changing gears

It's been a year and I've lost 2 pounds!&%!$%!

So, I'm changing gears. In January, I'm turn 60, so I think I'll start looking forward to the last chapters of my life. I do love getting older.

I'll write more about what I'm thinking and doing. Rather than my frusatrations with trying to lose weight.  Right now, I'm taking a painting class and we've been painting on silk with gorgeous dyes. I'll post a photo or two soon.

Loving the fall

I've been able to get out walking regularly these past couple of weeks in the crisp air.

Finished up the 8 week Full Plate Diet class I took and I'm trying to increase my fruits and veggies. Bought a juicer and have been trying new combos. So far, my favorite has been carrot, beet and celery hearts. YUM.

beets by Richard Bolingbroke

Recovering from a cold

It's been a couple of weeks of barely functioning. Finally getting my voice back, but still tired and moving slowly. Though I just got back from a 20 minute saunter through the neighborhood. My first exercise in 2 weeks. The air is so sweet with fall smells. Hope I just keep getting better.

I lost 2 pounds through all this, though I expected more as I lost my appetite and had lots of diahhrea, but I was a couch potato.

Cranky and irritable

Not sure why, but I'm just not pleasant to be around today, just ask the husband. I don't feel deprived, food wise. I didn't get enough sleep last night, so maybe that's why. Communicating clearly seems to be an exercise in frustration. Maybe I'll just read a good book and hope tomorrow is better.

I just realized I could have said go for a walk or ride the bike, but my first instinct is to lay low rather than move, Hmmmm.

Full Plate Diet

Went to my first meeting tonight and the basic premise is to eat food with lots of water and natural fiber: fruits, veggies and cooked whole grains. received all sorts of handouts, so will be learning more.....................

sorry, I don't know the artist of these beautiful pears, but 'tis the season, pear season

Cravings

Just today, Mary Beth and I were talking about cravings. And maybe instead of distracting myself from the craving, like going for a walk, she suggested I could just be with it. To face the craving head on.

So just now I felt a craving, for food, nothing in particular and when I looked at it full in the face, it the craving was a fist, reaching into my gut and pulling at me, my stomach actually, and the pull was so strong it nearly lifted me out of me seat. And if I had done that, given into the strong pull of the craving, I'd have gone into the kitchen, rummaged around in the frig and most likely eaten something. Instead, I decided to write about it here, while the feelings are still fresh.

What have you been craving lately? And how are you dealing with it?

Hot again today

Third day is a row where it's 75 in the shade in the back yard. Even the dog is in the shade.
It's weigh day. after 3 days of liquids and lots of acidophilus, I started eating real food a few days ago. Let's see if it made a difference...............

Oh no, I gained 4 pounds. How discouraging is that?

New group

I'm so excited a local group is sponsoring a 6 week program based on the full plate diet. Luckily it's a time I can make and even better, it's only 2 blocks away. It feels like having local support will make staying on track easier.  Yeah.

Paying attention

Today I'm having trouble telling whether I'm hungry or full. Since it's feeling so similar to me, I'm checking the time. Seems weird.  So I have to pay more attention.

The long summer is almost over

The summer is not my favorite time and I usually really slow down and drop out. That happened a bit this year although I also made it to the East coast to see family and help my parents celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. It was hot and I must have eaten less as I lost 5 pounds during the 3 week visit!!

I also went camping in August for 2 days and that went better than expected.

Right now, I'm dealing with some digestive upset and eating lots of clear soups, so I've lost another pound.

Looking back, I see it's been a year since I started "seriously" trying to lose weight. I weigh only 7 pounds less than a year ago, but that's better than none or gaining, so I'm trying to give myself credit for what I've accomplished rather than a hard time for what I haven't.

What have you been up to?

Pity Party

I'm still recovering from a fall I took the day after my last posting. Over and over, it seems like after a few days of feeling good, I get knocked down or out again. I'm so discouraged.
Luckily I'm not overeating, Too Much, but I'm not getting much exercise with a sprained ankle and wrist. Walking without a cane now, but still can't use my hand at 50%. Boo Hoo.
I finally understand the term I first heard a few years ago.... Pity Party as I'm having one.

