Tag: losing weight

Same-O Same-O

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 24 Comments

Here I am in January, talking the same &hit I’ve been talking for the past 30 years.

Gotta lose some weight. Gotta get some more energy. Gotta Gotta Gotta.

This has been the same sing song for most of my life. As age has crept up on me, so have the pounds, the ticks and twicks of being female and being human.

I get so tired of listening to myself.

But something feels different this time around. I’m not as flippant about losing weight. Not as smarmy I-can-do-it as I used to be.

This year feels more serious than those of the past.

I realize that deep down inside I want to go to my grandkids’ graduations and weddings. I want to visit Ireland and go back and have a birthday dinner on the top of the Eiffel Tower and walk in the Pacific Ocean. I want to be able to fit in cute summer dresses and not look like a Telletubbie in my swimsuit come Disneyworld in April.

And that I can’t do that comfortably if I don’t make an effort to get rid of the mental and physical burden of all these extra pounds.

I’m not talking miracle weight loss here. Ten pounds could make a difference in how I feel about the world — and myself.

I know many many friends who have gone the GLP1 route, finally having come across something that works for them. And I’m happy for them. I don’t have the money for weight loss shots, and I’m not sure I’d want to go that way if I could.

I want to do this the old fashioned way. Stop eating chips and platefuls of pasta and drinking sugared drinks like I’ve been wandering through the desert for days. I want to stop making excuses for bad choices.

I really need to do this for me.

Viruses and cancer and broken limbs and heart attacks always dance around people of my age. Life is finite. Yet somewhere in this finite future there has to be a way to prolong the inevitable. A way to work on that which can be worked on and leave the rest to chance.

And this time I think it’s going to work.

I know at least half of you reading this this morning has set similar goals this cold January morning (or warm if you’re on the other side). I know many of you have started, fallen, and failed.

But there’s something to be said about trying one more time. For YOU. No matter if it’s quitting smoking or losing 10 pounds or finding a way to deal with your OCD or ADHD, you always have the chance to start again today. One step at a time.

Wishing you all a successful New Year’s resolution, or, if you’re like me, a successful day.

One day at a time.

How Many Times Do I Say “NOW”?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 16 Comments

Well, I’ve certainly not been bored lately. 

How wonderful, you all think. Something to do all the time. Someone to do it with.

While I agree with your assessment (I am indeed blessed), I am in need of some alone time, too.

Some people HATE being alone. Past experiences, relationships, current mind chatter, all work on our psyche for good and bad. One bad carrot in the bag and we tend to throw the whole thing away.

I’ve actually been trying to EAT my carrots lately.

I’ve been busy with grandkids, camping with daughter-in-law’s parents, rearranging rooms, and today I’m moving in all my plants because of the cold nights coming (The funny thing about that is … why does it seem there are many more to bring in than were brought out last spring??) I was busy making purse charms and selling them at the art fair, shopping for products for my next art project, and collecting pics for future blogs. That’s not to mention washing tons of laundry and the ever-hated full sink of dishes.

It’s about time I pay as much attention to my body as I do picking out glass beads.

I am the heaviest I’ve ever been. I’m the most tired I’ve ever been. I am the flakiest I’ve ever been. I’m the oldest I’ve ever been, although that is a mute point. I’m also, in some worlds, the happiest I’ve ever been.

But if I don’t start working on this weight I won’t be around long enough to make any more “ever beens.”

So ONCE AGAIN I am working on a behavioral modification. I don’t do the “D” word or the “E” word any more. Those words just reflect dozens of failed New Year’s resolutions and bright spring morning starts.

I hear some of you say well, it’s too late for me. I’m too old to change my ways.

No you’re not. If you don’t start changing now, you won’t have a tomorrow to complain about.

What do dietitians and life coaches and psychics say? One day at a time?

I want to walk across a soccer field without getting a winded pain in the chest. I want to be able to lift my leg up to cross it on my other leg without pulling muscles. I want to eat healthier, sit outside more often, and be able to bend over without going “AAArrrrgggghhhh….eeeeahhhhooooo… jeeeeeezzzz.

So this Monday morning, before making a grocery list, before listening to smooth jazz jams and making homemade breakfast burritos, I am patting myself on the head and saying, “Go Girl. This time is the real time. One day at a time.”

