Walking with Walker Lady (and Abby)

I still cannot escape the comforting numbers of the scale that tells me I am still on track. I still cannot keep from having a bedtime snack, although now it is usually dried fruit instead of M&M's. I still cannot keep from eating too fast, although I am more cognisant of this flaw and I do try to slow down...now and again. I still have cravings for fattening foods, and sometimes have some treat, although I don't binge on huge slices of cake, several cups of ice creams, bags of candy, bowls of nuts, boxes of crackers, huge chunks of cheeses, or bags of chips. I still fudge here and there on my calorie counting, although I just as often, will fudge in either direction, under estimating as often as over estimating...just to play it safe. I am normal. I have changed. My numbers impress some...they should. Look what I have done in one year! I have gone from the first numbers taken November 2010 to the second numbers taken November 2011: Weight: 291 lbs. to 208 lbs. (83 p

Why is it that a scale can read SO differently? I admit it. Today when I went in to my Yoga class, I just HAD to step on the scale to see what it might say. I closed my eyes and listened for the beep to signal it was done reading my weight. I opened my eyes and saw 208! Wow! I must have been bloated with water from all the salty foods or something. I dunno. I am just glad that it happened. Now on to more important stuff...like baking a cake for my son's 11 th birthday! Don't worry, although he is having pizza, cake, and ice cream, I am hungry for chicken and roasted brussel sprouts ! See ya next time!

I really would like to know how our bodies can gain five pounds in 48 hours and then take 48 days to lose those same pounds? I expect I will find I have gained five pounds from the Thanksgiving feast. Even though I didn't eat half a pie with real whip cream, I did drink wine and I did have some dressing. Is that all it takes? Here is a partial list of what I indulged in, over a 48 hr period: wine - 1000 calories pie - 400 calories dressing - 300 calories turkey - 200 calories smoked oysters - 240 pickled herring - 300 crackers - 300 That adds up to 2740 calories over two days. The other foods eaten were things like my oatmeal and fruit breakfasts, the veggie tray, fat free/sugar free jello salad, a half a cup of mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, coffee, and other usual food consumptions. I must have amnesia or something. I have to be forgetting some foods! My normal intake for two days would be between 3000 and 4000 calories. If I add 4000 calories and 2740 calories and then div

It is Thanksgiving morning here and I am about to go into the kitchen to start preparing some more of the food we will have today. I just got back from a half hour walk. It is cool and cloudy outside! I feel better for having walked too. I plan to eat smart but I also plan to not worry about overeating a little bit. I like the thought that my diet is a lifestyle and if I were a skinny person, I would enjoy the day. I just don't have to gorge myself sick! I feel that the 90/10 rule works pretty good. I eat right and exercise right, 90% of the time. 10% of the time I might miss a day of exercise or have foods that are a bit on the indulgence side. As long as I go right back to the 90%, I can live, eat, and enjoy life without guilt over that extra smoked oyster, pickled herring, cracker, slice of cheese, piece of dark turkey meat, dressing (or stuffing as many call it), glass of wine (or two), or anything else I might have! I DID make some changes for today. I have some low fat che

This morning, I thought I would talk a little about water. We've all heard it..."Drink gallons of water every day!" No? Ok , I suppose gallons would be a bit of an exaggeration. Did you know you can kill yourself by drinking too much water at one time? I doubt most of us will ever have to worry about that. It is obvious that when you workout and sweat that you need to rehydrate. It might not be obvious that if you workout in the pool, you need to rehydrate too. I am not the best when it comes to drinking water as much as I should. I do keep a refillable bottle of water near me all day though. As soon as I think I am thirsty, I drink some! I have heard all the suggested amounts and ignored them for years. One of my goals is to strive to be better about re-hydrating my body. These are my beliefs about water: You don't have to drink eight glasses of water per day. If you are thirsty, you are dehydrated. If you need to use a lot of lotion, you are dehydrated.

