Thoughts: 6.13.09

I’ve been struggling with what my ultimate goal is for weight, forgetting that I had found that Athletic BMI Calculator a while back and even posted on this blog on the left under ‘helpful tools’… I just checked it out and was pleased to see that after losing 30lbs I’ve dropped 4 points in BMI. I’m no longer considered ‘obese’ – I’m just ‘hefty.’ lol… Oddly, this week I feel like I’ve dropped more body fat, but the scale hasn’t budged. I haven’t been so great with eating and drinking enough water the past week due to catching a nasty cold and just being exhausted and lazy. So I’m hoping that after a week or two of eating better and getting more H2O, the scale will budge a bit. 

We just booked a trip to Bermuda for the 3rd week of September to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary – 14 weeks from today. I decided it’s time to lose ‘the next 30′ by then. I’ve had enough of a break and maintained my 30 lb loss for the past month, which is great. I’ve kept up my training [minus this week due to being sick], and I’m ready to commit to making my goal by our trip. My reward, I decided is taking an intro to Scuba dive – I’ve always wanted to go scuba diving, so that’s what I’m working toward. I can’t wait! My husband will have to watch from the shore [or boat] since he gets freaked out by water in general… something to do with one of his brothers almost drowning him as a kid… Ironically, he married a fish. I can swim all day long, as far out as I can get, for as long as possible and I’m in heaven. [I'm a Pisces... he's a Virgo...]. 

I really am amazed at how different I feel just in the last 3 months between losing some weight and boosting my exercise sessions. I’m so much stronger. Last year this time I was still struggling with my balance to even attempt a lunge – now I love them and love how strong I feel when I do them. 

Anyway… getting back to the point of this post… I had ot remind myself that I DO have a goal weight – or at least a decent range that I can, in fact, focus on. My goal weight range is: 163-168 lbs. That gets me in the ‘desireable’ 20-22 BMI range. Getting to 25 and being within the ‘healthy acceptable’ range will be a great next goal, though: 192 lbs. That’s where I want to get to before we leave for Bermuda. It’s good to have goals. 

My plan is to make a short list of  healthy meals and snacks and just staying within that list for the next 3 months, barring exceptions here and there when we go out. I’ve gotten a lot better at making healthier choices, though, and we don’t go out nearly as often anymore, so not a problem. I’ll keep updating as I go along. Time to wash up and get into the city to see the Boston Pops perform for the Apollo 11 Anniversary. Should be pretty cool.  =)

Mini-Meals… Day 2

Well, I slept really well last night for the first time in a while. I went to bed when I was tired – at 10:15, instead of staying up all hours watching TV. My hubby came home really late from work last night and was coming down with a cold. I could tell he was bummed I was going to bed 15 minutes after he got home, but no sense in both of us getting sick. If I had stayed up with him until our usual midnight to 1am, I probably would catch whatever he’s got. I woke up at 5:15 on my own, thinking it was 6:15 and feeling refreshed… that was weird. I stayed in bed until 6am and then did my normal routine of drinking 16 oz of water, prepping some food for the day [fruit salad for both of us for snacking, marinating some boneless, skinless chicken breasts for grilling for lunch], had 1/2 of my morning smoothie, did my hour long workout of cardio drills and abs, showered and was ready to start working at 9am [I'm working from home today - work is 75 miles away so I work from home 2 days a week to cut my costs and car mileage]. Normally I just sleep in on my home days to make up for my lack of sleep, I don’t eat enough, don’t bother showering because I don’t have time to workout after sleeping too long… and the day is a waste. No more of that!

