I read something in the maintenance library as well as someone else's post that resonated with me. It's the concept of "do it your way". I have had the most success with wt. loss when I didn't try to control portions but instead just ate lower-fat and LOTS of fruits and veg. I decided a while back that I needed to address my need to eat in quantity. And that has been a huge struggle leading me to weight gain.
For the past few days, I have focused on those very high veggie content meals that allowed me to eat more and and feel fuller without gain. I'm down to 158 today, which is a multi-week low, and down from 162.5, my multi-week high just a few days ago. I know a lot of the change is due to water retention earlier this week, but still 4.5 lbs, I think some of it must be fat loss as well, don't you?
In any case, today I'm accepting that I might not conquer my need to eat lots of food right away. I've done a lot of internal work around why I need this...emotional eating, anxiety, bordom, habit etc...and I'm still ready to do that work, but none of it has lead to consistent portion control up till now. Today, I'm ok doing this imperfectly, and my main goal is to fit into my clothes!
One new thing I am doing is weighing every day. I have heard the arguments for and against, today i'm enjoying tracking this on a spreadsheet graph and getting more familiar with the daily fluctuations.
All-time non-pregant high in 2001=198. All time adult low (while breast-feeding)=140 Maintenance range= 125-161 Comfortable weight=150
Alice--yes, the old one had a lock as does the new one. I don't find it a problem, though. It'll unlock within a couple of seconds if I need to add something. This new one has a nice feature--most front load washers have a problem with musty smell if you shut the door after a load. We'd leave the old one with the door completely open to get rid of the smell (we'd shut it after a day or two). The new one has a special latch which allows the door to remain ajar to let it dry out but it looks like it is closed. It also has a special cycle to use if the smell becomes too much--it'll clean itself. I have to read up more on it.
I have a golf tournament on May 1 as well. This is a charity event that we've participated in for a few years--Lumpy's Scramble for Autism. It's HUGE. Hundreds turn out for it and it raises thousands of dollars. I like it because it is a scramble and we get to play a course that normally isn't open to the public. And there is a lot of "free" stuff--goodie bags and food and drinks offered at about every other hole as well as lunch and dinner. They have a silent auction and I usually come home with one or two items from that. Of course I say "free" because we do pay for a foursome and buy raffle tickets for the auction. But it seems free!
Georgette-- I also weigh daily. Definitely has its pros and cons. I didn't weigh for the week plus I was gone for my cruise. It was somewhat liberating but I did have a weird dream. I dreamed I got back from my cruise and "forgot" to weigh myself for a few days. When I remembered (in my dream), I thought-- I guess I'm not so obsessed about daily weighing. Ha! I got home and hopped right on the scale!
Scale was down 2 pounds this morning. If only I could do that for a few days then I'd be back under my redline. Ha ha....
Each team of four hits a ball off the tee. The longest or best placed tee shot is the one used--everyone else picks up their balls and then everyone hits from the longest/best shot. You continue doing this until someone sinks the putt. It creates a shortened time span for the game. Typically a game of golf on a standard course can take 5 hours or more depending on the crowd. In a scramble, because only the best ball placement is used, the time spent golfing goes down to maybe 3 hours so more people can play,
Michele-Tell us about your cruise! Where did you go, what line was it with? I'm a travel junkie myself.
Well... I also love to travel... hence my name! Plus we moved a lot so I chose my name because Michele in Houston and then Michele on Safari was getting too complicated....
We cruised Princess on their newest ship-- built last year! HUGE! We only took the steps and my fitbit said I climbed 357 floors! I'm usually lucky to get 10. We realized on the cruise that it only counts floors up, not down.
