Time is going so fast!

I have 19 days before my new job starts. I've got a countdown on my iGoogle home page just to keep the pressure up. This means I may not be thinking about The Great Slim Down for a couple of weeks, but I don't want to completely lose sight of my goal with this.

I did weigh today. I am now at an honest, complete 15 pounds off.

Part of the change coming with my move is the intention of becoming less dependent on my car. Even if I drive everywhere, my car use will plummet dramatically in the small town I'm going to.

However, I am focusing my attention on finding a house within a reasonable walking distance from my office. I also intend to get a bicycle with baskets front and back. I'll use the car as necessary, but will be looking at my definition of "necessary."

I'll be returning to the town I grew up in. During my growing-up years, we walked everywhere, even to the grocery store. It took my mother, brother and me to do it, but we did it. It was a rare Saturday when Dad would drive us to the store for a big grocery trip that was more than the three of us could carry during the week. That's what I'm looking to reclaim, a simpler lifestyle where I buy only what I need and what I can carry. Think "shopping at Braums" if you're familiar with the dairy and ice cream store chain. They now sell produce, meat and grocery items, but it's a limited line. None of the impulse shopping items or household needs, just high-quality essentials. I can see biking there for bread, milk and fruit easily. I'll use my own canvas bags with velcro closings so I won't be tempted to buy more than will fit in the baskets.

I'll let you know how this works out! Wish me luck and good intentions!

Looks like we've all been busy.

I popped in and noticed that no one has posted for a couple of weeks. Thought I'd catch you all up on what I've been doing. Basically, I'm still walking. Staying pretty much the same in terms of my weight, which is a good thing. I'd not complain if my summer eating habits resulted in another weight loss, but I'm not complaining if it doesn't, either. As long as I don't regain it, I'm happy.

How are the rest of you doing?

Hello. It is Wednesday again.

Maybe it was running to meet this week's tax deadline, but I'm doing OK today. I don't want to believe my scale. It's saying that I am now 15 pounds off, but I question that and will say 14 pounds off total today. I got my haircut this week, too, and that might contribute to the loss. Whatever it takes, baby! I guess I'll stop before lopping off limbs, though.

How are you doing? No matter what the number, how are YOU doing? Are you taking good care of yourself? Eating good things more often than bad? Moving around a little more? Drinking your water and getting good rest? We all know those things are more important than some numbers on a wheel, right?

Good news: spring crops will be bringing us a plethora of great choices! Get to a farmer's market if you can for some good, locally grown produce (isn't that a pleasant thought?)

I remembered it's Wednesday, however, . . .

. . .now I don't wanna talk about it.

(See last week.)

wwin

I dont' wanna talk about it.

Chat amongst yourselves.

One more

That's 15 pounds gone for me!

Woot!!

It's a good morning! I am happy to report a major loss this week which brings my total loss since we started to 14 POUNDS!

Some time in the country at my friends' home has done me some good. A few of us gathered out there on Saturday to work on painting chairs for a charity auction. It was more back-breaking work than I expected it to be and I'm still hurting. But I also got playtime with their dog and enjoyed walking through the woods and down the road to their gate to the outside world (about a mile round trip.)

Sunday through yesterday I was back out there dog sitting while they took a short spring break trip -- they are both teachers and split town at any opportunity to be away from school. So my windfall was having my own private resort on 10 acres with a dog that loves me.

We enjoyed many walks, lots of playtime and good sleep (except for the part where I woke up with ticks crawling on me, but hey, this is the country.)

So what did I learn? Exercise can accelerate weight loss more than diet can. Relaxation is important to physical balance. Breathing deeply and stretching in the privacy of the wilderness feels good and brings oxygen to the muscles.

And life is good!

The needle wiggled

It didn't exactly move, but it's just a half-tick on the good side of where I was last week. Maybe a half pound. Just enough not to discourage me! I've been working on drinking more water, eating more salads and more just simple food instead of "meals." Say a banana and water instead of a sandwich, banana and Diet Coke. Not every feeding needs to include multiple items.

Hope you are all doing well and finding little tricks that are working for you. I think walking season is almost here -- I'm waiting for the pollen to wash out of the air since so many things have budded out this week. The grass in my yard turned green overnight Monday night!

Slow and steady

I am down one more pound for a total of 12, now. Through the week, though, I've become aware of some of my traps that have kept me from moving forward. This week I will create detours around some of those traps. I'll report back next time!

