A Fond Farewell

Today Pedro & Diana started the long journey to Australia, literally half way around the world. On Sunday, as I bid farewell to Pedro, I told him that, though we only came to know them well the month before they left, they had a lasting impact on not only Kristin and me, but also on my brother and his family. The impact? Killer Bunnies.

This got me thinking about how thoughts, ideas, games, are passed through groups of people. For example, Pedro & Diana introduced Kristin & I to Killer Bunnies, then we introduced it to Matthew & Honor. Our friend Cathie Lou has been a great source games: Ligretto is now played by many people in my family and a bunch of our friends, as is Farkel.

And because I always must reference The Plan, this is similar to the way The Plan has been in my life. A good friend and a sister-in-law are the reasons Kristin and I started The Plan. We know two couples who have started The Plan after they saw the success we've had, and one of those couples knows a couple that is now on The Plan because of how well they are doing.

It's a web of influence akin to a family tree. Or as one of our friends said, "We have our first Weight Watchers acolyte!" Oh, I just received an e-mail from a friend a church asking about The Plan. She wants to start and get her husband on it.

Pedro & Diana, bon voyage and Godspeed.
Hope to hear from you soon.

A Tasty Treat

DISCLAIMER: I feel like I need to do a non-Clara related post every once in a while. So here goes.

I've found a new snack food that I rather enjoy. They are called Soy Crisp Minis and are made by World Gourmet. They come in 100 calorie (2 point) packs in three flavors: Cinna-Swirl, Cookie Dough, and Pretzel Crunch. The Cinna-Swirl ones taste like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, the greatest cereal ever invented.

My first introduction to them was when I was downtown at the newspaper's offices scavenging for food. Alistair had a pack in his snack drawer, left over from the last MEGA, and offered them to me. The crisp part tastes like a rice cake, and they are drizzled in chocolate. How can you hate?

While walking through Costco a few months later they were giving out samples and I found a mondo Costco-sized box. I bought it and took it to work. Last weekend I bought another box for my at-home week with Clara. I do adore them.

Oh! Clara is crying for her bottle. Need to run.

Let the flaming begin...

A quick math exercise for your Christmas afternoon:

I gained 17 pounds during my pregnancy.
Today I braved the scale and discovered I am now 26 pounds lighter than I was last Tuesday.

I guess something good can be said about the diabetic diet I've been on for the past four months.

Oliver just called me a jerk. I can feel the love.

Pants. Now.

I got sick of hearing my coworkers tell me I need to buy new pants, so Kristin and I headed out to the outlets Veteran's Day Weekend to find pants that fit. One interesting side effect of losing weight is that I have options in the clothing department again. In the past I purchased anything that somewhat fit, regardless if I hated the color, style, etc. Now I get to analyze how each items wears, much to the chagrin of the one who has to wait for me.

I replaced my black pants and two pairs of jeans. The black pants are 6 inches smaller in the waist than the old pair; the jeans, 8 inches. I also had to buy a new belt. This is my second new belt since I started losing weight in January. I had Kristin take a picture of me to document my progress. Click to view.

Going All Nicole Richie

Today one of my coworkers said I'm going all Nicole Richie. While I doubt I'm looking like the picture to the right, I did hit another milestone when I stepped on the scale this morning: I am down 70 pounds. I'm certainly not skeletal like Nicole and still have a bit of a spare tire to kill. Come to think of it, though, I probably have lost the equivalent of a Nicole Richie. Nice.

Related post: Fatty Mc Fat Fats

Fatty Mc Fat Fats

When Kristin and I started doing Weight Watchers, we commented that we had become Fatty Mc Fat Fats. A Fatty Mc Fat Fat is someone so *huge* that they transcend the distinction of being a fatty or a fat fat. One of the key elements is the use of the Mc, paying homage to that great home of American obesity, Mc Donalds.

One of my first goals was to lose 10% of my starting weight, 32 pounds. Upon reaching this goal, I realized that I was no longer a Fatty Mc Fat Fat and started calling myself a Fatty Mc Fat. (Note that there is still a Mc in there.) Going from 320 to 288 was a big deal, but is far from being a healthy adult.

So, when I went to weigh myself today, I realized that I had hit another milestone in my journey. Happy Day! I am no longer obese!! Obesity, as defined by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is when your Body Mass Index (BMI) is 30 or greater. My body mass index is now 29.5. I'm just overweight!

It appears I am no longer a Fatty Mc Fat. I am now just a Fatty. Some day, once I have reached my normal weight (BMI between 18 and 24.9), I will have to come up with a new name. How does Slim sound?