We went out of Ft. Lauderdale. First stop was Princess Cays in the Bahamas (Princesses "own" island). We did a snorkeling trip there-- it was great-- not too crowded and we saw cool fish, eels, and much more! We also snorkeled in St. Maarten-- not as good just because it was a HUGE group so it was crowded in the water-- but it was quite fun because the crew made it fun-- rum drinks (for dh, I don't drink), snacks, and they brought us two spots-- one to snorkel and the other to a beach. The third port was our favorite-- St. Thomas. We did BOSS there which we've never done before-- I've wanted to scuba but I'm chicken so this is the next best thing-- it's an underwater scooter-- you wear a helmet and can breathe normally-- you have an oxygen tank on your scooter. You push a button to go and you steer around. It was quite fun and I'd do it again! We were about 8 feet under water.
Beyond that, we used the gym each day... then we'd go to the Enclave-- saunas, a whirlpool, beds, etc. just for adults and you have to pay extra so it's quiet and peaceful. Lots and lots of eating-- they had extra restaurants since it's a giant ship-- so we had sushi, gelato and more that we haven't had on other cruises.
I'm always amazed at "those" people that talk about their next cruise while they're still cruising-- some people cruise all the time. Well, I guess I'm one of those people now. I'm getting ready to book an Alaskan cruise the end of June with my eldest dd. We cruised Alaska a few years ago with my elderly Aunt and Uncle and my dh and younger dd. I think it will be very neat to cruise just with the two of us. I'm very curious what my dd will want to do. She has a service dog but has decided to leave him with my dh for the week. She hasn't been apart from him since she got him. She is nervous about flying without him but I'll be with her so I hope it will go well. Not sure if she'll want to dance in the clubs or what?! Dh and I usually go to bed after dinner and the show!
Bill, that sounds good. What's made you / allowed you to get back to that place?
Boy, do I ever wish I knew.
If I could quickly get back into my grove, I wouldn't be forever fighting maintenance pounds.
Right now, I skip something with 200 calories and celebrate that I've just lost an ounce. When I'm lost in the woods, I think that I'll burn 200 calories the next time I'm out walking.
Hmmmm, yesterday I got a brochure for Azamara Cruises. There is a 12-day one from Costa Rica to Los Angeles in February 2016 and the 2nd person gets 50% off if the trip is booked by June. Sounds tempting until I start looking for flights. The cheapest to get to San Jose is a red-eye with stops in Los Angeles and Miami. I did find one that only went as far east as Houston (which is more in line with San Jose anyway). I suppose we could drive to LA, park the car, and fly out of there and then when the ship docks, take a taxi to our car and drive home...
I am weighing everyday also. Last summer when I was gone for a month I didn't weigh and I was so nervous when I got home, but I was fine, mainly because I started the running then.
I got a Wiithings scale a couple months ago. It gives weight, body fat (although I don't think it's that accurate), and heart rate. Also weather, but I don't look at that. Anyway it adds it to MyFitnessPal so I can see it graphically. Yeah, I'm a math person... so this works for me. Before I got that scale I wrote it down on a little calendar I keep by the scale and it's kind of fun to look back over the past 2.5 years at what happened. Yeah, besides being a math person, I am a little obsessive. But, I know if I stop weighing that's when I gain. My goal is to stay healthy and keep it off. So I say I reached my goal a year ago, but really, my goal is to maintain.
Had some major expenses today - besides tax day, the last payment to DDs university. Oh well, that's over! Good times ahead! Our 30 year anniversary is in December this year and we are planning a big vacation (but we won't go until summer, because anniversary is 12/24 and that won't really work for us to travel).
DixieMom- I love the races too! I like to sign up for them and train for them. But I really love the runs too. I have been running pretty much 10-10:30 minute miles and running 5-6 on the days I run. But then for some reason this week, I've had several miles that were 9:30 or less! I don't really try to speed up but I had read that if you just keep adding distance, speed will come and it suddenly did this week!
