Donnaslifepart2

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 This morning I weighed 172.8 lbs.  I have been hovering in this 3 lb range for a while now.  I am thrilled to be where I am ~ don't get me wrong ~ but I have unfinished business in this area of my life and I want to get it done, figure out how to maintain my success and move on.  I don't want my weight issues to occupy centre stage anymore.   About 6 weeks ago I ordered the Atkins diet starter pack.  It came in the mail yesterday and includes 3 bars, some coupons, and the quick and dirty guide to starting Atkins including a 2 week menu plan for the "Induction Phase".  The  induction phase is for rapid weight loss, for people who have 30 or more lbs to lose, have a sluggish metabolism etc.  I am going to start there.  I don't have 30 lbs. to lose - max 25 lbs - but I don't want to fart around either.  I went grocery shopping this morning and will follow the menu plan for 1 week, adding a carb dish for the rest of my family,  and see how it goes.  It really is no different than I have been doing all year, except  that it cuts out the carbs which have crept back into my life in the last 6 months.  I hope to knock my weight into the 160's by next week.  

Today, I will have steamed salmon and asparagus ( my family will have a salad made from asparagus, peas from my garden, and brown rice with a soy vinaigrette dressing).

Bert has been struggling with Sciatic nerve pain for a while.  It has become so painful that I finally managed to drag him to the chiropractor last week.  Hopefully he will start to feel better in the next week or two.  I miss my walking buddy.

 Ok there are 3 things I want to document today

1. I weigh 170.4 lbs this morning.  I am getting very close to my personal goal of 148 lbs.  22.4 lbs away.  People are telling me I NEED to stop losing weight. WHAT!!!  They are saying I am thin enough.  I don't know how to cope with this because although I am at a weight I could live with and I can do whatever I want and have lots of nice clothes, I HAVE NOT REACHED MY GOAL AND I WANT TO CONTINUE UNTIL I GET THERE!  This is a gift I want to give myself.  Having a NORMAL BMI is a monumental goal and I cannot stop as long as I am at all overweight.

2. Yesterday was my Birthday party (47th) / Mother's Day celebration.  My husband ordered Chinese food (so good) and my 23 year old daughter made low fat cheese cake(I should have said the fat was fine make it sugar free).  I had a small plate of the chinese having mostly meat and veggies, no rice, and 1/2 an egg roll, and a small piece of the cheesecake.  About 30 minutes later I had the familiar urge to run to the bathroon.  So I guess I do dump, if provoked.  I guess I eat primarily within my own personal limits.  GOOD TO KNOW!

3. Third week 1  start running workout is complete.  On Wednasday I will be on to week 2 which consists of jog x 1 min / walk x 1 min for 10 cycles.  (increased total run to 10 minutes.

Week 1 - workout 2

Walk briskly for 10 minutes (figure 8 on track), jog x 1 min/ walk 2 minutes for 6 times, jog x 1 minute.  walk x 10 minutes to cool down (figure 8).  Stretch.

May be just my imagination but it seems slightly easier to jog the 1 minute today.

 It isn't that my life is so different from the outside.  I still go to work, clean my house, shop for groceries and do laundry.  It's just that now I move through those things with ease, instead of it taking all day, and still have the energy to do other stuff like working out with my husband, re-organizing my house and garden.

Bert and I have been walking briskly for an hour two to three times per week.  Well, yesterday we started a jogging program.  The progression intends that we will be able to jog/run nonstop for 20 minutes by the end of 10 weeks.  Today we walked briskly for 10 minutes to warm up, jog x 1 min/ walk x 2 min - 6 times, jog x 1 min, then walk briskly for 10 minutes to cool down.  I am a bit sore tonight.  Tomorrow is an off day, so we will likely just walk.  I am hoping this program wittles me down a bit by the end of summer.  Speaking of which...

I have been slowly accumulating a new wardrobe of clothes.  Yesterday a rack in my closet fell off the wall and we took the opportunity to restructure how our walk in bedroom closet is organized.  I went through all of my clothes and pulled out the summer stuff and put away the winter things which fit or are still too small.  I can't believe the amazingly wonderful wardrobe I have.  It is the FIRST TIME IN MY ENTIRE LIFE THAT I HAVE SO MANY BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES TO WEAR!...and they look nice!

