Health and Fitness January, 2013

[Harriet]

There's a back-and-forth to success with weight loss, so sometimes days that don't go well yield to happier days pretty soon. All best wishes to everyone hoping for smaller numbers. I'm an everyday weigher, too. I have a routine and that's part of it. When I had eaten that kielbasa, it was a moment I could have done without. On the other hand, it was a sleuthing tool (thinking of Lynlee's recommendation of the diet investigating, lol - I shouldn't eat keilbasa).

I saw the new spoon counterpart of that fork on tv coverage of the Los Vegas technology show the other day. The fellow looked at it in some astonishment and said, "it's vibrating so I must be eating too fast". (He wasn't eating - he had moved it quickly to show the camera, lol.) I only saw it briefly but it looked larger, and perhaps longer, than other spoons as he held it. Maybe I shouldn't have been expecting a teaspoon - maybe it was a soup spoon with a larger shape.

I have been sleeping poorly due to circumstances. Every night it's something different. Really need a break from this.

[Nancy]

I saw Dr. Oz. on the Pierce Morgan show last night it was a good one if you happen to catch it they did his blood work up and he got a flu shot.
He did talk about stress but don't remember what he said.

Speaking of stress; Tues. starts for our granny duty as dd & sil are gone for 2 -2 1/2 wks. still don't know if we are house sitting or now. Hoping it does not effect chickens. ---Sigh---

Today I've been out to the chicken pen 2x already got them for the exercise it would get me knowing it would get me off my tush.

B.S. was excellent today yea!
Coffee black has an anti oxidant yea in it!

Pot luck at church tomorrow still not sure if we are going or not yet.

Got my 4 mi. on the ex. bike done last night.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Nancy: I hear you about skipping the potluck! We have a meeting after church so I'll take healthy snacks with me to munch on and hopefully stay on program today.

Didn't work out yesterday and ended up missing the walk so only did 4800 steps and got no exercise points. I wasn't a slug, I vacuumed the upstairs of my house and the sanctuary plus was up and down the stairs at the church over and over as I stored the Christmas stuff. But that's just movement not exercise and they are not equivalent. My normal workout in the morning is 4/5 of my total steps yesterday.

It was the beginning of a new week and we had ribs for dinner so I've put a big dent in my flex points for the week but since I only used 1/3 of them last week, I'm hoping I can repeat that this week.

Normally on bad eating days I made sure I exercise in order to limit the number of flex points I end up using. Tonight's dinner is chicken which is much more point friendly. I'll probably end up with a 7 point dinner instead of 10 or more (I only get 21 base points for the day so 10 is half my daily amount of food, unless I exercise.) A run in with potato chips was the biggest part of my transgression yesterday. Hopefully that won't happen again (on the plus side - they are gluten-free!)

I'm still not having 'lunch' each day, instead having a series of 3 snacks starting around 11:30 and running until about 2:30. Then another snack around 4 and pushing dh for an early dinner by 5 or 6 at the latest. This eating plan won't work while traveling (but can work on the ship if I go at the beginning of lunch buffet (12:00) and again at the end (2:00). I have veggies in the cabin at 6 p.m. so the only challenge will be getting through tea only having tea and not scones.

Weight is definitely down. But whether it will continue to fall at the same rate remains to be seen since my hormones will play a roll in the loss I saw last week. I'm still only 11 pounds down from my high water weight 3 years ago. And I've been at this weight every Jan or Feb for the past three years so I'm losing the same weight over and over (and not even the last 10 pounds, these are the first 10 pounds out of 40.) The most I've managed to lose of those 40 is 16. I wouldn't bet big that I'll lose more this year.

On the bright side, I've never been back up to the high water mark always stopping about 3 lbs under that. So that has saved me a second digit 8. Since my goal is second digit 3 or 4, sticking in the 6's and 7's isn't a good thing - I'm still overweight there (and at a 5 - it has to be a 4 before I'm no longer overweight.)

[OKay]

Keeping on….

Weight was done .4 lbs this morning which brings me to 7 lbs lost. I was going to check Dec H&F to see when I started but the pages are loading too slowly. I'll check later. I'm thinking it was on 12-17-2012. If that is true, then I still have 4 days to lose another pound to reach my goal of 8 lbs monthly. Regardless of the exact date start date, I'm happy the scales are headed in the right direction again.

[Nancy]

Way to go on your progress gals!
I have done my 4 mi. on the ex. bike did that while waiting for my hair to process for my spa moment today! I've been up and down the stairs at least a couple of times doing laundry w/ more to come.
Next up heading out to sweep the drive way. On 2nd thought it's snowing might wait until it stops.

[OKay]

Posting for accountability. When i post here first thing in the morning, I reaffirm the decision to keep on.

Keeping on.....tracking food, water, sleep and exercise.

Yesterday i found the open Cheetos bag in my hand. Cheetos are dangerous for me because I can easily eat the whole bag. I never bring them into our home but DParents keep them at their home because they know how much I love them. Yesterday DMom/DDad started going over their wishes (once they die) and it was emotional for me to calmly talk about what will need to be done. I grabbed the Cheeto bag and started nibbling. Cheetos inserted into mouth....while I write down chaplain phone number to call after death. Cheetos inserted into mouth....while I listen to DDad tell where his Masonic items are that he wants to wear for burial. Cheetos inserted into mouth.....again...again...again.