WWIN

Fine, fine, fine. I'll be first. Wish I had great news, though.

I'm 5.7 above my starting weight. Grrr.

How'd you do?

I found this in Parade Magazine several weeks ago. I don't normally read Parade, but did this particular week. Do ya' think it's a coincidence? ;)

Feb. 21 check-in

Well, looks like I might have lost my cute little tracker. No matter -- I know where I started last year and I know where I am today, which is 11 pounds lighter! That may not seem like a big whoop and holler thing, but it is a positive for me. I'm just two pounds from a previous landmark weight and gives me hope of going on down the scale to other landmarks.

Do you have those too? Those weights that stick in your mind at certain times in your life? I have several. The weight I was when I had surgery in 1990. The weight I was when I got married in 1987. My lowest adult weight, when my brother died and the scale started spinning up again. Oh yes, I have a weight for all the memorable dates in my life, and I bet you do too.

I'll have a birthday coming up in just over a month, and I imagine I'm going to have a weight for that too. Then my best friend is getting married this summer, and there will be one for that too.

Funny, isn't it? How great would it be to just have and maintain a good, safe, healthy weight all the time?

One reason I'm allowing myself to go slow with this weight loss is because I am SO TIRED of the wild fluctuations and the yo-yo dieting. I'm tired of having a 50-lb. swing in my weights, depending on the events in my life.

So... onward and downward!

Oh for pity's sake

Can't someone else post first on the dreaded Wednesday Weigh-In? Why must it be me? Why? And why is it that fattening foods taste great? WHY? Well, actually I know that one. We humans are made to like fat. Our body responds to it. It likes fat. Comes from ancient days when we would face starvation in the winter. Now, of course, Big Macs lurk behind every tree, waiting to pounce and force their way into our mouths. Evil Big Macs. Evil.

Anyway, I lost 3.1 pounds. At least, I think I did. The scale is still acting strange, and now I think it might be broke. (Great. I broke the scale. Can't tell you what that does to my self esteem!) So I'm going to have to get another one.

How did you do this week? Were you good? Were you bad? Happy? Sad? And how's the weight loss going?

Did you read Linda's Monday post? Good, inspiring words and tips. Go back and read it if you haven't. It's worth your time.

A Few Tips

I've been thinking about some things lately and thought I'd share.

Sometimes I think it's too easy to follow a particular program and forget to ask what we need in our lives. If we don't get what we need from the program, we'll definitely fall away. I'm not talking about need as in "proper nutrition and exercise". I'm talking about need as in celebrating holidays, special occasions, having favorite foods, or having a social life (which always has food in it).

I have a few tips that I've been remembering as these things have come up. One issue is eating out. Sometimes when we eat out, it's a replacement for a regular meal. Other times, it's a holiday or other celebration. One trick to managing eating out is to be aware of whether you're replacing a regular meal or whether you're celebrating a special occasion. I had a Weight Watchers leader once who said we got ten days a year where we could celebrate and eat whatever we wanted. If it's not one of those "ten days", you'd choose healthy foods or to make a real effort to eat the way you would when you're at home. You'd save the treats for those occasions that truly are special. After all, a treat isn't a treat if you have it all the time.

Another thing I've been thinking about is the battle we often have with sweets. I noticed that if I eat fruit with every meal, I don't crave sweet desserts as much. But I do like them and don't want to completely give them up. I read a tip somewhere that suggested choosing sweets only once a day. So if you have a doughnut for breakfast, you'd have to pass on the birthday cake for the colleague at work. What this does, really, is get you to think before you eat, to make mindful choices, rather than just going along with whatever's going on around you.

A tip regarding junk food starts with a little story. I was grocery shopping with my son the other day. He bought a decent mix of good food and junk food. He said,"When I get junk, I try to get 'good' junk." I laughed, but I know what he means. If I'm going to spend calories on sweet treats, I'm not wasting them on stuff that doesn't taste good. If one cookie isn't enough, it's not a good enough cookie, in my opinion.

The last tip I've been thinking about comes from a friend who trains people to be personal trainers. She says that a good, overall food plan is about 80% good food and a maximum of 20% "stuff people feel guilty about eating." I stopped feeling guilty about food a long time ago. But this rule of thumb, if you're honest with yourself about following it, is a good way to be healthy without following a food plan that's so restrictive that you can't stick with it.

