LITTLE SISTER

I met my younger sister off the plane at JFK this afternoon as she has come from the UK to visit for a week. She became a lifetime member with Weight Watchers last month, but since I haven't seen her for four years, there was a strange OMG moment in the Delta terminal.

Both of us have been cursed with the family tendency towards obesity and both of us have lost substantial amounts of weight since we were together last.

So there was a moment of mutual congratulation and disbelief when we saw each other's trimmer look today.

Great job Pat!

Genetics may not help us at all, but that doesn't mean we can't help ourselves!

ONE DAY

It was thin at Weight Watchers yesterday (no pun intended), which was totally expected, but hopefully will remedy itself next Saturday.

At this time of year there's the danger of blowing it at Thanksgiving by eating everything in sight and consuming what's left in the fridge on Black Friday. Sadly, some people then give up, check out for the holidays and in reality never get back on track.

How do I know that? - Because I have done it on at least four occasions in my life. After months of focus, I've let it all go at this time of year and gone back to my old ways, sometimes for years at a time.

The big achievement for me on my recent weight loss journey was staying focused through the holidays for the first time in my life. I'm not saying I didn't put on weight, I'm simply stating that I didn't turn my back on everything and say farewell to months of efforts.

Thanksgiving is just one day - plus one for the leftovers.

It's important to get back on track and refuse to jettison all that has been accomplished.

TOMORROW'S THE DAY

Okay, I'll start off by admitting that no one has less of a challenge on Thanksgiving Day than I do. Now that's not because I'm an immigrant and don't celebrate the day - heck almost all of us are imigrants and that's what the whole day is about.

This year, as for a number of years, we are spending Thanksgiving with some good friends in Florida and that's what makes the challenges of turkey day far more tolerable.

For a start, there's a beautiful four miles run from our friends' home to a causeway and then along it, with sand and sea on both sides of me. So starting the day with exercise is no problem.

Dinner isn't too much of a challenge as we go to a country club where they have a Thanksgiving Day buffet. That means we do all our eating there. There are no chips, dips, hot wings, etc., etc., etc., in the house - and no leftovers either! Nothing to snack on in the evening when the stomach has shrunk from extremely overloaded to moderately bloated and you're really only eating because it looks good and it's there.

Planning ahead is the key to survival on big days, deciding ahead of time what you're going to do. I've decided to observe the "one plate rule" and to ensure that salad occupies half of that space. I'm also going to skip dessert. Pumpkin pie is not my all-time favorite, so that won't be a big miss. Of course if there's some fresh fruit, I'll go that route.

Thanksgiving is about being with friends, pausing to count our blessings and watching the Colts win, so I don't have to abandon the healthier lifestyle I've adopted in order to enjoy it.

Plan ahead. Make your decisions today too!

BACK!

Got home yesterday from a twelve days trip to India. It was a great time, though I must admit my exercise plans were thwarted when I was advised that going running in the mornings was not advisable as there were a lot of snakes around at that time of day.

I opted for walking in the heat of the day instead, which draw more than a few smiles from the locals and a number outright laughs too.

Anyway as we head into the Holiday season, I thought you might enjoy this -

http://www.minibite.com/christmas/fattening.htm

NOR' EASTER

This morning the weather was rough to say the least, so it was interesting to see who would show up at the WW groups. I discovered that these great people are a hardy and committed crowd, because even though the turnout was down a bit we still had good groups.

I try to finish up each meeting with a motivating story and today it was suggested that I should write them here too. So here's this morning's tale -

One day late in the 19th Century, a scientist in Sweden named Alfred Nobel was sitting reading the morning paper when he suddenly came across his own obituary written there. Still feeling very much alive, he immediately knew that since his elder brother had just died, the press had got some misinformation and was writing about the wrong Nobel.

The obituary referred to the fact that Alfred Nobel had developed dynamite which had become the means of killing hundreds of thousands of people. It also said that he had died rich.

Nobel was not too thrilled at being remembered for making a fortune by coming up with a way to kill people, so he set about altering his reputation by becoming the sponsor of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nobel said - "Everyone should have the opportunity at some time in their life to edit and rewrite their own obituary."

That's what happens at WW - people begin to re-write their own life stories.

It's ours to do ... a great opportunity and a privilege.