The way I see it, 67 pounds is a lot to haul around. It’s as big as my dog, Semi. It’s more than 50 lb. bag of dog food. It weighs more than a sixth grader. It’s a third bigger than my other dog, Baci. It’s about half of a small woman.

That’s a lot!

These days, when I look at myself in the mirror, I see all of the flab. I’ve avoided the mirror for years because I really didn’t want to see. You know how it works: You look only at your head and cast a glancing gaze over the rest of your fully clothed body. Then you decide that there’s nothing horribly wrong with your appearance (no extra lint, stains, tears or holes) and put the whole image check out of your mind. Now I’m looking. I look forward to the day when all I see is me … without the flab.