Remembering the Tortoise and the Hare

I have not ever really been one for speed. I like to take my time with things. I would rather do something accurately than fast. The only things I ever liked doing fast were Bible Quiz related, and maybe driving. So I guess it should come as no surprise to me that I am not losing weight very fast. Part of this is my own fault. My eating habits have not been the best and I don't work out every day. Yesterday as I was playing Wii Fit at "work" I was contemplating my progress. Here is what I remember: "Slow and steady wins the race." I don't have to lose very fast. As a matter of fact if I made really drastic changes and dropped weight suddenly, I am afraid that I would not be able to maintain the changes and keep the weight off. So for now I am content to be the tortoise, and take heart in the fact that I am actually losing, even if it is only 1 pound at a time.

Christmas Craziness

I realize that it's been a few weeks since I posted. Christmas really got to me and I had a few setbacks. Weighing myself the last couple of weeks has not been pretty, but it also was not as bad as it could have been. While it seems counter-productive, I think making cookies for other people is the only thing that has kept me sane. You see, I could bake something sweet, sample it, then get it out of the house, thereby keeping me from eating any more of it. The problem came when I did my own Christmas stuff. I baked a batch of cookies for Christmas eve, which I ate several of. I stuffed a stocking for myself, which consisted of mostly chocolate. I made a huge double batch of enchiladas, then nobody that came to my house ate very much, leaving the leftovers for me to devour (which I did in a couple of days). I felt myself going into a really bad spiral downward. The thing that stopped it (of all things) was New Year's Eve.

As many of you know, I sit with an elderly lady two days a week. This doesn't require much effort on my part, as it is mostly my presence that is required. So I end up with a lot of time on my hands in between the few duties that I actually do have. So I was working New Year's Eve, and my employer (daughter of the lady), and I were talking about exercise and opportunities to exercise. She had purchased a Wii and Wii Fit. The Wii was hooked up at Thanksgiving for the family to play, but she hadn't done anything yet with the Wii Fit. She indicated that she didn't even know how to hook it up, and I told her that I would take care of it for her. I discovered that I LOVED IT!!!! I gotta get me one of those!! In the meantime I have been given permission to use it whenever I am working.

The second thing that happened was that I decided to go back to my workout group. I made the decision to talk to the leader and explain my concerns. She apparently had already noticed my issues, and made arrangements to split the group into two so that there will be an advanced workout and an easier one for those of us who just can't do the advanced stuff yet. She had also made notebooks for each of us with a goal sheets and To-Do lists and calendars. We discussed our goals for the year, and decorated our notebooks with reminders and reinforcement.

So, I don't make resolutions, but I am beginning again at the start of this new year. Goal: more workouts, more fruit and veggies, less sugar. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Just Stuff

This post is going to be kind of a list of random things that happened this week.

1. I went to a Work-Out group on Monday night. I am still sore, and it has been almost a week. I am considering whether or not to go back. Keep reading to find out why this is such a hard decision.

2. Adam's birthday: When we came to Claremore we didn't have any money, all we had were food stamps. So for Adam's birthday I bought and wrapped a package of double-stuffed Oreos. The next year was very similar, so I did the same thing. This year we had money and no food stamps, but I figured I had started a tradition, so I bought him a package of Oreos. When I gave them to him, he said "I better not see this on your blog". Sorry, Adam, but it was worth mentioning, especially since they are only tempting if they are mint flavored. It's also worth mentioning that the stuff in the house doesn't get to me nearly as much as the proximity of the fast food restaurants to our house. I am definitely addicted to fast food and I think about it way more than the stuff that Adam keeps for himself.

3. Sunday School Christmas Party: As I was eating whatever it was that I had put on my plate, Adam gave me a new word. He said, "I don't want you blog-plaining about this". Well, no complaints here. All the food was good, if not necessarily good for me, and I didn't worry too much about it, I just ate less than what I usually would have.

4. Holiday Baking: Cupcakes, cookies, bread. All really good. Still have more to do next week, but managed this week to not do too much sampling of the product.

5. Weigh in: I left this item for last, because I figured it would be majorly affected by the previous three items. When I was thinking this morning about stepping on the scale, I expected to see a higher number (even if slightly). I thought that if I anticipated it in regards to the kind of week I had, then I wouldn't get so bummed about it, and I would continue to do the things that were helping me. I got another surprise when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw another pound down. Maybe if I had done better this week it would have been more than a pound, but since I know that "slow and steady wins the race" I am good with just the one.

