Thanksgiving! And mostly paleo :D

Back at home for the long holiday weekend and looks like a change is coming. My Mother has been having some health problems and of course, the doctor recommends losing weight and getting moving every day. I've been talking to her about the dangers of processed foods, and she's realizing all those processed carbs cant be good. So this Thanksgiving supper was turkey, ham, a big pan of roasted root veggies with  splash of coconut oil and maple syrup and a salad of baby greens with a balsamic vinegar dressing. 

The exception to all this paleolishness was the pies for dessert. I just cant resist my Mom's apple pie. Only had one piece and I don't regret it. It was a great long weekend, with time spent doing chores outside my Mom's house, a walk around my old hometown and a long hike with the whole family.

I'll be weighing in on Wednesday, but since I bought the new scale I've been weighing myself a few times a day. My weight fluctuates between two and four pounds depending on the time of day, levels of hydration and if I've been to the bathroom or not. Now I'm weighing in daily, mornings only. Imagine checking in on the scale several times a day... that could drive a person crazy! 

Not Losing Control

Tonight I'm thinking about eating even when I know I'm full.  At least this time I'm taking time to think about how I'd feel if I actually opened the fridge or pantry and ate something.  My old habit would be to stuff my face without a second thought.

It's strange though because I had a great supper of bison steak wrapped in a strip of organic bacon and a huge pile of green beans and I've been eating well all the live long day. There's no real physical reason to actually eat anything else.  I've been getting my walks and cardio/weights every day this week and one yoga session to especially stretch out my back and feeling pretty good.

My food journal on My Fitness Pal has tabulated that I'm at 1525 cals for the day, so that's a reason not to eat anything else... I'll take it!

Headed for a quick shower and then hitting the hay :)

Flinging the Scale out the Window!

I've written a couple of times about my scale. It's an old-fashioned dial scale I bought in the early 2000s. About a year and a half ago, I wrote this about my scale being wonky. Ever since, I've used a pile of hand weights to recalibrate it probably about once a month. I usually weigh myself every other day.

At yesterday's visit to the doctor's, I had an official weigh-in. I was shocked  at the number. This morning, I went to a local gym to use their scale to compare the numbers: Pretty much the same, just a pound off. My scale at home is wonky and evidently the recalibrating doesn't work anymore. There is over a ten pound difference... meaning I weight 12lbs MORE than I thought. That's right 12!!! 

My man also checked his weight and he was 20lbs more than he thought. That is a big blow for him... he is finally starting to think about getting onboard with a healthier lifestyle. We went right out to the store and bought a new scale. 

My OLD scale results:

(There is a crack on the glass there when I threw it out the window. Didn't seem to make any difference to how it works, ha ha! )

NEW scale results:

I'm more angry at myself than sad. How dumb to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich. Lately, I've been feeling more puffy and slow since my last visit to the doctor's in early June.

Scale or no scale, I should have paid attention to what my body was trying to tell me.

I admit I have been coasting along over the summer, since June, and my vacation was certainly far from active. Since then there have been a few bumps in the road especially with the two weeks of conferences. I could throw myself a pity party and boo-hoo and whine but I'd rather just channel my anger in a positive direction and get this weight off!

The Food Plan:

Pretty much as I've been doing, 90% paleo/primal, but cracking down in a few key areas.

1. Daily weigh-ins on NEW digital scale and a weekly weigh-in posted on blog to keep accountable.
2. Write down every single thing that goes in mouth in food journal and tabulate calories.
3. Measuring all food that goes in mouth! Strict portion control especially on fats.
4. No natural almonds or any packaged "clean" snacks like LaraBars for the next couple of months.
5. Keeping away from all processed food and dairy. 

Since the seasons are changing, I had already started with making meals in advance and sticking them in the freezer. A variety of soups and a big batch of Moroccan-style stew.

The Exercise Plan

Thinking back since the start of summer, I haven't making the most of my days. On average I've been working out three out of five weekdays. Weekends have been hit and miss. Time for that to change.

Weekdays: If I can get a longer lunch-time, I will try for at least a 20 minute walk.  Since I cannot seem to get my ass out of bed in the morning, weekday activity is going to happen between quitting time and 10pm. 

1. Weight training (at least 30 mins., on my own or following DVDs)
2. Cardio (at least 20 mins. on the Elliptical)
3. Walking (at least one hour after work)

Weekends: one day will be a rest day, the other day must have 2 of the 3 workouts above. As an option, I'm also throwing in 30 minutes of Pilates or Yoga a few times a week... gotta keep my flexibility.

So now that the old scale has been tossed, I have no excuse for progress in the coming months. I have the right tools, I have the knowledge: no reason not to loose this weight and get fit!

Sometimes You Just Need a Griddled Cheese Sandwich

I've been sick for the past couple of days with a sore throat, stuffed nose and feeling like a truck ran over me. Colds and flus always seem to pop up at the changing of seasons. To keep my immune system up, squash soup  and other kinds of soups have been on the menu along with scrambled eggs and other bland and light eats. I've lost my appetite for my paleo/primal regime... I can't stand to eat meat, sweet potatoes or kale right now. 

The other night I just had this craving for a griddled cheese sandwich. I hadn't thought of one of those in a very long time, but it definitely is one of my past comfort foods. Since my man doesn't follow the same diet as I do, there is bread and cheese and all sorts of other processed food in the house. It doesn't bother or tempt me as much as it did at first. 

