Change can be good

Today my department finished moving to a new area of the building. I realized that because of the move I am further away from the bathroom. I went from being about 20 steps to now being 100 steps away. This may not seem like a lot, but it is if you are on a diuretic. I can go to the bathroom about 5-7 times a day.  I am just going to think of this as being an easy way to increase my step count. Before it would only be about 200 steps in a day and now it can be about 1000! A simple desk move has made it so I get more movement in my day. This is a good thing. Still trying to determine if the other parts of the moves are good things or not.


I peeked at the scale this morning and it registered 11lbs higher than what it was on Friday. 11 LBS!!! What is up with that? I know I did not eat 35,000 calories extra over the weekend. All I can figure is that I had way too much salt over the weekend. I am not going to get on the scale again till Friday. I also should measure again since it has been about 1 month. I know I have lost some inches.

Saturday I had my Tai Chi class and it was so much fun. My knee started to protest on the last move we learned since it includes a hop. It will get better though.

Sunday I walked about 1 mile outside. I have just been making myself get up and do things. I am getting better at scheduling and sticking to the exercise. I know that if I talk myself out of it one day I will be able to slip back into old habits. Today I so thought about not going to water aerobics but I went. I enjoyed myself and got a really good workout in. We had a different instructor because Cee is still on vacation. It was different. Sometimes it is nice to have someone different. We worked different muscle groups. It was probably just as intense as when Cee leads the class but in a different way.

Sometimes I feel like I am 'getting it'. I am working out and eating healthy. I love how I am feeling and look forward to another day at the gym. These past couple of days have so not been like that though. I ate out too much. I exercised but I do not feel like I gave it my all. I could have so let the scale this morning push me down even further. I didn't and I am proud about that. I need to concentrate on the good things and not let the other things drag me down.

Let's get alittle intimate.

I realized a goal I have while I was browsing Target today. I want to be able to find cheaper prepackaged underwear! Most stores only carry up to size 10 in hi-cuts. Once they get over size 10 I can usually only find granny panties (ie briefs) being stocked. I so prefer the hi-cuts. Spending $5 a pair though at Avenue or Lane Bryant is so hard. I want to be able to go to Target or Kmart and get a pack of  5 for like $7. Size 10 is equivalent to an 18/20 per what is on the package. I think once I can fit that I am going to toss all the panties that I have and buy like 4 packages! I will have a plethora of choices at that point. I could go for the just my size, hanes her way, or even fruit of the loom.  I think I now have my next reward.

Weigh in Friday

So today I have 2 weigh ins. There is my usual one at home in the morning. The one that is done after going the bathroom and before eating breakfast. Then there is my 2nd weigh in. This is for the challenge at work and it will be done about 8:30. We shall see if they are still about 3 lbs different. I know it has to do with the scale. I just hope the total change is about the same. In 2 weeks I show at home a loss of 8.8 lbs. That would also be nice to see on the scale at work.

By the Numbers: 

Weight: 278.2 lbs

Loss: -0.6 lbs

Total: -49.8 lbs
(so close to 50)

Avg: 2.62 lbs/wk 

 

I will take it. I feel really good. I worked out Sat, Sun, Tues, and Wed so far. I have practiced my Tai Chi. I got my layaway out from Kmart so I have some cute new clothes to wear. I might even take a picture or 2. My feet/calves are not swelling as much as they have in the past. I will have to watch and see how it goes later in the summer when it is really hot. The only bad thing is that I am having some aches and pains in various places: my left shoulder and foot, and my right elbow.

Edit: So my work weigh in was right in line with my home one today. It was 277. So in the 2 weeks for my work challenge I have lost 7.6 lbs. (284.6 to 277) so over 2.5%. That works for me.
I have plans for the long weekend do you?

A week has almost gone by

Wow, I have not posted since Saturday. I had have ideas to talk about but nothing that felt like it would become a full post. I have been busy trying to balance workouts and other things in my life. I know that workouts are being more automatic and even dare I say it... Fun! I am enjoying Tai Chi and Pilates.

