On My Quest For Exercise…

I did make it by the senior center and it’s really nice. Of course the day I went they weren’t accepting applications and I couldn’t do anything but tour because their “membership card machine” was not working. LOL. I love the idea of swimming, but it looks like a lot of rules for swimming, laps etc. I guess I’ll just have to find out the hard way what all of them are.

The fitness room is really nice. They don’t hold any classes, but there is a lot of equipment and a lot of variation. In the meantime, while waiting for my chance to make it back to the center, I have been a worker bee at a church “flea market” and have picked up a couple of Pilates videos. Just like my old ones that seemed to get lost in the move, these to were donated “unopened”. LOL.

Weight Loss and New Year’s Resolutions

Sooo True

It’s getting to be that time of year again. The time where we once again set out to make our weight loss resolutions for the New Year. Do you ever wonder why they don’t stick? We start out so motivated, and then it doesn’t take long, we’re back to our same old bad habits. This morning I read an article from someone who had a totally different approach that may be much more helpful than the same old stuff.

We all already know it takes 21 days to break an old habit or start a new one. That’s no big weight loss secret for those of us who have been around the diet world for any length of time. It’s also hard work to incorporate new habits and get rid of the old. It’s very easy to backslide.

What if this year we took a different approach? What if this year instead of setting a weight loss New Year’s resolution to lose 50 lbs., we set a positive goal? Following the old “Turn It Into Something Good”, what if we laid out a plan like we would, say, if we were buying a car or something? If we were going to buy a certain car, we would figure how much it was going to cost and set that as our goal. Then we would figure how much out of each paycheck we would have to save (or how much we would be able to save) and how long it would be before we could go pay for it.

So what if we started on our weight loss goal this way. I have 50 lbs. to lose. They say I should be able to lose 2lbs. a week to be healthy. That would be 25 weeks from the 1st of January 2010. That takes me to June 25th, 2010. Hey, that’s just in time for the hot weather here. Perfect!

So my goal is to lose 50 lbs. and fit into my size 12 jeans and be able to wear a tank top by June 25th, 2010. Next is to figure the steps to get there. I think I would start out with 1 thing at a time. For the 1st week I’ll cut out sugar. Been doing a little of the Christmas snacking, so that is a necessity. The next week I’ll keep the “cut out sugar” and add “start some small type of exercise“. Maybe parking clear at the other end of the parking lot when I go to the store and walk fast from the car to the store, and from the store to the car. Just enough to get that heart beat up.

Then the 3rd week, I’ll cut out the sugar, park way far away (or start walking a little in the morning by my house) and add eating 1 fruit per day (because lately I haven’t been eating any). See how easy it would be to lay out a whole 25 week plan? You just keep building on the week before. You may not lose 2 lbs. the first week or the second, but you may lose 5 in the 3rd. Or the 1 step may be to not only weigh yourself, but to measure for those times when you don’t lose any weight, but you lose inches.

I could see how this could work. We all know what we’re doing wrong and we all know what we need to improve on. Talk about a personalized plan! It’s not rocket science. LOL. My pics are already up. I’m ready to give this a shot. Between just doing what I know, and drawing up a plan, I may just be ready to be older, sexier, and skinnier in 201o!

When All Was Said And Done…

Not eating the bagel yesterday may have been a good thing. With the bagel and cream cheese calorie count came in at over 500. Yesterday just having cereal, even with having a small blueberry muffin as a snack later in the morning, the calorie count came in at just a little over 300. Not bad.

Where I really saved in the calories and fat was having a WeightWatchers Smart Ones for dinner last night. Like I said, I’ll have to get used to the smaller portions, but even with 2 chicken drumsticks (no skin of course) it still came in low on the calorie and fat chart compared to what I’ve been eating.

I just might be able to pull this off. LOL. Now if I could just get my fat butt to start walking again, I’d have it made!

Am I My Mother?

My mother is 78 yrs. old and her favorite forms of exercise are eating and watching TV. She gave up on herself years ago, has gone through some pretty unhealthy times, and is ready to go home to the Lord anytime he’s willing to take her. Like me she has no desire to exercise, although at least I realize some movement is necessary. If she had her way she would never move at all. I quit taking her in her meals etc. as going to the kitchen was the only exercise she got. It wasn’t far from her chair to the kitchen, but she made the trip several times so at least she was doing something.

We’ve been staying in a hotel recently and the ice machine and dining area are both quite a little distance away. We walk over to the dining area every morning for breakfast, me walking slightly ahead leading the way, her in her walker. She quit putting ice in her water. Too far to walk. Finally yesterday I saw her heading for ice and followed behind her. She did just fine. Coming back however, knowing I was there, she’d pause for a moment and then made a point of letting me know her legs get tired. I don’t know why after all these years she hasn’t gotten it that something like that is just an invitation for me to tell her she needs to move more.

