Filling Up the Tank

I had my weekly weigh in a couple of days ago with my regular doctor, and am down 1.8pounds. That's better than the last couple of weeks, so maybe the beauty comments from Dr. Rico Suave made me work a little harder.

But Woods is pretty cool too. I love his first name, Woods. How many other people do you meet with that name? It sounds like a Grandpa name but I think it's still distinctive in a good way. It says, "I'm reliable and strong," just like a forest of trees. He's an older man from Georgia with a bit of a belly who reminds me a lot of my dad with his personal approach. He's the type of person who's never in a hurry, is genuinely interested in people, and will sit and talk with you about your vacation and kids, while making sure you're taking in enough electrolytes. He's old school through and through, even down to the standard blood pressure cuff he uses. Everyone else uses the new electronic ones that automatically calculate the numbers for you, but he uses the same one from 1950 along with the stethoscope. You would think that the poor man would be able to retire by now, but maybe he would rather work? He's never given me the "beautiful" compliment but usually has something nice to say about my progress. His newest remark, " Well, you're just gassin' along there arent you?" was meant one way but could be taken another. Both the nurse and I had to laugh after that one. I'm a lady mister.

Born To Run?

Shakira was right, your hips don't lie and she oughta know. Today, my left hip is good to go for tomorrows race while the right one is whimpering in despair wondering what it did to deserve such abuse. It's just another unfair, lingering side effect from my heavier days and now I'm subject to limping around like a senior citizen who fell off their golf cart and is in need of hip replacement. For the time being I can rely on icy hot, (my favorite perfume), and a ibuprofen to alleviate some of the discomfort after I jog, but that's only a temporary fix. I was just starting to hit my stride and now it looks like a runners' life may not be for me. :(

Making Friends and Influencing People

As a Psych major, I'm familiar with the multitude of methods to change behavior but was never a big fan of the external reward for reinforcement. Although I don't doubt it works, I always thought that it was more effective in the long run to find the internal incentive. Speaking for myself, I believed that all that I needed to continue with a desirable behavior was for it to really matter to me.

Well, I'm only human and I discovered that I was slightly off. Case in point: Today I met with a new doctor at the weight loss clinic I've been going to for months who stated, "Oh my God, I thought I had the wrong patient, your photo at the beginning doesn't even look like you! You're beautiful. Wow, what does your husband think?"

I don't know whether the white smudge on his tie was crack or powdered sugar from a carb saturated donut, but the man was clearly high on something since the last time I checked, 4 hours of sleep plus jeans and a t-shirt didn't equal aesthetically pleasing. No, I wasn't the type of person who, after first sight, could inspire someone to write a touching tribute song but something all together different. I'm more likely to give the impression of being too nice which explains why the only lyrics anyone ever wrote me were apologetic by some jackass Kurt Cobain wannabe with the refrain "Sorry" screamed over and over again into a breakup song. But I liked this doctor's forthright style, positive attitude, and exuberant enthusiasm enough to politely go along with his delusion. Besides, as a woman, you can never hear that compliment enough, especially when it comes from someone you just met. It works for me, as now I've got that extra boost, in addition to my own resolve, to literally go the extra mile in my cardio regime. He's my new favorite doctor.

And at this rate who knows what could happen next. Somebody could discover my photo posted in the lobby and offer me some spokeperson deal like Valerie Bertenelli has for Jenny Craig. Maybe I could even be on Oprah and get a book deal too. Hell, I would settle for a lifetime supply of their chocolate protein bars.