After my moaning and groaning, whine city post last night...
I woke up this morning with NO pain. Zero, nada, zilch.
WHEW!
I have scrubbed my bathroom which desperately needed attention. I have walked laps in my garage. I have moved my body at will with NO pain.
I plan on a good workout as soon as I finish cleaning up my kitchen.
I have my energy back!
It is the strangest thing, the body. I'll sure take the relief. It is very welcome. Crossing my fingers that it lasts!
10.19.2010
10.18.2010
Rough Times
I don't want to share this, but I have decided I have to keep my blog going which means sharing my journey. I do go back and read it from time to time and it's nice to have the history there--the good, the bad and the indifferent.
The pain, the very pain that was so severe from January to June, relieved by surgery in June, is back. It's back, it's angry, and I'm miserable.
It's been rearing its ugly head here and there. About a month or so ago we went on a 3-mile family walk. It was so severe that DH actually offered to go home and get the car. I had too much pride for that, but I was crying and he even had to take the leash to my Pippy Pup.
It's been there a few times but it left shortly so I was hopeful. Well, Wednesday it came and has not left. I broke down and cried this afternoon. I told hubby that I just cannot deal with this. I can't. It will break me. I'm cracking.
I'm so upset, so depressed, and miserable. I can't do my workouts--that's awful! I can't bend over, I can't lift my right leg--a knee lift. Can't clean the bath tub, or empty trash cans. Yesterday I was able to vacuum some of the floors. It's frustrating to not be able to do normal day-to-day thing. I can do dishes.
Zero energy. It just sucks the life right out of me. I lie down A LOT. I hate lying down,I'm an active person now. Tonight I actually watched 1 1/2 hours of TV without getting up! Aside from NCIS, I just don't watch TV. And when I watch NCIS, I march in place.
This sucks. Have not called the doctor yet. I'm dreading it. I'm dreading the "wait and see," the lack of compassion for the pain. I'm not asking for meds, because frankly, they don't work. I took a left over pain pill from my surgery yesterday. I think it was Vicodin. It numbed the pain but didn't take it away. I hate the feeling of being drugged up, so why bother.
So I'm trying to be proactive, drop the inflammation in my body, watch my blood sugar spikes--today was great!, continue to move. Believe it or not, I managed to get 12,000 steps in. Each and every step had pain with it and I didn't want to take it, but I DID IT. I did it for me.
So I'm very sad, scared and frustrated right now.
That's life.
Believe it or not, I forgot to weigh in this morning. That says something as I'm a daily weigher.
This just sucks.
The pain, the very pain that was so severe from January to June, relieved by surgery in June, is back. It's back, it's angry, and I'm miserable.
It's been rearing its ugly head here and there. About a month or so ago we went on a 3-mile family walk. It was so severe that DH actually offered to go home and get the car. I had too much pride for that, but I was crying and he even had to take the leash to my Pippy Pup.
It's been there a few times but it left shortly so I was hopeful. Well, Wednesday it came and has not left. I broke down and cried this afternoon. I told hubby that I just cannot deal with this. I can't. It will break me. I'm cracking.
I'm so upset, so depressed, and miserable. I can't do my workouts--that's awful! I can't bend over, I can't lift my right leg--a knee lift. Can't clean the bath tub, or empty trash cans. Yesterday I was able to vacuum some of the floors. It's frustrating to not be able to do normal day-to-day thing. I can do dishes.
Zero energy. It just sucks the life right out of me. I lie down A LOT. I hate lying down,I'm an active person now. Tonight I actually watched 1 1/2 hours of TV without getting up! Aside from NCIS, I just don't watch TV. And when I watch NCIS, I march in place.
This sucks. Have not called the doctor yet. I'm dreading it. I'm dreading the "wait and see," the lack of compassion for the pain. I'm not asking for meds, because frankly, they don't work. I took a left over pain pill from my surgery yesterday. I think it was Vicodin. It numbed the pain but didn't take it away. I hate the feeling of being drugged up, so why bother.
