Weight Loss Weekly: This Time It Is Different

Dinner time. I help myself to another serving of… whatever. “What about portion control?” my husband asks. “Well…” I say as I take another scoop, “I SAID that it is still a challenge…”

To this Joie de vivre replied to me with: “Nurit, I have to tell you, if my husband were to ever make judgments about my portion control, I think my self-preservation mechanism would slap him upside the head! ... ”

Well, no, I did not smack him on the head or punch him in the face. He was trying to be helpful and supportive in a… guy’s kinda way. He is a great guy. Really. Bought me a box of chocolate truffles for Valentine’s that I have been fantasizing about since the Fat cookbook event in November.

This week we are tackling the question: Why this time it is going to be different?

Giyen from Bacon is My Enemy writes: "This time is different because I am different. I spent a good many years thinking that life would be different if I looked different ..." To read more go to Bacon is My Enemy

Sunny at That Extra 20 Pounds answers: "So first, do I think this time is different? Yes! Why? Well, I think I've finally learned what works and what doesn't work for me..." read more at That Extra 20 Pounds

Joie de vivre writes: "To tell the truth, I'm not sure I will ever reach my "goal" weight, but this time IS different." To read more click Joie de Vivre: An amateur gourmet's guide


And I say:
What I think is going to make a difference this time is that I write/talk/blog about it and I have made a few modifications in habits that I can keep for life.

1. I write/talk/blog about it.

A few months ago we ran into a friend at the mall. When the topic of weight came up, he was surprised to hear that I weigh 18 pounds extra and told me: “You wear it well”. He meant it a compliment. Regardless, when we were back at home I started thinking about starting another blog about diets, or salads, or something like that. I thought that blogging about it will be helpful and keep me on track, kind of what Sunny is doing. But then I started thinking about incorporating this topic into this blog (because I already have a second blog).

I never talked about my dissatisfaction with my extra weight before besides the occasional complaint. I thought people are not interested or will get bored. But, hey, you are here, and reading this post. And I’ve found some online friends that blog about weight loss with me. This is the main reason why I think this time it will be different.

The more I write/talk about it, the more I think about it, the more I become aware of what I’m doing and how it makes me gain or lose weight.

So this was the biggest change. And I already see some results.

I told you in a previous post, why I think that my clothes are better judges of weight loss than the scale and I have good news: 1) the extra weight from the holidays’ season came off just by going back to eating what I usually eat, and 2) last night I wore pants that I haven’t worn in quite some time and they felt a bit loose! This makes me very happy.

A reader, Berni from Yo-yo No More blog, sent me this link http://www.dramandaonline.com/ with an approach that explains what probably had happened:

“… let's imagine you gain a kilo or two over the holidays. Your Fat Brake then
revs up your metabolic rate and cuts your appetite. So if you simply follow your
hunger signals you lose that excess weight automatically.”

I want to believe that a few modifications, instead of a revolution, in a few habits, will make it work. I hope I will succeed without “dieting” the way that most people refer to “dieting”. Other things that I have only recently changed and I think have contributed to losing some weight without a lot of effort are:

2. I take baby steps to change and weekly challenges
One at a time, I try to focus each week on one thing: portion control, walking more, listening to my body’s signals (see previous post below).
Even if I don’t immediately have success in changing a habit, it is on my mind, I think about it, I am aware of it, and I’m working on it.

3. Recent changes in eating habits:

If I ate terrible food in the company of horrible people, losing weight would have been much easier. On the other hand, I would probably want to kill my skinny self in that case. Lucky me, most of the time it is great food with wonderful people, so I had to come up with other tactics, and it was very easy to do, like:
* Eating more whole foods, seasonal, and organic when possible.

* Less meat, poultry and fish. For example, instead of eating beef 1-2 times a week, we now eat it 2-3 times a month. 2-3 times a week it's mostly vegetarian dishes (tip: I’ve found that a little bacon can give a dish a meaty flavor).

* More leafy greens. Wow, they are so good! How could I have not eaten them all my life?

You will find some examples like an Onion Tart with Gruyere, Herb Salad, Butternut squash salad, Farro salad, and others here, here, and here.

