Don't Put Me On A Pedestal! (and book reviews)

Everything has been going along fine here. The weather has been much warmer than normal and combined with recent rains, everything is blooming and greening up outside!
I've been increasing my 'role' as co-leader of the weight loss support group at the local senior center. By the way, our "senior center" is not where old folks go to sit and vegetate. It is almost like a country club! There is a fantastic gym, a heated pool, a cooler lap pool, and classes for everything from exercise, to crafting, to dance, to driver improvement and more. There are day trips and overnight trips to all kinds of interesting places too. It is also VERY affordable!

Anyway, I help out as I can with the weight loss support group. I like helping folks but worry about being put up on a pedestal. I am not perfect!
I still struggle with eating right. I struggle with cigarettes off and on. I sometimes don't feel like exercising. I really have all the same issues that anyone can come up against when losing weight.
Looking at the others in our classes and seeing them looking back at me, is daunting. They ask questions that I hope I answer correctly. I can only answer them though, from MY point of view. I hope they also hear me say that.

One point I try to get across is to not believe everything you read or see on TV. There is a ton of money to be made by people touting their spin on the latest and greatest weight loss methods or ideas. Information is backed by "scientific" data, they'll say. The thing is, you can almost find a study to back what you are touting! I try to get across the thought that you need to be a skeptic about such things. I don't know if I am getting through to them yet though.

Speaking of being a skeptic, I've browsed several books lately. Most of their ideas will work for weight loss. Some will work for a long time, many will work for a short time. The thing is, you cannot lose weight and keep it off unless YOU change your lifestyle. If you "get on a program" that insinuates that you will one day get off the program. Then the weight comes back on and you get back on that same program again, or try the newest one out there. This is classical yo-yo dieting.

The first book I recently took a look at was The Primal Blueprint. There has been a lot of things that recently point to eating more like our ancestors did. The Paleo Diet is another one of them.
There are some good points in these books. I would have to agree that all the processed foods we have access to are not doing us a lot of good out there. I do believe that the closer we get to eating food that we could pick ourselves, or shoot ourselves, or pull out of the ground ourselves, the better.

I feel that The Primal Blueprint is saying that. I don't agree with all that is said in the book though. I read that our ancestors did not eat grains or most legumes, for example. I don't buy that. This is just my personal opinion though. Would you lose weight if you followed this book's plan? Probably. Is it realistic for most of us? Probably not. Still though, it makes for an interesting read, although it was a bit dry for my taste.

The next book I have been looking at is Deep Nutrition. There is a LOT more information than I have the patience to read. This one too, has some good ideas. One of its biggest no-nos is sugar. They say that we should cut out all sugars that are not naturally found in foods such as fruits. We should not add plant based sugars to our foods either. I wonder though, did our ancestors not use honey? Isn't that a sugar?
There was so much information in this book, that I lost interest in it too. I don't know if I buy their thoughts that our genes, our DNA, is affected by the food we eat. I probably misunderstood their thought that you can change your DNA, and that of your offspring, by changing the foods you eat. I thought that the DNA you have is the DNA you live with all your life?

I still stand by the Fat 2 Fit guys train of thought. They say to "Eat like the thinner person you want to be." This is just plain common sense! Russ and Jeff are the guys who do the podcast. Every time I hear of some new diet or plan or method, it can't stand up like the guys' method of eating as if you already weighed what you want to weigh. It is all so easy!

Look, it really boils down to this: Eat as healthy as you can; educate yourself on what foods are good for you and bad for you; learn what a true portion is of something; commit to some type of exercise regimen; and the weight will come off. Do not buy into everything you read, without investigating it. Do not go buy what the TV tells you to buy, until you have checked it out more.

A quick aside here...the other day I was in Whole Foods and was looking for something that I had heard about on a recent TV show. They had had a run on that product because a TV doctor said it would help folks lose weight. In the conversation I had with the person, they said every time there was the newest latest greatest product mentioned on certain shows, they would surely run out of it within a few days.

We are all looking for that magic pill. It does not exist.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

1. If you need to slow down your eating, try using your left hand if you are right-handed or your right hand if you are left-handed.
2. If you reach a plateau, don't think of it as a plateau, think of it as your metabolism doing a readjustment or recalibration. Your brain and body need time to figure out if what you are doing is going to hurt. This switch can take time to be reset. Isn't the body an amazing thing?!

RECIPE:

I have been playing around with yogurt based foods. I make a mean yogurt cheese now, that is sooooooooooo good. Yogurt cheese is when you remove some of the whey. It can get to the consistency of cream cheese and as a spread on banana bread, it is mmm-mmm good! It is easy to make. I personally use Greek yogurt. I put a coffee filter into a wire basket strainer and put the yogurt in that. I set it over a bowl or large glass mixing cup. I put wax paper on top to keep the yogurt from drying out and put the whole thing in the fridge for a few days. The whey drips through and can be saved and used to cook with. I have saved my whey by freezing it until I learn how to cook with it.

Oh! I DID say I had a recipe, didn't I? Here it is:

*6oz cup of Greek Yogurt plain (I use fat free Fage)
*3 tbsp lemon juice (fresh squeezed seems better to me)
*1/4 tsp seasoning of your choice (I have used black pepper, seasoned salt, and onion powder but really like finely ground California seasoning best)
*2 chopped green onions, both the white and green parts

Mix together and refrigerate at least six hours, but overnight is better.
This makes a great vegetable dip or a decadent salad dressing! Play around with the spices to suit your personal tastes. Even add a pinch of sugar if you want. The calories are just a modicum more than whatever the yogurt's calories are.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

Be not afraid of growing slowly;
be afraid only of standing still.
Chinese Proverb

Cha-cha-cha-changes!

