Still Struggling Along

I really admire people who decide to loose those extra pounds, pick a diet, stick to it and succeed.

And then there's the rest of us, struggling along in spurts, some weeks good and some weeks bad.

Just remember, through the holidays, it's important to focus. Thanksgiving and Christmas are only two days. They really won't make a difference in the long run so if you enjoyed the good food and company a little too much, it's OK.

It's way, way more important to focus on all the days in between the holidays, keeping yourself on track. And when you stumble off the diet path, then just brush the cookie crumbs off your chin and focus your efforts forward -- because you can't change the past, you can only change your reactions to it...

Working Slowly Toward a Book

I'm still working on the book, it's coming along slowly.

It's going to include:

My program on losing weight
Suggestions on how to increase your aerobic activity and how that will help you lose weight
How to maintain your weight once you reach your goal.

Right now, I'm finishing a short Holiday cookbook with my own recipes. Next on the list is a book about Faith and Science. Once I've finished these two books that are 3/4 done, I can focus on the weight loss book and my urban fantasy novel, the first in a quartet. (Or maybe seven.) Plus, of course, my every day writing that keeps the bills paid.

My weight loss book will be out soon.

Starting Anew -- Again

Well, here I am, back to counting calories.

What can I say? I'm not perfect. I live with a teenager that inhales everything in sight. It's all too easy to overdo when your kid can eat everything -- and you can't.

By writing down every calorie, I make myself accountable for what I put into my system. You know it's really up to me...

But I've lost four pounds already, so I'm doing something right!

Working on an e-book!

I'm working on an e-book, telling you just how to follow my simple, slow but sure, eating plan.

Because diets DO NOT WORK!

Keep your eyes open, I'll be updating this space as the book progresses, I'm about a quarter done now. No worries, it will be short, easy to read and inexpensive -- because we'd rather spend our money on good food and new clothes!!

The Battle Continues On

I know, I neglect my blog like I neglect myself.

I sit in front of the computer all day, every day, drinking coffee and writing online content. It's called survival. Gotta keep the money coming in so I can pay the bills.

However, it's past time to start taking that walk every day. Lord knows the dogs need a walk too -- especially the miniature pinscher who is hyper, hyper, hyper.

OK, so this week:

• I stopped putting sugar in my coffee. I'm back to Splenda. Creamer? Uh, no, not going there!
• I got salad fixings to add a salad to my daily regime.
• I stopped fixing white rice. Brown rice only from now on.
• I stopped drinking soda entirely. Soda is a treat, not a daily beverage, even if it's a diet soda!
• I resolved that if I don't do anything else, that I'll do yoga every day.

That's a start.

And just so you know that you aren't alone, my inner donkey is already braying her excuses why I shouldn't make these simple changes in my daily life.

They are simple and there's no excuse for not following them except my own stubbornness...

Off to a Tournament

The hardest part about hockey tournaments, other than biting your nails while your kid is getting knocked into the boards, is the constant eating out.

The last tournament, I took plenty of food so we could have sandwiches in the room. The free breakfast buffet? Oh no, I gave the coupons to the boys and I ate in our room. I only indulged on the very last day, because as we all know, buffets are death on an eating plan. Too much temptation, too many goodies that I should NOT be eating.

So here we go again. It's only overnight, so only tonight and tomorrow to avoid temptation. I'll do my best to make good choices and practice moderation -- but if they have those yummy Mexican-style scrambled eggs, with cheese, tomatoes and chiles, oh dear, I might be through...

Resolutions, Resolutions

1) I resolve to eat better.

2) I resolve to cut back on sugar.

3) I resolve to do more yoga .

4) I resolve to dance to the music every day.

I'm not going to resolve to lose weight, because if I follow through on the resolutions that I've made, I'll lose weight naturally.

Maintaining a healthy weight is a lifestyle change.

I've had a lot of changes in the last year. Surgery, retirement, self-employment, moving to a new state -- all are huge lifestyle changes. This coming year, I want my only huge lifestyle change to be implementing a healthier lifestyle.

All the rest is just icing on the cake.
(Mmmm, cake... Down my inner donkey, down!!)

Tis the Season

Once again we meet on the eve of Christmas and New Years, in the midst of the eating season.

I was thinking of my supervisor, who told me a little story about her yoga class. Some of the students were complaining about their weight gain over the holidays.

