Well, this is the end of Week 12 and I’m still at it! It’s been a long time since I’ve had this much determination and sticktoitness about something. I lost 2 more pounds last week, for a total of 24.8 pounds since I started. What the hell—let’s just round up and make it an even 25! ; ) Sounds a little more motivational, don’t you think?
I have a confession to make. During the past couple of weeks I have been sneaking little bites of foods I previously considered to be strictly taboo on a weight loss program: a few chips, a couple of crackers, a spoonful of rice or a few noodles with some stir fry…. I haven’t gone hog wild and done anything as drastic as eating a whole candy bar or a fried chicken dinner (although those are both lovely thoughts!). Just a nibble here and there to satisfy my craving for something besides my standard fare of grilled chicken and steamed vegetables. There’s something about the “you can’t have that” mentality that just cranks up the cravings, know what I mean? Especially when you see those types of foods just lounging around in your cupboards, begging you to snatch them up and devour them. So instead flopping down in front of the TV with a bag of chips or a pint of Häagen-Dazs and not coming up for air until it’s all gone, I’ll pick just 2-3 chips from the bag or grab a Weight Watcher’s ice cream bar from the freezer, and leave the rest in the kitchen. Just my totally inexpert opinion, but I believe it’s not so much what you eat, as how much you eat. By itself, one of my Weight Watchers ice cream bars is fairly innocuous at 100 calories. But if I eat the whole box, I’ve wolfed down 1200 calories. I could eat a whole pint of Häagen-Dazs for that. See what I mean?
And while I’m on my portion control soapbox, let me also reiterate the importance of exercise. While you may notice a difference simply by adjusting your eating habits, I’ll bet you see even greater results if you add some regular exercise to the equation. But of course, please make sure you consult with your health care professional before starting any diet or exercise program.
The biggest reason I stress talking to your doctor before making any significant lifestyle changes like me is because you never know what medical conditions may be lurking under the surface, masking themselves as weight and/or age issues. Take me, for instance. Contrary to the advice I’m peddling now, I did not talk to my doctor before beginning my program. Guilty. I just figured the lethargy and weight gain were the result of my increasing age and decreasing activity. As we discussed in last week’s post, it turns out I have a bum thyroid and needed medication.
In addition to my lethargy and weight gain, I also noticed the more I became exerted, the harder it was to breathe. At work, walking from the parking lot to my desk on the second floor left me panting. Ten minutes on the elliptical felt like I was trying to exercise with a boa constrictor wrapped around my chest. Old and fat and out of shape, right? Wrong again. Imagine my surprise when my doctor told me I have asthma. Asthma! That one came from waaaaay out in left field. *shakes head* I now puff on a maintenance inhaler twice a day, plus use a rescue inhaler before I exercise, and it has made all the difference in the world. My lungs actually work again, and that dratted snake has taken off for parts unknown!
So for all of you who laugh and think I’m being a drama queen for freaking out over turning 50, I’m thumbing my nose at you. It appears the closer I get, the more I’m falling apart! I’m only joking, of course. I can see (with help from my two other eyes), I can hear, I can get out of bed in the morning and motor around under my own power…and with the help of a few pills—and a couple of puffers—I’m managing my little ol’ medical conditions just fine.
I’m blessed and I know it. I thank God for it every day, and I pray for His help for those who aren’t.
Taken from Reader’s Digest:
No More Meat!
The teacher in our Bible class asked a woman to read from the Book of Numbers about the Israelites wandering in the desert. "The Lord heard you when you wailed, 'If only we had meat to eat!' " she began. "Now the Lord will give you meat. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, or ten or twenty days, but for a month -- until you loathe it." When the woman finished, she paused, looked up and said, "Hey, isn't that the Atkins diet?"
-- David Martino
40 pounds lost by my 50th birthday. Can I do it? Follow along to find out....
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Week 11 Results: Fat Jeans (Genes?) and Pie Wagons
Yet another two weeks with no update, so I'm posting a day early to make up. My excuse this time? No internet. But, we’re finally up and running again, and I have good news to share: 3.8 pounds lost since my last post! That’s a total of 22.8 pounds since I started – over half way to my goal!
The jeans I had been wearing were starting to get baggy, so this week I pulled the next size smaller out of my closet. You know, the ones you hang onto just in case you are able to shed a few pounds and can fit back into them? (I actually have a whole smörgåsbord of sizes in my closet, but that’s a subject for another day.) I’m happy to report the smaller jeans not only fit, but were actually comfortably loose. If you’ve traveled down this weight loss road as many times as I have, you know it’s seeing progress like this that makes it much easier to keep yourself on track.
