Day 180: Never underestimate the power one week can bring.

This past week I cut out a few items in my diet: salt, man-made carbohydrates and sugar. It always surprises me how quickly my body changes if I'm persistent, even for a short period of time.

Salt: the first day I didn't add salt to my cooking, I felt like I was sacrificing a lot and was surprised that it's easier to give up sugar than salt.  Everything I ate tasted bland, and I had to actually put some mental effort not to grab the salt shaker--at one point, I noticed I reached for the shaker without thinking.  I had no idea I had become such a salt fiend.
Surprise: After a day or two, I started to discover the flavor of foods. Things tasted differently to the point that I didn't even miss salt.  Scrambled eggs, homemade salad dressing and sweet potatoes taste fine without salt.  I'm shocked that I noticed a difference after a day and am considering putting the salt shaker back with the rest of the spices in the cupboard.

Man-made Carbs: At the beginning of the week I had a bit of a challenge wrapping my head around finding carbs that were not man made and gluten free.  Bread, we take that for granted.  It's super hard to find gluten free bread that doesn't look dry and cardboard tasting. I plan on making some with rice flour one day soon.  (Note: gluten free is only for a few months to rule out a gluten sensitivity.)
Surprise:By the end of the week, I found that I needed heavier carbs for my energy.  Not being able to grab bread or tortillas or a bun, I noticed that fruit alone wasn't enough carbohydrate load for my body's need.  Adding sweet potatoes, beans and brown rice did the trick.

Sugar:  This is a no brainer.  When is sugar ever a good thing to put in our body?  Sure, it does so much for the soul, but really, we can live healthy without it.  At the beginning of the week, I noticed I did have cravings and I actually took a bite of something the kids were eating, but that was it.  (I won't spend much time on this since I have oodles of other posts on my thoughts and struggles with sugar.)
Surprise: By the end of the week, I once again found the strength to be stronger than the cookie.  We went to a Arrow of Light Cub Scout Ceremony last night and there were some wonderful desserts I would have liked to have a plate of.  I was shocked that I didn't look twice.  (Okay, I'll be honest, I did.) I was ecstatic that I actually took a moment to visualize what I would feel like if I indulged.  I thought about the sugar coated throat I will feel after eating my weights-worth, and I found that a simple whiff of the gooey goodness of Smore brownies was enough to satisfy me.

I feel good.  I feel empowered.  A week ago I felt a bit out of control, like I couldn't say no to the things I loved and that brought comfort.  I honestly started this hormone balancing program with severe doubts since the first month is a bit strict, for obvious reasons.  In weight loss, it's not just about your brain making the decision, it's the way your body reacts to the food you feed it.  Just removing three things from my diet, I can feel my body responding, and this helps when my brain is weak. I am honestly surprised that I feel strong enough to make changes that are going to better my health, only after a week.  Never underestimate the power one week can bring.

Day 166: WTHeck is going on?

I LOVE donating blood.  I've been doing it for years and try to do it whenever I can.  I'm nearly to the two gallon mark--maybe I've passed it already? I need to remember to check so I can get my license plate holder saying, "I'm a 2 gallon donor."  Call me a weirdo, but I like having that on my car.

Needless to say, I've never had an issue when donating.  Actually, I take that back.  When I was in college, I had an incomplete donation.  Turns out, if it's hot and you are a little low on water before going in, your blood can be too thick and stop flowing...right in the middle of a donation.  Yeah, that happened once, but I've never been turned away...until today.

I sat down behind the private curtains with the lady and she checked all my vitals.  Blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, all normal, and then she pricked my finger.  Normally, the tech has to squeeze hard to get a big enough drop to fill up the glass vile.  Not this time.  I noticed she was sucking it up as the blood drop slid down my finger. That caught my attention, but I didn't think it was a big deal.

"Do you usually have a problem with this?" she asked, as the little ball of blood didn't sink in the blue liquid.

"Not usually, but it usually hovers for a sec until in falls to the bottom.  Why?"

She walked over to a machine that was out of my sight, I heard it whirl behind me as I waited.  Soon, it beeped and the tech came back and told me I couldn't donate today but that I could come back in three weeks and try again.