I set out my outfit for race day, the night before. The rain was supposed to hold off until later in the afternoon. I got up early and had my usual oatmeal with fruit for breakfast. Husband and son were ready on time and we headed out to where the race was going to be run. We'd never been there before, but found it just fine, with time to spare! The starting line had pretty balloons. They announced they had 125 people who signed up for the 5K. I was a little nervous. Mostly I worried about being last! When they said "GO" I was at the back of the pack. About fifty people starting running off down the street. NO ONE ELSE was walking!!! I had planned to walk for the first ten minutes or so, just to warm up. I lasted five minutes. I had to start jogging or I was going to be last for sure! I was pretty much alone. I did pass a few folks around the first mile. I ran as best I could and then walked when I was breathing too hard and hurting. Soon all the runners were coming bac

I walked the Big Dam Bridge from North Little Rock to Little Rock, and back again! It was at night and my husband and son went with me. They really have lights that color up the bridge like this photo too! It was a free event to promote fitness and community. We all got t-shirts. I was kinda tickled that I fit into a size L instead of XL. It took us 25 minutes to do this. We were walking really fast too! It was fun and I hope we can do this again next year!

Next weekend will mark a full year since I started on this lifestyle change! As of this posting, I've lost 82 pounds. The graph above shows the pounds lost over this past year. A safe way to lose weight is to aim for one to two pounds a week. My loss averaged out to be 1.9 pounds per week. WELL within what is considered safe and healthy for weight loss. It will also be easier to maintain the weight loss, for the rest of my life because it is gradual. New habits take time to take hold! I really am feeling the move into the transition phase of my journey. I've used Sparkpeople.com for their tools that include calorie counting, figuring out calories in recipes, motivational articles, fitness tracking, and many many other tools. It is a vast website with almost too much information! I can usually find answers to most any question I might have though. Regarding food or fitness or recipes, this site has an unbelievable amount of information on it. I also really like the podcast t

If you are old, like me, you will remember the Starkist commercials that featured Charlie the Tuna. Don't tell him about what my lunch was today! There are two ounces of tuna, canned in water, in this mix. The rest is filler. I added chopped onion, pepper, tomato, and bread and butter pickles. There is also some fat free cheddar, low fat Miracle Whip dressing, honey mustard, and seasonings. (the tuna comes prepackaged in two ounce cans...very helpful to have a pre -measured serving!) I took about half the mix and put it on a few slices of french bread and then broiled it a bit. The rest was put in lettuce cups. Remember that lettuce that I like so well? The artisan romaine? I love putting tuna salad or egg salad in them and eating them like this: The lettuce is so crunchy! It really satisfies the mouth. As I move into the maintenance phase of this lifestyle change, am I finally getting it? Sometimes I really don't understand why this is all working like it is. It has been t

It has been two weeks since I last weighed in. Since we were out of town and eating on the road, I didn't expect to see much of a change, other than perhaps a gain of a pound or two. I did not expect a loss. Really? TWO - OHHHH - NINE???!!! I'll take that! What a wonderful feeling to be validated that I CAN work a maintenance program and live like a normal skinny person. What a wonderful weight to say out loud. Two O nine. Not two-ten, or two-twenty, or two-insert all numbers other than an O, but two O nine! I'll take that. Thank you very much!

Staying motivated is always a problem when "dieting". It doesn't get easier, just because I call it a "lifestyle change". In the beginning I was a fanatic about food, especially the fat calories. It has been almost a year now, since I started relearning how to eat better and exercise regularly. I honestly never thought I would still be working my program this long! Now I am gradually moving into maintenance mode. I still have 20 pounds to go before I reach my first goal of losing 100 pounds. I hope I can reach the 170's someday. The closer I move towards that first 100 pound loss, the more I am trying to "live like the thin person I want to be." I had my first taste of this life, this past weekend. We went to a renaissance and fantasy festival out of town, where my husband, son, and I performed as minstrels. I took a bag of apples along and some sandwiches that I had made. We supplemented this with foods from the performers' kitchen and fast