I am half way through week 13 and I weighed 198.4 pounds this morning. So far I have lost 25.6 pounds! Some days, like today, I feel really good about that. Some days, like yesterday, I'm frustrated that this is taking so long. I've been having a funny mind game going on for the last week or so, ever since I dropped below 200 pounds. I've been obsessed with making sure I don't end up getting to a weigh in day (which are Mondays and Thursdays) and weighing 200 pounds again. It's about all I can think about. I want to get to about 195 pounds right now so that I have a little cushion for my weight fluctuations. But the fact of the matter is that I can't and won't lose 5 pounds overnight. It will take me 3 weeks to lose five pounds. It's just hard to be patient right now. It helped a lot to get on the scale and see 198.4. That gives me a little breathing room...
All in all, my weight loss has been incredibly steady over the last 13 weeks. Sometimes I can't even believe it when I look at my line. It's pretty cool to know that by Pat's wedding on June 30 I'll weigh about 190 pounds and by the time Jack and I go on vacation in September I'll be in the 170s. That's what I hang on to when I get a little frustrated. This process really is working, and it is working well. I will get there. I am doing this!!!!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
5/28/12: Week 13 Weigh-in and Yesterday's Photo
 |
| 5/27/12 - End of Week 13 |
 |
| 2/26/12 - Start Photo |
In addition to passing one significant benchmark this week, which is dropping under the 200lb mark, I have passed two others as well. I now weigh less than my husband, who is 5' 10" tall and my brother who is 6' tall. I, of course, am only 5'6" tall. Now my goal is to weigh less than my dad, who is 6'2" tall. I called him yesterday, thinking I might have made it to find out that he is at 194lbs now. I give my dad a lot of credit. He has worked hard to be very healthy as he has gotten older. In fact, his amazing health is one of the things that inspires me. He watches everything he eats and exercises regularly, and, in general, has become an overall health nut. The results are amazing. He never seems to get any older or more frail, he's just as healthy as he was 5 or 10 years ago and definitely healther than he was at 55, when he retired from the World Bank. I figure if Dad can do it, I can, too. After all, half my genes are his.
Remember my post from a couple of days about about what I eat and my number one rule, count calories? That was reinforced this morning when I read this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/21/weight-loss-success-raul-robles_n_1534212.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Chp-desktop%7Cdl17%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D163495 about a man who lost 150 pounds because he started counting calories. His wife was the one that got concerned about his health first and asked him to consider bypass surgery. When attending the mandatory education classes prior to the surgery he had to estimate the number of calories in one of his regular meals. The meal he guessed to be 700 calories was actually 1,880 calories. He was stunned. So he started counting every calories using SparkPeople.com and immediately started losing weight. He had the exact same aha moment I had when I started counted calories. Sometimes it is rather shocking to learn how many calories are in certain foods, if you just take the two seconds it takes to find out. I love Raul's story because at the end of the day he did not have bariatric surgery. He discovered all he had to do to lose the weight was eat less and exercise. Go Raul!!
I recommitted to counting calories last Wednesday after I had a night of gluttony Tuesday night, and I have been doing better about that, though I have been recapping my calories the next day instead of recording as I go. That behavior of recapping is not great, as it is easy to forget things, so I am going to be more disciplined with that, starting today. I have my phone with me all the time. There is no reason I cannot record every calorie, as I am eating it. I appreciate finding little gems of stories like the ones above. It reaffirms the things I already know. It's about doing the simple everyday things. Eat 1500 calories and exercise every day!
Here is my calorie recap for the last several days, such that it is:
Wednesday, May 23: Calories consumed - 1,229; Calories burned (55 minutes weight lifting) - 499; Net Calories - 730
Thursday, May 24: Calories consumed - 1,456; Calories burned (100 floors stair master, level 6, 2500 strides on elliptical machine, level 7) - 523; Net Calories - 933
Friday, May 25: Calories consumed - 1,538; Calories burned (55 minutes weight lifting) - 497; Net Calories - 1,041
Saturday, May 26: Calories consumed - 1,740 (grazing at wedding = extra calories); Calories burned (90 minutes - at least - dancing with my husband Jack) - 407; Net Calories - 1,333
Sunday, May 27: Calories consumed - 1,313; Calories burned (5 mile jog/walk) - 566; Net Calories - 747.
Yesterday the exercise was hard. It was 93 degrees and very humid when I left for my jog. I made it the first two miles before I decided to walk the rest of the way. I still made it the five miles, but I was dragging butt home, for sure. I don't know if it was the heat or the exhaustion in my legs from dancing the night before, it may have been a combination of the two. We also went bowling yesterday and went for about a 45 minute walk after dinner after it cooled off a little, but I didn't count that.
Speaking of exercise, the other day I said I would talk about exercise in another post and it might as well be this one. So, here goes:
This would not be working without daily exercise. That is a fact. I mentioned the book, Younger Next Year, by Chris Crowley & Henry S Lodge, M.D., in a previous post. Well, I am mentioning it again. I have intentionally exercised on and off (more off than on, I will admit) since my last year of high school. I have read several books on the subject, listened to motivational speakers, read articles and talked to family and friends. Over the years I have picked up a lot of facts about the importance of exercise and have, for as long as I can remember, known the importance of exercise and known that I should incorporate it into my daily life. Well, as you and I both know, "should" does not mean "am doing." Younger Next Year changed all that. The way Crowley and Lodge talk about exercise in their book changed the way I have looked at not exercising completely and forever. I cannot miss a day of exercise anymore without thinking about my body hiss-bumping its way to heart disease, stroke, weak joints, or some other type of decay. They make a very convincing argument for 60 minutes of daily exercise. They describe in laymans words what happens to your body (cells, muscles, bones, nerves, brain, etc...) if you don't exercise (it decays...every day that you do no exercise your body decays) and what happens to your body if you do exercise (it grows new healthy and vibrant cells and actually gets younger!). If you have not read the book and you have trouble exercising every day, I highly recommend it. It is worth the $8 and the time it takes to read it. That book has changed the way I will look at not exercising every day, forever.
As we all know, there are two basic types of exercise, strength training and cardiovascular. The cardiovascular exercises like jogging, swimming, riding a bike, the elliptical and stair master machines, etc... elevate your heart rate to somewhere between 65 - 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for a period of time and improve the capacity of your heart and lungs while burning calories. The book gets into details about ideal heart rates for fat burning, etc... but simply put, it is a reasonable goal to exercise for 60 minutes a day at 65 - 75 percent of your maximum heart rate at least 6 days a week. The book stresses the importance of using a heart monitor, which does help you figure out how hard you should be working. What I learned when I started using a heart monitor was that I was working too hard. What I thought was a reasonable pace was actually getting me between 85 - 95 percent of my maximum heart rate. Whenever I started exercising I would get too tired, eat too much, and end up burning myself out. By wearing a heart monitor I learned that I was working too hard. Most people accept that cardiovascular exercise, or cardio, is something we all need to do.