First off, I haven't exactly addressed how I am doing these days. I feel I am in, or almost in, a maintenance mode now. I still have to track my foods. I still exercise 60 minutes per day, trying to do that seven days a week. It has all gotten so easy that it is scary! The scale doesn't move much these days. I had almost thought this was going to be where I was going to end up being, weight-wise. I convinced myself that this was ok because I was a LOT better than I was. Then I looked at my weight loss chart that one of my programs keeps for me. It looks ok. Then I took a closer look. I realized that I had lost TEN, yes TEN pounds since the first of January! That is very good, in my opinion. Of course MY opinion is all that counts here. I feel better about the slower progress now, especially because it IS still progress!

In other tidbits of news, a month ago we had this:

Snow in Arkansas is not that common, but we usually get a dusting now and then and a storm once in a while too. Notice the 'real' cap and scarf on the figures in this statue? Someone had a neat sense of humor there. This statue is in front of the center that I go to for exercises and the support group.

On one of my trail walks last week I came across this tree:

That is not snow on it though. It is the first signs of spring! It has been a blooming good time here of late. My daffodils have been up for weeks. My crocus just came up last week and my hyacinth are also in full bloom. The tulips will be next. The rose bushes are full of new red baby leaves. I hope we don't have a cold snap as that would really hurt all this spring growth! It makes for nice walking weather and I have been taking full advantage of Mother Nature's hints of spring.

The other morning I was waking up slowly. I stretched. I checked to see what time the clock said, hoping it was six A.M. or later. It was! I had stayed in bed till almost 8:00! To have that luxury of waking up slowly was so nice! Usually I have to get up, and get awake, and get coffee, and get my breakfast, and read a few emails, and get the child up, and be sure the child is still up ten minutes later, and get him going on his breakfast, and let the dogs out, and make the child's school lunch, and remind the child to brush his teeth, hair, and find his glasses, and tell him to get shoes and socks on, and smooch the husband goodbye as he goes off to work, and let the dogs back in, and head out the door in plenty of time to walk the child to school, and then continue walking a couple miles for morning exercises, and so it goes! (And NO, I don't do this in the buff! Of course I got myself dressed first. Geesh!)

This morning was different. I laid there, in the early morning light, just relishing my momentary laziness. My hand brushed down the front of me and I felt my heart beat. In a split second, I realized I had actually felt my physical heart BEATING! I felt again, and sure enough, my hands actually seemed to feel the heart muscle, pulsating. It was strong and regular and it was amazing!

I had no real idea of just how much body fat, masks things on our bodies. If you've been obese or close to it, for most of your life, you just don't know how amazing your body feels when the fat is gone and your body parts are suddenly noticeable.

Not only do I feel my heart, I can feel bones where there were none before. I honestly am often amazed when I find a new bone where I used to just be squishy. There are a few downturns to losing weight though. For some of us, the barriers come down. I never thought I used my obesity to hide from things...or people. As the weight has come off, I feel like I am a target. I don't feel like I look as formative and that someone would be more likely to attack me! It is a strange feeling. I never thought such things when I had size to protect me.

I have also found I don't need to take ibuprofen like I used to! I used to almost eat it like candy for so many aches and pains. Now I only take a few, maybe once a week. I also don't like my glasses anymore. They look huge on my face. I won't be able to get a handicapped sign for my vehicle any time soon either. A year and a half ago, I wondered how hard it would be to get one because it was hard to walk from my vehicle into the store, much less walking around in the store!

All these little things are my little diamonds.

We have a state park in Arkansas that you can go to and hunt for real diamonds. There have been some huge ones found as well as lots of smaller ones. I like to use the analogy of going to that state park for a vacation. You go out every day and hunt for diamonds. Each little gem you find, you put into your bucket. You hope for those big diamonds too. On the last day of vacation you go out and don't find any diamonds at all. You toss the ones you had gotten before, because you are so disgusted that you couldn't get that last big find on your last day of vacation. Now that is just silly, right? You would keep all the diamonds you found, of course, and you'd be happy you had found them and might make money from the sale of those small sparklers.

Yet how often do we start losing weight and when we hit a bump in the road, we say we should just quit. Nothing will work, right? NO! We need to give ourselves credit for every pound lost, big or small, in a week or a month or a year. We need to give ourselves credit for every healthier choice we make. We need to give ourselves credit for every time we say "No, I won't quit." We need to give ourselves credit for every step we take to add any type of exercise into our lives. Often we forget those little earlier diamonds of success. It makes as much sense to quit as it does to toss all the little diamonds out of our bucket, right?

This is why, when I see I haven't lost a pound, or that I have gained a pound, or that I have started smoking again, that I have to remember that I have LOST weight over several weeks, that I didn't gain that much, and that I will quit smoking again. I worked for where I am. It makes no sense to toss my little diamonds out because I didn't find the big one today. Hang on to your diamonds, big and little. You are worth as much, and more, than diamonds. Really!