Since my last post, I learned something about my body that just may be a contributing factor to my weight gain and the battle I’m fighting to take it off. While on vacation I got a call from my doctor’s office informing me that lab work showed I have hypothyroidism (low thyroid). Talk about feeling poleaxed—I had no clue. Once I googled it, net surfer that I am, it made all the sense in the world. I had 7 out of 11 of the symptoms, including slow metabolism/weight gain. Again, I had just attributed the changes to getting older. (I’m thinking maybe it’s time I quit riding that scooter, hmmm?) I started taking medication a couple of weeks ago, and time will tell how much it helps—not only with the disease symptoms, but with my weight loss as well.
All this got me to thinking: what exactly causes weight gain? Overeating is probably the most thought-of culprit. It’s pretty much global knowledge if you consume more calories than your body burns, the excess is stored as fat and you gain weight. So how do some people eat anything they want and stay rail thin, while others count every calorie and carb and are still overweight? The reasons are many, and I’ll share a few of them with you.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, your environment can play a big role in your weight. Do you walk, bike, or drive to work? Is your job sedentary or physical? Me, I sit and drive 80 miles a day to a job where I sit for 8 hours a day. Two strikes for me right out of the gate. Do you spend your spare time stretched out in front of the TV or curled up with a good book, or do you engage in activities that get you up and moving, such as hiking, gardening, or playing sports? Considering my next tattoo is going to be a bookworm, you know which category I fall into. That’s why I utilize my Kindle’s text-to-speech feature to combine my love of reading with exercise. Letting my Kindle read to me while on the elliptical turns an otherwise boring workout into an almost pleasurable 20-30 minutes. Another product of my diet-induced creative thinking! ; o )
Health conditions can also contribute to weight gain. Hypothyroidism can decrease metabolism and cause protein deposits in the body, leading to fat accumulation and fluid retention. Essential fatty acid deficiency can inhibit the body’s ability to make hormones and maintain metabolic rate. Food sensitivity can lead to weight gain caused by fluid retention. Cushing’s syndrome, a hormone imbalance, can cause fat to accumulate in the face, abdomen, and upper back. Heart, liver, or kidney disease can cause fluid retention and subsequent weight gain.
Another source of weight gain can be prescription drugs. Some medications used to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, mood disorders, seizures, and migraines have been attributed to weight gain. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), oral contraceptives containing estrogen, steroids, and NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen) can cause you to pack on the pounds as well. Well, color me shocked. While I don’t take all of these types of drugs, I do take medicine for high blood pressure and migraines, and an occasional Aleve. Guess what’s going on my ask-the-doctor list?
One of the biggest reasons I hear people give for being overweight is “fat genes.” In her book Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm, Roseanne Barr wrote, “The reason people are fat is because it’s genetic. If you are a great big old pie wagon, you probably come from a long, long line of great big pie wagons.” While I don’t think I remember seeing any actual pie wagons on my charts at ancestry.com, I can tell you some members of my family struggle with their weight, just like me. In an article on obesity and genomics published by the CDC, it was suggested that bombarding the “energy-thrifty genes” given to us by our ancestors (the ones that kept them from starving when food was scarce) with today’s overabundance of food has helped contribute to the weight issues we see today.
The article went on to say that genetics, in combination with your environment, can also influence your drive to eat, your tendency for inactivity, an increase in your capacity to store body fat, and a decreased ability to use fats from food as fuel. That’s not to say just because your parents or grandparents are overweight means you will be, too. I’ve seen lots of slim people with overweight families. On the flip side of the coin, I’ve seen lots of overweight people with slim parents.
I think the bottom line is to not succumb to whatever undesirable metabolic genes you may have inherited. If you seem to fall under one of the genetically-enhanced conditions listed above, maybe you could benefit from adjusting your eating and/or exercise routine. The journey will undoubtedly be smoother for some than for others. I believe the biggest keys to success are 1) admitting you need to make changes, and 2) having the desire to change. And no, I’m not running a 12 step program here, I’m just stating my own personal observations and (what I hope is) common sense.
This week’s post contains lots of technical subject matter, and I can’t stress strongly enough that I am by no means a medical professional, nor am I using this blog to distribute medical advice. I’m simply sharing some of the information I have gleaned with my mad web surfing skills. The same information is available to everyone, all you have to do is seek it out. For medical questions and issues, please talk to your health care provider.
I want to thank everyone again for reading and for sharing your comments, stories, and words of encouragement. It’s making all the difference in the world to me, and I love hearing from you!
I worry, as this blog progresses, that I’ll have issues coming up with a new topic each week or that I’ll just become flat-out stale. Six months is a long time to keep coming up with fresh material. If any of you have questions about what I’m doing, or would like to see a particular subject addressed, please let me know and I’ll do my best to include them.
