Bodfather: Good Things Happen to Those Who Weigh

Subject #4 in the "Bodfather"

Witness Reduction Program: Jodi

 

Height: 5’8”
Starting weight  317.6
Current weight: 299.0
Loss: 18.6 lbs.

They call me the “Bodfather”.

I’m working with a small group of folks who are allowing me to share their weight-loss journeys on my blog. I offer up support and encouragement, and have even hooked them up with a free Philips DirectLife activity monitor. I’m as involved as they’ll let me be…

But if you read the last installment of this saga, you know that it isn’t always easy being the “Bodfather”.

Oh, everyone’s super excited at the start, coming out with guns blazing.

Then they shoot up all their bullets and start whining about how hard it is and how slow it’s going and how they know what they’re doing wrong but they’re having trouble making lasting changes.

What can I tell ‘em?

It’s hard.

It’s slow going sometimes.

If your head and your heart aren’t in it, you’re not going to be able to make it happen.

Each of them have fantastic reasons for wanting to lose weight and get more healthy.

Just like you.

Each of them have plenty of excuses for why they can’t seem to be able to get the job done.

Just like you.

Now it’s just a matter of doing it or not doing it.

That’s why I’m so proud of Jodi, the 4th participant in the “Bod Squad”. I wasn’t sure about her at the start of this deal, but she’s become a driving force these days.

She just powered past the “300” milestone and wants to never look back at that number again. Even through all the temptations of the holiday season and a nasty bug that kept her from getting her normal exercise in, Jodi’s been rocking the scale lately.

“I've all of a sudden started to really notice that I'm losing,” she told me recently. “My pants are annoyingly sliding down...time to get a good belt! The hubby is noticing too...he was watching me exercise and he told me my butt doesn't jiggle a bit...good and firm. Still waiting for other family members/friends to see...but I guess it can be hard to notice when I'm wearing the same stuff. Who knows?”

I know.

I know that if Jodi keeps on making good choices on the food front and stays active and focused, that the people in her life are going to have no choice but to stand up and take notice. She's making it happen.

Some days, it’s really fun to be the “Bodfather.”

Bodfather: Here Comes the Judging

Subject #2 in the "Bodfather" 


Witness Reduction Program: Laurie

Height: 5'6"
Starting weight: 240  
Current weight: 228 

Total Loss: 12 lbs.


They call me the Bodfather. There are many things my father Horace taught me here in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer and keep your friends who you're trying to help with their weight-loss journey even closerer.

Hey Jack,

After a week of crappy eating, with bright moments of health, and struggling to get any activity in with a bum knee, I am feeling much better. Oh, I expect a gain this week. But I got way more out of this week than just a pound or two, I got knowledge. I got schooled in all the ways my plans will not work and what I have to do to make this weight loss thing doable for my schedule.  

I was completely unprepared for the amount of food that would be around the office. I have never worked in an office situation before. I spent years working in labs where the holidays were acknowledged, but no luncheons, no candy, no crap around the offices.  Over the last 2 weeks, we have had multiple clients and people in the community drop cakes, pies, candy, and other assorted fat making dishes.  It culminated in yesterday. 

Yesterday, I almost cried at my desk. I walk in and on my desk are two big boxes of Godiva chocolates and three gift bags full of homemade goodies (fudge, peanut brittle, pralines, fruit cake cookies, etc). I thanked everyone, had a few things because it was so overwhelming, packed everything up and took it home (I probably should have just thrown it all in a dumpster). My husband (home for the weekend) and I just stared at it all. And then I packed it up again and there it sits, like an evil demon on the counter waiting to suck me into its depths. All of it is going somewhere other than my house. I don't care where, just out. Having it there broke me for a bit. I spent too much time agonizing over whether I could actually lose weight. My emotional interactions with food has really surprised me.

So now, my skin is looking somewhat sallow (I haven't gotten much sleep in the last 4 days because we have a horrible deadline that is killing us, but Thursday of next week, it will be over) from too much sugar and fat.

And I realize that people around me are going to make the whole thing harder and I have to be better prepared for that.  People in this office know I am losing weight and watching what I eat.  And still yesterday happened.  I feel like yelling at them, but I can't because I know in their minds they are being kind.  And I am going to have many sessions where sleep is a luxury I can't afford to indulge in too much.  And eating at the office during between and around meetings and deadlines is going to have to be planned for in much more detail.

Progress can be measured in other than pounds.  Progress can be made in learning what works and what doesn't and implementing accordingly.
 

1. Planning is key to getting through any situation.  But planning must be backed up with the resources available.  For instance, keeping food in the freezer for emergencies is fine as long as the food doesn't suck.  Keep with only tried and true stuff.
2. People are kind hearted evil things.  Take the goodies, walk to the dumpster and toss. 
3. Activity is a bitch to get in when chained to a desk.  I will have to plan around it and stick to the plan. Walking for more than 5-10 minutes during the day is unrealistic.  But a 5 minute walk multiple times a day isn't.

So Jack, you can yell at me for being weak around the food, I deserve it. But it was an amazing learning experience. And this year, instead of greeting the New Year hating myself for being fat, etc., I greet the New Year with an open heart, having learned that EVERY situation teaches me how to do this whole weight loss thing better, if I pay attention. That's a very powerful feeling.

Oh, and beginning Saturday, I start a detox. I gotta get the sugar out of my system. Veggies, fruits, whole grains, lean meats. No sugar!!!

Hope you are having a wonderful holidays and hope everyone is healthy.