TIPS AND TRICKS:

What is your biggest food challenge? Is it that you can't give up KFC? Is it that you really want a cupcake? Don't give them up! Work around such things. The next time you have KFC for example, don't eat it in the car, eat inside the restaurant or take it home to eat it. The next time you go, use a fork to eat the chicken. Never touch the chicken with your hands. Don't pick up the bones and suck off that very last morsel of meat. The following time you go, tear off half the skin and don't eat that. Work your way through the trips to KFC until you can take off all the skin and not lick the bones clean. (You can still lick your fingers though!)

You want a cupcake. Do you grab one, tear off the paper, and stand right there at the counter and stuff it in your mouth in one or two big bites? Then you want to eat another? Pretty soon you've convinced yourself that you are bad and you may as well quit trying to lose weight. Instead, try it this way...get a plate and fork and put the cupcake on the plate. Take it to the table and sit down. Get back up and go get a napkin or paper towel. Sit down and now use the fork to peel off the paper wrapper. Then use the fork to eat the cupcake in small bites. Does it have frosting? Scoop off some of that frosting and put it on the wrapper or in the paper towel. EVERY little step you take to slow you down and to make you aware of what you are eating, doing, tasting, smelling, feeling...every step is your little diamond. Don't throw away your other little diamonds because this one has a little frosting on it.

What is your personal challenge food? What can you do to change it? Can you cut out five calories? How about ten calories? How about several hundred calories if you get a bunch of frosting off the cake or the skin off the chicken? Figure it out. Make it better, if only a little bit. These steps are the beginnings of change. These steps are the beginning of your brain rewiring itself to be the thinner person you want to be. Do not discredit little diamonds!

Have you ever eaten a big meal and wanted something sweet within a few minutes of finishing? You know you are full but the craving is driving you nuts! Researchers found that an after-meal, spike in blood sugar often leads to dessert cravings. What this means is that after a meal, many people experience a sharp rise in glucose, followed by an equally sharp decline. People then often crave sugary foods to get back to that food 'high' that they felt, right after that big meal.

Try eating slower or eat like you were at a restaurant. You get the appetizers first, then salad, then the main course. You can divide up your meal to fit within those categories. PLAN ahead and figure adding in a dessert to be had at least 20 minutes after the main meal. This doesn't have to be cake, cookies, pie, or ice cream either. I often have a cup of fat free Greek yogurt with a teaspoon of a high quality jam mixed in it. I savor it and eat it as slow as I can. The jam (not jelly) adds the sweetness and this will satisfy my cravings.

Eat smaller portions or halve your portions and then go get the second half later. Figure out anything you can commit to doing, in order to slow down your meal and to avoid the spikes in glucose. This is mindful eating. This is a good thing to learn!

QUOTE FOR THIS WEEK:

Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip.

Arnold H. Glasgow

Preach What You Practice!

I've found myself stepping into the limelight more and more as I share my story and my methods of weight loss and living a better, healthier life. I guess having lost almost 100 pounds gives me some credibility in their eyes. I wasn't really searching out this kind of attention, but I am enjoying it! I love, love, love, helping out anyone I can! I also love having this happen because it really helps keep my motivation up and running...along with my butt! hahaha

With all this notoriety, comes a lot of responsibility. First off I have to keep on top of my choices to stay true to what I say. I am so glad I have documented my story! There are many out there that have succeeded like me. Many are out there helping others. I am in my little niche of my little world and am helping those around me. It motivates me and keeps me rejuvenated!

I have to be sure of where I get my information from and I have to believe in what I say...that it is working and will keep working. I am not at the end of my journey yet. I am still working on eating enough calories and believing that I can eat these amounts and still lose weight. It goes way against how I was brought up to lose weight. It just is not about cutting calories to starvation levels and exercising six hours a day. It has not worked in the past, so why would it magically work now? A person can't stay on a starvation diet forever. Eventually they would die.

Just think, if you were locked away with bread and water only, what happens? You lose weight, right? Let's say you were locked away for a year. What happens first? Some weight comes off. What happens next? You grow weaker. As you lose weight, the body panics and hangs on to the fat, then the body takes more muscle, you grow weaker still, then the body takes the rest of the fat as you lay on the floor with no energy...and you die. It is similar with restricted calorie diets. We have to eat to keep strong and we have to build strength/muscle at the same time. Otherwise our bodies will hang on to the fat and make us weaker and weaker until we give up...or die!

At our weight loss support group I am going to make a magic wand out of a stick and tinsel. I plan to wave it over each member, during one of our meetings, and I will promise that everyone will magically lose 20 pounds overnight! It has as much of a chance of working as so many of the newest, latest, greatest, quick loss diets out there these days...doesn't it?

I not only practice what I preach, I preach what I practice!
A week or so ago, I challenged my group to park in the far parking lot, before coming in to the center for their exercise classes and such. I didn't see anyone parking there in the week that followed. However, it HAS kept ME parking in the far parking lot, fearing someone would see me if I parked closer! I think this is funny. I also like how it really proves the point that a support group really does help keep you motivated!

Remember that you have to fuel your body, but in a smarter, healthier way. Remember that having support throughout these changes in your lifestyle are critical to making this work for the rest of your life...not till next week, or next month, but forever. Your body is the only one you have. Treat it like a precious thing...because it IS one!

