Diet Update

I finished the Jumpstart & Monday morning I had lost 4 pounds & 1 inch around my waist.

Woo hoo!

It's not really a visible change ~ yet. But I can feel the difference.

Ok, *deep calming breathe* I'm being brave here... Jan 1 I weighed a little over 250 lbs. Yesterday morning I was 244. For me that is huge, and super motivating. And today, for the first time in I don't know how long, I stepped on the scale at the gym, fully clothed with my tennies on, and I didn't have to move the bottom weight to the 250 mark. Oh. My. Goodness. Fully dressed, w/ shoes, and having eaten 3 meals & I was still below 250 (I'm always higher at the end of the day).

It is so amazing to see a positive change almost everyday.

Now to just keep it going.

It's that time again. Diet time. Ok, I really prefer to call it something like Health & Fitness Improvement... I have really got to get some of these excess weight off. To be at my 'ideal' weight, I need to lose about 100 pounds. Right now I'd be happy to see a steady loss of 5 to 10 pounds a month.

I'm trying the Flat Belly Diet by Prevention. I chose it because it allows really good things like nuts, and olive oil, and avocados, and dark chocolate. They call them MUFA's ~~ which, for the life of me, I can't remember what that stands for *shaking head in disbelief*. Something about healthy unsaturated fats ~~ and you have to have some with every single meal & snack. I'm hoping I won't feel too deprived.

I start tomorrow with breakfast. There's a 4 day jumpstart, then a 28 day program, which you keep repeating as long as you need to.

I think the main challenges are going to be:

• Making sure I eat every four hours
• Making sure I get everything for breakfast, lunch & snack prepared the night before
• Dinner at home with family
• Weekends, when my schedule is not structured at all

I've been going to the gym regularly the past few weeks ~~ at least 2 times a week for at least an hour each time. I've been doing mainly cardio work ~~ at least 1/2 hour on the elliptical & another 1/2 hour or so on the rowing machine. I really like the rowing machine ~~ a nice full body work out, cardio with strength/toning. Between the two, I do feel it the next day, in a good way. And according to my heart monitor, I'm getting & keeping my heart rate in the proper zone while exercising & burning massive amounts of calories. I really need to add at least one more day, ideally two, to get the best results. Looking at the Yoga, Pilates & Aquaerobics classes at the gym, but right now they are filled to overflowing. I'm hoping they empty out in the next month or so.

And I'm hoping some exercise & weight lost will help with my back pain. My right hip has been very painful lately... I've been to the chiropractor & it's helping, plus I am constantly doing pelvic tilts, hamstring stretches & such to try and make it better.

There is exactly one month 'til our vacation, and I'd really like to be a little bit lighter, thinner, firmer.

Wish me luck :)

Back at it

Exercising, I mean. So far I've exercised (cardio plus strength plus stretch) the last 3 days this week. And I'm working on my diet, too. I think I just needed a few weeks to work through the subconscious panic the regular exercising was causing (oh no, she's exercising, 5 days a week, that means she's going to start starving me too, gotta eat, eat everything, Mickey D's here I come).
I've got whole grain cereals, skim milk, dried fruit, walnuts, whole grain bread and such at work. For my sweet tooth and chocolate cravings I've got some dark chocolate wafer cookies, in single serving packs, in my drawer. The only fast food this week was a salad from McDonald's, everything else has been prepared at office or home (a lot of it is premade, but it's a step in the right direction).
I've also resumed taking a multi vitamin with minerals, something that was recommended by my doctor during my annual physical.

Completely new topic --
My last post was about my hellish week. Obviously I survived (it felt pretty doubtful over the weekend). What I didn't mention was how great DH was during the whole thing, starting with the special private time Tuesday night (I'll post about it on my other blog Robin's Red Bottom, if you're interested in the explicit details). Wednesday and Thursday he had to make sure the kids got up for school, then did chores and homework after, plus make sure they had dinner (don't know if they ate fast food or if something was fixed in house). He also had to take the youngest trick-or-treating, and man the candy bowl when they were home. On Friday, I was able to do the morning stuff, but he was again responsible for afternoon/evening. And he cleaned the house! It was so nice to walk into a clean and polished house after 3 long days of work. [This is something I regularly do for him when he's been travelling -- it makes coming home more pleasant for him.]
Then came the weekend and the head cold from hell. He took the kids out for lunch on Saturday and kept them busy the rest of the day (especially YC, she's such a momma's girl she doesn't like to leave me alone). And Sunday he took the kids and did all the grocery shopping, feeding them while they were out.
Monday, when I made the decision to stay home, he got the kids up and took YC to childcare so I wouldn't have to get up and take her into school. And when the kids came home, they pretty much took care of themselves.
So through the whole miserable week, DH was my knight in shining armor, making sure everything was taken care of so I could get the rest I needed. Am I lucky or what?