Laurie

Hey Laurie,

Well Laurie, I'd like to yell at you but it seems like your own body is beating you up enough. I've lived through (and continue to live through) the break room full of goodies and the sugary presents from well-meaning nitwits. It's easy enough to get through it provided that you don't try to half-ass it... this is truly a situation where you can't have your cake and eat it too.

If you truly are on board going forward, then I'd say it's a one step backward, two steps forward kind of deal. And truthfully Laurie, you're either going to do this now or you're just not. I'd like to think that I can push and cajole folks to be passionate about this business, but at the end of the day it's all on you. You can decide that this is going to be a top priority for you or you can shrug it off and things will simply stay the same.



I hope you'll use the knowledge you've gained as a launching pad to something extraordinary, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Hope you and your family have a nice holiday.

Jack


Obligatory lawyer joke:

A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute. 



“Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $700,000, you give not a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?”

The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, “First, did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?” 



Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, “Um ... no.”

The lawyer interrupts, “or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?”

The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was interrupted again. 



“Or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident,” the lawyer's voice rising in indignation, “leaving her penniless with three children?!”

The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, “I had no idea...” 



On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, “So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to you?”

Ways I’ve Welcomed New Folks to the Gym

• “Excuse me, but that’s the treadmill you have to run on backwards.”
   
• “I wouldn't bother with a locker; just let me hang on to your valuables.”
   
• “Wow! Is that all the weight you’re gonna put on there?”
  
  
  
• “You should warm up for at least 5 seconds before running as fast as you can.”
  
  
• “Can you spot me… five bucks?”
  
  
• “Your gym nickname is ‘Candy-Ass’”.
  
  
• “This is the best elliptical; I’ll let you have it for $5.”
  
  
• “Have you noticed that my muscles are bumpier than yours?”
  
  
• “The easiest personal trainer? That’d probably be Frances other there, the short-haired chick with all the prison tattoos.”
  
  
• “It’s good to start off with way more than you can lift and go from there.”
  
  
• “Thong Thursday is pretty much mandatory around here.”
  
  
• “C’mon... I’ll sit in your lap and we can do the rowing machine together.”
  
  
• “Just do what I do… and don’t forget to yodel.”
  
  
• “I can only do 500 chin-ups. How about you?”
  
  
• “Here… I wiped the sweaty sweat off the machine with my sweaty towel.”
  
  
• “Here,  I’ll poke you in the stomach while you do ab crunches.”
  
  
• “Spinning class? Oh, everyone just spins around and around until they get really dizzy and fall down.”
  
  
• “I usually lose ten to fifteen pounds per workout.”

Bodfather: The Brick Wall

Subject #1 in the "Bodfather" 



Witness Reduction Program: Kerensa

Second Check-in

Height: 5'7"

Starting weight:  254.8
Current weight: 248.6

Loss this month: .6 lbs.
Total Loss: 6.2 lbs


If you’re a JSGF newcomer, I’d sometimes referred to (by myself) as The Bodfather. A few months ago, I chose a quintet of folks that were interested in me chronicling their weight-loss adventures and have worked with them from afar to try to spark some makeover magic.

Kerensa was the first participant, a lovely bride-to-be who got off to a blistering start but had a tough go of it during the holidays.

Hey Jack,

So. I think I really have hit that brick wall. I feel like I don't know how to get back on track with this thing again, I actually caught myself wondering why I was doing this in the first place. In the back of my mind, I don't want to disappoint anyone, myself included.

I feel like having self-confidence is a double edged sword. It means that I am happy with myself, and so there are two different ways I can take that. I am not really sure what else to say, except that I am needing some help. Help to remember why I wanted to lose weight in the first place. Help to focus. Help to get charged back up.

I can see in the back of my mind this issue playing over and over again. It is like some sick re-run where I am happy with myself, so I lose my focus and let myself off plan. Things go okay for a while, because I know how to eat right, and after months of eating less, it takes a while for me to be eating as much as I did before I went back on plan. So I might not gain weight for a bit, but old habits tend to die hard. In the end of the terrible sitcom, I end up just as fat as before, and then some.

In some ways, I feel a bit distanced from the rest of the Bodfather group. I feel like I don't have the stamina that Billie does, or the reasons that Tom does. I have been doing this since August, and don't feel like I can tell the change. The scale says there is a 35 pound difference from where I started, but I don't necessarily feel it, or see it for that matter.

I feel like I am being a Debbie Downer. But I know when I need to ask for help, and this is that time.

Kerensa



Hey Kerensa,



You've just gone through the choppy waters of the holidays, and it's 
pretty natural to be second-guessing yourself.



Let me tell you a story (and if I were at home instead of a hotel room 
in St Louis, I'd sent along a photo to a accompany it):  when I was
 getting married 25 years ago, my wife-to-be asked me to lose weight.


Really, it's been the only time she's ever made that request in all
 our years together. She was planning this beautiful wedding and asked 
me to try... Just try... to lose a little weight for the big day.



To this day, I don't know why I couldn't do it then, when it obviously 
meant so much to the person who meant more to me than anyone in the
 world. I didn't lose the weight, Kerensa. Actually, I gained some.



The wedding went on, but to this day, I cringe when I look at the
 pictures. I can't watch the video. I wish I could go back and do it
 over.

I guess that's why your "Bodfather" email stood out to me, K. I think 
I saw an opportunity to help someone with something I wasn't strong 
enough to do at the time. I want you to look back at those wedding 
photos and see the person you really want to see in them.



This isn't an easy undertaking you've taken on, but I believe you've
 got what it takes to make it happen. I can't force you to do what I
 want you to, but I'm here to tell you that all the effort and 
sacrifice will be worth it in the end.

 I could go on and on and on, but you know how it is with me and thumb-typing...



Take care,


Jack