So I've added exercise. It's pathetically sad how out of shape I am. How just the smallest bit of exercise results in, well results. But I'll take it.
I started by lying on my bed (HAHAHA, no really I found that I can't lie down on the floor and do leg lifts, my lower back is very painful) and I do 20 side leg lifts on each side. Then I lie with my arms out and do one leg at a time straight up. 20 times each. Sadly, that is something I actually feel when I get up from sitting or in the morning. But on the other hand, I can FEEL a reaction. So there's that. :)
I've added sit ups - also on the bed. I know this is cheating, but it's moving. And I do 20. And last night I started adding some arm curls. I'd dearly like to get rid of my chicken wings I'm growing. So, it's little by little. It's not running. And it's not even walking with regularity. But it's a step.
And on a completely unrelated note? I heart Pinterest. As a good friend said, it's porn for girls. I really really adore it. It's got the right amount of EVERYTHING to keep my ADD interested and I've already come up with a way to incorporate my innate love of OCD to it. :) So that's my plug, go check out pinterest.
Meanwhile did I mention I'm exercising? And still eating right. It'll come. It will come.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
progress
Yep, still 9 down. Getting used to eating this way. I've started adding some basic exercises to my day too. A good friend introduced me (via FB) to a site called pinterest and on that site (which is porn for women by the way - I had that on my laptop yesterday and my beloved 49ers on the tube and I was in HEAVEN) I found a link to a site that gives you a list of ideas of exercises for whatever body part you want. And right now I want to work on my thunder thighs.
So here's the link: http://www.divine.ca/en/fitness-and-nutrition/exercise-finder/c_266/?do=by_part&part_id=&muscle_id=13
An interesting side effect I've found on this diet - I get some seriously painful leg cramps at night when I go to low/no dairy and carb eating. Did it last year when we did this and man I woke up Saturday AND Friday morning with cramps. UGH So I'm looking into a multi-vitamin. Something I've discovered is that there are concerns for vitamins that have high IUs of Vitamin A. Linked to some cancers. The thing is - I'm eating really really good stuff, dark leafy greens etc. - so I just need to tweak whatever things (potassium?) I'm eating to cut the cramps. It's so weird because I mean I eat bananas DAILY. And that's what I was always told we had to eat when you get cramps. I read that you also need to make sure you drink enough water, so have been amping that up as well (altho I am already drinking a lot).
Anyway, feeling more clear headed. Adding some side leg raises to work on the "saddle bags" and IF I eat cheese or eggs or other stuff that I practically lived on before it's only a little bit. So we'll keep going. This is working.
One day. One step. One pound at a time.
~N
So here's the link: http://www.divine.ca/en/fitness-and-nutrition/exercise-finder/c_266/?do=by_part&part_id=&muscle_id=13
An interesting side effect I've found on this diet - I get some seriously painful leg cramps at night when I go to low/no dairy and carb eating. Did it last year when we did this and man I woke up Saturday AND Friday morning with cramps. UGH So I'm looking into a multi-vitamin. Something I've discovered is that there are concerns for vitamins that have high IUs of Vitamin A. Linked to some cancers. The thing is - I'm eating really really good stuff, dark leafy greens etc. - so I just need to tweak whatever things (potassium?) I'm eating to cut the cramps. It's so weird because I mean I eat bananas DAILY. And that's what I was always told we had to eat when you get cramps. I read that you also need to make sure you drink enough water, so have been amping that up as well (altho I am already drinking a lot).
Anyway, feeling more clear headed. Adding some side leg raises to work on the "saddle bags" and IF I eat cheese or eggs or other stuff that I practically lived on before it's only a little bit. So we'll keep going. This is working.
One day. One step. One pound at a time.
~N
Friday, January 13, 2012
Better
9 pounds down. Just about 2 weeks in and I have had a few days where I had carbs (today I had a 6" flatbread veggie sandwich) but for the most part I'm sticking to the juice for breakfast (oranges, grapefruit, ginger, lemon and apples = wake up juice!!) or oatmeal with fruit and then salad and soup for lunch and either soup or stirfry and tofu for dinner. Drinking more water. Doing at least 5 min of focused exercise every day (5 min = EASY) and going to start adding another 5 min to it as of this weekend.
Yep, I stood on the scale today and there are 9 less pounds to count. I checked. 3 times. And then smiled and said "ok, that's a start"
Little by little. It will come off. And I won't be feeling like I'm depriving myself, but I feel better when I wake up. Oh, interesting thing I remembered/realized today - caffeine? It's an antidepressant for me. I had a bad bout of insomnia last night so I had to power thru 2 venti coffees today. No mochas or lattes. Coffee + cream and equals.
Yep. I can do this.
One day. One step. One pound at a time.
~N
Yep, I stood on the scale today and there are 9 less pounds to count. I checked. 3 times. And then smiled and said "ok, that's a start"
Little by little. It will come off. And I won't be feeling like I'm depriving myself, but I feel better when I wake up. Oh, interesting thing I remembered/realized today - caffeine? It's an antidepressant for me. I had a bad bout of insomnia last night so I had to power thru 2 venti coffees today. No mochas or lattes. Coffee + cream and equals.
