While I’m Growing Older, Sexier, and Skinnier…

I’m also paying attention to how mortal I am. I cannot die from disease or anything else until I have my taxes done, my house in order, and all the good articles torn out of all the magazines I have waiting to be read (from my mouth to God’s ear with a “please” attached).

I’m really interested in this “ph balanced” existence. I started on the hydrogen peroxide cleanse, which actually was working to get infection out of my body, but then I went drinking (drug of choice, 2pts. per cocktail) and didn’t think it was a good idea to keep going with alcohol in my system. I’ve been reading about the “alkaline” diet and since it’s wholesome foods should be easy to incorporate into my WeightWatchers.

It’s a very interesting concept, but I can’t find a whole lot about it. There’s info on what foods are acidic and what foods are alkaline, but not a whole lot on hydrogen peroxide as far as taking the hydrogen peroxide and having my morning coffee (coffee is very acidic). Doing the cleanse and then having my wine in the evening (2pts. okay I cheat a little). I did find a one chart on acidic/alkaline foods and tomato was listed as alkaline vs. acidic. Needless to say that’s a question in my mind.

It’s kind of strange when you get old enough to realize you are mortal. All of a sudden there is so much more involved with the “growing older” than just the “getting skinnier” part.

A Day of BBQ And Potato Salad

At our house 3-day weekends are cause for BBQ’s and/or picnics. When my sister and I were kids, it was usually a day of some big picnic for some organization my folks belonged to. When my sister and I got out on our own and had kids, we used to get Ma and all get together at the local park.  Then for the last  almost 10 yrs. I owned a bar, so we would throw a big bbq and potluck for everybody. Always a ton of fattening food, booze, and fun.

The kids are grown now. I’ve closed the bar, and I rarely see my sister. Today I miss the chaos, the fun, the people. It’s going to be a much quieter celebration of those who died for our freedom. In away, it almost seems appropriate with our troops still at war and given the reason for the day.

I have since made choices I wouldn’t have made back then. Today I decided to have eggs at home vs. a “Macho Combo Burrito” (25pts.) at Del Taco. I have turned in the burgers (80/20) and potato salad for lean steak and baked potato. This way I won’t be eating potato salad, which of course goes with macaroni salad, for days after the bbq is over. Instead of snacking on chips, we’ll be snacking on fresh veggies and strawberries. While it’s hard sometimes to forget the traditions of the past, many times the new traditions are just as delicious, and without the guilt! LOL

A Beautiful Way To Remember…

What food is good for what.

I received this in my inbox today. The music is beautiful and the comparisons are uncanny! enjoy =)

The Latest Thing I Read On Weight Loss…

I get  a lot of health newsletters. Every thing from the Mayo Clinic to Health Alerts by email to health newsletters for women, etc. One of the latest things I’ve seen is a doctor suggests Resveritrol and Soy as the magic combination to aid in weight loss.

Resveritrol is like a super antioxidant. If you don’t know what antioxidants are, they are the super nutrients that help fight the toxins that enter your body (free radicals) and destroy your cells. This is a really simplistic definition, as I am no doctor. Given my bad habits, I am into anything that will fight the bad guys in my body, but supposedly according to this doctor, when you go heavy in antioxidants, you go “light” on weight. Sounds good to me, so I talked to the lady at my health food store, and bought a bottle (second bottle 50% off. LOL.).

I have a problem with the “soy” part of this “prescription”. I am not a big advocate of soy to start with and I hate tofu. I have read a lot about studies showing if you have cancer cells in your body, soy may help them grow. I don’t know if I have anything like that in my body, but I’m old enough and it’s common enough, I’m not willing to take a chance.

We’re all so willing to try anything to help us lose weight, sometimes to the expense of our own health (fedra, etc). It’s okay to use supplements that enhance our health, diet and fitness, but make sure you know what you are taking, and from whom. Not all vitamins and supplements are equal, just like not every diet plan and fitness plan is perfect for you, me, Tom, Dick and Harry.

It’s Definitely Summer Here In California…

Nothing makes a fat girl say “shoulda, woulda, coulda” like really hot weather.

I “shoulda” stuck to eating right and exercising.

I “woulda” been small enough to fit into some bitchin’ summer clothes.

I “coulda” been there by now.

I had pretty much forgotten how much I hate hot (90 to 100 degrees) weather when I’m overweight. I’ve gotten old enough that I tend to run on the “cooler” side most of the time, so the hot weather when I’m thinner, doesn’t seem so bad. This year I remembered when the temps reached 102, why I usually diet in the fall or winter to be thinner by spring and summer.

One thing the hot weather has done for me is make my attraction to the fruits and vegetables in season much stronger. It must be working, because I’ve actually lost about 5 lbs. in the last week or so. Cookies, etc. just don’t have the same appeal when I’m sweating to death, looking for a way to cool off.  So it’s obviously not due to being post-menopausal, but my crummy eating habits that are keeping me fat. Hate facing that one! LOL

The strawberries have been just beautiful by me this year. They’re huge and so sweet and juicy. Usually at least one store by me (I’m lucky enough to have about 5 different grocery stores all in a circle close to where I live) has a 4lb. clamshell on sale at a really reasonable price. The blueberries not such a great bargain, but I love them in my yogurt and even tho the containers are small, I can still usually find them on sale. I bought a beautiful pineapple the other day, and I’ll probably cut that up for snacking today. To me, the can will never have anything on fresh when it comes to pineapple. When I went to Hawaii, my late husband couldn’t sit me at the bar next to a waitress station because I couldn’t keep my hands out of the pineapple. LOL.

