Quickie Weigh-In

Rainy days here. I'm on the hunt for a comfortable pair of rain boots. I just have a cute pair of uncomfortable ones. So for walking outdoors in the rain, I have a pair of fugly sneakers. Works for now.

A little more progress on the scale this week.

Weight: 185.0 lbs

A Last Minute Outing

So I didn't have much on the agenda for this weekend and while I was surfing on the interwebs, up popped an ad for Jillian Michaels' Maximize Your Life tour. Took a look and there were some tickets left. Called up a friend and she was willing to go with me. Hopped in the car and drove to Montreal and took in Jillian's show.

If you've read her books and listened to her podcasts, you'll already know a lot of what she talks about in her show. I do have a couple of her DVDs that I do once in a while (but put on mute because her voice is so grating LOL)

A few of parts of her show stood out in my mind. 

The big secret to weight loss:  Eat Less. Move more.

Ha! Simple but so true. Yep, she admits she and others make millions based on just this.

She doesn't mince her words:

It's your fault if you're fat. 

And I have to agree... it's my fault if I'm not in the place I want to be with fitness and weight. I haven't done all the work necessary to lose the excess fat. I can say I'm a work in progress. I'm definitely not in the same place I was at 220+lbs.

Fear is what holds you back from pursuing your dreams.

Will have to think about this one some more.

The Q and A section at the end, she really impressed me with the answers she gave to:

Why can't I finish what I start?

Why are there so many negative people around me?

Why do you ride on the contestants on The Biggest Loser? 

Show us your abs! -- Oh yes she did!

She did her job as a motivational speaker and left me with a few ideas to mull over at home. And gave me a little kick of motivation, even though she says motivation begins with ourselves.

Would I go and see another speaker like Jillian? Hmmm, probably not again soon. It's just not my style. I'd rather learn from books, articles and blogs rather than spend 2 hours listening to someone speak.  

Overall it was an educational and fun night, especially with her sidekick and podcast producer Janice as comic relief.

Sticking to Plan and Weighing-In

Through Easter and for the most part of the week, I've been sticking to plan. Normal portions, getting enough protein, limiting sugar and salt and for activity walking, stretching and some strength training. I'm feeling good and clothes are a little looser in some spots.

After work, which has been a biatch lately, I do really feel like just getting home as fast as possible, grabbing a quick supper and curling up on the sofa and watching TV or going on the Internet for the whole evening. Instead of succumbing, I'm fighting against this!  

I walk part of the way home, stop to do groceries, prepare a veggie-filled supper with a lean protein and then take a full 30 minutes to relax by eating my meal slowly. Savouring the bites rather than inhaling the the meal down in five to ten minutes. I find this tip from my counsellor has helped me in the past few weeks. Just slowing things down and appreciating what I have. With cleaning my routines and bad habits, things just seem to be on the right track!

Weight: 185.6 lbs 

Easter Wrap-Up

So nice to get together with relatives I don't see too often as we live in different cities. There were a lot of laughs and a lot of reminiscing about good times.

The Bad: I had pie and I had some chocolate

The Good: I wasn't feeling like I had to eat anything out of guilt, sadness, boredom, awkwardness or some other emotion.  Since it was a special occasion, I decided to indulge just a little.

The Ugly: Tears from relatives who thought I was rejecting them by leaving food on my plate. This is an ongoing issue. I did my best to explain the meal of salad, ham and roast veggies was tasty, but that I was full. I can't do anything more...

From Good Friday to Easter Sunday there were three large meals with relatives. Most served healthy food, some did not. Fried anything did not cross my lips. No doughnuts, croissants, or Belgian waffles. I was able to stay on track through all the meals with the two exceptions I mentioned above.

Food highlights: 

• A stuffed acorn squash with ground beef, diced apple and carrot with a small amount of crumbled bacon.
• Baked Trout Almandine
• Spinach salad with baby arugula, caramelised walnuts and goat cheese (I only ate a couple of the walnuts as nuts are still triggering for me these days)

I'll weigh-in on Wednesday to see if I've really kept on track.

On the Road for Easter and Weighing-in

It's Easter and there are relatives to visit, so we're hitting the road. The challenge is not giving into temptations or guilt-trips! 

Like I've mentioned before in posts around the Christmas holidays, most of my relatives equate food with love. Since I've been eating healthier for a while now, most are well aware of what types of food I'll eat and which I won't. I shouldn't complain too much as most of the meals served these days are relatively healthy. Salad, some sort of roast beef, turkey or ham with veggies.