What's harder to get people to accept is the importance of strength training, partifucularly for women over 30. I read an article about this a long time ago, so I don't remember the statistics, but the gist of it has always stuck with me: women start losing muscle mass at about age 30 at a steady and somewhat alarming rate. Are you over 40? Have you wondered why you eat the same amount of food you always ate and now you are gaining weight? Well, it's because you do not have the muscles that you did when you were twenty-something years old and muscles are what burn calories. You must, as you age, work at retaining and rebuilding that muscle mass that has slowly, but surely, been waning from your body. The most efficient way to do that is to hit the gym and start lifting weights. One of the beauties of lifting weights is that, if you do it right, it is also a cardio exercise. If you alternate types of exercises, you can spend 50 - 60 minutes at the gym, work out all of your major muscle groups, and keep your heart rate elevated for the entire time.
For me, to get back on track, I decided I would solicit the help of a trainer. I had to find a gym first and I chose 24 Hour Fitness at Ward Parkway Center for two reasons. First, it's open 24 hours a day and I like to exercise at about 4:30 in the morning, before most of the other gyms even think about opening. Second, it is two miles from home. When selecting a gym, I think convenience has to be at the top of the list. If it is not open when you want it to be open and it is not very close to either work or home, you will not go. Once there, I decided to hire a trainer. Jeremy and I got lucky, I guess, he was the only trainer there at 5:00AM on Wednesday morning when I was trying to sign up for my 3 for $99 introductory pack. After those three sessions, I decided to sign up for 10 more. I am now into my second set of 10 session. I meet with Jeremy once a week, so 10 sessions lasts me 10 weeks, or 15 pounds. Jeremy designs my strength training work out for me, he walks me through it at our weekly sessions, then I come back and do it on my own two more times before we meet again, a week later. So my weekly workout routine consists of 60 minutes of cardio three days a week on my own, one 50 minute strength training session with Jeremy, and two 55 - 60 minute strength training sessions a week on my own. Here is this week's strength training workout, as a sample:
4 rounds of the following set:
-- Side steps (hold a 25lb weight in both hands, side step up onto an 18" stool, alternating feet - for one minute)
-- Body weight squats (hold hands out straight in front of you, stick your butt out, keeping your back straight, and squat as if you are going to sit on a bench. Stand up and repeat for one minute)
-- Run up the stairs, skipping a step each time, and run back down
-- Shoulder presses ( hold 8 pound dumbbells in each hand, start with elbows bent and hands near shoulders and press straight up, repeat for one minute)
After 4 rounds of that set - which gets my heart pumping because of the combination of the side steps and running up the stairs I do:
5 sets of chest presses on a machine. Each set is 8 reps and I am lifting 50 pounds with each rep. This is heavy enough that I can barely complete the last two sets. My heart is still pounding...
Then:
5 sets of dumbbell presses on an incline bench. This is with 15 pound weights, I have to do 16 reps per set. Almost impossible. And my heart is still a-pounding...
Then I do 3 rounds of the following set:
-- Walking lunge/arm raises (hold 5 pound weights in each hand, take a long step, lower down into a lunge, and do a side arm raise while in the lunge position, stand up, and repeat with the opposite foot. Do this ten times)
-- Bent over rows (with the same 5 pound weights, bend over about 45 - 60 degrees, keep a flat back, lower the weights, and lift them up with wide arms - 12 times).
When I have done that set 3 times I am done...and boy am I done!!!
So, that's an example of a strength training day...
Now I gotta run...chores to do. I can't let Jack do it all.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
5/26/12: What do I Eat?
It's funny, I get asked that question a lot. More specifically, I get asked, "Are you on a special diet?" or, "Are you doing Weight Watchers?" or something like that. The answer to that question is that I am not on a special diet, I am just counting calories and following a few simple rules that I have picked up over the years. And I am exercising for about an hour, six days a week. Because I am getting this question asked so often, I thought it might be worthwhile to answer it in my blog.
After trying most diets known to man over the last 30 years, including various fad diets, Jenny Craig, Nutri-System, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Curves, the Zone, and several others I can't really remember (one involved hot dogs and vanilla ice cream, believe it or not), I have come to the conclusion that it comes down to one simple word: calories. If calories-in average less than calories-out, you will lose weight. The bigger the difference between calories-in and calories-out, the faster you'll lose weight. I do believe, in theory, that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie when it comes to losing weight. So whether you eat 1200 calories of white sugar or 1200 calories of something else, it's still 1200 calories. Now, that's not to say that I think it makes sense to eat 1200 calories of candy bars a day, and nothing else, because some calories lead to other problems. If I ate only sweets until I reached my 1200 calories for the day I would be starving for the rest of the day. My body would be craving more "instant energy" any way it could get it. Specifically it would crave sugar and alcohol. I learned a lot from reading The Zone about insulin and how our systems react to simple sugars. Insulin spikes are not a good thing and I try to avoid them by not eating simple carbs, particularly by themselves. I also believe, based on research results that I have read, that regular exercise plays a vital role in keeping insulin levels steady throughout the day.
So the very first, most important thing for me, is counting calories. That is a lot easier than it sounds with all of the handy tools out there today. I have a great little book that fits in my purse called The Calorie King. For a while I took it with me everywhere. If you happen to end up at a fast food restaurant, you can whip out the Calorie King, look up McDonalds, and know what the best choices are for you at that particular restaurant. When you see that a crispy chicken club has 630 calories and a medium order of fries has 380 calories, for a total of 1,010 calories for a not so large lunch and a Chipotle BBQ wrap with grilled chicken has 260 calories and a caeser salad with no chicken has 90 calories, and the Family Recipe Italian dressing has 60 calories for total of 410 calories for another not so large lunch, and you are giving yourself a total of 1200 or 1500 calories for the day, it's a pretty easy choice to make. For me, it was a VERY eye opening experience to count every calorie. Some things really surprised me the first time I started counting calories which, surprisingly enough, was only two years ago. For my entire life, I avoided counting calories by following one diet plan or another. I had a mental block against counting calories. But once I started counting calories, I never looked at food the same way, again. Even when I wasn't counting, meaning I wasn't adding them up at the end of the day, I always looked at what I was eating and estimated the number of calories I was consuming. Remember, food is how we fuel our bodies. That's it. Plain and simple. And calories are how we measure that fuel. We don't measure it by the gallon, like we do for our cars, or by the BTU, but by the calorie. So the questions is, how many calories do I need to get through the day to break even, and how many do I need to reduce it by to lose weight at the rate I want to lose weight?
Smart phones make counting calories even easier. I use an app called My Fitness Pal. It has a pretty cool feature in it that helps you decide how many calories you should be eating. When you first sign up for My Fitness Pal (it's free, by the way) it asks you how much you weigh, how active you are, how much weight you want to lose, and how fast you want to lose it. The app then recommends a daily net calorie count to achieve that rate of weight loss.
The app also has a daily diary. You simple click "add" then you select "breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack" and then you type in the foods you are eating. It will search for the food and come up with the closest match. If you are eating packaged food you can scan in the UPC label and it will tell you the nutritional content of the food. You can also build recipes or just add total calories. If you go to a well known restaurant, it also has calorie counts for many of the menu items. Sometimes I just pick what looks closest. I use the app to track all of my daily calories. You can also add your exercise and it will show you the calories burned for whatever exercise you are doing, for a net calorie count. The app also tracks your progress, has a 3 month progress chart, and allows you and friends to follow one another.
