Journey

Follow FitSugar reader Jeannie at Downsize Me: Diet or die trying as she embarks to lose half her size. Here is her plan.

So here I am at 50 ready to embark upon the journey of a lifetime. A journey to lose half of me. It is high time to shed the extra me I have been carrying around for so long.

I'm ready! I have the mind set and the determination. I've got to muster the will power and the discipline. It is best to view this as a journey and not a diet. Diets make me think of broiled meats and tasteless veggies. Diets come with too many restrictions which may lead to overindulgence and yo-yo dieting. I know, I have been there too many times before. Well it's a given . . . with any weight loss plan one must burn off more calories than one takes in, so I have chosen to use the Weight Watchers point system and to exercise for at least 25 minutes, five times a week.

Let's get started! Shall we?

• Decide on a plan.
• Determine an ultimate goal weight.
• Set a reasonable weekly goal and divide by the ultimate goal weight.
• Plan menu for the week including snacks.
• Cook meals in advance.
• Decide on what type of exercise and set aside time to make it happen.
• Keep track of points, minutes exercised, and a food log.

Follow along with me as I journey to downsize to a healthier me.

– Jeannie

Follow Jeannie's journey at Downsize Me: Diet or die trying, or start your own OnSugar blog. Maybe we'll post your story here on FitSugar!

Academy-award winning actress Emma Thompson was so moved by the plight of a Moldovan woman who survived being trafficked for sex, she decided to create an art installation that would help viewers to put themselves in Elena's shoes and bring attention to this growing problem.

"Journey," which will be exhibited in New York City Nov. 10 to 16 in Washington Square Park, tells the story of Elena, a woman from the Eastern European republic of Moldova who, at age 18, was promised a secretarial job in England. Instead, once she got there, her passport was confiscated and she was forced into prostitution.

"Journey" consists of seven shipping containers. Each has a keyhole through which the viewer can peer to see a chronology of Elena's story. The first shipping container depicts Elena's childhood and the loss of her father. In another, the viewer can see Elena approached in a Moldovan marketplace and offered work.

Thompson personally curated one of the more disturbing of the shipping containers which depicts Elena's forced prostitution in England. She had Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell design the clothes she was forced to wear, and when the viewer looks into the keyhole, she sees her face superimposed onto the body of a woman in prostitute's clothing. They wanted the viewer to have an experience of what it meant to lose one's identity. Thompson said that even men "didn't laugh or find it funny. They understood absolutely what it meant."

Thompson met Elena while doing work with UNODC (United Nations Office on Drug and Crime) to help raise awareness about the practice of trafficking women, and it sounds as if she's not only telling her plight, she's giving Elena the voice that was taken away from her. In the last shipping container, Elena tells her story on tape.