My walk for the American Diabetes Association is coming closer and I am still not sure if I plan to do the 1 mile fun walk or the longer 2.5 mile walk. I know the reason I am waffling on this is because I am a slow walker. I am getting faster, but still not able to do 3 miles an hour. I so do not want to be the last one.
For the walkers/runners: How do you handle the fear of being last?

I will be Stepping Out on June 4th to Stop Diabetes.

Click to Sponsor me!


My coworkers held a Jeans week and raised $155 for my walk. I am honored that they picked the ADA as the charity for this month. When I first was diagnosed with Diabetes I went to the ADA's website for great information. It has helped me control and manage my diabetes.

Now for some NSVs. I do not have 5 like usual which is bumming me out slightly. I really like the number 5. I try to do things in a multiple of 5 at times. It just makes me feel good.

1) Today I am wearing a size 22 pair of capris that I found in my closet. I am not sure how old they are. I had mentioned being able to fit 22s in a previous post, but this is the first day wearing a pair all day. They are fairly comfortable. I still need to get my new pants out of hock layaway at Kmart. I might try to do that this week.

2) I started my 3rd food diary book. I have been keeping track consistently for 18 weeks. I think this is the longest I have kept track in a long time. I need to get to staples and pick up another book or 2. It is great to find something that works for me!  

So those are my 2 Non-Scale Victories for the week.

What are some of your victories?

A Friend's Observation

Last night LM and I head out for dinner and errands. We went to Jo-Beth, and Whole Foods, but first we had dinner at a Chinese Buffet across the street. As we were dining on sushi and some other items she commented that she has noticed a change in my eating. That I am not eating like I am desperately trying to cram everything in. I know I am paraphrasing some. She noticed that I am being more picky about what I eat. She also commented that with the first 40lbs I lost I also got rid of some other baggage as well. She is very correct about that. I think the desperation she was seeing in my eating was me trying to fill voids with food and not deal with things. I was just eating and eating and eating.

At work yesterday I commented that the more weight I lose the more outgoing I am going to be. I have always been a friendly bubbly person. With the increase in confidence and pride I am also going to be alittle more adventurous and wild at times. This journey is going to be an interesting ride for me, my family and my friends. One start was just going out by myself to see Thor. I have been searching for more things to do in and around Lexington. So many ideas and so many opportunities. The one thing that will hold me back some is money. I did sign up to take Tai Chi again for the next session. I love that the class is 1/2 price since it is a repeat of the beginner class. That is one reason I was willing to sign up again. I am hoping it will help to ingrain the moves. I really need to make it a priority to practice at least every other day. I am finding it easier to schedule time to exercise. I love finding classes at the Y that I enjoy. I am worth taking the time to work on ME.

I am special, strong, and worthy.

5-20 Weigh In

I had to check the scale 3 times. Each time it had the same thing. The bloat last week from my TOTM is definitely gone. I am almost scared to record the weigh in here because I can not believe the amount. I keep thinking something must be wrong with the scale. I have never had a week like this before. Slow and steady has been my plan. The general guidelines of 1-2 lbs a week is what set my goals. I was feeling that I was being ambitious with my average set at about 1.9 lbs per week. This would get me the 78 lbs in the 41 weeks I had till my 40th birthday. As of today I am 18 weeks in and my average is at 2.73 lbs a week. I am already at the target I set for 6/21. This is 1 month ahead of my goal schedule. I am excited and scared. OK to the numbers.

 By the Numbers:

Weight: 278.8 lbs

Loss: -8.2 lbs

Total: -49.2 lbs

Avg: 2.73 lbs/week 


Time to get ready for work and make it thru Friday! I am ready for the weekend. Last night I had some fun and went to see Thor. I was full from dinner so I did not get the usual popcorn and diet soda. Sunday JD and I plan to go see Pirates and I will have some popcorn then. I have my Tai Chi class on Saturday. Nothing much else planned this weekend. Oh I hope to read some great posts from bloggers at FitBloggin!