Still Going Strong

Well, the exercising thing is going well -- 5 days last week, and up to 3 days this week. And I can already see positive changes in my body, less jiggling, etc. (the scale hasn't changed -- see next paragraph). Weekends are more difficult than week days because that's when we do everything that didn't get done during the work week -- cleaning, shopping, cooking, errands, sleeping.

I have discovered that I have a psychological issue -- I cannot diet and exercise at the same time. Ever since I committed to exercising at least 5 days a week, I just cannot keep up the healthy eating. I keep healthy food at work, but have been going out to eat, and buying cookies and other not so good choices for weight loss and healthy living. I know it's psychological, and I am trying to work through it. I'm hoping that has the exercise thing becomes a regular, easy to keep with, expected part of my day, that my mind will realize that I am not trying to starve and torture myself and will then be able to reincorporate healthy eating habits. (Thank you Martha Beck and "4 Day Win" for helping me with the mental aspects of healthy living/eating).

Other things going on --
DH is travelling again. He'll be home for the weekend, then off again until the last week of the month, just in time to take charge of Halloween (I will be at work 4:30 a.m. till at least 6 p.m. that day and the day or two after as well).
Special multi-day project at work -- I am so not a morning person that I will be stressed out and cranky for the duration. In light of this, my chiropractor has arranged a one hour session the Thursday before and the Saturday after to help me relax and destress (I am one of those people who holds all their stress in the back -- can only go so long without a good therapeutic massage and adjustment).
Oh, and I can expect PMS that week as well. Oh, joy, can't wait.

Reading --
Just finished 'Expanded Universe' by Robert A. Heinlein. I love the way he writes and what he writes about, fiction and non. He is someone I would have like to have met.
Also read 'The Worst Thing I've Done' by Ursula Hegi. Very interesting, but somewhat dark. I don't often read novels of this type, but it fit my mood when I saw it. I enjoyed it -- read it in two days, and recommend it.
Now reading 'I'd Kill For That,' a serial mystery edited by Marcia Talley (authors include Rita Mae Brown, Kathy Reichs, Kay Hooper, and nine others). It's a little confusing to start -- too many characters introduced too quickly -- but I'm getting into it now.

And that's about it. Same old, same old.

Physical follow up

I mentioned previously that I'd had my annual physical. My injection site is almost back to normal -- no longer red and swollen, but there is still a hard knot present. Got my test results back and everything is normal, with the exception of my cholesterol (LDL too high, HDL too low). Dr doesn't want to put me on meds, so I've got to make some lifestyle changes. We all know what those are: move more and eat better/less. I don't do well on either point, haven't for years, which of course explains all the extra weight I carry around with me.

I've tried over the years -- joining various dieting groups, the gym, hiring a personal trainer. I have a hard time sticking with anything, and I've discovered I'm somewhat of a picky eater. And with working full-time with an hour commute each way, I find it difficult to find the energy and enthusiasm for exercising before or after work (doesn't help that I am not morning person, either).

I know I've got to pull it together -- I'm 40 and there are a variety of cancers in my family medical history -- and get healthy before it's too late. I actually eat healthier at work than I do at home, keeping whole grain cereals in my desk and non fat milk in the fridge, along with frozen meals, veggies, fruit, etc. also either in my desk or the fridge. There are vending machines, but I rarely raid them (usual only during that one week of the month), and I am not a big soda drinker, diet or regular -- water is my drink of choice. So I have to take care with dinners and weekends.

Exercising is my biggest challenge. When I do exercise, I enjoy it and I feel good after (gotta love those endorphins), but I can always come up with excuses not to (I'm tired, exercise clothes aren't clean, kids need taken care of, dinner needs fixing, housework needs done, errands to run, etc., etc., and on and on). A lot of guides to healthy living are now talking about building rewards into the system -- every time I exercise I get to do something that I enjoy (as long as it has nothing to do with food), and anytime I reach a small, specified goal, I get a bigger reward, and so on. I'll have to come up with a list -- I think computer time/blogging is going to have to become an after exercise reward. Maybe I can enlist DH to provide extra special rewards when I meet my goals