Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Today's menu

Meal 1: 1 c. melon, 1/2 c. steel cut oats, 1/4 c. Trader Joe's mixed nuts (so tasty frozen!)

Monday, September 20, 2010

The New Me

The top down approach (an idea borrowed from Sandra Ahten, to learn more visit her website.) for me includes my mind and spirit. I like to use the podcasts to help me stay focused. I also visit Spark People frequently to stay abreast of what is going on the world of dieting. I also participate in some of the forums over at Cathe Friedrich's website. For my spirit, I do have a meditation practice.

Have you ever heard or read that idea, "Behave as if." I like it a lot. I apply it in different ways and situations to great effect. In the weight loss arena, I have decided to apply it to my weight loss plan.

I am adjusting my diet plan. For the month of August I followed the 4 meals at 400 calories per day style of calorie allotment. That did work. I lost 2.5 pounds. However, come ttotm, I lost my resolve, and they came back. Since then, I have been battling a very high appetite and a low level of energy. I have decided to adjust my eating plan again. For the next two weeks I plan to eat like this:

Pre Workout Snack: 100 calories, 20 carbs.
Post Workout Meal: 500 calories, up to 20 carbs.
Lunch: 500 calories, up to 10 carbs.
Dinner: 500 calories, up to 10 carbs.

My rotation is designed to produce a 1 pound deficit per week.

6 days/week:
AM workout: 500 cal. burn cardio
PM workout: 100 cal. burn flexibility/strength training or low intensity cardio

My new rotation break down:

Sunday: off
Monday: Jog, Yoga
Tuesday: Cathe Step, Leslie Sansone 3 miles
Wednesday: Jog, Yoga
Thursday: Cathe MMA: Leslie Sansone 3 miles
Friday: Jog, Yoga
Saturday: Cathe Step, Leslie Sansone 3 miles

I am also setting boundaries on this thing. I don't want to become obsessed, I just want to be focused and to produce results. I will only allow myself up to 30 min./day to blog/ read about and think about weight loss. Other things in my life (career!) are equally important and must take precedence the rest of the day.

I would like to be back to where I was before the antibiotics started. Thats about 10 pounds from here. Thats my goal for this year. I would like to lose 10 pounds by Jan. 1, 2010.

Delinquent

Its been a long time since I posted a blog. I haven't been posting cause I figure no body is reading this anyway. But, here is the deal everybody needs some accountability more or less on their weight loss journey, I learned that from Sandra Ahten of The Reasonable Diet Podcast. She is a fabulous life coach and her podcasts have proven to be invaluable to me personally. She is the reason I got started on this journey at all. It is not easy to be at this point. I have been in a plateau for over a year and now with stressors in my life, the pounds have crept up. Well, like in 2007 its time to be honest with myself. Its time to put my calories down on paper. Its time to recognize that there are only 3.5 months left to 2010. I want 2010 to be another year of success on this weight management journey.

In the beginning, I thought I wasn't capable of losing weight at all. Then, once I began to lose weight (30 + in the first year.) I thought I would have attained my goal weight by now.

In the middle, at the 210 mark, I discovered IOWL, the C25K program and Cathe Friedrich. I also discovered calorie cycling. That worked really well for another 30 pounds. Then, that stuck until February of 2009. I became ill twice and was put on antibiotics, twice. I put on 8 pounds with the first round. I got that off. Then, I put on nearly 10 with the second round. That started to come off and they changed my medicine again, and voila, it all came back. Well, now I battle constant sugar cravings where I didn't used to have much. Now, I have to watch everything I put in my mouth. I wake up hungry in the middle of the night and force myself to roll over and go back to sleep. Now, every little bite of chocolate puts visible adipose back on my frame. The drive to eat is there before I am even really awake in the morning.

I must get back into my low carb lifestyle. I have over the month of August, successfully given up ice cream completely, even the ice cream fakes, like yogurt/ice milk etc. The self imposed challenge of Sept. 2010 was a bust. I was trying to give up nuts. I have a very hard time with following portion guidelines with nuts. I just love them too much. I also have a hard time with fruit. I used to be able to have a small serving and walk away, not so much now.

I do think it is my medications. But, could it be age? I am older by three years. nah. its just time to cleanse the old bugs and repopulate with good ones.

I can't forgo my jog. I discovered that without the running, I become depressed, and the weight just creeps up again in spite of being within limits on calories or carbs.

My spirit, my soul, my self all want to be slender now. I don't need that old security blanket anymore. But I find my body tired. I find my mind bored. It takes a lot of personal fortitude to even contemplate the physical work, stamina and emotional oomph to lose weight. Its not the bottom up that is so horribly difficult. The trick is staying on top of your behavior, your mind set and not settling into a momentum black hole.