Thursday NSV Day (5/20)

1) I worked out 5 days in a row with 5 different activities. Saturday was Tai Chi. Sunday and Monday was Cardio on the Treadmill and the Elliptical. Tuesday was Water Aerobics and Wednesday was Pilates. I have had a total of 255 minutes of exercise in the past 5 days. Wow.

2) The pilates instructor says she can see a difference in just the 4 weeks I have been going to pilates. She said I was doing really good on the moves. I did have a hard time doing a couple of the moves but I did not give up. It was great that last night it was just me and the instructor. She was able to watch my form and help me to get some of the moves. I am feeling it in my abs today. It is a good feeling.

3) I went to Petsmart and thought nothing about picking up the 16lb bag of cat food. I put it on my shoulder to carry up to the register and then out to the car. My 4 cats were so happy they had Food!

4) I finished the May work wellness challenge in 15 days. The goal was to get 400 minutes of exercise during the month of May. I am now at 565 minutes. I am on track to get my 11 hours in this month for the 100 hour challenge I am doing at the Y. I will probably get over 11 hours which will be really nice.

5) I am going to sign up for another session of Tai Chi. I love that repeat offenders participants get a discount. I have not been practicing like I should and need to make that a priority. I need to figure out where I put my handout. 

I really needed to write down these NSVs. I have been feeling alittle down and beating myself up about some things. One thing I need to remember is that I am on my own journey. Sometimes when I read my blog list I start to compare/contrast/beat myself up. I am really grateful that most of the time when I read  I am encouraged and excited. The blogs I read give me ideas and help me know that we all have ups and downs. I just need to remember that our ups and downs are different and we all have different goals.  

Time for me to head to work. I hope all the bloggers that are going to Fitbloggin' have a great time!  

Look Ma No Hands

So as I mentioned in a previous post I got the battery replaced in my Polar heart rate monitor. I also found my user manual which made setting it up easy.  This is a very simple HRM with just a clock and the heart rate range. It also can beep when you are outside of your range, but I turned that off really quick.  I set the lower limit at 125 and the upper limit to 150. It is suppose to be water resistant but I am not sure if that is still the case since the battery has been replaced. I am not going to chance it.

I have forgotten it the past 2 times I went to the Y and almost forgot it tonight. I am glad I remembered it. I get to the Y and start on the Precor treadmill. I look down at the display and see the heart rate starting to flash like it is checking my heart rate. I am not holding onto the sensors though. I am really pleased to find out that the treadmill will receive my heart rate signal!!! This is so COOL!!!! I do not even have to look at my wrist now. I can walk without holding the sensors and keep track of my heart rate. I found out that the Precor Elliptical that I like also finds the HRM signal. I will have to look and see if any of the other machines do as well. I am so going to love this.

As of my workout yesterday I have gotten the 400 minutes needed for my work's exercise challenge. In the month of May we had to record 400 minutes of exercise. It works out to about 100 minutes a week. I may keep entering the time to see where I end up. I know I need to keep on track for the 100 hr challenge for the Y. I do like having a couple of different challenges going. It gives me some variety. I am at 5 hours so far this month. Basically right on track to get the 11 hours I need for the month.

My Reading

I have added a new blog to my reading list.

Dances With Fat
Health comes in all shapes and sizes.


Sometimes I read a blog post and it just gets me thinking. Her posts did that.

My thoughts: 

I have always believed that you can be clinically defined as fat and be healthy.  

Many people from all professions and all walks of life disagree with this belief. I accept that. My personal goal is to be healthier. I want to be off my medications. To do this my blood sugar and blood pressure must be in line. The main suggestions I get to do this is to exercise more and to limit simple sugars. By extension doing these things most likely will cause weight loss. 

I want to go up and down the stairs without feeling like I am going to die. I want to go out dancing and be able to boogie till the sun comes up. I want my knees to not hurt and pop. I want my arthritis to be managed and not just by taking pain pills. To do this I will need to increase my muscle strength. By extension if I am burning more calories because I have a bigger muscle mass I could lose weight. This of course is only if I do not increase my calorie intake.