All my life my mother has said she didn’t want to be like my grandmother, who used to sit by the broadband radio listening to police calls all the time, rarely venturing out of her apartment. Now she admits that although she said that, she has actually gotten worse than her mother was. Now as I look at my mother I find myself thinking the same thing. I don’t want to be like her, lazy, fat, no life. I want to “live ’till I die”.

I either fractured my back or tore some muscles in it when we were moving. Oh my gosh, such pain. It’s starting to feel much better after almost 2 weeks, but I realize the most painful time is when I get up out of bed. While I realize many of us get stiff as we get older, making the onset of movement a bit painful, I don’t think that is the problem I’m having. The problem I’m having is the extra weight in my tummy pulling on my back as I lay on my side to sleep.

I’ve heard it said of men that have large stomachs when they see a doctor about lower back pain. Many are told most of the pain would go away if they just lost their tummies. I have no reason to think my tummy is any different. So, while I have always said that I wanted to be a “sexy” senior, for health concerns hitting home it’s about time I decided if I want to be like my mother and miserable, or more like a ‘cougar’, you know, one of those older women that look so good and are so active they go with younger men just to have someone who can keep up. LOL. I think right now I’m heading in the wrong direction.

A Reality Check

I went to lunch with a very dear friend of mine yesterday. He’s great because even though he talks way to much, he’s encouraging to me and interested in how I’m doing as well as letting me know how he’s doing. When I’m down I can call him and even when he’s complaing he’s full of energy, enthusiasm, and very uplifting.

For lunch I had a chinese chicken salad with the dressing on the side, and a piece of flatbread ( the new rage). Whenever I eat with him he takes 1/2 of what ever it is he ordered home with him. This has taught me to do the same even tho I have known for a long time that particular diet trick. I just never could bring myself to actually do it.

Yesterday after lunch he tricked me. He knew I had to run by Target to get a couple of things and he said he needed to also, so could we go together. The next thing I know, we are walking to and from Target. Not what I had intended. I had told him last month I was going to be walking, etc. to train to walk the Aids walk with my oldest daughter this year. I suppose he thought he was helping my train.

He forgets that altho I’ve been more active lately, I’ve been pretty sedentary for 2 yrs. He goes to the gym every day or nite, which ever the case may be. Needless to say that although he’s fairly short in stature, I trailed behind him most of the way. Reality lesson? I’ve got a lot to do before the walk in July. LOL

A New Motivation

Aids Walk SF

I feel sorry for Denver as I watch the news last nite. The shot was of cars during rush hour not moving because of a blizzard. I’m sure glad that storm wasn’t that bad when it hit us last week. All we got was some rain and in some places some hale. They were literally getting snowed in where they sat on the freeway.

Here in California the weather is heating up and the sun is shining. The temps have been in the 70′s and heading higher, according to the 7 day forecast. With the sunny days come the farmer’s markets, the art and wine festivals and a whole slue of out door activities.

For me it’s a reminder that the Aids walk isn’t too far off. Last year  I decided at the last minute to keep my daughter company as she walked, and it just about killed me! It’s a 10k (or 6 mile) walk and for some reason I thought I could do it without having been hardly off my butt in a year. LOL

This year I’m going to be ready for her. Almost every year she’s looking for someone to walk with her. This year I’m going to get my butt in the gym and be ready when July rolls around again. At the same time I’m testing the theory that if you sign up for something like this it helps to get you and keep you motivated. I’ll let you know if it works.

A Cool New Contest

Our Lady of Weight Loss

I don’t know how many of you read Our Lady Of Weight Loss over on Beliefnet, but I just love her stuff. She’s just getting ready to release her second book “All Is Forgiven: Move On” and in honor of that she’s got a contest going. You have to answer the question “Which foods do you find irresistable?” and she’ll throw a healthy snack party for you and 25 of your closest friends.

This morning her blog is about building an “affirmation container”, which I get the affirmation thing, getting your subconcious mind to believe something before it actually happens so that your concious mind makes it happen, but I’m not really sure about this “container”. She wasn’t very explicit about if you’re supposed to cut affirmations and put them in the container, glue them to the container or what.  Usually she writes some excellent and humorous tips and tricks about weight loss. If you go to enter her contest, you might spend a couple minutes reading some of her other posts. She’s really a kick.

Damn You, Valerie!

Okay, not really. I love Valerie Bertinelli. I used to think she was so cute in “One Day At A Time” when I was younger. And yes, I’m one of the million who could not understand how a girl like her could marry Van Halen (bad boy). I remember seeing her in a couple of made-for-tv-movies but I hadn’t seen her in awhile.

I’m sure everyone saw when she took Kirstie Alley’s job away as spokesperson for Jenny Craig. Evidently Kirstie Alley’s rowing the same boat to weight gain that I am. LOL. I haven’t seen many commercials for awhile featuring either one of them, although the “rags” are more than happy to keep us informed of every ounce poor Kirstie gains back.