The jeans I had been wearing were starting to get baggy, so this week I pulled the next size smaller out of my closet. You know, the ones you hang onto just in case you are able to shed a few pounds and can fit back into them? (I actually have a whole smörgåsbord of sizes in my closet, but that’s a subject for another day.) I’m happy to report the smaller jeans not only fit, but were actually comfortably loose. If you’ve traveled down this weight loss road as many times as I have, you know it’s seeing progress like this that makes it much easier to keep yourself on track.
Since my last post, I learned something about my body that just may be a contributing factor to my weight gain and the battle I’m fighting to take it off. While on vacation I got a call from my doctor’s office informing me that lab work showed I have hypothyroidism (low thyroid). Talk about feeling poleaxed—I had no clue. Once I googled it, net surfer that I am, it made all the sense in the world. I had 7 out of 11 of the symptoms, including slow metabolism/weight gain. Again, I had just attributed the changes to getting older. (I’m thinking maybe it’s time I quit riding that scooter, hmmm?) I started taking medication a couple of weeks ago, and time will tell how much it helps—not only with the disease symptoms, but with my weight loss as well.
All this got me to thinking: what exactly causes weight gain? Overeating is probably the most thought-of culprit. It’s pretty much global knowledge if you consume more calories than your body burns, the excess is stored as fat and you gain weight. So how do some people eat anything they want and stay rail thin, while others count every calorie and carb and are still overweight? The reasons are many, and I’ll share a few of them with you.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, your environment can play a big role in your weight. Do you walk, bike, or drive to work? Is your job sedentary or physical? Me, I sit and drive 80 miles a day to a job where I sit for 8 hours a day. Two strikes for me right out of the gate. Do you spend your spare time stretched out in front of the TV or curled up with a good book, or do you engage in activities that get you up and moving, such as hiking, gardening, or playing sports? Considering my next tattoo is going to be a bookworm, you know which category I fall into. That’s why I utilize my Kindle’s text-to-speech feature to combine my love of reading with exercise. Letting my Kindle read to me while on the elliptical turns an otherwise boring workout into an almost pleasurable 20-30 minutes. Another product of my diet-induced creative thinking! ; o )
Health conditions can also contribute to weight gain. Hypothyroidism can decrease metabolism and cause protein deposits in the body, leading to fat accumulation and fluid retention. Essential fatty acid deficiency can inhibit the body’s ability to make hormones and maintain metabolic rate. Food sensitivity can lead to weight gain caused by fluid retention. Cushing’s syndrome, a hormone imbalance, can cause fat to accumulate in the face, abdomen, and upper back. Heart, liver, or kidney disease can cause fluid retention and subsequent weight gain.
Another source of weight gain can be prescription drugs. Some medications used to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, mood disorders, seizures, and migraines have been attributed to weight gain. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), oral contraceptives containing estrogen, steroids, and NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen) can cause you to pack on the pounds as well. Well, color me shocked. While I don’t take all of these types of drugs, I do take medicine for high blood pressure and migraines, and an occasional Aleve. Guess what’s going on my ask-the-doctor list?
One of the biggest reasons I hear people give for being overweight is “fat genes.” In her book Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm, Roseanne Barr wrote, “The reason people are fat is because it’s genetic. If you are a great big old pie wagon, you probably come from a long, long line of great big pie wagons.” While I don’t think I remember seeing any actual pie wagons on my charts at ancestry.com, I can tell you some members of my family struggle with their weight, just like me. In an article on obesity and genomics published by the CDC, it was suggested that bombarding the “energy-thrifty genes” given to us by our ancestors (the ones that kept them from starving when food was scarce) with today’s overabundance of food has helped contribute to the weight issues we see today.
The article went on to say that genetics, in combination with your environment, can also influence your drive to eat, your tendency for inactivity, an increase in your capacity to store body fat, and a decreased ability to use fats from food as fuel. That’s not to say just because your parents or grandparents are overweight means you will be, too. I’ve seen lots of slim people with overweight families. On the flip side of the coin, I’ve seen lots of overweight people with slim parents.
I think the bottom line is to not succumb to whatever undesirable metabolic genes you may have inherited. If you seem to fall under one of the genetically-enhanced conditions listed above, maybe you could benefit from adjusting your eating and/or exercise routine. The journey will undoubtedly be smoother for some than for others. I believe the biggest keys to success are 1) admitting you need to make changes, and 2) having the desire to change. And no, I’m not running a 12 step program here, I’m just stating my own personal observations and (what I hope is) common sense.
This week’s post contains lots of technical subject matter, and I can’t stress strongly enough that I am by no means a medical professional, nor am I using this blog to distribute medical advice. I’m simply sharing some of the information I have gleaned with my mad web surfing skills. The same information is available to everyone, all you have to do is seek it out. For medical questions and issues, please talk to your health care provider.
I want to thank everyone again for reading and for sharing your comments, stories, and words of encouragement. It’s making all the difference in the world to me, and I love hearing from you!