So I'm trying to be proactive, drop the inflammation in my body, watch my blood sugar spikes--today was great!, continue to move. Believe it or not, I managed to get 12,000 steps in. Each and every step had pain with it and I didn't want to take it, but I DID IT. I did it for me.
So I'm very sad, scared and frustrated right now.
That's life.
Believe it or not, I forgot to weigh in this morning. That says something as I'm a daily weigher.
This just sucks.
10.17.2010
We Have Blood Sugar Spike, Big Time
So I took my blood sugar several times today to see how foods affected me. All day it was great. Tonight, I was hurting and in a lot of pain and since I was experimenting (that's my excuse) I decided to have some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for dinner. I was stupid and forgot to take my blood sugar before, d'oh!, but an hour after? 153. The highest it had been all day was 107.
We got spike, baby, big time.
Experiment working. Got it through my thick skull now: starch/pasta=NO JO!
Damn.
Well, I feel powerful knowing this--finally seeing the numbers, I have the science. I knew that wasn't good for me, but seeing is believing. Got it.
We got spike, baby, big time.
Experiment working. Got it through my thick skull now: starch/pasta=NO JO!
Damn.
Well, I feel powerful knowing this--finally seeing the numbers, I have the science. I knew that wasn't good for me, but seeing is believing. Got it.
Perfectionism
I'm a perfectionist. It's definitely a fault, but it is a big part of who I am. When my perfectionism doesn't yield the results I desire, I get upset.
Case in point, my weight loss the year of 2010. Despite not being a cheater, weighing and measuring everything that goes into my mouth, and exercising faithfully, the weight is not coming off at the speed I desire. I might add, the weight is not coming off as it would appear to if you looked at my stats on paper. Far from it.
So what's a perfectionist to do? Shrink into herself, quit blogging, become frustrated, but NEVER GIVE UP. That's me, that is a big part of who I am.
This past week was a bear for me. I had a panic attack on Tuesday. Haven't had one for quite awhile. Took two Xanax which helped, but Wednesday I felt drugged and sluggish. Wednesday evening my old foe, "the pain," came back to greet me. Thursday and Friday the pain was really bad. No DVD workouts, yet I managed to keep my step count high.
Yesterday, with the help of a heating pad, I was feeling better and was able to get a strength workout in. I attempted a step DVD, but by that point the pain was back and I couldn't do knee lifts.
Today, knock on wood, I'm feeling okay and will attempt a cardio workout shortly.
This just isn't the kind of thing I want to blog about. I want to say, "Wow, it works fast and well when you eat less and move more!" I don't want to blog about struggles all the time. Yet I can't turn my back on my own story, and this blog is my journal, so I decided to come out of my shell and share.
The past few days I have been doing a lot of reading. A couple readers in the past suggested I had symptoms of PCOS. I never looked it up because I thought surely my doctors would tell me if they suspected PCOS. Crickets. I looked up the symptoms and about fell out of my chair. PCOS is on my list of questions to ask my doctor about the next time I go in. I have many of the symptoms, including the chief complaints that get people into the doctor in the first place. Ahem.
Another area I've been reading about a lot is Insulin Resistance, also known as Pre-Diabetes, Syndrome X or Metabolic Syndrome. Now in the past three years I've seen three different GPs. One of those was covering for my GP at the time, and I was very sick with pneumonia/sinusitis/etc., and couldn't see my regular doctor and saw Dr. W. He is the only one of three GPs that has ever said to me that I was pre-diabetic. I remember it well, his exact words were, "I see you are pre-diabetic." The others? Crickets.
It frustrates me because I think that physicians should tell us when we have conditions, disorders, etc. I don't like being treated for symptoms, I want my physicians looking at the larger picture. I want them to share enough info with me that I can read on my own and make choices to change my lifestyle.