Yesterday as I sign on to AOL (almost online) I end up staring right into the face of sweet Valerie and the story of her posing in a bikini on the cover of people magazine. She looks like  a 20 yr. old and you could never tell she’s had a child! Me, I still carry part of my “baby weight” in what we non-affectionately call an “apron”. She’s  almost 50! She said she hadn’t worn a bikini in 20 years. On top of that she’s written a new book about her weight loss called “Losing It: How I Got My Life Back One Pound At A Time”. I don’t think we’ll be seeing her on the front page of the Enquirer with a story about how she gained all her weight back any time soon.

While she didn’t have to pay for her food like you or I would, according to her she attributes most of her weight loss to 10,000 steps per day. She didn’t get a personal trainer until she wanted to lose the last 15 or 20 lbs. She doesn’t even “wrinkle” right for her age (you know, one of those damn natural beauties). I have 3 pedometers and I can’t get even 1 to work right, although after today I’m going to try again with my favorite one.

So I got to thinking.

1) I should have been doing my lifestyle changes with her instead of just watching. I may have been done now too.

2) I don’t think I like Heather Locklear much either. LOL.

3) I have run out of excuses. The last one I was clinging to was being post menopausal, it’s harder to lose (especially if you don’t move a lot). 

Too many of these women that look so good are my age or older! Look at Meryl Streep, Faye Dunaway, Goldie Hawn (who does look like hell without makeup, but she’s in great shape). There really is no excuse for letting myself go like this and not doing something about it. So, I’m off again to log my points and make another stab at the gym. (If I can find parking I might even go in this time).

Thank you contactmusic.com for the pic. At least in this one it looks like she could use a little work on those underarms. LOL.

Wednesday Weight Loss Tidbits

I thought I would pass this on. I hope you get a kick out of it too. This is so “me”. LOL

Importance of Walking

Walking 20 minutes can add to your life.
This enables you at 85 years old
to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing
home at $7000 per month.
>
My grandpa started walking
five miles a day when he was 60..
Now he’s 97 years old
and we don’t know where he is.
>
I like long walks,
especially when they are taken
by people who annoy me.
>
The only reason I would take up walking
is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.
>
I have to walk early in the morning,
before my brain figures out what I’m doing..
>
I joined a health club last year,
spent about 400 bucks.
Haven’t lost a pound.
Apparently you have to go there.
>
Every time I hear the dirty word ‘exercise’,
I wash my mouth out with chocolate.
>
I do have flabby thighs,
but fortunately my stomach covers them.
>
The advantage of exercising every day
is so when you die, they’ll say,
‘Well, he looks good doesn’t he.’
>
If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.
>
I know I got a lot of exercise
the last few years,……
just getting over the hill.
>
We all get heavier as we get older,
because there’s a lot more information in our heads.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

> AND

Every time I start thinking too much
about how I look,
I just find a Happy Hour
and by the time I leave,
I look just fine.

I’m Pretty Excited!

My daughters

I’ve written here before about my oldest daughter going vegetarian. I really thought it was an ok idea as I know she’s not real big on fruits and veggies and I thought it would help her to eat more of the right things. Unfortunately she’s much too much like me and you can still eat a lot of the wrong things even going vegetarian, without any of them involving meat.(Bread, desserts, pasta with alfredo sauce).

She has a few health issues and she’s only 26. I bought both of us a new book by a Dr. Mark Hyman about healthier eating. He’s done some fabulous work with food and depression, food and autism, etc. He’s been on Martha Stuart and done some work with Oprah’s Dr. Oz, so he doesn’t appear to be some crackpot. When she was up here the other day, I gave it to her. She thumbed through it and was really interested. Score! Usually I give her self-help stuff and she’s not very interested.

While she was here, we also discussed the fact we had about the same amount of weight to lose (about 50 lbs). So I counted out 25 weeks, figuring for July 11, 2009 and we set that as a target date. We also decided we should have something to work towards as a reward.

When it comes to traveling there really aren’t that many places I would like to go (pretty crazy considering I’m a travel agent). She has never been to Hawaii, which is one place I would love to go back to, and she had a crappy time in New Orleans when she went with a girlfriend, which I would love to go back there also. So we  are on a quest to decide what our reward will be at the end of this.

The other morning she called and had actually gone to the gym. She’s had a membership for I don’t know how long, but only been a couple of times. I just hope she keeps it up. Her work schedule varies so I told her the same thing I wrote about here, that if she gets in the routine of going shortly after she gets up, it really wouldn’t matter what time that was. She belongs to a gym like I do that has restricted hours so it’s definitely going to take some scheduling and some effort, but she can do it. On days she has to be to work at 7 am, she’ll have to go after work, which is ok but it does screw up the regular routine a bit. The trick is on those days is to have everything with you and point the car to the gym instead of towards home.

I’m so happy she has decided to do this with me. It’s nice to have her back to where we can encourage each other. When we went to WW together before, we both did really well and she was so much happier with herself. It’s just a shame we’re both so damn self destructive. LOL.