STARTING TO SHOW

I wondered when I would start to show. No - I am not pregnant. I wondered when my weight loss would show enough for people to notice and comment.

Last night I hosted my book club. My old friend who knows I have been working on my weight came in first and said I was looking good. then another member I have not seen in a few months due to her schedule said "You look different, your skin looks really good. Have you done something?" Interesting! As the evening went on there were comments and compliments from pretty much everyone.

So - it takes 50 pounds for people to notice. Wait 'till they see the next 50 go!

SICK ON A DIET

Okay - found another weak spot for sticking to my meal plan. Being sick. I can't really taste anything and I mostly want soup and warm stuff, which isn't what I have available on my plan right now. So yesterday I went off plan to "feed my cold."

Had my Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup and oatmeal I felt much better. I don't think this is going to throw me off my goal - got to roll with life!

SLIM MODELS AND PLUS SIZE CLOTHES

As I mentioned in my previous post, I shop for my clothes by catalog and online a lot. I have noticed that very few companies actually use large models for their clothes. Mostly I see them in the smaller, boutique companies. Lane Bryant may use an extra curvy woman or two for their ads, but in their catalog, the clothes are on skinny women.

While there is big applause for the use of "real women" in some magazine lay outs and ad campaigns, in reality:

“We found that overweight consumers demonstrated lower self-esteem – and therefore probably less enthusiasm about buying products – after exposure to any size models in ads (versus ads with no models). Also, normal-weight consumers experienced lower self-esteem after exposure to moderately heavy models, such as those in Dove soap’s ‘Real Women’ campaign, than after exposure to moderately thin models.” According to a new study by researchers at ASU, the University of Cologne in Germany and Erasmus University in the Netherlands, which demonstrates a link between model sizes in advertisements and the self-esteem of consumers looking at the ads.

Apparently, seeing what we would really look like in the clothes makes us feel bad, so we would not buy them, we would rather have the fantasy that we look like the thinner models in the clothes. (Rather than actually getting fit and wearing the smaller size.)

The area where we don't mid seeing the large models? When we are viewing ads for weight loos programs and gyms - in other words, when they are the "Before" version.

It appears we need to work on more than our love for fast food in this country! Living in denial is a big problem - or is it living in a fantasy world?

COUNTING DOWN TO MY TRIP

I am down to the last month before I go to my daughter's graduation. One of the motivations for my diet has been this event. First of all because I didn't want to get kicked off the plane for being too fat to fit one seat. Second because we would be walking all over town and I want to be able to keep up. Third because I want to look nice. Fourth - and most importantly, because I am tired of always worrying about all this stuff and it is time to just be healthy for the rest of my life.

So, I am doing quite well. I am losing, I am walking around and climbing stairs easily, as displayed on the college tours and I am fitting into my smaller clothes. This has not stopped me from shopping, however!

The last time I went to Philadelphia in May it was very hot and very humid. I understand that the heat was unusually high, but with high humidity, even a temperature in the 80 degree range is hot. So I am planning on wearing dresses with light cardigans to the ceremonies; both are being held outdoors, one in the morning and one in the evening.

I end up doing most of my shopping online. The stores carry such limited stock of plus size clothes that I find it frustrating to shop in person. Online the options seem limitless and I have gotten ok with returns and exchanges.

I do wonder about the people who design plus size clothes and what they are thinking sometimes - for instance, why are almost all the dresses sleeveless? Have you seen the arms on us larger women? Do you really want to see our arms? Because I don't! Some sundresses and evening dresses without sleeves - fine. But the rest of them really do need a real sleeve. Not a cap sleeve. Not a flutter sleeve. A real, cover the upper arm kind of sleeve.

So I ended up ordering a couple of dresses which are sleeveless, and I NEVER show my arms. So I am buying a few lightweight cardigans which are short sleeved and long sleeved to coordinate. The dress shown is navy and white from Land's End and I bought a yellow cardigan to go with it and navy wedge sandals.

Getting excited!