TIP OF THE DAY: Can't slow down your eating habits? Here is a silly little thing I would suggest for you to try...eat chicken with a fork. Never touch it with your fingers. Don't worry if you can't get that last little morsel off the bone. Peel away the skin (if you have it) with the fork too. Need more of a challenge? Use chopsticks!
If you can't imagine life without KFC, use these tips. It is a great step in learning how to slow down your eating, lower your calories by leaving the skin behind, and not sucking off every morel of meat from each bone. THEN we can work on weaning you off the KFC and on to better choices.

RECIPE: CHEESECAKE
From the book "Not Just Cheesecake!" by Shelley Melvin
Now you know this has to be pretty good, or I wouldn't share it! Even our group at the center liked it. There are a few variations to it, but I will share what I tried and liked best.
Ingredients:
2 cups non-fat yogurt *cheese (quality Greek yogurt such as Fage works)
1/4 cup + 3 tbsp sugar (or sweetener of choice)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites (I buy the cartons of 100% real egg whites)

Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly grease a 7 inch spring-form pan or 8 inch pie pan.
In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla, mixing gently with a fork or whisk until well blended. Stir in beaten eggs.

Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula if need be. Bake until the center is set. (20-25) minutes for a pie pan or 45-55 minutes for a spring-form pan. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Refrigerate until firm.

Notes: I use a pie pan. I usually overcook it. I like a good quality jam or fresh fruit with my cheesecake. *I make yogurt cheese by taking Greek yogurt and putting it in a coffee filter in a strainer and setting that over a bowl or large measuring cup. I put a piece of wax paper over the top and set this in the fridge for at least overnight, sometimes longer. The whey drips out of it and you are left with super thick yogurt cheese.

Serves 8
Each serving has 80 calories, 8g protein, 12g carbs, 0g fat, 0g cholesterol, 49g sodium, 11g sugar (unless you use a sugar substitute)

PARTING THOUGHT:
Just a little tidbit from a recent walk...I found this treasure along the curb. It was a clock. Most of the insides are missing. I hauled that about a half mile home with me. I plan to clean it up and put shelves in it for a wall hung curio cabinet. I like 'repurposing' things.

Note the apple and water ready for me to consume after my walk too. :)

Last Sunday my 11 yr old son took this photo of Ziva and me on the trail:
Until next time, go for a walk!

QUOTE FOR TODAY: "Today I will see something positive in all situations."

Traveling Around With the New Me

I love the trail I found last fall near my house. After a rain I can see and hear this little creek that runs along a good part of the trail:

This is in the middle of the city of North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Of course my faithful partner, Ziva, enjoys our outings too!

She protects me from the vicious deer we often see:

Since I am firmly now entrenched in One-derland, my husband said I needed new photos for this blog.

"Wait a minute, let me fix my hair first!"

This is me, wearing my One-derland hat:

The 'newest' me, at 195 pounds:

I like the new me, a lot! I still see myself as obese though. I can hardly believe that woman I see in the mirror. Who the heck is she? That surly cannot be me? I liken this a little bit to anorexics. From what I understand, they look in the mirror and don't see their skeletal selves, but rather they see a very fat person. When I sit down, I see the bulge of my tummy and it looks the same to me as when I was at my heaviest. The photos don't lie though. I really AM changing and AM skinnier!

Perhaps this self image issue plays a deeper role in who we think we are. We might not see ourselves as being as obese as we were, when we were obese! Then, having lived a long time as obese, we know we are weighing less, but still feel obese. I wonder if that feeling will go away? I wonder...would we want it to go away? Would we let our guard down if we forgot where we came from and how we got there?

I realize this might be more of an issue for those who have lost their weight and not so much for those just starting out. I also want to point out that we should always remember just how much we have accomplished during each of our personal journeys into these new lifestyles. Instead of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" we are living "Lifestyles of the Thinner Person We Want to Be!" I don't think we should ever forget that.

Be proud of each pound lost. Be proud of each lifestyle change you make towards the new healthier human being you are becoming. Be proud of each accomplishment, both big and small. You ARE getting there! You WILL make it! You CAN do this!

TIP OF THE DAY:
Actually this is both a tip and a recipe, rolled into one! I had read about all kinds of methods to make overnight, crockpot oatmeal. I tried all kinds of recipes with several different crockpots and had little success. It always coagulated around the bottom edges, sticking like old fashioned wallpaper paste! It didn't taste good either.
Finally I combined making oatmeal in a crockpot with making my version of instant oatmeal for breakfast!

First off, there is very little difference in oatmeal, as far as nutrition is concerned. Steel cut vs. old fashioned rolled oats vs. quick oats, they all have almost the same nutritional values. Just be sure that the ingredients say oats or rolled oats on the box or can. There is no reason for anything else to be in there! Instant oatmeal is the worst offender as it has a lot of additives for flavors and such. Just stick with the basics.
I personally love steel cut oats and I like the Quaker brand more than the McCanns. Even though it is cheaper, it tasted nuttier. I haven't tried other brands yet, so I can only compare those two. So you can do this with whatever your favorite oatmeal is, both regular and steel cut.
Figure out how much water and oatmeal will fit into your crockpot. I can make ten servings in my crockpot. For my steel cut oats this means eight cups of water and two cups of steel cut oats. I did make 12 servings in my crockpot once but really had to be careful that it didn't boil over. This is what it looked like when it was done:
That could have turned into one sticky mess if I hadn't been watching it. I put all the water and oats in the crockpot on a day when I know I am going to be home for most of the day. I turn the crockpot on high and just keep checking it every hour or so. I stir it every time I check it too. This keeps it from sticking around the bottom. I've never kept track of how long this has taken in the past. It doesn't take long in my crockpot but it runs hot. I would guess it takes about four hours, give or take a few.

