Thursday and Fridays in the Desert keeps me on my toes.  On Thursday I belong to a Luncheon Group.  We go to different restaurants each week.  When I first started Nutrisystem, I just didn't participate, but after being on the program for 18 months, I started going out to the Thursday luncheon again this season..... I chose menu items that are consistent with my noon luncheon from Nutrisystem.  Mostly I have Salad with the dressing on the side and make sure they cut up a boiled egg for my protein.  I ask for a dry toast and drink water and more water.  Today was my second Thursday that I have attended this year and I have made it with no problems.  So you can tell and I can tell that I have learned to make choices when the public attention is focused on what I am eating. 

Tomorrow is Friday and on Friday night I go to "Happy Hour" at Hunters.  Hunters is a bar that we (our friendship group) meet for drinks and fellowship and friendship.  I handle this well.  I just don't order alcohol.  I drink diet cokes and water.  For me this is a snap.  What I have trouble doing is keeping away from the "bit & bites", but as long as I feel that others are watching what I am eating, I can control myself.

I have been on this program and have lost 80 lbs., gained back 20 and lost that 3 times.  It seems that I am aware of what should be and what should not be and I do better when I am around people, but when I eat at home, I do not always control my intake.

So you can see that I still have to learn how to be responsible to me. 

I'm learning and I feel good about what I've learned and how I practice my new knowledge.

Cheers on you,

Chester in the Desert

Life is good in the Desert. Slept in this morning. Had a good nights sleep. As many of you know, I have a bummed right shoulder that will be replaced sometime later this month or early April. In the meantime I sleep terrible. I am basically only comfortable is I am sitting or standing. when I lay down it creates pressure on my shoulder and the pain is in the middle of my back....Not a problem except it has changed my sleeping and eating habits.

I now eat my dinner at midnight. This keeps me from getting so hungry before breakfast time. Like this morning it is now 8:45 and I'm going to have breakfast at 10AM, then lunch at 3PM and snack at 7PM and 12 Midnight.

All this is not written in stone. I do sleep about 8 hours a day, but never for a long period of time. This is working for me.

What I am saying is that we have to be flexible and use our advantages to make this program work. It is adaptable.

I feel healthier than I was in September of 2008 (even with my shoulder)
I am happy (even with my shoulder)
I feel TER-RiF-Fic (even with my shoulder)

Good on you,

Chester in the Desert

Pasta Primavera with Tofu....what a great dish. Just add some Verde Sauce and Wham., you got one of the best to eat with a Ora Wheat Thin, salad and carrots. Fantastic dinner.

 Loving life and loving the food from Nutrisystem. In my life, Food from Nutrisystem is not an excuse for not following the program.

Always trying new things, working them into my daily foods.

Cheers from the Desert of Southern California.

Chester in the Desert

Ever Hour of ever day, I have to make the choice of staying positive.

This Week -- "Old Man Fat is Not in Controll of My Body". Life is good in the Fast Lane When Everyone is Not Passing You ?

OHHH --- YESSS Way=N Day is always Monday. Today I wish it were Tuesday. I need just one more day to get my weight below 320. I love it. I could rewrite yesterdays blog and it would apply to me on Monday of this week. I lost a grand total last week of 2 lbs . . . . t'was looking towards beloe 320, but the twisted finger of faith say "No No - not this week.".

Another beautiful day in the Desert. I'm here looking forward to another wonderful week on Nutrisystem and learning to make choices that result in a happier and healthier me. Heathier and Happier are good choices, but Mobility and Flexible are better choices. So here's to me being more flexible than I am today.

Just thinking about my mobility is still a thrill for me. All of you who have been reading my blog since Sept 16, 2008 know that I have lost (70 plus lbs) and still have 80 lbs to loose to reach my goal weight. More important, I can now walk distances and really don't have to calculate how far I need to park the car from my designation, or think about if the electric cart will be available when I get to a store.

Life is good in the fast lane when not everyone passes you. I'm winning the "walking battle". Old man fat is no longer in controll of my body. That world has been left behind without tears or regrets.

My name is Chester. I live in the Desert of Southern California. When I started this journey with Nutrisystem on September 15, 2008, I was 69 years old and weighted 387lbs. I had been told time and time again that older people have problems loosing weight. 

Today I am 71 years old. I've been on the program for 17 months and have lost a total of 70 plus lbs. Life is good in the semifast lane. (Speaking of Semi's -- anyone seen Juju, Patrick and their Truck on here lately).

Cheers on you and yours for this week.

Chester in the Desert

Why do we wait for a week before we weigh.  I really don't know and often try to weigh everyother day.  I find that when I do weigh all the time, I become addicted to the scales.  Nothing wrong with that, except I'd rather be addicted to planning meals, rearranging my life so that foot is not the most important thing that I encounter in my daily life.