It'll be interesting to see if this year they try some subtle or overt sabotage. 
My Mother, for example, while making a lot of changes over the years, still sometimes will fall back into old habits too, like buying chips and Hawkins Cheezies "for anyone who wants any" but it's an excuse. She admits really wants them for herself. It's my choice whether or not to give in.

I've been making the right choices lately and it's showing on the scale. Walking, walking, and more walking as much as this crazy weather permits. One day beautiful, two days icy-cold and snow; two days rainy, one day warm. Gah!  

Food-wise: no excess portions, limiting salt and sugar.

Weight on Wednesday morning: 187.1 lbs

Wednesday Weigh-in

That number on the scale has gone down this week. I think mainly it's because I'm being more active overall. With the snow and ice melting off the sidewalks  and the weather warming up, I can do a lot more walking! It's still cold here in the mornings, around 0C (or 32F) then it gets a little warmer during the day. 

Making sure to get in more protein during the day so I'm not super-hungry by the time I get home. I add an extra egg in the morning then some tuna with veggies for an afternoon snack. My lunch is about the same portion and calorie-wise but my supper, in consequence of moving the calories around, is a little smaller.

Still fighting off various food cravings especially in the evenings. Definitely not hungry, just craving. Wow, it is ever a mental game these days! I usually ignore those thoughts, have a glass of water, maybe some tea, then keep busy and stay out of the kitchen. Doing laundry and keeping on top of chores helps before putting in a strength training and/or T'ai Chi DVD.

Still limiting my personal Internet time to an hour per day. It's still tough but necessary.

At work, I have been able to stay away from the pre-Easter treats left out on the common tables by the manager of another sector... who is struggling to lose weight. Great camaraderie, eh? I don't need that kind of sabotage.

Telling myself something like this helps: 

"It's just horrible tasting, cheap-ass chocolate and won't do me any good just make me fat!" 

Weight this week: 189.4lbs

 

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

Had some tough discussions over the course of the past week separately with three friends. These people are among my circle of friends but wouldn't call them my closest friends. These folks hadn't been exactly supportive during the last while. Examples are snarky comments at get-togethers about my career, looks, weight, food and exercise.  These comments were not in the spirit of "tough love" which I am always open to, but these were put-downs designed to hurt.

Normally I wouldn't dream of being so confrontational or even think of addressing these issues... I'd just let it go... Letting these people just fade out of my life.  But I've made a commitment to cleaning up and improving my life from top to bottom, in and out. I have to take a stand.

I confronted them with some concrete examples like, During the evening, you said ____ and that really hurt my feelings.

I was hoping for an acknowledgement of past behaviour and a willingness to put it in the past and start fresh. Two did admit to bitchiness, we exchanged apologies and we're moving forward. 

With the other, it was a difficult conversation, she felt I was being unreasonable so I said: If that's how you feel, I wish you all the best and hope things work out for you.

Life is too short. Really. Deciding to keep positivity in my life is the easiest decision I've ever made.

Results of Unplugging and a Weigh-in

This has been a hard week since I put limits on my personal Internet time. I use a stop watch to clock every minute. I haven't gone over the hour total per day, but so far, it's been difficult. It's made me prioritize, keep my thoughts organized and type more quickly LOL  I do have tons more time to fill in the evenings with productive activity like cleaning, organizing, reading and food prep for the next day. It's all good :)

On the exercise front, it has helped that the weather's warmed up here. Everything's melting and it feels like Spring might just be around the corner. Since the sidewalks are now pretty well clear, I've started walking part of the way home from work. I do have more time in the evenings for being active. Following along the best I can to a 40 minute strength training or Jillian Michaels DVD (the sound is on mute because I can't stand her raised voice, her podcasts are fine though) followed by 25 minutes of  T'ai Chi.

On food, the house is packed with healthy food, no junk, no crap. I still have trouble with portions at suppertime. By the time I step inside after work, I'm ravenous. Looking over my food journals, and after doing some calculations, I'm not getting enough protein during the day. I'm looking at ways to get more in without eating nuts, which are triggering for me right now. I also have to remember to rehydrate after walking part of the way home.

Weight is 192.8lbs 

Slightly up from last week. I was hoping for a 1 or 2lb loss. I can't let the scale get me down, rather, I have to keep being consistent with the plan I've laid out. Drowning my disappointment in a bag of chips will get me nowhere... just fatter.