No matter how you choose to do it, counting calories, for me, is the first, most essential tool for deciding what I am going to eat every day. My goal is to consume less than 1500 calories a day. I don't recommend doing this, but if you are not exercising and you want to lose weight, that number might be more like 1200 calories a day.
After deciding the number of calories I am going to eat, I need to think about the types of calories I am going to eat. I heard someone say yesterday, "If it doesn't grow that way, don't eat it." I think that is a great rule. The closer your food comes to the way it appears in its natural form, the better. I look at it this way, processed foods comes partially digested. It's kind of like momma birds pre-eating food and regurgitating it into their babies' beaks. That way the chicks get food that is partially digested and their bodies can convert it to energy faster. Well, that's great for baby birds, but for you, that pre-digested (processed) food turns to glucose really, really fast and causes insulin spikes, cravings, and other undesirable effects. Also, do you really know what all those ingredients are on that label? Think about it. So, rule number 2, eat food in the most natural state that your situation and lifestyle allows. Cereal is a perfect example. I cannot tell you the last time I bought a box of cereal. I know it was over 8 years ago. There is not a cereal out there, even shredded wheat, that does not quickly convert to glucose in the blood stream. Breakfast is very important, don't skip it, but there are tons of breakfasts better for you than cereal.
Rule three is eat a small amount of protein or healthy fat every time you eat. I don't mean you need a steak or a piece of chicken every time you eat. In fact, most of my meals do not include meat of any kind. I mean protein. That can be eggs, yogurt (I've heard that Greek yogurt has twice the protein of regular, but I don't like yogurt without sugar in it, so I don't eat it at all), cottage cheese, beans, nuts, tofu, seitan, tempeh, mushrooms, quinoa, or a number of other things. If you have never done any research on what has protein in it, you might want to do a google search on protein in different foods. It is quite enlightening. Also, I always eat my protein first. I got this from the Zone, but it makes sense to me. By eating protein before the carbs, you slow down the conversion of glucose in your blood stream and keep your insulin levels more constant. This helps prevent cravings and insulin spikes. Try to avoid eating anything without eating some form of protein or healthy fat, first. Want an apple? Eat some almonds or a piece of low fat cheese, first.
Rule four is veggies. Eat your vegetables. I like the rule, the darker and more colorful, the better. Those dark green, purple, red, and orange veggies have all kinds of great nutrients in them that your body needs. Avoid, at all costs, meals that are all one color, particularly if that color is the color of a french fry or piece of fried chicken. Think about it. I know you've done it. You've ordered a meal at a restaurant and the plate comes out and everything is tan. Yeah, bad sign. If you're plate is colorful it's a good sign that you are getting a variety of nutrients. Also, a big plus for veggies, is that you don't have to count the calories in veggies. They're free!! Fill up your plate and tummy with that broccoli, lettuce, asparagus or veggie of your choice.
Rule five is five meals. It really makes a difference. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. Some people add a snack after dinner to make a sixth meal. You don't get more calories, you're just eating less per meal. Some experts recommend eating meals off of a salad plate so you don't put too much on your plate. There are studies that suggest that the bigger the plate or the container, the more you'll eat. So if it helps, eat your meals off of smaller plates.
And I guess rule six is the only real "don't," rather than "do." Don't eat sugar or white flour. Try to avoid it at all costs. Simple carbs are just plain bad for you. If you actively work at avoiding white sugar and white flour you will still eat it sometimes, but it will be so much less than you are eating it now. Another interesting thing to google is sugar consumption in the United States. It is mind blowing how much sugar we eat. Also don't drink soda. And I mean all soda, diet or otherwise. In fact, I've given up all artificial sweeteners after reading and hearing in several places that artificial sweeteners cause you to gain weight around the waist. That is a problem area for me. Also, I believe it is true that artificial sweeteners keep that taste for sweets alive. There was also a recent study published that indicated that sugar consumption makes you less smart. Another interesting tidbit to google...
So that's pretty much it. In summary, my food plan is this:
1) Eat less than 1500 calories per day
2) Eat food in its most natural state
3) Eat protein or a healthy fat with every meal
4) Eat lots of veggies, particularly dark, colorful ones
5) Eat snacks
6) Avoid sugar and white flour.
In addition to my eating plan I exercise six days a week. Three days a week are cardio (either a five mile jog or 100 floors on the stair master and 2500 strides on the elliptical machine) and three days a week of strength training. My exercise is vigorous and strenuous, it's not just a walk in the park. There are some days that I do choose to walk the five miles instead of jogging them, but that is not often and it is usually after a particularly hard day at the gym. The strength training is essential, particularly for women over 30. You must do it!!!
I'll talk more about exercise in another post. This one has gotten long enough, for those of you that read to the end...
After trying most diets known to man over the last 30 years, including various fad diets, Jenny Craig, Nutri-System, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Curves, the Zone, and several others I can't really remember (one involved hot dogs and vanilla ice cream, believe it or not), I have come to the conclusion that it comes down to one simple word: calories. If calories-in average less than calories-out, you will lose weight. The bigger the difference between calories-in and calories-out, the faster you'll lose weight. I do believe, in theory, that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie when it comes to losing weight. So whether you eat 1200 calories of white sugar or 1200 calories of something else, it's still 1200 calories. Now, that's not to say that I think it makes sense to eat 1200 calories of candy bars a day, and nothing else, because some calories lead to other problems. If I ate only sweets until I reached my 1200 calories for the day I would be starving for the rest of the day. My body would be craving more "instant energy" any way it could get it. Specifically it would crave sugar and alcohol. I learned a lot from reading The Zone about insulin and how our systems react to simple sugars. Insulin spikes are not a good thing and I try to avoid them by not eating simple carbs, particularly by themselves. I also believe, based on research results that I have read, that regular exercise plays a vital role in keeping insulin levels steady throughout the day.
So the very first, most important thing for me, is counting calories. That is a lot easier than it sounds with all of the handy tools out there today. I have a great little book that fits in my purse called The Calorie King. For a while I took it with me everywhere. If you happen to end up at a fast food restaurant, you can whip out the Calorie King, look up McDonalds, and know what the best choices are for you at that particular restaurant. When you see that a crispy chicken club has 630 calories and a medium order of fries has 380 calories, for a total of 1,010 calories for a not so large lunch and a Chipotle BBQ wrap with grilled chicken has 260 calories and a caeser salad with no chicken has 90 calories, and the Family Recipe Italian dressing has 60 calories for total of 410 calories for another not so large lunch, and you are giving yourself a total of 1200 or 1500 calories for the day, it's a pretty easy choice to make. For me, it was a VERY eye opening experience to count every calorie. Some things really surprised me the first time I started counting calories which, surprisingly enough, was only two years ago. For my entire life, I avoided counting calories by following one diet plan or another. I had a mental block against counting calories. But once I started counting calories, I never looked at food the same way, again. Even when I wasn't counting, meaning I wasn't adding them up at the end of the day, I always looked at what I was eating and estimated the number of calories I was consuming. Remember, food is how we fuel our bodies. That's it. Plain and simple. And calories are how we measure that fuel. We don't measure it by the gallon, like we do for our cars, or by the BTU, but by the calorie. So the questions is, how many calories do I need to get through the day to break even, and how many do I need to reduce it by to lose weight at the rate I want to lose weight?