Gee, I didn't need any of them to tell me I was too fat weighing in at 282.5 pounds, or that my blood sugar was 2 points from labeling me diabetic, or that my blood pressure was borderline high. WAS being the operative word. They did share my lab results so I knew my lipids results. I gathered all those lab reports and put them together. I am so damned proud of myself for working hard and vastly improving my numbers. I just looked at them again this morning and it gave me a rush: See, that weight may not be coming off as fast as you like, but look at your awesome blood work, Jo! Fantastic!
But, but, but...researching further, the fact of the matter is: I still qualify for insulin resistance. I've still got Syndrome X, Metabolic Syndrome, or pre-diabetes. That does not make me happy. So what do I do about that? Continue my exercise routine. It's given me wonderful results. Lift heavier--time to up those weights. Building muscle is of the utmost importance. I'm still shooting for 20,000 steps a day. And even this week when I felt puny, I was still able to get 20,000 all but one day.
But what about diet? Aha, here is where I need some work. I've always believed in the motto: Everything in moderation. Do not eliminate anything, just use moderation. Well, obviously that hasn't held true because aside from a once-a-month visit to Taco Bell, I have given up fast food. I have given up caffeine. I didn't set out to give that up, but my body revolted and it was necessary. So now I'm going to have to change some things further. I think it's time to slowly switch over to a glycemic index diet. Yup, I never wanted to do this, but I think it's imperative that I do so. Obviously insulin is not working right in my body, my hormones are all messed up (insulin is a hormone, I just learned that this year!), and I need to get them under control. So all this talk of clean eating that I avoid, hide my head under the covers, well, it's time for me to go there.
It's time to give up processed foods. Aaaaaaccckkkk. The breakfast cereal will be the most difficult. In fact, I don't know that I will give it up. In my quest for perfectionism, I bought myself a blood glucose monitor even though I was not diabetic. So this morning I took my resting glucose level (78) and then ate my bowl of cereal. Shortly I'll take another reading to see how badly it spiked. I'm going to do that this week and see what foods spike my blood sugar. I'm trying to be very proactive here and eliminate foods that spike too much.
It's going to be tough, but I'm worth it. And I'm not one to be black and white and throw everything out immediately and start something brand new right now--that, for me, is a recipe for failure. Gradual changes work best for me.
So that's my plan this week.
I guess this has turned to more than just weight loss and a number on the scale. I am scared of the inflammation going on in my body. I want those hormones under control. I ordered some books, and have further research to do. So instead of feeling frustrated, I'm feeling a bit empowered today. This whole shift came about because I cannot bare to live with the ovarian pain that I've had this entire year. My body is inflamed, and if I really do have PCOS, I understand that the insulin hormone not working correctly is actually irritating my ovaries. At least that's what I could gather so far from my research. Well, I don't need PCOS for that to happen--supposedly it's just how things work.
I'll update on my progress.
Case in point, my weight loss the year of 2010. Despite not being a cheater, weighing and measuring everything that goes into my mouth, and exercising faithfully, the weight is not coming off at the speed I desire. I might add, the weight is not coming off as it would appear to if you looked at my stats on paper. Far from it.
So what's a perfectionist to do? Shrink into herself, quit blogging, become frustrated, but NEVER GIVE UP. That's me, that is a big part of who I am.
This past week was a bear for me. I had a panic attack on Tuesday. Haven't had one for quite awhile. Took two Xanax which helped, but Wednesday I felt drugged and sluggish. Wednesday evening my old foe, "the pain," came back to greet me. Thursday and Friday the pain was really bad. No DVD workouts, yet I managed to keep my step count high.
Yesterday, with the help of a heating pad, I was feeling better and was able to get a strength workout in. I attempted a step DVD, but by that point the pain was back and I couldn't do knee lifts.
Today, knock on wood, I'm feeling okay and will attempt a cardio workout shortly.