Once it is almost done to the consistency I like, I turn it off and let it cool for 30-60 minutes. It will thicken up, so if it is soupy, don't let that discourage you! I then take a one cup measuring cup and measure out one cup into each of the containers I have. (In this case I ended up with 12 servings) I let them cool a bit and then froze half of them and put the other half in the fridge.
In the morning I pop the corner of the lid and microwave the refrigerated oatmeal for a minute or two on high, or longer for frozen, stirring it about halfway through the cycle. (I had run out of containers and put three servings in baggies that I will warm up in a bowl)
Once warmed up, I dash on some cinnamon, a small container of Fage fat free yogurt (because that is my personal favorite), and cut up a banana on top. This makes a huge and filling breakfast that I eat right out of the containers. It is almost as easy as fixing instant oatmeal and has far more nutritional value and a lot of flavor that I put in there, not factory added chemicals. Total calories come in at just under 300 with 3 grams of fat.
You can personalize this to your heart's content with chopped dates, raisins, chopped apple, flavored yogurts or whatever you like best! Experiement with sweeteners too. You can try honey, agave, brown sugar, Splenda, maple syrup, jams, and more if you want to add a little sweetness.
It sure is a time saver and makes for a quick breakfast or you can even have it for lunch if you need something in a hurry.

QUOTE FOR TODAY:

Jim Rohn: "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."

I hope you've enjoyed today's blog posting! The photo below is from my trail, a few weeks ago. The morning mist was billowing onto the pathway in front of me. Come on, follow me into the mists! Let's go for a walk!

Smile! It's Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers! The sun is shining here and boy did I need to get some sunshine in my life today! Yes, even I have dark days that have nothing to do with the weather.
I've been in a bit of a mood lately. I am not sure if it is a touch of the mid-winter blues or stress or what. I made it a point to work on my moodiness today though, and guess what? I feel better this afternoon!
I got my Valentine gift a day early. My dear husband got me a box of chocolates! He IS listening to me though and got a little one with three pieces in it. I ate them all last night! I even had three more little Hershey chocolates AFTER 8PM!!! I've been good about not eating after 8pm but broke my streak last night. I felt a little guilty about it but...this morning was another day and I got up and went out for a very long walk in the sunshine.
Then I went shopping. It was mostly window shopping but it was done on purpose to get me out of the house and on my feet. This afternoon I am tired, but feeling a LOT better! I have been eating like the thinner person I want to be and am looking forward to Yoga class tomorrow.
Many of us have used such events in our past, as excuses to quit living our new-to-us, healthier lifestyles. It is so easy to be tempted to go backwards. I MADE myself remember just how far I've come. I also reminded myself that there are lots of folks counting on ME to keep on going! They feed off of my success as much as I feed of the feelings I get when helping out my fellow fluffiers.Don't give up. You only fail when you quit trying! YES you have to sometimes work harder at staying on track and staying motivated. You know, it isn't easy to eat all that crappy food and get fat either! You have to motivate yourself more than you know, to make bad choices as well as good ones. If you truly care about yourself, you will want to take care of yourself and keep the healthier lifestyle going. If you don't care about yourself or your health enough to make the effort, then perhaps you should figure out WHY!
Sometimes this means counseling, sometimes this may mean anti-depressantss, sometimes this means really doing some soul searching. But really...if you can't love yourself enough to live the healthy life, then there is something wrong! You CAN fix it! I did...and I am not any different than any of you!
Now go for a walk! And give yourself a hug while you're at it!

Ending One Cycle and Starting a New One!

Now that I am more firmly entrenched in ONE-derland, I feel it is time to make a few changes here on my blog. Don't panic! I won't be leaving the topic of weight loss, exercise, lifestyle changes, and all that I've done this past year and three months, I will just be changing the posts a little, as I ease into my personal maintenance lifestyle. I want to try to be a little more structured, while I still share my journey with you. I want to reach out and help others if they want my help too.


There are a few thoughts I would like to share:

• I am open to helping out anyone who asks, but I am not a trained professional. I also don't charge a fee.
• I am just a 'normal' person who has lost a lot of weight without gimmicks. 
• I will not chastise you for not doing what I suggest. It is YOUR life, not mine and YOU have to want to change in YOUR own way. 
• I would caution you to see your doctor before doing anything I suggest.
• I don't believe I have ALL the answers. What I do is really easy and is based on common sense, not miraculous quick-fix cures.
• I am not perfect. I still struggle with temptations, eating the wrong foods, skimping on exercising, and even, sometimes, recording what I've eaten so that it looks like I did better than I really did!
• Even though I am not perfect, I DO eat better and exercise more, than I did a year ago.
• I often say to "Live like the thinner person you want to be." I first heard this over at the Fat 2 Fit Radio guys' podcast. I believe in this!!!
• I believe in exercising like the thin person I want to be too.
• I believe I AM living the lifestyle of a thinner person right now!
• I still fear that I won't have enough calories left at the end of the day... and will feel hungry ... and will stuff myself with bad foods and gain at least 20 pounds overnight!
• I still wonder if I will stay at this weight or will gain it all back.
• I still feel fat. Really!