Smart phones make counting calories even easier. I use an app called My Fitness Pal. It has a pretty cool feature in it that helps you decide how many calories you should be eating. When you first sign up for My Fitness Pal (it's free, by the way) it asks you how much you weigh, how active you are, how much weight you want to lose, and how fast you want to lose it. The app then recommends a daily net calorie count to achieve that rate of weight loss.
The app also has a daily diary. You simple click "add" then you select "breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack" and then you type in the foods you are eating. It will search for the food and come up with the closest match. If you are eating packaged food you can scan in the UPC label and it will tell you the nutritional content of the food. You can also build recipes or just add total calories. If you go to a well known restaurant, it also has calorie counts for many of the menu items. Sometimes I just pick what looks closest. I use the app to track all of my daily calories. You can also add your exercise and it will show you the calories burned for whatever exercise you are doing, for a net calorie count. The app also tracks your progress, has a 3 month progress chart, and allows you and friends to follow one another.
No matter how you choose to do it, counting calories, for me, is the first, most essential tool for deciding what I am going to eat every day. My goal is to consume less than 1500 calories a day. I don't recommend doing this, but if you are not exercising and you want to lose weight, that number might be more like 1200 calories a day.
After deciding the number of calories I am going to eat, I need to think about the types of calories I am going to eat. I heard someone say yesterday, "If it doesn't grow that way, don't eat it." I think that is a great rule. The closer your food comes to the way it appears in its natural form, the better. I look at it this way, processed foods comes partially digested. It's kind of like momma birds pre-eating food and regurgitating it into their babies' beaks. That way the chicks get food that is partially digested and their bodies can convert it to energy faster. Well, that's great for baby birds, but for you, that pre-digested (processed) food turns to glucose really, really fast and causes insulin spikes, cravings, and other undesirable effects. Also, do you really know what all those ingredients are on that label? Think about it. So, rule number 2, eat food in the most natural state that your situation and lifestyle allows. Cereal is a perfect example. I cannot tell you the last time I bought a box of cereal. I know it was over 8 years ago. There is not a cereal out there, even shredded wheat, that does not quickly convert to glucose in the blood stream. Breakfast is very important, don't skip it, but there are tons of breakfasts better for you than cereal.
Rule three is eat a small amount of protein or healthy fat every time you eat. I don't mean you need a steak or a piece of chicken every time you eat. In fact, most of my meals do not include meat of any kind. I mean protein. That can be eggs, yogurt (I've heard that Greek yogurt has twice the protein of regular, but I don't like yogurt without sugar in it, so I don't eat it at all), cottage cheese, beans, nuts, tofu, seitan, tempeh, mushrooms, quinoa, or a number of other things. If you have never done any research on what has protein in it, you might want to do a google search on protein in different foods. It is quite enlightening. Also, I always eat my protein first. I got this from the Zone, but it makes sense to me. By eating protein before the carbs, you slow down the conversion of glucose in your blood stream and keep your insulin levels more constant. This helps prevent cravings and insulin spikes. Try to avoid eating anything without eating some form of protein or healthy fat, first. Want an apple? Eat some almonds or a piece of low fat cheese, first.
Rule four is veggies. Eat your vegetables. I like the rule, the darker and more colorful, the better. Those dark green, purple, red, and orange veggies have all kinds of great nutrients in them that your body needs. Avoid, at all costs, meals that are all one color, particularly if that color is the color of a french fry or piece of fried chicken. Think about it. I know you've done it. You've ordered a meal at a restaurant and the plate comes out and everything is tan. Yeah, bad sign. If you're plate is colorful it's a good sign that you are getting a variety of nutrients. Also, a big plus for veggies, is that you don't have to count the calories in veggies. They're free!! Fill up your plate and tummy with that broccoli, lettuce, asparagus or veggie of your choice.
Rule five is five meals. It really makes a difference. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. Some people add a snack after dinner to make a sixth meal. You don't get more calories, you're just eating less per meal. Some experts recommend eating meals off of a salad plate so you don't put too much on your plate. There are studies that suggest that the bigger the plate or the container, the more you'll eat. So if it helps, eat your meals off of smaller plates.
And I guess rule six is the only real "don't," rather than "do." Don't eat sugar or white flour. Try to avoid it at all costs. Simple carbs are just plain bad for you. If you actively work at avoiding white sugar and white flour you will still eat it sometimes, but it will be so much less than you are eating it now. Another interesting thing to google is sugar consumption in the United States. It is mind blowing how much sugar we eat. Also don't drink soda. And I mean all soda, diet or otherwise. In fact, I've given up all artificial sweeteners after reading and hearing in several places that artificial sweeteners cause you to gain weight around the waist. That is a problem area for me. Also, I believe it is true that artificial sweeteners keep that taste for sweets alive. There was also a recent study published that indicated that sugar consumption makes you less smart. Another interesting tidbit to google...
So that's pretty much it. In summary, my food plan is this:
1) Eat less than 1500 calories per day
2) Eat food in its most natural state
3) Eat protein or a healthy fat with every meal
4) Eat lots of veggies, particularly dark, colorful ones
5) Eat snacks
6) Avoid sugar and white flour.
In addition to my eating plan I exercise six days a week. Three days a week are cardio (either a five mile jog or 100 floors on the stair master and 2500 strides on the elliptical machine) and three days a week of strength training. My exercise is vigorous and strenuous, it's not just a walk in the park. There are some days that I do choose to walk the five miles instead of jogging them, but that is not often and it is usually after a particularly hard day at the gym. The strength training is essential, particularly for women over 30. You must do it!!!
I'll talk more about exercise in another post. This one has gotten long enough, for those of you that read to the end...
Friday, May 25, 2012
5/25/12: Breaking Through!!!
This morning the scale read 199.8!!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!! I am out of the two-hundreds!! That feels really, really good!!
The next big goal is 177 pounds. That is what I weighed in July of 2007; shortly after I finished the Aids LifeCycle Ride for the first time and the morning of the day I was admitted to the hospital for an emergency hysterectemy and to have an ovary removed due to an ovarian torsion. (Talk about pain!! Nothing I've ever experienced hurt more than that ovarian torsion.). I had worked hard to get to 177 pounds and was feeling really good. I worked hard not to let the surgery derail me but, ultimately, it did. I think it was the combination of a shift in hormones from having the ovary removed and the inability to do strenuous exercise for so many weeks. Anyway, the weight started creeping up until I got into the 220s, which is where I was on February 27th, 2012, when I started this "Get Fit and Healthy so I Can Enjoy the Second Half of My Life," initiative. When I get to 177 pounds I will feel like I have made up the ground that I lost over the last five years. After that I will be venturing into territory that I have not been in for a very, very long time.