I swear after just one day of eating more frequently and consistently I woke up feeling thinner. lol… of course, the scale didn’t reflect those sentiments, but I don’t care. I was able to fit into a really cute skirt I bought months ago that I had no hope of getting over my hips. It’s slightly snug on my waist, but no ‘muffin-top’ and it was loose on my hips. Woo-hoo! Now I need an occasion to wear it. ;) 

It feels really good knowing I’ve found my formula for health in eating clean. It really is a lifestyle and not a diet and the food is amazing so there’s no deprivation feelings. We went out for dinner last Friday and I ordered calamari and found I couldn’t eat much of it. I stopped automatically when I’d had enough and I couldn’t fathom over-eating on fried food. I just don’t eat fried food much anymore… it wasn’t nearly as appealing to me as it used to be and I found myself wishing I had just ordered a salad. This is coming from the gal that used to order the extra alfredo sauce at Olive garden to dip the endless breadsticks in! [ewww] LOL

I also noticed my endurance was better in my workout this morning. There are a lot of football-type drills in it that I couldn’t finish the full minute or two of, I’d have to stop before it was time to catch my breath. I finished almost all of them this time and it felt amazing. I’m actually starting to think of myself as an athlete again. I was always very active as a kid and teen until life got in the way. I’m looking forward to taking back all my favorite sports one at a time as I get more and more fit. I think it’s time to set a tennis date with a friend of mine and see what I’m made of. I used to play all the time when I was younger, and was pretty good… my friend’s been playing for 15+ years and still plays once a week so it could be great or it could be incredibly frustrating for him. lol… 

Other sports to take back: Biking, running, downhill and xcountry skiing, ice skating… even going sledding in the winter. This past winter would have been amazing for sledding with all the snow we got, but I wasn’t quite there yet… I actually wouldn’t know where to go around here – where I live, everything is FLAT. I do go hiking and occasionally I go swimming. I used to do 100 laps a day at the gym I belonged to – it had a great, olympic sized pool. I’d do my 100 laps freestyle and back stroke, then go do cardio… I always took my fitness for granted until it was completely gone and I found my knees giving out just walking down the stairs. I assumed it was just the price of getting old [yes, I thought this in my mid to late TWENTIES! Duh! lol]. Now I feel as good as, or better than I did when I was 18!

Mini Meals… Day 1

I actually stuck to an eating schedule today and ended up eating 7 mini meals… It was nice not getting ravenous or light-headed. And I actually drank more fluids, too. I just made a great broccoli cole slaw with a hint of asian flavor in the dressing [miracle whip, agave nectar, mirin, miso, lemon juice, rice wine vinegar and grapeseed oil], and tossed it with some freshly dry roasted walnuts and some naturally-sweetened dried cranberries. Delicious and very satisfying. I had assumed that I’d eat one more time before going to bed, but now I’m not so sure… It’s almost 9:00 and I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near approaching hunger again. If I had known I would have thrown in some form of protein, too. I got protein today by way of my morning smoothie, which I broke up into 2 mini meals… my chicken stirfry for lunch, yogurt with my fruit salad [I make a dip with some vanilla, agave and cinnamon], and I had some yogurt on a brown rice cake with a little olive tapenade mixed in to hide the flavor of my protein powder. So, now that I’m thinking about it, I guess I got enough protein today. lol… 

I started a food journal today, as well, to track what I’m eating, when and to see how it affects my weightloss efforts. I’ve tried keeping a food journal before and failed miserably, mostly because I wasn’t ready to eat healthy – so wasn’t ready to face the reality of just how unhealthy I was eating in black and white. lol… I can laugh about that now. I’ll say this, I never stopped trying – I failed a LOT, but at least I never gave up. I just had to bite the bullet and realize that no magic ‘diet’ or pill was going to lose the weight for me. I used food for emotional reasons my whole life. Now that my emotional health is great [and has been for 2-3 years steadily], it’s just a matter of ditching the old, unnecessary, DESTRUCTIVE eating habits. 

They say building your ideal body is 10% genes, 10% exercise and 80% nutrition. No wonder I haven’t had success until now… If I had read that stat a few years ago I would have scoffed at it or rationalized my eating habits and blamed my genes or something childish. Progress is a great feeling.  =)