Yep. I can do this.
One day. One step. One pound at a time.
~N
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The first week
So I cheated most days last week, but I've come to think of the cheating as part of the change in my way of eating. So, by cheating I don't mean I ate at any fast food places. Nope, I took my food every day. But I did not resist a bite of egg casserole at the work potluck thing. I crave protein.
But I didn't eat fast food and didn't drink soda. And I made myself get up and move around the office more. No marathons or anything, but I ate healthy stuff every day. Most mornings I had a fruit juice and then for lunch would have whatever leftovers we had from the night before, and a salad. Left overs were either veggie stirfry with tofu or veggie soup.
So it's been a week and I'm 5 pounds down. Just from changing it up, eating a ton of veggies and hardly any stuff like bread or pasta (or cheese). The back feels better this week - Wii Yoga for a little bit helped. Stretching and moving and drinking more water. I feel better. Long way to go, but it's a step.
One step. One day. One pound at a time.
~N
But I didn't eat fast food and didn't drink soda. And I made myself get up and move around the office more. No marathons or anything, but I ate healthy stuff every day. Most mornings I had a fruit juice and then for lunch would have whatever leftovers we had from the night before, and a salad. Left overs were either veggie stirfry with tofu or veggie soup.
So it's been a week and I'm 5 pounds down. Just from changing it up, eating a ton of veggies and hardly any stuff like bread or pasta (or cheese). The back feels better this week - Wii Yoga for a little bit helped. Stretching and moving and drinking more water. I feel better. Long way to go, but it's a step.
One step. One day. One pound at a time.
~N
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Slide
I'm not sure when it started but I began to notice it about 2 months ago. I was sitting more and more at my job. Mainly because at this point there are no people at my work that I am friends with. At least ones that I would interact with on the job. I still have a good friend that is employed there but she's on a medical leave (waves to you know who you are) and is not sure that she'll have a job to come back to. And I am friends with a guy that does IT in my dept but he and I don't interact at work - as a rule it's always away from work.
So starting in about September I began to have less and less friends/support at the place where I spend long hours of my day. And while there were other changes that were good (boss and her boss are GONE) the people that came in place of those who I had relied on were so, ARE so completely lacking in depth that I just sit and work and go home.
This has lead to a very bad habit. Namely, doing my level best to get all the work done so I can get the hell out of there. And that means that I sit. And don't move. All day long. Not only is this very bad for me physically (I have had days where I get up at the end of the day and realize I haven't gone pee all day) but emotionally it's been isolating. And THAT is a step towards depression. I am well aware of it. And I didn't have a clear understanding of where I was in the process until about a month ago.
I found myself sleeping more, eating more comfort foods (see: sugar, cheese bread) and more irritable, short with people that matter, short with people in general and crying. A lot. The holidays are already a sore subject in my house. I love them. They take me back to a simpler time (i.e. a time when I was less aware) and I get lost in the lights, sounds, smells etc. My husband, on the other hand HATES them. Thinks that they are contrived and superficial. Hates them. We actually had a fight on Christmas morning that threatened to ruin the entire day for me and left me in waves of tears. (We decided to hit a "re-set" button tho and the day ended up being exactly what I wanted.)
On New Year's Eve a friend, probably our closest friend, came for an unexpected visit and he and hubby started watching a show called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". I came in in the middle of it and immediately got irritated/defensive and watched it begrudgingly. It's a show about 2 men, more really but focuses on 2. Who used a combination of juicing and exercise to lose a TON of weight. The guy that really got to me was about my age and was a trucker. Sitting all day long. And MUCH bigger than I am. He started out at over 400 pounds and by the end of the documentary was in shape and in the 170s. Why was I defensive? Because I didn't want to watch something that would help motivate me to work on the very thing that gets to me most. I wanted to watch something that took me far away from the idea of being fat and feeling like crap.
But we watched it and the next day we started a re-set button of a different kind. We already have a juicer (it was hubby's from long ago) and we went to the grocery store and bought a TON of fruits and vegetables and started trying to make new habits (again). I cheated the first few days. We talked about how to make this a long-lasting change. Because we did this a year ago - on the "Eat to Live" diet - which is mainly the same thing, fruits and vegetables, no salt (or as low as possible) no sugar, no cheese (*whimper*) and really no carbs like pasta etc. And we lost some weight but then we started getting company and excuses piled up for eating stuff we knew would not be good. And it all came back.
So, I'm making what I hope to be a new habit, something I can use long-term. I can so readily relate to the poor truck driver. I know that I am happier when I'm healthier. And I know that part of my depression - a MAJOR part - is that I feel like crap. My back has been out and my hip hurts (HIP HURTS - seriously? What am I? 60?) and constant pain does not work for me. I started this week adding little bits of yoga. Has to be little bits because at first I was so completely stiff and in pain that every move I made put me into spasm.
