You Can Call Me Madcat!

Wednesday again and that means it is time to post. Weigh in today was 182 (again) so no loss this week, but also no gain. Since I could be retaining water I’ll take it, refocus and do better next week. I’m 1.5 lbs away from 5% body weight loss. It seems to be taking forever.

Refocusing will get me there.

Some good stuff happened this week. Workouts were good. I did one half hour treadmill workout, went for a 5K walk outside on the weekend that was nice, and walked home most days. I’m trying to work more daily movement into my day. I even walked up the 10 flights of stairs on the weekend when I came home at the end of a fire alarm.

On the downside, a storm of politics and silliness has erupted at work and I seem to be caught up in the middle of it. One of the reasons I became a contractor was to avoid this kind of stuff. I don’t want to go into a lot of details, but it has made work a less pleasant place to be. I have to remind myself to breathe and I’m pretty annoyed at what has happened. Life is way too short to work in a job that isn’t interesting and engaging. I don’t expect miracles, but when I get to the point where I don’t want to go to work any more, it is time to seriously consider a job change. I’m updating my resume – which is kind of reassuring to do even if the storm does blow over.

This week’s goal: make sure I drink my water, keep working out and maybe try something new, keep eating and STAY CALM. Remind myself of two mantras: “No one is going to die because of anything that happens at work” and “Billable Hours”. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

I just wanted to write this somewhere because it’s proof of some sort of change, and I can’t be boring total strangers on the street with it.

I’ve been switching up workouts and doing some time on the treadmill at least once a week. Today I did 30 minutes -two minutes jogging at no incline followed by two minutes walking on an incline as repeated intervals. Ok, to say I’m jogging is really an insult to serious joggers or runners - it’s really a fast shuffly joggy-walk - but the point is what I realized today. A few months ago I did this same interval thing and when checking my heartrate at the end of the jog intervals it would be around 150. Now in those intervals my heart rate tops out in the high 130s or low 140s, and comes back down very fast in the walk interval.

I’m not signing up for the New York Marathon anytime soon, but it shows progress. And progress is good.

Maybe my best approach to this blogging thing is at least try to post on my weekly weigh-in days. I don’t seem to be very good trying to post more often than that. No excuses. It just is what it is.

Weigh-in this morning was 182. That is a total of 8 lbs since I rejoined Weight Watchers on September 9, 2009. So I am averaging about a lb a week. Last time I lost a bunch of weight (oh, kids, there is always a last time at my age) I averaged about a lb a week so I feel I am right on track.
I’ve been averaging 4 days at the gym – between Monday to Friday. If I can, I get there on day on the weekend as well, but sometimes life interferes. This past week I was planning to go on Sunday but ended up hemming drapes for the bedroom instead. Of course, in the bigger scheme of things probably being able to get a good night’s sleep because the drapes block out the huge lights from the construction crane across the road that shine Directly In My Eyes was probably the better use of my time.

A friend even asked me if I was losing weight last night. I haven’t noticed a difference, but it’s nice that someone has.

I won’t say this has been easy, but it also has been less difficult than I have anticipated. I’m wondering why and I have a few thoughts. One is that there is no idea of cheating on this journey. I have to take responsibility for what I eat and why. For example, there is a BIG drawer of Hallowe’en candy a few feet from my desk at work. Last week I looked at them, read the back label, and decided that 2 WW points was really too much for a treat. If they had been 50 calories or less I probably would have had one, but 2 points was too much. Yesterday I did decide to have one, an Almond Joy, and it was overwhelmingly, sickeningly sweet. Now I don’t have any urge to have more. Of course, if someone were to offered me Cheesies I would suggest they pull their hand back fast or they might lose a finger or two. The thing is that even if I wanted them - and I’m just waiting for the craving to go – I would just have some (and only some), take the points hit and move on.

There is freedom in having no forbidden foods.

Tomorrow I am off to my Doctor’s for the results from last month’s physical. Here’s hoping that everything is just peachy. Note to self. I have to remember to order the first dose of my Twinrex vaccine and have the nurse inject me while I’m there.

Darn cold one today. The wind has picked up and the last vestige of Indian summer is gone. Sigh. I like fall, but this is damp cold fall that I’m not that fond of.

We were out for Thanksgiving/ October birthday dinner last night. It was a potluck and every dish was absolutely fabulous. I took some Weight Watchers recipe roasted potatoes. There was lamb and a great leek dish and vegetable soup and a seafood salad. I had eaten very lightly so I didn’t feel too bad about indulging. Something I had, however, had a very adverse affect on my stomach though and I couldn’t really sleep well.

