Huffin' n' Puffin'

The Netflix documentary called Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser about the TV show recently launched. A lot of us watched that show because there was nothing like it on TV. The documentary didn't seem complete and focused a lot on the controversies. I like some juicy tea for sure, but I was looking for a tally of who from the show kept the weight off, and how everyone was doing (like: where are they all now).

My fave couple Matt and Suzy Hoover were apparently interviewed for the documentary but didn't make the cut. From social media, it seems they are okay overall. She had bariatric surgery over a year ago: suzysleeve on Insta.
A lot of friends who were obese and who had diabetes have gotten surgery and I support them as much as I can, but surgery is not for me at this point.

Anyway, I went through my books and found this beauty:

It's actually not a bad read, even though in the documentary Bob Harper admitted  weight loss is 80% diet. But for that 20%, this book has lots of fitness instructions/routines for beginners to advanced with pics, and tips from contestants and articles from the trainers.There is a small section about food, recipes, and blank exercise logs. Good reminder of what to do, what steps to take.
I still have some of Jillian's DVDs so I used one this week--yes I know she has an app, but I am cheap and on a budget!

So between school exams (end of Spring/Summer sessions), work, and a hectic time overall, I've been walking briskly whenever I can. I racked up over 10K a couple of days when it had cooled off a bit here.

What I've been doing for my Exercise plan:

• Cardio: 1x week long brisk walks at least, and also 2x elliptical machine (or 3x if weather outside is bad)
• Muscles: 2x workout with weights 2x 5 lb dumbbells to start
• Mix it up: 1x or 2x random DVD or YT workout video could be active or more easy like Yoga--it's just to keep moving.
• One day of active rest: Meaning going out for a walk, walking in the mall while shopping, being active somehow just not being a bump on a log on my couch!

I'm pretty achy so far... so good. Except I realize how out of shape I've become (hence the Huffin' n Puffin' title). Also much less bendy! Back to being a beginner again.

Weigh in: 199.5 lbs.

Planning, followed by action!

Last week worked out pretty well. Online ordering really helps to tame my temptations! Seriously, if I'm in the store, I will grab crap. A relative worked in grocery stores for a brand, and said that companies go all out to try and sell sell sell--not the veggies, but the processed stuff. Even in the fruit n'veg aisle, there are candies on the end caps.

Weigh-in this morning: 201.1 lbs

Two elbees down from last week. All I want is that number to trend downwards overall. 

What worked: Planning tasty healthy balanced meals, and actually eating them. That is, not making excuses and heading off to the food court at lunchtime. Not falling into too many temptations. However, there were a couple of slices of lemon loaf that a colleague baked. 

It's super hot here 35C (95F), so walking after work which is my fave de-stress exercise is out most times. I haven't yet started back using the elliptical on a regular basis. That is the goal for this week: Making a realistic exercise plan, and putting it into action.

Back Again

Hey, it's been a while. After my last post here, I kept working my plan and got down to 165 lbs. I felt great, was living life and having fun. Still not quite at goal, but then, I got sick and stopped moving as much. The weight came back on so quickly, waaaaaay too easily.

This past Monday: 203.2 lbs.

A combination of things got me really demotivated, but work was the trigger. Long hours, complex work, low pay and a slacker still on the team, meaning we have bad supervisors and bad management too. I felt stuck and powerless, and finding a new job these days was (and is) extremely tough. Apathy, then depression set in.

So I made the decision to get some therapy to deal with my mental health overall, but specifically in the workplace. While going through that process I also decided to go back to college part-time to get a diploma (in the USA I think the equivalent is an Associate's Degree?).

No lie, it's often tough with juggling my schedule, home life, work, and school is not cheap.  Ultimately, it is about changing the things I can to be happier and more fulfilled, now and in the future. I still have to work at the same place, but I just don't care anymore=I clock in and out, assist my customers and that is it.

To get back on track to a healthier lifestyle, here was this week's plan:

• Tuesday: Cleaned-up the food in my pantry, then the fridge and freezer. No junk, just some was expired/freezer burnt and the rest needed organization.
• Meal planned for next week using seasonal vegetables and meats on sale.
• Prepped online grocery list. It'll always be Wednesdays so I can get my order in on Thursdays=the first day of the new flyer (and, I have coupons for free delivery). 
• Got more steps in.

The more movement part was already happening, but it feels good to write it all down as part of a plan.

Although the online shopping with my local grocery might be a tad bit pricier than going to the store, I have low resistance to snacks. Plus I can only grocery shop in person after work, which is the worst time: I'm hungry by 5:30PM.