For this blog I picked 250 by my 40th birthday almost just out of the air. I went with the average of 2lbs a week and I would have 41 weeks to get there. It was a total of 78 lbs to lose. So I went with it. Actually now that I think about it I also picked 250 lbs because that is when I did feel healthy. Once I started to get over that number everything health wise started to get worse. Years ago when I was about 250 my doctors would tell me to lose weight and not have a health reason other than I should not be that much. All my other clinical numbers were fine. The doctors would say that the numbers will not always stay fine if I do not lose the weight. Their excuse was that my age was balancing out the weight. I call shenanigans. Now if I get to 250 and I can not do all I want to do I will make new goals. One of them may even be more weight loss.


I want to enjoy life and all it has to offer. I want to go out with friends and family and have great times. I want a balance that has been lacking in my life. I want to be healthy. For me this does not equal being skinny. I may always be clinically fat. I can be healthy at the same time. I am glad I have a doctor who understands this. I wish that others did as well.

Friday Weigh In and Delayed NSVs

Yesterday I had a post saved as a draft and then blogger had issues. It is not on my account anymore so no idea what happened to it. Maybe it will come back later. It is probably for the best since I was a bit whiny in the post and I was feeling down about it all. I am feeling much better now. So now for some NSVs.

1) I can reach behind my back to hook and unhook my bra again.

2) I went and got the battery replaced in my polar heart rate monitor. I tested it and it works!! This will make it easier to use the treadmill since I will not have to hold the sensors all the time. It was so cool since it was only $12 to replace the battery.

3) I did 1.25 miles last night in 30 minutes on  the treadmill.

4) My knees are not bothering me as much as they use to. I have not had the painful pop and grind.

5) I am also having less pain when I walk on the treadmill even with increasing the speed and incline.

Now for my weight. I am up 2 lbs from last week. Since I am not at home I do not have my graphs and will add one later.

Weight: 287 lbs

Change: +2.0 lbs

I know this is because of 3 things. TOTM, eating out, not exercising. 2 I can change and 1 is just something that will happen monthly. I need to make sure that I do not let my TOTM derail me as much as it did this month.

We are starting a 10 week program at work. We are going to have weigh ins every 2 weeks and today was the first one. What is weird is that my weight on the work scale was 2.4lbs less that at home. (284.6) What is up with that? I am wondering if I need a new scale. It was just so weird. I figured it would be higher since I had clothes on and such. I did bring my breakfast to work so that I could eat after the weigh in instead of before. I am going to write more about the work program in another post. I think it is going to be fun!

The train has been derailed

I am slowly getting back on the track. I did not record my food all weekend. I am only now starting to put the pen to the paper and get it all written down. I ate out way more than I had been and went with fast food more than once. The only work out that I have done in the past 5 days was my Tai Chi class on Saturday. I did not get to water aerobics yesterday and I do not plan on going to pilates today. I might try to do some cardio tonight and/or practice Tai Chi. It really all depends on how I feel.

There is 1 cause of this derailment and it is called that TOTM!

(totm= time of the month)

I so do not like TOTM. Now for a TMI moment... For almost 2 years TOTM lasted 3 weeks and then I would have about 1 week off before it would start again. The doctor tried many things and nothing seemed to work. About 3 years ago we found something that has really helped. Now I have Aunt Flo visiting for about 4-6 days and she is definitely not the same. I still get headaches and cramps most months though. Meds and the bed are my friend. It just makes it so hard to get out and do things. There is always the worry that I will have issues when out and about.

Yesterday I did record everything I ate, and I am doing it today as well. I did do a short practice of Tai Chi last night. I am working on planning items for the next work wellness challenge. We have a work sponsored program coming up called 10 for 10. We will be working on losing weight/getting healthier over 10 weeks with weigh ins every 2 weeks. There are 2 individual parts to do and 1 team part that you can do if you want. I am in a team and I think we can do it! I will explain more once we get started on Friday.

I got Naked!