This has never happened to me before and I'm a little frustrated with my body right now as it's freaking out on me.  I have noticed that I've been extra tired lately, I just thought it was the heat and my hubby's snoring.  Guess it was something more.  I've also been a bit more stiff and sore than usual too, I need to research Fibromyalgia more thoroughly.  I'm SO grateful I have the habit of working out every day or who know how I'd be feeling like right now.

Now more than ever, I really need to be stepping it up.  I need to be more balanced in my eating and adding more to my exercise regimen.  It's a reminder to never get complacent.  Health is ongoing and how we take care of our body needs to adjust as our needs do.  It's my journey and I now have an unexpected detour. No worries though, it's all a lesson on adjusting to the unexpected.

Day 160: Why is just as important as what.

Photo Credit

As I laid in bed this morning thinking about my current state of health and how frustrated I was, a thought occurred to me.  The same thing that is happening now, happened in my early twenties, nearly twenty years ago. (Yes, I just leaked my age, oh well...I tend to be an open book) Yep, at one point, I gained 40 pounds in 6 months during a time I was the most active in my life.  Noticing the similarities, I continued to analyse the timeline of my life.

I was a teen in the 90's.  I remember the HUGE craze then was a low-fat, high-carb diet.  I was in high school and I was very rigid with my eating.  I was also a size 6 who felt like I was a size 26. (If I could go back in time and kick myself, I would.) I remember eating very little fat, if any, and a whole bunch of carbs and Diet Pepsi. I remember my cycle was messed up and the Dr. gave me medication to fix it.  So during a time where my endocrine system and metabolism was developing, I was doing everything to work against it.

A body needs good fats to help build and strengthen every system needed to be alive and healthy.  I gave my body none, or at least I didn't give it the healthy kind when I had treats or a snack.  I also flooded my body with chemicals from soda and medicine.  What's sad is if I had been eating a balanced and healthy diet, I wouldn't have needed the medication to begin with. No wonder my body rebelled when I was 20, my endocrine system and metabolism were toast.  I had abused it without even knowing and it was ticked.

Now, twenty years later, I'm still dealing with the damage I incurred while I was developing in my youth.  I'm grateful that now I know better health habits so I can teach my children not just to eat better but why they would want to eat better.  I personally think the why is just as important as the what. You need to know what to put in your body so you can be healthy, but if you don't understand or know why, it's easy to make excuses.

I'm tired. * I don't feel good. *  Just this time. * It's a special day. * Tomorrow I'll do better. * Monday.

For me, when I know the why, the why will squash the excuses and reveal how lame and flimsy they really are, giving me a better chance of winning.

3/365 - Something I've come to realize.

1/365 - Happy New Year 2011

As I sit here ready for the new year to begin, there are many thoughts floating around my head.

Excitement. Trepidation. Hope. Fear.

I've had weight loss successes before. I went to Diet Center (A local weight loss clinic in town) while I was in Jr. High and lost 20 pounds. I was a size 6 afterwards. After my second baby, I lost 50 pounds with Weight Watchers. I was a size 8 when I hit goal.  I have had my moment to shine and feel triumphant.  I also know it was because of a program I lost it.  As soon as I was done with the program, it slowly came back. Every time. I have learned since, that programs, for me, don't work in the long term.

In 2009, for the first time in my life, I lost weight on my own. 40 pounds of weight was gone because of my efforts. No program. No help. Just me. Success has never been so sweet. Without making an official "weight loss" goal, I finished the year pretty close to where I need to be to have a healthy BMI. I was a size 10/12 and I was happy with my body for the first time in my life.

2010 wasn't so sweet.  I started the year out strong, but slowly lost momentum. I thought about doing a 720 days of workout challenge, but decided to take Sundays completely off. It was for good reason, Sundays are a special day for me. Unfortunately, once you miss a day in a long streak, it's easy to make it two. The cycle then begins. I thought about doing another 365 day goal starting mid-year, but that didn't work. (Refer to my recent vlog where I discuss why) For me, I need to be a bit OCD with my goals or its easy for me to sabotage my efforts. I've learned this. It's how I roll.

