Determined To Succeed

Good Tuesday morning and welcome back! It was so awesome waking up this morning and seeing how many new visitors and friends checked out the website. Thank you, all. I really do hope everyone (new and frequent visitors alike) keeps coming back and finds this website a place to “hang out” and turn to when a dose of weight loss inspiration is needed because I am right there with you. I need that, too. Today I am down to 235.7 which is awesome as I am back to fighting the “Battle of the Final Ten” (the last ten pounds before I re-hit my goal weight of 225).

I swear it’s a struggle sometimes and it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing. Food is top-most on my mind. And how bad does that sound? I feel and sound like a junkie. Like yesterday, I was out and about and had the biggest taste for a Twinkie (I really have to watch myself with those). I even had a strange dream about being in some strange place (I knew it was strange because I NEEDED a taste of home) and went to the thing that reminded me of home most at that moment – a bakery. I asked for two cream cheese- and fruit-filled danishes, but they had the hardest time filling my order…

And why would a bakery have a hard time filling an order for something I saw in its display cases before I ordered it? Because it was the feelings surrounding it. I wanted a taste of home. I wanted to feel that comfort of foods from my childhood. Lately I’ve been missing my mom more and more and we used to go to the bakery every Sunday morning for sweet rolls and danishes to eat while reading the Sunday paper together. That’s been sticking in my head, fueling my taste for sweets – like Twinkies, Cinnabons and doughnuts.

But I mentioned the other day in my blog that sometimes we don’t need those foods, we just need friends and support around us to keep us happy and keep us going. I guess this was no exception even if it was just a dream. So I’m glad I recognized that “need” and resisted the urge to hunt down Twinkies (which you kind of have to do in the land of Tastycakes) and instead opted instead for a couple of clementine oranges.

Man, but what a whacked-out dream it was. It even made me wake up with a song in my head – the theme song from the 70s TV show “Welcome Back Kotter.” You remember the lyrics, don’t ya?

“Welcome back. Your dreams were your ticket out. Welcome back to that same old place that you laughed about…”

Ugh! I’m gonna’ have to Google the thing just to get it out of my head. However, it’s ironic that song came to mind. The lyrics written by John Sebastian talk about friendship and how when people’s dreams seem lost it’s friends that can turn that around. That’s what you guys do for me every day. You all really do help keep me going, too, ya’ know. And I hope I do the same for you.

So I am waking up a bit stronger today and will be able to resist what foods are thrown my way. Whether they’re from the “gauntlet” (which is what I call that stretch of road that has all the fast food joints on it, one right after the other) or from the snack section of the grocery store I will keep you guys and this song on my mind because I want to sing that theme song and be able to apply it to my life, too. And while weight is no laughing matter I do want to look back to that same old place of having all that weight on me and know that with help and support I had a ticket out of it all to find my way here. As you all will. We will help each other. It’s a promise.

And I will apologize now you have the song stuck in your head all day, too.