Do you ever feel like you can't keep up with all the things you're supposed to do to maintain yourself? Sometimes just flossing my teeth seems like too much effort, but add that to exercising daily, eating a zillion servings of fruits and vegetables, avoiding trans-fats, composting and recycling, spending quality time with your family, meeting your deadlines, volunteering for charities, keeping up with the news, pursuing an interesting hobby, ..... No wonder people watch American Idol! Their brains need a break.
And then this week's news: belly fat in your 40s leads to demetia in old age! Whoopee! I've got a year to get rid of my belly fat.
This has been a particularly stressful week at work and home (oh yeah: avoid stress--it leads to more belly fat) with multiple insane deadlines and the kids home for spring break, which means I've been trying to meet my deadlines AND get home early so Brian can sleep. I managed it yesterday, but won't today so he's just not going to sleep (oh yeah: get 8 hours of sleep. That never happens in my life), and then tomorrow we're going down to DC so he's not going to sleep then, and then Sunday is the Laurie Berkner concert so he won't sleep then either. This probably isn't healthy. He'll manage a few hours here and there, but not enough. What's keeping me going is jelly beans and blessed, blessed coffee. Also probably not healthy, but at least I've managed exercise daily, lots of fruits and vegetables (mostly vegetables--we've had three big salads to get rid of), and flossing daily. So there. I haven't weighed myself since Tuesday and don't plan to until next Tuesday.
Friday, March 28, 2008
That can't be right
A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing. Samuel Johnson (1709-84).
My weight was down a full pound today to 230.2. This is after a very unenthusiastic week of exercise (I have only been twice so far) and REALLY uninspired eating (a LOT of refined sugar in the form of Easter candy...). I have been really unenergetic all week and I have been blaming it on the sugar I have been eating - but today I feel worse than I have all week and I haven't had ANY sugar yet!! So I don't know. I really had a hard time getting myself to the gym last night. I was sitting on my bed at 9:30 last night with my PJs on one side and my exercise clothes on the other (devil/angel). I finally just put my exercise clothes on and went to the gym. I did my 30 minutes on the treadmill (although I only put the incline at 6 instead of 7 - I am SURE it wasn't that big of a difference, but I felt better about it). Then I did 108 crunches on the abs machine and THAT was it. I did raise the weight on the abs machine up 10 pounds about halfway through...
Katie and I are doing Let's Dish tonight. We haven't been since December - but we couldn't eat a lot of what we did have during Lent since we gave up meat. We are mostly down to just soups left anyway - and they are great for lunch - but entirely unsatisfying for dinner - unless you slap on a fat piece of garlic bread - which is never a good idea (except the garlic - garlic is good for you). We had to rush to get this session in tonight, because the April menu doesn't look too good - and May is too far away. So we are going tonight at 5:30.
My weight was down a full pound today to 230.2. This is after a very unenthusiastic week of exercise (I have only been twice so far) and REALLY uninspired eating (a LOT of refined sugar in the form of Easter candy...). I have been really unenergetic all week and I have been blaming it on the sugar I have been eating - but today I feel worse than I have all week and I haven't had ANY sugar yet!! So I don't know. I really had a hard time getting myself to the gym last night. I was sitting on my bed at 9:30 last night with my PJs on one side and my exercise clothes on the other (devil/angel). I finally just put my exercise clothes on and went to the gym. I did my 30 minutes on the treadmill (although I only put the incline at 6 instead of 7 - I am SURE it wasn't that big of a difference, but I felt better about it). Then I did 108 crunches on the abs machine and THAT was it. I did raise the weight on the abs machine up 10 pounds about halfway through...
Katie and I are doing Let's Dish tonight. We haven't been since December - but we couldn't eat a lot of what we did have during Lent since we gave up meat. We are mostly down to just soups left anyway - and they are great for lunch - but entirely unsatisfying for dinner - unless you slap on a fat piece of garlic bread - which is never a good idea (except the garlic - garlic is good for you). We had to rush to get this session in tonight, because the April menu doesn't look too good - and May is too far away. So we are going tonight at 5:30.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
153
This is strange. I have been eating too much candy, but this morning my weight toggled between 152.5 and 153.5. So I decided to split the difference and call it 153.
I have been getting out for a walk almost every day, so that is helping, I am sure. But tonight I forgot to thaw something for dinner and we had frozen pizza--baked, of course! But I ate 2 sizeable pieces, so my weight will be up tomorrow.
Back to less food--wish Dad hadn't bought all that candy. He did resist the temptation, when he went out for groceries, to buy half price candy!
I have been getting out for a walk almost every day, so that is helping, I am sure. But tonight I forgot to thaw something for dinner and we had frozen pizza--baked, of course! But I ate 2 sizeable pieces, so my weight will be up tomorrow.
Back to less food--wish Dad hadn't bought all that candy. He did resist the temptation, when he went out for groceries, to buy half price candy!
2,152.4
Obviously that is not my weight but after Easter I felt like it could be edging toward a ton.
Getting sick a few weeks back set me back about two weeks. At that point I just decided it was easier to wait until Easter to refocus my efforts. Thank goodness Easter was early.
I didn't really go WAY off the track but I did consume too much sugar over the past few weeks.
I don't think I've gained any but instead of the six-pack abs I desire, my waist looks more like someone stuck a six pack under my shirt. Nice.
I didn't really eat much candy on Easter but I grazed and even though I wasn't ever really FULL I just felt kinda gross at the end of the day.
So Easter, I love ya but am glad you're gone.
I'm really excited about warmer weather to get out and ride my bike and do more hiking, etc. I'm still at southern girl when it comes to the cold so I keep my workouts indoors.
So I'm getting back on my bike trainer (great investment) and am going to redo the last couple of weeks of my strict exercise routine with dumbbells. Unless I want to use a treadmill, I can do most of my workouts at home, which actually motivates me more. It's hard to walk past my bike parked in the dining room without thinking: Maybe I should get my fat butt on that thing.
So back to it.
You know Amy, I rarely *cook* a meal. I usually bake three chicken breasts (I keep a bunch frozen) on Sunday night then build three salads (takes about 30 minutes at most) and put everything in the fridge. When I come home each night there's a salad waiting. I just add chicken and cheese and anything else that might not be great sitting on a salad for a couple of days. I bought three round plastic (almost disposable containers) so I keep my portions similar. Or if I want chicken and rice I can just cook up the rice and toss in some chicken.
As the weather gets warmer I'll grill the chicken.
But it's so much easier to have something ready to go, especially if you want to eat before you go to the gym. When I get home I'm just not in the mood to cook most of the time so I try to make it easier on myself.
So let's welcome the warm weather and shed a few pounds. Yay!
Getting sick a few weeks back set me back about two weeks. At that point I just decided it was easier to wait until Easter to refocus my efforts. Thank goodness Easter was early.
I didn't really go WAY off the track but I did consume too much sugar over the past few weeks.
I don't think I've gained any but instead of the six-pack abs I desire, my waist looks more like someone stuck a six pack under my shirt. Nice.
I didn't really eat much candy on Easter but I grazed and even though I wasn't ever really FULL I just felt kinda gross at the end of the day.
So Easter, I love ya but am glad you're gone.
I'm really excited about warmer weather to get out and ride my bike and do more hiking, etc. I'm still at southern girl when it comes to the cold so I keep my workouts indoors.
So I'm getting back on my bike trainer (great investment) and am going to redo the last couple of weeks of my strict exercise routine with dumbbells. Unless I want to use a treadmill, I can do most of my workouts at home, which actually motivates me more. It's hard to walk past my bike parked in the dining room without thinking: Maybe I should get my fat butt on that thing.
So back to it.
You know Amy, I rarely *cook* a meal. I usually bake three chicken breasts (I keep a bunch frozen) on Sunday night then build three salads (takes about 30 minutes at most) and put everything in the fridge. When I come home each night there's a salad waiting. I just add chicken and cheese and anything else that might not be great sitting on a salad for a couple of days. I bought three round plastic (almost disposable containers) so I keep my portions similar. Or if I want chicken and rice I can just cook up the rice and toss in some chicken.
As the weather gets warmer I'll grill the chicken.
But it's so much easier to have something ready to go, especially if you want to eat before you go to the gym. When I get home I'm just not in the mood to cook most of the time so I try to make it easier on myself.
So let's welcome the warm weather and shed a few pounds. Yay!
Reversed Roles
Well - I didn't gain two pounds this week. I didn't LOSE two pounds either - but I was down - to 231.2. As I said last week I have been absolutely STALLED at 231.8 for quite some time now. I went up for last weigh in day - and I stopped weighing myself when my period started because I just didn't want to SEE the 4 pounds I always gain. But when I weighed myself yesterday I was 232 exactly - so being down to 231.2 is an improvement for me. Ironically it was right on the heels of four days of no exercise and too much sugar.
I don't know if it is the sugar after being really good about being sugarless for the past two weeks (or so) but I was SO tired all day yesterday. It also could be because I didn't eat dinner until 9:45pm. Katie is off this week so she went to Tracy's yesterday and into the evening. So, since she wasn't around for dinner I wasn't motivated to cook for myself. I seriously worry about my eating habits once she moves out... I don't cook for myself. A lot of that is just habit - Katie cooks, so I don't need to - but also it is my schedule. If Katie doesn't call me at 7 to see if I am on my way, I feel justified in STAYING until 8:30 or later - and then I just don't feel like cooking. I ate jelly beans last night and finally heated up a frozen dinner - which had gluten in it. I like the gluten free Amy's Kitchen dinners - but I didn't have any of them on hand. Mom asked me on Easter if I had seen any improvements since reducing my gluten and sugar. Well - I can say I saw a NEGATIVE reaction last night when I had BOTH refined sugar and white flour. I had no energy at all. It wasn't that I was tired - I stayed up until after 12 - I was just energyless. I was a little bit disgusted with myself because at 8:30 I told Gloria I would be at the gym at 9:30. I INTENDED to go. I was even excited about my new Easter socks that I was going to wear. I just really had no "move it!" juice. This means that since my gym week starts on Saturday I have to go every day for the next four days to get in four days of exercise. I was five days last week as well as the week before. I should have taken a walk on Easter like I did last year. I wonder why I didn't do it. I thought about it Easter morning - but had forgotten by Easter night. And it was RAINING last Easter!!
I didn't do too badly eating on Sunday. I drank three mimosas though. I wasn't craving candy too much either. I did eat a handful of peanut m&ms that the Easter Bunny brought - and a few mini twix, but that was about it. None-the-less my mouth felt way too sweet.
So - gym tonight. Boobie squishing, piano delivery and gym tomorrow. Ugh.
