| Monday, February 27, 2006 |
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Krista , the little bugger, tagged me...
Four jobs I've had:
1. Systems Analyst
2. Office Manager
3. Surgical Instrument Technician
4. Ski instructor (volunteer) - don't tell me that doesn't count...lol.
Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Braveheart
2. Love and Basketball
3. Spanglish (Left! Left!)
4. Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Viggo is SO hot)
5. Gladiator
6. A Walk to Remember
7. La Femme Nikkita (original French version)
8. Star Wars Trilogy
9. Dances with Wolves
10. For the Love of the Game
11. Jerry Maguire
12. The Patriot (Mel Gibson)....okay, so I can't count...LOL
Four places I've lived:
1. New York
2. Boston
3. Atlanta
4. To be determined :)
Four tv shows I love:
1. Grays Anatomy
2. Lost
3. Invasion
4. Everwood
Four places I've vacationed:
1. Montego Bay, Jamaica
2. Eisenach, Germany
3. Panama City Beach, Florida
4. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Four of my favorite dishes
1. Thai Basil Chicken - anything Thai really
2. Seafood Alfredo
3. Curried Chicken and Potato
4. Roti
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Debt free! That's a place, isn't it? LOL
2. The coast of Greece
3. Negril
4. Austrialia
If you're reading this and haven't been tagged already, CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED! |
posted by heavenlydm @ 1:31 PM   |
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| Thursday, February 23, 2006 |
| Ughhhh...my aching feet! |
I read a post from Renee the other day where she elaborated on why she writes, and on why some blogs just dry up after a while, and it made so much sense. We’re on our weight loss journeys and repeat the same patterns where it just gets old after a while. That’s how I’ve felt over the last few weeks…nothing new going on so why bother to post? Today I’m pressing past it, and will invest in blogging because of my original intent: to chronicle my journey. Today’s entry may appear as though I’m in “a mood,” but I think it’s safe to write what’s on my mind.
Observation worth noting (again)...there’s an article in the New York Times about aspartame causing cancer in rats. I’ve been waiting for somebody to blow the whistle louder on that one. I shake my head trying to figure out why we Americans allow this kind of stuff to go on, and continue to support the companies with our purchases and ingest the poisons. It seems like a no-brainer.
In body news...I wrestle with the same issues every month. There’s a three to six pound gain that comes out of nowhere once a month and it’s not during menstrual week so I’m always caught off guard by it. I have to keep reminding myself that my body is changing and I can’t be a number cruncher. I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, even to the point of going overboard. I have to keep my focus on health and fitness. I just hate the 3-to-6 stint. I wish I could see my body from the inside out like in the movie Fantastic Voyage, so I could see what’s going on in here.
Meanwhile, I’m still standing on the same ice pack…my left plantar fascia is screaming for a break. I have had some nagging issues with my feet. In the late 90’s x-rays on both showed heel spurs, and I tore my right plantar fascia playing volleyball. After rehab and cortisone shots I was asked if I wanted surgical repair. I declined at the time at the advice of my podiatrist, who looks very much like Jeff Goldblume (I know this matters to someone…lol). He said he thought my weight (mid 200’s at the time) was the significant contributor, and that loosing the weight and wearing orthotics would alleviate the problem. I didn’t listen. Last week I sat with an ice pack for so long my foot froze. When I realized it and tried to shake the feeling back I was in so much pain that I cried. I sat on the floor under my desk, held onto my heel – praying and crying.
Today I’m stuck with the question…why did it take me so long to get here? So many doctors and nice meaning people encouraged me to loose weight 10 years ago and I turned a deaf ear to them. Now I’m like, this is so great, why didn’t I do this sooner? I really can’t believe I’ve carried around this excess weight for so long. I don’t feel like it’s too late, and I’m not living in the past, I just wonder why it took so long for the light to come on. I could have been spared the agony of waiting this out and the ice regimen after each workout. I wouldn’t have to buy expensive sneakers, or work so hard at finding the proper shoes for my issues. (This would be a good time to mention that I purchased a pair of asics about a month ago, left them behind at the gym one Saturday and when I went back for them they weren’t there. There went a “C-note” down the drain. Sigh.) We just really aren’t naturally willing to change until the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of changing. That’s sad.
In the pool of compliments and NSV's...this morning while eating my yogurt parfait for breakfast my boss came in my office and said how proud he was that I was sticking with “it”…eating yogurt, fruit and bird food. It meant a lot to hear that from him (not really a communicator).
To summarize, it was a good week outside of the 3-6lb stint (I’m back to normal now). My gym time continues to be fun and fruitful. Compliments continue to come, as well as more social interactions with the people, most are of the opposite sex (oooh-la-la). What is happening to me??? My eating is great. I have come to the conclusion that I’m going to have to adjust from 1500 calories to 1200 soon since I’m about to cross the less than 100lbs to loose threshold. It's a painful thought, but I figure if I do it on my own terms I'll better transition.
All in all, life is good. |
| posted by heavenlydm @ 10:51 AM |
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| Wednesday, February 15, 2006 |
| The latest, greatest |
I’m starting to feel like a new person. I can’t pinpoint any one thing being monumental in this change as of late – I just feel different (different than the “different” I was feeling before). I feel a lot more powerful, positive and ready to go.
Oh gosh – I pigged out on seafood at one of my favorite local restaurants Legal Seafood eating shrimp, scallops, clams, crabcakes, calamari, oysters...and had a few slivers of birthday cake (I think I exercised the three bite rule). Oh God it was so good. I miss living next to the ocean and having the catch of the day. Anyway, I ate cake after asking everyone not to have a birthday cake for me...lol. I worked out three out of the four days I was there and managed to maintain for that week – which was also “hell week.” When I got home and all returned to normal I posted a two pound loss…very happy with that. They didn’t have any snow when I was home, but got slapped with a Nor’easter on the following weekend. It’s just as well – my daughter left her coat home and only had a fleece on when we were there.
My family was great. It’s funny that they talk about my weight loss numbers amongst themselves like a secret society, but don’t say anything when I’m there. Weird, huh? Anywho, they’re all proud of my progress (so I hear…lol).
I’m glad to be able to record a wonderful NSV…
I played volleyball last week for the first time in six months or so and I was immediately able to see how much more fit I am. Previously I would easily tire having to take a breather on the sideline every so often, have aching quads, hamstrings and heals, and have to go home and soak in a hot bath. Last week I hardly broke a sweat, had greater agility and leaping ability, and finished without feeling a single pain. I was flabbergasted about that. What a milestone. I’m not a gym whore for nothing!
My new slacks are already “roomy.” I can’t even feel bad about it because that’s the mark of progress. I’m trying to make a point of rotating through them so I can feel like I got to wear them for a while before I get rid of them.
I’ve been making progress with my resistance training. Not only can I see more definition, I’ve been able to increase the amount I’m lifting overall. Sometimes I just can’t believe my life is changing like this. I’m getting smaller, stronger, more fit and disciplined. I’m taking better care of myself. I look better. I feel better. It’s wild. I keep wondering what took me so long to come to this place in my life, to be ready to get rid of all the baggage and experience greater levels of joy.
I think about people who have gastric bypasses or go on crash diets and loose a heapload of weight quickly and feel sad for them. When I encounter the “others” – bypass people (we’ve got a bunch at my church) - I always find myself thinking about how I’m doing the right thing for me and not succumbing to the latest medical craze. I’ve worked my way down. I’m spared from the awful complications that accompany that stuff. I enjoy the feeling that I have invested time, energy, discipline and sacrifices which have produced a harvest. By the grace of God I am conquering something vs. having someone press the “easy button” and making the weight disappear. I’m so glad this is happening this way and neither I nor my daughter had one of those procedures. To each his own I suppose. I guess I just want to testify to the fact that weight reduction is doable in ways that are more healthy for your body in the long run. Maybe it’s the subject of my next book. I can start booking engagements on the talk show circuit…lol. I digress. |
| posted by heavenlydm @ 4:38 PM |
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| Thursday, February 02, 2006 |
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I'm very happy with the progress I made in January, showing an 8lb loss. I'm sure I've increased lean muscle mass. My "personal trainer crush" commented on my weight loss and how my face is slimming out :)))) I was perplexed by some information he offered, that it's better to do a very brief cardio warm-up and then resistance training vs. 30+ minutes of cardio and then weights (which is how people are instructed to proceed on their website). I'm exhausted in either case, so I figured I'd do a trial with both ways and see which is more effective. Apparently from what I've read the sea of thought goes both ways, and the concern in the end is fuel stores and muscle loss.
I finally went in my closet the other day and took out all the clothes that I'm swimming in, and will pass them along to my sister or daughter. I was getting dressed for church and couldn't live with the thought of the nursery director humiliating me with her encouragement again - so those clothes had to go. When I was done my closet was practically empty. So - what would any woman do in that circumstance? SHOP! I was able to pick up a few casual items on clearance and the whole endeavor was fun. I didn't have the "will-I-be-able-to-fit-it" anxiety at all. The nice thing was, I got a call that a friend of mine from church had just received a bag full of clothes from another friend who lost heaploads of weight. They were all too big for her (yeah for me), and I am either fitting or right on the threshold of fitting them. When I thought a size was far from me my daughter would say...go ahead and try it on anyway. Well what do ya know, they do fit. Those moments were cool. My nursery director never did follow through on her invitation to go shopping :(
I'm excited about my trip tonight. I haven't seen my mom for a year, and siblings in a few months. I never tell mom I'm coming home - I just show up. It makes for a good visit. She doesn't have any anxiety about our travel, doesn't run to the store to buy all kinds of food and snacks we don't eat, and has no expectation that we'll sleep at her house (I don't do well with the dander from the min-pins she has). Anyway, I always come through the door and she breaks out in uncontrollable laughter followed by suffocating hugs. Then she calls the neighbors and says "guess who's at my house right now?" You'd think I was in the Peace Corps or stationed in Iraq. I don't want to break the tradition - it's too much fun.
My daughter got a neat surprise last night - her best friend gave her a car (1999 chevy malibu). We've been trying to get her mobile with a driver's license and a car. I'm not the best candidate to teach her. I'm always putting on the passenger- side breaks and yelling at her - hallllo...did you see the white line??? The stop sign??? What are you doing???????!!!!!! Ya - it's bad. I'm like my mother was with me. I told my daughter she needed to go to driver's school. Now that she's got a car I've encouraged her to try and get the money her grandad has committed to help her with and get those dangone drivers lessons. She booked an appointment for a driver's test in March, and I'm hoping everything comes togther for her. Thank God for answered prayers.
That's pretty much it. It's February - finally, and I've set my first goal (wow!). I'd like to be down another 40lbs (a total of -100lbs lost) by June 27th, my one year anniversary on NS. That would put me at 221, my weight when I started college. I'm really psyched about this. I keep trying to imagine getting back to my lowest adult weight and what that would look like. It's hard for me to tell now in the mirror that I've lost more weight outside of looking at the smaller clothes I can fit. I now understand Bob's dilema. I suppose it's time to take more pics.
Happy Groundhog Day! |
| posted by heavenlydm @ 7:57 AM |
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