INCENTIVES

This has been one of those weeks when I needed a little push to get to my workouts. Maybe it was because my husband didn't get around to giving me the info for the taxes until Monday...yes, 4 days before tax day...and, as I mentioned, I didn't get the job I interviewed for...so I have been stressed and down in the dumps.

So I promised myself that I would take a trip to the nursery if I made it to the gym all week - and I rewarded myself with that on my way home from my morning work out.

I bought 3 tomato plants, some herbs and strawberries. Plus some flowers to add to my various pots around the patio. I also splurged on a couple of decorative items that they had deeply discounted. I love having little surprises peeking out here and there in the form of garden stakes, wind chimes, bird houses, etc.

So - this may not sound like it is about weight loss, but whatever keeps me motivated that isn't food is the number one dieting tool for me!

SAVE CALORIES AND LOSE WEIGHT?

There are all these articles and books about cutting out this or that food and by the end of the year you lose 10 pounds!! Or eat this instead of that for lunch every week and you will lose 20 pounds!

Except it isn't true.

On paper it looks good, but in reality, the body adjusts. Most of us life long dieters have known this and have been frustrated by this for years.
But bodies don’t gain or lose weight indefinitely. Eventually, a cascade of biological changes kicks in to help the body maintain a new weight. The JAMA study explains, a person who eats an extra cookie a day will gain some weight, but over time, an increasing proportion of the cookie’s calories also goes to taking care of the extra body weight. Eventually, the body adjusts and stops gaining weight, even if the person continues to eat the cookie.

Similar factors come into play when we skip the extra cookie. We may lose a little weight at first, but soon the body adjusts to the new weight and requires fewer calories.

A 2007 study indicated that small changes did set the stage for bigger, more life changing changes to follow. Like starting with "baby steps" you can't get far if you stick with them, but if you start that way and then move on to bigger and bigger steps, then you are on the way to meaningful changes.

“Once you’re trying for weight loss, you’re out of the small-change realm,” said Dr. Hill, the author of the study. “But the small-steps approach can stop weight gain.”

While small steps are unlikely to solve the nation’s obesity crisis, doctors say losing a little weight, eating more heart-healthy foods and increasing exercise can make a meaningful difference in overall health and risks for heart disease and diabetes.

WE MADE IT HOME!

We survived our long, long trip - over 1200 miles and 3 colleges. I survived the mix CDs that my daughter made, she even listen to my music for an hour or two. We mostly has sunny weather, though it was cold. And coming over Grants Pass Oregon we even drove through snow! Big fat, wet flakes that melted right away and caused us no difficulties but we pretty to see.

As far as the dieting went, day one I stayed completely on plan. My daughter wanted to get "road snacks" and admitted that she wanted junk food. It wouldn't bother me in terms of my diet, but since she wants to drop a few pounds to fit into her prom dress (which we bought even though it is tight around her waist) I thought she wanted to make some better choices.

So, of course, it became a "you won't let me have what I want" and I am saying "I thought you wanted to be healthy" and pout, pout. Then later she also admits that she doesn't want to eat meals in restaurants if I am not eating. So I thought about it and decided to lighten up on the plan for the rest of the trip. We had "continental breakfasts" in the motels, so I took my meals with me and ate with her without embarrassment and ate lunch and dinner in restaurants with her. I had my Alli capsules and made careful choices.

My big splurge was for some sugar free marionberry pie as I was told it was made on premises. Turns out they may have baked it there, but it did not contain a recognisable berry. I ate around the crust. The taste of the berries was good, but hardly worth a "cheat." Oh, well.

Bottom line - with all the walking on the campus tours and one day in a gym and careful choices - I lost 3 pounds. My daughter is not mad at me and this week she has buckled down to get into that prom dress!

ROAD TRIP

I am off on a road trip with my youngest daughter to visit colleges. We will be heading up the northern California coast and into Oregon. A very long car trip. I plan to stick with my diet and since she is trying to drop a few pounds for her prom dress, she is motivated to eat well, too.

I booked hotels with pools and one with a gym, so we will get some exercise in - although those campus tours tend to be very long walks up and down, around and around!

I will be back on Sunday!