BACK TO BASICS IT IS

I just posted a comment on Karen's blog say that we are all looking for something great and it isn't going to be found in food. Now why is it that I have that great insight when I am commenting on some one's blog but not when I am in the middle of my own grazing forays in my kitchen?!

I know, I know. None of us do, and that is why we band together in tribes and therapy groups and blogospheres! It takes a village to get healthy.

So my shipment of my program product came yesterday and I am back on with the small addition of 2 fruits a day. I will not miss out on my beloved summer fruit.

Thanks all for your comments and support!

I FLOPPED THE FOURTH

I don't know what has gotten into me this weekend - oh! Yes I do - too much food!

I just don't know why I suddenly started eating so much. And not even particularly special food. Just so much of it. I even had a stomach ache last night. It has been a very long time since I have had so much to eat that I caused myself pain.

It didn't make me feel better. I wasn't feeling bad. Just sort of bored and at loose ends. I made Tom his special cookies from his sports nutrition book - they are for him to take on bike rides for energy. I tasted the batter. I ate some of the cookies. It just got me going. A taste of this and that. Grazing around. Nothing satisfying because, of course, I wasn't hungry and food wasn't really what I was looking for. I kept telling myself that and then half an hour later I would be wandering into the kitchen again.

It didn't help that I was watching a movie with lots of good food in it, I suppose. (I finally watched "It's Complicated.") And yes, I made that connection, too. But I kept wandering into the kitchen tasting this and that until I went to bed.

Then this morning I was dressed and ready for the gym when I decided to work in the yard first while it was still cool. So I changed and worked in the yard for an hour or so and just when I was about finished, I got a call that Tom's bike had broken down and he needed me to go pick him up. I changed out of my dirty gardening clothes and drove off to get him. By the time we were back I made his lunch and then I made myself a sandwich, too. A whole sandwich on a ciabatta roll. I have not had that in over 8 months.

So was that a expression of my frustration? I suppose so. I couldn't say what I was feeling. I think I am very closed off from my feelings right now. Maybe I am eating to try to stir up some feelings.

I don't know if this is a publish worthy post. No insight. I am wondering If I need to go back on my program for a few weeks to get myself back on track. I have been so on and off this past month and now this.

A NEW LIFE?

Since I started this effort to get fit early this year, I have lost 61 pounds. I was watching a commercial for Jenny Craig (or one of those diet programs) and a woman who had lost about that much weight and looked to be about a size 4 was talking about how she loves her "new life."

Those of us who are very much larger and have a lot more than 60 pounds to lose to get to a healthy weight can look at that commercial and think - well, a lot of things!! One thing would be that we wish we had gotten started on the weight loss when we only had 60 pounds to lose!

My thought was that the commercial is misleading when it suggests that you get a new life if you lose weight. It is really unfair to advertise that way. You get a lot of fabulous benefits, not the least of which is better health and the ability to shop in the 12 fashion departments of the stores and not the tiny little 5 rack Plus Size section hidden in the far reaches of the store next to the Maternity Shop by the Ladies Room.

The reality is that your life goes right along with you on your journey to fitness and a better BMI. Hopefully you will be more energetic and take advantage of more opportunities. You will enjoy the benefits of better health and attractiveness. Spend more money on cute workout clothes and less on take out food. Go on long walks and hikes and bike rides instead of hanging out on the couch.

So the first 60 pounds lost has not given me a new life - but it has shown me how to go about living the life I am living better.

SWEATY SUNDAY

I had my highly anticipated meeting with a trainer on Sunday morning and boy did I get a workout! I learned a lot and I will be saving my pennies for another session with her.

Just a few tweaks to my position on the NuStep machine and my workout was kicked up like crazy. It wasn't that I was doing it wrong, just that I had been doing it the same way, in the same position on the machine for so long that I had adjusted to it and was no longer getting a real benefit from my workouts. She had me move the seat up and wow! It was so much harder to do again! I had thought the seat position had to do with my height, but in fact, the position is part of arranging how and which muscles are used. By adding in the variations, I am changing up the workout and hopefully I'll be able to avoid another plateau like the one I have been on.

I also have some changes for my lower body weight workouts and an entirely new upper body weight routine using a cable machine. So I am very happy that I stopped that trainer to ask a question and that she was so generous with her time. I Can tell it is really going to make a difference!

ROWING GETS MY HEART GOING!

So I strapped on the heart rate monitor again today and within 2 minutes on the rowing machine I had entered my target heart rate zone. What a difference! I rowed for 25 minutes at an average rate of 110 versus an average rate of 88 on the Nu Step in my previous workout.

I am hoping that using this tool, I will make my work outs more effective for my fat loss. I am still hovering at the same weight. I have been good about my calories, so the only other thing I can blame my plateau on is the fact that I had a very tasty Mojito on Sunday at my sister's house. I know better...alcohol slows the metabolism - up to four days according to someone on some TV show! But I was not able to confirm that anywhere in an Internet search. (Research shows it is several hours per drink, depending on what it is.)

Plateaus happen. I am on one. I think I have found a way to kick things up and I am just going to savor the memory of that Mojito and get on with it!

THE NUMBERS GAME

So the numbers are the story this week. I tried the heart rate monitor this morning during my workout. I decided to just do my 40 minute routine on the Nu-Step without looking up the charts so I could see what my actual rates have been without pushing toward a specific target.

For my age I should be aiming to work out (for weight loss) in the 99-148 range. I was working out in the range of 86-89 through most of my workout. When I did some high intensity intervals, I went up into the 100 range.

So this means that I need to get my intensity up during the entirety of my workout. I have been working at about 55% and I need to aim for 75% of my maximum heart rate. Tomorrow I am going to do 30-40 minutes on the rowing machine. My heart rate should be higher as it is a much harder work out for me.

But the numbers will tell...

HOVERING

I am hovering on the brink of dropping below a milestone weight. One where you get to move the big weight over a notch on the scale at the gym. I keep hopping on the scale trying to see if I can go down a notch, but the balance likes the higher one better.

Maybe tomorrow.

My initial meeting with the trainer on Sunday morning was just an evaluation and we will meet next Sunday for the new workout. I need to borrow my husband's heart rate monitor to see if my heart rate is in the right zone while I am working out. That is my assignment for the week from her.

My assignment from me is to move that weight down to the lower notch!