Then why am I not a size 2?

To those hockey fanatics who read my blog (if any)

I do know that I haven't been blogging much about hockey lately

I will get back to it .... 

 ... but in the meantime

I hate to admit it, but when I'm cruising the Internet I often get caught by pictures of healthy women (like the one below), accompanied by a headline such as 25 Nutritional Secrets to Help You Reach Your Goal Weight!



I'm old enough and wise enough to know that there really isn't a quick fix for my weight problem.  The answer is simple, in that I need to eat healthily (and in moderation) and exercise more.  Yet for the past three months I've been doing that and my weight loss is stalled, in fact, it's slowly creeping back up.  I know I just have to keep at it ... I know my incipient state of menopause is throwing my metabolism off ... I know the weight took a long time to go on and it'll take longer to get off ... I know all these things, but a silly little part of me wishes that there was some magic pill that I could take and the weight would just fly off!  Thus I find myself reading these Internet articles in hopes of finding some secret knowledge that will help me on my weight loss journey.

So I just finished reading through 25 Best Nutrition Secrets  that had originally come from the magazine Men's Health and had been reposted on msn.ca.  This is what it told me ...

1.      Drink a second cup of coffee

2.      Keep serving dishes off the table

3.      Think before you drink (i.e. don’t drink pop)

4.      Practice total recall

5.      Eat protein at every meal

6.      Choose whole grain bread

7.      Eat Fish

8.      Sign up for weight loss emails

9.      Cut portions by a quarter

10.  Turn off the TV

11.  Put your fork down when you chew

12.  Choose rye (not wheat) for breakfast bread

13.  Eat a handful of fruit and vegetables every day

14.  Sip green tea

15.  Work out before lunch or dinner

16.  Hungover?  Choose asparagus

17.  Sleep 8 hours a night

18.  Discover Miso Soup (helps lower blood pressure)

19.  Drink two glasses of milk a day

20.  Take a zinc supplement

21.  Go ahead eat your favourite foods (in moderation)

22.  Choose foods with the fewest ingredients

23.  Snack on popcorn (without the butter)

24.  Or snack on walnuts

25.  Scramble your breakfast

Ok - lets deal with this one by one

1.      Drink a second cup of coffee

I have since oooh about 2nd year univeristy which is about 30 years ago (ouch)

2.      Keep serving dishes off the table

I never use serving dishes simply because it adds to the clean up and I like plating meals

3.      Think before you drink (i.e. don’t drink pop)

I don't drink pop, maybe the odd diet coke, but I've never been a pop drinker

4.      Practice total recall

This one means I'm supposed to think of my previous meal before I eat my next meal ... let's be real, sometimes I don't even remember why I came into a room ...

5.      Eat protein at every meal

Always, even when I tried to go vegetarian

6.      Choose whole grain bread

Always, more grain the better!  In fact I get a lot of attitude from the teens in my house over this issue

7.      Eat Fish

Can't - allergy

8.      Sign up for weight loss emails

I do, but usually delete them before reading them, because they're about as helpful as these 25 points

9.      Cut portions by a quarter

I do - John gets the biggest, then Madie, then me - mine is far smaller than John's, but he's loosing weight and I'm not ... sigh

10.  Turn off the TV

I've stopped watching the past few years except for the odd episode of Boston Legal on DVD

11.  Put your fork down when you chew

Always have ... my mother beat this one into me when I was young

12.  Choose rye (not wheat) for breakfast bread

Bit of a contradiction to #6

13.  Eat a handful of fruit and vegetables every day

Fresh veggies for dinner every day, I could do better

14.  Sip green tea
As I type - even drink the decaffinated version which is even better

15.  Work out before lunch or dinner
I work out 4 to 5 days a week before lunch, plus play hockey (which I really have no control over the time)

16.  Hungover?  Choose asparagus
I don't drink enough to get hungover, but I do love asparagus and eat it regularly

17.  Sleep 8 hours a night
Try to do this with night sweats and menopause - lets put it this way - I'm in bed 8 hours a night

18.  Discover Miso Soup (helps lower blood pressure)
My blood pressure is 90/55 - if it gets any lower I'll be dead

19.  Drink two glasses of milk a day
I drink a glass at dinner and put milk in my coffee at breakfast, plus eat nonfat yoghurt

