Skinny Minnie

Diets can be excruciating. I should know. I'm an expert on dieting.
"But you have always been overweight, Diane," you might say if you were being brutally honest with me.
And I would say, "EXACTLY, my rude friend."
But yeah. Those of us who have always battled with our weight know a lot about dieting. I've lost hundreds of pounds over the course of 30 years.
The most fun I ever had dieting was several years back when I worked at the Lincolnton paper. That's right. I said fun and dieting in the same sentence. I've decided that it was my support system that made it so much more enjoyable.
I would go to Weight Watchers meetings with my mom each week and get support from my friends/coworkers five days a week or more. Me and the work gals all subscribed to different dieting techniques, but we ate lunch together and attended work functions together which made it so much easier to be accountable and make the right decisions. Hell, we even split a Snickers bar three ways once!
Since striking out into another county for a job, I haven't had the same level of hands-on support. I know my friends and family still want me to succeed, but they're not watching me, or working out with me, or going to meetings with me.
I gained lots of weight over the past several years. And now I'm losing it. Again.
Since surgery, I've gotten lots of supportive feedback but it still feels like a journey I'm mostly on alone. And that's OK. There are times it's not bad to be independent. I'd have to say I'm a fan of independence.
I still really miss the days with all my girlfriends at the old paper, but everyone has moved on and we're all in different places. I'm thrilled that we're all still friends and I hope to be one skinny minnie by the next time we all reunite (which is feeling like a date in May when a certain someone is getting hitched!).