Honestly, when you get to be my age, losing weight is not so easy. I’ve tried everything high protein (ack! Give me some fruit!) to vegan (I’d kill for some protein.). Now I’m trying Weight Watchers for the eighth time. I figure a balanced approach is more sustainable in the long run. And when I get down to my goal weight I’m going to splurge on a slice of coconut cake.
So I went to my local Weight Watchers meeting one afternoon and noticed a few familiar faces behind the counter. “Hi. I’m here to enroll.” I didn’t say I’m new, because I wasn’t. I was just back for a fresh start.
A fifty year old I recognized stretched her crimson lips in a smile and said a little too brightly, “Good for you!” But I could tell she was really thinking, You again?
I stared at the color of her lipstick and thought she was brave to wear such a bright color with all the creases around her mouth. If you looked closely you could see little red threads beginning to migrate up the folds.
With a fistful of glossy instruction booklets and papers, I sat on a hard folding chair in the back of the meeting room. The well-dressed lecturer stood in the front next to a flip chart. Charlissa wore a bow clipped to the side of her hair. “Welcome everybody,” she shouted over the noise. The voices stopped chattering and everyone shifted in their seats. Clearly they liked the thin woman in the front of the room.
“We have some new people today. Will you please raise your hand and tell us your name?” Oh no! I already knew half the people in this room, and most of them were a lot smaller than when I last saw them.
An obese young mother rocked a sleeping infant in her arms. “I’m Heather, and I want to lose my baby weight.”
Charlissa smiled. “You are going to lose that weight so good, you’ll never find it again!” everyone laughed and clapped enthusiastically. Then she nodded at me, my cue to humiliate myself.
“My name is Martha. This isn’t my first time at Weight Watchers. But I’m hoping to get it right this time.”
One dieter turned around in her seat and whispered, “Hi. Martha. I’m Sheila. Recognize me?” Oh my god. This woman must have lost 100 pounds, because the only thing I recognized about her was her voice.
“Holy cow. You look great, Sheila.” I whispered back.
“Keep at it, sweetie. You can do it, too.”
Right then and there I decided if Sheila can do it, so can I. Besides, I had more incentive now than the other times I tried. I was dating a really hunky police detective named Arlo Beavers, and I wanted to be able to turn the light on at night without being embarrassed.
After the meeting I went straight to the supermarket and bought bags full of healthy fruits, veggies, lean meats, egg whites, and whole grains. I stayed away from the middle isles of the store, because that’s where all the forbidden food was. I knew the drill. Then I went straight home and filled three garbage bags with all the bad food from my kitchen. My poor bubbie would never have approved of such waste. But then Bubbie abhorred a skinny body. “You need to put some meat on your bones,” she’d say.
Charlissa stressed to all the new members that we should make an effort to walk every day. So I drove to the nearby Skechers Store in Encino and bought a pair of nice white athletic shoes. Even though the pain and stiffness of fibromyalgia made moving around difficult on some days, I was determined to take her advice. I’d start out walking short distances and work my way up.
The next morning I got up bright and early and had a breakfast of egg whites cooked in a teaspoon of olive oil. Then I put on my Skechers and went for my first walk of my new life. Little did I know how much trouble I was heading for, because a few minutes later I discovered a dead body.
You can read more about Martha in Knot In My Backyard, the second book in the “Quilting” mystery series, published by Kensington. The first book in the series is Forget Me Knot.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 6 p.m. eastern on November 20 for the chance to win a copy of KNOT IN MY BACKYARD. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
Meet the author
Born and raised in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, writer Mary Marks earned a BA in Anthropology from 
UCLA and an MA in Public Administration from the American Jewish University.
Marks became an award winning quilter after her retirement from UCLA administration. Writing about her quilts led her in a new creative direction, writing cozy mysteries. Knot In My Backyard, the second novel in her Quilting Mystery series has just been released.
Marks lives in Camarillo, California with her dog Ginger and her cat Louie.
