FEELING BETTER - A FRESH START

Last week I had a bad cold.  I joked that I went outside my usual little routine of home, gym and grocery shopping and ventured to the mall with my daughter and exposed myself to the big bad world of germs! 

I didn't go to the gym or the store or even to the mailbox for 5 days.  I was miserable.  I didn't concern myself with my diet plan and overate carbs and calories.  I will see the damage tomorrow when I go back to the gym.  I am not going to beat myself up over it.  I see today as a new start.  I have been struggling all summer trying to find my way, trying to find my "plan."

I lost the first 50 pounds or so using products from Lifestyle.  I was so determined and I stuck with it even though I was hungry most of the time.  Then I wanted to go off the products and maintain the calories at the same 1200 level on good foods.  I know I am triggered by carbs, so the plan was low carb ( whole grain only, no sugar, fruit ok.)  To stay in the 1200 range carbs are not a good choice, anyway.  As I said, this has been a struggle.  I have had trouble with foods I overate - like peanut butter and oatmeal/granola.  I have had trouble with my family being bored by my repetitive meals. 

And I don't like that it has been so 2 pounds off, 1 pound back, no loss for two weeks.  It is frustrating and I just don't care to always feel like I should be berating myself .  So - what to do?

I need a more specific plan.  Not back to the products, although I have some left and will use them as snacks and meal subs when appropriate.  No Atkins style low carb because that is not how I want to live the rest of my life, but I must be aware of how very sensitive I seem to be to bread/pasta/carbs (have some - want more, more, more!)

I like Cammy's plan of 5-7 fruits and veggies daily, low fat proteins and whole grains.  I will need more specifics, just winging it day by day has not been working for me - so I am going to work out a list of meal plans and calorie counts to keep myself in the 1200-1500 range.

Any other input?

BLECH

They don't need to come up with a cure for the common cold.  They just need to come up with a cure for day 2 and 3 of the common cold.

SIZE ALWAYS MATTERS

Reading the nutrition labels is something I have done for a long time.  Looking for the sugars, the types of fat, the protein and the whole grains all in turn depending on whether I am concerned about weight or bulking up my picky daughter's nutrition.  I have long known to check out the serving sizes in relation to the calorie counts.  That has save me from many a foolish purchase!

I have been entering my recipes into a program which gives me the nutritional analysis and calorie counts and I have realized that I need to pay more attention to those serving sizes.  Especially for side dishes.  For example, I made a dish the other night which called for 2 pounds of Swiss chard.  So the fact that it was  4 servings seemed fine - until I saw what it looked like when it was cooked...it was minuscule.  If I placed 1 serving on my husband's plate he would wonder why I was giving him serving like those chi-chi restaurants! 

He doesn't care about how many servings his dinner actually is, but I certainly do - so this was a good lesson for me because a serving is 147 calories - now double that!

KNEE CLASS

Just a quick post about my OA knee class today.  I learned a few things and have some new exercises and stretches to add to my routine.  The others in the class seem to be affected in only 1 knee, but 2 were more hampered by their pain and one is a trainer and spin instructor who just keeps going through her day and is in pain at night when she stops.  So I feel lucky that mine has become more work-out related with occasional flare ups and aches at night.

Anyway, my big question was: do I keep doing things if they hurt?  The physical therapist said if the pain stays at about a 3-4 and doesn't get worse, then it is okay.  So I can do most of my old routine at that level - just keep going through the discomfort.

I also realized that I am getting more of my range of motion back, so the exercises are working.  Hurray.

I have also been using the stationary bike which I find boring, but if I bring my book the time goes by pretty fast.  I put the book down every so often and do a speed interval.  I have been keeping my heart rate up in the fat burning range even while I am reading - which came as a surprise that I wasn't bouncing around too much to focus!

So for the time being I will avoid the water classes.  I can get over being the youngest in the class by 20 years or so,  I just don't want to deal with getting wet and showering and all that rigmarole.

EMOTIONAL EATING REARS IT'S UGLY HEAD

So this will not turn into a tell-all or a tirade.  I will say that I am not married to one of those super wonderful guys that I so often hear other women writing about when they describe their husbands.  Mine is a difficult man.  He is extremely intelligent, occasionally funny and charming, a good dad but not always a nice or patient man.  After 27 years I am still stung by him, still hurt and sent off my even keel by his words.  (I will say that he never says anything negative about my weight or appearance.)

I don't blame him for my weight issues.  Those started with puberty.  It was much easier to manage my weight when I was single - not cooking for others.  I could shop and cook to my tastes and needs.  I've liked whole grains and natural foods since the 70's and changed my cooking for my family...more irony.

Anyway.  Because I have been out of sorts for the past couple of weeks, so has my eating.  As usual, it isn't like I have gone out and gotten "bad food" to binge on.  I have just eaten too much and not lost any weight.  I have been going up and down a couple of pounds for a few weeks.

I have been thinking about those groups like Overeaters Anonymous where you get support and learn to deal with emotional eating.  I have read the blogs of some women who have attended those groups and I just don't think that approach would work for me.  The structure and higher power thing chafes.  I did attend a few sessions of a Eating Disorders group at my local Kaiser office. The women seemed nice but they had been together for a while an I felt so outside all the inside stuff.  The therapist was very condescending to me when I spoke - it just didn't give me a good feeling. 

I have done some therapy work around these issues. I think I know what they stem from but knowing them doesn't resolve them.  So I need to get myself to that next level where I am stronger against the impulses to soothe/smother my feelings with food.

