I recently read a post from a woman (Kathy Eastman, who has now given me permision to repost her post below) who wrote how the inspiration of Johnny had help her lose weight and raise her own self worth.  It was very moving, but I couldn’t help but think, yeah, he’s helped me, too.

So I plan to write it up, but I thought I would invite all of  you who have been helped by the inspiration Johnny gives you.  Sure, we all know he doesn’t know who we are, but in a way, he is a friend to all of us who care for him, and one who apparently has helped several of us.

If you have anything you want to share, please send it to me.  Let me know clearly if you want your name or email address shared or not.

Let’s support one another by sharing how just knowing about Johnny has helped.

Kazren

Attitude, Motivation, Self Worth, Self Love, Water, Exercise, Food, and JOHNNY.
By Kathy Eastman 4/22/04
The first thing I did was shift my mind set. Somewhere along the way I had decided I could live with being fat. Just buy more clothes, bigger chairs, softer couch (ha)! sturdier toilet seats...and I finally got sick of it. What in the world was I doing to myself? I decided I was "DONE BEING FAT" and that it was not too late to make some serious changes in my life. During this process I had to understand why I had allowed myself to get fat in the first place. This was not easy and I did not dwell on it. I just looked at the reasons, decided they were no longer valid and decided to change my life. Now, of course, you can read Dr. Phil's Book. I believe he addresses that subject and it is the heart of his book. For me, there was no Dr. Phil book last year. I just had to deal with my reasons. Then I had to make this statement come true and I had to believe it with my whole heart- "I AM WORTH IT!!!!"

Up until this time I was SUPER MOM doing for everybody: my daughter, husband, school, church, family- you name it. In fact I now think I filled my life up with so many jobs so I didn't have to undertake the one that I needed to address the most. It was time for ME. I made ME time a priority. Guess what? After I started allowing-no insisting- I had me time- I found I had the energy to do things for others. Only now I am very careful about what I agree to do. I guess I am a little more selfish with my time.

Second thing - I needed a new way of eating. I was not necessarily a "bad" eater. In fact when I hear how folks go to take out and eat 6 burgers I cannot imagine it! I did eat portions that were too large, too often. And I had bought into the bullshit of nonfat. Nonfat items tend to have sugar added to them. They are worse than regular food sometimes!

I chose the Atkins Way instead of other diets because people around me were having great results quickly. My sister and her husband had lost 20lb a piece in the first 6 weeks. That's why I went that way. Of course I had blood work done because you have to have good blood pressure and good cholesterol to do Atkins properly and YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOK! The reason I say that is because people are lazy and tend to do things half-assed. A plate of bacon and a pound of cheese is not an Atkins breakfast! Ok, now today, I would probably recommend The South Beach Diet because it is a little easier to do-not as restrictive. But for me- I am 5'8" and weighed 290 lb.- I needed something serious. Unless you are a vegetarian-Atkins is the easiest Diet in the world. I lost the first 30 lb. in 3 months without ever exercising-but I took the food thing seriously. You need to drink TONS of water. I eventually gave up alcohol too because it slows your metabolism down. Has nice side effects to. I now have more energy than I know what to do with! Food became a fuel for my body and I finally stopped romancing it.

Which brings me to number 3.

Number 3- exercise! Don't like it, never have. One week into my program last March I tripped on a school field trip (ha)! and twisted my ankle-really bad. Had to wear a brace for almost 2 months. Had to be really ginger after that. I still lost weight because of what I was putting in my mouth. As soon as I was able I started a walking program. By myself, every morning. One mile on somewhat flat ground. Took me more than 30 minutes. I listened to talk radio as I went. Soon I was up to 2 miles and sometimes I would go for an extra mile late in the day. Here is the thing-when you get good at walking you can do it faster. Now I can walk 2 miles in 30 min which really is nothing in your overall day. I do it everyday no matter what! You have to find what you like to do-walk, run, bike, the gym. I am now going to join "Curves" so I can tone my muscles up. So far things are going back together somewhat nicely. May have to have a boob job but that's another story!

Number 4- Back to attitude shifting. You have to start seeing yourself thin. I actually try not to ever use the term "lost weight." It is not lost. I know where it is and I don't want to find it! My Life Coach (my best friend) said that I should use the words "I have released the weight." That is so true. I have released it-sort of into the wild, as it were! Bye, bye and good riddance. Which brings me to my next thought-release the fat girl clothes! Bags and bags of them. The second they don't fit they are out of here. Underpants, bras, tops, bottoms, skirts, swim suits, fancy, not so fancy-gone,gone,gone. Not everyone can just buy new but hey-clothes are cheap. Ross and TJ maxx and there are always second hand stores. I've done them all. Plus I decided I can live marginally until I get to my ideal weight-another 60 lb. released. DR Phil has some good advice. He says to purchase clothes with real waist bands, not elastic. Now I just recently purchased my first pair of size 16 pants (YIPPEE!) in 12 years and they have a real waistband. The trick is you can feel it. It is there to remind you that you cannot get any bigger. In fact, this spring I bagged up all my winter clothes and got rid of them. They fit me today but they will not fit me next year. Gone, gone, gone.

Number 5-find yourself additional motivation so you don't get bored. Ok folks, this is where Johnny comes in. I truly got JDOCD after Pirates came out on DVD in December. I fell head over heals in a big way. Didn't know what to call it or what to do with it. Started absorbing him in any way I could. My husband (of 21 years) didn't understand it either but he went along with it because he suddenly had a wife who was interested in something more than a "Once in a Blue Moon Wham Bam-thank you, Sam (ha!). Now I have to say there are 2 parts here. The truth is that Johnny does inspire a woman to ....feel horny, as it were. But also there was something else going on here. I had shifted my thinking. I was now starting to see myself as a sexy babe, someone worthy of an orgasm. Also, my husband and I had lost 100 lb. between us which meant that "third" person was no longer between us in bed. That certainly helped with the sex part. I want to say here, I do not fantasize about Johnny. He is like foreplay. Johnny is like viagra for me. My husband is the only guy I want. What has happened over the months for me though, is the more I learn about Johnny, the more I like him as a human being. I appreciate him for the man he is. He is not just a sex symbol for me (he would die-wouldn't he?), anymore. He is like a friend, encouraging me along the way. I don't listen to talk radio anymore (it was mostly political BS anyway), I listen to soundtracks from Johnny's movies. I also try to restrict myself from the "Zone" or other Johnny related stuff until I've had my workout. He has given me the "push" to keep at it. I just returned from a 2 week cruise thru the Panama canal on a luxury ship where anything and everything was there for the asking, the taking, the eating. I decided there was NOTHING they could serve me that I hadn't tried before (does not matter if that statement is true or not- I believed it), and when someone said "well you paid for all that food" I simply said I'll have to pay more if I eat it. I also believe in the last bite theory: if you need to taste something-eat one bite. You pretend you've eaten the whole thing and this is the last bite. One bite only.

I wore those size 16 pants when I left and I wore them on the way home. 2 weeks and I didn't gain a pound. I did take a stack of Johnny related books with me, a purse I made with his picture on it, and had sex with my husband every chance I got (actually locked the daughter out of the room at one point!). I needed my exercise! Attitude, Motivation, Self Worth, Self Love, Water, Exercise, Food, and JOHNNY.