I don't know if it is the sugar after being really good about being sugarless for the past two weeks (or so) but I was SO tired all day yesterday. It also could be because I didn't eat dinner until 9:45pm. Katie is off this week so she went to Tracy's yesterday and into the evening. So, since she wasn't around for dinner I wasn't motivated to cook for myself. I seriously worry about my eating habits once she moves out... I don't cook for myself. A lot of that is just habit - Katie cooks, so I don't need to - but also it is my schedule. If Katie doesn't call me at 7 to see if I am on my way, I feel justified in STAYING until 8:30 or later - and then I just don't feel like cooking. I ate jelly beans last night and finally heated up a frozen dinner - which had gluten in it. I like the gluten free Amy's Kitchen dinners - but I didn't have any of them on hand. Mom asked me on Easter if I had seen any improvements since reducing my gluten and sugar. Well - I can say I saw a NEGATIVE reaction last night when I had BOTH refined sugar and white flour. I had no energy at all. It wasn't that I was tired - I stayed up until after 12 - I was just energyless. I was a little bit disgusted with myself because at 8:30 I told Gloria I would be at the gym at 9:30. I INTENDED to go. I was even excited about my new Easter socks that I was going to wear. I just really had no "move it!" juice. This means that since my gym week starts on Saturday I have to go every day for the next four days to get in four days of exercise. I was five days last week as well as the week before. I should have taken a walk on Easter like I did last year. I wonder why I didn't do it. I thought about it Easter morning - but had forgotten by Easter night. And it was RAINING last Easter!!
I didn't do too badly eating on Sunday. I drank three mimosas though. I wasn't craving candy too much either. I did eat a handful of peanut m&ms that the Easter Bunny brought - and a few mini twix, but that was about it. None-the-less my mouth felt way too sweet.
So - gym tonight. Boobie squishing, piano delivery and gym tomorrow. Ugh.
That can't be right!
I was 141.2 this morning! More than two pounds in one week? And the thing is, I can't really blame Easter. I overate on Easter, but my weight had been going up all week since last week's 138.8. On Saturday morning I was 140.8; yesterday I was 141.4. And this in spite of staying active all last week and watching what I ate (except for one day when Brian and I went out to eat and I had a cheeseburger for lunch). So I don't know what's up. Maybe the activity at work increases my metabolism more than I'm aware of, or maybe I'm retaining water, or maybe I was more of a pig than I give myself credit for last week. In any event, there's nothing to be done except to stick with the current plan.
One of my favorite machines at the gym disappeared. Earlier this semester they got a machine that was a much more high tech elliptical machine than the others--you could set the resistance on the arms and legs separately and it had multiple hand positions to work different parts of your arms. I'm so used to our Charlie Brown equipment--the cheapest stuff available and most of it donated--that this was a breath of fresh air. It was great, but apparently we just had it on trial and now it's gone. So sad.
One of my favorite machines at the gym disappeared. Earlier this semester they got a machine that was a much more high tech elliptical machine than the others--you could set the resistance on the arms and legs separately and it had multiple hand positions to work different parts of your arms. I'm so used to our Charlie Brown equipment--the cheapest stuff available and most of it donated--that this was a breath of fresh air. It was great, but apparently we just had it on trial and now it's gone. So sad.
134.5
That's two pounds in two days! Yikes! And this morning it said 135 for a second before I re-weighed. Usually I take the first weight regardless, but that was too much of a jump to be tolerated, Easter candy and feasts or no. But since I saw 135, I'm sticking to my resolution to watch calories on days when it's there or higher. Ugh.
Yesterday I did my usual gym workout but today I couldn't get an appointment. On Thursday I'll be on the road and Friday out of town, so that's it for the week. I have to get exercise some other way instead.
I've been eating candy in vast quantities since Sunday morning, and on Sunday we had two HUGE meals. I feel gross when I eat this way, especially after six weeks of limited sugar. Bleah.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Handy Girls
Katie and I were so spiff yesterday! It seems that in the past week several items in our house broke - including the downstairs toilet. So yesterday we fixed them all. The toilet was the most challenging - and I can only take credit for figuring out what was wrong and how to fix it (oh - and buying the stuff needed to do the repairs). Katie did the actual labor of that while I cooked dinner. I took pictures - plumber crack and all! We also fixed the pull chain on the overhead light in the living room. That involved actually getting inside where the wires were and figuring out how to spool up the chain again. Once we got it so the light was on we took off the chain, so it wouldn't pull out again - which means now if we have the fan on the light also has to be on.
Anyway - We felt good and productive. I also gave the upstairs bathroom a good, thorough cleaning just in case we couldn't fix the downstairs toilet and everyone would have to use the upstairs bathroom. That doesn't have to happen - but at least it is all clean now anyway.
We also both had dentist appointments yesterday. Mine ended up taking an hour instead of half and when all was said and done, nothing happened. This was just to replace my temp crown with the regular one - but, for some reason, the regular crown wasn't making good contact with my gum - so after much poking and proding Dr. Behar ended up saying that he was going to have to take a new impression and get them to make another crown. THAT is supposed to happen on April 2nd (unless another time slot opens up) and then I will have to wait another month to get the real crown in. Sigh. This has been the biggest ordeal. I don't know why. The previous crowns I have gotten have gone so smoothly.
I went to the gym again last night - but I didn't go Tuesday night. There was a reason - but I can't remember what it was now. Oh! Yes I do. I didn't leave work until about 8:30pm - and so by the time we finished eating dinner it was almost 10pm. I normally go to the gym at 10pm - but that is after dinner has digested for about an hour or so. Anyway - so I did my upperbody again last night. I was doing the tricept machine. Usually I set that at about 25 pounds. Last night it was feeling VERY difficult after the first round - and so I checked the weights again and realized I had been doing it at 55 pounds!!!! I can't believe I completed a whole set at 55! Of course, my legs and back were getting into the act more than they should have been. So today my arms are sore. More around my arm pits than I would expect though. I also have a big bruise on my left elbow. When we were leaving the store last night the door swung back much harder and faster than either of us expected, and caught on my elbow. It hurt at the time - but I didn't think it was THAT bad - but there is a big purple bruise there this morning.
Anyway - We felt good and productive. I also gave the upstairs bathroom a good, thorough cleaning just in case we couldn't fix the downstairs toilet and everyone would have to use the upstairs bathroom. That doesn't have to happen - but at least it is all clean now anyway.
We also both had dentist appointments yesterday. Mine ended up taking an hour instead of half and when all was said and done, nothing happened. This was just to replace my temp crown with the regular one - but, for some reason, the regular crown wasn't making good contact with my gum - so after much poking and proding Dr. Behar ended up saying that he was going to have to take a new impression and get them to make another crown. THAT is supposed to happen on April 2nd (unless another time slot opens up) and then I will have to wait another month to get the real crown in. Sigh. This has been the biggest ordeal. I don't know why. The previous crowns I have gotten have gone so smoothly.
I went to the gym again last night - but I didn't go Tuesday night. There was a reason - but I can't remember what it was now. Oh! Yes I do. I didn't leave work until about 8:30pm - and so by the time we finished eating dinner it was almost 10pm. I normally go to the gym at 10pm - but that is after dinner has digested for about an hour or so. Anyway - so I did my upperbody again last night. I was doing the tricept machine. Usually I set that at about 25 pounds. Last night it was feeling VERY difficult after the first round - and so I checked the weights again and realized I had been doing it at 55 pounds!!!! I can't believe I completed a whole set at 55! Of course, my legs and back were getting into the act more than they should have been. So today my arms are sore. More around my arm pits than I would expect though. I also have a big bruise on my left elbow. When we were leaving the store last night the door swung back much harder and faster than either of us expected, and caught on my elbow. It hurt at the time - but I didn't think it was THAT bad - but there is a big purple bruise there this morning.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Bike ride
Today was the day for testing the route to work to see if it's bike-able. The weather was iffy--I didn't mind the clouds and the temperature was nice for biking, but with rain and wind forecast I decided not to do the full 24.6 mile roundtrip and instead I went more or less to the halfway mark and back--12.5 miles. The route wasn't bad. Hilly, but not so bad that I had to get off and walk any of it. The town bits of Ellicott City and Catonsville were nice because the traffic was moving slowly and looking out for pedestrians, doors opening, cars stopped, etc. So those places were easy to navigate. And the rest of the route had nice shoulders most of the way. The downhill bits scare the bejeezus out of me, though--I go really, really slowly because I hate feeling out of control and I want to be able to stop quickly. But it took me an hour and a quarter to do the route, which would mean that if I biked to work I'd have to leave at 7 to get into work in enough time to change and get going by 8:30. So I don't know if I'm going to do this on any sort of a regular basis. Maybe once in a while, but it's just a couple of miles too long for my comfort. I was hoping to be able to manage it in under an hour. I need to move someplace flat. I also need to go figure out how many calories I just burned. But first I need a shower--between yesterday's digging and today's ride I ache all over!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
133.0
I almost forgot it was Tuesday today! My weight is down slightly from last week but still hovering in the range that it's been for a long time, right in my target zone, which is fine by me. I did get to the gym yesterday for a 40-minute elliptical workout and 100 crunches. Today I haven't done any exercise yet (no appointment) but I'm not especially enthused, given that it's completely gray outside and not very warm inside. I'd be in real trouble if I didn't have gym appointments -- I would NEVER exercise unless the weather was too gorgeous to resist!
154.5
Yesterday morning I was 153.5, but of course it didn't last until today! We meant to take a walk yesterday but Dad got in a hassle with Verizon, trying to get them to send out a man to check our cable connections, and they just flat out refused. He was on the phone with them for an hour, and then called Panasonic, who said he should call Verizon, so he finally ended up sending an e-mail to Verizon. I don't know if he heard back today or not.
Anyway, the walk never happened. I am not eating between meals this week, so at least I shouldn't gain--I sort of am uneasy about Sunday!
I will try again to walk this afternoon. It is cold and gloomy!
Anyway, the walk never happened. I am not eating between meals this week, so at least I shouldn't gain--I sort of am uneasy about Sunday!
I will try again to walk this afternoon. It is cold and gloomy!
138.8
That's only .2 pounds down from last week's weight, but since THAT weight was essentially after fasting for 18 hours I consider this week's weight progress.
I just came in from digging up my garden. I know I should turn over the soil in the fall and mulch so I don't get all these weeds, but by September/October I'm just so done with the garden I never want to look at it again and I swear I'm just going to seed the whole area with grass. But I never do. Instead I spend a couple of hours in the early spring breaking my back and swearing at weeds and tree roots. I'm glad my garden is only as big as it is. Any bigger and I'd have to hire burly men to come dig it up. Or rent a tiller, I suppose. But I like the burly men idea better. Between the digging and my morning pilates I figure I've got my exercise in for the day.
I just came in from digging up my garden. I know I should turn over the soil in the fall and mulch so I don't get all these weeds, but by September/October I'm just so done with the garden I never want to look at it again and I swear I'm just going to seed the whole area with grass. But I never do. Instead I spend a couple of hours in the early spring breaking my back and swearing at weeds and tree roots. I'm glad my garden is only as big as it is. Any bigger and I'd have to hire burly men to come dig it up. Or rent a tiller, I suppose. But I like the burly men idea better. Between the digging and my morning pilates I figure I've got my exercise in for the day.
Weigh-in
Well, I was absolutely stalled on 231.8 for the past five or six days - until today, when I jumped up to 232.6. Oh Well.