Reset

This last week was crazy busy. Three parties, three days of work, and just random other stuff going on. I didn't eat right, I didn't take my pills right, and I didn't exercise right. All of which piled in for a very scary weigh in. I have been weighing twice a week. I changed from Sunday mornings to Monday mornings so I would have the most current number for when my Work Out Group meets. I have also been doing a "mid-week check", usually Wednesday or Thursday. This week the mid-week check was slightly higher than I wanted it to be (though not as high as I expected). So Friday and Saturday I paid more attention to what I ate, thinking that Monday morning would be my actual "Reset" day and that I would be back on track this week. I even ate a few of the desserts at a party Friday night, just not as many as I wanted. So imagine my surprise and delight when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw a number that was less than it was last Sunday.

Things are looking up. Thanks to all of you who have helped with encouragement and words of wisdom.

Emotion vs. Eating

I am sure that many of you have heard people say, "I am an emotional eater". I have often put myself in that category. But I am an emotional person, so wanting something to eat is almost like wanting air to breathe. Like right now, I seriously want to go into the freezer and eat more of Adam's Peppermint Ice Cream. I am in a minor state of sadness and frustration. I didn't eat very well yesterday or today. Lunch for both days was leftover Thanksgiving stuff. Tonight dinner was Taco Bell. I had a Taco Salad, and it might not have been too bad if I hadn't eaten the shell. The upcoming weeks contain more Christmas parties that I can possibly count and there will be lots of stuff that previously I would not have given a second thought about eating. All of this compared to my weight loss goal is piling in on me, and I feel overwhelmed.

I find myself asking, "What should I do?" I could go to all the parties and not eat anything there, but I worry that this course of action will just make me want more sweets and at some point I will go insane (not that I am not already crazy). Some might say that I could skip a few of the parties, but alas this is not an option. I can't explain all the reasons, you will just have to trust me. I could bring something healthy and attempt to minimize the damage done by the one cookie I will actually eat (but how to choose one?). I could hang this whole thing on a shelf and say "Forget it, I will start on New Years".

I really want to take the last option. I have already shared with you that it's not my nature to stick things out. Even just the thought of not being able to participate FULLY in the coming month almost makes me want to cry.  A friend came up to me tonight and asked what I was bringing to the Women's Christmas Party. I said I hadn't decided and she said that she looked forward to whatever it was, because I always brought something good. It made me not want to disappoint her. So I really want to come up with something totally yummy and seriously bad for you. And I want to taste all the "bad for you" stuff that other people bring. This scenario would repeat itself five times over the month of December, and I haven't even thought about what we are going to do for Christmas Dinner yet.

Can I increase my workout schedule to allow myself extra intake? I worry that this is not a healthy approach and that it won't even work anyway.

Oh! I forgot that Adam's birthday is in the middle of all this craziness. Although he doesn't really like sweets so this might not be too much of a problem.

I am open to suggestions at this point. If any of my local friends would like to help me out and help me pay attention to what I eat at all these parties, that would be greatly appreciated.

For now, I think I will turn on some music and try to distract myself. Hopefully, I can get happy and stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer.

Insanity

It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. That's how I felt when I stepped on the scale this morning. I did manage to maintain, but I was still hoping for a different number.

If you are following closely you will have noticed that my last post was on Wednesday. That was the last time I actually tracked what I ate. My list of "unallowed" foods in the last three days is a little longer than I want to admit, but I am going to do it anyway:

Mashed Potatoes & Gravy (and a second helping w/ loads of garlic butter)
Sweet Potatoes w/ Marshmallows (and a second helping)
Cornbread Stuffing
Green Stuff (aka Pistachio-Pineapple Fluff) (x2)
Cranberry Jello Salad
Dinner Rolls
Peppermint Ice Cream
Graham Crackers
Tacos

I have been trying to get more exercise in, but most of what I have done has been just doing extra things around the house. Last Sunday my neighbor and I decided that our yard desperately needed care. So just about every day this week we have been out there trimming plants and pulling weeds. Yesterday we hung Christmas Lights. Apparently the stuff that wore me out was not enough to counteract my intake.

I think I have learned my lesson. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say that major change will come in only one facet. When people talk about weight loss, they talk about diet and exercise. So this week the goal is to go gung-ho for both. Today, there will be a banquet at the church. I am pretty sure that the menu will be alright for me if I can just resist the dinner rolls.

Mourning into Dancing

There are very few days like today. As bad as yesterday was, today was good!! And not so much in the sense of what I ate (although I think did pretty well), but just as a whole. This morning when I got up I was so ready to go that I forgot to eat breakfast. My neighbor and I went to Wal-mart and ran a few other errands. Then we went and had salads at Arby's for lunch. That was good except the dressing. When we got home we went for a walk then did some work in the yard. The weather was so nice that we decided to grill for dinner and Adam requested banana pudding. So we went to the store and got the things we needed. Adam and the neighbor's son had steak, while she and I had chicken. We grilled zuccini, and I boiled some brussel sprouts. Then we ate on the patio. Oh, and we ALL had banana pudding for dessert.