Tonight we tried a new pizza delivery place called Naked Pizza. When I called to find out if they deliver to us they asked if we are inside new circle. Why yes we are! Woohoo. That was the first hurdle. We found out after we bought the house that we are in a pizza delivery dead zone.  Only 1 or maybe 2 of the large pizza chains deliver to our area. It gets really boring ordering from the same place. Also pizza has not been much on the menu for me since starting my journey. It did not seem to fit with the eating healthier lifestyle I am doing. With this first order I think we have a place now to let pizza be on the menu more than once every couple of months.

http://www.nakedpizza.biz/

From there website: " What makes it naked? Naked means natural. Our pizza is simply an honest diversity of all-natural, whole food ingredients that taste better and are better for you."

The crust is made from a mixture of 10 grains and probiotics. They do not add sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or hydrogenated oil. They list the nutritional value on their site for a basic cheese pizza on original or thin crust.

The basics: We got 2-10" original crust pizzas with 3 toppings each. One had mushrooms, ham and feta. The 2nd had hamburger, roasted red peppers and feta. The total with tip came to $26.00.

The taste: The spices in the sauce were not too heavy. It was a flavorful sauce and for me it was great there were no tomato pieces since I can not have that. I did not feel like there was a layer of greasy oil on the top of the pizza that needed to be blotted off. We are glad we got the original crust and not the thin. I think the thin would have been too cracker thin. The original crust had a almost nutty taste and not too chewy or 'fiber' tasting. The toppings complimented the sauce and cheese.

Overall: I found the pizza very tasty and satisfying. I had 3 pieces and enjoyed every bite. I really want to try the spinach salad one time.

5/6 Weigh In

By The Numbers

The lines are getting closer and closer together but the average per week is slowly decreasing.

 

 

Weight: 285 lbs

Loss: -2.2 lbs 

Total: -43 lbs

Avg: 2.69 lbs/week

Today I am taking a 1/2 day from work and taking my mom out to an early mother's day lunch. She has some other plans on Sunday and I know most places would be too crowded. We are going to go to BD's Mongolian grill. YUM! I also plan to go get the battery replaced in the heart rate monitor I have had around for years. It is a polar monitor with a chest strap. I thought about buying a new one but figured this one will be fine as long as the only thing wrong is the battery. I am not sure about other plans for the weekend at this time. Of course Saturday I have Tai Chi.

What are your plans for the weekend?   

NSV Thursday

1) I do not sound like I am going to DIE when I come up the stairs at work. I am more willing to go down  in the basement since I do not feel so unsteady on the stairs. I use to dread going upstairs at home and would limit how often I went up and down the stairs because I just did not want to be out of breath.

2) More people at work are noticing and commenting on how I look. They can tell I am skinnier.

3) I can fit into size 22 in pants. I so need to go and buy some new clothing. The other day I tried on a pair of LM's capris and was amazed. I am still not seeing the loss when I look in the mirror but I can tell it with my clothing. 

4) I recognized when I was binging the other night and did not let it side track me. I ate crap but did not go to 3000-4000 calories. I have realized I can not have mini ice cream sandwiches in the house. 1 at 110 calories is a nice sweet snack... 4 at one time not so much.

5) I signed up for my first walk. I will be doing Step OUT to stop Diabetes on June 4th. I am really leaning toward doing the 2.5 mile and not the 1 mile fun walk.

For the Flush of It

I started taking Niacin per my doctor's advice to help raise my HDL. (the good cholesterol) I bought a bottle of 500 mg extended release pills that I have been taking with lunch for the past 10 days or so. I figured lunch was good since I do not take any other pills at that time. I read up on the side effects and did my homework before starting. I love the website Drugs.com when researching medications and interactions of medications.

I did not notice any side effects and I figured I was one of the lucky ones. Then today at about 3pm I suddenly started to ITCH on my forearms and I could see them getting red. My neck/chest area was also feeling hot. I started to scratch my arms like crazy and was worried I would do some damage to my skin. I was like what in the world am I allergic to? It was almost feeling like I was breaking out in hives. I started to think about who might have Benadryl. Then there was the AH HA moment where I remembered the side effects for Niacin. The main side effect when taking niacin is Flushing.