I discovered these ridiculously expensive, but incredibly yummy, organic fruit and nut bars. They are called KIND. They are $1.79 at Wegmans for a bar about the size of a normal cereal or granola bar - but they are SO good. They are gluten free, high in fiber, and many are low on the GI. They are GREAT when you are craving a sweet treat. WAY more decadant than even the Kashi TLC Fruit and Nut bars. The calories aren't bad either - between 140-170 for the ones I bought. AND they are socially redeeming. KIND is a "peaceworks brand" and they give 5% of profits to One Voice - which is some hippy chick, new agey group that "empowers moderates against extremism in the Middle East." CLEARLY a liberal, "down with Bush" group!! The perfect food!
I went to the gym again last night. Yay me. I had to beat a 300 pound muscle guy off of the abs machine - but I did my abs work last night. I like abs best. WAY better than upper or lower body. I also used the treadmill like normal, but that one day off on Sunday did in my shins. They hurt so badly that I had to stop at one point (I never stop once I start!) and let them rest for a few minutes. When I resumed I had to bump the speed down from 3.9 mph to 3.5. I am doing my toe alphabets right now to hopefully prevent this from happening again tonight.
I discovered these ridiculously expensive, but incredibly yummy, organic fruit and nut bars. They are called KIND. They are $1.79 at Wegmans for a bar about the size of a normal cereal or granola bar - but they are SO good. They are gluten free, high in fiber, and many are low on the GI. They are GREAT when you are craving a sweet treat. WAY more decadant than even the Kashi TLC Fruit and Nut bars. The calories aren't bad either - between 140-170 for the ones I bought. AND they are socially redeeming. KIND is a "peaceworks brand" and they give 5% of profits to One Voice - which is some hippy chick, new agey group that "empowers moderates against extremism in the Middle East." CLEARLY a liberal, "down with Bush" group!! The perfect food!
I went to the gym again last night. Yay me. I had to beat a 300 pound muscle guy off of the abs machine - but I did my abs work last night. I like abs best. WAY better than upper or lower body. I also used the treadmill like normal, but that one day off on Sunday did in my shins. They hurt so badly that I had to stop at one point (I never stop once I start!) and let them rest for a few minutes. When I resumed I had to bump the speed down from 3.9 mph to 3.5. I am doing my toe alphabets right now to hopefully prevent this from happening again tonight.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Cotton Candy = AMAZING Restraint
Claire and I went to the circus yesterday. It was SO much fun!! I took 590 pictures - which I am narrowing down to 100 or so and posting on my smugmug - I got some good ones. Claire liked the dogs best, I likes the elephants. Hummmmmmmm.
Anyway - so we bought a bag of cotton candy when we first got there. It was all white - which I thought was kind of odd but neat. Anyway - since I have been doing pretty good on my reduced sugar quest I decided NOT to eat any... and was doing JUST fine, until Claire said "Here AA, you can have the last bite of cotton candy." First - how selfless is THAT!? What kid voluntarily gives up the last of a treat? Secondly, I am not good at saying no when someone (especially a child) offers something special. So, I said "I will have a piece, but you can have most of it." That worked out well. IT WAS VANILLA! I think it was the best cotton candy I had ever tasted. I am really glad I didn't try it sooner or I would have eaten it all!! YUM! Then, during intermission I bought popcorn which Claire and I shared and then had extra leftover. We were surrounded by a bunch of people all eating French fries, hot dogs, pizza, soft pretzels, etc. I don't know where they get their money from because the cotton candy (normally around $3) was $12 and the popcorn (normally around $4) was $7!! I can't begin to think how much the hot dogs cost!!
So, I went to the gym on Saturday after church - which meant it was around 6pm. I got a decent work out - and then Katie had dinner almost ready when I got home. It worked out beautifully. I didn't go on Friday night - but I DID get in five days between last Saturday and this past Friday, so I can cound Saturday as one day towards this week now. I didn't go yesterday. The gym closes at 7 on Sat and Sun, so I would have had to go before the circus, but I didn't manage to get my act together enough to do that yesterday. Oh well. I should be able to go pretty much anytime this week. I like that I discovered that I like working out late at night. The gym is open until 11pm M-Th (10pm on Friday). What is amazing to me is that there are more people at Brick Bodies at 10pm on a Tuesday night than there EVER were at Merritt in Cockeysville when I was there.
I have been having problems with my left ankle. I am not sure what is wrong, but it feels very sore and "grindy" on the upper outside edge of my foot. It isn't just when I am working out - or even just walking - It hurts when I am just sitting here and not putting any weight on it. I think it is actually WORST when I get out of the car after having driven somewhere. It is stiff as well as sore. I limp like a fat old lady for about 5 minutes. I don't think I did anything to it - so I am not sure why this started. It has been going on for a while now. Maybe it will get better as the weather gets warmer.
Anyway - so we bought a bag of cotton candy when we first got there. It was all white - which I thought was kind of odd but neat. Anyway - since I have been doing pretty good on my reduced sugar quest I decided NOT to eat any... and was doing JUST fine, until Claire said "Here AA, you can have the last bite of cotton candy." First - how selfless is THAT!? What kid voluntarily gives up the last of a treat? Secondly, I am not good at saying no when someone (especially a child) offers something special. So, I said "I will have a piece, but you can have most of it." That worked out well. IT WAS VANILLA! I think it was the best cotton candy I had ever tasted. I am really glad I didn't try it sooner or I would have eaten it all!! YUM! Then, during intermission I bought popcorn which Claire and I shared and then had extra leftover. We were surrounded by a bunch of people all eating French fries, hot dogs, pizza, soft pretzels, etc. I don't know where they get their money from because the cotton candy (normally around $3) was $12 and the popcorn (normally around $4) was $7!! I can't begin to think how much the hot dogs cost!!
So, I went to the gym on Saturday after church - which meant it was around 6pm. I got a decent work out - and then Katie had dinner almost ready when I got home. It worked out beautifully. I didn't go on Friday night - but I DID get in five days between last Saturday and this past Friday, so I can cound Saturday as one day towards this week now. I didn't go yesterday. The gym closes at 7 on Sat and Sun, so I would have had to go before the circus, but I didn't manage to get my act together enough to do that yesterday. Oh well. I should be able to go pretty much anytime this week. I like that I discovered that I like working out late at night. The gym is open until 11pm M-Th (10pm on Friday). What is amazing to me is that there are more people at Brick Bodies at 10pm on a Tuesday night than there EVER were at Merritt in Cockeysville when I was there.
I have been having problems with my left ankle. I am not sure what is wrong, but it feels very sore and "grindy" on the upper outside edge of my foot. It isn't just when I am working out - or even just walking - It hurts when I am just sitting here and not putting any weight on it. I think it is actually WORST when I get out of the car after having driven somewhere. It is stiff as well as sore. I limp like a fat old lady for about 5 minutes. I don't think I did anything to it - so I am not sure why this started. It has been going on for a while now. Maybe it will get better as the weather gets warmer.
Above average
I read in the paper today that the average American eats 35,000 cookies in a lifetime. With a lifetime of about 74 years that's roughly 1.3 cookies per day by my math. I strongly suspect I will end up above average, Lents notwithstanding.
I have missed exercise an absurd number of days in the last month, but at least there haven't been any long droughts. I have three appointments this week, if I can keep them all. I am anxious to get back into it -- the less I exercise the harder it is to be enthused about it.
I like treadmills
Or rather, I prefer treadmills to running outside in unpleasant weather. With the college closed this week and me determined to stick to my regularly scheduled exercise, I went running this morning after getting the kids on the bus. And it was COLD! It was 30 degrees when I checked the temperature at 7:30. I left the house about an hour later so maybe the temperature was up to 33 or 34. Right now it says it's 37 degrees but feels like 29 with the wind chill. And it was windy out there too. Not terrible, but it was a headwind heading out (the slightly uphill portion of the run), so I enjoyed the tailwind on the way home. And at least I got to give my Underarmor a chance to show what it's good for (it's a long sleeved shirt and since I just don't exercise outdoors in the cold I never had a chance to use it before). Nice stuff. And I guess it's like that old joke about eating a live toad every morning when you get up to ensure that nothing worse happens to you for the rest of the day--now that my cold run is over, I don't have to dread anything else today.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Green Home
I can't rememebr if I posted the green home link here. HGTV has the tour for the green home up now. You can start entering to win it in a week or so. I want to win this one. I don't LOVE love it - but I could totally see me living here (once I sell the car and remove the dog pictures... in the upstairs bathroom - Who decorates a bathroom with dogs?).
Last night I was divorced
I decided that abs should be divorced because it isn't as bad as upper (beheaded) or lower(died). I can stand abs. I think it is from all the years of sucking in my stomach. It is also much easier to get in a zone doing abs. I went to the gym late again last night (about 9:15pm). I did a half an hour on the treadmill and about 40 minutes of abs.
I took my 12 of 12 yesterday. Actually I think I took 66 pictures - but I am not sure if 12 of them are even salvageable. The sad thing is I kept forgetting to take pictures until I was mostly done. Since it was my day off it was a particularly uneventful day to photograph. I mean - how do you take a picture of a nap? I spent most of my day trying to recover a photo for April at work, and then also trying to run herd on my scrapbook supplies in my room. My plan is to throw everything into a really big box (maybe I should buy a new refridgertor) and then begin to sort through it all from one source. So, now I have a big box in my room in addition to my scrapbook supplies. I did some laundry and some research on what was wrong and how to fix my toilet. I made salmon cakes for dinner, and poached eggs for breakfast. I cleaned up the kitchen and got the mail. I finished the day by watching Northanger Abbey until just past midnight. VERY boring picture day!
I took my 12 of 12 yesterday. Actually I think I took 66 pictures - but I am not sure if 12 of them are even salvageable. The sad thing is I kept forgetting to take pictures until I was mostly done. Since it was my day off it was a particularly uneventful day to photograph. I mean - how do you take a picture of a nap? I spent most of my day trying to recover a photo for April at work, and then also trying to run herd on my scrapbook supplies in my room. My plan is to throw everything into a really big box (maybe I should buy a new refridgertor) and then begin to sort through it all from one source. So, now I have a big box in my room in addition to my scrapbook supplies. I did some laundry and some research on what was wrong and how to fix my toilet. I made salmon cakes for dinner, and poached eggs for breakfast. I cleaned up the kitchen and got the mail. I finished the day by watching Northanger Abbey until just past midnight. VERY boring picture day!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
When I grow up
I want to be this girl when I grow up. She sounds really neat. SUCH a hippy chick!
Here is an article that Rebecca just emailed to me about replacing refined flours and sugars. I thought it was helpful.
Be warned! I am thinking about making Easter brunch gluten and sugar free. 8-)
REFINED SUGARS and REFINED FLOURS
The average individual consumes 180 lbs a year of sugar. The “white menace” transformed the health of traditional societies introduced to the western diet. It is not just sugar. Refined sugars, white flour, pasta, various breads, soft drinks, alcohol… Did you know that the glycemic index of white bread is higher than glucose!