I am back on track today and am going to eat within my base points only (I know I am, because I’ve already written them all down).

Tomorrow is weigh in day and it would be nice to see a number less than 184. Last week I was up two pounds because of water gain and some poor choices, but those pounds are gone. It would be nice to be less than that.

I didn’t go to the gym this morning because I thought that my mammogram appointment was this morning and I wanted to make up some time – but it turns out the test is actually tomorrow. This is what happens when you give me a Monday off for a holiday, I get very confused. So I had a free day with no meetings or anything. I would have liked to go to the gym, as usual this morning, but it’s not a bad thing if I miss a day when I had two good workouts on two of the three days of the long weekend. I was also shocked how packed the gym was yesterday. I suspect it was people paying for their turkey indulgences form the days before.

I’m having a hard time finding time to post here. It’s not that I don’t want to, I just haven’t quite figured out the timing. I’m posting my exercise and my eating on WW online, so at least that is getting done daily. Posting really is the single most useful thing I have been doing. I find myself actually calculating how many points a snack would be before I actually have it and many times it has helped me to walk away from the chocolate :).

I also find it incredibly helpful to post my dinner plans in the morning (if I know what they are) in order to see what to have for lunch. I seem to have more control over lunch and I also like to be able to have something other than salad for dinner because I have run out of points.

I went for a bike ride yesterday and I suspect that it might be the last ride of the season for me (unless it is warmer today). It was really cold and windy and not really a lot of fun. I’m not one of these tough “ride through winter” types. I think I’ll go to the gym today, since the gym is open for holiday hours.

Tonight we’re going to friends for a Thanksgiving/ October birthday dinner potluck dinner. We bought cake yesterday and I’m making roast new potatoes from a Weight Watchers recipe. I will eat lightly today to leave myself some points for tonight. The online tools are good for that.

I saw 183 on the scale this morning after being stuck at 184 since the beginning of the month. That’s progress.

Weigh in this morning showed me at 184 lbs which is down 6 lbs from my starting weight of 190. To tell you the truth, I’m not really finding this all that difficult. Ok, let’s not lie. Living a health life style is harder than just doing whatever… it takes more planning and more thought and more awareness. Bu it isn’t a BAD thing to live like that. I like that by making a promise to track things I eat it makes me think about the stuff that goes into my mouth. Even on bad days it is important to track.

This is a fragile thing, this living healthy thing (at least in these early stages). It’s important to not fall into an all or nothing mindset. If I have a bad day – oh, and I will have a bad day here or there – it’s important to not let that be an excuse to just throw my hands up in the air give up.

I’m trying to vary up my workout more too. Yesterday I actually did the Dreadmill, and even jogged a few minutes here and there. Ok, not a jog per se more a light-footed fast walk. No one is going to call what I do jogging. I think doing things that involve moving my whole weight is good. I’m also trying to stretch more and play with the medicine ball and the stability ball. So goal is cardio and a lot of core work. Weights here and there, just for fun.

I have a NSV in mind. I have these really lovely black lace pants that I would really like to wear to New Years. They are a size 12. I believe I can do it.

Oh, and hi chicks. I missed you too. :wave:

I’m back I haven’t been posting but I have come back into the game. I re-started Weight Watchers on-line at the beginning of September at a weight of 190. This is the most that I have ever weighed and I hated it. Weirdly enough it seems as if something has clicked and doing this does seem to be working. I’m down 5 lbs so far. That’s the weight I was on last Wednesday weigh-in day.

Like an alcoholic in recovery I can’t say that this is going to be smooth sailing but it does seem to be working. I already feel better, not as draggy and huge as I did even 5 lbs ago.

Why now is it working? I dunno. I think that now that my sister is gone, there are fewer excuses. I did the Terry Fox walk at the beginning of September and it was hard. Ten K should not be hard. My sister used to run 13K for the fun of it every other day. Even after she was quite sick, she did the Terry Fox walk last year in 3 hours.

Maybe I’m starting to unthaw and that is the difference. I dunno. Maybe instead of having this thing that I can’t let go of, I can use it as motivation. Make her proud, or maybe even make myself proud.

I’m too young to be prematurely old.

I’m going to try to post every now and again.

Yeah, haven’t posted in a while. I know. Let’s move on, shall we?

There is lost of stuff I could write about but a lot of it is depressing so I’ll just make this blog about what it is supposed to be about - food and dieting and exercise. I tripped over a curb on Friday morning on the way to the gym and hurt my arm and my right knee. My first thought was fear that I had broken my elbow again (would be the third time!) but it was just a wicked road rash and a bruising of my ego. One of the local weird street kids stopped to make sure I was OK, which was very nice of him, but didn’t make me feel any cooler.

