The stark realization of what I was facing
with the surgical weight loss option made
me think, I should take another stab at
losing the weight on my own. I decided to
add a little twist with this effort as it also
coincided with my third mid-life crisis (how
many is a person supposed to have,
anyway?). I decided I’d write a book about
the experience.
The book I’m writing is entitled Vegetables
Taste Like Dirt The title comes from one of
my favorite complaints about having to eat
all things "healthy" (they don't taste that
great if you ask me).
During this first year, I’ve made good
progress toward the goal I set for myself
which was to lose 200 pounds in two years
time.
Somewhere along the way, one of my friends
and co-workers, Clover,
created a sticker chart
counting down the re-
maining pounds to
hang in my cubicle at
work. I found it amusing.
Other people at work noticed the chart and
found it amusing too. People also started
to get excited about the continued
progress and the appearance of more and
more stickers.
It was all very helpful to me on a daily
basis to have that kind of on-going
encouragement. I think I might just work
with some really amazing people.
Another friend and
co-worker, Sue, came
up with the idea that
people should sign up
for individual pounds
and then commit to
helping me get to
that pound. The idea of losing that much
more weight seemed almost fun, given the
idea that there could be as many as 100
people willing to help me do it.
with the surgical weight loss option made
me think, I should take another stab at
losing the weight on my own. I decided to
add a little twist with this effort as it also
coincided with my third mid-life crisis (how
many is a person supposed to have,
anyway?). I decided I’d write a book about
the experience.
The book I’m writing is entitled Vegetables
Taste Like Dirt The title comes from one of
my favorite complaints about having to eat
all things "healthy" (they don't taste that
great if you ask me).
During this first year, I’ve made good
progress toward the goal I set for myself
which was to lose 200 pounds in two years
time.
Somewhere along the way, one of my friends
and co-workers, Clover,
created a sticker chart
counting down the re-
maining pounds to
hang in my cubicle at
work. I found it amusing.
Other people at work noticed the chart and
found it amusing too. People also started
to get excited about the continued
progress and the appearance of more and
more stickers.
It was all very helpful to me on a daily
basis to have that kind of on-going
encouragement. I think I might just work
with some really amazing people.
Another friend and
co-worker, Sue, came
up with the idea that
people should sign up
for individual pounds
and then commit to
helping me get to
that pound. The idea of losing that much
more weight seemed almost fun, given the
idea that there could be as many as 100
people willing to help me do it.
Well I have to say I never
thought I'd be meeting you
here.
Hello, my name is Pamela.
I’m 39, divorced and mom
of two. Up until recently, I
worked as analyst within the insurance
industry. Kinda boring, I know.
One point of interest (at least it seems
to be to a few people around here) is
that I’ve recently lost just over 100
pounds. I still need to lose about 100
more. It gets even stranger. As of the
publication of this site, I now have 100
people to help me do it.
On September 1, 2005 I started working
on a personal goal of losing 200 pounds.
At 37 years of age, I had just made a
second visit to a bariatric surgeon to
explore the possibility of gastric bypass
surgery.
This was a devastating experience for
me. The staff at the clinic seemed
resigned to the idea that surgery was my
last option for weight loss.
They also told me that there could be life-
threatening complications and life-long
health related issues as a result of the
surgery.
I think many of my friends and co-workers
felt quite afraid that I had taken the
decision to explore the surgical option to
address my severe weight problem.
I was also informed of several other
drawbacks by the staff at the clinic.
The one thing that confused me most;
I would need to make all the lifestyle
changes I’d need to make to lose the
weight in the first place in order for the
surgery to have the best and lasting
results (or I could regain the weight).
This only made me wonder, “If I could
figure out how to make myself do all
the things necessary to be fit and
healthy, why would I even bother
having the surgery?”
thought I'd be meeting you
here.
Hello, my name is Pamela.
I’m 39, divorced and mom
of two. Up until recently, I
worked as analyst within the insurance
industry. Kinda boring, I know.
One point of interest (at least it seems
to be to a few people around here) is
that I’ve recently lost just over 100
pounds. I still need to lose about 100
more. It gets even stranger. As of the
publication of this site, I now have 100
people to help me do it.