Now think of that....If I am not the most important thing in my life, why would anything else, be it human, vegatible or mineral be more important....Sometime I think that it is easier for me to arrange and rearrange other people's lives rather than work on rearranging mine. 

Could it be that taking care of others gives me a greater feeling of achievement than taking care of myself. 

.......sometimes I just think about that....

Cheers on each of you,

Chester in the Desert

Hello My friends. I'm getting back to normal with my Nutrisystem Program.

My life is constantly changing. I am scheduled for right shoulder replacement the last week of March, so I'll be in a sling for a month and then 2 months of Theapy.

Did you see me on TV last night. I was given tickets in Row A of the Stable Center, LA. The only seat in front of me were the Promotion Seats that line the court. I sat behind and to the right of the basketball goal with the Lakers seated to my left.

Well to broil down the evening, when the ball was in our part of the court, Tom and I were very visible on National TV. Sitting directly in front of me was Will Ferrall and when the Camera was put on him, behind him, you can see a "full Face" picture of Chester.

Yikes and I wore my suspenders because I've lost so much weigh my pants do not stay up while I walk. Anyway, If you watched you saw me and Tom.

I'm doing well on the program. It has changed my life.  I am now mobil and am able to travel.

I have been away from home for a month.  Our Holiday included friends in Florida, a cruise to Aruba, etc. I had a great time and did gain weight when I was on the sabatical from the NS program, but I'm back on it 100% and plan to loose anohter 20 lbs before my shoulder surgery.

Good to be back and good to read Blogs again.

I miss not being here.

Good on you and your love ones,

 Chester in the Desert

I've been lax in the last 10 days. My weight lost is minimum. I have lost only 3 lbs. in the last week or so.

 I've been remiss with my Blogs.

Just wanted all to know that I'm doing well. I have developed a "Sympathetic Paralysis" of my right shoulder -- which means that I am basically lazy and only use the shoulder when I am forced to use it.  IT HURTS....

 I am having my shoulder replaced on the frist or second week of March (will schedule the surgery on Monday). In the meantime, I have my right shoulder in a sling and typing is difficult.. I'm not a good "hunt and peck", but today I am feeling well, so just wanted to say hello.

My partner says he will feed me and take care of my basic needs, but he drawna the line at typing for me.  I am smiling.  He continues to encourage me and make sure that I do those things that I am capable of doing.  I'm no invalid, but I'm sure that I take advantage of the "arm in a sling" 

We are getting ready for 60 people over for a "Superbowl Party".  The Garage has been cleaned.  Sheets have been draped on all walls....Indoor/outdoor carpet has been rolled on the floor of the Garage.  Streamers hung from ceiling fan to walls.  Our living room is now being readied for 25 people with chairs, etc.  We are busy.

Next week Tom and I are going on a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale on RSVPvacations.com.  We look forward to being with our friends.  This is my last fling before the surgery, so I'll make the best of it --- well as much "best" as I can do with my arm in a sling. 

Ahaaa., would like to tell you that getting use to using my left hand as primary is at the best difficult.  Changes will be made to accomodate.  My lastest play toy is a toilet seat called a "SpaLoo".  Check it out.  It really works and don't know why every household does not have one.  Go to:  http://www.spaloo.com/ and if you decide to purchase one then go to Amazon.com.  They are about 100 dollars less on Amazon. I smile when I sit on the new seat. If my mom could see this contraption, with me sitting there as pulsating water cleans and Warm Air dries my butt, she would be seriouosly talking to the neighbors about my santity. We do change.... Don't WE ?

Anyway, my 16th month shipment came in this week.  My name is Chester.  I am 71 years old, retired and live right in the middle of the Desert of Southern California.  When I started this program in October of 2008, I weighed 387lbs.  This week I weigh 309.

Nutrisystem works in my life.  I am healthier and happier that I was 16 months ago. 

Here's hoping that each of us will continue to loose weight and become a healthier person for ourself and for our family.

Cheers and good on each of you and your love ones.

I am ONE Fortunate Man to have good friends and fantastic support from family and Nutrisystem Family. Thanks to each of you.

Chester in the Desert

PS:  I have been on Nutrisystem so long that, in my dreams, I have Nutrisystem members from this blog and they are part of my everyday dream life and you know what.  We don't talk about Nutrisystem.  Is that NOT Weird ?

2 more pounds down this week.or last week. I've been busy with the winter crowd here in the Desert.....U see when Winter comes that is our time to socialize and catch up on what has happened in the last year. \

This year my weight lost is not as big a deal as it was last year, but by darn, to me it is still UNO Numero...Top of the Cake...Top drawer in the rack.