Refined flours and sugars are stripped of their nutrients and deplete the body of nutrition to process them particularly much needed minerals. Ingesting the calories devoid of nutrition confuses our body. Our body gets all juiced up, ready for action, without the payoff. Sally Fallon states in Nourishing Traditions, “Being almost 100 percent ‘pure’ this high calorie dynamite bombs the pancreas and pituitary gland into gushing forth a hypersecretion of hormones comparable in intensity to that artificially produced in laboratory animals with drugs and hormones.” It is a phenomenon more recently experienced in the human race and may be a culprit in a variety of endocrine, mood, digestive, and immune disorders. It is a legal drug.
You can read labels to see if refined sugars are in processed foods. Words to look for include corn syrup or sweetener, maltodextrin, dextrin, dextrose, lactose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, glucose, and high-fructose corn syrup.
The alternative may be worse! According to Mark Hyman, author of Ultrametabolism, 92% of non-industry funded studies have concluded that artificial sweeteners cause adverse health effects. You can’t trick the body!
Substituting White Flour with Whole Grains
Most flours can be substituted 1:1 for wheat flour or white flour. Quinoa makes a good substitute. Amaranth, millet and buckwheat are better when combined with rice flour or other milder tasting grain.
When substituting rice flour you need to increase moisture, use 4 parts rice flour and 1 part arrowroot to thicken it a bit. Also consider adding more eggs to the recipe to reduce crumbling baked goods. When substituting spelt, decrease the liquids by 25%. Bean flours can be substituted at the ratio 2 tblsp per 1 cup wheat flour.
When making breads, non gluten flours need additives like xanthan gum to promote leavening, due to the low gluten.
Substituting Sugar With Natural Sweeteners
This process needs some forethought when baking. You can experiment with recipes such as puddings, smoothies, buying plain yogurt and sweetening yourself.
Blue Agave Nectar (BAN): For each cup of white sugar use 2/3 of a cup of BAN and reduce other liquids by 1/3 cup. For each cup of brown sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of BAN and reduce other liquids by 1/4 cup. This may not work for all baked recipes as you are altering the liquid and solid proportions. You may want to start by replacing half the sugar in the recipe first before replacing all the sugar. Reduce the oven temperature by 15-20 degrees F when baking with BAN
Honey: For each cup of sugar, use ¾ cup honey. You will need to reduce the liquids in the recipe by ¼ cup for every cup honey added to the recipe. To counter honey’s acidity add ½ tsp baking soda for every cup of honey in the recipe. When baking with honey, reduce the temperature of the oven by 25 degrees F.
Stevia: For each cup of sugar in a recipe, use 1 tsp of ground dried stevia leaf. Stevia is green and will color the recipe. Greater alterations need to be made because you are losing bulk from the recipe. http://www.sweetleaf.com/ for recipes
Here is an article that Rebecca just emailed to me about replacing refined flours and sugars. I thought it was helpful.
Be warned! I am thinking about making Easter brunch gluten and sugar free. 8-)
REFINED SUGARS and REFINED FLOURS
The average individual consumes 180 lbs a year of sugar. The “white menace” transformed the health of traditional societies introduced to the western diet. It is not just sugar. Refined sugars, white flour, pasta, various breads, soft drinks, alcohol… Did you know that the glycemic index of white bread is higher than glucose!
Refined flours and sugars are stripped of their nutrients and deplete the body of nutrition to process them particularly much needed minerals. Ingesting the calories devoid of nutrition confuses our body. Our body gets all juiced up, ready for action, without the payoff. Sally Fallon states in Nourishing Traditions, “Being almost 100 percent ‘pure’ this high calorie dynamite bombs the pancreas and pituitary gland into gushing forth a hypersecretion of hormones comparable in intensity to that artificially produced in laboratory animals with drugs and hormones.” It is a phenomenon more recently experienced in the human race and may be a culprit in a variety of endocrine, mood, digestive, and immune disorders. It is a legal drug.
You can read labels to see if refined sugars are in processed foods. Words to look for include corn syrup or sweetener, maltodextrin, dextrin, dextrose, lactose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, glucose, and high-fructose corn syrup.
The alternative may be worse! According to Mark Hyman, author of Ultrametabolism, 92% of non-industry funded studies have concluded that artificial sweeteners cause adverse health effects. You can’t trick the body!
Substituting White Flour with Whole Grains
Most flours can be substituted 1:1 for wheat flour or white flour. Quinoa makes a good substitute. Amaranth, millet and buckwheat are better when combined with rice flour or other milder tasting grain.
When substituting rice flour you need to increase moisture, use 4 parts rice flour and 1 part arrowroot to thicken it a bit. Also consider adding more eggs to the recipe to reduce crumbling baked goods. When substituting spelt, decrease the liquids by 25%. Bean flours can be substituted at the ratio 2 tblsp per 1 cup wheat flour.
When making breads, non gluten flours need additives like xanthan gum to promote leavening, due to the low gluten.
Substituting Sugar With Natural Sweeteners
This process needs some forethought when baking. You can experiment with recipes such as puddings, smoothies, buying plain yogurt and sweetening yourself.
Blue Agave Nectar (BAN): For each cup of white sugar use 2/3 of a cup of BAN and reduce other liquids by 1/3 cup. For each cup of brown sugar replaced, use 2/3 of a cup of BAN and reduce other liquids by 1/4 cup. This may not work for all baked recipes as you are altering the liquid and solid proportions. You may want to start by replacing half the sugar in the recipe first before replacing all the sugar. Reduce the oven temperature by 15-20 degrees F when baking with BAN
Honey: For each cup of sugar, use ¾ cup honey. You will need to reduce the liquids in the recipe by ¼ cup for every cup honey added to the recipe. To counter honey’s acidity add ½ tsp baking soda for every cup of honey in the recipe. When baking with honey, reduce the temperature of the oven by 25 degrees F.
Stevia: For each cup of sugar in a recipe, use 1 tsp of ground dried stevia leaf. Stevia is green and will color the recipe. Greater alterations need to be made because you are losing bulk from the recipe. http://www.sweetleaf.com/ for recipes
This morning I weighed 155.5. I had seen 155 even a few days ago but it crept up--even though we took a good walk yesterday. I really have to almost starve myself to lose anything!
This morning at my OLLI classes I weakened and had a small oatmeal/choc chip cookie and a Hershey's kiss. I had said I would only have coffee, but those goodies are so tempting, laid out on a table--all you can eat (within reason) for a dollar! And that includes the coffee, so if I pay to have the coffee I than am tempted to eat as well.
My classes today were great---English music and African Art. I thought the latter might be boring. It wasn't!!! I had only signed on for that for the first four weeks and then registered to switch to a course on Hamlet, but I hope I can change my registration.
Yesterday we had our first class on the Andes, and it was very good, too.
This morning at my OLLI classes I weakened and had a small oatmeal/choc chip cookie and a Hershey's kiss. I had said I would only have coffee, but those goodies are so tempting, laid out on a table--all you can eat (within reason) for a dollar! And that includes the coffee, so if I pay to have the coffee I than am tempted to eat as well.
My classes today were great---English music and African Art. I thought the latter might be boring. It wasn't!!! I had only signed on for that for the first four weeks and then registered to switch to a course on Hamlet, but I hope I can change my registration.
Yesterday we had our first class on the Andes, and it was very good, too.
Divorced, beheaded, died...
Whenever I have a list of six or seven items in my head, I always start to think divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. So my list has been exercise the past few days - Lower, Upper, Abs, Lower, Upper, Abs, Yoga. Then today it struck me funny how appropriate it was for exercise - Well, at least the upper landing on beheaded - and the yoga should land on survived - but there are seven days in the week, and only six wives. I am already thrown off though. I was thinking that Yoga should land on my day of rest - which should either be Wednesday or a weekend day - but, it is too easy for me to get to the gym on my days off - and not so easy during the week. I went last night at 10pm. I had planned to go at 9, but got involved on hooking up a wireless router so Laura can access the internet on her laptop. (Which, BTW Emily, never did work - the set up disc kept stalling at different steps - but I at least figured out that Verizon DOES have PPPoE and what my account is...I will try again tonight.)
This morning Katie and I had Gluten Free waffles for breakfast with yogurt and strawberries. I made syrup with the agave and a drop of maple extract. It tasted JUST like maple syrup. I was so darn smug. I was telling Katie that I remember when I was doing Atkins (ugh! NEVER do Atkins!) and eating Splenda (ugh! Never eat Splenda!) that I think our bodies are smarter than we give them credit for. When food tastes sweet - but is sweetened with non sugar - you can tell the difference. Or I can anyway. We talk about a sugar rush - not thinking that it really is an actual response to a substance. It would be the same as drinking a non-alcoholic beer. Sure, you don't get drunk after one beer, but your body does respond to the alcohol. If you try to trick yourself into thinking you are drinking beer - but aren't - your body would be saying "hey! did you forget something?" That is how I always felt eating Splenda, I could TELL (I mean besides it tasting like crap!) that something was missing. I can tell the same thing with the agave - but it tastes SO much better that it doesn't bother me.
This morning Katie and I had Gluten Free waffles for breakfast with yogurt and strawberries. I made syrup with the agave and a drop of maple extract. It tasted JUST like maple syrup. I was so darn smug. I was telling Katie that I remember when I was doing Atkins (ugh! NEVER do Atkins!) and eating Splenda (ugh! Never eat Splenda!) that I think our bodies are smarter than we give them credit for. When food tastes sweet - but is sweetened with non sugar - you can tell the difference. Or I can anyway. We talk about a sugar rush - not thinking that it really is an actual response to a substance. It would be the same as drinking a non-alcoholic beer. Sure, you don't get drunk after one beer, but your body does respond to the alcohol. If you try to trick yourself into thinking you are drinking beer - but aren't - your body would be saying "hey! did you forget something?" That is how I always felt eating Splenda, I could TELL (I mean besides it tasting like crap!) that something was missing. I can tell the same thing with the agave - but it tastes SO much better that it doesn't bother me.
134
I saw 132 this week, my lowest on record, but it was a minor fluke. I'm still quite happy with my weight. The exercise this week has been less than ideal; I missed the weekend, but I was supposed to go to the gym yesterday and couldn't because Mary had a stomach virus. Ugh. She's better today, but I couldn't get an appointment for today! I couldn't get one for next Tuesday, either, unless I was willing to take one fairly late, so I passed on that as well. Phooey. Last week I tried calling very early on Tuesday and couldn't even get through -- today I forgot until later but the result was the same. I wish my getting decent exercise didn't depend on other people's childcare schedules!
And on the other hand...
...if my weight drops like a stone we can also blame the Chinese food. I was 139 this morning, largely, I think, because I didn't really eat last night. 95% of the food choices were of the deep-fried variety, most of them with that gross red sauce that I think looks like jelly and all of them then stuck under heat lamps to make them even more unappetizing. I had plain white rice, steamed vegetables, and one bite of barbequed chicken (it was dry and tough, which is why I didn't have bite #2). I planned to eat real food when I got home, but I got home at 8:00 and immediately started in on the homework-bathtime-medication-bedtime routine. By the time that was finished I wasn't really hungry. I didn't really get hungry until after I was in bed, and sleep is always my priority so I didn't get up and have anything to eat.