After all that Cheetos sodium I was thankful for only having .2 lb increase this morning. The rest of yesterday I ate very well and stayed within my goals.

[Lynlee]

just ci after my time away
I can vary 1 pound over a day easily. I like to think of a lower normal weight and an upper weight and stay mostly between those.
Harriet - good going not beating yourself up but considering it a trial / challenge - or sluthing.
I can still get craving for what doesn't suit me - but need tell myself that its not worth the grief it causes.
Meal out: - from Vietnamise section of menu. I'm not sure of everythings gluten free status. But I haven't noted reactions.
diy - rice paper wraps - Share meals of - chicken and cabbage salad; rice noodles, carrot, sprouts, lettuce; prawns; pork; calamari. water for drinks.
I'm recording my food/meals, if I take suppliments, and lights out time again.
Sluthing shows me I can't skip chia seed and or fish oils/eveningprimrose/gutamine for days running without weary creaking joints esp feet and knees.

(((OKay)))

[Harriet]

Appreciating this morning all the straightforward posts here that are so inclusive and self-effacing, really, but more important, are reassuring all 'round that we face the same concerns. Year-over-year record keeping that shows us some disappointment, stress-eating that goes along with how much we care for others, frustration that even when we know what's right we sometimes forget.

The Dr Oz/Morgan interview was aired again last evening, Nancy, and we got to watch some. HRH taped some more. A lot was very good. I was disappointed in the laughter and winking, teasing, over alcohol. Glad when Morgan asked, finally, "but what about addiction?" Because I personally don't think advising small amounts of drinking is safe when weighed against the dangers to so many. Again I noticed the advice to have eaten a full breakfast within an hour of waking, and that is just way difficult for me - nobody ever ends that with a discussion of what folks who take thyroid meds are supposed to do. I liked the advice to stop trying to make decisions about breakfast, but to have certain usual breakfasts you've already decided are good, and save daily decision making for lunch and supper. Also liked the recommendation of eggs. Did you notice in the "Dr Oz's Favorite Foods" that eggs were number 3? Kathryn, almonds were number 1.

Last evening dd beeeggggged to go to the bookstore (I got a gift certificate present) for a happy book to be reading after each of her exams this week. (They will stay with that day's teacher all morning until 12:30, and have been told to bring books to read. She thinks she'll be miserable with only Life of Pi to read.) They were having a general sale, too.

At bookstore I found for HRH the spiral bound copy of Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise, which is full of substitute recipes in big color photos - for instance, if you like this restaurant meal, try his recipe for it that is lighter and healthier, or if you like Little Debbie brownies, try his recipe so it won't be a disaster.

For Harriet, who couldn't find Bob Harper's book that she thought she'd like, I bought 8 Minutes in the Morning to a Flat Belly, also by Jorge Cruise. He insists that you wait to start his plan until you have read the first 4 chapters, bought a medicine ball, and made photocopies of some pages and started filling them in. Who thinks I started this morning? Of course I did! (I did do most of the reading, and I used a container of flour as he says it could be a substitute for the ball.) He says each morning's exercise takes 8 minutes. I definitely spent 16, but then I was reading the instructions a lot and didn't have an easy way of knowing when each minute was past, which would help. (you can't readily look at your wrist). He doesn't count in his minute-tally that he wants you to do a minute of warm-up and some cool-down poses, too. So... oh well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt there. He's got a lot of good info.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

On treadmill again.

(((OKay))) Stress eating and trigger food, what a great combo! And Cheetos have the same effect on me. I pay a fortune for the 100 calorie baked cheetos bags because they give me portion control. Buying a big bag and decanting into snack zip locks didn't work - probably because it is harder to open one of the commercial bags than a zip lock.

Since I'm trying to convince myself it is the salty of the cheetos that I crave, I've subbed in 100 calories of air popped popcorn each day which has the added benefit of filling my tummy physically. So those are empty calories with a purpose!

I was starving all day yesterday. Was cold at my church meeting (had sat near a furnace vent that was blowing cool water) and that lasted the rest of the day. I had 150 calories of cheese and crackers at the meeting, with a cup of tea and two glasses of water, then had soup, a banana, some milk and finally popcorn. Cold makes me tired and I had to get outside to work so I had a can of pop. Note I had had 2 cups of tea already by this point in the day and was dragging but the pop revived me so it must be the sugar.

In the evening I craved jelly beans but ignored that and had nothing but decaf tea.

So the day was pretty good for eating although I did use a few flex points. Today is a high-point dinner so I need to be careful through the day. We have choir as well, but she knows I'm avoiding gluten so it should be less tempting than usual. Her dh is gluten sensitive so she used to put out all the things he couldn't have for us to snack on! But today it is just dh and I and dh doesn't eat sweets so if she puts out anything it will be cheese and crackers.

[Nancy]

I have done snow removal several time for my ex. today.