Half-@$$ed Book

More bad language!...sigh... I can't get away from it. It's everywhere in the weight-loss world - pardon - book world. I suppose it's the latest way to try to seem catchy and edgy and to set oneself apart - except - everyone is doing it.

But I'm not going to get on my little soap box about it, lest I seem over-pious.

Anyway, while visiting 'The Skinny' - one of my new favorite blogs - I saw this post announcing an interview. Coming soon: The Skinny interview with Half-Assed author Jennette Fulda. It's a short, but interesting post that has footage from an interview she did on The Today Show

Jennette lost 200 lbs. A noteworthy achievement. And she is another blogger-turned-author.

I haven't bought the book and at present I have no plans to read it, but I have enjoyed my few visits to her blog www.pastaqueen.com.

Gail Gedan Spencer. co-author of 'The Skinny' did a follow-up interview as promised a week ago. Click here for The Skinny Interview.

I can identify with several things she says in both the television interview and the e-mail interview. 1) The denial factor. 2) That blogging, when done faithfully, does keep you accountable. And 3) Once you've been significantly overweight, you have to accept the fact that maintenance is probably going to be a lifelong struggle.

She says, "I think maintenance is the hardest part of weight loss. We’ve probably all heard stories of people who’ve lost a lot of weight and gained it back. I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to overcome any obstacles or struggles that might cause the weight to creep back on. Even when you lose a lot of weight, it’s never really over. You have to earn a healthy body every day for the rest of your life."

I believe that's true.

I've known since I was a pre-teen that I had tendencies toward addiction, and so I was vigilant about not experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and other addictive substances and practices. (We won't talk about the shopping - that is a whole other story...and I am not gonna go there!)

Somehow, I always managed to steer clear of food addictions. There were brief periods in my life when I would overeat for about 5 days and gain 5 - 7 pounds, but then I would level out, tighten up, exercise, and get a handle on whatever was causing me to stress-out and adopt the self-destructive behavior.

But this time things were different and I just spiraled out of control. So here I find myself, trying desperately to get a grip and just plain do better.

After a year of living dangerously, dietetically speaking, I realize that I need to reset my brain and my body chemistry. And that it won't happen overnight. And that it won't be over once I reach my target weight.

When I get my good body back, I will never be able to take it for granted again. I will have to be conscious about the choices I make. Every hour of every day for the rest of my life.

...sigh...seems so daunting...