This just isn't the kind of thing I want to blog about. I want to say, "Wow, it works fast and well when you eat less and move more!" I don't want to blog about struggles all the time. Yet I can't turn my back on my own story, and this blog is my journal, so I decided to come out of my shell and share.
The past few days I have been doing a lot of reading. A couple readers in the past suggested I had symptoms of PCOS. I never looked it up because I thought surely my doctors would tell me if they suspected PCOS. Crickets. I looked up the symptoms and about fell out of my chair. PCOS is on my list of questions to ask my doctor about the next time I go in. I have many of the symptoms, including the chief complaints that get people into the doctor in the first place. Ahem.
Another area I've been reading about a lot is Insulin Resistance, also known as Pre-Diabetes, Syndrome X or Metabolic Syndrome. Now in the past three years I've seen three different GPs. One of those was covering for my GP at the time, and I was very sick with pneumonia/sinusitis/etc., and couldn't see my regular doctor and saw Dr. W. He is the only one of three GPs that has ever said to me that I was pre-diabetic. I remember it well, his exact words were, "I see you are pre-diabetic." The others? Crickets.
It frustrates me because I think that physicians should tell us when we have conditions, disorders, etc. I don't like being treated for symptoms, I want my physicians looking at the larger picture. I want them to share enough info with me that I can read on my own and make choices to change my lifestyle.
Gee, I didn't need any of them to tell me I was too fat weighing in at 282.5 pounds, or that my blood sugar was 2 points from labeling me diabetic, or that my blood pressure was borderline high. WAS being the operative word. They did share my lab results so I knew my lipids results. I gathered all those lab reports and put them together. I am so damned proud of myself for working hard and vastly improving my numbers. I just looked at them again this morning and it gave me a rush: See, that weight may not be coming off as fast as you like, but look at your awesome blood work, Jo! Fantastic!
But, but, but...researching further, the fact of the matter is: I still qualify for insulin resistance. I've still got Syndrome X, Metabolic Syndrome, or pre-diabetes. That does not make me happy. So what do I do about that? Continue my exercise routine. It's given me wonderful results. Lift heavier--time to up those weights. Building muscle is of the utmost importance. I'm still shooting for 20,000 steps a day. And even this week when I felt puny, I was still able to get 20,000 all but one day.
But what about diet? Aha, here is where I need some work. I've always believed in the motto: Everything in moderation. Do not eliminate anything, just use moderation. Well, obviously that hasn't held true because aside from a once-a-month visit to Taco Bell, I have given up fast food. I have given up caffeine. I didn't set out to give that up, but my body revolted and it was necessary. So now I'm going to have to change some things further. I think it's time to slowly switch over to a glycemic index diet. Yup, I never wanted to do this, but I think it's imperative that I do so. Obviously insulin is not working right in my body, my hormones are all messed up (insulin is a hormone, I just learned that this year!), and I need to get them under control. So all this talk of clean eating that I avoid, hide my head under the covers, well, it's time for me to go there.
It's time to give up processed foods. Aaaaaaccckkkk. The breakfast cereal will be the most difficult. In fact, I don't know that I will give it up. In my quest for perfectionism, I bought myself a blood glucose monitor even though I was not diabetic. So this morning I took my resting glucose level (78) and then ate my bowl of cereal. Shortly I'll take another reading to see how badly it spiked. I'm going to do that this week and see what foods spike my blood sugar. I'm trying to be very proactive here and eliminate foods that spike too much.
It's going to be tough, but I'm worth it. And I'm not one to be black and white and throw everything out immediately and start something brand new right now--that, for me, is a recipe for failure. Gradual changes work best for me.
So that's my plan this week.
I guess this has turned to more than just weight loss and a number on the scale. I am scared of the inflammation going on in my body. I want those hormones under control. I ordered some books, and have further research to do. So instead of feeling frustrated, I'm feeling a bit empowered today. This whole shift came about because I cannot bare to live with the ovarian pain that I've had this entire year. My body is inflamed, and if I really do have PCOS, I understand that the insulin hormone not working correctly is actually irritating my ovaries. At least that's what I could gather so far from my research. Well, I don't need PCOS for that to happen--supposedly it's just how things work.