20.  Take a zinc supplement
When I remember  -  see point # 4

21.  Go ahead eat your favourite foods (in moderation)
Dude!  This is what I've been doing!

22.  Choose foods with the fewest ingredients
I don't buy a lot of processed food

23.  Snack on popcorn (without the butter)
What's the point without the butter?  I'd rather go without

24.  Or snack on walnuts
I snack on almonds which are supposed to be even better

25.  Scramble your breakfast
I thought I was supposed to eat rye (see # 12)

Well when it's all said and done, the previous 25 nutritional secrets weren't really secret to me, I've been pretty much following them all along.  Hmmmmm I guess I'll keep looking for that magic pill ... in the meantime I'll keep eating properly and working out.

Goal Setting

                                            Let be real, this isn't me, but maybe someday ....

I've been trying to lose weight with varying degrees of success.  What's really been the big success so far, is that I'm finally starting to get into shape.  I've been faithfully going to the gym for the past two and half months and it finally hit me today while I was walking the dog, that I'm actually looking forward to my workouts, instead of dreading them and trying to think up excuses to avoid them.  This is a big step forward!

My weight isn't really moving (and it needs to), but I've stopped obsessively worrying about it.  I'm just concentrating on getting fitter (more fit?) and hope that the weight will start dropping off eventually. 

There were a couple of different reasons for this whole fitness regime, the main reason being the quality of my life.  I'd reached a point that I was the heaviest I've ever been, everything ached and I could no longer really enjoy doing the things I like to do.  Hockey had started to become more of chore, instead of the joy that it originally had been, simply because I was so weak and slow, that I became more of a hindrance to my team rather than the limited help that I wanted to be.

And so I've endured a lot of time at the gym on the treadmill and recently on the bike.  It still isn't easy, I don't think it will ever be easy at my point in life.  Yet I can finally jog continually at a slow pace for 30 minutes.  I know it's not much, but it's a big accomplishment for me, thus I decided to enter a 5K race so I'd keep on track with my fitness goals.  A few clicks of my computer mouse and lo and behold I was registered to run the Walk of Life 5K run at the Science Centre on May 14th.  My friend Julie has decided to register too and last night Madie said she wanted to run also (though I think she was more interested in the free T shirt).

Thus a goal has been set and I know I can work towards it.  I remember a hundred years ago when I started to compete in Triathlons, that I could run a 5K in 25 minutes.  I doubt I'll hit that, but I am hoping for a sub 30 minute time.  Stay tuned to see if I do!

And yes, there has been some crazy talk about doing another triathlon - do stay tuned!

Weight Loss #11

Weight to Lose:                 30 lbs

Weight Lost to Date          17 lbs

Weight Still to Lose:          13 lbs


I haven't weighed myself in a few days, because the last time I did I was up 5 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!  You know things are tough, when you're trying to comfort yourself with the idea that maybe I just have a 5 lb tumour.  I know there can be a lot of factors in play here and I'm trying not to let it get me down.  I'm sticking with the original plan of eating healthily, eating moderately and working out on a regular basis.

I'm at the gym either four or five days per week.  Half an hour of cardio at 80% max heart rate.  I alternate jogging on the treadmill and the stationary bike.  I can now jog for a half an hour at 4.2 mph and next week I kick it up to 4.5 mph.  On the bike I'm still doing the hill program at level 11, I tried moving up to level 12, but found it too hard to keep my RPM up.  At the end of both programs I'm a sweaty mess, which actually feels good.

I have added situps on the incline bench.  I'm now up to 35 each day and next week it'll go to 40 (once I'm at 50, I'll add some twists).  I've moved up on my weights for my arms and legs, so the weight training is going well.

I will do this!

Weight Loss #10

Weight to Lose:                 30 lbs

Weight Lost to Date:         17 lbs

Weight Still to Lose:          13 lbs

Well nobody can say I'm doing some crazy diet that makes me lose weight too quickly!  One pound over 3 weeks certainly isn't taking me where I want to be at light speed, yet I knew when I started this whole process that it wasn't just about losing the weight - it was about changing lifestyle.

