Week 22, Day 5

Happy Single Awareness Day! Okay, I know it's really Valentine's Day that's being celebrated tonight -- a day early since tonight is Saturday. But for those of us who are fat and single, this day is a reason to buy ourselves a box of chocolates and wallow in our loneliness. Right? Well, not this year. Not for me! I am going out to a healthy dinner and going to Barnes and Noble to splurge on a book. By myself, yes, but that's okay. I will also be transporting my son and his lovely date to and from their dinner and a movie since he doesn't have a car and her car is not available. So...it will be a good night. And yes...it will be a night without chocolate!

Today's Tip:
This Valentine's Day I choose to not focus on the love I don't have in my life. Instead I am choosing to focus on loving myself and being thankful for those I have in my life who do love me in ways I can barely imagine and with a depth I do not deserve. I'm very blessed! Allowing ourselves to get fat and unfit involved a lot of negativity. Let's choose each day to turn the negative habits of the past into new positive habits. Celebrate the good things!

Week 22, Day 4

My cousin is 4 years younger than I am, and she has something in common with Bill Clinton. Thankfully it's not Monica Lewinsky. Unfortunately, today she had the same heart procedure done that he had yesterday. Complaining of chest pains, she went in for tests and ended up with emergency surgery to insert stents to open clogged arteries. I'm not an old woman. I'm not even out of my 40s yet. But I am, apparently, at the age when heart troubles like clogged arteries can begin to rear their ugly heads. All the more reason to stay completely dedicated to as healthy a lifestyle as I can manage so I don't end up in trouble like my cousin. I don't have high blood pressure, I don't have high cholesterol, and I don't want to wait until I do before I am scared enough to change my ways. Now's the time, I'm off to a good start, and this is far too serious for me to give up and go back to my old ways.

Food for today: Arby's all the way. Not sure why. I guess too riled up to fidget around the kitchen. I had southwestern egg rolls for lunch -- 380 calories. And a roast beef gyro for dinner -- 420 calories. Still within my 800 calorie goal. Exercise: Walking at the store, but I didn't take my pedometer in, so I don't know how far I walked. 100 leg lifts. I'll do some arm work this evening. Maybe some time on my bike -- I'm not sure.

Today's Tip:
If you haven't started a fitness program, what are you waiting for? As we saw with President Clinton ans we see time and time again with so many other people, dietary and exercise changes are not made until after a health crisis occurs. But why wait until then? Why let it get to that point? Why set yourself up for needless pain and suffering, or even early death, when it can be avoided? TODAY is the day to begin. Right now. You don't have to change all at once. But at least begin moving in the right direction. Even 15 minutes of extra activity a day can make a difference. Do it like your life depends on it -- because it really does.

Week 22, Day 3

Does walking for 2 hours count? I think so! Of course, I'm not up to power walking yet, but even at a leisurely pace, I feel like I accomplished a good bit today. My legs are telling my I did, too! Adam had the day off and is feeling so much better than he did a couple of weeks ago when he was in the full throes of mono. So we went out. Lunch first. Then shopping and errands. Then stopping by Target simply because he felt like walking more than we had already in our other shopping--- and boy was it great to see him back to having that kind of energy. What a great challenge for me, too. The truth is that I was already tired before we got to Target. But I thought, hey, how many times have I gone alone to walk, and this time I get to do it with him. Heck no I wasn't going to turn it down! So yeah, my legs are tired now. But we had a really good time with each other today, and I feel great. :)

Food confession: I slept late -- really late, so we went right to lunch after I got up. Adam had been wanting pizza for a few days, so we went to our favorite pizzeria and I got 2 slices with chicken and green peppers, thin crust. We got home around 10:30 this evening, both of us to tired to really care what we ate. So we each had a little bit of cheese ravioli --and by a little bit I mean enough to fill up a saucer-sized plate.

Today's Tip:
I switched from dinner plates to using salad plates or saucers for dinner several weeks ago. Studies have shown that when people use smaller plates, they feel just as satisfied as they would if they had filled a full-sized plate, but of course, they eat less because the smaller plate holds less. While you may not want to go as small as saucer-sized plates, try the salad size. It really works!

Week 22, Day 2

You can tell I'm a night owl. I keep intending to write these blog postings earlier in the day when everyone is actually online. But here I am at 10 o'clock at night -- my version of "earlier". ha! In my defense, it's been a busy day clear through the evening, and this is the first time I've had to sit and gather my thoughts.

Busy...wow, I truly am no longer a couch potato. My sinuses have eased up a bit, so I ran errands today, did some housework, spent some frustrating hours working on a client's needs (I still don't know how to do Flash presentations -- and that's what they need for me to do), and began organizing some reference material I've gathered the past few years. Yes, you read that right -- I am organizing. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend toward the very unorganized side of life. So this is a major personality change for me, akin to a cosmic shift in the orbit of every planet in our galaxy. It's truly amazing what an increase in energy will do for someone -- a direct result of increased fitness. When I can hop, skip and jump without shaking the floorboards enough to rattle the pictures off the walls, I will do a Yippy Skippy dance to celebrate my many lifestyle changes and all their associated benefits. In the meantime, I will continue to organize -- I have much to do after a few years of not being able to. Yikes!

Okay, confession time: Food -- sandwich for breakfast, a half a cup of pasta and cheese for lunch, and a cup of ravioli for dinner. Not sure why, but I've really been craving pasta and cheese. A lot. And veggies. Last night I got up in the middle of the night to get a cup of mixed veggies. Weird. As for exercise -- lots of walking at the stores I went to today. I forgot to put my pedometer on, but I made sure I went around each store a couple of times before leaving just to get my walking in. And before I go to bed, I'll do some work with my weights. I need to get my arms strengthened to be ready to take care of my parents when Dad has his surgery. Mom broke her leg and is in a wheelchair now. She has a doctor's appointment a week after dad's surgery, so I'll be hoisting the wheelchair in and out of the trunk myself. I used to do this when Adam was little and going through all his orthopedic surgeries. It was a heavy bit then, and I was in better shape. So I've got to keep working on my arms now and make sure I'm ready to handle whatever I'm needed for in a few weeks.