This morning I'm making up for it--I got a "thank you for volunteering" cupcake delivered to my office this morning and I just snarfed it down.
This morning I'm making up for it--I got a "thank you for volunteering" cupcake delivered to my office this morning and I just snarfed it down.
Monday, March 10, 2008
For the record...
...my weight the past three days has been 140.6, 140.4, and 140.6. I bring this up because in 15 minutes I have to leave for one of our scholarship fundraisers, this one being held at a Chinese restaurant. Dinner is a buffet. And while I'm fairly certain I can keep my portions in check (not being a huge fan of Chinese food) I know that every time I eat it I retain water like a camel. So if I'm 145 tomorrow morning, it's the Chinese food and not me!
Update
Peter's friend Brian is having an amazing recovery. He will most likely be transferred to Kernan Hospital for rehab today or tomorrow. He's unplugged from all the cords at the hospital expect the little one they stick on your finger, and he's eating, drinking, and doing a little walking and talking. His hearing is really screwed up, but the drs say that will pass because it is just fluid build up. It is really all quite fantastic. We visited most of the day Friday and then again on Saturday and Sunday and each day showed marked improvement. Yesterday was the first day he had a headache though. Brian's sense of humor has rebounded because when they asked him what level his pain was on a scale of 1 to 10 he held up 2 fingers...then 5 fingers...then 2 fingers, so 252.
Totally unrelated, we went to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Center Saturday night. You've GOT to go. It is so interesting to see inside the human body like that.
Totally unrelated, we went to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Center Saturday night. You've GOT to go. It is so interesting to see inside the human body like that.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Star Charts
It worked for me last spring... I am making another star chart for me. For every 15 minutes of exercise I get a star (I think I did 10 minutes last year because I was addicted to the 10 minute videos - but if I DO dig out the 10 minute videos I will still give myself a star). I will make another one for fruits and vegetables and fiber. Rebecca wants me to consume 35g of fiber a day. I wasn't really worried about that too much because I eat whole grains for everything - but most of the whole grain things are only about 4g of fiber per serving. Whole fruits and vegetables are also fibrous - but again - it takes a lot to get to 35 grams. So, I pulled out my fiber mix in stuff and will be adding it to my water. That is 5g per TEASPOON. I can do that.
I have been to the gym two days in a row now. I was having a problem with my shins hurting yesterday - so I did my toe alphabets this morning and was fine today. I was horrified at how WEAK I felt after today's workout. I did upper body. I was fine during the workout, but afterwards I was having problems moving my arms. It was my JOINTS that were weak too - not the muscles. Maybe once I get blood flowing through them again it won't be so bad.
Rebecca also told me to pay attention to my refined sugar/HFCS intake. The only thing that Katie and I can pinpoint as sugar in my diet is my afternoon coffee. She recommended blue agave nectar - which I heard of and figured was something gross like Stevia (I would rather have NOTHING than stevia). Anyway, I bought some at Wegmans (agave, not stevia) and was delighted to discover that it is actually tasty! It is lighter tasting than sugar. Katie said it tastes just like simple syrup. So far I have had that in my coffee twice and it is just fine. The first day I had it with vanilla extract - but that actually wasn't so good, so I think I will stick with just the plain agave. Now I need to figure out how to cook with it. I think I can do French toast. I will have to see what else I can do. Calorie wise, agave seems the same as sugar to me (60 per tablespoon) but it is much lower on the glycemic index - which basically means our bodies don't treat it like sugar.
Sarah, my goals aren't anywhere near as noble as yours. I just want to be able to continue to go up and down my stairs, and not get stuck in the bathtub. But, like you I am concerned about the future. I really don't want to be one of those people that can't leave the house, and when I die they will have to remove me with a crane. I am not joking about this. I sometimes feel like Veruka Salt, blowing up like a giant blueberry right before my eyes. I currently can still get in and out of the bathtub, but at the rate I am going I WON'T be able to in a few years.
I have been to the gym two days in a row now. I was having a problem with my shins hurting yesterday - so I did my toe alphabets this morning and was fine today. I was horrified at how WEAK I felt after today's workout. I did upper body. I was fine during the workout, but afterwards I was having problems moving my arms. It was my JOINTS that were weak too - not the muscles. Maybe once I get blood flowing through them again it won't be so bad.
Rebecca also told me to pay attention to my refined sugar/HFCS intake. The only thing that Katie and I can pinpoint as sugar in my diet is my afternoon coffee. She recommended blue agave nectar - which I heard of and figured was something gross like Stevia (I would rather have NOTHING than stevia). Anyway, I bought some at Wegmans (agave, not stevia) and was delighted to discover that it is actually tasty! It is lighter tasting than sugar. Katie said it tastes just like simple syrup. So far I have had that in my coffee twice and it is just fine. The first day I had it with vanilla extract - but that actually wasn't so good, so I think I will stick with just the plain agave. Now I need to figure out how to cook with it. I think I can do French toast. I will have to see what else I can do. Calorie wise, agave seems the same as sugar to me (60 per tablespoon) but it is much lower on the glycemic index - which basically means our bodies don't treat it like sugar.
Sarah, my goals aren't anywhere near as noble as yours. I just want to be able to continue to go up and down my stairs, and not get stuck in the bathtub. But, like you I am concerned about the future. I really don't want to be one of those people that can't leave the house, and when I die they will have to remove me with a crane. I am not joking about this. I sometimes feel like Veruka Salt, blowing up like a giant blueberry right before my eyes. I currently can still get in and out of the bathtub, but at the rate I am going I WON'T be able to in a few years.
Bicycle riding and roller skating
Yesterday we were enjoying the temporary spring weather during the day. I cleaned the porch and picked up the winter debris in the yard. Claire pulled out her bike and spent an hour or so riding until the rain got so bad that she couldn't keep going. After a full four or five months of not riding her bike and still being fairly new to it even at that point, I was worried she would have difficulties getting into the swing of it again, but I was wrong. That's how bike riding is. Kind of like swimming. You can stop doing it for years and years and pick it back up again in about three seconds.
So why isn't that true of roller skating? I used to roller skate all the time in late grade school and through middle school. There was a time when I'd go once a week and I could skate backwards and do that crossover thing with your feet to go around corners and link arms with friends and all skate in a row. Yesterday with the Brownies it took a full half hour to feel comfortable on the skates again, and it wasn't until the very end of the session that I was sure enough on my feet to increase my speed a bit. I've had the same experience ice skating in recent years, only worse because I never did it much to begin with. I wonder if it's just a center of gravity thing? The skates stay the same size no matter how tall you get, but the bike grows with you. And maybe swimming would be easier as you grow--more surface area for the water to support!
In any event, I'm not sure how much actual exercise I got yesterday. It WAS an hour and a half of skating, and we were out there most of the time, but going so slowly for most of that time that it wasn't hard work. But it wasn't anything like running three miles. To make up for it, I walked the dog when we got home. This makes two weeks in a row of exercising six days straight.
So why isn't that true of roller skating? I used to roller skate all the time in late grade school and through middle school. There was a time when I'd go once a week and I could skate backwards and do that crossover thing with your feet to go around corners and link arms with friends and all skate in a row. Yesterday with the Brownies it took a full half hour to feel comfortable on the skates again, and it wasn't until the very end of the session that I was sure enough on my feet to increase my speed a bit. I've had the same experience ice skating in recent years, only worse because I never did it much to begin with. I wonder if it's just a center of gravity thing? The skates stay the same size no matter how tall you get, but the bike grows with you. And maybe swimming would be easier as you grow--more surface area for the water to support!
In any event, I'm not sure how much actual exercise I got yesterday. It WAS an hour and a half of skating, and we were out there most of the time, but going so slowly for most of that time that it wasn't hard work. But it wasn't anything like running three miles. To make up for it, I walked the dog when we got home. This makes two weeks in a row of exercising six days straight.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Motivation
Julie's post about Peter's friend and my re-reading of the first several months of this blog yesterday have got me to thinking again about my/our motivation and goals. We don't talk a lot about this anymore, and I know that when I lose track of WHY I started eating well and exercising I tend to stop doing it. Especially since at some point it became less about weight loss and more about ongoing good health, the goals aren't as easy to see or reach for me.
Right now I'm not especially motivated by weight loss. Even though I'm more than ten pounds up from my lowest weight, my fitness level is better now than it was when I was at that lowest weight--I'm stronger and have more endurance and more energy, so I'm o.k. with my weight now (and it doesn't hurt that the clothes I got for my low weight fit just fine at 140!). Back in September when I started weightlifting in addition to running, my motivation spoke a lot to what Julie was talking about--being there for people when they need you. Specifically Connor, in my case, and more particularly just being able to physically haul him around! At that point he was wanting to be lifted up onto people's shoulders so he could play with the ceiling fans and he had gotten so heavy that I just couldn't do it anymore. And then I realized that it wasn't just about ceiling fans--he's not going anywhere anytime soon, and I owe it to him to stay alive as long as I possibly can, and to stay physically able to care for him as long as I possibly can. And I owe the same to Brian--I'm always after him to eat better and exercise more because I don't want him to die young (he's now only ten years younger than his mother was when she died) and leave me as the sole provider for two kids. If I'm going to ask that of him, I owe the same back to him.
It's thoughts like that that keep me motivated to do things I don't especially like to do. It's kind of like work--it's not something that really motivates me or drives me in itself, but I know that I have to work in order to be able to enjoy the things that DO motivate me and keep me happy. But at the same time balance plays a big part in my life--I don't ever want to work another job where my boss tells me that if my son is going to be sick so much I should hire a nanny so I don't have to miss work. When I looked for a new job, I made it perfectly clear (to myself and potential employers) that my family was my priority--I'll do my job and do it well, but I'll leave at 5:00 because my job isn't my life.
It was a lot easier when my goal was just to get to the next five pound mark so I could reward myself with new scrapbook supplies. These longer-term, more nebulous goals are easier to blow off--at 2:00 today when I'm supposed to go to the gym, am I going to care more about the four grants that are due on Monday or that I want to be not only alive when I'm 90 but also able to walk around?
Right now I'm not especially motivated by weight loss. Even though I'm more than ten pounds up from my lowest weight, my fitness level is better now than it was when I was at that lowest weight--I'm stronger and have more endurance and more energy, so I'm o.k. with my weight now (and it doesn't hurt that the clothes I got for my low weight fit just fine at 140!). Back in September when I started weightlifting in addition to running, my motivation spoke a lot to what Julie was talking about--being there for people when they need you. Specifically Connor, in my case, and more particularly just being able to physically haul him around! At that point he was wanting to be lifted up onto people's shoulders so he could play with the ceiling fans and he had gotten so heavy that I just couldn't do it anymore. And then I realized that it wasn't just about ceiling fans--he's not going anywhere anytime soon, and I owe it to him to stay alive as long as I possibly can, and to stay physically able to care for him as long as I possibly can. And I owe the same to Brian--I'm always after him to eat better and exercise more because I don't want him to die young (he's now only ten years younger than his mother was when she died) and leave me as the sole provider for two kids. If I'm going to ask that of him, I owe the same back to him.