So it's back to small steps. I did juicing for breakfast most of the days this week - apple, orange, ginger, carrot (I learned the hard way that you should NOT put a banana in a juicer.....it spits all the yummy stuff out the other end of the juicer....) and for lunch I brought stuff to make salad (lettuce, tomatos, onion) and I used those handy spritzer bottles for vinaigrette dressing (more coverage, less dressing). At night we had either stir fry (usually a bunch of veggies, and tofu made without oil and with lots of Sri Ra Cha) or soup - veggies, tofu and lots of water. Usually there was enough so that I could take left overs with me to work with the salad. And I drank a lot of water. No soda (I'd been drinking diet Dr P for a while) and only a couple of cups of coffee. And while I still don't interact with people at work like I used to (likely never will) I am making myself get up once an hour (or so) and walk around the building, even if it's inside. And I did some Wii Yoga (VERY basic).
So it's been a week and my back and hip don't hurt as much. I'm refusing to step on the scales till tomorrow, to see if I've made a change yet. The thing is, I know that this is all in my own hands. And it is do-able. I'm tired of feeling like crap. And I'm doing something about it. No time like the present.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
So starting in about September I began to have less and less friends/support at the place where I spend long hours of my day. And while there were other changes that were good (boss and her boss are GONE) the people that came in place of those who I had relied on were so, ARE so completely lacking in depth that I just sit and work and go home.
This has lead to a very bad habit. Namely, doing my level best to get all the work done so I can get the hell out of there. And that means that I sit. And don't move. All day long. Not only is this very bad for me physically (I have had days where I get up at the end of the day and realize I haven't gone pee all day) but emotionally it's been isolating. And THAT is a step towards depression. I am well aware of it. And I didn't have a clear understanding of where I was in the process until about a month ago.
I found myself sleeping more, eating more comfort foods (see: sugar, cheese bread) and more irritable, short with people that matter, short with people in general and crying. A lot. The holidays are already a sore subject in my house. I love them. They take me back to a simpler time (i.e. a time when I was less aware) and I get lost in the lights, sounds, smells etc. My husband, on the other hand HATES them. Thinks that they are contrived and superficial. Hates them. We actually had a fight on Christmas morning that threatened to ruin the entire day for me and left me in waves of tears. (We decided to hit a "re-set" button tho and the day ended up being exactly what I wanted.)
On New Year's Eve a friend, probably our closest friend, came for an unexpected visit and he and hubby started watching a show called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". I came in in the middle of it and immediately got irritated/defensive and watched it begrudgingly. It's a show about 2 men, more really but focuses on 2. Who used a combination of juicing and exercise to lose a TON of weight. The guy that really got to me was about my age and was a trucker. Sitting all day long. And MUCH bigger than I am. He started out at over 400 pounds and by the end of the documentary was in shape and in the 170s. Why was I defensive? Because I didn't want to watch something that would help motivate me to work on the very thing that gets to me most. I wanted to watch something that took me far away from the idea of being fat and feeling like crap.
But we watched it and the next day we started a re-set button of a different kind. We already have a juicer (it was hubby's from long ago) and we went to the grocery store and bought a TON of fruits and vegetables and started trying to make new habits (again). I cheated the first few days. We talked about how to make this a long-lasting change. Because we did this a year ago - on the "Eat to Live" diet - which is mainly the same thing, fruits and vegetables, no salt (or as low as possible) no sugar, no cheese (*whimper*) and really no carbs like pasta etc. And we lost some weight but then we started getting company and excuses piled up for eating stuff we knew would not be good. And it all came back.
So, I'm making what I hope to be a new habit, something I can use long-term. I can so readily relate to the poor truck driver. I know that I am happier when I'm healthier. And I know that part of my depression - a MAJOR part - is that I feel like crap. My back has been out and my hip hurts (HIP HURTS - seriously? What am I? 60?) and constant pain does not work for me. I started this week adding little bits of yoga. Has to be little bits because at first I was so completely stiff and in pain that every move I made put me into spasm.
So it's back to small steps. I did juicing for breakfast most of the days this week - apple, orange, ginger, carrot (I learned the hard way that you should NOT put a banana in a juicer.....it spits all the yummy stuff out the other end of the juicer....) and for lunch I brought stuff to make salad (lettuce, tomatos, onion) and I used those handy spritzer bottles for vinaigrette dressing (more coverage, less dressing). At night we had either stir fry (usually a bunch of veggies, and tofu made without oil and with lots of Sri Ra Cha) or soup - veggies, tofu and lots of water. Usually there was enough so that I could take left overs with me to work with the salad. And I drank a lot of water. No soda (I'd been drinking diet Dr P for a while) and only a couple of cups of coffee. And while I still don't interact with people at work like I used to (likely never will) I am making myself get up once an hour (or so) and walk around the building, even if it's inside. And I did some Wii Yoga (VERY basic).
So it's been a week and my back and hip don't hurt as much. I'm refusing to step on the scales till tomorrow, to see if I've made a change yet. The thing is, I know that this is all in my own hands. And it is do-able. I'm tired of feeling like crap. And I'm doing something about it. No time like the present.
One day. One pound. One step at a time.
~N
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