Today's Tip:
Remember today is new. A fresh start. A clean slate. So if you didn't exercise as much as you wanted to last week, or if you didn't eat right yesterday, so what? Last week and yesterday are both gone. Hold on to the lessons learned, cherish the good memories, and let the rest of it go. Because if you wallow in what you didn't accomplish yesterday, you'll never be able to fully embrace what you CAN accomplish today. So with your clean start today, eat well, exercise as much as you can, and keep moving forward in your weight loss and fitness goals.

Week 22, Day 1

There was a time when the thought of being 216 would have appalled me. Today I'm happy about it. I started this at 259 -- down from my all-time high of 279. So somehow 216 doesn't seem so bad. It's not looking like I'll make my 184 goal by my birthday, but I should come close. At least by the end of February I want to be under 200. That's only about 2 weeks to lose 16 pounds. Can I do it? We'll see. Like the Little Engine that Could, I think I can, I think I can!

No exercise today since I've spent most of it asleep. I've had a sinus headache for the past several days, and it's come to a peak the past 24 hours. I only woke up long enough to take Adam to work and to watch Biggest Loser. The good news is that I have only eaten a salad today, so at least my calorie intake has matched my activity level. Once the damp weather leaves, I'll feel much better. Tomorrow maybe? I feel motivated after seeing Biggest Loser. Isn't that a great show? I always feel so motivated and encouraged after watching it. :)

Today's Tip:
One of my all-time favorite Biggest Loser contestants is Coach Mo from last season. If you have a dollar --that's right, only a dollar, you can help him in his continued work with The Village of Louisville. Louisville, KY, is #1 in the nation for inactivity for youth( channel 11 report), 2nd in nation for obesity in youth, and 3rd for juvenile diabetes tied with southern Indiana. And Coach Mo and his team of volunteers are out to change that at The Village of Louisville, an outreach to the impoverished youth of the community that focuses on academic excellence (participants boast a 100% high school graduation with 94% going on to college), physical exercise, and healthy, nurturing athletic competition. And during these economically challenging times, The Village of Louisville is asking for only ONE DOLLAR. Can you spare a dollar for this worthy cause? Imagine what an impact we could have if each of us donated! Click here to donate or to learn more about Coach Mo's work with The Village of Louisville>> Donate a Dollar

Week 21, Day 7

The neighbors are talking about me. I've always marched to the beat of my own drum, so people talking about me is nothing new. But this time I'm really liking it. This time they're talking because they've noticed my weight loss. I don't see it in the mirror. I still see the huge hiney and thunder thighs. But they see the baggy clothes and the increased activity. They see the slimming physique. And as the saying goes, they ain't seen nothin' yet! I'm eager for the snow and ice to go away so I can begin walking around the neighborhood. There's a grocery store about six blocks from us, and I want to be able to walk down there each day for the basics. Great days are coming!

Today I've done some weight work on my arms and a bit of stair climbing. For food I've had a half sandwich for breakfast, a half sandwich for lunch, and Adam is fixing buffalo and potatoes for dinner. And I think before bed I'll have a bowl of veggies.

Today's Tip:
The Winter Olympics are set to start soon. Which winter Olympic sports are your favorites? Pick a sport you especially enjoy and plan time to not only watch and enjoy the sport, but also work out while you watch. These athletes are a great inspiration, and working on your own fitness is a great way to honor your favorites.

Week 21, Day 6

I have been reading a lot about success this week. Most of it is written for business, but I think the principles apply to anything really. One of the big things I'm getting out of it all is that there is a fundamental difference between deciding to do something and actually doing it. We can decide all kinds of things. That's what New Year's resolutions are all about, deciding to accomplish a particular goal. But until we actually DO something, the decisions are no different than dreams, wishes, or passing fancies. As this relates to weight loss and fitness, success comes from not only deciding to do better for ourselves, but in actually getting up off the couch and doing it. And I would venture to add one more step: commitment. Unlike other goals and activities, weight loss and fitness isn't a one time thing that can be accomplished, after which you move on to something else. To truly succeed, there needs to be the decision, the action, and then the commitment to continue the journey for a lifetime. And I guess that's where we lose steam. We think the exercising is the hard part, or that cutting back on calories is the hard part. But the real challenge is in committing to continue the journey.

And that's the lesson I need to carry into this next week. I haven't done such a hot job of committing to the journey this past week. I've been really tired and the wintry weather brought nasty sinus headaches....and I guess I've just had excuses not to do it. I'm so much better at coming up with excuses than I'll ever be at exercising! But the scales haven't moved this week, and I really hate that. So I will try harder this coming week. I've eaten well this past week, but that's not enough. I need to ride my bike more (which has been hard with my back hurting more lately) and find other ways to simply get my butt in gear and work these pounds off. Ugh! I need to find a way to like this, too! It's still a chore. I envy people who thrive on this stuff. Will I ever get to that point? I hope so.

Today's Tip:
Well, I kind of gave that in the first paragraph. I've been doing this since September, and this past week has been really lackluster. I need to re-energize my commitment. What is your commitment level? Are you looking for quick results, or are you in this for the long haul? Weight loss and establishing a fit lifestyle is a slow process that doesn't happen overnight. Take time every now and then to evaluate your progress and your commitment level. You've already decided, now make sure that your commitment stays revved up to achieve the outcome you desire.