I'm quite proud of myself with regards to working out.  This week John couldn't join me at the gym and instead of ditching it too, I continued to work out, mainly because I realized that I enjoy it now.  Don't get me wrong, some days are easier than others and some days are downright brutal.  I still find when I'm doing my cardio that when I'm about 10 minutes in to my 30 minute run or bike, that I feel I can't do and I start trying to come up with excuses to quit.  So far I've never quit, plus I have no intentions of doing so, but yesterday I started looking for excuses at the 22 second mark!  Yup after 22 seconds of jogging, I wanted to quit!  I managed to just suck it up and push myself through it, but I did not enjoy any aspect of the jog.

I know some of my weight loss has been slowed down, because I've probably gained a bit of muscle.  Just got to keep at it.

I will do this!

Weight Loss #9

Weight to Lose:               30 lbs

Weight Lost to Date        16 lbs

Weight Still to Lose         14 lbs


Arghhhhhhhhhhh ...... the dreaded plateau! 

I knew it was coming and here it is.  It would be so nice if my weight loss could proceed in lovely 2 lb increments each week, but alas it is not to be.

To be honest, I was pretty sick last week and didn't really work out.  I ate a lot of the leftovers from the party we held here on Family Day.  Sigh

But this week I've been really good.  I've worked out every day.  I'm very proud of the fact that I can now jog steadily for 30 mins !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok it's at 4 mph, which is really considered a fast walking pace, but I'm jogging, not walking.  On alternate days I'm doing the hill program on the bike at level 11.  Both cause me to sweat a ton and I'm really feeling like things are slowly starting to firm up - I've even gone in a hole on my belt!

But no weight loss.

Patience is a virtue and all that crap.

I will do this!

Hacking, Hoarking & Hissing

Try doing this when you wear a cage!

I've been sick.  Nothing fatal, just a common cold, but since everybody knows that in the throes of cold's worst symptoms, there's really nothing common about it.  I blame Jamie who was home with us this past week for his University reading week.  He returned home with a lot of dirty laundry, with a lot of hunger for home cooked meals and with a lot of viruses and/or bacteria that young people who live in residences seem to cultivate in droves.  My retribution was less cooking, but since we had a ton of leftovers from a party we hosted on the Family Day Monday, the poor boy did not go hungry!

My lungs are my Achilles heel.  When I get a cold, it always goes straight to my lungs.  This time it took a short bypass in my throat, so when I coughed I sounded like the cartoon character of Mutley laughing!

listen to this

Luckily I could take the time to recover, which was 2 1/2 days without a voice and a lot of lounging by the fireplace with apple juice.  My two men (John and Jamie) took my other man (Guinness) for his morning walk, so I didn't have to go out in the inclement weather.

I missed Friday night hockey, but was determined to get back to playing for Sunday night.  Thus Sunday found me labouring up and down the ice with various viscous liquids emitting from my nose.  There is nothing ladylike about playing with snot continually running out your nose and phlegm congealing in the back of your throat.  The pros deal with this issue by simply blowing/spitting said liquids onto the ice (or the floor of the bench area), but I differ from the pros (yes, I'm quite aware that that's the understatement of the year), by the fact that I wear a cage.  A face cage in hockey is a wonderful piece of protective equipment, that I wouldn't dream of playing without, but it is a somewhat restrictive, when attempting to rid yourself of the previously mentioned liquids. 

Miss Manners fails to mention what a lady should do when trying to deal with vast quantities of phlegm and and snot while playing hockey.  Come to think of it, I'm sure Miss Manners never utilized the words 'phlegm' or 'snot' in her life.  She does mention the dainty use of a handkerchief when one is face with dilemma of clearing one's nose, but since I don't think I even own a handkerchief (my grandmother is rolling over in her grave), I usually resort to the use of my hockey jersey's sleeve in a pinch (yes, I wash it after every game, even when I'm not sick).

Perhaps when I get better at hockey I will feel confident in raising my mask and spitting on the floor of the bench area.  I play with a lot of guys who do that, even when they don't have colds.  I've found that guys simply like to spit.  Till then, I'll use my sleeve and just hope that Miss Manners never watches hockey.