I now end 2010 feeling like I never had a success at all. I had a very rough year, probably the toughest in my life and I took it out on myself.  Writing was a wonderful, creative escape but I stopped working out when I started to write. Sometimes it was because I didn't want to take a break from writing, but mostly it's because I forgot to workout until it was midnight and too late to do it.  (My husband needs to be up early and the elliptical is in our bedroom)  Over time, poor eating habits returned and a few pounds were found before the holiday season began.  By the time December came, I was in full blown binge mode. Right now I feel like I never made a change to begin with.

Weight loss efforts has such an ugly side. When making positive choices we are moving forward, learning, becoming better, it feels great. But once you have a weight problem caused by bad habits, those habits can so easily be found no matter how long time has elapsed. Especially when life gets challenging.  I chose to put "Journey" in the name of this blog because that is exactly what it is.  There really is no end. Constant vigilance needs to be there or we'll find ourselves in a place we don't want to be.  That dark ugly place that is so familiar.

As I sit here, my pants feel tight and my body feels flabby. I can literally feel the newly formed fat on my legs.The thought of eating any sweets right now makes my stomach turn because the over-sugared, over-fill feeling is nauseating. I'm so sick of eating right now--the idea of a week long fast sounds inviting. Actually, my body would probably benefit from a good fast too.

I'm excited for 2011. It holds promise. I also start it somewhat ticked off at myself and determined to do better. I know I can do it, I've done it before. But there is always a fear in the back of my head. What if? I'm happy to say that I have pushed my what ifs to the back of my brain and ignoring them. I plan on getting up tomorrow and ending the day on the elliptical, doing my workout. I'm not going to focus on all the things I should do better like getting up earlier, eating better, planning better, spending less time on the computer, being outside more, etc. I'm only going to focus on one thing, my work outs. I know me. If I try to do too many changes at once, I will fail. Guaranteed. But if I focus on one thing, I know I can do it.  Keep things simple and it's easier to make changes. That's my plan.

2011 Workout Goal

Take Two

 

I just finished doing my 2011 goal vlog and I look like this (minus the cleavage).

You think I'm kidding? I'm tempted to put a screen shot, but I won't. I've always had a wrinkly forehead, it's in the genes, but the lighting was just perfect for a Klingon effect. I'll just spare you, okay?

So I will attempt to do it again tomorrow with better lighting. It's ALWAYS about lighting, isn't it?

Are you ready for 2011? Do you have some goals? In the past, I got to a point in my life where I stopped making goals for the New Year. Why? Because I thought it was a joke. After years, and years of making goals only to sabotage them before the week's end, I was done.

It wasn't until 2009 something clicked.  I was pretty ticked with how I felt and I made a crazy goal I honestly didn't think I could do. I guess I was mocking myself and the whole New Years Resolution idea. But the joke was on me.

During the year, I learned there is power in January 1st when you make a goal for 365 days. At any point during the year, I was able to find out what day I was on because it was the same as the day of the year! For instance, the 214th day of 2009 I did my 214th workout. Simple math. The numbers worked well with my OCD. I couldn't miss a day because the numbers would be off, and that would have driven me nuts. There was just enough incentive not to miss a day because I knew if I did, the whole goal would have been over, and I was kind of enjoying watching the numbers add up. I'm compulsive like that.

I've learned that I need to workout daily to keep in shape and to stay healthy because I'm full of excuses. One missed day turns into two turns into a week....  There is ALWAYS a reason not to workout. Always. Making such a goal kills the lame excuses I come up with and really, isn't it always an excuse that keeps us from our goals?

Stress

I've had a stressful summer.  Too much to do and not enough time to do it in.  Sound familiar? We all have stress in our lives and for me, there are times I can handle it and other times when I can't.

When I can't handle it, I take my stress out with eating.  For me, I ate more this summer than I usually do.  Come to think of it, I didn't eat that much worse than I have all year as I maintained my weight loss.  But I am currently a good 10 pounds heavier now.  Why?  I haven't been exercising!  When I say exercising is key, I mean it!!  I can have a little allowance with my eating if I am working out, if I'm not, my weight just creeps back on, every time.

Right now I sit here and I can feel my waist line cut into my tummy.  I HATE this feeling and yet it's back.  The first thing I need to do is make time for the elliptical.  Even if I don't change my snacking or stress relieving methods, the workouts will help with maintaining so I can stay in my snug pants (for now) instead of having to buy the next size.