I love weighing 120 pounds less!

 My 1 Yr follow up appointment is scheduled for May 26th.  I would like to be as close to my personal goal of 148 lbs. as possible.  To that end I have started to follow the Atkins induction program, which allows as much protein as necessary to satisfy hunger and 20-25g of carbs per day which should come from core (green leafy) vegetables.

It's 8pm, and so far I have eaten:

B: 2 boiled eggs, cucumber
S: red pepper strips with 1 tsp greek salad dressing, 2 oz. cheese
L: Pure Protein bar (a bit of a cheat because Atkins bars too low in protein IMHO)
D: stirfried beef and a couple of pieces of broccoli

I know it's not much on paper, but it really was all I could get in.  Without the slider foods, the denser protein really is filling.

 OK It's a necessary evil, I know.  But As soon as I went back to work my weight went up 4 lbs! WHAT!!

I know it's just water and that as soon as I am off again and go back to a "normal" day/night cycle I will lose that water weight but I hate seeing that scale go up like that.  Solution - STAY OFF THE SCALE but that is harder than it seems.  I think it might be a transfer addiction HAHA!

Oh well.

 Well today I achieved a MAJOR scale victory.  I officially weigh less than my husband!  But here's the kicker - I put on his jeans and I got them closed and could breathe.  I ran around the house showing my kiddoes and laughing like a kid.  What a happy event.

I now weigh 172,6 lbs - thats 120.4 lbs gone.  WOOT WOOT!!!  I am now going to stay off the scale for a week because this streak can't hold out for much longer.

 In all my life I have never been so happy to be a loser.  It is a badge I wear proudly.  Today I weigh 174.2 Lbs.  I have lost 118.8 lbs.  So close to 120 lbs.  Reaching that marker will be a monumental achievement.

So what am I doing right?  I am making a concerted effort  to get my water in.  I have discovered MIO, a no calorie water flavourant which tastes far better than Crystal Light.  That helps tremendously.

I am trying to get my exercise done and have come to the realization that I hate to exercise outside in the cold.  Now that the weather is nice on most days, Bert and I are out there walking.  Right now, we are taking the steps down the escarpment at Upper Paradise, walking uphill 30 minutes (back up the Bruce Trail) and then walking the 30 minutes back to the car.  I see the young people going up and down the stairs but my knees just couldn"t handle that stress right now.  I think next fall, we will just have to give in and buy a local gym membership for the 6 months over winter.  Maybe I'll also hire a personal trainer to teach me how to tighten and tone this old carcass. I just happen to have a dtr with a friend who is a trainer.

OK, last on the doing it right list is tracking my food.  I tried using Myfitnesspal.com but have reverted to sparkpeople.com because I find it simpler to create a library of fav. foods plus they have many interesting articles about health and nutrition...and I get points...never underestimate the power of a sticker as a reward.  Basically, I am finding that tracking my intake keeps me more focused, ensures I get all my protein in and don't go overboard on the calories, of which I am trying to eat about 1000 per day.  I can eat far more but I don't WANT to be in maintenance mode yet.

I am extremely grateful for the events of the last 11 months.  My life has changed in small but significant ways.  My fitness level has RADICALLY improved over this time last year and that has made my life so much easier to live day to day.  I am not exhausted all the time.  I no longer feel that I would rather die in a surgery) than continue to live status quo.  I am happy.

That is not to say that I am satisfied.  I still would like to reach my goal of 150 lbs and am quite frustrated that it is not moving as I would like, but then, I am not as diligent about exercise as I probably need to be.  I am uncertain how many calories I need to eat right now.  I seem to come in between 1000 and 1200 daily on most days.  That is enough to lose weight for most people but I am not sure how this year has affected my metabolism.  It has probably dropped and will need some sustained effort to elevate again.

All I know is that I am doing what I can, right now.  I will continue to eat properly and exercise as I can and wait.

This week I officially weigh less than my daughters.  Talk about something to wrap your head around.  Also, I have 2 lbs to lose to weigh LESS THAN my husband (for the first time in 25 years!).  It will take me a week or two as Aunt Ruby decided to drop by, but I will definitely get there before my birthday

I am going from being the heaviest person in my household to almost the smallest (Morgan is still smaller).

Talk about a SCALE VICTORY!