Steady as She Goes!

Steady as She Goes!

We broke the 10 pound barrier! 242.6 on Saturday morning, 12/08/07. This is a good thing, although, I still feel it's a little slow. But progress is progress, right? As long as we are still going in the correct direction, it's progress – no matter how small.

I've been paying more attention to the magazines for health and fitness. What I have found is that they are just as full of hype as the “gossip” magazines. For instance:

“Shrink Your Fat Cells!”

“Drop Pounds Effortlessly!”

“The Female Fat Cure!”

“Feel Fabulous After 40” (I have an affinity for that word, you know ;) )

“Miracle Food Melts Fat!”

“Doctor Finds Amazing New Way to ....” Take your pick: Flatten Your Belly, Look Younger, Melt Trouble Spots, Drop 85 Pounds By Christmas.... etc.

What a load of hooey! It's all hype. The real way to lose weight is to change your life. Change how you view food and how you relate to regular exercise. DESIRE to change.

I'm still walking 3-4 days per week at 1.5 miles. It's probably time to increase the distance. However, with the holidays here, there is a lot of excess stress going around. I think I'll keep to my schedule to avoid any more stress from change. Also, I've been diagnosed with very low iron (normal blood levels have a number of 100-150; mine is 40), and a kidney infection. That's a long story we won't go into right now! Mrs. Doctor says I need to reduce my stress levels. Yeah, okay. Just give me a month, all right?

In addition, my doctor requested a blood test called an A1C. This measures the level of blood glucose, and is lauded as the “definitive” test for diabetes. Yes, I was 0.1% over the acceptable threshold (I'm at 6.0%, the limit is 5.9%), and Mrs. Doctor was quite smug about it. She's been predicting my diabetic downfall for over a year, and has been quite disappointed when the results of previous tests didn't pan out. She says, and I quote, “I'll give you an opportunity to fix it yourself, rather than prescribe medication just yet.”

Well, duh. Did she not hear me describe my life changes? Is she ignoring my recent weight loss? I think she just likes being in control. Frankly, she's a little pudgy herself. Perhaps she needs to understand about the FABULOUS way to change her life, hm?

Did I mention that I'm currently buying a house? This will eliminate one of my jobs when I move (I'm an apartment manager of a senior building with 44 units). We went into escrow last week, and we're very excited to finally have a home of our own, my daughter and I. We expect to move around January 5,6,7^th. Once we get there, the living room is 14 feet X 20 feet. Woo hoo! Can you say “floor exercise”? I'll be able to break out the exercise videos and really go for it. I can't wait!

This is the part where....

... fortitude and endurance keep me going. The "rush" of excitement at the prospect of becoming FABULOUS has tempered somewhat. Now comes the work. We are still making progress - 246.4 today (down 6.6 lbs.), and a full inch off of my BUTT - but it's slow progress. Changing one's life is not an easy task. However, I'm still walking at least 3 days per week, I'm still trying to make better choices and largely succeeding at that.

I think I've mentioned before that it's the quiet determination of a life change that will be the deciding factor here. Prayer. Support of friends and family. Knowledge - reading about nutrition and proper food preparation techniques, reading about others' successes, watching videos of successful efforts, etc., really help.

(Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Larry Winget, I'm not selling his stuff, nor do I make any money by referencing his material here. I just enjoy his style of "personal development.:)

Reading about how to change has been a great source of inspiration for me. In Larry Winget's book, "Shut up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life," he says something like - "No one ever ate anything by accident."

Well, duh. That was the most obvious statement! But that never occurred to me before. Everything that goes in my mouth was put there by me. No one forced me. That chocolate didn't just jump in there by itself. I opened my mouth, bent my elbow, and I ate every bite of every thing that ever passed my lips. I've been such a schmuck ~ thinking that it wasn't my fault that I'm 100 pounds overweight. "Um.. low thyroid problem, yeah that's it! No, no! It was my divorce that caused me to gain weight! No, WAIT! STRESS!! That's what happened! I couldn't HELP MYSELF!" ...

Those days are over. I'm overweight because I ate too much. Period. And now that I'm solidly aware of that fact, I can take action of my own accord and stop it. I can change it. I can turn it around. With the help of God, family, and friends, I can once again be FABULOUS. If I can quit smoking in that manner, I can certainly beat FLAB.

Did I mention I was once fabulous? Perhaps I'll post a PRE-FLAB picture to show you just how fab I was. Then, every time I visit my Blog, I'll see how things used to be. I'm not sure I can be quite that fabulous again, but I can certainly strive to get there... or at least really, really close. :) After all, I was younger then. It would be a great motivator, though, to see on a regular basis just how fabulous it's possible for me to be.