The life of Martha Rose sounds like a great adventure and I would love to read the story. Thank you, Mary Marks for this wonderful opportunity to read your book.
Sounds good to me 🙂
Looks like a good book, thank you for the chance to win.
Looks like a good read for a “new to me author”. Please enter me in the contest for an opportunity to win a book.
Sounds like a good book 🙂
This is a book I would like! Thank you!
You again? This could have been written about me. I’m going to have to read this series.
Thank you for the chance to win it, it looks great 🙂
Thank you for all the opportunities to win great books, Dru.
Thanks for the chance to win.
This sounds really funny and I would love to win.
I would love to read the book.
Looking forward to reading this one.
Sounds like a great read!
Thanks, Dru and Martha Rose/Mary. I read, and enjoyed, Forget Me Knot and look forward to reading Not in My Backyard.
I have not had the pleasure yet to read this book, but it certainly sounds like one to get busy with.
I would love to read this cozy. Thanks for the opportunity, Dru!
Read the first book. Looking forward to reading the next.
thanks.
Hi everyone. Thanks for entering the giveaway. Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the story!
I can really identify with the main character. I am 68 and need to lose more weight. Right now, I am on a high protein diet. I want to read this cozy!
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
The never-ending battle with weight. I get it. Been there again and again. I loved the first book in the series!
How unfair is that? she’s trying to be good and gets her walk nastily interrupted.
See how bad diet and exercise are for you, you find dead bodies! Sounds like a great series. Thanks for the chance to win.
They say diet is a four letter word and the first three letters will kill you….but this one takes the cake
Thanks for the chance to try and win this book.
As a person who has battled weight issues since I was a child and having attended many Weight Watchers sessions I am sure this book will be right up my alley. Thanks for the great interview and review of this book.
She’s got that do over and over thing down well. Wonder how the quilting fits into this . Love the cover too , with such bright colors. Would love to read and review this book!!
Read and enjoyed the first book in the series. I’d love a copy of Knot in My b
Backyard. Never joined Weight Watchers but can relate to the rest of the book Thanks Mary Marks for writing the this book..
I just joined our local gym to see if that would help with my weight loss attempt—-I’m with you on this. Thanks for the contest.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Wow how did I miss the first of this series. This sounds like a wonderful book and now I am going to order the first. I love finding a new author/series. Thanks Dru for the info and thanks for the chance to win Knot In My Backyard
I loved Forget Me Knot and I can’t wait to read this one. Thanks for the chance to win.
The excerpt was enticing to say the least! So readable and funny! Thank you for the opportunity to win!
Sounds like my life! Not the dead body part but the up and down weight loss! This sounds great! Thanks!
Great excerpt! I think it sounds like a great cozy and agree, a diet should be sustainable! Thanks for the chance to win.
I have the first book in the series so I’d love to win this one. I like cozies with quilting societies. I probably wouldn’t be able to quilt unless I did the sewing by hand. The blue on the cover looks good.
Love the Cover. Good reason not to exercise 😉
I need to read this one. Martha sounds like me. Overweight & dealing with pain and stiffness from an autoimmune disease. Reading cozies is my escape.Would love to win. Fingers crossed!
Scouts579 (at) aol (dot) com
Had to laugh at the depiction of the Weight Watchers meeting!! Been there, done that (successfully enough one go-round to become a lifetime member) and need to go back again.
Sounds wonderful. I really need to read this! Thanks for the chance!
Like Martha I’ve joined Weight Watchers many times and failed too. I hope that finding a dead body doesn’t deter her from taking her morning walks. : ) This book sounds great, and I love the cover!!
have you been reading my diary? LOL! Gotta read this! Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
We all need to move more. End of the chapter, time to get up.
Martha sounds like my kind of gal.
I have to admit, upon reading this first paragraph of this books exert, I thought this woman sounds like me…..trying to lose weight always no matter what my age (ugh!)…..sounds like a great book! Thank you
This book sounds great. Would love to win. Thank you
contest is closed.