The yoga teacher looked at them and said (I'm paraphrasing here), "It's only two days, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Two days of overeating won't make a difference -- it's all the other days."

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

There is such truth in that thought. It's not the two days -- it's all the days in between that we overdo, we eat cookies and cakes and pies. We eat, drink and be merry for a whole season instead of two days. And then we wonder why we gain weight over the holidays.

A look in the mirror is in order. Nobody put that cookie in my hand, that piece of pie on my plate, that glass of eggnog in front of me. I can choose to nibble and enjoy or I can choose to overdo and pay the price. It's truly up to me.

Tis the season, but let us just be merry and skip the overeating and drinking...

Moving Is Heck On An Eating Plan!!

Moving is a nightmare. Too much stuff, too few helpers, not enough time.

On top of that, I don't know about you but my eating plan is totally out of whack. I'm tired, and when I'm tired, I tend to eat for energy.

Lord knows I have enough stored energy (aka fat) to manage just fine. But on those long drives to and from the old place, seven hours one way when I 'm towing a trailer, I tend to snack. At least I usually have a bag of carrots and a flat of bottled water, but you know, at some point I usually end up with an Oreo cookie milkshake.

Yes, yes, I know that's the donkey in me demanding some sweet treat to compensate for the drive.

We don't even want to think about the calorie count in an Oreo cookie milkshake. Let's just say, it's well over half my daily calorie requirements. Probably more like three fourths if I'm honest about it.

But the moving will be over in another two or three trips, so I can look forward to unpacking and sorting my mounds of belongings.

I think I'll have a garage sale -- and start a serious workout plan. Well, after I finish unpacking the 40 or 50 boxes of books. That's a workout all by itself...

Swapping Out the High Calorie Foods

I know you've probably seen the book "Eat This Not That!" I've glanced at it, but a lot of it isn't applicable to my life, since I cook and have been avoiding fast foods.

Still, the fact that a McDonald's Big Mac only has 540 calories? Really? So if I left off the sauce and put mustard on it instead, it would be even lower in calories, now wouldn't it?

It's not always the food you eat, but the extras poured over or piled on it that pushes the calorie count up to an unacceptable level.

Back off on the gravy, the salad dressing, butter, sour cream and all the other goodies. I'm not saying don't use them at all, I'm saying to use a little for flavor instead of a lot as a side dish. Gravy is a condiment doggone it!

One tablespoon of salad dressing instead of two. One pat of butter instead of three. One tablespoon of sour cream instead of 1/4 cup. All these changes lead to lower calorie counts and eventually to weight loss.

Her Last Meal

Wow.

Just wow. To be so young and discover that you have stomach cancer. Only 36 years old and they removed her stomach.

She can still eat but now, like a gastric bypass patient, her food intake is severely limited.

I can understand those who choose the bypass or bariatric surgery, but to find out that it's literally eat or your life? What a choice, especially for a foodie.

I better be grateful for my good health. Even if I need to lose weight, I still have a choice...

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/opinion/sunday/i-wont-have-the-stomach-for-this.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=stomach%20cancer&st=cse

Portion Control Tips

Instead of spooning or pouring the sugar and creamer into your coffee or tea, use sugar cubes or packets.

You'll know exactly how many calories you just added to that zero calorie coffee...

Backsliding

Oh dear.

The last few weeks have been horrible for my eating plan.

For one thing, I've retired from my job. I was taken to lunch, invited to potlucks, had more than enough cake.

And, on top of that, my daughter is moving out. Too much fast food as we pack, paint the new place, and move her in. Today is another busy day, finishing the painting and moving a little bit of furniture (bed, sofa, some clothes, a TV) in...

I don't want to talk about my weight this week. Maybe next week or the week after...

I've Lost 10 Pounds!

My apologies for lagging in my blogging.

I had surgery at the end of January. Ooooo, that was a little discouraging! I didn't realize that I'd bloat up like a balloon! I've read since then that this is a common occurrence.

Since then, I've been bouncing up and down between 10 and 12 pounds down. Losing weight always a slow process, especially when you can't get around too well for a while. And that nasty, nasty bug that I caught two weeks ago didn't help. I'm better now, just coughing a lung up at random intervals. But better...

