My Body Is A Mystery

B2B W9: 60/250, , 1 stairs
B2B W8 WI: -1.2 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -11.8lbs

No, not a wonderland. A mystery. (Oh, well, maybe a wonderland too.)

I'm down 1.2 lbs after last week.

I feel leaner and healthier. Yesterday I did make healthy choices at lunch and dinner, not so much for breakfast.

I'm not sure how I managed to pull off a 1.2 lb loss given the lack of exercise and eating every possible point. The WW folks used the old, "eat more", reasoning. I'm not convinced. I think my body might need some down time to catch up on all the stuff I do to it, and I need to keep it guessing. I wish it could talk back to me and tell me why it lost weight this week and gained 1.8 last week.

Alas, it can't, but I am grateful:-)

Not Paying Attention

B2B W8: 105/250, ******, 5 stairs

Well, I think I've left the building. This morning I forgot to pack my stash for the day (fruit, carrots, breakfast bar, cheese sticks). It just didn't even occur to me. Sigh!

That's all I have to report. I hate it when things get like this. I especially hate that I'm 100% responsible. I feel like I'm going to have to work myself back up in momentum. How could I do well for 7 straight weeks then falter like this. They say a habit is formed in 21-30 days. I'm after day 49 and my pack-snacks-for-work habit has failed.

It's going to be interesting today:-(

Weight Loss Sighting

B2B W8: 105/250, *****, 4 stairs

In the spirit of honesty and full disclosure, I'm going to say now that I've had all my flex points for the week and I'm down to 8.5 activity points plus my daily allowance. I did not go to the gym yesterday or this morning. I'm giving myself a guilt-free pass on the gym tomorrow morning.

Technically, I'm on plan, but I know what I have to do to lose weight. Not eating activity (usually 20-24) and having at least 10 flex points at the end of the week tops the list. Getting exercise time in is second. I talked about the veggies yesterday. My best bet for a loss this week is to eat tons of veggies.

I'm in Week 8 of this challenge. This is usually the time in most endeavors that I feel the fatigue of tedium. In order for me to get my morning workout, I wake up at 5:30 am. It's a great side effect as I've wanted to move my wake up time to 5 am for years. Starting Monday I want to move it to 5:15 for other reasons.

In great news, a co-worker noticed my weight loss this morning. She asked if I started walking to work again. I said no, but I'm doing WW. She said she can see it. YIPPEE!!!

I'll be using this weekend to rest, prioritize, and kick myself into gear.

Exhausted and Hungry

B2B W8: 105/250, ****, 3 stairs

I feel exhausted...Sigh. I didn't get to the gym this morning because at 5:30 after going to the bathroom all I could do is go back under the covers to catch some more zzz's. I got enough hours of sleep. I just feel exhausted. So, I'm hitting the gym this evening. That might turn out for the best as there's a Zumba class I've been wanting to join forever. Today I get to check it out.

In the evenings, I feel exhausted and ravenous. I didn't do groceries this week and every day I say I'm going to the store and I don't. I don't cook either. Cooking is another key to my weight loss. If I cook 2 days a week I'm good. It's only 2 days, but it's food for 4 and the other days I choose healthy stuff at restaurants.

I'm not sure where the lethargy and hunger are coming from. They're not head things as far as I can tell. I just physically feel that way.

As I was writing this post I popped over to the Anti-Jared to read about his priorities and I was reminded again. I said earlier this week that I need more veggies. I know what happened yesterday. I ate white rice and brown sauce at the Chinese food place. Of course it was within points, but it was not healthy, wholesome food.

I've had 2 weeks of that mantra and it is not working. I was feeling energized and zippy before. Eating within points is one thing. It's quite another to eat WELL within points. That's the lasting part.

I'll say it again, I need to eat wholesome, healthy food. I can eat lots of wholesome, healthy, tasty food. When I eat white rice and white flour and sugar, I feel tired and hungry and it doesn't go away. It feeds on itself. I think I'm going to reinstate the stairs for starch program to develop that habit. I'll be able to eat the white stuff, but I'm going to have to limit it. A habit I need to develop to be healthy for life.

More Veggies

B2B W8: 105/250, ***, 3 stairs

Man, I started getting sloppy. Ever since I stopped the stairs for starch program I stopped taking the stairs. This morning I reached a new level of intensity with the elliptical workout. Boy, did it count. I even started getting a little sloppy counting my points.

Yesterday Tony, the Anti-Jared, gave props to Jennette, the Pasta Queen, as one of his inspirations. They've both lost 200+ lbs. They're both keeping it off. And do you know what else they have in common...They both follow a South Beach type diet. I started tracking Jeannette way back in the day with my first serious weight loss attempts, and I recently started tracking Tony. I'm going to take a page out of their book and bulk up my veggies. This is also following Lyn's key yesterday.

Sure you will lose weight exercising like a maniac and/or reducing your portions. To keep it off though, the successful folks have changed what they eat fundamentally and movement is now a part of their life. They eat healthy, wholesome foods, not exclusively, but overwhelmingly. This is what I'm going for, long term health and well-being.

To that end, I'm going to up my veggie count for being on plan for every challenge. So by the end of the year I'll be eating at least 8 fruit/veggie servings a day. Getting fruit and veggies in automatically reduces the other food that I eat and, like exercise, it changes the quality of the other food I eat. I feel clean and lean. I can actually feel the vitality and energy of the blood coursing through my veins. It makes me want to eat better.

I also want to find a way to incorporate regular movement somehow in the challenge. Sure it's extra stairs there, but they feel really optional. At least with stairs for starch there was a reason to get more stairs.

What Makes A Good Week?

B2B W8: 50/250, **, 0 stairs
B2B W7 WI: +1.8 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -10.6lbs

This week I gained 1.8 lbs. I was expecting it after last week's 5.4 loss. However, I ate and exercised to reinforce the notion that I would gain. The mind is an interesting ball of yarn.

This week is already shaping up to be better. I usually have a field day on the weekends. I did eat some Flex points, but I didn't go wild. I did not, however, get any exercise in. I've found a few things to be key to my weight loss.

First, exercising 6 days a week is great. If I can even take a 30 minute walk that's even better. The key is to be active.

Second, when I exercise, I must make it count. That means upping the intensity on the elliptical and upping the inclines and pace on the treadmill.

Third, I must eat, and I must eat well. Lyn at Escape from Obesity said it well in her post about produce. I must eat tons of fruit and vegetables. I'm not a fruit fan, so I have to get the veggies in (about 7 servings/day). 7 Servings is not the official number, but I find I do much better with at least 7 servings. Basically, it must become very natural for me to go for veggies at every meal.

Fourth, eating wholesome food is best. In addition to lots of veggies, eating whole grains, and lean meat is best. This, again, is not rocket science, but it's a huge change in the way I treat food.

Fifth, I must diligently work on convincing my brain that healthy, wholesome food is nourishing and tasty. I must also convince my brain that the PRIMARY purpose for food is nourishment. I only eat when I'm hungry now, but the mood I'm in dictates the food I eat. I would like the food I eat to be dictated first by the level of nourishment and fuel my body will receive.

The Spirited Part

B2B W7: 275/250, ****-*, 8 stairs

Just a note to let my readers know that I'm good. This blog is mostly for my expression. It's my place to babble, contemplate, and really work through all the crap that's going on in my head. I find that when I write, things become a lot clearer. Usually, if you read through the end of a post, you'll find that I'm all over it. It's just a place where I can write until I come to peace with a situation.

It might help if I explain how I believe life works. I believe that we create our lives with our thoughts. It's a belief that I grew up with. I didn't just adopt it in the past couple of years with the advent of the Law of Attraction craze. Anyway, in 2003 when I reached burnout with my job, I realized that my life was out of alignment with what I professed to hold dear. From that point on I've been consciously working on getting my life in alignment with what I say I hold dear or, in other words, changing my thoughts, beliefs, and actions. It's been an interesting journey.

I also believe that God/Spirit/Consciousness/Well-Being is expressing through us all the time. Our thoughts, a better word would be beliefs, shapes and tints that expression. I've proven this true often enough that when I see an incongruency between what I'm experiencing and what I think I believe, I dig deeper.

Along with examining my beliefs, I've decided that I want certain things in my life. These things are not in conflict with the constant expression of God. In fact, they are the manifestation of Good. (Caveat: I always leave room for my intention or better as I'm not currently aware of all that is going on in the Universe.) Back to the plot. I've learned that in order to achieve these things, or express more God, I need to clarify my beliefs. That takes a combination of forgiveness, facing fear, examining beliefs, opening to Spirit, and so on.

My focus this year on health requires the actions of eating healthy, wholesome foods, and exercising. These actions are what I like to call inspired actions. Inspired actions are the natural steps taken once you are clear. It's like the natural progression of things. On the spiritual side (this is just a euphemism, I don't think there are distinct aspects of ourselves), manifesting health is expressing God as Life.

One other interesting thing I've learned about expressing an aspect of God: God is indivisible. So I can't single out expressing God as Life. When I seek to express more of God as Life, I automatically express more God as Substance, Joy, Peace, Love, and, in general, Good. Hence the natural desiring of other intentions.