* Limit dessert to 2-3 days a week (I have mentioned I bake a cake every weekend a dozen times already, haven’t I?).
Warren Brown who wrote Cake Love cookbook suggests waiting a few hours after the meal before having dessert. This makes sense. Our body is working on all that food it just got, and it probably doesn’t need extra food and sugar to digest.

* After following a diabetic diet for a while, I learned to recognize the carbs in food and to monitor the amounts (without measuring and counting, just eyeballing it). For example, if you are eating a breakfast of yogurt, fruit, toast, and drinking a small latte you have carbs in ALL of those. Of course there’s protein and other things as well. So I would cut it to 2 separate smaller breakfasts. I’ll have coffee and toast with cheese first, and a morning snack later of yogurt and fruit.

There were easy steps of change in eating habits that I can follow all my life without a feeling of deprivation.

4. I’m being more physically active.
The weather warmed up so I’m walking more. I now walk to pick up my son from school a few times a week. Today we walked to the park; a 20 minutes of easy walk downhill, and 25-30 minutes walking uphill with your tongue sticking out (you can’t see it ‘cos the photo is too small).

5. And just as important, will power.
I never really cared before. But now I do. I want to lose weight and go back one size down.
Oh, yeah, fear of failure plays a role too.
I hesitated before starting to blog about losing weight because I was afraid I will fail. And I hate to fail (I sound like a Grouchy Smurf: “I hate to fail”). Once I set my mind on a project, I gotta do it and do it well.

Photo from The Smurfs web site

Previously on “Weight Loss Weekly”:

My Relationship With the Scale
Why Do I Want to Lose Weight? What’s the Plan?
Why Did I Get Overweight in the First Place?

Weight Loss Weekly: So what is My Diet?

I don’t believe in diets. There’s always something new; eat this, don’t eat that, eat more of this, eat less of that. Fat-free, low-fat, sugar-free, gluten-free, no-carbs… South Beach, Atkins, Whatever… Enough already! Even the USDA can’t make up their minds about the “pyramid”. You can really go crazy trying to follow up on all those fad diets telling you what should or should not eat. And none of them seem to work anyway, right?!

Unfortunately, most of us lost all common sense when it comes to food. Millions of people live in big cities far away from the land, the trees and the plants where our food grows, and some of us never saw a real farm or a real live cow or chicken. We have this crazy lifestyle – we eat on the run, we munch on power bars and all kinds of other silly food for a quick energy boost, and we’re not in sync with our bodies. Who has time to “listen to my body” nowadays?

Today the formidable four – that is me and my weight loss weekly friends – are answering the question: what is my diet?

Joie de vivre writes: "I'm finding this a difficult question to answer because I am not following a "diet" in the sense that some diets are..." To read more, click Joie de Vivre: An amateur gourmet's guide


Sunny at That Extra 20 Pounds answers: "For our weight loss weekly bit we're discussing the main guidelines of the diet we're following which I already talked about last week. But I do have a few new things I'm going to be adding to my plan for my next 6 week challenge." Keep reading at That Extra 20 Pounds

Giyen from Bacon is My Enemy is discussing other things today, and you can visit her blog here.

And me, 1 family. friendly. food answers:

I have mentioned before that when I was pregnant I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was put on a strict diet to control my blood sugar levels so the baby doesn’t grow to be too big which might cause complications later on. It was challenging to follow that diet but I did it for a few months until I gave birth because someone else’s life, the baby, was at risk. And the nurse was very tough. That helped too.


The diet was a success: the baby was healthy, the delivery was easy, and I don’t have diabetes anymore. Oh, and I lost weight. I think. Because it’s really hard to tell while you are pregnant. But my arms and legs felt slimmer and my weight gain slowed down until the end of the pregnancy. So I think I can say that I lost weight. In general, I think that it was a good diet. But I don’t really like to call it a “diet”. I consider it more to be a common sense approach to eating. The key guidelines are:

1. Eating on a regular schedule – 3 meals and 3 snacks at pretty much the same time every day. For example, eat breakfast soon after you wake up, then a snack at 10-11 am, lunch around 12-2 pm, a snack again at 3-4 pm, dinner at 7 pm, and a snack before going to bed.

2. Monitoring the consumption of carbohydrates.

3. When eating carb-y food, balancing it with eating protein and fat as well. An example for a snack – eat a small apple (=carbs) with a cheese stick or nuts (=protein and fat).

