If but for chips ....

I try to avoid this aisle when I shop

I love chips!

Nothing fancy, just your basic regular plain chips.  If I'm feeling wild and crazy, I might venture into salt and vinegar variety.

The major problem with this love affair is that the chips love me too.  In fact they love me so much, they don't like to leave me.  They love to linger on my hips, thighs and stomach ... sigh ... such a sensuous, yet tragic love affair!

I know all about Will Power.  At times Will Power is also a very good friend of mine, yet unfortunately, he's far more fickle than Chip, he has a tendency to desert me if Chip gets a little too vocal whilst I'm wandering the aisles at my local grocery store.  I do try to avoid the street where Chip lives, but his neighbour across the road is Perrier, my effervescent Parisian friend, who is so good to me.  Thus when I call upon Perrier, Chip begin his siren's call from across the aisle, of course that's the exact time that Will, perhaps exhausted by Perrier's presence, decides to decamp.  Sometimes Will doesn't show up for hours, days or weeks.  Lets be honest, Will took an extended vacation this summer.

Funnily enough, my friend Chocolate also lives in this aisle, yet she usually is quite understated and quiet.  Sure she murmurs sweet nothings in my ear from time to time, yet usually Will is around during those times (I think he has a crush on Chocolate) and prefers to keep Chocolate to himself.  It's extremely rare that Chocolate will accompany me home from the store - the friendship remains distant and cordial, though she's always there for me when I need her.

Every girl loves a bad boy and Chip is my bad boy!  It seems cruel that when I have a hard time with Chip and decide to break it off, it's usually Chocolate that's there to console me instead of Perrier (of course, sometimes she's a bit too bubbly to have a around during a bad break up).

I thought I had left all this emotional angst behind me High School, but I'm starting to figure out that it may be a life long thing.  I think in the future I'd better be a lot nicer to Will, since I can clearly see that Chip hasn't aged a bit and will continue to look quite yummy for a long time yet.  At least my trips to the grocery store will never be boring.

I would eat more Tomatoes, but it turns out Tom is a fruit!  (hey, I thought it was funny).

A girdle by any other name -

These are really a 1950's version of -

Compression shorts just sound way more cool than the word 'girdle'

So it's been back at the gym for me, with the various sins of my rather enjoyable summer along for the ride.  I can't dwell on the fact that my weight loss train became somewhat derailed over the summer - all I can do is get back on the horse (or the train, if I don't want to mix my metaphors) and keep on riding (which works for both metaphors and literally, since I ride the bike at the gym).

One little nifty piece of clothing that I wear at the gym are compression shorts that I wear under my regular gym shorts.  This allows me to use the various pieces of equipment without showing anybody my underwear.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm no prude and I really couldn't care less if anyone in the gym saw my underwear, but some of the old boys might get a little bothered (whether that might be a positive or negative experience for them, I refuse to dwell upon).  The other excellent aspect of the aforementioned compression shorts, is that it helps to hold in some of the 'jiggly' areas of my body. 

Truth be told, compression shorts are really the new girdle of the new millennium.

Sometimes lycra can be a girl's best friend.

There's a company out there called Spanx that does the same thing with lycra, though it's meant to be worn under regular clothing.

of course the heels help

Compression shorts aren't trying to be a girdle, they're intended for serious athletes (or people like me who pretend to be a serious athlete).  Yet the really great part about them, when I enter the gym, which is covered on one side with floor to ceiling mirrors, my sins are somewhat camouflaged.   The compression shorts make me look better than I really am - at the end of the day it's all about self image and when you think you look good, there's a good chance that you might come back to the gym.  Thus a positive cycle is set in motion (which is this case is correct by literally and metaphorically). 

It Can't be Because I'm Getting Old!

Doesn't everybody do their shoulder presses in the ocean?

So I'm back at the gym.  Absence did not make the heart grow fonder.

As I previously blogged, I've decided to approach this process as a marathon and not a sprint.  Thus I've revamped my exercise program, alternating days with cardio and weight training.  My cardio is now a walk on the treadmill at 3.8 mph for 45 minutes, focusing more on burning fat, so I can bring the weight down and alleviate some of the pain in my knees.  The weight training is all about changing some of my jiggly bits, into less jiggly bits.  Plus there's the whole muscle burns more calories than fat thing, which is good for me, because I like to eat!

So Monday saw my first day of weight training begin.  I decided to use the machines, instead of the free weights.  I know there's a lot of pros to the free weights, but I can get in and out in just under an hour if I use the all the machines I need, and I've realized that an hour is the extent of my interest in working out. 