I hope you all have a great week!

Wednesday Weigh-In again

Here we are. Another Wednesday Weigh-In. Whose idea was this again, anyway? They should be shot, I tell you, SHOT! And then poked with sharp pointy sticks until we're sure they're dead ...

Well, maybe not. I still don't have a functioning scale -- how long can I use that excuse? But I've been bad this week so I suspect it wouldn't show me a good number. Starting today, I will do better. There's no point in doing this unless I truly commit. And I'll will try my best get the proper batteries for my scale. (My Wal-Mart was sold out of them, which is odd because I wouldn't think that size of battery was used much.)

Anyway, how did you do? Are you winning the Battle of the Bulge? Or are you slipping into the Valley of Weight along with me? Are you spreading your wings and soaring above calorie-filled temptations or are you wallowing in the fat? Win or slip? Soar or wallow? Which is it?

I can beat this weight thing. I think you can, too. We just have to do it. And we can. But will we? I think we will.

It's only one day

Aha! I wasn't sure it was going to let me post, since it's still on the "old blogger". My dashboard was giving me this little message of how I am not the owner of this blog and it has not been changed as yet. Mmmkay... I guess it doesn't matter, 'cause here I am.

Anywho! I lost 3.2 this week. Woohoo! I was excited. Of course, I had thought I lost more, because she recorded that I did. But when I got home, I felt the need to check the totals over and she miscounted. But I am back up over 50lbs and am a happy girl, regardless. I am not sure how this next week will go, since I have let strawberry cheesecake ice cream come between me and the scale this week. It's 1/2 the fat, but when you sit and eat about 4 servings of it at once, it sort of defeats the purpose. There goes my extra points.

I hope everyone did good this week too!

WWIN

It's Wednesday. I was dreading this day since my weigh in. Ooomph. I gained another .4. I seem to be going backwards. I working for a better result this week. Hopefully, I'll accomplish it.

How'd you do?

Why oh why?

Why do I eat so much? Why oh why? Every morning I start out with the best of intentions. Every night I go to bed knowing that I chowed down a lot. I know being heavy is bad for my health. I know it's bad for my self image. I know I'd get more done if I were healthy. Why, then, do I continue to eat more than I should?

Of course, I've known for a long time that my eating is connected to my emotions. I get stressed, I eat. I get depressed, I eat. About the only time I don't eat is when I'm happy or grieving. Both seem to short circuit my ever-present appetite.

I know part of the problem is that I'm not drinking enough water. Which I'm going to commit to doing today. As for the rest of it, God help me.

And just so you know, I weighed and had gained 2.2 pounds. ARRRGGGG!!!!

Portion Sizes

My biggest problem has never been junk food or snacking. It's that I eat too large a portion of regular, healthy food at mealtimes. Over the past couple of days I've learned something about portion sizes. Thought I'd share. This is totally my own experience, so YMMV.

First thing that happened: I was super hungry on Wednesday and took a rather large portion of food at dinner. I was full by the time I ate half of it, so I put the rest aside for the next day. It was plenty for dinner yesterday.

Second thing that happened: I've been walking to get coffee and bringing my bagel with me. Like most coffee places, this one mainly has pastries, muffins, bagels, etc.--in other words, bread-like stuff. They also have some "egg with other stuff" sandwiches. I don't want more bread-like stuff, since I already have a bagel, and the egg sandwiches are way too much food, so I haven't been buying anything extra, even if I'm hungry. And I've been fine until lunch.

What I learned: First--I learned that I can't tell how much food I need by how hungry I think I am. Second--I can't tell when I'm not hungry anymore by how full I think I am.

What to do: By accident I hit on a way to deal with it. For the first thing--put an average-sized portion on my plate because I don't finish large ones. For the second--don't have seconds until at least a half hour after eating the average-sized portion because, even if I think I'm still hungry, a half hour later I'm fine.

So, that's what I learned for myself this week. Even if I don't lose weight, this should keep me from gaining back what I've already lost because it's a good rule-of-thumb for me to help me to keep from eating too much at meals.

Have a great week, everyone!

Down another notch

Hello buddies,

Did you weigh this morning? I did, and I'm down 1 pound from last week.

I'm off now to get groceries before an incoming storm makes it here. There are dire predictions of thick ice and arctic cold air. Brrrr! Again, that hibernation thing is looking good. Does anyone know if shivering counts as an aerobic exercise?