4. Portion control. I measured and weighed everyhting I ate according to the quanitites the nurse has ordered.

Seems pretty simple, no?

I thought I’ll try following it again to lose the extra weight. But I have difficulties:

1. I prefer to eat when I start to feel a little hungry than according to a planned schedule. I don’t know which approach is the “right one” but I’m following my stomach at the moment.

2. I've got to bake a cake for the weekend! It’s a bug that I have (explanation here). And cakes, you know, are loaded with refined sugar and flour = simple carbs, which make your blood sugar levels jump up fast.

3. Snack before bed time? Most of the nights, I really don’t feel like eating anything after dinner. Now don’t laugh… When I was on the diet during the pregnancy, I managed to shove ½ cup of ice cream with ½ banana, nuts, and peanut butter most of the nights – are you don’t laughing? I know you probably think “I wish I could eat that every night and lose weight” – but, really, I didn’t enjoy it that much.

I also have my own guidelines which I follow:

1. Eating mostly home-made food. This way I have better control of the ingredients that go into the food – especially the amount of sugar, salt, and fat (and the type of fat) – and I know what their quality is.

2. When we eat out, we go to a good restaurant. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, but it has to have real food. Also, before I go to a restaurant I eat a little something at home. It sounds funny but I find that when I go hungry I tend to order more food, and since I don’t want to throw it away, or take a doggy bag, I end up eating it.

2. We very rarely eat junk food or drink juice.

3. When I do the grocery shopping, the first choice is to buy seasonal food. Seasonal food has more flavor and nutrients than when you buy the same thing out of season. I also find that organic, free-range taste better. When the food tastes better, I feel happy and satisfied sooner than when the food tastes like blahhh.

That’s pretty much it.

* I did adopt some of the “diet” rules: I'm eating a small breakfast, monitoring and balancing carbs with protein and fat. Sometimes I have a little something before bed time (like a glass of milk = carbs and protein, or fruit and cheese).

* I still bake and eat cake but only on over the weekend, and I give the rest away to collegues or kids' teachers (unless it’s a cognac soaked chocolate cake).

* Portion control is still a challenge (see here and here).

* Being more active is still a challenge.

* Listening to my body’s signals is still a challenge. I think I lost it; knowing when I’m hungry, knowing when I’m full, and knowing when to stop. This is my challenge for this week – listen to my body and do what it tells me.

What is most challenging for you?

Did you like this post? You can subscribe for free updates via email, in an RSS reader, or follow me on Twitter

Previously on “Weight Loss Weekly”:

My Relationship With the Scale
Why Do I Want to Lose Weight? What’s the Plan?
Why Did I Get Overweight in the First Place?

Weight Loss Weekly: My Relationship With the Scale

Let me tell you about a new trick I have found to lose weight quickly. Get on the scale. First time with your clothes on. The second time without (much) clothes. Hoopla! You just lost 5 lbs.!!! Doesn’t it feel great?

This week my blogging friends and I are discussing our relationships with the scale.

Joie de Vivre writes: "This topic actually causes me a lot of anxiety and I am tempted to just say, "My relationship with the scale is tenuous at best. The End.", but I think discussing WHY it is tenuous, will help me in my further weight loss journey, and that is where I will begin...". To read more, click Joie de Vivre

Giyen from Bacon is My Enemy says: "If bacon is my enemy, the scale is my nemesis." Read more here.

Sunny at That Extra 20 Pounds answers: "I must say... I love the scale! Is that weird?"... Keep reading at That Extra 20 Pounds

1 family. friendly. food answers:
Truth is I don’t have any special relationships with the scale. I don’t love it or hate it. I just don’t use it very often and I pretty much ignore it. I did take it out of the closet and moved it next to my side of the bed, but I rarely use it. Why is that?

#1 my most convincing argument for not using the scale is - a few years ago I used to exercise with a group of women and our trainer once told us that muscles weigh more than fat. This means that if you go to the gym and work your butt off, and actually turn your fat into muscles, you will weigh more. This can actually be very discouraging and frustrating to someone who is working hard at the gym but relying on the scale to tell them if they are making progress or not.

#2 I rely on my clothes to “tell“ me if I lost or gained weight. It’s pretty straightforward with clothes. You either fit into your old or new clothes, or into that 00, 6, or, 10, or 16 size pants, or you don’t. Clothes don’t lie to you. You either fit in them or not, right?!

