One-of-a-kind friend

There have been many, many people who have encouraged me in this journey. Many people have cheered with me when I lost weight and encouraged me when I felt like I wanted to give up. There will be many stories to tell about the people along the way. However, first, I must thank Tracy.

Tracy has walked, literally, every step of this journey with me. Fortunately for me, she will stop at nothing to get my attention and keep my head in the right place. Don't believe me? Let me tell you about Friday.

I went to weigh in, as I do every Friday morning. We had started walking again (finally the weather cooperated) so I was very, VERY confident that I would be successful and meet my next goal. But the scales had another idea. I gained a pound. A POUND!!!

That may not seem like much, but this has been an incredibly tough winter. I've had weeks where I've lost several pounds and weeks where I've gained - but never any consistent move toward my goal. Last week, I only lost 0.4 pound. I just KNEW that I was going to shake passed this "plateau" (a word I have come to hate) and start making forward progress.

Alas, that wasn't to be. And I was extremely discouraged. Not enough to quit, but enough that I felt weak. Like a failure. Like I couldn't be successful no matter how hard I worked. Isn't it amazing how one tiny little failure explodes in our minds to atomic proportions? Crazy!

Enter Tracy. She also weighed in and stuck around to see how I did. I got my results. I wasn't too happy. Tracy hugged me and muttered some encouraging words. The stuff you hear from EVERYBODY. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I told her I was okay and headed out to my car. But I wasn't; and she knew it.

She called me over and we talked a little more. I was thinking that the words come easy for Tracy. She's MUCH smaller, petite – especially compared to me. It's easy for a thin person to tell a fat person to keep focused, to keep working the plan.

I think she realized her words were bouncing off me, and she needed something drastic to get my attention. So Tracy did as Tracy does – something dramatic that no one else would ever consider doing.

Now before I tell you, remember that we are in the MIDDLE OF THE PARKING LOT!!!

She pulls her pants down passed her knees (yes, she had some pajama boxers on) and shook her thigh and exclaimed, "Look at all this cellulite, woman!!! I still have a LONG way to go!" Then she reminded me that we each have different goals, and the point of this entire thing was for each of us to be healthy.

Point taken. See how much she loves me?

I love you too, sis.