I still made it to the gym, and, after dry swallowing a couple of Tylenol, did do half an hour on the elliptical. I had to skip any weights or anything that involved my right arm since the skin was all skinned off and it hurt like a b*tch. Funny, but when I was kid I could fall and get up and play again after a good cry and all would be well. OK, to be honest when I was a kid I’d fall, break a wrist, cry a lot and end up in the emergency room. I’ve never been the most athletic kid on the planet.

Food has been a disaster lately. My sister’s condition isn’t very good and my new best friend is Mr. Gin and Tonic. I know drinking probably isn’t the correct answer, but when there doesn’t seem to be anything else that can be done… I wonder if I am punishing myself for some perceived failure or trying to find some comfort. I’m not sure. Wow, I didn’t even plan to go there.

Anyway, I think it is time to pull myself together. I can’t control the vagaries of life, but I can at least pack my own lunch and lay off the freakin’ mini chocolates.

I’m just going to post something just so I can say I did. If I wait until I have something profound to post I’ll never get around to posting.

I’ve starting posting all the food I eat on another site. For now I’m not making any major changes I’m just journalling to see where my weak points are. The funny thing so far is the amount of calories I use in “snacks” throughout the day. I don’t know why I should be surprised but it is nice to see in black and white the areas I need to work on.

Last night I took a few minutes and cut up some veggies into three small baggies - one for each day, Monday through Wednesday. And then later I made a sandwich to take today. It was nice to have my own food. One of the problems with packing a lunch though is that I then don’t have an excuse to go out at lunch - so I made myself go out for a walk. Oh, my, it was a lovely day and I just explored around the neighbourhood of work a bit. It is nice to work in an area that is walkable. Many people live in the area and there is this great park a block or so over. There were many people just lounging around, reading books, most of them with their bikes thrown on the grass beside them. What do these people do for a living that they have all this spare time?

The DH is heading out tonight so I’m talking the opportunity to make stuff that I like but that he doesn’t care for for dinner: Tofu, asparagus and sweet potatoes. I’m going to make two servings and then have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

You know, I sometimes think living alone would make parts of this who journey easier. I would wake up earlier and eat better - but then I would miss out on a great many good things so I can deal with my bad influence in the house.

Hmm. It looks as if I’m only making it here to post every 10 days or so. Not ideal, but I do what I can.

I was watching the Finale of Biggest Loser and one thing that Mike said really hit home with me. It was (paraphrasing loosely) that you can exercise all you want but really what you eat is going to make the biggest difference. I’ve been doing quite well lately and I think it is largely because I am watching what I eat, especially at lunch time where I end up buying lunch way too often.

I rode my bike to the gym and then from the gym to work this morning. My biggest complaint about riding (other than traffic and trying to find a free bike rack in this neighbourhood) is the amount of stuff I have to carry around. For example, I left the house this morning in my bike stuff (T-shirt, bike shorts, exercise bra, running shoes) but I carried two other sets of clothes with me – my work clothes including shoes, my yoga pants for the gym, and a spare T-shirt and exercise bra since after a workout the one I left the house in would be soaking wet. It’s a 15 minute ride from the gym to work so I can’t ride in my work clothes since they would get all sweaty and then I would have to be all “splotchy” at my desk - and that’s gross. They do have a shower here but I’m not sure where it is and that would mean I need to also carry a towel to dry off with. More stuff. I liked it better at my old office where the gym and work were just down the street from each other so I could bike, workout, shower and change and then just leisurely arrive at work all clean and fresh.

I need to just suck it up, I guess. I could bike to the gym, workout and then bike home shower and change. I might have to think about doing that. This is making me cranky. And carrying so much crap around means I really almost never pack my lunch – which would be just more stuff to carry. Oy, I think I need to think this through more.

Work today is pretty quiet and I thought I’d post while I eat my lunch (Quizno sandwich and some water). I’m not crazy about Quiznos but there are only so many days a person can eat Subway without losing the will to live. And everything else in the area is hamburgers, pizza or sitdown places. I’m excited that a pita place is opening down the street soon – if only for the variety.

I should get back to it, I guess. Tonight we are having our neighbourhood association general meeting so it will be note taking for me. I join a community organization to do something different in my life and I end up the one taking notes! Work with your strengths, I say.

At least it is nice weather finally. But as with any spring, it’s weird not having to have a coat. I miss pockets!