#3 I’m not that much into numbers when it comes to weight loss. I don’t count how many calories I burnt during workout, and I don‘t count the calories of food I eat or want to eat or food I think I should avoid eating. My approach is more to eyeball things. I think it’s better for my sanity, and also, I really don’t have time for this.

#4 My goal is to fit into my old clothes, those from 5 years ago, and not to lose X or Y lbs. So, again, the scale doesn’t really serve any purpose in achieving this goal.

#5 Different scales show different numbers. For example, when I am weighed at my doctor’s office my weight is different than in my home scale.

Because of all of these reasons, my relationship with the scale can be summarized in one word - indifference. How about you?


Now let’s move on to this week’s challenge. Are you ready?
Last week’s challenge was - portion control (click here to read). Did you do it? How did it go?

I did pretty well, but since I was out of town it was a bit challenging. As Joie de vivre wrote: “I eat like I don't know where my next meal is coming from”. I had to travel out of town last week and because I wasn’t in my usual environment I did not eat what and when I normally do, and literally I did not know what and when I’ll eat next.
So, last week’s challenge is still my current week’s challenge + there’s a new one: Park a little farther, walk a bit more.
Instead of parking your car the closest to where you need to go, park a little farther and take a few extra steps. Walking is this week’s challenge.

Did you like this post? You can subscribe for free updates via email, in an RSS reader, or follow me on Twitter

Previously on “Weight Loss Weekly”:

Why Do I Want to Lose Weight? What’s the Plan?
Why Did I Get Overweight in the First Place?

Weight Loss Weekly: Why Do I Want to Lose Weight? What’s the Plan?

A-ha! This seems like a silly question, doesn’t it? We take it for granted that if we gain some weight we have to lose it as soon as possible. But stop and think about it for a minute – Why do we want to lose weight?

For me, my reasons are:

#1. I’ll tell you the truth. If I lived in a time and place where being roundish was an object of beauty waiting to be captured by the most talented painters and then admired by millions of people, I might have re-evaluated the situation. But, you know, we live in a society where being even a little chubby isn’t considered pretty. In the old days it was small breasts and big thighs, while today’s model of beauty is the total opposite, large (by nature or not) breasts and tiny thighs. Isn’t this ridiculous?! We have so much food but we need to be skinny. I can only assume that in other places and times where food was/is scarce being rounded is considered to be beautiful.
So, yes, society is a part of it. But I have other reasons as well.

#2. I still remember that I used to be thinner. And I have the clothes in the garage to prove it!
They have been waiting there for about 5 years now to be rescued from the dust and spiders. Naaaa, they are neatly organized in tightly closed plastic containers and in ship-shape because one day I WILL wear them. I only hope it’s going to be before I’m old and losing weight because I’m shrinking.

3. I feel heavier and less energetic then I used to be.
I think the extra weight is contributing to that. Yeah, and maybe age too, and having two very joyful and bouncy kids around. They are so energetic those two. I would like to chase them around a bit faster and still have energy by the time they go to bed.

4. It is not a lot of fun to look in the mirror from the waist down.
And the waist line is higher now, if you know what I mean…
Sometimes I think – it’s not THAT bad. I’m only one size up and about extra 18 pounds. On the other hand, a heavy backpack or an average baby weighs 18 pounds. So it’s like carrying a heavy suitcase or being pregnant. Only I’m not.


So what is my plan?

I haven’t quite figured out a plan. But my thoughts are:

#1. Do it in baby steps.
I think if the change it too big or quick, it won’t last. Habits are hard to change. So whatever I do, I’ll do it in small and manageable weekly challenges that hopefully will turn into new better ways.
This week the challenge is – portion control. Click here to see what I’m talking about. It will open your eyes.
This means that this week I am going to use a smaller plate, smaller fork, weigh and measure the food. Not counting calories. What do you think? Would you like to join me?

#2. Find inspiration.
I am currently reading the book “Food Matters” by Mark Bittman, mainly because I try to be a conscious eater as much as I can. This helps me stay away from many many bad foods, highly-processed ones, junk food and all that “stuff” (see my second blog “Good Food and Bad Food”).
I also want to be a role model to my kids. For example, I don’t want them to drink Coke, so I don’t drink it either. I stopped buying it. “Cheese-it” and cereals are next.