I'll update on my progress.
10.04.2010
Intensity
Over the years, when I worked out, it was always with one particular instructor. I knew his routines by heart--well enough to break out and do them in the aisles when I heard the songs playing at stores. (I never did this, but I could have.)
A year ago, I knew I had outgrown these workouts. I knew I had to incorporate weight work and flexibility training. I didn't know where to turn, though, as I am a girlie girl and the thought of doing men's weight work made me ill.
I sat down at Collage Video and started previewing clips. Then I found my magic bullet: The FIRM. For me, the magic was with the older FIRMS, the originals, put out by Anna Benson, her husband Mark Henrickson and her sister Cynthia Benson. I ordered Fat Blaster, Volume 4, and Maximum Body Shaping from Collage and fell in love. This was in September.
One year ago this week, my son and I took a mini-vacation to celebrate his birthday. We were in a city, and we hit many thrift stores so I could find more FIRM videos. I came home empty handed. Why? Because The FIRM works and is still in high demand. So, upon arrival home, I sat down and ordered almost all of them from Amazon's Marketplace.
And the rest is history.
I started building muscle, I started working out at a higher intensity. I sweat bullets. I was in LOVE. Beautiful, graceful instructors in a beautiful setting--it's nicknamed The Mansion--was right up my alley.
As time wore on, I progressed and branched out. I found and fell in love with Christi Taylor, Cathe--who I consider the holy grail. She's tough! I bought P90X and have done a few weeks of it, but I don't care for long rotations so it's back on the shelf for now.
All this time I was building muscle, and I have the Bod Pod results to prove that! I was losing fat slowly. I call myself The Tortoise--which is a play on words, because one of my favorite workouts is The Tortoise by The FIRM. Slow, slow, slow-yet I've watched carefully what I ate, and worked out pretty faithfully--even when I was having all that bad pain.
Then comes the purchase of The FitBit. That arrived in mid August. I played, tinkered and charted things. I got determined to get more steps in. Slowly, in my tortoise fashion, I increased my daily step count. Right this very minute, my weekly average for daily steps is 24,000. That's a lot--for me, and for everyone as I am in the top 3 rankings in all the FitBit groups I'm in.
It was tough to get that many steps in especially when I couldn't get out to walk a lot. So I added in George Foreman's Walking DVDs. I do one every morning. I get 3-4,000 steps per workout. I then added Stephanie Huckabee's PowerFit cardios. 20 minutes each, I gain around 2000 steps with each of those. I also discovered more of Petra Kolber's DVDs: I'm especially fond of Cardio for Beginners. Plus, I walk for real outside. I am less efficient around the house prompting more steps. Going to Walmart? Great, I walk the store a few times for a couple thousand steps. No one has a clue what I'm doing as I am pushing a cart.
I've charted, I've graphed, I've deciphered and figured. This past week I came up with a formula for myself. My goal is to have a 1000 to 1250 deficit daily between what FitBit tells me my calorie burn is and what I consume.
It's working. (For now, at least!) This week's weigh-in, I lost 3.5 pounds! I had entire months where I didn't lose that much! I am thrilled. I also hit the mini-goal I had of losing 30% of my original weight.
Now, knowing me and my track record, who knows if this will continue. However, I figured out that the additional steps per day count AND that I don't need to do everything at high intensity. I try to do a step tape or power walk every day or six times a week. Both are high intensity for me. I average between 6-7,000 steps per step tape. I also do weights three times a week. I stretch a lot, mostly using Classical Stretch. It's that light aerobics, the moving in the low-end of the aerobic target zone, that is helping. I think.
The best part is I'm not starving. I get to eat between 16-1800 calories per day. That's a lot! Well worth it.