So, ladies, have any of you with these issues gotten to that level?  How have you managed it?  Advice?

WISHFUL THINKING

I don't think I am alone in occasionally indulging in wishful thinking.  I have done this since I was a kid.  Something about Samantha Stevens on Bewitched wiggling her nose and being able to make things happen was very appealing and I spent time thinking about all the things I would like to change that easily.

In the past few months I have been thinking about how I want to go back to before my knees started to hurt.  It has just put such a damper on my enthusiasm for exercise. 

It's ironic, too.  Most people with my family history of osteoarthritis and knee replacements have knee pain and so they exercise and diet to relieve the pain.  I was pain free until I started to diet and exercise in earnest.  Add that to your song,  Alanis Morrisette.

Anyway, it doesn't change the fact that continuing to lose weight and exercise will help the pain and ease the symptoms and put off the surgery.  The knee already takes on a force of 3 to 6 times our body weight with each step while walking!  So reducing the amount of weight it is bearing is the best thing that can be done to help it!

I am going to a "knee class" next week, I have given in and changed up my gym routine to include what I find more boring, but less painful. 

A VERY NICE AWARD

Karen from Waisting Time passed on a nice award to me for which I must sum up my blogging experience, motivation and philosophy in just 5 words!

I can't say that I came into blogging with any philosophy except to be honest about my experiences and not disclose what could be embarrassing to my family.  My motivation would be to express myself and to seek community.  My experience would be one of support and enlightenment.

So I will share this Blog With Substance Award with:

 Tami at Nutmeg Notebook

Peacefulbird at Words Paint

Sskar at Writing to Wellness

Sarah at Low Stress Weight Loss

Thank you all!

AEROBIC HOUSEWORK

Sometimes when I skip a day at the gym I say I did "aerobic housework" instead.  I know that you burn calories doing pretty much anything you do - so housework can certainly be done vigorously in a way that will up the burn.

This weekend we moved a sofa from Tom's office to make room for his new "litigation table."  So that meant we had to make room for it in the house.  We moved my comfy old reading chair and ottoman out of the master bedroom (and listed it on the Free Craigslist - it's still sitting in the driveway...)

Tom and Zac, did the moving in and out of the furniture and left it to me to do the arranging.  In the course of the morning I moved the queen sleigh bed, side tables, eight drawer dresser, armoire and sofa around into 3 different configurations.  Of course I did not empty the dresser and armoire and this is all on carpet. Thus, the aerobic and weight lifting component of the day.  (I also vacuumed  because there were feathers from my leaking former down pillow everywhere!)  Then I dusted everything and cleaned the glass shelves and mirrors and picture frames and glass. Finally I was done -  hot, sweaty and while drinking an iced tea I wondered about the reality of the workout aspect of my morning.

So I checked out the calorie burn based on the effort and time spent.  Looks like I did better than I would have if I had done my regular gym routine!  About 620 calories which includes lugging the vacuum up and down the stairs twice because I thought I was done and then rearranged it again and found more feathers...

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

My two slim sisters each have a daughter who tends to the heavy side - we call it the "Bradbury Gene" because that side of the family (which I take after so completely I shouldn't have changed my name when I got married!) struggles with obesity.  They have both asked me for advice about how to help their daughters.  Mostly I tell them to be honest with them that they have gotten a bad deal.  They will have to work harder and pay more attention to their diet than most of their friends.  The good news is that more is known about these things now than when I was a kid.  In those days everyone just assumed I was a sneak eater with no will power.

Research in the July 2010 edition of Genetics discloses that, in fact  some people seem to eat anything they want and never gain a pound, while others seem to gain weight just by looking at fattening foods!  This is because genes interacting with diet, rather than diet alone, are the main cause of variation in metabolic traits. This helps explain why some diets work better for some people than others, and suggests that future diets should be tailored to an individuals genes.  What works for me, may not work for you. 

"There is no one-size-fits all solution to the diseases of obesity and type-2 diabetes," said Laura K. Reed, Ph.D, a researcher from the Department of Genetics at North Carolina State University, the lead investigator in the work. "Each person has a unique set of genetic and environmental factors contributing to his or her metabolic health, and as a society, we should stop looking for a panacea and start accepting that this is a complex problem that may have a different solution for each individual."  (Emphasis mine and something I have been saying all my adult life.)

In short, the study with 146 genetic lines of fruit flies and 4 different diets  (nutritionally balanced, low calorie, high sugar, and high fat) showed that diet alone made small metabolic changes, including iweight, while genotype and genotype interactions with diet made very large changes. "This study strongly suggests that some individuals can achieve benefits from altering their dietary habits, while the same changes for others will have virtually no effect."

So, for my little nieces and others - hang on, science is coming and may just have more answers to the puzzle to make your life with food easier than mine has been!

WILL VANITY BE THE NEW MOTVATION?

I have long said that I am over vanity.  Those days are past me now.  But perhaps that is not true.  I find that I am not willing to post a picture of myself on my blog - and it has little to do with maintaining anonymity.  Now that my sister and I are starting a business, we are deciding if we will put our pictures on our website and business cards.  Skinny and younger, she said no.  Thank goodness.

But really, I need to get to the point that I am will to be photographed and published.  The photo I put on Facebook is about 8 years old and  not that great to begin with.  I have never been that photogenic - my eyes go squinchy when I smile and now that I am older that just means the wrinkles are really pronounced.

HOWEVER - I have decided that by the end of August I will post a picture of myself on my blog.  I hope that the waddle under my chin which replaced the double chin I used to have will be reduced by then...but even if it is still there, I will post it!