I worry, as this blog progresses, that I’ll have issues coming up with a new topic each week or that I’ll just become flat-out stale. Six months is a long time to keep coming up with fresh material. If any of you have questions about what I’m doing, or would like to see a particular subject addressed, please let me know and I’ll do my best to include them.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Week Nine Results: On The Road
Wow! Two weeks since my last post, and lots has gone on. Where to start?
BJ and I went on vacation for 8 days and had a great time! We started in Kansas with a visit to our youngest son and 10-month-old granddaughter, Ahliegha Renee – she is beyond awesome, by the way, and beautiful, too! We don’t get to see her very often, so we really enjoyed our time with her.
When we left home, we had no idea where we were going once we left Kansas, we just knew we were heading west and ended up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The idea of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants vacation is a novel one, but I don’t know that I would do it again. Not that I can’t be spontaneous, but we spent a lot of time going back and forth with the “What do you want to do?” thing and it wore me out after a while. Nonetheless, we did have a great time and saw some really beautiful sights.
As for the diet, I wouldn’t exactly say I threw it out of the window, but I did eat lots of things I normally wouldn’t have eaten at home. It’s really hard to stick to my type of eating plan when you’re eating out every meal for several days. But I did exercise portion control and stopped eating before totally stuffing myself. (Which is something I would NOT have done in the past.) And I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a road trip snacker: chips, popcorn, Chex mix…anything crunchy. I only snacked twice in over 2,900 miles, which is pretty good for me. I ate a small bag of buffalo wing-flavored pretzel bites, which totally rocked but weren’t exactly healthy, and I also got a bag of trail mix with nuts, raisins, and dates. Not exactly low-calorie, but a better choice than the pretzels, don’t you think?
My Wednesday weigh in was two days before we left, and I had lost half a pound. We were on the road this past Wednesday and had no scales available, so I won’t know how I did weight-wise until next Wednesday. Damage report on my next post.
And speaking of weighing in, my new scales arrived the day before we left. They look very high-tech with a glass platform and chrome trim. The display is much easier to read than the old scales, and it breaks weight down into tenths of pounds. I calibrated them and weighed myself, and I’m totally convinced they lie. I weighed about 4 pounds heavier than on the old scales. Maybe they are manufactured by the same folks who make doctor scales, hmmm? Honestly, I really didn’t expect them to be exactly the same. I simply noted both weights on my progress chart and I’ll track my progress from there.
Now it’s back to reality, with my grilled meat, steamed vegetables, and daily exercise. Taking a break from the diet was fun, but after several weeks of healthy eating I don’t think I could go back to a steady stream of burgers and fries.
BJ and I went on vacation for 8 days and had a great time! We started in Kansas with a visit to our youngest son and 10-month-old granddaughter, Ahliegha Renee – she is beyond awesome, by the way, and beautiful, too! We don’t get to see her very often, so we really enjoyed our time with her.
When we left home, we had no idea where we were going once we left Kansas, we just knew we were heading west and ended up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The idea of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants vacation is a novel one, but I don’t know that I would do it again. Not that I can’t be spontaneous, but we spent a lot of time going back and forth with the “What do you want to do?” thing and it wore me out after a while. Nonetheless, we did have a great time and saw some really beautiful sights.
As for the diet, I wouldn’t exactly say I threw it out of the window, but I did eat lots of things I normally wouldn’t have eaten at home. It’s really hard to stick to my type of eating plan when you’re eating out every meal for several days. But I did exercise portion control and stopped eating before totally stuffing myself. (Which is something I would NOT have done in the past.) And I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been a road trip snacker: chips, popcorn, Chex mix…anything crunchy. I only snacked twice in over 2,900 miles, which is pretty good for me. I ate a small bag of buffalo wing-flavored pretzel bites, which totally rocked but weren’t exactly healthy, and I also got a bag of trail mix with nuts, raisins, and dates. Not exactly low-calorie, but a better choice than the pretzels, don’t you think?
My Wednesday weigh in was two days before we left, and I had lost half a pound. We were on the road this past Wednesday and had no scales available, so I won’t know how I did weight-wise until next Wednesday. Damage report on my next post.
And speaking of weighing in, my new scales arrived the day before we left. They look very high-tech with a glass platform and chrome trim. The display is much easier to read than the old scales, and it breaks weight down into tenths of pounds. I calibrated them and weighed myself, and I’m totally convinced they lie. I weighed about 4 pounds heavier than on the old scales. Maybe they are manufactured by the same folks who make doctor scales, hmmm? Honestly, I really didn’t expect them to be exactly the same. I simply noted both weights on my progress chart and I’ll track my progress from there.
Now it’s back to reality, with my grilled meat, steamed vegetables, and daily exercise. Taking a break from the diet was fun, but after several weeks of healthy eating I don’t think I could go back to a steady stream of burgers and fries.
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