• I digress here but I just have to tell you this story before I forget it. A a few days ago I was walking down the hallway after yoga class at the center. I was carrying my yoga mat, gym bag, and purse. After I passed by someone coming in the opposite direction, I realized I had turned so as to allow for a lot more space for the person to get by me. I then realized, in that same instant, that there was no need for me to do that! I hope that person didn't think I was treating them like they had the plague or something! I was so used to having to turn to make way for my (formerly) wide berth that I was still doing that move, subconsciously.

On the other hand, I also:

• am thrilled that I HAVE lost all this weight!
• am astonished when I see my reflection in the mirror...is that really ME?
• love shopping for clothes now!
• want others to figure this out for themselves and to be as  happy as I am!
• still have more to learn.
• hate lose-weight-quick schemes because of the money they steal from folks and because they DON'T WORK!!!

I am sure I have more to say. (Don't I always?) I hope to update this blog, once a week. What would you like me to write about more? In each posting I would like to include a discussion topic, a tip or hint, a recipe or food, and a quote. What do you think, gentle readers?

QUOTE FOR TODAY: "You can have it all; you just can’t have it all, all at once."
(Taken from the Daily Spark)

Still Trippin' Over My Changes

From July 2011 to February 2012 I lost 33 pounds.

Guess Who is in ONE-derland?

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes!

Now that I figured out how to get photos from my camera to the computer, I am back in business!
The talk I gave at the support group, on getting started and setting goals, seemed to go over well! I love trying to help. I've done so much research and reading and listening, that I feel like I might explode sometimes! The only thing worse than an ex-smoker is a person who's lost weight and wants to help! Just tell me to shush if I get too long winded when talking to you about how to do what I am doing. I mean well, but can go off on tangents if I don't watch out!

So, on the weight loss front, I am stagnant again. I am 200 point 2, or point 6, or point 5, depending on the day. Of course, during the middle of the week, I am seeing 199 and once even saw a 198, but until that number shows up on a Saturday for the official weigh in, it doesn't count! Maybe, carrying around my Mad Hatter's Hat in my bag, is jinxing it?

I have never been so relaxed about sitting in a plateau as I have this one though. I just know it will happen, when it happens! I heard on a recent podcast that you shouldn't think of it as a plateau but rather as your metabolism doing a readjustment. Once it is all lined up again, the weight will come off again. And this has happened several times before. I will go along, flirting with a one pound gain or loss for a few weeks and then BOOM, three pounds drop off and stay off!

In thinking about (non-food) rewards, I think a new pair of shoes would be the best one for getting into one-derland. I was shocked when I compared my oldest shoes to the newer pair. I have actually worn out a pair of shoes! The older ones are the two on the inside:
See how the nubs are flat and the white parts are worn away as compared to the newer shoes on the outsides of these sets?
You can really see it in this closeup. The newer shoes in these photos are the exact same brand and size as the older ones. I bought them last year, with the intention of replacing my old shoes with them. However, the new ones just won't break in and hurt my feet sometimes. So a new pair of good running/walking shoes IS in order and will be a welcomed reward for getting into one-derland!

I am saving up for a laptop for when I reach my next goal of 191 if I make that by April 15th. I am not sure what type of laptop I will go for, but I understand that April is a good month to buy a laptop, so it all seems to fall into place with using that as a reward.

Then on to the scariest goal of 175. This year is shaping up to be busy and interesting, all at the same time!

I've done my walk for the day and am off to run errands. I have had a good balanced breakfast of oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit. I have a chicken salad made and ready for lunch and I think I may try a shrimp burger recipe while the guys here have their manwiches.

If you haven't done so already...GO FOR A WALK TODAY!

I Am Still Here

What a difference a year makes.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I am not in one-derland yet, but I can see it from here! I was down just over a half pound this week. Today I am following the yellow brick road, clicking my heels three times (while wearing those hot pink crocs) and hoping to wake up in one-derland next week!

I have been thinking about rewards for myself for both one-derland and for reaching my final goal. I think a new pair of run/walk shoes would be a great one for one-derland. Final goal might be a laptop computer. That seems a bit extravagant though. I will have to give that some more thought.

Not much to say for today. I am working on my 'speech' for Thursday and have other commitments to tend to in my other life! I hope you are having a great weekend! Now get out there and go for a walk on YOUR yellow brick road!

Unplanned Milestone Achieved!

I didn't realize it when it happened but when I weighed in last Saturday, not only had I lost the holiday pounds, but a few more to boot! I was down to 201 and change. This officially moved me from the 'obese' category to the 'overweight' category! Woohoo!

Isn't this photo amazing?

Look at how fat sits on the body and squishes the organs!

I still feel obese. I still feel I look like this:

I HOPE I look more like this:

I guess it is time to take new photos!

Next week marks my first speaking engagement. Doesn't that sound all important? hahahaha, it isn't as grandiose as all that. I will be speaking at the support group on goal setting. I might have to do it in a funny hat because I am so close to being in one-derland!

I am getting back on track with my exercises. I've tried to change them up a little bit, and am trying to do more weights and resistance work. When frazzled though, I revert to a good hard long walk! Nothing wrong with that!!! Now YOU go do it too!