On September 1, 2005 I started working
on a personal goal of losing 200 pounds.
At 37 years of age, I had just made a
second visit to a bariatric surgeon to
explore the possibility of gastric bypass
surgery.
This was a devastating experience for
me. The staff at the clinic seemed
resigned to the idea that surgery was my
last option for weight loss.
They also told me that there could be life-
threatening complications and life-long
health related issues as a result of the
surgery.
I think many of my friends and co-workers
felt quite afraid that I had taken the
decision to explore the surgical option to
address my severe weight problem.
I was also informed of several other
drawbacks by the staff at the clinic.
The one thing that confused me most;
I would need to make all the lifestyle
changes I’d need to make to lose the
weight in the first place in order for the
surgery to have the best and lasting
results (or I could regain the weight).
This only made me wonder, “If I could
figure out how to make myself do all
the things necessary to be fit and
healthy, why would I even bother
having the surgery?”
| copyright 2006-2007 Pamela Peterson & lil fish productions All rights reserved. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Then the idea of Vegetables Taste Like Dirt;
The Project was hatched by Clover and
myself along with our friends Beth and
Alessiah.
I refer to Clover, Beth and Alessiah as the
peas in the pod on our logo because the are
such close friends.
The basic notion was to make the sticker
chart web-based and interactive as a
resource for “the motivators” and myself.
The site continues to evolve with the creative
energy of some very clever and witty people.
If you’re expecting to find gimmicks or
shortcuts as to how I lost a hundred pounds
or how I plan to lose a hundred more, you
won’t find them here. (You weren’t really
expecting that, were you?)
In fact, you’ll find the outline of my “diet and
exercise plan” to be very simple and nothing
new. No tricks here. I don't even count
calories. (I have to exercise! You don’t
expect me to count too, do you?!)
What you will find here is a lot of brutal
honesty, (whining) humor (feel free to laugh
at me--I do it all the time) and hopefully,
progress. Inspiration might be expecting a
bit too much from me, I am middle-aged
after all, but I’ll give it my best shot!
Thanks for taking the time to check the site
out. If you've made it this far, you've already
become a part of my story. Feel free to
wander around and check back as we’ll be
adding new features. If you’d like to meet
the 100 people involved in this project you
start here.
If you want to know what these people are
saying, you can read them on the
vegetablog.
If you're not completely bored with my
ramblings you will find more stuff about me,
here.
If you’re interested to know a few stats or or
wonder what I looked like one year ago you
can see the “Before” picture here. Be
brave. I am!
--Pamela
The Project was hatched by Clover and
myself along with our friends Beth and
Alessiah.
I refer to Clover, Beth and Alessiah as the
peas in the pod on our logo because the are
such close friends.
The basic notion was to make the sticker
chart web-based and interactive as a
resource for “the motivators” and myself.
The site continues to evolve with the creative
energy of some very clever and witty people.
If you’re expecting to find gimmicks or
shortcuts as to how I lost a hundred pounds
or how I plan to lose a hundred more, you
won’t find them here. (You weren’t really
expecting that, were you?)
In fact, you’ll find the outline of my “diet and
exercise plan” to be very simple and nothing
new. No tricks here. I don't even count
calories. (I have to exercise! You don’t
expect me to count too, do you?!)
What you will find here is a lot of brutal
honesty, (whining) humor (feel free to laugh
at me--I do it all the time) and hopefully,
progress. Inspiration might be expecting a
bit too much from me, I am middle-aged
after all, but I’ll give it my best shot!
Thanks for taking the time to check the site
out. If you've made it this far, you've already
become a part of my story. Feel free to
wander around and check back as we’ll be
adding new features. If you’d like to meet
the 100 people involved in this project you
start here.
If you want to know what these people are
saying, you can read them on the
vegetablog.
If you're not completely bored with my
ramblings you will find more stuff about me,
here.
If you’re interested to know a few stats or or
wonder what I looked like one year ago you
can see the “Before” picture here. Be
brave. I am!
--Pamela