I love my FitBit. I love it more than chocolate. I love how my health is improving. I imagine myself kicking that HDL into high numbers with all my hard work. I love this week's weigh-in.
A year ago, I knew I had outgrown these workouts. I knew I had to incorporate weight work and flexibility training. I didn't know where to turn, though, as I am a girlie girl and the thought of doing men's weight work made me ill.
I sat down at Collage Video and started previewing clips. Then I found my magic bullet: The FIRM. For me, the magic was with the older FIRMS, the originals, put out by Anna Benson, her husband Mark Henrickson and her sister Cynthia Benson. I ordered Fat Blaster, Volume 4, and Maximum Body Shaping from Collage and fell in love. This was in September.
One year ago this week, my son and I took a mini-vacation to celebrate his birthday. We were in a city, and we hit many thrift stores so I could find more FIRM videos. I came home empty handed. Why? Because The FIRM works and is still in high demand. So, upon arrival home, I sat down and ordered almost all of them from Amazon's Marketplace.
And the rest is history.
I started building muscle, I started working out at a higher intensity. I sweat bullets. I was in LOVE. Beautiful, graceful instructors in a beautiful setting--it's nicknamed The Mansion--was right up my alley.
As time wore on, I progressed and branched out. I found and fell in love with Christi Taylor, Cathe--who I consider the holy grail. She's tough! I bought P90X and have done a few weeks of it, but I don't care for long rotations so it's back on the shelf for now.
All this time I was building muscle, and I have the Bod Pod results to prove that! I was losing fat slowly. I call myself The Tortoise--which is a play on words, because one of my favorite workouts is The Tortoise by The FIRM. Slow, slow, slow-yet I've watched carefully what I ate, and worked out pretty faithfully--even when I was having all that bad pain.
Then comes the purchase of The FitBit. That arrived in mid August. I played, tinkered and charted things. I got determined to get more steps in. Slowly, in my tortoise fashion, I increased my daily step count. Right this very minute, my weekly average for daily steps is 24,000. That's a lot--for me, and for everyone as I am in the top 3 rankings in all the FitBit groups I'm in.
It was tough to get that many steps in especially when I couldn't get out to walk a lot. So I added in George Foreman's Walking DVDs. I do one every morning. I get 3-4,000 steps per workout. I then added Stephanie Huckabee's PowerFit cardios. 20 minutes each, I gain around 2000 steps with each of those. I also discovered more of Petra Kolber's DVDs: I'm especially fond of Cardio for Beginners. Plus, I walk for real outside. I am less efficient around the house prompting more steps. Going to Walmart? Great, I walk the store a few times for a couple thousand steps. No one has a clue what I'm doing as I am pushing a cart.
I've charted, I've graphed, I've deciphered and figured. This past week I came up with a formula for myself. My goal is to have a 1000 to 1250 deficit daily between what FitBit tells me my calorie burn is and what I consume.
It's working. (For now, at least!) This week's weigh-in, I lost 3.5 pounds! I had entire months where I didn't lose that much! I am thrilled. I also hit the mini-goal I had of losing 30% of my original weight.
Now, knowing me and my track record, who knows if this will continue. However, I figured out that the additional steps per day count AND that I don't need to do everything at high intensity. I try to do a step tape or power walk every day or six times a week. Both are high intensity for me. I average between 6-7,000 steps per step tape. I also do weights three times a week. I stretch a lot, mostly using Classical Stretch. It's that light aerobics, the moving in the low-end of the aerobic target zone, that is helping. I think.
The best part is I'm not starving. I get to eat between 16-1800 calories per day. That's a lot! Well worth it.
I love my FitBit. I love it more than chocolate. I love how my health is improving. I imagine myself kicking that HDL into high numbers with all my hard work. I love this week's weigh-in.
10.03.2010
"Missing Your Blogs"
I got an email just now that said "Missing Your Blogs." That's all it said--and it made my night. It's nice to be missed! I replied and stated that I can't think of anything to say!
