the winds are a changing

Taking a few minutes for a quick status update and adding a personal (read secrete goal).

The plan is beginning to work; part of what I desired was a change in me in how I approached food and exercise.  I saw that change in action today - and in the venue of celebrating small victories I want to do a shout out and help encourage me to continue on this road.

Today I had the upset stomach from eating too little for breakfast and drinking too much coffee (caffeine) - I get that occasionally.   As per my usual behavior I started poking around the kitchen for something to eat.  Eating balances out the food to caffeine ratio in my stomach and resolves the upset stomach feeling.

I looked around and nothing looked good.  I considered making popcorn, as that is my usual substitution for chips, which is what I really wanted.  I considered having a ridiculously early lunch, which was a bad idea since dinner will be a bit later tonight.  But instead I ate some fruit (oranges) and veggies (the edamame pea pods).

That is EXACTLY how I want to change - going from wanting chips to instead eating fruits and veggies.

Yeah, this is day 3 so it's not that the battle is over. But this is a victory and it does need to be shouted out and celebrated.  Yea for me!

Secrete goal is the number 14.5 -- I'm not telling how this fits, what that measures, or giving you any other clue.  I'll keep this posted and updated as the progress goes.  It's not exactly what I would like - I'd love to blow past this goal and exceed it.  But I'm sticking with something that is both challenging and still realistic.   And I'll keep dreaming and pushing for even more!

39 and Holding

I played with my Wii Fit today.  First time in a long time - probably over a year, but I didn't watch the number of days between last workout too closely - I can tell you the it was 300+ days.  The nice thing is I was 13 pounds down from the last time I played it, and my wii fit age is 39 - 9 years younger that I am.  For

being obese that fit age is somewhat surprising.  And it's one of my problems - I am fit. So that makes me think my extra pounds are not that big a deal.  And they really are - I have to get my head around that fact.  I think once I truly come to terms and accept that - then I'll be unstoppable at losing the weight.  But I do continue to struggle with accepting that because I know I am overweight at the same time I know I am more physically fit, stronger, and more capable that many of my thinner friends.

Going back a bit, one of my returning volunteers (at the marathon) had lost 30 pounds since last year's marathon.   She did it by following one of the PX90-Guy's program.  I think it may have been Beach Bodies but I'm not sure which of their programs she used.   She is now working for that company and leading on-line support groups.     She sent me a message offering to give me more details for her next session coming up on November 4th.

I thought about it for a good while, but it seams like its another case of me chasing the next thing.  I know what to do.  I already have enough equipment, DVDs and tapes.  My problem is not knowledge, or equipment, or even time.  My problem is staying committed and following through.

So today for the first time in a long time, I pulled out the wii and ran the wii island - twice! Set a new goal to get me back to 'onederland' in two months (in time for Christmas).  The goal sounds small - only losing a few pounds -- in reality, it's not only losing those 6 pounds but also keeping off any new weight which tends to creep up this time of year with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all having treats and over indulgences.

The current plan - do the wii 4 days a week.   I'll rotate between the wii Fit, wii Active, wii Sports, and My Coach.  If things are going well - ie, I'm using it regularly and seeing results, then I'll reward myself with a new game or two.  Not necessarily purchasing new games - instead I'll look to borrow from family or friends, at the library - although my local doesn't carry video games and the library system doesn't allow them to be reserved so I'll have visit one of the others (Muskego, Delafield, and Sussex-Lisbon seam to have the most), or I'll buy from a 2nd hand store (half price books, game stop, etc).

I have found that small changes and commitments lead to bigger changes - it's the spiral affect, do something good and it leads to more good choices.    Wish me luck in making this small change and having it lead to bigger things!

I made it (yea!), then I didn't (boo!)

Earlier this week I reached my BMI goal.  Yea!!!  This was a stretch goal I wanted to reach before I left for New Mexico.   But with this being a bad week - I'm up 1.5 pounds from that goal .  This has been a tough week for me with a fair amount of stress eating and less exercise, plus throw in Father's Day and an evening with my friend Scott.  I do think this is a temporary gain and normally I would be back down in a few days. But this is family vacation week which I think will push me up even more.   Boohiss!


The exercise is less due in part to the weather being 90+ and humid.  This has greatly reduced the distance of the dog walks.  Zeus gets too out of breath and pants so much that I usually try to get him back homeward as soon as he does his bathroom business.  I still have high personal hopes that one day he will be able go miles, but this is not the week!  I think I have to push out my goal of turning Zeus into a dog that loves to hike the trail - maybe try this in September or October as it gets a little cooler.

The exercise has also lost out on the priority list to the trip preparation - both packing and trying to get the house and yard stuff done before I leave.

And you can add in a couple days of drinking. It's not that I drank that much, but I really have stopped most of my drinking so now having 2 or 3 beers in a night is a big night.  And not only is that a lot of empty calories, it also leads to eating more.  Some of that is because I feel the need to eat to 'soak' up the alcohol and the other part is when I've been drinking my food judgement can be swayed too easily.    