But for some reason I just wanted that griddled cheese! It was delicious. Two slices whole wheat bread, a slice of processed cheese and butter on the outside and then throw it on the griddle! Simple and just what I needed. No evil after effects either! However, I don't feel like having another for a long while. No, it's not paleo/primal by any means, but I don't feel like a sandwich will derail my long-term eating plan.

The only  exercise I've been doing is up and down the stairs and ten minute walks around my block. But I've been feeling lumpy and dumpy lately... for about the past month or so. My weight on the scale doesn't seem to reflect how I'm feeling on the outside... feeling chubby and tubby.

Plans for the upcoming week: shaking off this cold. Exercise. Lots of nutritious food. Prepping meals in advance. No more griddled cheese :)

Connections

There's a fellow blogger here in the interwebz who reminds me quite a lot of my past self. And it makes me sad...

About ten years ago I was super-shy, introverted, only had one friend, likely depressed, lost in  an online world and a world of books and games, sleeping my weekends away, not going out of my parents' house very often and not dating or even thinking about experiencing true love.

Reading her blog makes me so uncomfortable because she's who I could have been had I stayed in my rut.

What changed for me long ago was I took a big risk to break away from my family, moving to another town and to taking a job outside my comfort zone.  After making a wide variety of friends and dating on and off, and pondering the universe thinking about what being human really means, I've started to settle into the life I'd longed for all those years ago.

This change didn't happen overnight. It took a few years to get the ball rolling.  I started small by reading books like the how to make friends ones by Dale Carnegie, then just getting out there in the world, joining clubs, volunteering for charities, asking guys out, making mistakes and making a fool of myself sometimes... because that's how you learn!

Now I have a great job, a loving man, plans for a family of our own and a large circle of friends near and far. I'm not as afraid as I was about meeting strangers in person or trying new things. Fear was holding me back for so long.

I still struggle with a few things, with fear every so often, communicating effectively with my man and of course my weight issues which I'll likely struggle with for the rest of my life. But I'm living this life as fully, completely as I can. I'm not wallowing in a sea of self-pity, I'm not sleeping my life away anymore.



"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect..."  -Howards End by EM Forster.

Three Down

Already three pounds down! It must have been partly water retention from the salty and carby diet of the past couple of weeks. The hike in the rain on Saturday and eating healthy food has me back on the right course. The weather sucked on Saturday but some of the trails are crushed rock so not terribly muddy or slippery.  I was out there for just over three and a half hours, but I'm not  an expert hiker like our friend Jeanette so I stuck to the easier trails. It was too rainy to bring the camera. I got drenched especially my hiking shoes  but I  didn't care one little bit :)

We're having a nice warm weather streak here so I took a long walk after work on Monday and felt great once I got home. Felt even better having remembered to plug in the crock pot in the morning, then coming home to find supper all ready! Pork butt was on sale this week and acorn squash are plentiful so I chopped some onions, garlic, threw it all in the crock pot with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. It smelled soooo good. The pork fell apart, in a good way!! I ate it over some greens.

Tonight is mid-week chore night and I've laundry to do. Fun times! Anyhoo, I think by next weekend another few pounds will be gone.

Five Up

I've been Missing in Action for a couple of weeks. Work sent me out to back to back conferences when a colleague who was supposed to attend had a death in the family. I only had a couple of days to prep for the trips so I packed some LaraBars, nuts, Almond milk and steel-cut oatmeal and hoped for the best.

The first conference was held in Nowheresville, far from civilization. It's meant to be a conference centre to concentrate on your organization's issues and not be distracted by the city's temptations... Anyway, the food was bad, just lots of processed crap everywhere, but I tried to make the best out of it by choosing veggies or fruit. The suppers were carb-laden nightmares.

There was a basic gym... no windows, not very good air circulation, a couple of treadmills, ellipticals, body balls and a range of hand weights. A super-chlorinated indoor/outdoor pool was also available... but I didn't use it. They had also a few easy trails around the woods, so that made for nice brisk walking circuits.

Wow, the days were so long and draining... sitting, talking and taking notes. Then break for food and repeat with the blah blah blah, argh!

Second conference was about the same, except more nutritious food served and held in a hotel in a major city. But no on-site gym or pool so they gave vouchers to go five blocks away to a regular gym. Thank goodness it had everything one could wish for. I was able to re-stock some almond milk and pick up organic dates and natural almonds at a health food store.

Upshot is I've gained five pounds. And I feel every five of them. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't exercised each day and actually ate all the crap food that was on offer?

I'm happy to be back home now and back to my regular food and exercise routines. I know the pounds will fall away pretty quickly in the next week or two. I've a three hour hike planned for tomorrow rain or shine!

Pushing myself

Got an hour in of yard work today, but afterward, I just felt sweaty, tired, less stressed but very deflated. I didn't want to mow the lawn and yank weeds but I knew that if I didn't get my fat ass in gear, it wouldn't get done. I'm feeling guilty that I don't have the energy to do my strength workout or yoga tonight.

Although I'm healthier than I was last year, my goal of being lean and fit seems so far away right at this moment. I know we all have these moments sometimes... and the trick is not to wallow like a pig in the muck and think that it is time to give up....because it's not. 

"Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time."

- Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar