Day 159

Two quick asides:

Programming schedule from now thru Monday
Now thru Sunday - I'll be offline/ie not posting
Saturday - the site'll be down the entire day
Sunday – should be back up w/stats and pictures from the OCB challenge
Monday – New challenge starts and details will be posted

The comments are off on yesterday's entry for a reason. My thanx in advance for respecting that and using my email to share your thoughts on what I said.

Now as the entry title states, I've been sitting here thinking, what's truth?

Day 158

There have been so many issues swarming in my head I've got to put it on paper so the wheels can stop spinning.

Day 157

Spoke to leasing agent yesterday and apparently a breaker blew so the treadmill and bike were back in action. He saw someone using it earlier so my hope was restored. Just like yesterday it things started out good, did my 30 min walk first then got ready to run for 30 mins or 2 miles when that sticking thing started happening again.

Scratching my head I chucked the run, I've seen that commercial where that guy trips on the treadmill. Not cute. So I just did another preprogrammed walk. No sticking. Strange. I wondered if it has something to do with using it manually, so when I was done, I tested it. I set it for my run speed, 4.0/1% and walked for 1 min. No sticking. I started to run, it started sticking and w/in 15 secs stopped completly and I saw the same error message I saw yesterday morning.

I also noticed yesterday and today, even though it moves consistently when doing the preprogrammed setting, the tread feels funny under my feet, I feel a slight grind and the motor sounds diff't. I thought I was super sensitive b/c I had been away from it for a week, but it is diff't. I'll let him know these specifics later today. Since I've already made a few back up plans and the bike is usuable, I'm not that pressed. Worse case, I can't run on it till it's fixed, but it's good that the preprogrammed setting work and there's lots of walking routines in my next challenge. Always something.

Durn treadmill. Morning musings should NEVER be this long.

"Problems are only opportunities in work clothes." - Henry J. Kaiser

B/c this week I INSIST on making lemonade from all the sour lemons I was dealt last week. Here's what I'm gonna do:

I'll contact my leasing manager in a little bit and see what the status of the treadmill & bike is. Are they in fact broken or is it an electrical problem? And most importantly, how the hell long till they are back in business?

Day 156

Went down to the gym and saw the treadmill had an error msg on it. No biggie, usually unplugging and plugging it back in solves it. Problem solved, working out commences. Grumble thru 20 min walk. Trudge thru first few mins of HIIT, @ the precise moment of 9 mins 12 secs the chemically good feeling returned. That's also the exact moment the first sweat bead formed. Finished HIIT about to run. Start to run, treadmill sorta sticks. Rut oh. Holding onto the bars, treadmill sticks intermittently and @ the 3 min mark simply stops. Also @ that time most of the interior hallway lights go off. I plug it in again. No dice. I use the outlet the bike uses. Nada. Fine I'll finish off my last 20 mins on the bike. No way Jose. That's not turning on either.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Serenity now.

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." - Epictetus

week 5 recap to do s m t w th f s Challenge goals No Snooze             No eating 3 hours before bed             Daily affirmation             Eating goals No more than 1700 calories             120 oz water 6 days 50 oz 1 weekend day           25 gms of fiber   27 gms           Week 5 goals do 2 full pushups   -           do abs & back 4 days   1           do 2 stretching session   -             R& B FIF mini challenge Eat no more than my BMR 1550 or w/in 100 calories below             1548 1403

Daily Notes:
Sun - Non challenge day.

Mon - Confession is good for the soul. Not hungry this pm, the ½ serving of nuts mid day seems to be tiding me over till din din. No thoughts of ice cream today. Get outta my head already. Back still feeling a bit strained, especially when I sit too long, but doing lower body today didn't feel weird.

Tues - Sat - Sucked, and recording it only adds salt to the wound.

Week 6 Goals:
Here's what I'm aiming for:

625 minutes broken down by:
450 mins cardio
135 mins weights
40 mins stretch

21 miles:
3.5 miles - 6 days

770 oz water:
120 oz - 6 days @ least 50 oz one weekend day

End Notes:
To say I am bummed is an understatement. I had such big plans to end this 6 week challenge w/a bang but am now feeling it'll end w/a whimper. It is ending and I made it thru, for the most part, always a good sign, but now I'm a bit disgusted w/missing last week so there's a bitter taste in my mouth and a "I can't wait till this week is over" feeling.

I was wondering yesterday why did taking a week off, even in order to rest my back, stress me. The same way I was stressed when I got sick earlier in the spring and had to take about 5 days off. The reason is, despite being willing to wake up @ an insane hour and be drenched in sweat, it's not easy. It takes a lot of mental prodding to get my ass outta bed. During week 4, the week of only 2 's every single day was a battle. So last week w/the convenient, albeit painful excuse of back aches, I didn't have to fight myself and found it much easier to just not do anything. And it becomes a domino.

Well if I'm not working out, no need to drink water. May as well have a candy bar or two. Why go to bed early? May as well catch Letterman.

Next thing I know I'm feeling myself heading down a dangerous road. I went to fill up my water bottle and as I ran down the stairs felt my belly jiggle. I'm pretty sure it didn't just start jiggling but when I'm working out, I feel like the jiggle is on it's way out. Today it felt like it's making a return (permanent?) visit.

But I made it this far, week 6, and chucking it was never a consideration. Shure I'm less than enthused, feeling like week 5 and a few rest days early in the challenge, will net me zero results, but whatever. I reworded my daily breakdown. Rather than list I want to do xdays and x minutes per day, I just posted it for the week. I know how I'm going to approach it but for some reason unexpectedly getting sidelined has me a bit gun-shy about making specific plans on paper.

Ok no more dwelling on the past, what's done is done. And in a few days/weeks/months, last week will be a distant memory. They always are. I look forward to tallying my stats next weekend and rolling out some new features. I also sketched out my workout plan for the next 6 months and have my next two 6 week challenges laid out. This week I'll put the finishing touches on them so I'll be ready to post them next weekend.

I'm fairly shure my funk will vanish once I get in the gym tomorrow AM. For one the endorphins will return and two, it'll mark and official end to the day after day after day of no working out, putting me back on the day after day after day of actually working out.

"Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark." - George Iles

Day 155

Day 154

Availabilty
Watermelons are available all year.

How to Select:
Look for watermelons that are firm, symmetrical and fresh-looking with an attractive waxy bloom.

Once picked, watermelon will not ripen. Watermelons can be kept for short periods at room temperature -- otherwise refrigerate.

Special Tip:
Avoid watermelons that are very hard, white or very pale green in color on the underside, indicating immaturity. An immature watermelon will be slightly acidic; short storage may diminish acidity.

Man, reading some of the dipshit comments people have gotten about their body makes me seethe. There outta be a quick reply to shut those socially inept people down. I was thinking, maybe I can pull a Tom Cruise and stammer back, "You're a j-j-jerk. A jerk" But that's not my style, I'm too low key. I think I'm going to resort to the uncomfortable pause and unblinking stare. Like if I see said crazed maintenance man and he blurts out "Blah blah blah your weight" I'll stop dead in my tracks, stare @ him totally expressionless w/o blinking for 30 seconds and then say, "What?" If he, being a fool, dares to repeat it again, I'll do the exact same thing.

I'll keep you posted on what happens...

"You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance." - Lee Iacocca

Day 153

Man, not seeing my pudgy bits on a daily basis is driving me nuts. Doesn't help that I only worked out on Monday this week, now I'm stressing the final results of Operation Crease Begone will be tainted. So today I whipped out my cam and took a pic so @ the very least I'll have an idea of how I was doing before the back derailment. Just to refresh your memory, here is me on day 120:

I must admit, I am totally blown away, I mean I knew my working out was intense and lord knows I sweated up storm, but I did NOT expect to see results like this after 5 weeks...

Continue reading Can't take it

The ongoing food battle to earn my repeat business rages on:

Battle of the Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans   Weight Watchers Smart Ones® Lean Cuisine® Winner Packaging WW Calories 300 290 LC Total Fat 8g 5g LC Saturated Fat 4g 2g LC Cholesterol 20mg 15mg LC Sodium 620mg 580mg LC Potassium not stated 620g n/a Carbohydrates 49g 50g WW Fiber 6g 5g WW Sugars 6g 10g WW Protein 12g 11 WW Vitamin A 4% 8% LC Vitamin C 4% 6% LC Calcium 20% 20% tie Iron 10% 10% tie Price: $2.79 $2.59 LC

Thankssssssssss y'all!!

I'm feeling a *tad* better today. I think it's what what EC (exercise chick) said, stress & tension. Lately I've been distracted by some offline worries and feeling pretty tense overall. That walk I did on Saturday, coupled w/me being worried seems to have collided into a nice muscle strain.

Ever get a kink in your neck from turning too quick or sleeping wrong? That's what it feels like going down my left glute. It was so bad Sunday, laying flat on my back I couldn't raise myself up like I normally did, today wasn't anything close to that, so the kink is working itself out.

I took a diff't pain med yesterday and as soon as I got home I laid on my back trying to relax. I feel it more when I sit in a chair for a long period of time, but compared to Monday when sitting was the hardest thing to do, today it's just a mild irritation.

I'm playing each day by ear on when I hit the gym again. I may finally be able to attempt yoga tomorrow, just thinking about that on Monday sounded scandolous.

********

I'm really missing my exercise. It has me feeling depressed. Not like depression depressed, but that chemically goodness that goes on after I work out has vanished. I'm all like, blah. If I were a color, this would be gray week. What's the official word for that chemically goodness? Endorphins.

"Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality." - Ralph Marston

Day 152

Not much going on today, my lower back is still hurting, not as bad as Sunday, but still. Yesterday I took 2 Aleve, but it looks like I need some real back specific meds. Preferably extra strength. Trying not to aggravate it further, I didn't workout yesterday or do cardio this AM, I'll see how I feel later today. I've got like 5 diff't topics swirling in my head, just wrote 3 pages but I'm in such a foul mood over my back I don't feel like posting it anymore. Bah.

"You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is." - Ellen Degeneres

Day 151

Hmm...sorry for anyone who had probs commenting from early morn till about 5 mins ago (thanx for the heads up Elle Jay) I *think* I fixed the glitch. Any more problems feel free to email me @ reneegetsfit@gmail.com

*******

Oh and Happy Summer.

You *should* see a yellow/brownish color scheme in place of the green one. It represents the Sun. Gotta put those graphic design color theory classes to good use

TOKYO (AP) - A 95-year-old Japanese man who took up track only three decades ago has run the 100 meters in 22.04-seconds, a record for his age bracket, according to media reports.

Kozo Haraguchi looked sturdy and fit as he dashed Sunday at an outdoor track slick with rain in the southern Japanese city of Miyazaki.

"It was the first time for me to run in the rain and as I was thinking to myself, 'I mustn't fall, I mustn't fall,' I made it across the goal," Haraguchi told reporters.

Japanese media reports Monday said that Haraguchi had beaten the world record of 24.01 seconds for the 95 to 99 age group set by Hawaii-resident Erwin Jaskulski in May 1999.

His time will be submitted to the World Masters Athletics organization for verification, they said.

Haraguchi also holds the World Masters Athletics' world record for the fastest man aged 90 to 95 - a time of 18.08 seconds he set in September 2000. He started track events at age 65 and stays healthy by taking hourlong walks daily. [source]

No excuses man, no excuses.

Red text my emphasis.

Yesterday when I went home I ran into the maintenance man. As I was walking up the stairs, I guess he didn't recognize me and gave a generic hello. But when I lifted my head he calls out, "Oh hey! Man, you are looking [incoherent babble] every time I see you, one minute you are going up, next you are going down [insert yucking it up laughter]"

This man is referring to my weight.

When I first started using the gym last year after going for 2 afternoons in a row, both times he saw me, the following week he said I looked like I lost a ton of weight.

Now that I've established, he is crazed, it's your turn.

This weeks topic: Who is your version of my crazed maintenance man? What is the most obnoxious thing someone has said to you about you're weight? Whether you have lost a lot or gained a lot? Leave all dickheaded comments so I know I'm not alone.

"There is always a certain peace in being what one is, in being that completely." - Ugo Betti

Day 150

I don't know who came out with this meal first, I suspect Lean Cuisine, but I was shopping by price over the weekend and found myself walking past the green Healthy Choice meals over towards the red Weight Watchers Smart Ones. After I randomly picked a few up I noticed they had the exact meals Lean Cuisine had. So in an effort to populate yet another category, I decided to start a Food Battle subcategory of the Food Review section. This is where the same meal, different brand, will go head to head for my repeat business.

Battle of the Chicken Enchilada Suizas   Weight Watchers Smart Ones® Lean Cuisine® Winner Packaging tie Calories 340 280 LC Total Fat 10g 5g LC Saturated Fat 4.5g 2g LC Cholesterol 40mg 20mg LC Sodium 800mg 540mg LC Potassium not stated 330g n/a Carbohydrates 38g 49g WW Fiber 3g 3g tie Sugars 5g 7g WW Protein 12g 10 WW Vitamin A 8% 4% WW Vitamin C 4% 4% tie Calcium 20% 15% WW Iron 4% 4% tie Price: $2.79 $2.89 WW

By the numbers:
It's funny how LC wins all the initial categories: calories, fat, cholesterol and sodium by being the lowest, but WW makes a comeback by having less carbs & sugar and more protein.

By the looks:
LC - this dish is divided in ½. Rice on one side, a single enchilada in a yellowish cream sauce on the other.

WW - the rice and enchiladas are mixed together in one dish. I like the one dish better b/c I end up scooping the LC enchilada into the rice anyway.

By the taste buds:
LC - Once you mix the rice w/the enchilada, it is very very yummy. Not too spicy or peppery, the chicken is well seasoned, though it can be a bit tough. There is a slight taste of sour cream and though you can't see the melted cheese, when you lift your fork, you can see the stringy trail.

WW - Muy Caliente! *pant* *pant* *pant* Yet...I like it. They don't even taste like the same meal. Granted the LC has more rice, hence the 49gms of carbs but the WW version has 2 enchiladas and a spicier seasoning. Plus the chicken is softer.

Who wins?
It's a tie. The only thing that gives LC a slight edge, is the 280 calories vs. 340. What one lacks in one area, the other makes up for somewhere else. With a 10 cent price difference, either one is good to get and both of them worthy of licking the bowl.

Now, where's my water? *pant* *pant* *pant*

Yesterday started out and well enough. Normal breakfast, snack and lunch, but sometime around midday I started getting snacky. So I nibbled on a few extra popcorn cakes, 6 to be exact. Of each. Gah! Then dinner time came and I bargained away all my calories for the popcorn cakes so I thought I was sitting pretty. Still clocking in @ 1548 (2 calories below my max) all that laid between me and a good night sleep was an ice cream bar. I shoulda just went to bed early.

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." - Albert Schweitzer

Day 149

week 4 recap to do s m t w th f s Challenge goals No Snooze   No eating 3 hours before bed   Daily affirmation   Eating goals No more than 1700 calories   120 oz water 6 days 50 oz 1 weekend day 25 gms of fiber   27gms 29gms 32 gms 42 gms 47 gms 26 gms Week 3 goals do 2 full pushups   - - - do abs & back 3 days   1 - 2 - 3 - do 2 stretching session   - - - 1 - 2   R& B FIF mini challenge Eat no more than my BMR 1550 or w/in 100 calories below     1223 1463 1529 1509 1520 1531 1549

Daily Notes:
Sun - Non challenge day.

Mon - Got really queasy ½ mile into run. Had to stop. Did bike for 30 mins. Will make up the miles on Sat. STRONG urge for something sweet post lunch, thoughts of ice cream later has kept me in check. *whew*

Tues - Hadda to hit snooze this AM, my head was killing me. I tossed and turned for about 20 mins and got on up. Close call mid afternoon, felt snacky. Ate 1/2 serving of nuts and made up the calories by eating 1/2 an english muffin.

Wed - Rough afternoon. Had an afternoon meeting which usually makes me anxious. I quell it w/a vending machine run. Plus in that area lunches were smelling good. I succumbed to neither, just drank water and tried to keep my eyez on the prize.

Thurs - Woke up hungry this morning. Ate a larger serving of Fiber one and extra milk. Running low on food stuff, stretching out what's left till Sat. Ate nuts a bit earlier than planned, but had so much brocolli for lunch I'm still full 4 hours later.

Fri - Feeling blah today, typical end of the week schtick. Had to push myself to get up and workout and driving home in the head, I wanted to just get in bed pop in a movie and veg out, while eating fast food. *sigh*

Speaking of food w/my supplies running low I had a close call in the calorie dept. No pm yogurt. Yesterday I had some slices of turkey and dipped into my NutriSystem stash. Same thing today, no turkey though. I'll have a 190 cal NutriSystem lunch so I can keep the cals under 1550 and still have ice cream. 94 degrees today. Must. Have. Ice. Cream.

Man it's 8:15 and I feel like crashing and burning. I would but I'm not trying wake up super early tomorrow, just insanely early as per usual. Odd, since all week I haven't felt sleepy in the least.

Sat - Well I was going to the movies today but honesly after the engagement announcement, that was the final straw. I'm now sick to death of all these stories that happen to come out 2 weeks before a movie. What they don't have a life the other 50 weeks of the year?!?

Week 5 Goals:
Only 1 increase this week, an extra ab/back session.

Here's what I'm aiming for:

528 minutes broken down by:
60 min cardio 6 days - 360
20 min weights 5 days - 100
7 mins abs/back 4 days - 28
20 mins stretch 2 days - 40

21 miles:
3.5 miles - 6 days

770 oz water:
120 oz - 6 days @ least 50 oz one weekend day

End Notes:
7 days of spot on eats & working out...to say I'm tempted to visit the scale is a MASSIVE understatement. But I won't. Besides, I already ate breakfast.

What's most interesting to me is that I got only 2 's w/o even trying. The first was the day I had the headache, yesterday's was b/c I woke up kinda pooped but some noisy @sses in the hall kept me from falling back to sleep. After about a ½ hour of trying I just got up and worked out anyway. I meant to make up the missed run from Monday, but my legs felt a bit tired, so I walked and rode the bike to make up the rest of the hour. I have a theory on why the week turned out the way it did, but I'll hold onto that for a little while longer to see if what I suspect pans out.

I wanted to work out today so I could have Saturday off to rest up for Hell Week (details next Sunday), but sleeping in felt mucho better. I'll do a very light 60 min workout on Saturday.

1. If I say I want to lose 50 pounds, I will! I know, I know, what's the point of dieting if you don't have a specific number in mind? Well, it's important to understand that as your body matures, it responds to exercise and reduced calorie consumption in different ways. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the older we get, the harder our weight loss efforts become. In other words, remember when you were in your 20's and you could go a couple of days without eating and BINGO, suddenly the scale was back down where you wanted it? Well, as we lose muscle mass and go through the lovely changes of life, our body doesn't bounce back like that anymore. So, set a goal of becoming more active while keeping an eye on nutrition. This is an attainable and realistic goal.

2. Diet is deprivation! Generally speaking, a diet will act as a jump-start for your weight loss efforts. The hope is that you will find certain aspects of your selected diet and apply those to your lifestyle permanently. The problem is that so many people view diets as their last chance to lose weight, and they completely exempt any "fun food" from their diet. Granted, if you are serious about losing weight, you need to rid yourself of too much sugar and junk food. But, once in a while, a treat is just fine.

3. I will look like a movie star! How often have we said to our kids, "If Johnny jumped off a bridge would you?" OK, maybe the names have been changed, but you get the gist. Our bodies are uniquely ours and how they respond to exercise, stress, love, happiness and so on is very different. We have to respect our bodies, our unique strengths and weaknesses and build upon the things we recognize as strengths. Your friend, family member or neighbor may have lost a bunch of weight, but her body type and yours are probably very different. Sure, you can find out what she did to attain her goal, but it's more important that YOU find out what will help you achieve a realistic goal!

4. Once I'm finished with the diet, I can go back to what I did before! All too often people view diets with a starting point and an ending point. The hope is that you will use the diet to shift what you're doing now, whether it's limiting your sugar intake, reducing your daily calorie consumption, increasing your water or whatever it may be. Your attempt should be to lose the bad habits you've grown accustomed to. I remember a reader once wrote in to my column saying, "A good friend of mine just lost 60 pounds on a diet, does that mean he can go back to his 'old' way of eating?" I wasn't sure if the reader was serious or not, but let's think about that question. If he had 60 pounds to lose because his health was poor, why in the world would he want to go back to his old way of eating (which clearly got him into trouble)? So, when you begin a diet, look at the aspects that make sense to you and your current lifestyle. These are the pieces you want to apply to your lifestyle. If there are aspects of a diet that are not appealing, let them go and stick with what works for you!

5. I need someone to tell me what to eat! Here's the deal, we all KNOW what we should be eating. However, due to the plethora of information available, we have become a society confused with which foods are good for us and which are not. We have become consumed with eating to lose weight versus eating to be healthy. When you eat well and are active, nine times out of 10, your weight will be where it needs to be. It might not jibe with the weight charts that are out there, but eating well and exercising will give your body what it needs to be healthy. In other words, daily activity and mindful nutrition results in an appropriate weight! You know you should be eating more fruits and veggies and less processed foods, right? So you DO know what you should be eating. Believe in yourself enough to know that you've got what it takes to make the right changes!

6. If I just exercise a couple of hours a day, I can eat whatever I want! Yeah, and if I just wish hard enough, I can sing like Barbra Streisand. The truth is that exercising simply in an effort to lose weight just won't cut the mustard. Your success will be short-lived and never become a regular part of your lifestyle. Exercise needs to be embraced for all of the right reasons including: more energy, improved quality of life, reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular risks and osteoporosis. Find one of the hundreds of benefits that speaks to you and go for it. If you exercise simply to keep your weight in check, it will never be enough to maintain weight loss.

7. I don't have time to exercise so I'll just cut out more calories! Again, you need to focus on health. If we make decisions to alter our lifestyle simply for weight loss, "Fuget about it!" -- it will never last. You MUST figure out incentives valuable enough to you that will get you to exercise and eat well for all of the right reasons. How many calories are you willing to cut out and at what cost? Here is something that has helped me immensely: Living Healthy 80/20. If you can exercise and make sound nutritional choices 80 percent of the time, you'll have a 20 percent margin of error. We usually don't exercise and eat right every day of our lives, even those of us who are committed to doing so. Life happens and for whatever reason, you don't exercise or you're forced to pick up fast food. But if that only happens 20 percent of the time, the odds are pretty good that you'll maintain a healthy lifestyle.

8. Writing things down doesn't make a difference! Trust me, it does. Some of my greatest client success stories come from those who were committed to keeping track of what they put in their mouth. Come on, how many times do you pop something into our mouth and then say, "It was small, it doesn't count?" We all have, but if you're writing things down you can clearly see where your biggest struggles lie. Additionally, if you are able to see where those struggles are, you can begin taking steps to change them, one at a time. And that, my friends, is the secret to long-term success -- baby steps!

9. You're bad! No, actually, murder is bad, YOU are not bad. Making an unhealthy food choice is NOT bad. As long as we continue to view our choices as bad or good, we will always struggle with change. When making choices about exercise or food, more often than not we TRY to make the best choices. Sometimes stress, time constraints, and lifestyle change can have a huge impact on our choices. Being unable to make healthy choices upon occasion is not BAD. We all have challenging weeks, sometimes even challenging months. Doing the best you can do is all you can do. I often pose this question to my clients when they tell me they've been bad, "What would you tell a friend who was struggling with good decisions?" Nine times out of 10, they end up answering that question with what they need to be telling themselves: "It will be OK, there's always tomorrow." So stop beating yourself up, stop calling yourself BAD. If your kids come home from school and tell you that they answered a couple of math questions wrong on a test do you call them bad? Of course not, you figure they will learn from their mistakes and answer them differently next time. Right? Right!

10. New Year's Resolutions! Let's just say here and now, that never again will you look to the New Year as your time to drop weight and get active. Why? Because you're going to do it today and tomorrow and the next day and the day after and so on. Waiting until a particular time of year, because you believe it will be the key to your success just doesn't work. Think about how many New Year's resolutions you have made to lose weight... probably more than you'd like to count. Start taking baby steps toward healthy living. Start making small changes that will have a BIG impact on the quality of your life. Only you can make the decision to make changes in your lifestyle, and only you can decide which changes are reasonable and which are not. [source]

"People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you'll know exactly what to do." - Michelle Ventor

Day 148

Awareness is essential in that oftentimes we really don't know that some of the little things we are doing are contributing in big ways to our excess weight. For example, do you drink one or more soft drinks in a day? ONE soft drink (approximately 10 ounces) is 120 calories, takes 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a DAY to burn it off AND is filled with unnecessary chemicals! Switching one's soft drink habit for water can amount to considerable weight loss over the course of a year.

Or are you cleaning morsels off of the kids' plates? ONE bite may not seem like much, but many "one" bites add up to ONE HUGE bite over the course of the day. It all counts!

I speak with so many people who swear to me they have fairly healthy habits. I think we kid ourselves a lot. Do you kid yourself? Is the joke on you?

Open your eyes and take a long hard look at your actions, and look for ways you can easily, and without much effort, improve upon your actions and make them a bit healthier.

Education is essential in that we need to know what is healthy. Today, that is perhaps harder than at any other time in history! There are so many confusing and mixed messages about what is healthy: low carb, low fat, low glycemic and bears, oh my!

I don't know what is the right way to eat, honestly, I don't. I am not a nutritionist, doctor or expert on food, but I am the undisputed expert on what NOT to eat! YOUR vices!!! I don't care how many times you have heard "You can eat what you love and still lose the weight" -- you CAN'T!!!! If you LOVE food, that in and of itself is part of the problem! I think you should love life, NOT food! Educate yourself on the foods you will eat that are healthy and that work within YOUR lifestyle!

Determination! YOU must be determined to succeed at this and really want to change your lifestyle! It is NOT enough that you just want to LOSE WEIGHT.

What then? you guessed it... the weight comes back on! You must, must, must make your goal to have a permanently healthy lifestyle and be determined to realize it!

Action! Once you have educated yourself as to what is unhealthy and are aware of what you are doing that is unhealthy and are determined to change, all that is left is to take action! Make sure every day that you are taking action and that is a step in the right direction!

Motivation! Sometimes the going gets tough, that is when the motivated get buff! Make some goals: short-term and long, plan some rewards you are going realize along the way AND make it fun! For example, buy a terra cotta planter and some small tiles, mirrors, large beads or stones... and then EACH day you stick to your plan, bust your vices and reach your daily goal, glue an item on the planter. By the end of the year, you will have the most gorgeous planter (grout over it, wipe down, let it dry and it will be fabulous!!) AND be, oh, about 100 pounds thinner! [source]

"We cannot hold a torch to light another person's path without brightening our own." - Ben Sweetland

Day 147

Availabilty
Bananas are available year round!

How to Select:
Select green-tipped bananas for cooking or ripening, yellow bananas for eating and brown-speckled bananas for baking.

Bananas are fully ripened when brown spots appear on the peel. These bananas have a softer texture and are very sweet. When you bring home a bunch of bananas, you'll want to store them so they will stay fresh. Take them out of the plastic produce bag and store them at room temperature. The bananas will continue to ripen. If your bananas are too green, you can put them in a paper bag to ripen. If you add an apple or tomato to the bag, the bananas will ripen even faster. When your bananas have turned the color you want, but you can't use them right away, store them in your refrigerator. The skin will darken, but the bananas will stay fresh for up to two weeks.

Cat!

Find her over @ Those Weighty Things: "im a woman on my way to obtaining my ideal measurements, optimal health and falling in love with exercise. oh, im going to look really hot too."

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Day 146

This time of the day is starting to become my favorite time. It used to be anytime from 11pm to 2am was me time. I like the quiet & knowing when I walk down the hall @ this insane hour, most of my neighbors are still asleep. I like that it's just me in the gym. As I was bent over lacing up my sneakers, in the dim light I looked @ my legs. In the distance I heard a train toot it's horn. I felt like I was in a Nike commercial.

I don't know if that mind game did the trick, but I had a GREAT run this morning. I normally don't talk much about the running b/c to date it's all be laborious, I just trudge thru it. But today, as I was toggling the treadmill screen to the ♥ rate monitor settings, I didn't have that pre-run dread. Once I started, I felt like I floated the entire time, I couldn't believe 30 mins had passed. I actually clapped my hands @ the 29 min mark.

I think the fake iPod knows it's days are numbered. All this week the remote didn't work, this morning it did. I flipped to MTV and caught my fave song (Mr. Brightside) and pretended I had headphones on. Yes still. I looked str8 ahead and ran like I had music in my ears. I ran for the hunger I've been feeling right before bed and as soon as I wake up. I ran for the strength to stick to the food challenge. I ran for all the times in the past when I told myself I couldn't.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." - Vincent Van Gogh

Hot damn, I'm a runner.

Day 145

Hmmm now what do we have here?

Open wide (hesh up pervs)

Ta da!

Hiya, I'm iPod 20GB PC + Mac

So wayyyyyyyy back in the day, March 10th to be exact, I decided to sign up for this free thingamabod that seemed like a hoax when I originally heard about it last fall. Some fancy detective work, via google, revealed not only people who got their pod, but legit newspaper stories documenting the phenomena. That was all I needed to read, I set out to snag my own. Now I didn't start out w/high expectations, but I did have hope that w/patience & time being on my side, this would pan out @ some point. Fast-forward nearly 3 months to the date, June 13th, my iPod arrived.

No I haven't opened it yet, believe me I'm verrrrry tempted, but I told myself it will be my reward for successfully completing the 3 week food challenge. A non-food reward. Yet, it's more than that. By the time I complete the challenge it will be 7/2. The first ½ of this year will be done & I'm still here trooping on. By that point, my 6 week challenge will end & I'll also be increasing my running program to run my biggest mental block, 3 miles.

Symbolically opening the box on that that date will serve to celebrate all the efforts I've made in the last 6 months, the good and the bad, but mostly the good. I could be a maniac and make it a year end gift, but I have spent the last 3 months storing my music collection onto my computer & running to commercial jingles, I need my tunes. I'll now spend the next 2 ½ weeks gleefully making playlists. Soundtracks to run to, beautifuler words have never been spoken. @ least here.

So that's the tease I mentioned yesterday about having something else to look forward to besides ice cream. If you saw/heard about this free thingamabod and was also skeptical, it's fo' real yo & now you know someone who really got an iPod.

Finally, this couldn't have happen without help. For the 40 people who made the effort to help me out by clicking the link that I tried so hard not to be obnoxious about, Thank You!

And especially to the 6 people who completed offers. THANK YOU! As a sign of my appreciation I have offered to post their* referral links to help them get their own iPod. If you haven't already completed an offer and know of 5 people who'll sign up under you, be nice and help these two lovely ladies out.

Brenna's iPod

B needs 5 signups

Angela's iPod

She needs 5 sign ups too

Adam - declined signups but would like a link to his blog http://satellitefun.blogspot.com/ There ya go Adam

To the other 3 who declined me pimping their link, if you ever change your mind, the offer will always be open to you.

If by some chance, you don't think you can snag 5 whole people, but do know you can get 3, go for the shuffle [1/31/06 upddate: I got the shuffle!] I'm now going for the laptop!

PS I'll add a page on what I did step by step but I've been promising to post this update for almost 2 weeks now so I'll work on that over the next week or so.

*If you are looking for referrals, this entry isn't an open call to post that link in the comment section. If you'd like me to post your link, let me know and I'll email you to work out the details.

Earlier, I mentioned a 12 week plan of attack I'll be using towards my food intake. To make it manageable I'm breaking that down into 3 week chunks, partially so that I could concentrate on one thing @ a time while I make it a habit, but mainly b/c I have OCD and 3 divides nicely into 6.

Every 3 weeks I'll detail the next step in the process. I am now in what I'm calling Stage 1. I need to name things, don't ask me why. Each stage builds upon the last.

Stage 1 6/12-7/02
The goal:
- Find out my BMR
- Eat within 100 calories below BMR but no more
- Each night make a meal plan for the following day
- Stick to said meal plan
- Drink @ least 100 oz of water

The why:
I realized I'm a nibbler. I'll make a meal plan and stick to it, but nibble calories I didn't factor in. I can easily nibble my way upwards of 300 calories which could be the source of my slow losing. So this stage is twofold, 1) it's teaching me to be disciplined enough to stick to my daily caloric goal and 2) it's an effort to break my excessive snacking habit.

So I don't feel deprived, b/c right now food is tied into my emotions and any extreme change (ie no snacking @ all) to my eating will make me want to rebel, I've factored in an ice cream bar @ the end of the day. Other than that, I've made no changes to what I've already been eating. During this stage I'm not watching the macronutrients breakdown.

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I am hoping by week 12, I will have some concrete results to see what truly works for me and what doesn't. If by that time I have had zero loss, and I say zero b/c I won't hold my body to lose 12lbs in that time until I see what I'm able to lose during any given stage so to that extent, any loss will be a good sign. But if I see zero loss, I will go to another doctor ask for a full evaluation and take my food and workout logs.

Last year when I went to the doctor complaining about losing slowly. Back then I wasn't working out consistently nor was I eating healthy. I recognize now that those slow losses were a side effect of my haphazard actions. I was given a few tests and a clean bill of health, ruling out PCOS and diabetes, she suggested doing the South Beach Diet. I didn't take her up on it.

"Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all." - Buddha

Day 144

Popping in to leave an aha moment for future reference to be picked apart and analyzed when time permits.

So I'm sitting here, finished lunch over an hour ago, the R&B FIF challenge is going swimmingly by the way, then again it's only the 3rd day, downhill doesn't start till Thursday (Yikes! That makes tommorow bah day!), but I digress. I'm sitting here with my mouth just wanting something sweet. Always. And I'll resist, like I did yesterday, by looking forward to the ice cream bar after dinner. That treat helps and after yesterday I now have another treat I'll write about tommorow.

But back to that sweet urge, I don't have it on the weekends and I can't figure out why. Maybe it's b/c I switch up my meals on the weekends, eating sandwiches for lunch and lunches for dinner? I dunno. It could just be a habit, I have more structured eating during the week and my brain is just used to having a cookie(s) or choclate(s) post lunch. *shrug* In any event I didn't have this pesky habit 6 months ago so I'm gonna ride it out

I'm a tad busy so I'll throw up a new what say you topic for everyone to chat amongst themselves till I have time to collect my thoughts on a few things.

Here's the scenario, you are given a choice to partner w/a buddy in your weight loss/getting fit attempts:

Buddy A - She is 10lbs heavier than you. She reminds you of what direction you don't want to head towards.

Buddy B - She is your weight. As the weight goes down, she can relate to you lb for lb.

Buddy C - She weighs 10lbs less than you do. Still close enough for her to relate to your struggle, but just far enough that you get a glimpse of what you can be.

or

Buddy D - She is @ your goal weight for over a year. She's already been down the road, knows the ups and downs. She may not relate on the lb for lb struggle, but she is proof that it can happen.

This weeks topic: Which buddy would you choose & why?

Day 143

Woke up w/a killer headache/eyeache this morning. Tossed & turned for about 20 mins weighing whether working out would hurt or help. Got up and decided to give it a try. Had to hold onto the handrails a few times during the 30 min walk and couldn't look @ the tv, the glare from the light aggravated me. By the time the running started, I ½heartedly gave it a shot thinking I'd end up having to ride the bike, but I actually finished all 2 miles str8. Shure I counted it down in 5 min increments, but some mornings ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't...you are probably right." - Henry Ford

The South Beach Diet™ Refrigerated Wrap Kits - Wrap Kit Turkey & Bacon Club

Instead of a Lean Cuisine meal I picked this up yesterday. And because my food reviewing skills aren't limited only to Nutrisystem foods, today debuts an irregular feature over @ reneegetsfit.com, succintly called: Food Reviews.

I'll admit to why all of a sudden the scale meant so much to me last week. And to the people whose site I'm refering to, please understand it has NOTHING to do w/any of you personally 'kay? Okay.

Day 142