Biggest Loser....part 1

Another year, another pledge to drop some weight and get in shape. The difference this year is the addition of some competition. We are having a "Biggest Loser" contest at work. 24 of us have signed up for the contest which begins with the initial weigh-in Monday, January 5th.

This has gotten me thinking about my "weight history". I used to be skinny. Really skinny. I recall older men inappropriately commenting on how my legs were 'skinny but shapely'. The boys in grade 8 joked about making a bra for me in shop class out of wood. It's true, I had no boobs, no butt. I was 5' 7" and change and weighed a whopping 112 lbs. I didn't mind the bra comments because I was athletic - who needed big breasts to get in the way? But somewhere along the way, 112 turned into 122, 132, 142, 152, 162, 172. Yes, 172 lbs. is the heaviest I've ever been. Do I know how it happened? You bet. We all know how it happens. In my case, I was married at a young age to a husband who I never knew if he would come home for dinner or spend several hours at a strip club. I sat home eating my dinner, his dinner and anything else I wanted to comfort myself.

Eventually, I said 'screw this'. I joined a weight-loss program and proceeded to lose 36 pounds in 9 weeks. In hindsight, that is NOT the way to lose weight and keep it off. I also lost another 175 lbs. by dumping his sorry a*@.

Over the past 20 years since that happened, I have yo-yo'd in a 25 lb. dimension I like to call - size 10 - 12 - 14 land.

I'll be honest, I have no idea what I weigh today. I have a scale I call 'Cybil'. I stepped up on it 4 times this morning and it said I weigh 158 lbs., 150 lbs., 174 lbs. and 185 lbs. I guess I'll have to wait until the official Biggest Loser weigh-in on Monday morning to find out which figure sticks.

I plan to post a new blog every Monday after our weekly weigh-in to let you know how I'm doing, feeling, cursing.

Any words of advice, encouragement, humour, will be greatly appreciated along the way. I don't know if I can win this contest, but at the end of it, I plan to be lighter, fitter and happier.

Wish me luck!

OHHHHHH....Canada!

My oh my. When did polite, follow-in-line, don't kick up a fuss Canada become a kick up the dust, take no prisoners, political smartypants?

I must admit, I am enjoying the political jockeying that is going on right now in the Great White North. How much does everyone else despise Stephen Harper's Conservatives that the NDP would agree to get into bed with the Liberals and.....gasp.....have the Bloc as the supporting cast!!!

Many would ask, and perhaps rightly so, how can the NDP and Liberals sleep at night when they're in bed with the Bloc?

And at what price? What kind of deals have been worked out to form this alliance? Will we find out the BQ will benefit to the tune of an extra billion dollars in equalization payments? Will we find Senate appointments that will leave us with our mouths hanging open?

The bottom line is - a majority of Canadians voted against Steven Harper and his Conservatives and in our Parliamentary system, (s)he who is elected must have the confidence of the house, or else the opposition has the right to try to form a coalition government and take over.

Perhaps at this time in our history, we should be considering a more "democratic" system such as Mixed Member Proportional representation.

Just saying.