#3. Follow a diet?
When I was pregnant I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. That was the only diet I was on my whole life and it was a success as both me and my baby are healthy, and the bonus was I lost weight, I could feel that my arms and hips are slimmer. It sure felt nice. I loved it.

I’ll tell you about this diet later in another post. If you are interested to know how it works, write a comment below, OK? (If you are not familiar with this, there’s a link below that says “comment”)

#4. Find support (group).
Support is always a good thing. This is why I wanted to do this weekly post with 3 other bloggers who are dieting.

#5. Work out?
I never liked sports. Not even to watch it on TV! No basketball, no football… No game nights… Oh, I can hear your “Whaaaaaatttt?”
Give me a book on the other hand and I’m happy.
The only thing I was able to stick with in the past 5 years is one weekly Pilates class. It’s better than nothing, right, right?
I would like to walk more, like I used to. But that’s about it. Would that be enough? We’ll see.

#6. Finding out what’s holding me back.
This is the soul searching part (See Giyen’s post from last week) and while it is a topic for a post on its own, after last week’s post – “why am I overweight” question (click here to read it), I have realized that during the day I mostly eat by myself as I work from home. I have a better control over portion size and eating alone is not that much fun, especially if I eat and watch CNN. It can totally ruin one’s appetite. At dinner, however, the company and food are so much better and we spend about an 1/2-1 hour at the table (no TV), and then I eat more then I need.

It’s funny though, that I have no memories of family dinners from my childhood. I’m sure we had a few, I just can’t remember. It’s like a black hole in brain. Now that I am a mom, dinner time is the most important part of my day. Even if it is only scrambled eggs or leftovers, even with a picky eater who doesn’t like to eat this or that, and so on, it is the time of day that I am looking forward to everyday (see a funny post about it here). It is, on the other hand, the time when I need to be more careful with eating.


So don’t forget this week the challenge is – portion control and now let’s check what the other bloggers are saying.


That Extra 20 Pounds answers: One of the biggest reasons I want to lose weight is because I just turned 30 in November. And that makes me mad... Keep reading at That Extra 20 Pounds: My Weight Loss Blog

Bacon is my enemy answers: I think I've talked about why I wanted to lose weight ad nauseum, let's get to the "how" ... read more.

Joie de vivre answers: Have you ever asked yourself, "Why do I want to lose weight?". In our culture, it's just assumed that most people could stand to lose a few pounds but have you ever asked yourself that question? To read more, click Joie de Vivre: An amateur gourmet's guide

Previously on “Weight Loss Weekly”, Why Did I Get Overweight in the First Place?

Weight Loss Weekly: Why Did I Get Overweight in the First Place?

I would like to wear these clothes again before I get too old. So… I’ve decided to hop on the weight loss train. Yep yep yep. It’s official.
My brain says: “Oh my God! Are you crazy? Ohhhh, the pressure. What if you fail?“, “But”, I say back, “I’m not alone”. I got You. And sometimes 3 other bloggers. “This is new ”, you might say.

I thought that blogging about dieting/weight loss once a week together with other bloggers will be like having a support group and together we will entertain you with our little weight loss adventure. So hop on the train and let me introduce them to you:
Joie de Vivre: An amateur gourmet's guide
That Extra 20 Pounds: My Weight Loss Blog
Bacon is my enemy
and, yours truly.

As our first post together, we will answer the question: Why Did We Get Overweight in the First Place?

Joie de Vivre answers:
The question this week is "How did I get overweight in the first place?" I think for me, it is more helpful to look at the habits I possess that contributed to my weight gain and talk about what I'm going to do to change them.
1. I eat way too fast… To read more, click Joie de vivre

That Extra 20 Pounds answers:
I don't think it would be fair to blame the whole 20 pound weight gain on Chicken Biscuits. (More like just the last 5 lbs, hehe!) I actually think I could blame the majority of the weight I gained on dieting. Here's why... For more click That Extra 20 Pounds

Bacon is My Enemy answers: I can give you a million excuses about why I am overweight, but the real reason is ... find out why here.