The truly great thing about all this is that it is such a healthy way to eat. I’ve always said “if I truly ate everything they want you to eat when you’re on WeightWatchers, I would never be able to snack on anything else!”

Thank goodness for the hot weather to reteach me how to eat right. I’m drinking a lot more water also, of course, which I’m sure has helped with dropping a little of this excess weight. See, you just never know where help is going to come from. LOL 

 

 

My Reason For Losing Weight…

is now only 2 months away vs. 10 months like it was when I first started this blog. Evidently my reason wasn’t motivation enough. I just got the dates yesterday for the reunion and here I am, the same size if not a pound or two more than I was 8mos. ago. So now I will be walking etc. like crazy, cussing myself out for not getting serious sooner, and still stuffing something into my face that probably doesn’t belong there! No matter what I do, I still am no magician with the magic formula.

I have known about this for a yr. I actually thought it was in April. Thank God it wasn’t! But why have I been so self-sabbotoging? Or why I haven’t I been stronger? Or if my health and this reunion aren’t important enough, what in the hell would be?

I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. I better do myself a little sole searching and find out what’s going on in there. Looking over past posts, I thought I had the answer a few times. NOT. Guess again. I know when I truly make up my mind I can do it, so why not now? Am I using it as a crutch while I’m working on my new life? I know I should be doing better than ever now that my schedule, etc. is completely in my hands. Instead I am so stressed and focusing on the new business, I’m not getting anything else done, including stuff with deadlines. Have I just become self-destructive to a certain point? I mean, I’m not going to jump the bridge or anything, but something definitely isn’t right.

Any insights would be appreciated. LOL. My weight is actually a symbol I think of all the kaos in my life right now. One step at a time I guess. It just would be good if I would actually take the steps.

I’ve Been MIA Thanks to Exercise…

Yep. I finally joined a challenge on one of the diet sites. I thought “okay. 30 days. I can do this.”

There’s a new workout routine every day. It’s all laid out for me. No boredom. The “exercise queen” that did the workout videos was actually quite good. They’re considered “medium impact”. Little did I know at the time I definitely should have started in the “low impact” department. The very first day I threw myself into the routine. A little marching in place, a little big marching in place, a little side to side marching in place. All that was good. Then came the jumping jacks.

I knew my left arm was sore and I did not have the range of motion I should have. Due to some “sleep” issues with the BF, I’ve been sleeping for extended periods on my left arm and feeling it slowly get worse. (Read the article “Is Sleeping With Your Spouse Killing You?”) LOL. I did my jumping jacks. I did the “punch to the front”. By Wednesday morning I could not move my left arm. By Wed. afternoon I was in tears and looking for drugs. I evidently tore or damaged my rotator cuff. It is so friggin’ painful! I am starting to do a little better as of today. In the mean time I don’t have the patience to type one handed, so I didn’t do much of anything. Now I am doing range of motion exercises, and as it starts to feel better, I will start working out with a resistance band to get my arm back where it should be.

The moral of the story: Keep moving. I’ve known for a year I was falling out of shape sitting in front of the computer day in and day out. I kept saying “tomorrow”. Well I’m here to tell you, tomorrow came and went, and it was painful. I should have been doing a little something every day. No matter what size you are, what you do for a living, you must make time for your body in there somewhere. I’ve spent the last few days finding out how many things are either excessively hard one handed, or I can’t do at all. I’m really lucky if this doesn’t end up permanent.

What You Should Know About Binge Eating

I’m writing about this today as I find myself “binge eating” sort of like an alcoholic does “binge drinking”.  Although I wouldn’t call it a “disorder” yet, it got me thinking.

Binge eating disorder is a very serious condition that is affecting many people and will continue to do so until we are all more educated on the risks involved from such behavior. This is a psychiatric condition, an actual disorder that must not be taken lightly. There are many unfortunate risks to your health with this eating disorder just as with any other eating disorder. Educating yourself and your children about the many negative affects from any eating disorder is very important. It can also help you to determine whether or not someone you know or even yourself, might be suffering from an eating disorder, so that you can find the type of treatment needed to be effective. Binge eating is something that is more common than many of you might have first thought. The number of people suffering with this disorder is definitely on the rise today.

The majority of individuals that have the binge eating disorder are extremely overweight, but that is not always the case. Some people with this disorder might even be underweight, which can make it quite difficult to diagnose. Most people would not consider anyone that is skinny possibly ever binge eating, but it does happen. Many people think this is pretty much the same as bulimia, but that is definitely still a big question. Many others believe it is of its own type of disorder, separate from any others. The thing you need to remember is that with any eating disorder you are putting yourself in potential danger. It could cause some very detrimental problems in your life, not just with your health, but also with relationships and your own personal battle with the disorder. Most people suffering from the binge eating disorder usually feel terribly guilty about eating, so they try not to ever eat in front of anyone else because of that shame. When they do eat, they eat unbelievable amounts of foods and they do it very quickly.

With the binge eating disorder it is very common for the individual to eat until they are literally in pain from being so overly stuffed. They will eat and eat, and continue eating as fast as they possibly can, because of it being a psychological condition, they can not seem to control that urge to do so. Finding the appropriate treatment is absolutely necessary because you can not continue to destroy your body, mind and health in this manner. It is an illness and should be treated accordingly. If you or someone that you know is suffering from binge eating disorder, start doing some more research today, so that you can finally have peace. Find someone that you can confide in to talk with about the problem, so that you can begin your recovery.

I don’t generally sit and eat all I can as fast as I can, but I do have a tendancy to just eat everything in sight all day long. I think a good portion of that comes from being home much more now than I have been in years. Another reason is boredom. Some people eat for emotional comforting. I seem to eat when I’m bored, which I guess to an extent is the same thing.