivity” with my desire to stop a small but significant portion of my body from crushing my foot every time I go for a walk? And if I do decide to try and lose a few of those pounds that have accumulated in the last few months, how do I make sure I’m doing so in a way that will be healthy and sustainable?
Well, one thing I AM asking you is if you’re okay with me working once again to take off those extra johnny-come-lately pounds BUT without posting my weight every week like I used to? I’ll talk about what I’m doing, exercise-wise, and include some sensible food tips from people who aren’t completely nuts, and — this is a solemn promise! — absolutely NO counterproductive fat shaming!!
So there ya go — my proposal to turn my blog into a body positive, pro weight loss ONLY IF YOU WANT TO, and above all, health-oriented weekly screed! It may not work, but let’s give it a try, shall we?
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