The Scale Is Not The Only Measure

Ok scale still being stubborn so let's go over other changes. To keep it positive.
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* clothing sizes >> 3x, now XL and a few L
* pant size >> 26, now 16 and a few 14
* cravings >> out of control, now none - gone
* climbing stairs >> got tired and out of breath, now did son's dorms 7 flights fine multiple times while moving him in
* no more cholesterol medicine
* no more ugly elbows or knees
* no YoYoing weight
* raised self esteem
* regaining strength
* not a difference in waist measurement for sucking it in anymore
* knowing when I'm full not stuffed

The list will keep growing just as the scale will move again.
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~Be pround of how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go.

Sorry Thighs Here We Go Again

After just a few days of little or no work out some of these muscles were having a fit. What do you mean, she did not throw in the towel? We thought we were going to have it easy again. Sorry guys, it's not going to be that way anymore. You're going to be toned and strong even if you complain. Working through the initial discomfort led to a friendlier working muscle place. It is amazing how just a short break can bring the grumbles about. At least it seems like it does not take long for the movement to bring them back around. The gym has an article posted about a woman in her eighties participating in a triathlon. She is such an example. Do not think I'll be participating in any but hope to keep as fit as possible for all my years to come. Seeing many family members over the years lose strength, posture, stamina or over all health, exercise is a given. It can benefit the mind as well as the body. So muscles hush and get use to the idea.

Tomorrow...

Well the plans have been put on hold for at least a day. Feeling pretty poor. No gym, or real exercise today, only did what had to be done. Tried to eat mild. Hoping to wake up and have things working happily in the morning.

Wake Up Metabolism It's Time To Get Moving

Ok, time for some tweaking. No whining about the weigh in, just make some things different. Wake up the system and stack up some loses again. After thinking about it came up with...

* One meal a day will be a home made soup (non creamed and lots of veggie)
* Add back some nuts at some snack times.
* Little beef, more seafood.
* Less time on the track, back to more treadmill with incline.
* Get back to a better sleep schedule.
* See a trainer, maybe have some new ideas on workout.

Well that's the plan for this coming week. Will see how it goes. Going to just work it and try not to fret about it.

I'll Get To This in a Minute :-) :-) ;-)

Saturday busy day, busier night...
Ok food and exercise.

Calories In vs. Calories Out, Why Not

This plateau is really testing my patience. What there is of them. The mantras, you're getting healthy, and it will start up again hang in there, play over and over. Each day the scale lands in the same couple of pound range. Bite the lip and say, stay positive and get to it. This is not the first go around with stalls but it is the longest. Try all the tried and true advice. Desperately trying to read up on something new to break it. While also feeling tired of having it constantly in the back of most thoughts. Testing as it is there is no choice, have to keep trying, will not go back.

~ the race is not for the swift but those who can endure it. (Black Eyed Peas) plays on in the headphones.

To Frig or Not To Frig (after eight)

Wanting some thing so bad it hurts (the weight loss)... seems to make the attempt harder. When the scale moves to slow, stress chimes in, or emotions mess with you, the negative mutterings can nudge right in. Negativity can be sneaky. A little friendly voice that falsely reasons with you about doing things originally planned out differently. ~So what if it is midnight, just a few bites, and a few more. ~Poor baby your so wiped out forget exercise. ~The scale is down, sooo go for it you deserve it. ~They're eating/drinking it why not you? And on and on. Shutting down those voices can be one of the hardest elements. In the end those ramblings are not friends. It seems they get something from side tracking the plans. Not sure what yet. The momentary enjoyment or escape is never worth it no matter how much they claim it is. In the rest of life I'd probably shrug off a real person trying to get me to do something foolish or wrong. Need to use that for those pesky notions. As for tonight the rest of the family's leftover buttered noodles (non WW) are staying in the frig. and I'm popping on the ipod, bye bye voices not listening.

Fighting the Sick Day

MAKE THE WORLD GO AWAY...I"M NOT FEELING GOOD :-(

Icky, Yucky But Maybe

Why can I not get to a place others have gotten to? Feeling close but not truly completely converted. The knowledge of what is good or bad for consumption is there. The feeling much better when following healthy eating has proven itself. It is just the whole hearted feeling that item "X" is not healthy therefore it has been branded gross and inedible. Exhibit A: the French Fries at today's lunch. They have been passed on over the weeks. Today was not even a bad day. But they were there and for whatever reason today they were not passed on. Did not even feel guilty at the time. I can not even say they tasted terrible, that would have helped. It will not kill me that they were consumed but it is just the fact that the place of just never wanting them (or several other item Xs) seems elusive. Would love to be there. Would love to have this problem with say... beans or wheat grass.

Maybe some day.

MMMMM.......

Funny how what is going on in life can effect the perceptions. The day was so hectic and one thing going wrong after another. By the end of the day there were more things to do than at the start. Felt so tired, bloated and heavy. Would have loved to crawl into bed and under the covers making it all go away. Still all the feelings and events were buzzing and thought something had to tone them down. It was close to food cut off time so as standing at the frig. thought there are two options eat (and in the state of mind I was in it would not have been pretty) or go and move these old bones. There was not time for both. The bloated and heavy feeling nagged, is it really a hard choice. Tired disagreed but did not have enough energy to scream, losing the vote. At the gym walking the track progressively lifted the spirit and I started thinking, the scale showed no gain and the ring on my finger is not stuck so was it the state of mind that made the perception? By the time I hit the pool there was energy that had been missing all day. So were had it been hiding? When it was time to turn in there were no buzzing thoughts and rest came easy.

What to Write?

This is hard tonight. Spent the day playing hookie. No housework, yard work, paperwork, busy work or thinking about diet/weight. Will pay the price for it but it was worth it. It was a picture perfect day from start to finish. As I was going to leave for the gym early this morning my husband said it was a great hiking day, how about it. Decided to make the gym stay short and enjoy the day with him. It was definitely a good choice. We got out on the trails and the weather could not have been better. He kept saying he could take six months of this. Trails were not crowded. The Fall flowers and grasses all in peak form. Love the tall grasses waving in the breeze and lit by sunlight. Hit one opening that was just loaded with dragonflies and butterflies. There were quite a few migrating birds starting to come through. A few changing leaves just starting. It just felt good to be out and moving. There were several people on bikes and we both thought maybe next year we should get some and cycle sometimes. That was something we did B.K. (before kids). I wished over and over again that we had thought to bring a camera. That is a hobby that would be nice to bring back also. Guess trying to bring my thoughts back to the day to day, long, is a challenge tonight. Still the day off was very stress relieving and that can only help with those fat storing stress hormones... right?


*** Sometimes ***

Food Can Be Frustrating

Maybe not food itself but all that goes around it.

* Family Feeding ... They do not eat the same thing (mine or each others, so multiple meals). They do not know what they want, leaving the cook thinking about meals off plan. Having their goodies always around. Then after eight pm the house smells of Brownies, all night. Turn on the air freshener!

* Fear Of Falling Back ... This morning at Pilates the instructor commented on the weight loss but followed it up with, but the hard part will be keeping it off. The first thought was no it won't! But in the back of my mind it does lurk. It has happened before. The food wins out, not just the battle but the war. The key is keeping it real. A battle may be lost here or there, just can not let food win the war.

* Not Hungry ... But the body needs it .. or does it? Eaten the right portions, at the right timing or past, and still not hungry. But timing is important. Then only eat when your hungry. But on this lifestyle hunger is not there. Guess it is as that saying goes, Eat to live.

* What To ... Will it mess with blood sugars? Will it raise good cholesterol? How much sodium? Carbs, sugars, salt, oh my. Everything you read leans in different directions. Then sometimes the scale turns it's nose up at any combination. Still like just keeping it simple as it can be and variety over time.

* Emotions And ... My personal old favorite. They have such a love hate relationship. Getting them to play well together is the balance that will save the day. More than hunger, food feeds several emotions endlessly if it is allowed. I'm trying to remember that it is feeding the emotions not the body. The poor body is just stuck with it. Those emotions are on a diet whether they like it or not.

Food, looking forward to the day it can just be enjoyed. The numbers are all in the right range so it is just maintain. No worry of what to add or cut. And may be a feeling of mastery of, on all fronts.