The club where I work out is part of a golf and country club.  The clientele, or rather members are on the whole, my age or older.  One has to reach a rather comfortable financial spot in life in order afford a membership here.  Being retired (or unemployed, but I prefer the term retired), I'm free to work out during the day, which is when the other retired people are working out too - many of them with a personal trainer.  During my time spent in the gym, I've met a few of them.  One of my favourite's is Ruth, no Ruth has to be pushing 90 years old, she's had a double mastectomy, a hip replacement and has buried three husbands (as you can tell, Ruth likes to chat).  Ruth works out every day with the attitude, if you don't use it, you loose it!

When I arrived at the gym, Ruth was working her way through the machines ahead of me with a personal trainer.  Since Ruth is less than five feet tall, the trainer has to adjust most of the machines for her stature, which means I have to adjust them for me (sans trainer).  Ruth uses the lightest weights, so I have to come along and adjust the weights upwards/heavier to achieve the resistance that I require for toning.  This went along predictably as I worked my way around the circuit untill I came to the shoulder press. 

When I had been working out the previous winter, I had not done any shoulder presses.  There were so many other problem areas on my body that required my attention and as far as I could see, my shoulders weren't jiggly.  This time around I decided to add the shoulder press, since I've enlarged my weight training process.

Thus I approached the machine, adjust the seat (after Ruth's previous height challenged state) and naturally added on more weights than Ruth was using.  I settled in, and went to raise the weights above my head ... I must have adjusted the machine incorrectly, because I couldn't really move the weights!  I got off checked everything over, but it all looked to be in good working order, plus Ruth had just used it.  I shrugged and thought well maybe I'll just take off a bit of the weight, when lo and behold ... I could just barely move it!  I had to take off almost of the weight before I could properly do my reps! 

Oh the shame, oh the ignominy!  Ruth could do more in shoulder presses than I could.

I clearly have a long way to go ...

Tuesday I was pretty stiff and sore from the new regime.  I know this will take perseverance.

Maybe I should find a 100 year old member and follow them when I weight train!

And So It Continues ...

My husband John came home from his yearly physical last week with a generally clean bill of health.  Of course there was the usual caveat about the need to lose some weight - this in turn forced me to confront the fact that over the course of the summer, I too had slowly put on a few ... maybe more than a few pounds.  I had been assiduously avoiding the scales since early July when I came within 4 pounds of loosing the thirty pounds that I had originally set out to loose earlier this year.

Let me back track a bit.

I had been quite good about going to the gym, the 5K run that I completed with Julie had been an excellent goal, but my knees were really not taking too well to the continual pounding that I was subjecting them to.  I was constantly popping anti-inflammatory aspirins.  I knew that I was too heavy to be running so much, that a wiser course of action would be to lose the weight and then start running, but I was in such a hurry to lose the weight.  I had such grandiose plans about competing in triathlons ... but you know what they say about best laid plans ...

I fell off the exercise wagon with a whimper not a bang.

I started to play golf more and more.  It's a game I enjoy and something that John, the kids and I could do together.  We generally walk the course and it's a very hilly course.  I thought I was getting enough exercise with the golf and let the gym fall by the wayside.  I was also playing hockey once a week.  I thought I had my bases covered.  I thought wrong!

Walking the course, even in the extreme heat that we had this summer wasn't much of a cardio workout.  Then after we played 18 holes, I'd be tired and we'd order pizza for dinner.  With hockey, we played at 6:45, which meant there was lots of time afterwards for pizza and beer - you can see where this is all leading ...

I put back on 10 pounds this summer, plus the muscle that I had so painfully cultivated in the gym returned to its rather nasty, jiggly state.  I'm not back at square one, but I'm not where I should be.  So it's time to get back in the saddle again. 

I had a great summer, but it's time to head back to the gym.  I've realized that this process is a marathon, not a sprint.  This time, there will be no desperate plan to lose weight, but a return to regular exercise and eating healthily in moderation.  There'll be treats here and there, since let's be honest, life has to be enjoyed too!

So stay tuned, as I continue my weight loss journey.  Maybe as I progress, I'll actually admit how much weight I really have to lose.  Let it suffice to say it's a lot.  The thirty pounds that I initally set out to lose was just the first step ... now I have many steps. 

I will do this.

Weight Loss #12

I've spent a lot of time on the treadmill

I haven't done much blogging lately about my weight loss, mainly because there hasn't been any actual weight loss, though I'm still just a committed to the process as the day I started.

I have continued to modify my eating habits and more importantly have continued to commit myself to a fitness regime.  I just read back over my old blogs about working out and realise just how far I have come.  When I started on January I could barely walk for 30 mins on the treadmill - yesterday I ran for 30 mins at 5 mph!  I'm up to 60 sit ups on the incline bench, as well as 30 L sits on the captain's chair.

yest I actually do this!