Michelle-I have done a LOT of traveling, but more in the past when DH was working as a juggler. We are both from the US, but we based out of Belgium half the year and we got as far south as Spain, and as far east as Poland and Croatia with his work in Europe. His job also took us to New Zealand one winter, and we extended into Fiji, Australia, and Singapore that year in what was a true around-the-world trip (US oceana/asia, europe, US). Now he doesn't work, and I have a job in a local school. I get summers off and we aim for international travel every 3 years, US travel every 3 years, and staying home one summer every 3 years. in 2013 we spent 9 weeks in Nicaragua. Last year we bought 45 day Amtrak passes and went from Oregon to NY to FL and home, with lots of stops in the East.
I am also a Disney Parks nut, rediscovered my love for the theme parks in 2013. Went to WDW with my son last summer (DH has no interest) and I have a Dec 2015 trip to DL planned as well.
I have never taken a cruise, though these might be in our future. DH now has a harder time getting around (he's 50, but has adult onset muscular dystrophy) so cruising might be more comfortable for him than our old backpacker style. I'm most interested in crusing trans-atlantic as part of travel to Europe rather than a round-trip. I like spending many days in each place I visit so cruising isn't quite conducive to that. But I love boats and ferries and if the price was right, I'd go in a heart-beat.
Today's weight is up just a smidge. Since I've been eating so healthy, yesterday I didn't and I can really feel it! Looking forward to a lighter day.
Georgette-- your traveling sounds fascinating! I bet it was so interesting seeing so much of the world. My dh's job involves much travel. He's actually in Belgium this week in fact! China next week...
Cruising might be a very good option for you. There are certainly many, many people on the cruises with limitations and the cruises are suited to dealing with that. I also work at a school and love my summers off!
My weight is being stubborn post-cruise. It came down 2 pounds the first day, went up 1/2 a pound the next and now seems stuck. I'll keep plugging away...
Georgette~Becky has done a European riverboat trip and she loved it. I keep thinking I'd like to do that but seem to gravitate to ocean cruises. Two destinations we want to do are the British Isles and Greek Isles.
Sharon~I'm a daily weigher and I also take my BP daily and keep both in a log book that I enter into Excel once I complete a page. My doctor determined I had slightly high BP last year and wanted me to come in monthly to have my BP checked and I just can't do that as I'm too busy, so I bought a BP monitor and check it daily. It's still a little high but it has come down since last year so I don't think he'll put me on meds (I hope).
Allison, congrats on your BP record keeping (wish more of my patients did that!), and verifying that your BP is down.
I used to be a daily weigher, and bit by bit have gotten away from it. I use the excuse that an artificially high weight (e.g. from muscle swelling after a strenuous lifting workout, or a carby-binge the day before) will affect me psychologically and set me up for being upset all day. But, as the pounds have started to creep back up yet again, I've been avoiding the scale more and more, most recently for over a week because I was on vacation and there was no scale. Well, no more. It's time to face the music (or, the number in this case) and get back in the groove.
Michele, glad your cruise went well. I've never done one, and have a hard time imaging myself on one since what I like best is to move around, explore and see/experience new things. But you make it sound really cool. I think I might enjoy one of the type where the ship moves mostly at night, moving to a new port for the following day of land-based sight-seeing. Anyway, we had a lovely time in Sedona- there's something uniquely relaxing about that place. Maybe it's the altitude (5000+ feet), the ultra-blue skies contrasting with the gorgeous red rock formations, or the constant birdlife everywhere. Sounds like we both had the kind of vacation we enjoy.
Michelle, Tucson has some great hiking of it's own. I considered moving to Tucson at one time, even applied for some jobs at U of A. It's great and you will enjoy visiting her.
Allison, River boat cruising looks so nice. Living in Europe, I saw some of these locations. It's amazing how far inland you can get in Europe on the smaller cruise ships.
I spent the last 2 days on my butt at a conference. The food was healthy over all but I ended up using candy to stay awake and alert. That plus just drinking tons of coffee and not moving left me feeling yucky and drove my weight up 2lbs. I'm assuming it will go away in a day or two, hopefully just a minor blip. I'm excited to return to food that helps me feel good.
