Rolf Danner

Coming around the last turn, the goal is in sight. Not sure yet whether it will be an up-hill battle all the way to the finish or a gentle cruise toward the cheering crowds. Perhaps it’s just a break along the way and the goal is really much further off than I think. In any case, I’ve arrived in the 170’s and the 180-pound mark has fallen. It will take losing a few extra pounds before I come in below 180 in clothes and after breakfast, but let’s not change the rules of the game at halftime. I’m feeling fine. Oh, did I mention the pants I’m rediscovering in the closet?

Of course there are challenges left. How do you tell your soon-to-be husband that he really shouldn’t eat M&Ms in front of you, if he has any regard for his own life and physical safety? How do you move past the dessert display at a luncheon with your internal dialog stuck in the loop: “looks good – is bad for you – looks good…” Though yesterday in the buffet line I did really well. Picked some really nice looking salads, skipped the gooey dressings and settled on a couple of tasty pieces of salmon. I steered deftly past the sweets and made if back to my table with a sense of accomplishment. Too good to be true? Yes, because next I had to watch my colleague, ten years younger with a metabolism permanently stuck in overdrive, go back for seconds of cheese, refried beans and sour cream, and then come back from the third trip with an extra helping of German chocolate cake. Ignore for the moment that I really don’t care much for German chocolate cake, which by the way is as well known in Germany as Fortune Cookies in Beijing (i.e. nobody there has ever heard of it). The fact remains that he is eating something that right now smells really good and my inner three-year old shouts, “Gimme! Gimme!”

But I made it through. Had a crunchy apple back in my office and thought slimming thoughts. As an extra plus, my work computer made it successfully through the organ transplant surgery (new hard drive) and seems to be cheerfully going after everything I ask him to do. Ok, so he still needs the extra cup of coffee to get started in the morning, but who doesn’t. Life is good all around.