So, "Hello, one-nineties! It's nice to see you but I won't be here long. I have other places I need to be!!"
The next big goal is 177 pounds. That is what I weighed in July of 2007; shortly after I finished the Aids LifeCycle Ride for the first time and the morning of the day I was admitted to the hospital for an emergency hysterectemy and to have an ovary removed due to an ovarian torsion. (Talk about pain!! Nothing I've ever experienced hurt more than that ovarian torsion.). I had worked hard to get to 177 pounds and was feeling really good. I worked hard not to let the surgery derail me but, ultimately, it did. I think it was the combination of a shift in hormones from having the ovary removed and the inability to do strenuous exercise for so many weeks. Anyway, the weight started creeping up until I got into the 220s, which is where I was on February 27th, 2012, when I started this "Get Fit and Healthy so I Can Enjoy the Second Half of My Life," initiative. When I get to 177 pounds I will feel like I have made up the ground that I lost over the last five years. After that I will be venturing into territory that I have not been in for a very, very long time.
So, "Hello, one-nineties! It's nice to see you but I won't be here long. I have other places I need to be!!"
Thursday, May 24, 2012
5/24/12: Mid Week Weigh-In
I had a much better day yesterday, was disciplined about eating and exercise and the results paid off on the scale this morning. Today I weighed 200.2 pounds. I'm getting very, very close to the one-nineties! I am confident that by my weigh-in on Monday I will be there!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
5/23/12: Food and Wine Therapy; and I'm Counting Calories Again
As I've mentioned in a couple of my recent posts, I've been a little blue lately. Last weekend I started taking some proactive steps to make changes to what is causing my blues, but last night I treated the symptoms with food. It started at work with a few mini-Peppermint Patties from a co-worker's candy jar. I thought once I got home I'd be fine, but I wasn't. After eating a couple small handfuls of Jack's dark chocolate M&M's and the last five cookies (Pepperidge Farm Milanos) in the house, I opened the bottle of red wine that has been sitting in the wine rack for about a month. I told myself I wouldn't eat much dinner, but yeah, that didn't work out too well, either. I made chicken quesadillas, which aren't that bad as far as calories go since we use 60 calorie tortillas, with homemade guacamole. I was only going to eat half of one, and really, after half I was satisfied. But I finished the thing and had another glass of wine, to boot. The end result? I was full. And I gained weight this morning. And I've decided that I should stop being lazy about counting calories. I'm not sure if calorie counting would have stopped me last night or not, but it would have at least been one more speed bump in the road and I can use all the speed bumps I can get.
So, you'll start getting my calorie and work-out recaps, once again.
Tomorrow is my official weigh in day. I hope the results tomorrow don't reflect my excesses of last night. I guess we'll see soon enough...
So, you'll start getting my calorie and work-out recaps, once again.
Tomorrow is my official weigh in day. I hope the results tomorrow don't reflect my excesses of last night. I guess we'll see soon enough...
Monday, May 21, 2012
5/21/12: End of Week 12 Weigh-In
Progress continues. My official end of week 12 weight was 201.4 pounds this morning. Total weight loss after 12 weeks is 22.6 pounds. Looking forward to the one-nineties by this time next week!! Still under that line!! The red line will cross the horizontal axis on or before February 4, 2013!!
Saturday, May 19, 2012
5/19/2012: Digging a Little Deeper
I did not want to go for my run today, not even a little bit. I'm not sure why, but it probably has something to do with the general malaise I was feeling today. In spite of not wanting to go, I managed to get my workout clothes on and my butt out the door. I thought I might end up walking the entire five miles, but I figured a five mile walk was better than an hour on the couch, so off I went. It turns out I ended up running more of the five miles than I have ever run before. After walking the first quarter mile for a warm up, I jogged the entire route, including the uphills, with the exception of about 100 yards where there is no trail and I have to cut through a parking lot. It wasn't easy, I was talking my body into it most of the way, but it felt really good when it was done. It felt like a real accomplishment! I may be sore tomorrow, but today I feel pretty dang good!
5/19/2012: Man Vs. Squirrel - I Refuse to Lose
 |
| Squirrel abatement patch |
 |
| Tomatoes in cage to keep the squirrels out |
 |
| Baby tomato |
 |
| Chocolate and apple mint |
 |
| Rabbits don't jump - unravaged beets |
 |
| Beet greens - no bunnies |
 |
| Herbs |
 |
| Lettuce |
 |
| Watch Frog!! |
My garden brings me a lot of joy. I love growing my own food. It just feels so right!!!
5/19/2012: Working Through the Blues...
Sometimes, well, most of the time, OK, maybe all of the time, things just don't go as planned. Right, Rebecca? I thought I had a plan for the rest of the year that I was OK with, but I no longer think I can stay that course. No, I'm not talking about my get healthy and fit plan. That is right on track. Thank goodness I have taken charge of that aspect of my life!! That helps motivate me to work through other areas over which I have less control. I'm being vague, I know. Sorry about that, but it has to be that way in this forum. But suffice it to say that it has been a rough few days for me, emotionally, and it is time for me to do something about it. I refuse to sit on my duff to wait to see what will come my way. That has never been my style and, I dare say, it never will be. The only constant is change, as they say.
On a seemingly unrelated note, I had an interesting and somewhat unsettling experience a week or two ago. It's funny that I can't remember where I was or who I was talking to, but this is what happened. I was at an event (I remember now, it was the White House symposium for entreprenuers at the Kauffman Center) and was talking with a couple of women when the subject of retirement planning came up. Of course, Jack and I have discussed this subject, numerous times, and we are both saving in 401Ks and have some money in IRAs and Jack will have his military pension (at least the part he gets to keep); but part of the plan is that I intend to work for a long, long time. Yes, this will be partly from the desire to have more money than our savings and Jack's pension will provide. And that desire for more money has more to do with what I want to do rather than what I have to do to get by. We'll want to travel, spend time with family, and stay engaged with the world around us. All of that takes money. Plain and simple.
But the other reason I will work in some capacity for a long, long time is simply because I like to be engaged in meaningful work. I like being challenged and forcing myself to continually adapt and improve my skill set and increase my knowledge. I like getting paid. I have no desire to be retired. Do I want the ability to take long vacations and three day weekends on a regular basis? Well, yes, probably. I am hoping that as I get into my seventies and eighties I have worked that part out. But not working at all is just not in the cards for me, anytime soon.