1 family. friendly. food. answers:
And what’s my story? Oh, boy. Here goes…
Once upon a time there was a little girl. She didn’t like to eat, her mom didn’t like to cook, and her dad lived in the land of far far away so he wasn’t around to do any cooking. (Oh, well, it wasn’t “IN” for men to cook those days anyway). The little girl never ate breakfast and she rarely ate the food in her school lunchbox. Her mom was annoyed when she returned her lunchbox back with all the food, so she got rid of the evidence in the trash before she got home.

Sometime in elementary school there was no lunchbox anymore. Mom thought the little girl is not-so-little so she can make her own sandwich by herself. Turned out that mom and the girl were not so interested in food those days, so she got the habit of not eating anything most of the days before 2 pm.

OK, this is making me tired, writing in third person, and I’m sure you have figured out by now that the “little girl” is me. Anyway… jumping forward to high school years.

Oh, I do remember looking at those boys in high school… with hungry eyes… they had big fat sandwiches that their Mommies made for them. But still no food for me, and back then I also used to walk A LOT. To school, to friends living on the other side of town, to the grocery store, downtown… You name it, I walked there. Since I was living in the city, I did not own a car until I was 30!

Because I did not eat most of the day and I burnt all that energy with lots of walking, when I did eat, I ate whatever I wanted and how much I wanted, I never had limits or self-control. I would eat a whole batch of cookies, a whole package of whipped cream with strawberries, a plate full of crepes, 2 servings in a meal, I drank juice and soda… and I was thin. What I learned from that is that I could always eat like this and be skinny. For 30 years I ate and lived like that. Then my life style has changed but not my eating habits. And I can’t do this anymore.

I started gaining extra weight about 5 years ago because:
· My bad eating habits, in the past and present, including no portion control, eating fast, relating to eating as another daily task (I’m a very task-oriented person), and eating alone (besides dinner).

· These days good food is more accessible. I’m a very good cook and baker and I bake every weekend (See cake for the weekend). It’s hard to stop eating and not take another bite, and another, and another.

· I had 2 pregnancies. Can I blame it on the kids? It is baby fat??? Well, it was a turning point.

· I’m not as active as I used to be. I moved to the suburbs and I’m not walking much anymore, mostly driving. Last time I danced was at my wedding! I do Pilates once a week but I always make excuses why I drive my son to school instead of walking 10 minutes.

Thank God that at least we have stairs at home.

Oh, and don’t worry. Even though I'll be on a diet, there are still going to be cakes and cookies here, as well as other delicious food, like always.


PS – since I have finished writing the last draft for this post, I have walked once to my son’s school. It was 44 F degrees outside but no rain. I put on my down coat. It was really nice and felt very good.

To read more:
Picky Eater Story: Throw the Food from the Window
A Cake For the Weekend: This One Is Not For the Kids
Kitchen superstar Wolfgang Puck shares his secrets
Stuffed Peppers – a Picky Eater's Nightmare?

Hop On the Weight Loss Train – Yes/No?

Did you make a New Year’s resolution to lose some weight?
How about to work out more this year?
Eat healthier food?

Devour more lettuce? Kale?
Stop drinking soda? Skip dessert now and then?

You didn’t? Really??? Then you are probably enjoying my Cognac-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake right now, don’t you? Do you feel drunk?

I haven’t officially decided to start a diet. But I am kinda, wanna, lose some pounds this year. I am slowly digesting this new concept. I think – OK, it’s time. Maybe? At my age (well, I’m not THAT old), after 2 pregnancies, with cooking great food frequently and baking a cake every weekend I earned those extra pounds. Or was it moving to the suburbs, walking much less and driving much more that did the trick?

Who or what can I blame this on?

I used to be a skinny kid because I just didn’t like to eat. Or maybe I didn’t like what I did eat? Whatever. (In the picture above I am actually eating something).

Apparently I was a skinny little newborn baby too. My mom says that my grandma cried when she first saw me. She thought I looked like a quarter of a chicken and that I will not survive. How funny is that?

This is no longer the case.
Yes, I want to lose weight this year. But what am I willing or planning to do? I don’t know yet.

My current thoughts:

1. Should I post about diet and weight loss here at 1f.f.f or in a separate blog? Because I already have a second blog (did you know?), it’s called “Good Food & bad Food” – the things you don’t want to know about your food and it takes a lot of work to keep and promote a blog/s.

2. Are you interested to hear about this at all?

3. Would you like to join me in the journey?