Just Thinking

As working out today, mind wandering, suddenly realized I was really moving on the elliptical. Forward, backward, random setting mode, and with the arm resistance or standing without hanging on. This hit home because just a few weeks ago working on it at all was barely doable. The old legs rebelled to much. It got the train of thought back to the very beginning. Last January walking on the treadmill and weight machines was it. So red faced and winded. As the time has gone on slowly adding time and intensity. Then trying new equipment or classes even if only a little at their start. With each new step in the mix gaining the targeted muscle and stamina to keep advancing. This is progress also. The weight and measurements are important but toning and strengthening also shows steps in the right direction. The body is still getting healthier just another way to mark it.

Started treadmill walking, weight machines
then--- treadmill increase speed and with incline, weight machines with sets of reps
------- Treadmill increasing incline, wm, free hand weights
------- the above and stationary bike, pool
------- then track, interval stat. bike
------- then arc trainer
------- then Pilates, track intervals
now--- elliptical

Someday maybe the Killer Boot Camp... then again maybe not.

Being Open To Winging It

It has been such a unscheduled day, my lists and careful planning were useless. Not usually a good thing for me. The rest of the house lives by the motto Just Wing It. They thrive on it. Winging it tends to lead to growing chaos and frustration in my head. That leads to make it feel better and go away fast, HMMM will it be sweet, fatty, salty, no a mix of it all this time. Well, today as the Argh feeling was taking root thought, ok wing it. Throw it all to the wind like the guys, make the times you need to be somewhere but use the filler times as it falls. Finish what can be, but decided what can not, will be finish as it can be (what?! ok, forgot winging). Went into the gym starting to stress. Middle of the afternoon...should be elsewhere, but by mid way into the workout felt that centered feeling. The routine would have to be shortened (what, here sweating, have to do it all, remember winging here!). Get to the locker room cell ringing. Son's appt. has to be bumped up. So goes the rest of the day and evening. As the winging mentality was wearing thin tonight felt the Argh growing again. Pulled out the Pilates DVD, needed to get that centered feeling again. Morale looking back on the day, the combination of the stress relieving exercise and willingness to be flexible can stop the ugly food fixes. I can never give up my lists/plans but maybe they can be written in pencil instead of ink.

Change is Good

Over the years I have been a Pro at Yo Yo dieting. Not on purpose or with pride, but it has been the history. Gain weight then try something to get it off. Maybe it works but then sometime down the road the weight creeps back and with more friendly pounds to boot. Other times it worked awhile and then something happened. Diet was to crazy to stick to, stopped buying someones food or shakes, some program came to an end, life got to crazy and emotions won out, are just a few. The really bad ones were the ones that bombed and then proceded to still gain after. Always harder the next attempt. Usually bigger swings in weight each time. Keep wondering (happily) why this is different. There has been no longing to throw in the towel. No feeling of deprivation. Even with the slowing of the losses there is no thinking ... Oh forget this. Is it the walking, cutting out HFCS, whole grains or the total package? Just glad for the first time though many of the old triggers have tried, this time feels like there is really a change. Becoming strong feels good. Truly enjoying foods I would never have liked or eaten before, that are good for the body is turning health issues around. Increased stamina is wonderful. So glad they had the right channel on the hospital TV the day Doctor Oz was on talking about the book. It's put the Yo Yo away for good.

Making Time

In the beginning time spent on exercise made me feel very guilty. There were so many other things that could be using that time. Today while racking up my steps on the track the thoughts of how nice it was to just move and clear my head, joyfully chimed in. It was nice to not have the you should be ... fill in the blank... thoughts buzzing. There were plenty that could have started up. Finally the mind set has come around that this is just as important as all the other time usages. Besides the weight loss and the health benefits the exercise really helps with outlook and energy. While focusing on form and posture all the other mind fillers take a pleasant vacation. They will pop back during the day but for that span of time it's the music on the ipod and the body talking. Now on those few days exercise does not get on the schedule I feel very out of sorts. Think I like it this way better.

Focusing In

With You on a Diet and exercise for 35 weeks I have lost 58 pounds and 8 inches off my waist. Inches have gone all over as well. For a while now things have stalled. This blog has been created to help focus in on where things could be done better. Still a long road ahead but this time it is for good.