So, back to this unsettling experience. One of the women I was talking to was an investment/retirement consultant of some sort. When the subject of retirement planning came up, specifically retirement planning for women, Ms. Investment Consultant stated, as if it were a fact, that planning for retirement for women is different from planning for retirement for men because women just don't want to work into their sixties and seventies the way men do. I stated, quite directly, that I intend to work through my sixties and seventies and well into my eighties, if not nineties, and Ms. Investment Consultant was just aghast at the thought. She looked at me as if I was some freak of nature or something. She just couldn't figure out why I wouldn't want to "plan my life" in such a way that I could retire in my late fifties or early sixties. "What if something happens to you?" she said. You know, something may happen to me that may either temporarily or permanently derail my plan to work for the next 30 years. But I am sure not going to plan for that. Yes, Jack and I are saving money. Yes, we recognize the possibility of things not going to plan. But you know, I can't look at the future and plan to be frail and decrepit in my old age. That's just silly. I look into the future and see a vibrant, productive, fun-loving, generous, wise and practical old lady. I like the way that looks. That's the future I am planning for. Ms. Investment Consultant can take her annuities to the old folks home with her and be spoon fed jello, for all I care. I'm going to be eating granola on the long trail with my daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters until I am pushing daisies!! That's my plan. That is why I am working hard to get and stay at a healthy weight. That is why I have to solve the problem I referred to at the beginning of this post. One by one, I need to address the issues that frustrate me in life and work through them. I have gotten a grip on the biggest, most important, and probably most emotionally crippling one; my weight. Now it is time to start grappling with Big Issue Number Two.
Ah life...ain't it grand?
On a seemingly unrelated note, I had an interesting and somewhat unsettling experience a week or two ago. It's funny that I can't remember where I was or who I was talking to, but this is what happened. I was at an event (I remember now, it was the White House symposium for entreprenuers at the Kauffman Center) and was talking with a couple of women when the subject of retirement planning came up. Of course, Jack and I have discussed this subject, numerous times, and we are both saving in 401Ks and have some money in IRAs and Jack will have his military pension (at least the part he gets to keep); but part of the plan is that I intend to work for a long, long time. Yes, this will be partly from the desire to have more money than our savings and Jack's pension will provide. And that desire for more money has more to do with what I want to do rather than what I have to do to get by. We'll want to travel, spend time with family, and stay engaged with the world around us. All of that takes money. Plain and simple.
But the other reason I will work in some capacity for a long, long time is simply because I like to be engaged in meaningful work. I like being challenged and forcing myself to continually adapt and improve my skill set and increase my knowledge. I like getting paid. I have no desire to be retired. Do I want the ability to take long vacations and three day weekends on a regular basis? Well, yes, probably. I am hoping that as I get into my seventies and eighties I have worked that part out. But not working at all is just not in the cards for me, anytime soon.
So, back to this unsettling experience. One of the women I was talking to was an investment/retirement consultant of some sort. When the subject of retirement planning came up, specifically retirement planning for women, Ms. Investment Consultant stated, as if it were a fact, that planning for retirement for women is different from planning for retirement for men because women just don't want to work into their sixties and seventies the way men do. I stated, quite directly, that I intend to work through my sixties and seventies and well into my eighties, if not nineties, and Ms. Investment Consultant was just aghast at the thought. She looked at me as if I was some freak of nature or something. She just couldn't figure out why I wouldn't want to "plan my life" in such a way that I could retire in my late fifties or early sixties. "What if something happens to you?" she said. You know, something may happen to me that may either temporarily or permanently derail my plan to work for the next 30 years. But I am sure not going to plan for that. Yes, Jack and I are saving money. Yes, we recognize the possibility of things not going to plan. But you know, I can't look at the future and plan to be frail and decrepit in my old age. That's just silly. I look into the future and see a vibrant, productive, fun-loving, generous, wise and practical old lady. I like the way that looks. That's the future I am planning for. Ms. Investment Consultant can take her annuities to the old folks home with her and be spoon fed jello, for all I care. I'm going to be eating granola on the long trail with my daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters until I am pushing daisies!! That's my plan. That is why I am working hard to get and stay at a healthy weight. That is why I have to solve the problem I referred to at the beginning of this post. One by one, I need to address the issues that frustrate me in life and work through them. I have gotten a grip on the biggest, most important, and probably most emotionally crippling one; my weight. Now it is time to start grappling with Big Issue Number Two.
Ah life...ain't it grand?
Thursday, May 17, 2012
5/17/2012: Weigh-in Mid Week Eleven
My weight loss efforts continue to be rewarded with steady, albeit gradual, results. This morning I weighed in at 202 pounds for a total weight loss of 22 pounds over the last eleven and a half weeks. I am still below my line and keeping on track towards my goal of losing 74 pounds by February 4th, 2013. I know I have talked about it before, but the most effective tool in my arsenal is definitely the chart I am keeping on my bathroom wall. When I think about eating something I shouldn't eat or skipping exercise, I invariably think about the next time I have to mark my chart and how much I hate it, and I mean really hate it, when my line goes up instead of down. That visualization of me having to make that red line go the wrong direction on my chart is almost always enough to get me to make a good choice when it comes to food and exercise.
I find myself staring at the chart in the mornings, physching myself up for the day, imagining the line going down the next time I mark the chart. It is a very powerful tool that is much more effective than I imagined it would be. I hadn't thought about it before, but I need to give credit where credit is due. This gargantuan chart on my bathroom wall was not my original idea. I have always kept charts on excel spreadsheets but my brother, George, had told me about a poster board chart that he made for his wall. He encouraged me to do the same but I resisted the idea for a month or two. But, finally, when I knew I was serious about this goal, I also knew I needed to give this a try. In my own fashion, I modified his idea by adding the weekly photos and comments to the chart, which I really like. But that original, big-in-my-face-chart-on-the-bathroom-wall idea belongs with George. I'm grateful for the inspiration and encourage anyone that needs to lose weight to add this tool to his or her bag of tricks.
All in all, I am doing well on my journey. I have my ups and downs. There are those moments when I feel disgusted with myself for ever letting myself get this heavy and when I think this is going to take forever. But there are other moments when I realize that I am already 1/4 done with my 48 week plan and it hasn't been that bad. I only need to do what I have already done 3 more times and I will have reached my goal weight. I have a hard time imagining what that will be like, since it has been so long since I weighed 150 pounds, but I know it will be good. I weighed 175 pounds about 4 years ago and I know I liked that! It's hard to visualize 25 fewer pounds, but I will be esctatic when all I need to do to see what 150 pounds looks like is look in the mirror! 36 weeks. I can do it!
Diet and exercise. The combination is working. I counted calories for several weeks, which helped a lot, but I haven't been counting calories for about two weeks now. I got out of the habit when we were on vacation in San Diego. So far, not counting calories hasn't impacted my eating negatively, so we'll see how it goes for a while. If I find I am starting the slide to eating too much and not getting the results on the scale, I'll start counting again. The weather is amazing! I'm enjoying my lunch at the park...
I find myself staring at the chart in the mornings, physching myself up for the day, imagining the line going down the next time I mark the chart. It is a very powerful tool that is much more effective than I imagined it would be. I hadn't thought about it before, but I need to give credit where credit is due. This gargantuan chart on my bathroom wall was not my original idea. I have always kept charts on excel spreadsheets but my brother, George, had told me about a poster board chart that he made for his wall. He encouraged me to do the same but I resisted the idea for a month or two. But, finally, when I knew I was serious about this goal, I also knew I needed to give this a try. In my own fashion, I modified his idea by adding the weekly photos and comments to the chart, which I really like. But that original, big-in-my-face-chart-on-the-bathroom-wall idea belongs with George. I'm grateful for the inspiration and encourage anyone that needs to lose weight to add this tool to his or her bag of tricks.
