Health and Fitness, April 2014

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I won't be getting on the scales until the end of the month. I didn't want to be upset by Easter eating. Not that I'm eating much better now but it is settling down.

Yesterday we ended up eating at J's house and had a vegan lunch. A 1/4 cup of pasta salad in half an avocado, 4 slices of cuke, 2 celery sticks, two lettuce leaves and about 1cup of a 'creamy' cole slaw (not sure what she used for the dressing.) I ate everything except the avocado. It helped I was starving but I genuinely liked the cole slaw which is unusual since I HATE dressings.

Had green tea and a piece of real licorice for dessert.

Dinner, not so good. But the side was the only bad choice. Then I had two cookies in the evening with decaf tea.

Slept really well last night but got up late because dh didn't get up when he usually does (he had a rough night.) I'm on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then have to really move it fast to get s2s, eat, and over to the church for 9:30 ish.

BTW: ended up with 8200 steps yesterday but 6400 were from the treadmill so you can see it was a low movement day except I listened to a discussion on this week's Bible readings and that took an extra 20 minutes so I was on the treadmill 55 minutes instead of 40.

[OKay]

Posting here for focus & accountability.

Still working on the vegetable questions from yesterday. This is more complicated than I thought. I probably won't be able to finish during this weekly focus but am okay with that. It is a process....not perfection. I want the vegetable category to go from unknown and confusing to become easy and simple.

I am maybe 1/4 of the way through answering those questions and it is already showing positive results. I have re arraigned the refrigerator items. Now the fruit is up-front at eye level - the first thing that is seen when the door opens. I want to obtain a clear box to hold the fresh fruit. The vegetables are more numerous & take up more space. They have been consolidated into one refrigerator location (instead of being scattered). They are in a big plastic container that is easily removed from refrigerator. Baby steps......

[Nancy]

Ex. Today was on the gazelle.

[Ivy]

Exercise today was housework, lifting/hauling, & laundry. I was on my feet about 1.5 hours or more, worked up a big sweat, so didn't to timed walking as exercise today.
My eating is on track counting calories, too.

[OKay]

I slept well last night - best night sleep I'm had since I came down with this head cold. My head is still very stuffy but it is better than it was 24 hours ago so I have high hopes it will continue to get better.

Vegetable focus continued yesterday with assigning individual vegetables to types of storage needs (fresh, refrigerator, freezer, canned, dried, etc). I realized early this morning that I should be doing this compilation in a different way to make it easier. Baby Steps…..

The scales continue in the right direction. Another .6 lbs down today as I continue training myself to eat "normal" food in correct portions. Yesterday meals were
B: Muffin and milk
L: Red beans, rice, ham, Spring mix, summer squash
D: Pizza, salad, strawberries with whip cream

Replacement Fitbit is working and it feels good to be tracking steps/sleep again. Yesterday I only did 8718 steps however I didn't capture the steps during first 6 hours of my day so I can only guess that I would have reached 10,000 minimum.

[Cowinkie]

Did 2.5 miles on my gazelle and have over 7400 steps in today. Still eating on plan and am off to make my lunch. I'm hungry

[Ivy]

I'm so tired-tired-tired
of the plateau,
so I've fired-fired-fired
my exercise plan.
I'm gonna give Zumba a try,
and shake things up.
I'm not gonna "sigh".
I'll do Richard Simmons' stretchy bands workout, too.
I'll try to start tomorrow or Monday, with this new shaking-things-up approach. I'm so frustrated being on this 4-Lbs. range plateau. Yes, clothes fit, I look nice, but the osteo hips and FM can lose some Lbs. My dr. asked me to move more, too. See him the end of July, so want to do my best, to "see" if his scales will show I've lost about 8 - 10 Lbs. I've found an on-line free game, to motivate me as a reward, like Pavlov's dog. Move awhile, then play a game, go move more, putter around the house, play a game. Am only doing Mahjong & not role-playing get-lose-deeply-into-it-role-playing games. So I hope this week, as I shake things up with the Zumba & those exercise bands, both, I'll be able to shake up my metabolism, and energy level, too. At least it's worth the try. If we try & try again, we're going to eventually succeed. We just need to be patient, hang in there with ourselves & not give up at all. It's an everyday journey, not one day a week or 3 days a month. Go, Ivy, Go!

[Nancy]

Ex. Today = mowing.

[Cowinkie]

Walked out and about this morning. The weather was cool, windy and wonderful. Did abt 3 miles around 7500 steps. Will walk pups tonight and add an other mile.

Am right on the edge of my major goal. Been eating on plan all week, but had to take headache meds twice last night, also was awake most of the night so don't know how it will effect me. Not going to worry abt it... Just going to stay focused no matter what the outcome.

I am roasting a chicken for dinner tonight. Also having squash and onions. Have a couple of chicken breasts cooking as well so I should be pretty set for this week. I try to keep things bagged that I can grab when I'm hungry. Eating my 72% cacao chocalate square at night along with my tea is doing wonders for my sweet cravings. Course I've cut out all other sugars including artificial so that might have something to do with it as well

[Cowinkie]

Not in bed yet but have more than 12500 steps. Don't know if i will be able to post in the morning. Sweetie and I will be up early and off to a long day adventure.