Otherwise, looking around ye olde blog-o-sphere for some inspo, so many left or are off all social media.
Unfortunately, I did have to do some searching and was saddened to see that Sean Anderson from The Daily Diary of a Winning Loser passed away from a heart attack. He was a nice guy who really wanted to help people so much. I remember back in the day, he got into it with another blogger so I contacted him with a message of support. I didn't expect anything in return, but after the dust had died down he reached out to thank me. In remembrance, since he was such an 80s music guy, here is a cover of one of his favorites songs by Howard Jones (covered by Troubled Hubble):

I see Mrs Swan is still going strong! And a few others are still around, or on different platforms, so I've started updating my reading list. There is real value and inspiration to read others' experiences and maybe learn something new in these kind of long-form blogs. For me, Insta is too short, and TikTok is the realm of influencers.

**Editing to add some more sad news that Katie J is On Her Way also passed. She had hit an amazing goal of over 150 lbs down, only to find she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Wow, sometimes life isn't fair.

 

Some Progress...

...but still haven't found the number I'm looking for.
The nutritionist said I should official weigh-in with her once a month and the result is:
Four pounds down from last month. BUT...
1.5 inches off my waist and 2 inches off my hips, and I'm very happy about that!!

For this upcoming month, the plan is to:

• Strength training four days per week, 2 longer sessions of 45 mins, 2 shorter 20 mins. In an ideal world, I'd hit the gym. It's still not ideal here. But in the meantime, I've got some dumbbells and can do bodywork exercises. 
• Dust off my bicycle and try it out. Go for short rides in the neighborhood. In May/June *might* cycle to work once all the snow melts here. It is about a 2 hour round trip, and I need to get my stamina and strength up.
• Keep hitting 5K or more outdoor steps, and keep being active in the house. 
• Food: Keep on already defined food plan, which is lots of veggies, some protein (fish and chicken or beans), some good fats, low sugar, low salt.

Eats

Being not the best cook, I try and find shortcuts when I can. And I'm cooking for one--no one else in my household is on my plan. I've got a bunch of various frozen veggies stocked in my freezer. Paired with a protein and I'm good for lunch or supper. I bought a bunch of chicken thighs on sale, baked them with some homemade BBQ sauce and added some veggies. Easy peasy! Frozen berries and cubed avocado are useful too. I prefer frozen avocado because I only eat maybe 1/3rd of a cup at a time, or throw a few cubes into a smoothie. Buying whole fresh ones are so expensive here in this area. 

When I make homemade soups, I do prepare my own stock. Commercial stock is way too salty for me, and my nutritionist has me limiting sodium anyway. Tonight, I've roasted a turkey and tomorrow I'll slice it up and use the bones for stock.  A veggie-laden soup is something I've been having a lot of lately. Looking up other healthy turkey left overs recipes is my next task.

Lunches or suppers can include prepared salads from the grocery, but I'm careful to read the label to make sure there are few ingredients. I do like having a  sandwich using canned salmon or tuna that I stocked up on when on sale.

My morning smoothies are pretty boring, but there you go. My tastes may change as summer comes along. It's still cold and wintery here. I get to switch it up sometimes with cereal and berries. I find the day difficult without coffee.

Protein is limited. In the past, I did have a bit of success with a Paleo diet, but my health issues become worse with excess protein. 

Calorie-wise, 1400 or so is what the nutritionist decided. 

My collage pic below is out of order, but here's a sample of my eats. If I feel hungrier, I might have an orange or some dates stuffed with pecans and a smidge of nut butter as a snack.

Breakfast: Pumpkin smoothie (1/2cup oatmeal, unsweetened almond milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pumpkin puree--not pumpkin pie filling, lol!) 

Lunch: Two hard boiled eggs, sliced on top of 3/4 cup of a prepared grocery store salad form the "healthy aisle" a Royal Couscous salad. Homemade Thai soup, with much less coconut milk than the original recipe called for.

Supper: Chili (black beans, eggplant in addition to my regular recipe) about a cup, with a little bit of lactose-free cheese on top, and a couple slices of fresh bakery baguette. Not my usual bread, took a couple of slices from my man.

I'm trying to wean myself off of creamer in my coffee but it is hard. About 2 tbsps is what I add... and that adds up to 70 calories.  I only have one cup of coffee, usually about an hour after waking up. The nutritionist has me drinking lemon water first thing in the morning. It's supposed to have a lot of health benefits, "alkalizing the system", "detoxing", improving digestion... I'm giving it a good chance anyway and continue to do it every morning. 

I'm working on reducing portions, and not eating supper later than 7pm. Maybe the upcoming time change will help me shift my days earlier. 