It's thoughts like that that keep me motivated to do things I don't especially like to do. It's kind of like work--it's not something that really motivates me or drives me in itself, but I know that I have to work in order to be able to enjoy the things that DO motivate me and keep me happy. But at the same time balance plays a big part in my life--I don't ever want to work another job where my boss tells me that if my son is going to be sick so much I should hire a nanny so I don't have to miss work. When I looked for a new job, I made it perfectly clear (to myself and potential employers) that my family was my priority--I'll do my job and do it well, but I'll leave at 5:00 because my job isn't my life.
It was a lot easier when my goal was just to get to the next five pound mark so I could reward myself with new scrapbook supplies. These longer-term, more nebulous goals are easier to blow off--at 2:00 today when I'm supposed to go to the gym, am I going to care more about the four grants that are due on Monday or that I want to be not only alive when I'm 90 but also able to walk around?
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Random Thoughts
Amy, I'm glad you aren't throwing in the towel and I'm glad Rebecca was able to give you the boost you needed. And please don't go back to smoking; I like you better fat than stinky. (Please laugh at that)
Today has been a crazy day. Brian, a guy Peter works with, was seriously injured last night on the way to a fire. They went around a corner and he fell from the engine. He is in Shock Trauma right now with multiple skull fractures, bleeding and swelling in his brain. The fracture in the back of his head where it impacted the pavement is so severe the bone fragments nicked the carotid artery. I pray he is ok. Peter was so shook up today; he was in the back of the truck with him when it happened. Then the uppers in the fire dept were real jerks and made the guys clean up Brian's blood at the scene before they could go to the hospital to see their buddy. Truly hateful in my opinion. Peter spent most of the day at the hospital, but did come home for a spell and I came home too. It has been a long time since I have heard such despair in his voice and I knew being alone was hard on him. I got him to take a short nap before he had to be back at work at 3 pm.
When something like this happens close to home, you can't help but to adjust the perspective on events in your own life. That could have been Peter, and my world would have collapsed in a way that it frightens me to explain. And when I think about it, I wouldn't be any more prepared for it if I were 10 or 20 lbs lighter, or if I exercised 4 times a week (both things I dream about,) so at the end of the day, tell the people in your life that matter to you that you care about them, because they love you as you are and they will be by your side when you need them. It comes down to what makes you happy, and you have to hold that close to you because it can be gone in an instant. I started to learn this lesson when my mother passed away from cancer, and today it just kept popping back up in my head when I thought about Peter's friend and all the other stresses in my life right now. Our daily actions should be directed towards increasing our happiness and satisfaction with our lives and who we are as people. Anything else is truly just wasted time. I acknowledge that most of us have to work at jobs that aren't 100% aligned with this thinking to be able to do the things we like, but there should be a line drawn where work stays at work and doesn't spill over into other areas of our lives. The things that stress me most have little to do with my happiness and more to do with how I am viewed by others. It just isn't worth it.
So call those you care about and just say hello, hug your kids, your cat, your dog, and do something that you've been wanting to do for a while. I plan to wait for a call from Peter, call my sister, and then plop on the couch with my beagle and a book I've wanted to read forever but haven't had the time, and I am going to read it cover to cover and no one is going to make me feel like it is a waste of time. I've put in 10+ hour days this week at JMT, and had class 2 nights. I'm done until Monday.
So with that, take care, I love you all and be safe in your journeys. I hope you all can find the time to do something that makes you happy. Oh--and put in a prayer for Brian.
Today has been a crazy day. Brian, a guy Peter works with, was seriously injured last night on the way to a fire. They went around a corner and he fell from the engine. He is in Shock Trauma right now with multiple skull fractures, bleeding and swelling in his brain. The fracture in the back of his head where it impacted the pavement is so severe the bone fragments nicked the carotid artery. I pray he is ok. Peter was so shook up today; he was in the back of the truck with him when it happened. Then the uppers in the fire dept were real jerks and made the guys clean up Brian's blood at the scene before they could go to the hospital to see their buddy. Truly hateful in my opinion. Peter spent most of the day at the hospital, but did come home for a spell and I came home too. It has been a long time since I have heard such despair in his voice and I knew being alone was hard on him. I got him to take a short nap before he had to be back at work at 3 pm.
When something like this happens close to home, you can't help but to adjust the perspective on events in your own life. That could have been Peter, and my world would have collapsed in a way that it frightens me to explain. And when I think about it, I wouldn't be any more prepared for it if I were 10 or 20 lbs lighter, or if I exercised 4 times a week (both things I dream about,) so at the end of the day, tell the people in your life that matter to you that you care about them, because they love you as you are and they will be by your side when you need them. It comes down to what makes you happy, and you have to hold that close to you because it can be gone in an instant. I started to learn this lesson when my mother passed away from cancer, and today it just kept popping back up in my head when I thought about Peter's friend and all the other stresses in my life right now. Our daily actions should be directed towards increasing our happiness and satisfaction with our lives and who we are as people. Anything else is truly just wasted time. I acknowledge that most of us have to work at jobs that aren't 100% aligned with this thinking to be able to do the things we like, but there should be a line drawn where work stays at work and doesn't spill over into other areas of our lives. The things that stress me most have little to do with my happiness and more to do with how I am viewed by others. It just isn't worth it.
So call those you care about and just say hello, hug your kids, your cat, your dog, and do something that you've been wanting to do for a while. I plan to wait for a call from Peter, call my sister, and then plop on the couch with my beagle and a book I've wanted to read forever but haven't had the time, and I am going to read it cover to cover and no one is going to make me feel like it is a waste of time. I've put in 10+ hour days this week at JMT, and had class 2 nights. I'm done until Monday.
So with that, take care, I love you all and be safe in your journeys. I hope you all can find the time to do something that makes you happy. Oh--and put in a prayer for Brian.
Thyroid, Stress, Metabolism
Thanks for your comments Vicki! I really do appreciate your input. And - you are entirely right, for most people an increase in activity and a decrease in calories DOES do the trick. It is what I first recommend to people who I know are trying to lose weight. That is the general formula that should work. I am always delighted to hear that people DO acheive success. Please, don't let my periodic frustrations discourage you from contributing. Don't think I am giving up either. Just because the eat less, exercise more thing didn't work for me doesn't mean SOMETHING won't eventually. I live in hope... 8-)
Speaking of hope. I love Rebecca! (Vicki - Rebecca is my new age, hippy chick nutritionist that I have been going to since July.) I went to see her yesterday in the midst of my discouraged and defensive mood. I was all ready to tell her that this ain't working and why should we be wasting our time. She, once again, got me back on track and gave me some good information. She told me that first of all, my story ISN'T all that unusual. She councils several women that have made major life changes but still can't lose weight. She (Rebecca) hates our society's way of first, overstating the obesity problem in the country (www.obesitymyths.com), secondly, making people feel like weight is the only issue, (she said that you can tell I am a healthy person just by looking at me!) and third, that if you don't lose weight it is your fault. She HATES the phrase eat less, exercise more - that isn't a cure all, but people are made to think it is, and if they aren't losing weight THEY are doing something wrong. She loves that I have this blog as a support system - because she says external support is very important - but she says I need a support group of people who are going through what I am going through. She is going to see what she can find for me along those lines. She didn't exactly say that I need to stop blogging (well, she did - but I think she more meant to stop worrying so much about what I am reporting and what you all are reporting. I took it to mean not to be discouraged by what I read on this blog. Support should be supportive, and if it isn't then it is counter productive.
So - after my last meeting with her she have me do several evaluations to determine what might be my barriers may be. They came back (in this order) Thyroid, Stress, and Metabolism. I was surprised that stress outranked metabolism - but I guess it isn't THAT much of a surprise. Most of my health issues are fundamentally related to the way I handle stress... headaches, stomach distress, muscle pain (not from exercise!). So she has a plan for me to attack these three areas. I don't remember what they are exactly (other than she wants me to take a seaweed supplement and meditate daily) but I have the list at home. She DID tell me that since I like to track things she wants me to shoot for 35g of fiber a day. I can't remember if that is for my thyroid or for my metabolism. I don't think it is for stress...
I told her my new plan was to start getting up at 5:30am and exercising before I leave for work since I am too tired by the time I get home. She said ABSOLUTELY not. She said that I need to eat before I do anything like exercise and I wouldn't have enough time to eat breakfast before an early morning workout. She wants me to try to go back to doing a lunch workout. Brick Bodies has a gym right across from the other TESSCO building so I should be able to go there during the day. My fear is that I will run into someone from work. I decided that I would be less like to bump into people early in the day than late in the day - so I am going to start trying to go around 10am or 2pm.
Finally, and in conclusion, I just found out that we have changed our insurance plan so that nutritional councelling is covered! I will be able to go to her for the cost of a co-pay. YAY!!
Speaking of hope. I love Rebecca! (Vicki - Rebecca is my new age, hippy chick nutritionist that I have been going to since July.) I went to see her yesterday in the midst of my discouraged and defensive mood. I was all ready to tell her that this ain't working and why should we be wasting our time. She, once again, got me back on track and gave me some good information. She told me that first of all, my story ISN'T all that unusual. She councils several women that have made major life changes but still can't lose weight. She (Rebecca) hates our society's way of first, overstating the obesity problem in the country (www.obesitymyths.com), secondly, making people feel like weight is the only issue, (she said that you can tell I am a healthy person just by looking at me!) and third, that if you don't lose weight it is your fault. She HATES the phrase eat less, exercise more - that isn't a cure all, but people are made to think it is, and if they aren't losing weight THEY are doing something wrong. She loves that I have this blog as a support system - because she says external support is very important - but she says I need a support group of people who are going through what I am going through. She is going to see what she can find for me along those lines. She didn't exactly say that I need to stop blogging (well, she did - but I think she more meant to stop worrying so much about what I am reporting and what you all are reporting. I took it to mean not to be discouraged by what I read on this blog. Support should be supportive, and if it isn't then it is counter productive.
So - after my last meeting with her she have me do several evaluations to determine what might be my barriers may be. They came back (in this order) Thyroid, Stress, and Metabolism. I was surprised that stress outranked metabolism - but I guess it isn't THAT much of a surprise. Most of my health issues are fundamentally related to the way I handle stress... headaches, stomach distress, muscle pain (not from exercise!). So she has a plan for me to attack these three areas. I don't remember what they are exactly (other than she wants me to take a seaweed supplement and meditate daily) but I have the list at home. She DID tell me that since I like to track things she wants me to shoot for 35g of fiber a day. I can't remember if that is for my thyroid or for my metabolism. I don't think it is for stress...
I told her my new plan was to start getting up at 5:30am and exercising before I leave for work since I am too tired by the time I get home. She said ABSOLUTELY not. She said that I need to eat before I do anything like exercise and I wouldn't have enough time to eat breakfast before an early morning workout. She wants me to try to go back to doing a lunch workout. Brick Bodies has a gym right across from the other TESSCO building so I should be able to go there during the day. My fear is that I will run into someone from work. I decided that I would be less like to bump into people early in the day than late in the day - so I am going to start trying to go around 10am or 2pm.