It worked, that positive self talk last night. I went to bed without eating anything else.   And imagine my surprise this morning when the tulips were still around, such a gift.

Today I rode the exercise bike for 35 minutes and worked up a warm glow. Two days in a row, I'm surely coming back from those two miserable weeks of flu/cold or whatever. YEAH.

Waking Up

Done playing computer games, getting ready for bed and my mouth craves chocolate. My mind says NO. The craving is intense. Remember, Debbi, you are trying to learn how to eat less and the only way to do that is to practice eating less. So go clean your teeth and go to bed. Come on, you can do it. You know how happy you'll be when your waist in another inch smaller and my A1C is under 6.0. 

You can do this, Debbi.   Rah Rah Zizz Boom Bah.

Red Tulips have been blooming all week. About 12 were open this morning.  So pretty.

The wind, hail and thunderstorms tonight will probably knock off all the petals.  Oh well, the cycle of life.

April showers

Greetings,
So the computer got fixed and I went down for two weeks with the Humboldt Crud. Today was my first walk in that time and it was nice to be out with the dog even in the wind. So strong, the river had waves. But it's nearly 20 feet lower than it was last month after 25 days of rain. This is the catch basin on the city side of the levee.

So I was in bed with a fever, sore throat and sinus infection. Sleeping 12-20 hours a day, sipping soup and tea, I gained two pounds the first week!!!!!  But at the docs this Monday I had lost them. Antibiotics have made a tiny inroad in my head congestion. Looking forward to feeling good again.

I was reading April 2011 Good Housekeeping at the docs office and saw the article about Dr. Oz's Superfast Slim-Down Plan. It gives menus for a month saying losing 10 pounds and 2 inches is possible with this eating plan and 60 minutes of brisk walking a day. He also says a tape measure is better than a scale so you can determine belly fat. A person's waist should measure less than 33 inches! I was pretty young when that last happened, being shaped like an apple even before puberty. Over 37 inches is in the danger zone for health.  My waist was 43 inches when I started on this plan to lose weight for my health and now, it's 42.5. At least I'm moving in the right direction.

BACK ON LINE

I spent the last two weeks without a computer. Luckily it was just a defective hard drive that was on warrenty. Didn't loose any of my information. Yeah.

I did a lot more reading. And also eating as I've gained a pound.

Once I get caught up I'll be back here regularly.

7. Arrange the environment

As I'm swooning over the loaf of "rustic french" from the Loleta bakery I'm incorporating some of this lesson. In my old way of eating, I would consume nearly half the loaf on the first day. Even though this bread has some whole wheat flour, it's mostly white bread. Very tasty white bread, for sure. So after we enjoy every morsel of this bread, we won't be eating it every week anymore.

Here are some of the suggestions from Judith Beck:

remove personal temptations. 

use smaller plates and bowls

let people you live and eat with know your are eating in a more healthy way

develop creative problem solving.    

Put tempting foods out of sight. Leave healthful foods in plain sight. We no longer buy chips because we can't resist them. We make our own corn chips by baking corn tortillas whole in the oven. When they are crisp, they break into bite sized pieces easily When cooled, we store extras in a jar with a tight lid.

by Elizabeth St.Hilaire Nelson

Find healthful food substitutions that satisfy you. Two dates are almost as good as a chocolate chip cookie. Baked winter squash sometimes helps with the sugar cravings.

What changes have you made?

My friend Janice has been sending me some great dieting links and I'll get those loaded up later this week, so keep an eye out.

6. find a diet coach

I've decided to try using the blog for this. If I start eating or having mouth cravings I'll try to blog about it here as a way to pay attention and stop the eating when not hungry behavior.

I got weighed to day and amazingly have lost a pound.

5. Eat slowly and mindfully

Today I weigh the same as last week, 185. Vinnie reminds me that we're in this for the long haul...you know two steps forward, one step backwards. I'm feeling good today. The caffeine at breakfast? The wind while walking the dog? Maybe that I finished two books last night and have been working on taxes today. The sense of accomplishment feels good.

