My sisters rock!

I am so proud of my little sisters. If I'm not careful, I'm going to be known as "the fat one." As in, "Oh, those Schuetz girls all look alike, but Lisa, she's the fat one."

For a long time, that title belonged to Helga (not her real name), who is five years younger than I. Although not at all overweight as a child, she was always cuddly. As an adult, she's been chubby forever and sort of fat for many of the most recent years. But no more. She's now bordering on thin and is known to run 5 miles. In a row. That is so cool! For longer than I can remember, Helga's primary form of exercise was gardening or walking over to her neighbor's for a chat. All that has changed and I'm really proud and super happy for her. And the only reason that I say she's bordering on thin is that she's almost to her goal and once she's there, we're all going to say "You're so thin!" But let's save that for the big moment, right?

Then there's Lucy (also not her real name), who is nearly two years younger than I. Lucy has always been pretty thin. She's always had the best hair, perfect skin and her body rebounds from babies faster than my do from a fish fry. She's always been super organized, prompt with her schoolwork (or office work) and knows exactly how much is in her checking account. She seems to have the same kind of willpower that my mother has (veeeery German, if you know what I mean). Well, she fell in love and gained a bit of love weight after her marriage to Luis. They have a great time together, and great times often mean celebrating. So after a couple years of relaxing and having fun, she's again buckled down to the very unfun job of taking off the pounds. So Lucy's now on Weight Watchers and heading out to the gym all the time, probably even as she recuperates from elbow surgery. I have no doubt she'll soon be as thin as before.

My youngest sister, Honey, has always been thin. Her version of overweight is weighing 10 pounds more than her super skinny weight. She has beautiful children (but all my siblings do) and always has a little smiley light in her eyes. So, I'm proud of her too, but for different reasons. Honey has Lupus and although she's often in pain, she's really trying to get her life in order. She can't work out and she can't run. Sometimes it's even hard for her to sit for long periods of time. She always tells me she's feeling fine because she knows medical complaints make me crabby. In November, when Oprah had her weight loss show taping and I got tickets, I brought Honey along because getting to see Oprah is on everyone's Bucket List. She had a lot of fun even though we didn't get any free stuff or makeovers.

So, I'm going to dedicate my eating tomorrow to my sisters. When I feel like having a piece of Eden's chocolate, I'll think of Helga running all over town or Lucy lifting weights with her good arm. Or I'll think of Honey, who is trying to feel better than the day before. And then I'll have some snow peas and humus!