Steady as She Goes

For the past while, I've been following my nutritionist's plan fairly well, except for some celebratory pizza and pastries that were in there. Although the ultimate goal is to have that Food is Fuel mindset, I'm not there yet. Coping with food as comfort is going much better as in that is not happening as much as before. The true test will be when my hormones get roaring! lol.  

The only big issue so far is downing a glass of lemon water as soon as I get up in the morning. She says the main benefits I should see are the flushing of toxins (insert eyeroll here) and improvement in digestion (maybe? Hope so). 

In terms of exercise, my fave being walking outdoors, that's not great. I had to do more shoveling of snow this week, and tomorrow morning--I just looked out the window :(   It burns calories, but I don't get the same mental release as with walking. For other upper body exercise, working out with hand weights has been in my rotation. I have five and ten pounders. I can only cope with the fives at moment--weak I know!  Gyms here are starting to re-open but they have high demand. Everyone's been cooped up for months, and itching to get back to fitness classes and personal training. I'll wait until the demand disappears, and I get the vaccine, before signing up. In the meantime, there's plenty of free resources like body weight exercises on YouTube to follow.

And speaking of body weight, my nutritionist wants me to only weigh in once a month. I started to get a bit fixated on the daily swings up and down. She's reminded me it's not a quick fix weight-loss plan, but a life-long health plan. So I'll post my official weigh-in numbers that I share with her which will be the sometime around March 22nd or so.  Steady as She Goes... by The Raconteurs :)

Shovelin' Hard

I've not been a stepping out as much this week. After a couple of good walks in, on Friday and Saturday, the snowfalls rolled in and ever since I've been busy with my shovels. This last one was a doozy, and spent about three hours in total outside working out. I usually do sessions of no more than an hour and then go inside for a little break, warm up, change out of my sweaty shirt, and down a glass of water or two. It helps having some tunes playing. It somehow leaves me less discouraged and gives me a bit of pep in my step when I get tired and snow-weary. A rest-day was needed after that. Lots of sore muscles in the shoulders and arms. And yesterday, I started a big laundry of sheets and blankets, so I was up and down the stairs.

Food-wise: You can see some of what I've been chowing down on since Monday on my Twitter: https://twitter.com/FatGirlWontRun 
I remembered my password! lol. I forget why I set up that account way back in 2016. Instagram would probably be a better place for that kind of accountability, and for inspo, but I'll see how it goes for now. 

Not all liquids get posted, but I try and get in 8 cups of water a day. I sometimes drink sparkling water instead. My nutritionist is a wee bit woo, and believes that lemon water is a great alkalizer and has all sorts of benefits. For the Vitamin C (wards off scurvy, ha ha!) I'll take it, and if anything else positive comes from it... so be it! lol. All solid food gets a pic unless I forget! Then it gets written in with the next meal's pic.

Good news: No hunger pangs this week, but I think a lot my cravings are cycle-related. But... my man bought some pastries for Valentines day and a small box of chocolate bark that we shared. I put a couple of my pieces of chocolate aside for this week.

My next move is to get back to using My Fitness Pal for calorie counting. I might check out a few of the newer apps to see if they are easier to use. 
 

Weight: Not much change from last week. I'm not discouraged. The scale will tell the tale towards the end of the month.

Love the blinged out glittery shovels in this catchy music video. If I have time for a little project, I'll bedazzle the length of the handle and maybe the top of the blade of one of mine 😆

Steps

I've been a steppin'!! Consistently getting 5000+ outdoor steps in every single day. I'm usually out walking for an hour or more and really enjoy my time outdoors, with my tunes helping to keep me on a brisk pace and not strolling.  Tonight was too cold, even for me, so I did one of those Leslie Sansone Walks inside instead, followed up with an upper body workout with weights, and did laundry. Laundry here means up and down two flights of stairs a whole bunch of times. My man huffs and puffs, but not me. Gotta put that fresh laundry or else it ends up staying in the basket or piled up somewhere. I'm proud that I've been taking a "no excuses" approach here, and it's been working. 

As for healthy eating... well... not sure what's up these past couple of weeks. I do great for four or five days, then fall off for two and eat too much, eat too much bread, or go out to "treat myself". Ugh. My nutritionist have been working on balanced meals and how to break this cycle. Starting next week, I've committed to a strict regime for the next two months, with a calorie limit, but all the meals are ones that I've chosen (and like). I will be posting my meals on Twitter for accountability... if I can remember my password there, ha! If not I'll open an Instagram account. 

Anyway current weight is 192.2 lbs, so down about 3 lbs since my last post. But to be honest, it's been bouncing up and down but this is the lowest it's been in the past couple of weeks.