Finally, and in conclusion, I just found out that we have changed our insurance plan so that nutritional councelling is covered! I will be able to go to her for the cost of a co-pay. YAY!!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
still 156
I have been reading Vicki's and Sarah's comments on consistency of diet and exercise and I couldn't agree more! The one time in recent history that I successfully lost weight was the year I got up every morning and walked 2 3/4 miles and then went to an aerobics class three times a week. I gave up the aerobics when my knee started getting worse and my motivation failed. I also had given up desserts and alcohol. I'm trying to get back into the walking, which will be easier as it gets warmer. Tuesday morning I weighed in at 156, thereby maintaining the weight I lost last week when I was sick. But I backslid last night and had some popcorn and 4 Hershey kisses. I was up 1/2 pound today. Most days I have cut out a bedtime snack.
I walked Monday and yesterday, but yesterday I had to cut it short when I had to get home in a hurry for the bathroom! Dad finished the whole route, bless his heart.
I have been trying for two days to clean the family room, but I am held up by Dad having to go through his mess, very slowly! I am doing it in small increments.
I walked Monday and yesterday, but yesterday I had to cut it short when I had to get home in a hurry for the bathroom! Dad finished the whole route, bless his heart.
I have been trying for two days to clean the family room, but I am held up by Dad having to go through his mess, very slowly! I am doing it in small increments.
Consistency
Sarah - if you really want me to read what you write don't start off with "this will piss you off." I won't read it. I learned that the hard way. I did, however, after not reading it - go back and read it - which is how I knew you referenced the Amish "diet." The only part that pissed me off, was you saying that it would piss me off.
Yes - I will be the first to admit that my life isn't as active as yours or Emily's. Kids DO have that affect. While I would consider having a dog for forced activity in my life, I really DO leave my house around 7am and don't get home until 8pm and so that isn't fair to any pet. Besides, dogs really smell. So, barring that, formalized exercise is it. Ugh. I agree with you completely, that light, 20 minute walks won't do it for me. When I DO exercise it is pretty intense 45 minutes fast walks on an incline (Alpine Pass being my favorite). And I actually LIKE doing resistance training. I even liked doing the boxing. You are right though, that I don't sustain an exercise routine. The best I ever did was when I was going to Merritt on my lunch breaks, what - three years ago? Or four? That I DID sustain. I only stopped when Dad went into the hospital. I don't know what kind of impact it had on my weight because I wasn't actually weighing myself at the time. I would weigh in on the scales in the gym on Mondays - but that wasn't at any set time or anything. I do know that I was over 200 at the time, because I was always careful to put the weight thingy back to zero so people wouldn't know I was over 200. I don't know how much over I was though... I think around 210. It never went down.
As to food consistency, I am VERY consistent. I have had so little variety in my diet in the past 10 years that I half think THAT is the problem. Yes, I eat out WAY more than you do - but not more than Katie does, and not as often as once a week by any stretch. When we do eat out we pack up half of the meal at the beginning. I don't eat fried foods - they make me sick. I don't eat lunches out. I pack my lunch every single day. I don't always eat it, but I bring it every day. The people at work don't even invite me to go with them anymore, because I never do! We have had a new person running the deli at work for two years now, and I have not eaten at it one single time! I haven't had Coldstone since I don't remember when - maybe my birthday last year? I didn't go for my birthday this year. I forgot. I do drink Starbucks and Caribou - but how is a skim vanilla latte from there any different than making it at home - it is espresso with skim milk and a shot of vanilla flavor. And I don't do that every day either - who can afford to??? Even when I "tweak" my diet by doing Fat Flush or Atkins (NEVER would suggest that, I have never felt so gross in all my life!) those are generally a variation on what Katie and I eat normally. The "diet" I have done most frequently is the meal plans on the Glucerna website - and those menus are based on healthy eating - they are just planned out by someone else. When we haven't printed those menu plans out. we are following the same general structure. I can honestly say my eating habits are the one part of this that I feel VERY comfortable with. I eat well. You can't convince me otherwise. If Katie were still on this blog, she would agree with me. Yes, she would have too - she eats the same as me. I HAVE tracked my calories consistantly - even the eating out ones - and I DO naturally tend towards 1700 calories. You say 500 calories for a salad like it is a bad thing. 500 calories for a lunch would leave me with just 1500 calories to go. TRY - just one day - eating 2000+ calories, in a balanced healthy way. It is HARD. A 500 calorie salad sounds like a really good idea to me!!
I do work long days. It is very unusual for me to get home much before 8 - and then only if Katie calls me at 7 and says she is eating dinner without me if I don't leave. But - you are right, that leaves me with three hours a day that I can do something. Sadly, exercising vigorously for an hour - or even three hours - once a week doesn't do it... but it would be a start.
Yes - I will be the first to admit that my life isn't as active as yours or Emily's. Kids DO have that affect. While I would consider having a dog for forced activity in my life, I really DO leave my house around 7am and don't get home until 8pm and so that isn't fair to any pet. Besides, dogs really smell. So, barring that, formalized exercise is it. Ugh. I agree with you completely, that light, 20 minute walks won't do it for me. When I DO exercise it is pretty intense 45 minutes fast walks on an incline (Alpine Pass being my favorite). And I actually LIKE doing resistance training. I even liked doing the boxing. You are right though, that I don't sustain an exercise routine. The best I ever did was when I was going to Merritt on my lunch breaks, what - three years ago? Or four? That I DID sustain. I only stopped when Dad went into the hospital. I don't know what kind of impact it had on my weight because I wasn't actually weighing myself at the time. I would weigh in on the scales in the gym on Mondays - but that wasn't at any set time or anything. I do know that I was over 200 at the time, because I was always careful to put the weight thingy back to zero so people wouldn't know I was over 200. I don't know how much over I was though... I think around 210. It never went down.
As to food consistency, I am VERY consistent. I have had so little variety in my diet in the past 10 years that I half think THAT is the problem. Yes, I eat out WAY more than you do - but not more than Katie does, and not as often as once a week by any stretch. When we do eat out we pack up half of the meal at the beginning. I don't eat fried foods - they make me sick. I don't eat lunches out. I pack my lunch every single day. I don't always eat it, but I bring it every day. The people at work don't even invite me to go with them anymore, because I never do! We have had a new person running the deli at work for two years now, and I have not eaten at it one single time! I haven't had Coldstone since I don't remember when - maybe my birthday last year? I didn't go for my birthday this year. I forgot. I do drink Starbucks and Caribou - but how is a skim vanilla latte from there any different than making it at home - it is espresso with skim milk and a shot of vanilla flavor. And I don't do that every day either - who can afford to??? Even when I "tweak" my diet by doing Fat Flush or Atkins (NEVER would suggest that, I have never felt so gross in all my life!) those are generally a variation on what Katie and I eat normally. The "diet" I have done most frequently is the meal plans on the Glucerna website - and those menus are based on healthy eating - they are just planned out by someone else. When we haven't printed those menu plans out. we are following the same general structure. I can honestly say my eating habits are the one part of this that I feel VERY comfortable with. I eat well. You can't convince me otherwise. If Katie were still on this blog, she would agree with me. Yes, she would have too - she eats the same as me. I HAVE tracked my calories consistantly - even the eating out ones - and I DO naturally tend towards 1700 calories. You say 500 calories for a salad like it is a bad thing. 500 calories for a lunch would leave me with just 1500 calories to go. TRY - just one day - eating 2000+ calories, in a balanced healthy way. It is HARD. A 500 calorie salad sounds like a really good idea to me!!
I do work long days. It is very unusual for me to get home much before 8 - and then only if Katie calls me at 7 and says she is eating dinner without me if I don't leave. But - you are right, that leaves me with three hours a day that I can do something. Sadly, exercising vigorously for an hour - or even three hours - once a week doesn't do it... but it would be a start.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Poor Charlotte
And her boiler's to be had out!
I am turning into Poor Charlotte! OK - After my previous rant I decided that tonight would be a good night to order panty hose since mine are shot and Easter is coming up. I have been wearing Q size panty hose pretty much ever since I got to be as tall as I am. I suppose briefly I was still wearing size B, but then I discovered - even before I got fat! that the Q pantyhose actually come up past mid-hip on me. It was a revelation. Anyway - so I was considering ordering Hanes hose this time around (I usually get L'eggs because they seem to be tougher and last through more than one wearing - sometimes). So I decided to look on the Hanes sizing chart. I WASN'T EVEN ON IT! Apparently, I can only wear Hanes at 5'8 if I weight 155 or less. So, I checked L'eggs - I can weigh as much as 180 on their charts. So I did their perfect hosiery
finder search. That brought me to Plus size pantyhose. On THOSE charts - being 5'8" I have to wear a 3X - on both the Hanes AND the JMS!!! THREE EX!!!! That was the size of pants that the enormous woman who ran the East Hampton Historic Society wore. She left a pair at the farm and Karla and I each got into one leg of them, because she wasn't very nice and so we were being mean behind her back. MY WHOLE BODY could fit in one of the pants legs when I was 22! I can't possibly be that big! I was SURE that woman (I can't remember her name - in addition to being mockingly fat, my memory is going - Poor Charlotte!) weighed AT LEAST three hundred pounds!
I am turning into Poor Charlotte! OK - After my previous rant I decided that tonight would be a good night to order panty hose since mine are shot and Easter is coming up. I have been wearing Q size panty hose pretty much ever since I got to be as tall as I am. I suppose briefly I was still wearing size B, but then I discovered - even before I got fat! that the Q pantyhose actually come up past mid-hip on me. It was a revelation. Anyway - so I was considering ordering Hanes hose this time around (I usually get L'eggs because they seem to be tougher and last through more than one wearing - sometimes). So I decided to look on the Hanes sizing chart. I WASN'T EVEN ON IT! Apparently, I can only wear Hanes at 5'8 if I weight 155 or less. So, I checked L'eggs - I can weigh as much as 180 on their charts. So I did their perfect hosiery
finder search. That brought me to Plus size pantyhose. On THOSE charts - being 5'8" I have to wear a 3X - on both the Hanes AND the JMS!!! THREE EX!!!! That was the size of pants that the enormous woman who ran the East Hampton Historic Society wore. She left a pair at the farm and Karla and I each got into one leg of them, because she wasn't very nice and so we were being mean behind her back. MY WHOLE BODY could fit in one of the pants legs when I was 22! I can't possibly be that big! I was SURE that woman (I can't remember her name - in addition to being mockingly fat, my memory is going - Poor Charlotte!) weighed AT LEAST three hundred pounds!
Two steps HEAVIER one step back - I am losing this race
Crap! It's Weigh-in Day and my weight sucked. Really! I didn't remember until just about an hour ago that it was weigh in day. I was up again this morning. 233.4. Sigh.