So, as soon as the weather gets a little warmer so I can walk without coughing (cold makes it worse), I'll get my behind out for that daily walk again.

Slow but sure, that's the cure!

A New Year - New Goals

I just read this blogger's thoughts on weight loss and dieting and it really spoke to me.

http://www.mydaily.com/2011/02/01/quit-my-diet/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl9%7Csec1_lnk1%7C40535

Virginia Sole-Smith reflects the conflict that so many of us battle. We don't necessarily want to fit into society's standard of "thin is in", we just want to fit in our jeans -- or our thigh high boots!

For myself, I've always had a lovely big butt. I often described my figure as a "big butt 10". I don't want to be skinny, I want to be my normal curvy self -- just smaller than I am right now. If I'm too skinny, I don't feel good.

I don't understand those teeny-tiny model types, taller than the average woman, scrawny with big feet, that walk like new colts instead of graceful women. Their bones stick out.

Honestly, it's just not pretty.

As a woman, I deserve to be curvy.

I don't have to fit into society's stick-figure standard of beauty. Skinny doesn't mean healthy. If you aren't eating properly, you just are not going to be healthy. Eventually your body will age very ungracefully if you don't feed it the proper amounts of vitamins, minerals, calories and yes, even fats.

I'd rather have my booty than to be unhealthy and thin, thank you so much.

Made It to the New Year

I'm pleased to announce that my slow-go plan is working and I didn't gain any weight over the Christmas holidays.

Despite spending a week at my Mom and Dad's and oh my goodness, Mom can cook!

How did I do it?

Well, I avoided loading up with the cakes, cookies, pies, candy, nuts, etc. between meals. At mealtimes, I didn't use a lot of extras like gravy and butter. I loaded up with salads and vegetables.

As my supervisor told me, quoting her own yoga instructor when members of the class were whining about weight gain over the holidays. Paraphasing: "That's only 2 days out of the year. If you eat right the other 363, you shouldn't gain weight."

Ouch. A truth that we hate to face.

In the end, it is all about the individual choices that we make every single day. Do we choose a cookie or a carrot? Well, the reality is that you can eat the whole bag of baby carrots and still take in fewer calories than those in one cookie! And don't discount the fiber, vitamins and other healthy parts of carrots.

So while there will be those who poo-poo my 9 pounds lost since I started following a tortoise plan, a loss is a loss is a loss. It's all good.

So if I can double that loss over the next year, then I'm doing great! If I can triple it, I'm just about at goal.

But stop, let me not look too far ahead. This is an ounce-by-ounce process and moderation is key.

Moderation, the word of the year.

Moderation in all things -- including my eating habits.

Are You Exhausted?

I read this interesting article on the reasons why we have so much trouble losing weight. One is our lack of sleep.

Yes, not getting enough sleep leads to obesity!

You know how it is, a late night, an early start and suddenly you're eating for energy. Shoot, I did that myself today. I just don't run well on four or five hours of sleep.

Check out the study: http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2010/20101004-sleep-dieting.html

And in the meantime, maybe I should get ready for bed.

The Potato Diet

Wow, somebody has realized that potatoes are NOT fattening.

The skinniest I ever was in my life, I ate a baked potato with cheese and butter every single day.

It was delicious.

I eat more potatoes now. It's NOT the potato that's fattening, it's the stuff you slather on it. Potatoes fill you up, not out. Really.

The potato diet ends: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20024131-10391704.html

The potato diet blog: http://www.20potatoesaday.com/blog.php

My View of the Twinkie Diet

The Twinkie Diet.

Ewwwww........

Sorry, that's my instant reaction to eating Twinkies every day.

But there's some important points to note about the weight loss involved. He limited his calories to 1800 calories per day.

Now, you may say "I LOVE Twinkies, I'm going to do this!"

Bad idea.

You have no idea of the vitamins and minerals that you're missing out on. Where's the calcium? Where's the iron? Where's the components of fresh fruits and vegetables that we don't even know about yet?

And hey, where's the fiber? I don't know about you, but without fiber, I'm miserable. Things DO need to pass through your system and fiber helps push it all out.

This is one way to lose weight but to be brutally honest, it's not a healthy thing to do. Your body needs more than sugar and fat to maintain itself.

Even though he lost a bunch of weight, the bottom line is -- he limited his calories.