Anyway, back to Judith Beck's diet book.... lesson 5 is an easy one for me. When I was eating macrobiotically ages ago, I had a week where I tried to chew every mouthful 50 times, talk about slow and mindful!!!  I liked it and now enjoy eating slowly. I'm usually the last one done at the table.

The next lesson is much harder...... find a diet coach. I've been thinking about this one for weeks. Most of you do not keep my late night schedule, so who am I going to call at 2am PST???  Any volunteers?

weigh day jitters

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I've written.  I've been tired and unmotivated.
Then I misplaced my cards to help me stay on track and finally found them this weekend. And obviously they work, because without them I gained weight two weeks in a row. Tomorrow is weigh day again and I'm hoping the exercise I got this week will make a difference.
I'll keep you posted.

Weigh day & delayed gratification

I lost 2 more pounds. ;)
All my holiday weight gain is gone. Walking one more day a week. Watching old TV shows as I pedal the bike, great incentive for me. Portioning food is more attractive to me than exercise, it makes me tired.

Instead of denying myself certain foods, I'm eating them on a less regular basis.  Increasing the time between satisfaction. Will-power. The other night I really wanted popcorn. After a quick check-in with myself, I realised it was a mouth hunger and not a belly hunger, so I convinced myself to wait two hours and check back in. Sure enough, belly hunger and I satisfied it with air-popped corn sprinkled with Worcestershire sauce, garlic and soy lecithin. Delayed gratification.

Putting it off for a while, even with a strong craving. I notice my strongest craving are all mouth hunger and so about emotions, habits, addictions. This program of positive self talk is helping me develop will-power again. It feels gooooood. If I'm really hungry, I notice I don't care as much about what I eat, so soup or salad is getting to be the norm.

It's been a week without chocolate candy. Whew, at times the urge to eat chocolate is overpowering. I redefined my rules, mid week. No chocolate candy, no sugar or fat with chocolate, except on those two special days each month.  So I'm having non-fat home-made chocolate milk with cocoa powder and stevia drops. VERY satisfying and only 110 calories. And calcium along with the protein.  I just added that photo of candy. What a tease, eh?

Weigh day

So Monday the scale tells me I've lost another holiday pound. I'm delighted. One more and I'm back to where I was before Thanksgiving. 183#.

The 11th is one of my two days a month to allow myself to eat a "forbidden foods". This time it was dark chocolate with caramel and walnuts, a make-it-myself turtle. I've been missing the cocoa butter and this treat was out of this world.

Who Knew?

Who knew it was so much work to take good care of this body??
Somehow, I missed this lesson growing up. Or maybe I just ignored it.
Now, I'm trying to figure it all out. Like learning a second language at a late age, it's so much harder to do than when we were young.

Enjoyed my weekend watching Vinnie garden, while I did laundry. Winter sunshine, my favorite. What are you up to?

To leave a comment on the blog................

 

Click on comment under any of the entries. There will be a place to write your comment. Under that it says Comment as:  you have to drop down the select profile box. You should be able to leave a message with your name + last initial or as Anonymous. If that doesn't work, let me know.

 

4. Give Yourself Credit

So the holidays are over and it's time to get back on track........

How easy is it to say nice things to ourselves?  Nice job, good eye, that's great, etc. Postivie self-talk is VERY IMPORTANT. I'm trying to encourage myself to be especially gentle with myself as I dive deeper into these weight loss exercises.

When I sit down to taste, I can say, Good for you, Debbi. That’s much more effective than telling myself  I screwed up because I’m chewing while on my feet.  I can give my self  credit for resisting a second helping, ignoring sweets a coworker brought in and refusing free samples at the store.  How many things can you find to praise each day?

 I started reading another diet self-help book. Nancy Goodman’s “It was food vs. me and I won”    It’ll be on the Book list.  Please feel free to offer books and links that are working for you. Also, feel free to share this blog with anyone you know.

 I went out and bought my own copy of the Beck Diet Solution, so the library can have its copy back. It's time to start writing in the book as there is a daily to do list.