Say it ain't so, Joe !!!

What do intelligent people do when problems arrive in life ? They rethink, regroup and refine- the other 3 R’s in life. I spent yesterday doing just that. Okay, so the scale is not moving in the right direction. This does not scream fail; it simply means that I am going about things in a way that is wrong for my body. Because of my hormone issues, cortisol is my enemy, and anything that makes my system pump it out is a bad thing. Stress is one of the primary causes, and anything that can bust stress is helpful. So I reconsidered my exercise options. And once again, I reviewed my food logs to find out what I was possibly doing wrong. Other than last Sunday carbs were within tolerance level, no excess salt, no excess fruits, not heavy on the meat, no surplus coffee creamers. But what’s this? HOW much coffee am I drinking???? It seems that once again my consumption has crept up to a very unacceptable level. 12-14 cups of coffee per day to be specific. My naturopath, who was the one who first uncovered my PCOS problem back in the days when we were dealing with infertility, warned me at our last visit that coffee will make any weight loss attempts I try nearly impossible. It is not because of the diuretic affect or because of too many cream and sugar additions. In my case, the caffeine kicks my adrenals into high alert and my body becomes so flooded with cortisol that I could gain weight on lettuce leaves alone. He wanted me to quit coffee all together ( decaf is problematic because of the chemicals used in the process), but truth be told I ADORE coffee. The smell, the taste and the mouth feel. Green tea and other herbal alternatives just do not have the same viscosity. I have dropped coffee all together for a time, lived through the massive headaches, but it keeps finding its way back into my life, so I compromise and vow to limit it to two cups a day. Then it sneaks up, and weight loss becomes a real problem. So yesterday, I skipped making coffee in my lovely coffee maker, stuck with one cup of instant and two cups of green tea. I relaxed a bunch. I could literally feel iron bands falling off my body. Then I helped things along with a change in exercise routine ( bellydancing) , and a Reiki session. ( Reiki is a non touch energy healing system- I am a Reiki Master but sometimes forget to include myself in my list of clients). We will see what we will see. While I was doing my own re-evaluation I looked over the guys logs and I think I found one possible reason they are starting to experience stalls and gains. Their intake balance is going to be changed around as well.

Yesterdays log

Breakfast-
Veggie egg white omelet with salsa
yogurt, strawberries, sugar, ground flax
water, green tea





Lunch-
grilled chicken on romaine with seed mix and dried cranberries
apple, yogert with cocoa powder and sugar
water




Dinner-
Grilled pork loin chop, sweet potato,asparagus sauted in olive oil, garlic and dill
tossed salad,Diet Sierra Mist





Snacks
14 almonds
2green tea
sugar free jello, sugar free pudding, 100 cal almonds
1/ grapefruit, sugar free pudding,TLC bar

water 18 (144 oz)
exercise- 40 min
walk 10 min( out in the mucky mud to discover what the snow piles have left behind)
Belly Dance DVD 30 min ( great fun and good working those abs !)
Fruits 3
veg 9
lean protien 3
dairy 3
healthy fats 3

Scream, rage, pound head and marvel at body mechanics

Let me first say , this post is sponsored by the folks at "You only think you know PMS, Frustration and fear- now learn their true meaning through Menopause !!". Proud sponsors of the Hot Flash Olympics and the Neighborhood Knitting and Terrorist Society.

Yesterday, through the Sunday slip up of eating one too many servings of carbs , the scale went up 4 pounds. This morning, just because this seems to be a fun trend to torment me with, it is up six more pounds . You read correctly- 6 pounds. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is a 10 pound gain in roughly 72 hours. Can I get a Whoot whoot ??? Can I get an Amen ? Can I get a punching bag ???

The reason for this spectacular gain can be summed up in one word. Menopause. Now while on the surface that word means you no longer get monthly visits and all that entitles, it does not describe the full experience your body goes through. It's not a change that just determines whether or not you carry tampons with you, but rather one that affects every single system in your body. When you get through it, nothing will work in the same way that it did before you went through it. In the process, ,it takes your thyroid, adrenals and liver for the ride of your life. I have been poised at the brink of change for a couple of years now, but something about my body over the last 3 weeks is trying to tell me that this is indeed the big one. I believe I have entered into that year where your cycles have stopped but must go a full year before you can be pronounced as post menopausal and never have to worry about things like birth control or pregnancy tests.

So do I give up the weight loss and let my body deal with only one major change at a time ? I don't think so. I do believe that it would be wise to skip the heavy cardio type exercises for now and focus on simple walking and stretching like yoga. I think I also need to find more ways to just plain laugh and meditate, mto help me get through the process. I still have to keep at it for my son, and the efforts will benefit me in the process, but I think I need to simply lower my expectations of myself for now.

So here is yesterdays stats and food porn. Note the abundance of Snickers, Twinkies, Sun Chips and deep dish pizza. Not to mention the hours and hours of sitting around eating bon bons and walking talk radio

Filling foods 14

exercise-55 min
Wii fit 15 min ( Yoga 15 min)
Bike 15 min
walk 25 min

water 18 (144 oz)



Breakfast-
1/2 c cottage cheese, 2 T flax, 1 c strawberries
17 almonds, water,coffee







Lunch-
Bocca burger, 2 c romaine lettuce,1 T seed mix
1 c nonfat yogert with cocoa powder and splenda
apple,water




Dinner-
Chicken cubes and green beans stir fried in olive oil ,orange infused balsamic vinegar and garlic powder
(grabbed the wrong thing out of freezer, so adapt,adapt,adapt)
tossed salad( romaine, cucumbers, mushrooms,green onions, avacado,black olives,seed mix)
Diet Sierra Mist

Snacks
water
1 fat free cheese stick, califlower
sugar free jello, sugar free pudding, 10 chocolate chips
apple, 100 cal pac almonds, sugar free pudding

Fruits 3
veg 7
lean protien 2
dairy 3
healthy fats 2

Can I get a scream ????

Yesterday was rest day, and I made the mistake of having 2 low carb tortillas at lunch. Each was 100 calories, 9 grams of fiber and 1 gram of fat. Just two, nothing else even remotely bad, verging on bad, thinking of being bad or aspiring to be bad. I took a day of rest because my knee was hurting, my muscles were sore and I had not taken a rest day in about 2 weeks. Ad how does myWii fit scale reward me ??

UP 4 pounds . In 24 hrs.

I know I am carb sensitive, but this is absolutely insane.

So I guess I have a choice. Either live without even sniffing a peice of bread, pasta, cereal or rice for the rest of my life, spend every waking moment opeating like a cerbilo in a habitrail rather than clean house, homeschool, take my own classes or spend an evening with my husband, OR remain in the 200 pound range.

Sitimualting, isn't it ?

Rest

I am happy to report that I spent an entire day doing absolutely nothing exercise wise, and it was very needed. I read, I watched TV, I took a bubble bath and just relaxed. My muscles needed it, my mind needed it, and my spirit really needed the recharge. I caught up on correspondence and was contacted for an exciting project in regards to my Ministry work, and it was just a good day.
I am now relaxed, refreshed and ready to face a new week of exercise and working towards goal.

Yesterday's log
Filling foods 15

exercise-day of much needed rest

water 14 (112 oz)

Breakfast- The Sunday standard
Crock pot Grains (barley, wheat berries, steel cut oats, skim milk)
Topped with 1 T dried fruit,1 T goji berries,1 T coconut,2 T ground flax,
1 t olive oil, 1 T peanut butter
1/2 grapefruit, fiber one yogurt
water ,coffee


Lunch- rolling along
2 grilled veggie wraps ( lo carb tomato basil tortillas, 2 slices baby swiss,
grilled eggplant, zucchini and portabello)
raw veggies, 100 calorie cocoa almonds
nonfat yogurt with cocoa powder and splenda, strawberries
Diet Cherry 7 up



Dinner- Beef-it's what's for dinner !
Grilled rib eye steak ( whole days meat servings in one meal, but boy was it worth it)
spaghetti squash, broccoli/califlower/carrot blend
tossed salad,Diet Cherry 7 Up


Snacks
water
Sugar free jello
sugar free pudding with 10 dark chocolate chips
Apple, TLC Bar

Fruits 3
veg 7
lean protien 2
dairy 3
healthy fats 2

The woods, the ice and other things

Yesterday was one of those days when the temperatures reach a place that convince you that spring is not only possible, but coming soon. We had a regular heat wave and it reached nearly 50 degrees with bright sunshine and little wind. A perfect day to head out to the woods to go for a nice long walk. Or so one might think. One factor was neither considered or banked upon, and that is the snow melt. It has been happening the last day or two, but the night temperatures drop below freezing, so morning often comes with a layer of ice on the pavement that is topped with water. Black ice, if you will. You do not see it until you are on it while driving, and when walking it looks no different than the pavement , but lets you know of it's existence when you slip and fall on it. Not pretty, so our walk was done in great caution, but done. I am surprised that there were no taps on the sugar maples or birch trees, for this is maple syrup making time and our county forest preserves do collect the sap for syrup making. Also surprised by the number of birds that have returned to the area. There is an old legend that birds find their mates around Valentines Day, and when you spend time out in nature, you can begin to understand where that old belief comes from.

After our walk it was off to do our weekly shopping and other errands. During one of my near slips on the black ice I twisted my knee just enough to say ouch, but not enough to make the pain say something was wrong. So I kept walking, and as the errands progressed it was becoming more and more sore. By the time we were back ho,me and done it was very painful, and come evening I needed to take some Tylenol and rub it down with arnica compound. It still hurts this morning, so I am probably going to take today as a rest day.

Here are yesterdays meals and stats

walk 90 min
hand weights 100 reps
10 minutes ab work( bicycle crunches and stability ball with bands)

water 14 (196 oz)

Breakfast- the Saturday Standard
Pumpkin oatmeal ( 1/2 c oats, 1/3 c pumpkin,1 c water, 1 t cinamon)
topped with 1 t olive oil,1 T crasins,1 T seed nut mix,1 T Ground Flax,1 T coconut
1T goji berries,1 T peanut butter
Fiber one yogert ( need to use it up)
water,coffee

Lunch- new fast food
2 roast beef swiss lettuce wraps ( 2 leaves iceburg lettuce, 2 slices deli roast beef, 2 slices baby swiss)
1/2 cup mozzerella tomato basil salad, 2 raw mushrooms, califlower
1 Fiber One Yogert, 1 c blueberries, 1 100 calorie pack cocoa almonds ( definate yum)
water



Dinner-
Grilled Greek chicken breast( marinated in lemon, oregano and garlic), sweet potato
stir fried green beans (olive oil,garlic,sesame seeds), tossed salad
Diet Cherry 7 Up with Antioxidants ( son thought this was a must buy)


Snacks
1 sugar free jello, 10 dark chocolate chips
Green tea

Fruits 2
veg 7
lean protien 2
dairy 2
healthy fats 2

If it's Saturday, it must be weigh in

Okay Universe. I guess i have been too complacent and too bored for your tastes, so you decided to mix things up. Son got up this morning, stepped on the scale and it said he gained 40 pounds. Step off, then on, instantly lose 25. Step on again, gain 50. So I step on, and more wild fluctuations. Uh oh...scale malfunction ! So change the batteries, and the light stays on constantly and no numbers. Switch them again and different numbers all together. Just great. No money at the moment to buy a scale, so have to rely on the Wii fit and measurments. Son is too heavy for the Wii fit, so measurments will have to do for now.

I lost 0.2 lb. A low number but I am happy it is not a gain or a maintain. I lost 1/4 inch in the bust,3/4 inches in the hips, half inch in my thighs and1/4 inch in my neck

Son, as best I can calculate between the Wii fit and scale gained 0.4 lbs
lost 1.5 in the chest, 1.5 in the hips and maintained in the rest

Hubby gained 1.6 and refused to let me measure him. He has had a VERY rough week with buisness meetings and catered lunches with no tme to work out.

I think I will stick with the Wii fit scale readings for the rest of BLBE challenge just to be accurate.

In honor of wear something red day

Okay, I admittedly have a twisted sense of humor. Today is National Wear Something Red Day for the American Heart Association to focus on heart disease. I have absolutely no red in my wardrobe , and the reason is not because I think it makes me look big or something, but rather that it seems to be redundant to wear red because of my birth mark. I mean, after all, I think I have more than enough red in my life as a result.

I was not going to post anything with me in red because of my wardrobe lack, but something I read on another blog made me think about one of my biggest, most annoying stumbling blocks to losing weight when I was younger. I was born with a large port wine birthmark that seems to have remained the same size my whole life, and my head has grown around it. When I was little my parents tried experimenting with corrective make ups that were absolutely horrible in feel ( picture Spackle on your face), and consultations with plastic surgeons to discuss surgical removal. Because of the proximity to my eye, they were reluctant to preform any procedure. Even in this day and age of laser removal I have been told it was too risky. So, as a young girl with a massive weight problem, I never tried to diet to please myself or from my own motivation. The reason was that no matter what size my body got to, I would remain with this great big red thing on my face that there was no hope of removing. Years went on, I met the love of my life and we married. For 7 years we could not get pregnant, and finally it was revealed that I have PCOS, and I had a definite motivation to lose weight for me. I lost 110 lbs, had a stillbirth, and then at long last my son. Things like weight and birthmarks did not seem that important anymore.

Then came the day when I realized my son had to lose weight or die, and the only way to get through to him was to do it along with him and be a great role model and mentor. Things were going great till one day I looked in the mirror and heard that stupid old head tape. What good will it do to lose weight when you will still have this thing on your face ? This time the motivation was different. There is something about being a mom that can empower you to do things like lift a train with your bear hands if it meant benefiting your child.Here was something within me that could sabotage all three of our efforts if I let it. Instead of giving up the goal, I decided to get myself to the cosmetic counter, learn about how things have improved, and buy me a solution. So I bought a vast arsenal of consealers and make up, and learned to make the stumbling block go away in a fashion that did not make me feel like an aut body repair job on legs. I rarely wear it because i am just not a make up kind of gal, but it is there, and knowing it is there has helped to remove a very huge personal stumbling block. I CAN lose the weight and be without this thing !

I think it is really important in a weight loss journey to find those things that prove as your own little stumbling blocks. What are the things that become the bottom line nay saying spectators that keep you from shooting for your goals and becoming the best you possible ? You may know what they are and think changing them is silly, but it is not. Weight is a lot more than a cosmetic thing, but rather one of the most affective things you can do twoards your overall health. If something keeps you from that goal, it is worth the time, effort and money to get it out of the way. Your heart, liver,bones, lungs and more will be so glad you did.