So I was visualizing my weight today... being a very visual person. I saw it (un-creatively) as a pendulum. I seem to be very, very consistent in the way I gain weight. I seem to settle into a weight zone, where I will hover between a range of about three to five pounds. Most recently it has been from 229-234. I will vary between that zone starting by mostly showing up at the lowest weight, then it will gradually land more and more often on the mid-range numbers with periodic alarming jumps up to the high point, and more relieved visits to the lowest rate. Finally it will happen that more and more I will see the high end of range - until that becomes the low end. The switch between broad ranges usually happens when I am away from the scale (on a cruise, or at Banjo camp, or vacation - or whatever). I went from 229 being the high number to being the low number when I was at banjo camp. But the switches within the range happens every month when my period hits. So, usually I can hover at about a four pound range for about four months or so. I absolutely HATE that I am over 230. And I even more hate that I can't figure out a) how to stop this continuous gain and b) how to make it go back down. It was about a year ago that I first cleared 220. That puts me at 10 pounds in this year. Funny thing. That is EXACTLY what I have been doing for the past 8 years. So - eating more doesn't work. Eating less doesn't work. Doing more cardio doesn't work. Doing more weight training doesn't work. Doing yoga doesn't work. Eating vegetables and high fiber doesn't work. Eating protein doesn't work. Fat Flushing doesn't work. Sugar busting doesn't work. Eating healthy and exercising at the same time doesn't work. NOTHING works! Sarah likes to point out that in the beginning I did lose weight - but 8 pounds total - which is completely consistent with my weight loss at the beginning of ANY change in my diet (I lost 9 with Atkins and 6 with Fat Flush). To be completely honest and fair. The first year September 05-August 06 - I dropped about 10 pounds (215.4 to 205-ish) from October to March. I stabilized around 208-209 until that October when I quit smoking. It was at that point that I began AGAIN my steady increase. So - since October of 2006 I have gained about 20 (TWENTY!!) pounds - and it is still increasing! I am not entirely sure you can even count the 10 pounds from the beginning as real weight loss - since I always thought the 215.4 was unnaturally inflated from a weekend of eating junk and scrapbooking. I had weighed in at my annual just in July (6 weeks earlier) at 210. So - Year One - I lost 1 pound. Year Two I gained 14 pounds. And Year Three (which we have just completed month six) I have gained - so far - 10 pounds.
So - I am thinking now that I respond to nicotine. I can't say helps me lose, but I think it kept me from gaining. Just thinking, I had been gaining steadily from about 1997 (when I turned 30) until I started smoking in about 2003. I then held pretty steady until I quit smoking in 2006. It had nothing to do with diet and exercise. It was all drug induced. Hummmm. I wonder if there is a healthier version of nicotine that I can take? Unfortunately all of the diet drugs are appetite supressents - and that isn't my problem. The other type that they just started marketing (Alli) are fat absorbtion blockers - which I already do naturally. I can tell because fatty foods make me assend - so I avoid them. I need a metabolism eccerant. Isn't that what Phen-Phen did? isn't that what MDMA (ecstacy) did? Why are all the effective weight loss drugs not illegal? Sigh.
I have an appointment with Rebecca tomorrow. I want to talk to her about my nicotine response. I wonder if there is an herbal supplement that might do the same thing.
So I was visualizing my weight today... being a very visual person. I saw it (un-creatively) as a pendulum. I seem to be very, very consistent in the way I gain weight. I seem to settle into a weight zone, where I will hover between a range of about three to five pounds. Most recently it has been from 229-234. I will vary between that zone starting by mostly showing up at the lowest weight, then it will gradually land more and more often on the mid-range numbers with periodic alarming jumps up to the high point, and more relieved visits to the lowest rate. Finally it will happen that more and more I will see the high end of range - until that becomes the low end. The switch between broad ranges usually happens when I am away from the scale (on a cruise, or at Banjo camp, or vacation - or whatever). I went from 229 being the high number to being the low number when I was at banjo camp. But the switches within the range happens every month when my period hits. So, usually I can hover at about a four pound range for about four months or so. I absolutely HATE that I am over 230. And I even more hate that I can't figure out a) how to stop this continuous gain and b) how to make it go back down. It was about a year ago that I first cleared 220. That puts me at 10 pounds in this year. Funny thing. That is EXACTLY what I have been doing for the past 8 years. So - eating more doesn't work. Eating less doesn't work. Doing more cardio doesn't work. Doing more weight training doesn't work. Doing yoga doesn't work. Eating vegetables and high fiber doesn't work. Eating protein doesn't work. Fat Flushing doesn't work. Sugar busting doesn't work. Eating healthy and exercising at the same time doesn't work. NOTHING works! Sarah likes to point out that in the beginning I did lose weight - but 8 pounds total - which is completely consistent with my weight loss at the beginning of ANY change in my diet (I lost 9 with Atkins and 6 with Fat Flush). To be completely honest and fair. The first year September 05-August 06 - I dropped about 10 pounds (215.4 to 205-ish) from October to March. I stabilized around 208-209 until that October when I quit smoking. It was at that point that I began AGAIN my steady increase. So - since October of 2006 I have gained about 20 (TWENTY!!) pounds - and it is still increasing! I am not entirely sure you can even count the 10 pounds from the beginning as real weight loss - since I always thought the 215.4 was unnaturally inflated from a weekend of eating junk and scrapbooking. I had weighed in at my annual just in July (6 weeks earlier) at 210. So - Year One - I lost 1 pound. Year Two I gained 14 pounds. And Year Three (which we have just completed month six) I have gained - so far - 10 pounds.
So - I am thinking now that I respond to nicotine. I can't say helps me lose, but I think it kept me from gaining. Just thinking, I had been gaining steadily from about 1997 (when I turned 30) until I started smoking in about 2003. I then held pretty steady until I quit smoking in 2006. It had nothing to do with diet and exercise. It was all drug induced. Hummmm. I wonder if there is a healthier version of nicotine that I can take? Unfortunately all of the diet drugs are appetite supressents - and that isn't my problem. The other type that they just started marketing (Alli) are fat absorbtion blockers - which I already do naturally. I can tell because fatty foods make me assend - so I avoid them. I need a metabolism eccerant. Isn't that what Phen-Phen did? isn't that what MDMA (ecstacy) did? Why are all the effective weight loss drugs not illegal? Sigh.
I have an appointment with Rebecca tomorrow. I want to talk to her about my nicotine response. I wonder if there is an herbal supplement that might do the same thing.
133.5
That's a two pound drop from last week but I think it is just random fluctuations. I have been avoiding sweets, but otherwise this week had involved a fair amount of food. And today was the funeral, which means today is ALL about the food -- afterwards there was a luncheon at the church and tonight there was a catered barbecue event. And on Saturday night we went to Casino Knight, normally my favorite event of the year, but as I was in no mood to gamble and my friends and I were very much in a mood to hide in corners and talk ourselves sick, I drank too much wine. Ugh.
I did manage to get to the gym on Thursday and Friday of last week, and I tried to go running on Sunday but I developed a cramp in my midsection at about 3/4 of a mile and it wouldn't go away, so I had to walk back.
I think tomorrow things are back to normal, whatever that means. I guess it means that there's not much scheduled from here on out so we'll be trying to resume normal work and exercise and home schedules. We shall see.
142
You'd think that after exercising six out of seven days I would have lost a bit more than .8 pounds, but I'll take what I can get. I was hoping for at least a full pound, and had a moment of joy when 141.8 popped up, but then it disappeared and settled on 142. So I went downstairs and exercised (this was a 5:30 wake up day) hoping to sweat off .2 pounds, but I was still 142 afterwards. Then I took a shower hoping to steam off .2 pounds, but I was still 142. I guess I shouldn't complain since this is the first lower weight in a while that I can actually attribute to my behavior and not just random fluctuations.
Out of the loop
My schedule is out of control these days.
Hi Vicki! It's nice to have you join us. Hi Mary, nice to have you back on the blog with us!! And Emily, so sorry to hear about your friend's son!! That is terrible. I hope they are doing as well as can be expected.
So let's see: I haven't been exercising, I have been eating out because I've been out of town and I am still looking for that ever illusive routine. Teaching the early class (4:30-7) two nights a week is WAY worse than having the late (7:30-10) session. I was in Jacksonville last week, and this week I am running to Largo nearly every day. My work days are long, and I am exhausted all the time. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I am not exercising, but how do you drag yourself to the gym when you're barely awake?
Peter had a surprise birthday party for me last Friday night. It was really nice. It had to be 2 weeks after my birthday though because of my schedule.
Hi Vicki! It's nice to have you join us. Hi Mary, nice to have you back on the blog with us!! And Emily, so sorry to hear about your friend's son!! That is terrible. I hope they are doing as well as can be expected.
So let's see: I haven't been exercising, I have been eating out because I've been out of town and I am still looking for that ever illusive routine. Teaching the early class (4:30-7) two nights a week is WAY worse than having the late (7:30-10) session. I was in Jacksonville last week, and this week I am running to Largo nearly every day. My work days are long, and I am exhausted all the time. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I am not exercising, but how do you drag yourself to the gym when you're barely awake?
Peter had a surprise birthday party for me last Friday night. It was really nice. It had to be 2 weeks after my birthday though because of my schedule.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Bad food - bad weight
I was up this morning. Well - not up in comparison to what I ahve been the last couple of weeks - but compared to yesterday morning I was considerably up. Too bad, because I was on a downward trend for about five days in a row. I didn't record my calories completely since Thursday - so I don't know exactly how badly I was eating - but yesterday I know the only non-sweed food I ate was a dinner from Noodles. Other than that it was a sweet bagel, leftover blondies, peppermint patties and hershey kisses. Oh! And tortilla chips with cottage cheese and salsa dip. My activity for Sunday was sleeping. I got up at 9:26am - went back to bed at 11am. Slept until 1pm. Then I got up to read. Finished my book at 3pm and dozed for about an hour. Then I FORCED myself out of bed to make it to church on time (5pm). After that I went to Noodles and then back home, where I didn't sleep, but sat like a lump and watched "Jane Austen Book Club" (Shoot! I meant to return that today!!) So I guess it isn't a big surprise that I gained weight. Usually I come out OK when I have one of these all sleep all the time days - but usually I don't eat as much as I did yesterday. Sigh. Gloria (my gym buddy) is back to work this week after her surgery. She has a follow up appointment on Thursday and after that we should be able to get back to going to the gym regularly. I have found that even if we don't go together, having someone else who is supposed to be going with me is good to get me to go.
Katie and I are still supposed to be doing the Glucerna diet - but we got a little off track at the end of last week. I have re-directed us a bit - but I have to go shopping after work to restock on produce. We have no fruit.
Katie and I are still supposed to be doing the Glucerna diet - but we got a little off track at the end of last week. I have re-directed us a bit - but I have to go shopping after work to restock on produce. We have no fruit.
Six days of exercise
Good for me--I was back to my old habit of exercising daily last week. I took Sunday off (and probably wouldn't have done that except that I had one of those horrible nights where I had only an hour of sleep before Connor woke me up for the day) but either did pilates or gym work each of the other days. On Saturday morning it was looking like this was having a really good effect on my weight--I was down to 140.2, but then I was back up to 142 on Sunday so I think some of that Saturday morning weight had to do with slight dehydration from the two glasses of wine I had Friday night. I guess we'll find out tomorrow, because I forgot to weigh myself this morning.
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