All in all, I am doing well on my journey. I have my ups and downs. There are those moments when I feel disgusted with myself for ever letting myself get this heavy and when I think this is going to take forever. But there are other moments when I realize that I am already 1/4 done with my 48 week plan and it hasn't been that bad. I only need to do what I have already done 3 more times and I will have reached my goal weight. I have a hard time imagining what that will be like, since it has been so long since I weighed 150 pounds, but I know it will be good. I weighed 175 pounds about 4 years ago and I know I liked that! It's hard to visualize 25 fewer pounds, but I will be esctatic when all I need to do to see what 150 pounds looks like is look in the mirror! 36 weeks. I can do it!
Diet and exercise. The combination is working. I counted calories for several weeks, which helped a lot, but I haven't been counting calories for about two weeks now. I got out of the habit when we were on vacation in San Diego. So far, not counting calories hasn't impacted my eating negatively, so we'll see how it goes for a while. If I find I am starting the slide to eating too much and not getting the results on the scale, I'll start counting again. The weather is amazing! I'm enjoying my lunch at the park...
Monday, May 14, 2012
5/14/12 - Bri's Wedding
 |
| Brianna McKown Dawson 5/11/12 |
 |
| Brianna, Kyle and Jack |
 |
| Roberta, Jack and our grandchildren |
 |
| Roberta at Bri's wedding 5-11-12 |
The reception was lovely, the bride was beautiful and it was great getting to spend time with the McKown side of the family.
We even got to spend a little bit of time with my brother George, my nephew Pat and his fiance, Heather, at the zoo on Saturday. Pat and Heather are getting married on June 30. We discovered that Pat and I have the same weight goal for his wedding, 188 pounds. When I got home and looked at my chart I realized that my goal for June 30th is actually between 188 and 190 pounds, but that's cool. I like push goals! We'll see which one of us gets closer! We were both at 204 on Saturday (or at least I thought I was, I didn't have a scale in San Diego).
 |
| Pat feeding the Rhino |
 |
| Heather feeding the Rhino |
5/14/12: Back from San Diego with Decent Results & Week 11 Photo
 |
| 5-10-11 Week 11 at Torrey Pine Nature Reserve, San Diego California |
While on vacation I was far from perfect with my exercise routine and my eating, though I tried to keep both reasonable during the five days we were gone. Two of those five days I got up and jog/walked for an hour. On the other days we managed to get quite a bit of walking in by choosing activities that required a lot of walking like going to the nature reserve and the zoo. We also avoided food related activities as much as possible, except to eat the necessary meals. At most meals I made the best choices possible from the available selection, focusing on proteins and trying to stay away from a lot of carbs. When portions were large, I left food on my plate. I only really overate once, and that was at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. I felt so awful after that meal it reminded me not to do that again.
All in all, it worked out. Two pounds lost while on vacation is success in my book! Another potential disaster averted!!
Friday, May 11, 2012
5/11/2012: San Diego
The "out of the normal routine" continues this weekend as Jack and I are in San Diego for Brianna's wedding. We arrived Wednesday at about noon and will be heading home Sunday evening. In spite of being away from home I have been diligent about exercising every day. There is a decent jogging route right outside the hotel's door so it is not too hard to just get up and go for my 60 minutes of jog/walking every morning. The hotel advertised a gym, but there is not one here so most of my exercise will be cardio while I am here. I don't need a gym to do situps, pushups, squats, or lunges; though, so I will try to get those in this afternoon. Jack and I also got a long walk in yesterday afternoon at the Torres Pines Nature Reserve, which was gorgeous! So, all in all, I have felt pretty good about the exercise portion of my program while we have been here in San Diego.
I have not been as diligent about my diet though. I was doing OK until last night, making healthy and light choices for my meals at restaurants and avoiding entertainment options that involved eating (hence the hike in the park). I was feeling pretty good about the food until last night when we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for Bri's rehearsal dinner. There I was, feeling a little out of the the loop, with food all around me. And I did what many people would do in that situation, I ate. Bread, chicken, a little pasta, a piece of cake. It's not like any of the food was particularly good, (thank goodness, or I probably would have eaten more of it) but it was there and I was looking for something to do.
I have to weight myself on Monday when we get back and I need to be below my line, so for the next three days I am committed too continuing my exercise and to eating 1200 calories a day. I cannot let this trip derail me.
Monday, May 7, 2012
5/7/2012: Ten Weeks = 19 Pounds
My official weigh-in was 205 pounds so I have lost 19 pounds in the first 10 weeks. As you can see, I am a little below my line, so it's all good. I've blocked out the next ten weeks on my chart to help me visualize success. Ten week chunks just seem more doable to me. The three primary tools that I am using to keep my on track are this chart, the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone for counting calories, and, of course, this blog.
Have a great day!!
 |
| Weight Loss Chart - 5/7/2012 End of Week Ten |
Have a great day!!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
5/5/2012: The Party's Over
.JPG) |
| 5/6/2012 End of Week 10 Photo |
 |
| 2/26/12 Start Photo |
Well, the partying is done, I've taken measure of the damage, and it's not too bad. After three days of celebrating the most awesome birthday of my life including lunch at Jose Peppers with workmates and a Royals game with Jack on Thursday, dinner at FUD followed by frozen yogurt on Friday, and a raucous birthday bash at Waldo Pizza and Rock-n-Bowling at Ward Parkway Lanes (complete with over-imbibing on beer and then mixed drinks) on Saturday night, I have gained a total of six tenths of one pound! This morning I weighed 205.0 pounds after weighing 204.4 pounds on Thursday. I feel pretty good about that. In spite of all of the opportunities to over-eat and over-drink over the last few days I only let the flood gates open once, and that was last night at my birthday party. Until then I was being careful and counting calories in spite of my wonderful three day birthday celebration. Last night, at 7:00, when I ordered my first Boulevard Pilsner (one of the very few beers that I like), calorie counting was officially suspended until 1:00AM this morning. I have no clue how many calories I consumed in that six hour period. In addition to the three beers and four Captain Morgan and diet cokes that I drank, I ate several pieces of delicious Waldo Pizza pizza and a couple, yes a couple, of pieces of a very good chocolate cake that Jack bought for me from McClain's Bakery, also in Waldo. As I was scarfing down my second piece of cake at 1:00 this morning I declared to Jack that the rest of the cake (there is about 1/4 of a 10" round chocolate cake left in the fridge) was his. Honestly, he doesn't mind. And of the 8 large pizzas we ordered we only have about half a dozen pieces left, in spite of about 7 people not being able to make it last night. Those are Jack's, too. Not only do I not know how many calories I consumed last night, I also have no idea how many I burned. I had a blast at Rock-n-Bowl, doing both of those things, rocking and bowling. I danced and danced and danced and just had a wonderful time playing with friends and celebrating the beginning of the second half of my life. So, for 6 hours I gave myself a free pass and did not worry about calories. But today I am happy and content to say I am back on the program with no regrets and a bit relieved that the damage was contained to less than a pound. I think it was all the dancing. Yep, I'm pretty sure that was it.
