Who We Are

Betsy Rapoport

I’m a full-time freelance editor/writer/ghostwriter (see my website at betsyrapoport.com), as well as a Certified Master Life Coach (trained by my mentor and dear friend Martha Beck) and hospice volunteer. I’ve known Janet since the Eighties, when we were both on the same volleyball team, composed largely of book publishing types, whose chief activity consisted of ridiculous volleyball marathons followed by marathon bar sessions and flirting (our one team sponsored five marriages and countless failed torrid romances). Janet and I were ridiculously thin back then. Sadly, we flaunted it with unfortunate choices of shorts and tees, currently on view because of the efforts of an evil Facebook “friend.”

When I was in my twenties, I comfortably weighed in the 120’s. In my thirties, in the 130’s. In my forties, I suddenly found myself veering into the 150’s. I responded by simply recalibrating my Take! Action! Now! Barometer. It used to be that the second the scale hit 135 pounds, I’d swing into action. Then 140 became the Code Red panic number. Then 145. Then, as I inched into the 150’s, it was more like, “Hmmm. Maybe next week I’ll kinda sorta think about doing something about this.”

As 2009—the year of my fiftieth birthday—approached, I decided I really didn’t want to hit the big 5-0 with a palpable Mommy Muffin-top. Janet and I started our co-dieting in earnest on January 12, 2009. I weighed in at 151.2 pounds. Not awful for someone who’s almost 5’9”, but not a vision in my Earnest Sewns either. (I was actually heavier than that before the start date, but couldn’t bear to write that number down.)

My goal: Lose 15 pounds or so, so that I toggle comfortably somewhere between 135 and 140 pounds. Then, maintain in a way that doesn’t drive me bat-shit crazy.

My workout routine: Since I work from home, I’ve got a huge advantage over Janet. I get to spend my commuter time at the gym. My routine is: Drop daughter off at school and proceed directly to Planet Fitness, where I set the elliptical for interval training at level 17 for 59 minutes (because I can’t figure out how to set it for an hour). I try to grab a machine in front of the monitors for “Good Morning America”, “Early Show” and CNN, so I can toggle among them for my daily “gym monitor gleanings”. Then it’s home for weigh-in and reporting. Since my husband works from home too, we often take a vigorous midday walk. Yoga Saturday mornings. Sunday is a whole lot of nothing. I’d hoped that watching “The Biggest Loser” would shame me into doing ab work, but so far, not so much.

Photo by Laurie Cole