Statement of Fact

I started dieting when I was 11 or 12. I stopped dieting when I was 56. I am losing weight because I am living and eating like the thin person I want to be. I am more educated on foods. I eat between 1200 and 2000 calories a day. I exercise about 60 min. a day. (as simple as a walk, as complex as Yoga) I am working on re-educating my brain to know when I am truly hungry. I am working on 'mindful' eating...eating slow, thinking about the food I am shoveling in, the taste, the texture. I stay away from most processed foods that are chemically engineered to just taste good. I find that the less processing in foods the more foods become filling. I have been simply amazed at how easy this all has been. This is my LIFESTYLE that I CHOOSE. "Diets" do NOT work. You can't be on a 'program' for the rest of your life. You CAN change your lifestyle to that of a healthy person and lose excess pounds in the process. I wish I knew this years ago!!!

Saturday will be the first time this year that I get on the scale again and have the weight be the true recorded weight of record. I don't know what it will show! I think I lost some of the holiday weight, but I am still not back on track, exercise-wise, as 'the child' only went back to school today and we have contractors here at the house for the next few days, which necessitates me keeping close to home. Whatever the scale says it is, I am ready to deal with it. I feel good! I hope you do too.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly!

Actually, this photo fits all of the parts of the title of today's blog! The good is the Christmas tree in the background. The bad and ugly are both covered by this very blah photograph!!! lol
My ever charming husband was showing me how my new camera works. By the time he took this picture, I was no longer amused. hahahaha!!!

I am working on my goals. I have them on the side bar over to your right. Truth be told, life has been rather hectic this holiday season and it's been hard to sit still and work on thinking clear and straight forward thoughts!

All is good though. I know I've gained a bit of weight and I know I will lose it and more, once the holidays are over. I am thinking about being some sort of motivational speaker. How's that for different?! I think lots of thoughts. It must be scary for anyone who is a mind reader and tries to read mine!

I need to figure out the rewards for reaching goals too. But I wanted to post the goals though, on New Year's Eve, even though they need a bit of tweaking.

I want to wish you all a wonderful (or in MY case a ONE-derful) New Year! May 2012 be kind to you and may you be kind to yourself!

'Till next time, GO FOR A WALK!!!

A Little Holiday Fear?

Shouldn't that be cheer, not fear? It depends on who you talk to. Some folks that are enjoying the holidays are fearing what that scale will say once they get back to their more normal lives!In the past, many of us would use the pounds gained over the holidays as an excuse to break our most common New Year's Resolution, even before the new year is officially here!I know I have gained a few pounds over the holidays. I know why too! I actually didn't do all that bad with foods. I enjoyed the holidays and the food while eating pretty sensibly, overall. Truth be told, I am hoping some of the weight gain will be from water weight that drinking things like wine and vanilla rum will cause! I didn't pig out on candy but I did have three mini chocolate candy bars and one chocolate covered cherry over the past week. I also had a slim sliver of my husband's chocolate birthday cake and less than a half cup of vanilla bean ice cream with it.
The bigger reason I've gained a few pounds is because I haven't been exercising like I would usually be. I managed to get in some exercises every day, but not at the intensity that I would normally do.
So yes, I am guessing I've put on about five pounds.I got a lot of 'exercise' gifts this year. I now have a pretty neat home gym to broaden my exercising with! I got a heart rate monitor/watch, an exercise ball, strap on weights, and a cool pair of black with purple mottled striped exercise pants! (purple is my favorite color)
I recently found a Pilate's/Yoga DVD at the thrift store, along with a step exercise platform thingy. I already owned a pair of five pound dumbbells and stretchy-bands. Add in the shows I found on TV that I've recorded so I have a bunch of routines to pick from, and I am all set for a new set of exercises to add into my regular routine.
I know I need to build more muscle and I also know I get bored doing the same old thing all the time. All these new tools will open up a whole new set of possibilities.
When spring and summer roll around, I will change these tools around and use them in different exercises to stave off boredom then too. Plus they say that your body gets used to the same old, same old and changing things up keeps the body hopping, in more than one way.
I plan to have one more posting about goal setting and New Year's Resolutions, done around the first of the year. I have lots of plans for 2012. I hope to inspire you to make some plans along with me! Till next year, be good to yourself!
Now go for a walk!!!

Challenge Results, Goal Setting, and More

I have a lot of little things to talk about today. I will cover the fruit challenge results, goal setting for 2012, exercise changes, and a few random thoughts.

FRUIT CHALLENGE:
The fruit challenge was kinda fun! I had to look up what exactly a quince and a pummelo was, and how to eat them. The pummelo turned out to be like a very thick skinned grapefruit. It wasn't quite as sour and tart as what we think grapefruit can be. It was very difficult to peel off the outer skin and the inner membranes. It might qualify as a negative calorie food because it takes quite a bit of work to prepare it for eating! I would not bother buying one again.
The quince was even more challenging because you had to cook it to eat it. There were several recipes for using quince to thicken applesauce as it reports to have somewhat of a jelling property to it. I chose to cook it, add sugar to it and eat it as a dessert type food. It reminded me of cooked apple but didn't have much flavor of its own to add to the taste. I will not be buying quinces again.

I might be having a taste bud issue though. Both of the new fruits were not impressive in their tastes. I have also noticed that things like grapes, cherries, and most berries seem to have no flavor! I've heard that "the elderly" have changes in their pallet as they age. Maybe my taste buds are shot? I would like to think it is more because some of these foods are just not in season right now and taste like juicy air and water, but no flavor.