Now that the party is over it's time to for me to start walking my talk. I'm not talking about diet and exercise any more, I can safely say that the exercise has become a habit. "Gasp! Did I just say that?" It is crazy to think that it might be true, but it has come to the point, after 10 solid weeks of exercising 6 days a week, that exercise is part of my routine. I feel pretty confident about that. I am still working on the food part of the equation. Obviously I used food and drink to celebrate my 50th birthday last night, but, for the most part, I have stopped using food as a drug to make me feel better when I am down. I'm still working on food-as-fuel, but I am getting closer to disassociating feelings from food every day. The calorie counting has become a habit for me and it helps me make decent food choices throughout the day. My goal of 150 pounds by February 4th, 2012, is so important to me and so ingrained in me at this point that I feel confident that I will get there. That is a good feeling.
So what am I talking about then, when I say I need to start walking my talk? For several weeks now I have been talking about my 50th birthday and what it means to me to be turning 50. It turns out that it means a lot to me, a whole lot. Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to live to be 100 years old. The other day I was trying to remember when I decided I was going to live to be 100 years old and I think it was when I watched the movie, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. The movie is told by a 110 year old former slave played by played by Cicely Tyson. Until I saw that movie, which we watched in middle school in 1974, I don't think I realized that people could get that old. I certainly didn't think people could get that old and still be that vital. I was amazed by Miss Jane Pittman and by all of the things she experienced and witnessed in her life. More importantly, I was impressed by the wisdom and perspective she had from living through so much. I knew then that someday I wanted to be that old and, I hoped, that wise.
Since I am going to live to be 100, this birthday marks the beginning of the second half of my life. To me, that's significant. Early on during this past instrospective month or so, I realized that the hard half is over. The first half of my life has been about surviving childhood more or less intact and then doing all of those things I "had to do," during the first 32 years of my adult life including going to college, raising my children, and establishing a fairly respectable career; making my fair of share of mistakes along the way. I acknowledge and recognize that there were plenty of high moments during that first 50, but there were a lot of "picking myself up by my bootstrap" moments after some pretty spectacular falls, too. Those are the moments that I learned from, of course. Those are the moment that taught me the most important life lessons. And, sometimes, when I did not learn my lesson well enough or fast enough, I'd make the same mistake over again just so I could have another chance to let the lesson sink in. Just like math homework, practice, practice, practice. Sooner or later, you'll catch on. I appreciate those lessons, I really do, and I appreciate all of the people that never gave up on me along the way. But I also appreciate the fact that those first 50 years are over. I feel like those five decades were all about preparing me for today, preparing me for this next 50 years. As I was walking to the Royals stadium on Thursday evening with Jack by my side, I told him that I had this feeling that I was starting over again. I had this intensly vibrant feeling that the slate had been wiped clean and I was getting the opportunity to start the second half of my life fresh, with a clean slate. All of a sudden, all of that was in the past and I was looking into a bright, exciting, and wide open future. It was exhilerating to experience that moment of clarity, of truly understanding that I have learned so much and that I get to take the wisdom, perspective, and skill set that I have acquired into the second 50 years of my life without the so-called baggage of a life-time of missteps. Somehow I realized, in that moment, that all of that is behind me and I get to choose what lays before me.
So what kind of choices will I make? Where do I go from here? Recently, I have been doing a lot reading and something drew me to the book, Boundless Potential, which I recommend to anybody approaching mid-life. The book is about transforming your brain, unleashing your talents and reinventing your work in midlife and beyond. This quote from the book jacket by Michael Murphy sums it up well, "Brilliant, provocative, and highly practical. Applying his award-winning journalistic skills to a topic of vital importance, Mark Walton has punctured the myths and stereotypes of life's second half to reveal our true human potential: how we are hardwired, not for decline, but for continual reinvention, personal achievement, and contribution to others."
Walton's premise is that one need not accept that as we age we lose capacity to achieve great things. In fact, he believes that the opposite is true. People that have reached mid-life and beyond have achieved a wisdom that comes from a combination of brain changes over the years, maturity, and experience. We who have reached this stage of our lives have a mental capacity to engage both the right and left sides of our brains at the same time, in such a way that younger people cannot. Unfortunately, here in the United States, our model is designed to have us retire at 60-65 years of age. Many people dream of an early retirement at 55. I've known for a long time that I will not be retiring any time soon. I've always wondered what I would do with myself if I did retire, particulary considering the fact that I am going to live to be over 100 years old. Walton basically denounces this system of retiring our older workers as poppycock, but recognizes that the system is not going to change anytime soon. Therefore, it is up to us invent our own structures to work within, since it will be difficult to find other that will want to fully employ us with work that we find meaningful into our seventies and eighties and nineties. Walton describes three steps to this process. First, discover your fascination. In defining fascination he says, "Fascination lives at the intersection of heart and mind and sets the direction for reinventive work." Second, find your flow. "Flow, the highest level of human happiness, is generated when fascination is translated into action." Third, envision your structure. "Self-created structres and opportunities are essential for success in midlife and beyond." Basically, one must have an entrepreunerial spirit to create the structures they will work within beyond mid life. Walton's book was exactly what I needed to read last week. It verbalized many of the thoughts that I have been having about the second half of my life and backed those thoughts up with research and many, many real life examples. I found the book to be insightful, inspiring and thought provoking. I have work to do to find my fascination and to figure out how to channel that fascination into meaninful work for the next 30, 40 or 50 years. I know this will take me down a path that may have many forks I need to pursue, so that there may be a bit of starting, assessing, stopping and restarting, and that is fine with me. What I don't want to do is be lazy about this. I'm not going to sit here and wait for inspiration to land in my lap. I want to be intentional about figuring out what comes next. Inspiration is likely to come from an unforeseen direction, I know that, but the more open I am and the more I expose myself to different experiences and ideas, the more likely it will be that I find my fascination.
This blog will continue to be about my path to fitness, but it will also be about reinventing myself in the second half of my life. I have no idea where that path will lead. I guess we are going to find out together!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
5/3/2012: Happy 50th Birthday!!!
And happy it is! For lots of reasons! First we'll get down to brass tacks. After three days in Orlando at an SBA conference I got on the scale this morning with trepidation. What was it going to say after three days of eating conference food? I exercised a lot while I was there, doing my normal exercise in the mornings and using the evening to get in long walks. I was very aware of what I was eating, starting the days with a large breakfast with a lot of protein and then watching every morsel I put in my mouth after breakfast. It all paid off! This morning I weighed 204.4 pounds! I have lost 19.6 pounds! Yeah!
There is so much more to celebrate today, but I started this post and got distracted by talking to Jack. Now I must go to work. I will write more later today. For now, suffice it to say the I am very excited about starting the second half of my life. I intend to live each day with purpose and to its fullest. My dreams and aspirations are yet untapped and I am open to whatever unfolds before me in the decades to come! Thank you, all of you, for being part of my dream come true!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)