Friday Quote Day

“Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.”

Plato

What a great quote, eh? That Plato was a smart guy. It brings to mind a commercial I've seen recently, where one small kindness leads to another and another and eventually someone even lets someone else in front of him in traffic. The ultimate sacrifice.

The thought came to me late last year that I needed to once and for all do something about my weight. I was unhappy and unhealthy and tired of being both. I've battled my weight since I was about 11 years old, with only two brief periods of success in more than 40 years.

God, that's depressing to write.

I started noodling around the internets for inspiration, searching for bloggers who also were working toward a healthier life and a normal weight. And I found you.

Your actions – writing about your struggles and successes – made you strong and sassy. And you inspired me to pick a plan, push myself, stay the course [oh, how I cringe at that phrase, but really, it's what we do, isn't it?] and Just Do It. Every freakin' day, we eat vegetables, pass up sweets, work up a sweat and decide that yes, it is worth all the effort. And then we do it again.

One of the first blogs I latched onto was Beth's. Man, I miss her. Her last post was July 26, in which she promised to be back mid-August. At that time she hadn't posted in almost a month, and people were getting worried about her. M@rla suggested we needed to create a missing blogger campaign, like the milk-carton missing children one.

Edited later: M@rla just commented that she didn't think she'd come up with the milk-carton suggestion. She's right, and my apologies to PQ, another of my blogging heroes. She mentioned distributing flyers for the missing in this post.

The fact that Beth is among the missing doesn't make her blog any less inspiring or powerful. I printed out her first post very early on, and still read it once in a while. She motivates and inspires me, even though she's no longer writing. I sometimes wonder if she's started a new blog and is waiting for all of us to find her again.

I'm so grateful for all of you who regularly share your triumphs and pain. You've kept me going the last couple of months while my heel has healed. Did you hear that? Healed! No more pain! I walked 1.5 miles outside yesterday and don't feel even a hint of a bruise. Not even first thing this morning, when it's always the worst.

Knowing that you have worked through injuries, strategized to deal with events, lived through vacations and holidays and celebrations, kept your sense of humor, didn't kill yourself and still lost weight proved to me that I could do it, too.

I'm not going to meet my first-of-the-year challenge to get to goal by the first of next year. But I'm 43 pounds lighter than I was last year, and I no longer feel unhappy or unhealthy. Well, hardly ever.

Thank you for that.

Okay, enough with the gratitude. It's not even Thanksgiving yet! If you, too, are looking for inspiration, I hope you've found a tiny dose here. I believe in paying it forward and passing it on.

Some of you were rather incredulous that one of the TBL contestants could have lost 20 pounds in one week. His progress chart is here. He'd had a small gain the previous week, and probably doubled his laxative dose.

KIDDING!

Mr. Shrinking Knitter reminded me that the morbidly obese can and do lose massive amounts of weight from week to week, and also the contestants' full-time jobs at the ranch are to eat right and work out. I will admit right here and right now that I don't want to sweat that much.

The winner of the bracelet has been chosen and notified. Thanks to everyone for entering the contest. To all who entered, check your e-mail for a consolation prize.