My body is definitely firming up!  People have even started complimenting me on the changes that they can see (which always feels good). 

I know have to let go of my obsession with the scales, but it's really hard to do!  I know that my body is converting fat (which I have a whole lot of) into muscle (which I need a lot more of).  I know that muscle weighs more than fat.  I know I've been lifting weights, so I should be gaining muscle.  I know, I know and I know!  But I want the scale to move down too ... I know - just wait!  I know my clothes are fitting way better now and that that is a far better indication of the change in my body.

I'm two weeks away from running my 5K race and I'm confident that I'll be able to run the whole thing in hopefully a sub 30 minute time frame. 

I've also committed to competing in a triathlon in June!  That's a big deal for a woman who could barely walk in January!

So all and all, I'm golfing, running, working out, playing hockey and training for a triathlon.  I'm living the life I enjoy (though with a few more aches and pains).  I just have to believe that at some point the scales will pay attention too.

Getting Naked

Recently I've been spending a great deal of time at the gym.  This new found, or rather renewed relationship is necessary for my physical well being, especially at this point in my life!  Just scroll back through some of my previous bloggings and you'll see the whole story behind it.  Suffice it to say, I'm skipping off to the gym 4 or 5 days a week ... OK, skipping might be a bit of misnomer, but I do manage to drag my sorry behind there with alarming frequency.

This particular entry is not about my trials and tribulations with regards to fitness (yeah I did manage to go 30 mins on the treadmill at 4.7 mph today - I so rock).  This entry is more to do with what happens after I work out.  I'm a sweater, no I don't mean the kind you knit & wear, that get adorned with sparkles and reindeer at Christmas - I mean that I'm the kind of person who sweats a great deal when they work out.  No ladylike glistening for me, no sensual dewy face, no erotic single bead of sweat dripping down between my breasts - no, I sweat!  I soak through a T shirt to the point where it can be wrung out, sweat flies off my face when I shake my head and worst of all, a rather clear snot continually runs out of my nose.  My sweatiness is not the stuff of erotica; rather it is the stuff of hard work and let's be honest, smell.  A gasping, premenopausal, sweaty woman is an entity unto itself.

My gym is pretty awesome and the locker rooms are wonderful.  The women's locker room at The Donalda Club has a card playing area, hot tub and steam room; there's frightfully well lit make up area with lots of make upy stuff such as q tips and cotton balls, various hand lotions, sunscreens and hairsprays;  there's an unlimited supply of  fluffy Egyptian cotton towels both in bath and hand towel size.  The showers have a personal changing area and contain razors (disposable), shaving cream, shampoos, conditioners, body wash and even little disposable shower caps.  Oh there are even paper slip on flip flops (that don't fit my big feet). The men's locker room purportedly even has a full size billiards table!  In short it's a veritable locker room paradise and a definite step up from my local Good Life! 

But back to the issue of nudity, which is why I know a great many of you are reading this. 

I was at my locker, stripped off the sweaty work out stuff, wrapped a towel around me and headed off to the steam room.  To my surprise, there was another woman who was already ensconced within the steam room, which wasn't really a big deal, since the room could hold at least 10 people, but what surprised me was she was almost completely mummified in towels!  Far be it from me to judge what one wears to the steam room, but I felt rather scantily clad in my single towel.  The one thing I've noticed in female locker rooms as I've aged, that the older one gets, the more one covers up. 

A million years ago I used to work out in the Yonge and Eglinton area of Toronto.  The gym was quite the singles place, which worked for me because I was single.  Most of the clientele were in their 20s and 30s and fairly fit.  The locker room back then had a lot more nudity than the locker room I inhabit today.  Mainly I think it's because, on the whole,  the members at Donalda are much older (which is OK cause I am too).  There are the sins that too much good food, too much good wine and too much gravity have played upon our bodies.  A good towel is a good thing.

I mentioned the whole towel thing to John, who has also experienced too much good food, too much good wine and just as much gravity (if not more cause he's older than I am), yet he was immensely unconcerned about wearing a towel to cover the imperfections of his body.  His attitude was "if I never wore a towel in a locker room before, why would I wear one now?"  It's kind of hard to fault the logic and demonstrates are far more healthy bodily image.  According to him, it's an attitude that shared by most men in his locker room.  With a little introspection, I think it all ties into the expectations we're fed by the media.  Women have become so self conscious as well as self critical, it's no wonder they take solace in a towel.

Maybe I shouldn't worry about what size my jeans are, but instead I should worry about the size of my towel!

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!