Links:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Recipes/twinkie-diet-short-term-fix-long-term-problem/story?id=11756710

http://www.healthhabits.ca/2010/11/09/twinkie-diet-success/

Surviving the Holiday Season

Well, I made it to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving and only gained two pounds. Pretty darn good. My Mom can COOK, oh - my - goodness!

The day after, we had Mom's world famous Gluck. (Go check out my how-to blog, I'm posting the link to the recipe there in just a minute!)

But on the rant side -- what the heck are people thinking?

My Dad is highly, and I do mean HIGHLY, allergic to mushrooms. We tell everyone, not a shroom in the house, not in the kitchen, not nowhere near Dad.

Sigh.

So my sister's well-meaning and very nice friends brought salad to Thanksgiving dinner. Actually, they brought two salads. One was a nice plain green salad. And the other had freaking MUSHROOMS on it!

Double sigh.

Yes, Dad only ate the salad that was "safe". And four hours later he was starting to itch and swell. His allergy is as bad as a peanut allergy. Yes, it's really bad!!

Why, oh why, do people get the idea that if someone says they're allergic to a food item, either "they don't like it" or that it's OK to bring it along anyway. Obviously, they managed to get some cross contamination from the cutting board, the knife, or when they tossed the salads. We were all kicking ourselves for not warning Dad that the friends just aren't as careful as we are about food prep.

Fortunately, this didn't turn out to be a tragic holiday story, he took Benadryl in time and kept his reaction to a mere two days of swollen itching misery.

As my sister said, "So much for letting people bring stuff to the holiday meals." From now on, we have a menu and don't even think of bringing a dang toadstool into any of our houses!

(FYI: I love mushrooms and I do eat them -- but NOT when my Dad is around!)

Breakthrough!

YES!

I finally broke through the plateau and dropped a pound!

It just took time, some extra water, a few extra walks and sticking to the plan.

As we all know, the body wants to hold onto every pound. If you lower your calories too much, the body will go into starvation mode and as you lose weight, it will become harder and harder to drop those pounds.

Don't fast unless it's for spiritual reasons. Your body will hold onto every calorie it can and when you break the fast, it will suck up every calorie possible and put them into storage -- aka FAT.

Instead, just stick to your maintenance level calorie range and increase your activity level.

Just hang in there.

Slow but sure, like the tortoise.

I Think I've Slid Off the Plateau

Like all people who are losing weight, plateaus are a frustrating experience. Day after day, the scales wobble around the same two pounds.

I think the jam is breaking though, each time it's down, it's a little more down.

Of course, this past week has been exhausting. I've been working at the North Bay Stand Down, assisting homeless and at-risk Veterans in getting their lives back on track.

I need to get more rest.

Did you know that not getting enough sleep is a factor in weight gain? It does make sense, since when you're tired, you tend to eat for energy. Also, the more hours you're up, the more opportunity to go look in the refrigerator for those leftovers from dinner...

Rest, drink more water, stick to your eating plan. That's the best way to overcome a plateau.

A little more exercise won't hurt either...

Still Wobbling On A Plateau

Yes, plateaus are hard to deal with. But I'm hanging in there.

If it doesn't change in the next week, I'll have to make some small changes to my eating plan, but right now I'm just letting my body adjust to the weight I've already lost.

As we all know, the minute you reduce calories, your body goes into a starvation mode. Even if the calories are the right amount at your goal weight, they're less than what the body has been getting in the recent days, months, years. So the body rebels.

But if you just hang in there and stick to your plan, eventually the weight will begin to fall off again.

Just hang in there.

Slow Like A Tortoise

Well, the lifestyle change is moving along slowly.

I've lost about eight pounds, but plateaued for a couple of weeks. Now it's creeping down again.

That's the thing about a lifestyle change, it's usually slow with many stops and starts along the way.

The good news is that when I reach goal, I don't have to change a darn thing.

The bad news is that it's a very slow process...

Slow But Sure Progress

When you embark on a lifestyle change, it's never easy.

You even mourn a little for the old days. That includes your old eating habits.

I'm making slow but sure progress on my weight, it's a simple way to do it, but the point is that when I reach goal, nothing changes. I continue eating just the way I have been for the last few months.

I'm not going for quick results. The crash diet, yeah, you'll lose weight. But then it will return and usually bring a friend with it...

Slow but sure.