Yesterday, after having an MRI last week, the Doctor tells me that he can give me a NEW Shoulder in 90 minutes. "Whip out the old and Put in the New". He makes it sound so easy and I'm almost convinced he is Right....Well I have scheduled the Surgery for the first week in March. Which will give  me a Cruise (Feb. 13 to 20)  and a few more weeks of weight lost.

Life is good when painful body parts are replaceable...... Love the adventure that life presents and the challenge that comes with those adventures.  I am happy ....Doing GREAT..

My name is Chester.  I have been on the program since Sept. 15, 2008 and have lost 76 lbs in that time.  Nutrisystem is making  my 71 years of life SWEET and my retirement a wonderful adventure.

Cheers on each of you.

Chester in the desert

My Parental Home was a farm in Mississippi, I use to be awake when the 4:30AM train from St. Louis to Mobile came through our property and blew that horn and you could hearn the steam engine huffing and puffing alone.  "The Duddlebug", ....that's what it was called because it was slow, cheap travel, stopped at every small town, but it got you there. (GM&0 --Gulf Mobile and Ohio Raidroad)  use to cross our property headed south toward Mobile and North to St. Louis. 

We got up then because that's what people on the farms did  -- plus my Dad would walk through the house and no one slept after he got up.  We were up early so the daily life of farm work was done in the daylight hours, before it got hot. Those trains brought to me a world of imagination, of travel and of far away places.

My Uncle lived in St. Louis and I knew that the train went to his home. I think that "The Duddlebug" connection to the outside world was the beginning of my desire to travel and to  work in the four corners of the world.

Living in an Agricultural Society, I develop social and educational skills, work ethics and the value of working with ones hands and seeing the results of ones labor......maybe not all in a swift year, but during a life time of working with an international company, I was able to travel and work all over the globe and can now appreciate those lessons of growing up on a farm.

The eating habits were also a results of being on a farm.  We were served big meals and ate two big "carb" mealls each day.  The dinning table was a time of get together.  It was a time of healing, rest and relaxation. 

The dinning room table is still a place in my life where we socialize, get to know one another. 

I think that I still seek that "taste" that I think was important in my life.  I still think of the bacon smell, the turkey and dressing....the pies....the vegetable..., that's what I think of but if I am really honest with myself, what I am thinking of are the people that I associate with those dinning room feast.

I think of my Mother, my Father, my brothers and Sisters....of my neighbors...that we only saw once or twice a week....That is what I really am identifying with....those people that are no longer here but meant so much to me throughout my life.  The eating process is so ingrained in my being that for me to change the way I eat takes major changes in my daily life and how I look at who I am and what I am to become.  

In a time of my life when I needed change and nutritional help, Nutrisystem has brought to me a way of getting controll, loosing weight and meeting new frineds through this web page that have a common goal of loosing weight. 

Nutrisystem has become and is becoming an important replacement of those values I learned on the farm.

To make a long story short, my life is still a part of those that are my friends.  It is not and never was about food, but I associated food with a feel good life.  I associated my feel good life with my roots being "farm Food". 

I am now part of the Nutrisystem Family and that family has different foods that are feel good foods.  I now associate Nutrisystem Foods with "Comfort Food." 

My name is Chester.  I am 71 years old.  When I started this program in Sept of 2008, I weighed 387lbs.  This Monday I weighed 313. 

Life is good.

Thanks to the Nutrisystem Family for helping me change my "comfort food" zone.  It has taken 71 years and I am still working on the changes.

Good on you,

Chester in the Desert

Doing great on Nutrisystem this week. I have been on and off program for far to long. I was down 80 lbs and then gained back 20 and am now down another 2 lbs this week.

Ofcourse Monday is WAY-N day, but I am finding that it keeps me on program if I weigh every day. Don't tell you that you should "WAY" everyday...cause the program says do it once a week, but at this point for me to keep on program, I do weigh when I get out of bed each morning, or at least after the AM exercise.

I feel better if I know who much I have lost over any 24 hours. Cheers on you as you loose weight.

Stay on the program and make sure you drink all your water...

Chester in the desert Rancho Mirage, CA.

On scales this AM., lost 4 lbs last week..Good news considering that I was out of town on Family Issues. Everything is well. I went to my Home in Mississippi and the weather was cold as the love of a witch on the 15th of December at Midnight.

I was not 100% for the week, eventhough it started out that way. But this day, I'm back with it.

I am always talking about the Desert. Well yesterday, God forgot that we are the Desert and it rained for 6 hours at my home. Suppose to do the same thing today ...this afternoon!!!