Writer's block, maybe? Stuck in a rut, or perhaps better put, in a good routine? I'm sailing along right now and have nothing profound or mundane to say. Hmmm.
This past week I've been working on things that bother me. Specifically things that have happened to me that changed me--changed me in a bad way. Won't go into specifics, but it was pretty bad to me.
I started thinking of Stuart Smalley. Remember Al Franken playing Stuart? I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me. Positive affirmations. I started thinking about how they actually do work if you use them, and I came up with a few. The one that I used repeatedy this past week was:
Every time the negative memories popped into my head, and that happens a lot, I just repeated over and over, "I let go." You know what? It started to work. I started having a bit of peace. I didn't get upset, I didn't get anxious, I just kept repeating it and soon the thoughts disappeared. It may just work.
Think it would work if I positively affirmed: I'm not hungry, even when my stomach is growling? lol
My husband tells me I have a bad habit of hanging on to bad things and thinking them over and over and over. He's right, I do. So I'm trying to change that. I let go.
Now, I won't be using Stuart's line. I know I'm good enough, I know I'm intelligent, and I know people like me--I have confidence in that arena. Yet I can think of many affirmations to use in areas where I'm not so strong.
Losing weight and getting healthy is not all about losing weight and getting healthy, it's mostly about fixing thinking. It's the stinking thinking that gets us overweight to begin with. So I'm at a stage now where I'm not afraid to tackle some of the more difficult self-messages I feed myself. I've come a long way, but now it's time to dig really deep. As my motto states: I can and I will.
Writer's block, maybe? Stuck in a rut, or perhaps better put, in a good routine? I'm sailing along right now and have nothing profound or mundane to say. Hmmm.
This past week I've been working on things that bother me. Specifically things that have happened to me that changed me--changed me in a bad way. Won't go into specifics, but it was pretty bad to me.
I started thinking of Stuart Smalley. Remember Al Franken playing Stuart? I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me. Positive affirmations. I started thinking about how they actually do work if you use them, and I came up with a few. The one that I used repeatedy this past week was:
I let go.
Every time the negative memories popped into my head, and that happens a lot, I just repeated over and over, "I let go." You know what? It started to work. I started having a bit of peace. I didn't get upset, I didn't get anxious, I just kept repeating it and soon the thoughts disappeared. It may just work.
Think it would work if I positively affirmed: I'm not hungry, even when my stomach is growling? lol
My husband tells me I have a bad habit of hanging on to bad things and thinking them over and over and over. He's right, I do. So I'm trying to change that. I let go.
Now, I won't be using Stuart's line. I know I'm good enough, I know I'm intelligent, and I know people like me--I have confidence in that arena. Yet I can think of many affirmations to use in areas where I'm not so strong.
Losing weight and getting healthy is not all about losing weight and getting healthy, it's mostly about fixing thinking. It's the stinking thinking that gets us overweight to begin with. So I'm at a stage now where I'm not afraid to tackle some of the more difficult self-messages I feed myself. I've come a long way, but now it's time to dig really deep. As my motto states: I can and I will.
9.26.2010
Move it!
Exercise. Something I have always loved, then got to big to enjoy, then found again. My heart belongs to Anna Benson's The FIRM workouts. I love them beyond words.
It's been about one year since I got serious about fitness. Many, many dollars later, I have a wonderful collection of exercise DVDs and VHS tapes. In that year I've learned to lift weights, which was Anna Benson's gift to me. I also rekindled my love of step aerobics.
The three components of exercise: strength, cardio and stretching are being met. I have not yet found a yoga tape I love or will even do. However, I love Classical Stretch.
The past few weeks, I have found myself changing in what I crave to do. My body is talking to me. Partly because of the FitBit, and partly because of my doctor's note that "exercise will raise my HDL," I've changed. I've toned tings down somewhat--or rather, added some toned down things.
