Barbie Perkins-Cooper, Author

Dearest Readers:

Today has been a busy, but beautiful day for me. The sun is beaming down baking the city of Charleston, SC. Current temperature is 92 degrees. Yes, a hot day – but oh such a glorious day!

This morning started off like normal. Today is my weigh in day at Weight Watchers. I have hit another plateau and at times, I am getting quite discouraged; nevertheless, I still go to the meetings. Why? I enjoy those meetings. We have an interesting group of regulars, and then, we have a few men and a few returning who were ‘missing in action.’ I say missing in action because they — shall I say — fell off the wagon. Today, two of the missing in action ladies returned and it felt like homecoming week. Hugs. Squeals. Small Talk. You get the drift I am certain!

I am pleased to announce another weight loss. Minus .06! Yes, you read correctly — only .06 pounds. As a member of Weight Watchers, I have repeatedly told myself “any loss is a loss — so be happy with what you are losing.” End of discussion there!

Another discovery I realized today is the beige pair of shorts I am wearing is much too big — and I do mean too BIG! Somehow, this pair of shorts managed to work its way to the bottom of the drawer. When I dragged them out, they were new – with tags still attached, so this morning I thought would be a good day to wear them.

While shopping at Walmart, I almost panicked. Raising my ever so short arms high to reach the merchandise I needed, these beige shorts slipped down. “Oh God,” I thought to myself. “Are my shorts about to fall off?” I touched the waistband quickly. “Sh-hhh…Close call!”

Why are you laughing? It wasn’t funny! Yes, I’m certain, here is this wild and crazy woman named Barbie about to moon someone at Walmart — and I’ve never mooned anyone in my life! I could just picture it, along with the descriptions. “Attention Walmart shoppers…whoever is mooning in the soft drink aisle, please stop it!”

I grabbed the waistband of the shorts quickly. Arriving at home, I decided it was time to remove these much too big shorts, wash them and place them in the Goodwills bag. Trust me, that bag to Goodwill is growing!

Why am I giving my clothes away? Simple. I do not plan to ever wear them again, and when they are too big for me, it’s time to pay it forward and give them to an organization that might benefit others. Never will I wear these shorts again!

So, today has been a good day. Now I must plan to get through the Memorial Day celebrations. I am so proud of myself. I do not care how long it takes me to get to my goal weight because I am taking Weight Watchers one day…one step…and one bite…at a time! This is my lifestyle now, and I cannot wait to hit goal. Have a great Memorial Day weekend while enjoying your celebrations with family, friends and everyone!