Flushing Definition: warmth, itching, redness, or tingly feeling under your skin

Yup that is exactly what I had. We shall see tomorrow if it happens again. I did call the pharmacist to confirm the symptoms of flushing. She commented that usually it happens the first time you take the pill. I think I would have remembered if it had happened before. I may need to modify things if it happens again. I admit it was an interesting feeling, but one I really do not want to repeat. I really did not do anything different today that the other days so not sure what triggered it. 

Insert something Witty here.

I have been slacking on my posting lately. Once Lent was over I started back playing computer games again. This has caused other computer items to be pushed to the back burner. I am going to the gym and keeping up my food diary but I have not been writing about it. I know there are a couple of reasons behind this:

1) Lately I have thinking about blog ideas and then I read a post on one of the blogs I am reading and it is mirroring what I had been thinking about. It is worded so much better than I think mine ever could be. I love reading other blogs and I am commenting. It is just making it hard at times to post about myself.

2) I have had a couple of days where my food intake was not where I think it should be. It is really hard to write about the hard times. I love writing about the good things.

3) I am being very critical of myself when I do start a blog post. I keep comparing myself to others even though I know this is my journey.

4) I have been busy. Workouts and meal planning is slowly becoming the priority before computer blogging and games. Now I just need blogging to be before gaming.

So for those who are reading... Can I get a topic? What is something you would like me to write about?

The ups and downs of the Weekend.

Friday after the consignment store adventure I went home and had some dinner. I stayed under my calorie budget and relaxed. Not much of note other than having a nice relaxing night.

Saturday started off great. I went to my Y and filled out my April calendar for the 100 hr challenge. I got 13 hours of exercise in April. This is really cool since I need to average 11 hours a month to be able to get to 100 hours before the end of December. I am well on my way. Then I went to the other side of town to Beaumont Y so I could go to my Tai Chi class. We learned 4 more moves and my balance is getting better and my legs are stronger.

On the way home I stopped at my mom's and go her her unused/expired medications. I then dropped her meds and our meds off at the medtoss sponsored by the police department. Since they took prescription, OTC, supplements and vitamins we got our bathroom closet cleaned out! Now I plan to only buy supplements if I really plan to take them.

JD and headed out to go see a movie and I did have some of the popcorn. We headed to BD's Mongolian grill after the movie. YUM! It is one of our go-to restaurants if we are not sure on date night. It can be very healthy.

Once we got home my brain started to cycle with depressing and discouraging thoughts. I am not sure where they came from. In the end at about 10pm I binged. I had 4 mini ice-cream sandwiches and 2 mini bags of Funyuns. The total was about 660 calories so not a big binge but a binge none the less. I was not eating because I was hungry. I was not eating to have something that tasted good. I just stuffed my face and went back for more. Of course my blood sugar spiked after that. I even realized what I was doing while I was doing it but I still went back for the ice cream. I did my Tai Chi breathing before bed and got a good night sleep.

Sunday started bright and early with rain. I got back on track with recording my eating and planning my food. Today has been a good day for eating. I did have Chinese food, but it was by choice and cravings and not mindless stuffing of my face. I made the decision to eat it. I also went to the Y today and got 40 minutes in on the cardio machines. (25 treadmill and 15 elliptical) I did a mile on the treadmill in 23 minutes and even jogged for some of the time. It was not crowded so I did not feel so self-conscious. It was only for about a 1 minute, but it was Jogging!!!! I plan to do more time on the treadmill and may also try to walk some of the legacy trail so I can be ready for my walk to STOP diabetes on June 4th.

Now I need to record the 40 minutes since my work wellness program has a challenge this month. In May the challenge is to get 400 minutes of exercise. Since I have to get at least 600-660 to be on track for the 100 hour challenge I think I can do the 400 minutes. :)

NSV: I went to Kmart and tried on some capris. The 22s were snug but I was able to Button and Zip!!! I plan to go back and put some on layaway. In about 6 weeks it will be starting to get really hot in Kentucky and having the capris will be great. It is also nice that they are on sale at 25% off.


How was your weekend? Any plans for the week?