Weight Loss #8

Weight to Lose:              30 lbs

Weight Lost to Date:     16 lbs

Weight Still to Lose:      14 lbs


Yippee - over halfway there!

But I'm sick.  Yuck.  I've got a cold and I feel like crap. 

I'm not eating much, but I'm not working out either. 

Just got to get better and get back on track.

Sigh

Weight Loss #7

Weight to Lose:              30 lbs

Weight Lost to Date:     15 lbs

Weight Still to Lose:      15 lbs


I'm so good!  Halfway there baby!

I can't say it's easy yet.  I still think about eating a lot of the time.  I'm trying to retrain myself to eat fruits and veggies instead of chips, but lets be real, chips taste waaaaaay better.

My appetite has decreased somewhat which is a good thing.  Now I'm more aware of the boredom and comfort eating which I'm now figuring out is where most of my weight came from (combined with a lack of exercise).

I am starting to get into the exercise.  It has helped working out with John three days a week; working out on my own one day a week; plus hitting golf balls four days a week; then on top of it all, playing hockey twice a week.  Today in fact I'm looking forward to working out, instead of trying to figure out ways to avoid it. 

Clothes are starting to fit better (which shows how tight they were before), but it'll be awhile before I go down a size.  Baby steps, remember baby steps.

I am awesome!

Weight Loss #6

Weight to Lose:                  30 lbs

Weight Lost to Date:          11 lbs

Weight Still to Lose:           19 lbs

Yippee - 11 lbs and 11 lbs is almost 15 lbs and 15 lbs is halfway there!  Yeah, I know I'm a glass is half full kind of person!

The process is slow, but I'm OK with that.  I have to admit that I was out with my girlfriend Andrea for dinner on Thursday and that meant a cocktail (gin and tonic), a bottle of wine (Kendall Jackson chardonnay), sweet potato fries, pork dumplings, chili chicken and sliders. We had a lovely time, and I don't regret the food one little bit.  Then of course it was Super Bowl on Sunday - John's favourite team, the Steelers were playing, so of course that meant, chili, wings, pizza, chips and potato skins and of course I ate it all except the chili (I don't like beans).

Oh yeah, I also made a yummy apple crumble for dessert on Saturday night.

So when you consider that kind of consumption, it's amazing that I lost even a lb.  I was at the gym working out 5 days last week, plus one game of hockey (which I'm sure was negated by all the beer we drank afterwards).

Today I was on the treadmill for 30 mins and walked at 3.8 mph for two minutes and then ran at 4.5 for two minutes.  Thus I was jogging for 15 mins - yeah for me!

Still have a long way to go - I WILL DO THIS!

Weight Loss #5

Weight to Lose:            30 lbs

Weight Lost to Date:    10 lbs


Yeah me!  Yeah me!  Yeah me!  10 lbs is certainly an accomplishment.

So without dieting I managed to lose 10 lbs in January which tickles me pink.  I'm not dieting, but I am watching what I eat, really trying to cut out processed foods and stuff with a lot of calories.  That being said, over the weekend John and I went to dinner at a friend's place and her husband made white chocolate creme brulee which was fantastic - I ate every bite and didn't regret it in the least.  I still have to enjoy life!

The working out is going really well.  Still taking it in baby steps, but increasing stuff in tiny increments.  Yesterday on the treadmill I was still doing the 30 mins, but was walking at 3.8 mph for two minutes and jogging at 4.2 mph for one minute.  My knees are sore, but the running is hard on them because of all the weight I'm carrying, but hey, at least I'm carrying 10 lbs less!

I went on a triathlon website and just looked around.  It's still just a flirtation.  I went at looked at the price of triathlon bike - OUCH!  I can't see the flirtation changing any time soon.

Last night John, Madie and I discussed running a 5 km in the spring - something to aim towards.

I will do this!

Weight Loss #1

Weight to Lose:  30lbs

Weight Lost to Date:  0lbs

I'm at a personal Waterloo - I need to lose weight, it's something that simply can't be put off any longer.  I have so many excuses, but it really doesn't matter in the end, because the end result is I'm way too heavy to live the life that I want.

I'm starting at square one because I've been off hockey and exercise because of my broken butt/back - of course this all happened during the Christmas season, when goodies galore abound and they we went off for a week at an all inclusive resort .....  I'm now the heaviest I've ever been ... sigh.

I know I won't achieve my goal through any silly diet.  I know I've got to eat healthily and get more exercise.  It's simple really. 

So it begins. 

Yesterday I worked out - 15 mins of stretching for my butt/back then 30 mins walking on the treadmill - it felt like I run a marathon, but at least it was a beginning!  Tonight I play hockey.

I plan to use this blog like a diary to document my exercise - to make me accountable. 

I will do this!