Secret Weapons for the Weight Loss Battle

Earlier this week, I mentioned I’ve lost some weight recently. Well, I want to tell you about something that helped.

It’s a CD. Yeah, I know, I was a little surprised myself. It’s called Skinny Songs, and each song was written specifically to motivate women to lose weight.

But this isn’t happy-happy, rah-rah, Up With People anodyne music. It’s equally upbeat, but it’s hip and modern, funny and sassy, played and sung by working musicians, professionally produced. Like the music you’re already listening to. Good enough to hear on the radio.

I hadn’t heard of it before I got an e-mail offering me a free CD to review. I get these kinds of offers occasionally, and unless it’s something I really think fits into my vision for Stone Soup, I usually ignore them. I know it seems like I talk about anything and everything here, but I actually try to limit myself to the kinds of things I might write fiction about: issues women face regularly (and the occasional personal story I can’t resist sharing).

Weight loss, however, is definitely an issue women face, so I clicked over to the website. When I pushed the “play” button, a snippet from the song “Skinny Jeans” started. It didn’t do anything for me, and I almost clicked away immediately.

But as I was reaching for my mouse, “Use It to Lose It” came on, a hip-hop song that made me stop to listen (and made me want to dance). I ended up listening through the entire set of samples several times. Still, I wasn’t going to do anything with it.

Later that afternoon, however, I realized “The Incredible Shrinking Woman” was playing in my head, and that I was standing straighter and walking with a little sass in my step. The effect lasted for days, even before I got the CD. Just the thought of “Incredible Shrinking Woman” made me straighten my back and smile. That is the kind of power music can (and should) have.

I’ve listened to the CD now many times, and I have to say: I love it. “Incredible Shrinking Woman” remains my favorite song: it uses a superhero motif to honor a woman “on the road to losing all the weight that (she) put on.” In the song, she sings, “People says it’s hard to do, but I’ve been very strong,” and I always (always, without fail) smile a little to realize that *I* am the “Incredible Shrinking Woman.” On the website, they sell a T-shirt with the song’s name on it, and I am so buying myself one — two sizes smaller than I wore at Thanksgiving.

I also love “Thin” (“I just wanna be Thin! — I don’t deny it. Thin! — I wanna try it. Thin! — but I can’t buy it. Guess I’ll have to di- di- diet!”) and both songs by Kaelo Futuristo (“Use It to lose It” and “You Da Boss”). I cannot sit still when any of these songs come on — I wanna move! I drive down the road bobbing my head, wiggling my shoulders and tapping the steering wheel. I look like a total idiot, I’m sure, but who cares?! I feel great!

More to the point, though, I find the battle easier because these songs go through my head. When I’m tempted to binge, I think to myself, “You Da Boss!” When I want to skip the gym, I remember, “If I come most every day, I know those pounds will disappear.”

I know it sounds too simple and too extreme, and it’s certainly true that music alone won’t make pounds magically drop. But this music does affirm what I’m already doing, and when I weaken, it’s the little bit of nudge I need to keep me on track.

I’ll admit there is one song I skip routinely. After you’ve listened to the CD, e-mail me, and I’ll tell you which one it is. I wouldn’t want to prejudice you against it, and I suspect it’s someone else’s favorite. I just don’t like that type of music.

Speaking of types of music, though, the wide variety of musical styles is actually one of the best things about the CD because there should be something everyone loves. And even I love the lyrics of the song I skip.

My favorite line in the whole album, though, is from “I’m a Hottie Now,” where the singer says, “She’s earned the right to say so.” I certainly wouldn’t call myself a “hottie,” but I do look great. And I’ve earned the right to say so.

Thanks to a few “secret weapons to help me win this war.” Like Skinny Songs.

Edited as per my comment below