So what does this mean....in no particular order
- I'm getting better at knowing myself and being able to select good stretch goals 
- Need to find a way to get in more exercise this week to compensate for the family food frenzy (that these family vacations include) and the increase of alcohol

• I think I will have 4 days of good exercise - Friday at White Sands, a day Bandelier National Park, a day hiking in the Santa Fe Forest, and the last Saturday at Capulin Volcano National Monument
• I'm also going to try to get in some healthy long and fast walks on 3 of the mornings when at the Santa Fe rental house
• and hopefully this will also give me some personal time away to help me recharge
• I also usually get some good walking when I'm at the airport waiting - both Friday (which also already has White Sands) and Sunday, July 1 will benefit from that  
• Eating will be hard but I need to keep focused on the light weigh method and really just work to eat less - sounds so simple, but we all really know how hard this will be

St Walter Pray for us

I started to call Wally "St Walter of the Patio".  Image my surprise to find out there is a St Walter (of Pontoise) and that one of the reasons to pray to him is for invoked against job-related stress - and to think my Wally was my main stress reliever.  No matter how bad things were, the mere presents of Wally would lower my frustration level dramatically.  A few minutes with him and all was right in the world again. Oh how I miss him and his calming affect on me. 

As a gift to myself I plan to get St. Wally medallion as soon as I reach my next weight loss goal - this is very appropriate since Wally's death was the catalyst for restart on the weight loss.  Wearing the St Wally medallion will be a physical reminder for me, something tangible to help me stay focused on my priorities. Wally will always be a priority for me.

Milestones

Just a quick update on the weight loss progress.  I don't like to leave too many personal details out here on the web so this may seam a little nebulous but I know what it means and if you have questions, ask me!

Our St Joe's group has complete our first Light Weigh program and are about to repeat it starting next week.  Through the first session I've lost 10 pounds!!  That's a big accomplishment for me; I usually lose between 1 and 2 pounds a month - and this is 10 pounds in 14 weeks!! (12 week program plus I started a week early on Ash Wednesday with my own Lenten plans, and our week in-between the program on the back end.)  Very nice achievement for me.  Last year's shorts are no longer fitting me well; I've purchase new one and the new size is one "X" less than last year. Very nice feeling!

I still have another 35 pounds to go to get to my desired final BMI category.  That is too big a goal for me to directly focus on, I need to have some intermediate goals.

I am now within 3 pounds of my next weight lose goal of reaching the next level on the BMI scale.  I would really like to reach this goal before my New Mexico trip at the end of June.  Honestly, this is a stretch goal - I have about a 50-50 chance of reaching it.  It will take a lot of hard work and dedication to reach it.

Next goal is for the Houseboat trip and this goal is not fully set yet.  I would absolutely love to have lost 19 pounds at this point in July.  That would put me at a nice round number that would feel like I've made a lot of progress.  I'm down 10 but getting another 9 between now and mid July is just not realistic for me.  So I'm setting this goal as 5 more pounds - its takes me not to a nice round number, but a pound under a nice round number so that I'm under NNN.

I have a feeling the New Mexico trip will give me a temporary bump up in the weight so the near term goals are 3 more pounds between now and New Mexico and then losing any gains from New Mexico plus 2 more before houseboating.  These are flexible goals that I may change - they feel realistic and something that I can accomplish.   But I really would like even more weight loss and I am feeling like I'm in a good pattern so I'd like to take advantage of that good grove and set new challenges for myself if it looks like I can reach these too easily.  I have a long way to go and I want to stay both motivated and pushing to reach these goals.

Ultimately, I would like to reach my BMI goal category by Ash Wednesday 2013.  That would be a year of focusing on this and losing a total of 45 pounds.  I think it's possible and will be a great accomplishment!  Secretly I want to reach it by Christmas 2012,  but I think that is too much for me to reach by then so it is not an official goal but a huge desire.  I'll keep you posted on my progress and if we can pull this in.

Not proud, but at least I learned something

I'm having a rough day.  I've learned that I cannot have Herr snack products in my house.  Over the last 2 days and probably more accurately the last 24 hours I have gone through 2 bags of flavored cheese curls.  I don't recall ever having Herr's cheese curls before, but I've had this same problem with their potato chips.

Herr's has different flavors - the cheese curls were buffalo and blue cheese, and cheese pizza flavored.  The most recent problem potato chip was ribs flavored.   Prior to that I had some Corn on the Cobb flavored chips.  There is just something about these different flavors that makes me want a 2nd bowl of them.  Or want them at inappropriate times; I don't know why I want a bowl of these after I've had my cereal and am finishing my morning coffee!?!!? It makes no sense.

I'm in the midst of the Light Weigh program and the founder has said that it may come down to temporarily excluding some foods that have control over you until you are able to have control over your food.    So for now (at least) I bid Herr's snack products farewell.  You are officially excluded!!! Someday we may meet again but for now you are bad for my health and especially for my hips.