Haters

You know how I feel about negative people. Don't have much time for them personally. More importantly, I don't understand it.

Valerie Bertinelli showed a lot of guts wearing a bikini on the cover of People Magazine last week. Anyone approaching the age of 50, irregardless of what their body looks like, shows a lot of guts wearing a bikini - period. For me, past a certain age, wearing a bikini falls into the category of "just because you can does not mean that you should".

42 and 9/10ths years is way past that point.

But, more power to her. I think it takes a lot for these celebrities to publicly attack their weight and lifestyle challenges. They live in a world where appearance is everything and to admit that you've been weak and are now taking control again is a major feat.

So I was very dismayed when I read the mailbag in this week's People. While most of the letters were very complimentary there was one that expressed her disdain with the celebrities who have personal trainers and special food delivered to their door. Made it sound like it was a breeze under those circumstances.

Yes, those things can help. But it is still up to the person to follow the program.

We know that weight can be lost without those things. All of us are living proof. Yes, it took me longer to lose my 50 pounds than it did her to lose her 43, or Marie Osmond her 45, and so on. I liked doing it this way because I felt like I was making the right changes in my overall lifestyle. The focus stayed on my overall health not just the number on the scale or the size on my clothes lables. I made the choices, did the research, and took ownership of my decisions.

But some people need the structure of the Jenny Craig program, or NutriSystem, or Weight Watchers. Some people need "forced discipline". They don't want to disappoint that trainer so they make their appointments and they try their best. Or they don't want to feel like they are wasting money so they follow through with what they signed up for.

Either way, you should be supportive of anyone's efforts to improve their health. Whether or not they follow the same path as you. And no one should think it is an easy process under any circumstances. It isn't.

I really felt sorry for that woman who wrote the letter. My guess is that she wishes she was in better health and so far has not been successful in making the right changes. But she shouldn't be so negative towards someone's success.

She is being a hater. And haters are just ugly. And ugly doesn't improve as the scale goes down. That has to be changed from the inside out. It takes a whole lot more than diet and exercise.

A lot more.