Holy cow--and I do mean cow! I lost 9 pounds this past week for a grand total of 42 pounds in seven weeks. Only 60 left to go. I've gone from a 5X shirt to a 2X. Today in our meeting at the VA the nutritionist was talking about every so often rewarding ourselves when we met our short-term goals. She asked what we would reward ourselves with and around the room I heard ice cream, pizza, a hot dog, etc., and when it got to me I heard myself saying, "I am my own reward." I felt foolish at the time, but as I think of it, there's a lot of truth there. We all are, aren't we?
I've put a thinner photo up on my website. As I keep losing I'll have new ones done.
HarveyRabbit, I'm doing this for you, you big fuzzy love machine!
This is excellent news, Edd! That’s a big achievement and I’m very proud of you! And I know you will reach your goal having gotten this far.
Yes, I agree, we are our own reward. In this instance, it’s wearing a smaller shirt size, looking in the mirror and seeing what you’ve achieved, posting a new pic on your site to show what you’ve made happen. A piece of pizza is nice, but no substitute for the feeling of accomplishment of having made yourself feel and look fitter and healthier. So yes indeed, “you” are your own reward.
i walk for an hour every night. whenever i have a writing problem, i know the answer is somewhere on my route & i will find it. sometimes, it takes a couple of walks to locate it but it is always there!
Thank you, BUT I have 61 pounds to go. I have no doubt that I will succeed, however I am insanely impatient. I've given up any writing till late fall. My days are filled with walking, the gym and riding my new bicycle.
Best,
Edd
P.S. I'm starting a collection to pay for the removal of all the excess skin when this is all over. It will be very difficult getting around with all that leftover belly skin bouncing on my knees. :)
What you're doing is terrific, Edd. Keep it up. Don't be too impatient. One's body has its own timetable sometimes, no matter what you want it to do. Walking is the best thing you can be doing.
I have been playing so much golf this summer I have lost 12 lbs. since May. Now that may not seem like all that much, but on a guy my size, it had a major impact in how I feel. My game is coming around and I'm playing with confidence again. I coach my high school team, and the game is extremely important to me. My dad and I spent many, many quality hours on a golf course. It was the BEST thing he ever taught me to do.
I have not written anything of any significance all summer and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
I tried to add manna to celebrate your accomplishment, but it doesn't seem to have gone through. Perhaps it's not on your current menu. Anyway, the thought was there. Many kudos (they are calorie-free).
Firstly, thank you to all who have supported me during my life change. Please don't stop. It means a lot and helps me move forward in the endeavor.
Yesterday at the group weigh-in I lost a total of 52 pounds which leaves 58 more to go--almost halfway there. I am now at a weight I haven't been in 25 years. Can you imagine? I never would have believed I'd feel this young again. I was pretty much resigned to curl up and die. Somebody moved into my body, I think, and threw Edd out. Good riddance!
I go to the gym a couple days a week, 2 miles-plus walks a couple days a week, and tomorrow is swimming and sunning. Less than 3 months ago I needed a walker to go just a block.
The big news is that a guy in our weight class gave me a bike he bought for his wife who never used it. All right, it's a girl's bike and this girl doesn't care anymore! It's been sitting in their garage for awhile. I told him I was looking to buy a used one off Craig's List. He said don't bother and he and his wife brought it over last Saturday. A gift! It is unused, 21 speeds (which I have no idea how to use), a Schwinn worth mega-bucks. I'm overwhelmed, but there's a problem. I used to ride like a demon right up into my late-thirties, but I only made it about 20 or 30 feet the other day before I panicked. I think I'll need to lose another 20 pounds or so before I will be comfortable about riding. Now it stands in my bedroom waiting to be ridden by a slimmer me. It won't wait long.
Thank you all for your kind posts and emails of support.
This is awesome! I'm so proud of you!
Sounds like you're at a metaphorical training-wheels stage with your new bike.
You'll gain stamina soon, and you'll ride the bejeezus out of that thang!
way to go, eddie-baby! you might not be writing but don't forget to think about writing while you are exercising - once all that oxygen gets pumped into your brain, you can come up with the best ideas!
The emergency room almost saw me! I crashed my bike. All is well, just a few scrapes. Glad I wore my helmet. I wasn't going to because I thought it looked stupid. I shouldn't ride a bike directly after 2 hours of yoga and palates.
Thought with all that weight loss you vanished. Always wear the helmet, you have no idea the horror stories I hear via the lawyer.
Obama did not wear his when he ws on holiday
Silly Obama, go right to the back of the class naughty Obama
and he did not tell the American children to always wear a helmet when cycling, skiing what ever.
Phenomenal!!! I couldn’t be happier for you, Edd! It’s really inspirational seeing your determination and success at doing this for yourself. Less is definitely more in this instance.
It’s absolutely astonishing, Edd! You must be so thrilled. Congratulations, my friend. You look like a different person (though hopefully not). Time to get a new wardrobe, trim that beard and start sellin’ your stuff!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, less Edd is more Edd! Long may he reign!
As of this morning, naked weight, I have lost 100 pounds! That's a one with two zeros after it!!!!!!! However, gravity is being rather unkind to me.
POET'S WAKE will be published and on sale in a couple months. So, while you can still read it for free, check out my personal favorite work. Much of it was developed right here on this forum over the years--going back to the forum before this one. http://www.edwardcrosbywells.com/wake
Full length, approx. 90-100 minutes, 33 characters, any number of actors (doubling or not).
We are at the wake of a Poet Laureate. Mourners come and go, delivering monologues. We learn, through the mourners, about the life of the poet and about the mourners themselves. Some define us by the people in our lives. The life of the celebrity after death is too often defined by those who are left behind. Some have axes to grind. Some speak out of ignorance. Although each may believe they are telling the truth, it is the teller’s truth; truth is subjective. The artist’s work is too often overshadowed by the tales and the writings of the survivors. In the end we must discover, uncover or simply choose and decide the truth ourselves—the truth of others and the truth of oneself is, perhaps, merely a matter of perception. Poet’s Wake might even show us a bit of truth about ourselves.
"The artist’s work is too often overshadowed by the tales and the writings of the survivors." This is true when we read the survivors, (including critics and editors), instead of the artist's work. No one's life can be summarized in a eulogy, be it of a few hours or a few lines.
In POET'S WAKE each character adds something to our understanding and to our understanding of the poet, as in, "Ah, yes, this too!"
I still want to lose another 40 pounds. That would mean I will have lost an entire timmy. Yikes. I didn't see you in there. I hope I didn't lose the best part of me.
Dearest Edd, that’s great news for “Poet’s Wake.” I couldn’t be happier for you!
Well, actually I could. That’s because I’m even happier about the weight loss. I can’t say it enough: It’s inspiring!
You’ve dropped a Benjamin and now you’re going for a Timmy! Wow! As my dear friend Elaine Stritch so often says, “Fix me another, only stronger!” No, wait, that’s not it…ah, yes, “Fan-f*****-tastic!”
Next time you see Elaine would you warn her that John Lahr is writing a tell-all titled Stritch Up Your Ears.
Thanks for cheering me on. I'm beginning to see a man in the mirror I had long forgotten. It's both sad and joyous -- sad that I'd forgotten and joyous to see him again.