GOAL SETTING:
What is a goal? For me, I see it as a specific vision, with a plan, a goal timeline, and a specific reward for completion. The more I get into my lifestyle changes the more I see the need to always keep a goal or five, in mind to help keep the motivation going. So far I have come up with a few goals for 2012, that I plan to work on. I am trying to make some short term goals and some longer term ones. If I don't meet the deadlines, I will erase the end dates and put in a new one! There is no giving up acceptable. Of course, I will make goals that are reachable!

My list of goals so far:

1. To be in by Valentine's Day, February 14, 2012
2. To reach my goal weight of 191lbs by Tax Day, April 15, 2012
3. To sign up and do another 5K before June 1, 2012
4. To stop eating anything after 8pm by New Year's Day, 2012
5. To be at my secondary goal weight of 175 by my 58th birthday. (October 2012)
   

I need to set up a reward for each goal and then write it down in stone, or on the side bar of my blog, for all to see. Just the act of making goals is very motivating! I would recommend this exercise to everyone!

We all worry so much about losing the weight and getting to an ideal goal weight we have in our heads, but not what to do after that. Even though I have hit a hard plateau in the weight loss department, I am also thinking about how things will be when I declare I have reached my final goal!

I go up and down a pound or a half pound here and there and have been doing this for over a month now. I have still managed to go down if you look at the beginning of the month and compare it to the end of the month, but it has become agonizingly slow.

Much of the research I have done, points to eating more food to lose the weight and/or doing more muscle building exercises to gain muscle mass that will boost my metabolism and cause more fat pounds to go off my body. They say that a starvation diet will only work just so far before the body slams on the brakes and will not let a single pound leave, because it thinks it is starving.

Scientific weight loss....eat as the thin person you want to be...do not starve yourself. I hear this all the time. I am afraid to let go of the old tapes though. The old tapes say that if you are not losing weight, you need to cut even more calories and exercise even harder. I bet you all think this too! I want to believe that I can eat 2000 calories a day and just do my exercise routines as they are and that the weight will still keep going down. So far though, I just can't grasp the belief that this will happen!

What I plan to do about it is to take a month to track my food intake even more stringently and to increase my muscle building exercises. If there is not a significant change, I will have to revisit my whole plan to see just where the problems are. That is the plan anyway.

Recently a person contacted me via email and wanted help to lose weight. I offered to help in any way I could. I asked her to start doing ten minutes a day of 'on purpose' exercise and to write down what she eats. I never heard from her again. This makes me sad. I can just hear her telling herself that she couldn't find ten minutes to do exercises and couldn't write down all the food she ate, and that she was a failure.

You tell yourself this when you set yourself up to fail from the start. I know. I did that at the beginning of this whole thing, last year. When I handed over my $20 to pay for the books for our support group, my inner brain was telling me that I was wasting this money, buying this program, and it would fail like all the rest of them that I have spent money on, in the past. I am super-duper happy to tell you that this time I was wrong! And now look at me! I have lost over eighty pounds. I can walk up stairs easier. I can fit into clothes that don't have half the alphabet on the size tag. I used to be afraid of hills when I went walking. They still challenge me, but I no longer stick with a specific route to avoid them. It has been a long journey, but it has been short too. The biggest thing that bugs me right now is why it took so long to get things right? How different my life might have been if I hadn't carried this monkey, no, this GORILLA on my back?

The past is past though. There is no going back...only forward. I'd like to think I am helping others move forward with me! Hang in there everyone! Go for a walk and keep a smile on your face!

I have a challenge for you!

It's been a challenge to get my exercising in this week. Over the weekend we had a big rainstorm come in. Usually I can watch the radar and get a run/walk done, in between downpours. Not this time! It rained steadily from Saturday night through Monday morning!!!
I still was able to get to the center for my usual Saturday swim. I was down a pound again. (happy dance) Sunday I was unable to get much of anything done, exercise wise. I was just 'off' that day and gave myself permission to relax a bit. Monday I braved the flooded roads and went to the center for my Yoga class. However, when I got there, the class had been cancelled! RATS!!! I went home and spent hours, decorating and cleaning house. I was exhausted by the end of the day and my legs were noodle-ish.

Though the weather had turned colder on Tuesday, I was back on the trails for a wonderful run/walk! How cold was it you ask? Cold enough to have this facing us Wednesday morning:
Thankfully the roads were mostly just wet. The overpasses were icy and there were a lot of fender benders out there. I have one overpass between myself and the center and braved the route to the center for the Wednesday Yoga class. It took a lot longer than normal, to get to class, but the teacher was there and it was a great workout!

During my run/walks, I most always listen to a podcast or three. One of my favorites is the Fat2Fit guys podcast. In the episode I was listening to, the guys posed a challenge to buy ten fruits for the week and to have several of them be fruits that you have never tried! I already had an orange and frozen raspberries so I bought eight more fruits at the store. Two are ones I have never had or used before.
You can see, in the photo above, a pineapple, strawberries, a banana, grapes, an apple, a pear, a quince, and a pummelo. Those last two are new to me! The quince is the smaller yellow fruit on the left and the pummelo is the grapefruit (on steroids) to the right.

My challenge to you is to buy or have, ten fruits in your house at one time, with at least two being ones you have never tried before! I will report back to you, how I did with the quince and pummelo.

Until next time, go for a walk!