I discovered George Foreman's Walk It Off series. Petra Kolber leads these, but George is our coach! They're fun. It's marching in place, walking around the living room, with great music and nice chitchat between the group. I also bought some Classical walking CDs from Collage Video. Was I ever thrilled to discover some of my beloved FIRM songs on those!
I'm averaging at least 20,000 steps a day now. That's way up. I'm moving it. This also started the scale moving again for me--at least that's what I figure by looking at my spreadsheets. Not much, but it appears I've lost 5 pounds in the last 30 days.
My body has also been craving fluid movement, graceful movement. I don't like yoga and I doubt I ever will. I have a few yoga DVDs, but--eww. lol (No offense to those that love yoga!) Today I really stepped out on a limb and bought a Qi Gong DVD. It is just so beautiful and graceful. When I'm all alone, I can see myself attempting it! I also bought a cardio yoga DVD that does a bit of cardio, then into a good stretch. I'm trying.
Finally, I bought Petra Kolber's Breathe 1 & 2. I love Petra Kolber--she just has a good energy to her. These tapes look so graceful. I need some grace in my life.
So I grow and change. I can lift weights and love it. I can do step and love it. Now I'll add some walking DVDs, some floor aerobics and some new flowing movements.
I love how my body tells me what I need and what it craves. It knows what it needs for fitness. Told hubby that when I was much heavier, I just couldn't do these graceful moves. I'm feeling more confident that I can now.
Fitness is at the center of my life now. That's a very good thing.
~~~~~~~
Happy Birthday to Jack LaLanne today! He's 96 today! I found this quote he made last night and it sums up perfectly why I started my get healthy journey:
It's been about one year since I got serious about fitness. Many, many dollars later, I have a wonderful collection of exercise DVDs and VHS tapes. In that year I've learned to lift weights, which was Anna Benson's gift to me. I also rekindled my love of step aerobics.
The three components of exercise: strength, cardio and stretching are being met. I have not yet found a yoga tape I love or will even do. However, I love Classical Stretch.
The past few weeks, I have found myself changing in what I crave to do. My body is talking to me. Partly because of the FitBit, and partly because of my doctor's note that "exercise will raise my HDL," I've changed. I've toned tings down somewhat--or rather, added some toned down things.
I discovered George Foreman's Walk It Off series. Petra Kolber leads these, but George is our coach! They're fun. It's marching in place, walking around the living room, with great music and nice chitchat between the group. I also bought some Classical walking CDs from Collage Video. Was I ever thrilled to discover some of my beloved FIRM songs on those!
I'm averaging at least 20,000 steps a day now. That's way up. I'm moving it. This also started the scale moving again for me--at least that's what I figure by looking at my spreadsheets. Not much, but it appears I've lost 5 pounds in the last 30 days.
My body has also been craving fluid movement, graceful movement. I don't like yoga and I doubt I ever will. I have a few yoga DVDs, but--eww. lol (No offense to those that love yoga!) Today I really stepped out on a limb and bought a Qi Gong DVD. It is just so beautiful and graceful. When I'm all alone, I can see myself attempting it! I also bought a cardio yoga DVD that does a bit of cardio, then into a good stretch. I'm trying.
Finally, I bought Petra Kolber's Breathe 1 & 2. I love Petra Kolber--she just has a good energy to her. These tapes look so graceful. I need some grace in my life.
So I grow and change. I can lift weights and love it. I can do step and love it. Now I'll add some walking DVDs, some floor aerobics and some new flowing movements.
I love how my body tells me what I need and what it craves. It knows what it needs for fitness. Told hubby that when I was much heavier, I just couldn't do these graceful moves. I'm feeling more confident that I can now.
Fitness is at the center of my life now. That's a very good thing.
~~~~~~~
Happy Birthday to Jack LaLanne today! He's 96 today! I found this quote he made last night and it sums up perfectly why I started my get healthy journey:
"I don't care how old I live, I just want to be living while I am living!"
Me too, Jack! Me too!
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