I want to be around for my grandson’s high school graduation … heck… my seven-year-old’s high school graduation. I want to plan vacations where I can actually walk across a plaza without having to find a place to sit and recoup. I want to eat fresh foods and learn to cook all over again. I want to learn to walk and dance all over again.

If i can do it, you can do it. Do you need to do it?

Let’s get on this atta-boy band wagon together!

Ride My See Saw…er…Bike

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

xx_unicorn_riding_bicycle_cartoon_postcards-r8ffff6016b194370a9974d4be49ee33e_vgbaq_8byvr_512The other night I found out that riding a bicycle is not the same as riding a bicycle.

Silly me.

I haven’t been on a bike in a couple of years — maybe now or then, but more like waaay back then. Well, last weekend we went camping at a beautiful campground in Door County, Wisconsin. My grandson brought his bike, and I did, too. I had started a health kick the week before (fodder for another blog, no doubt), so why not get the exercise thing going too?

I road like a pro through the campground, down to the lake, around the “O” (the campsite circle) right behind my GB. Kept up with him, too. I was very proud. Came home, continued to eat better, walked during morning and afternoon breaks, feeling better and better. So I pulled out my bike last night and took a little ride up and down my little country road.

This was where real bicycling comes in.

If you have ever seen a Teletubbie riding a bicycle, this was a mirror image. The road has low hills — I mean, not the North Carolina kind — these are the barely-noticable-hardly-upgrade road.

I might as well have been riding up the North Carolina kind.

I huffed and puffed and whined my way past my house, my breath coming hard and shallow. What was up with that? What about all the walking I’ve been doing? The bike riding at the campground? I’ve even given up ice cream before bed!

As you all know, retraining a life-time of bad habits takes a lot longer than the perverbial three weeks. I am a believer that it’s never too late to change your path. I’m not giving up good food — I’m just eating less of it. Trash food (like chips and dip) even less. I figure I’m 63 and, Goddess willing, I’d like to see 73. And 83. Hell — even 93!

So back to bike riding. I must say it felt good to feel the burn, the weak knees, the pounding in my chest. It showed that I was still alive and kicking — or, rather, peddling. I am taking tonight off, though. A little weak in the thigh, perhaps. But the decision to change my ways is still strong. I’d like to think of myself more as of a unicorn riding a bike…proud, steady, perhaps a bit awkward, but always moving forward.

Like my desire to write.

I’ve managed to put a little of me in my main character in my novels. She’s middle-aged, witty, astral, and outspoken. She’s also a little thicker than most willowy leading ladies. My men like a little meat on their paramours.

I guarantee, though, she doesn’t ride a bicycle.

 

Bread and Butter Badlands

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 12 Comments

breadA funny thing happened this evening. I was all pumped up to write a blog about scheduling things in your life, when I read a fellow blogger’s (David Kanigan) blog called “Don’t Eye the Basket of Bread: Just Take It Off the Table” ( http://davidkanigan.com/2014/09/16/dont-eye-the-basket-of-bread-just-take-it-off-the-table/). It really is an article about how to exert self-control. Which, in that sense, makes sense. If it’s not in front of you you’re not tempted to eat the whole basket.

But I almost missed the point of the blog because I was thinking about fresh baked bread dripping with sweet, creamy butter.  Crispy crust, fluffy inside.  Which led me to daydream about my homemade spaghetti sauce, full of fresh tomatoes and veggies with a smattering of ground beef and/or Italian Sausage, dripping over vermicelli or linguine, fresh Parmesan cheese sprinkled delicately over the top, a small glass of merlot within reach, sitting quietly next to that basket of freshly-baked bread that I’m suppose to have taken off the table.

And suddenly I’m daydreaming about the wonderful world of food.

I’ve been on a diet — no — food behavior modification — for as long as I’ve been out of puberty. I have always had a love/hate relationship with anything that has more than 2 carbs and 35 calories per serving. It’s that homo sapiens thing…anything that is fattening is worth tasting. Of course, tasting, and indulging, are two different things.

They say one can survive on indulging in one tablespoon of anything. Buffet? No problem. One tablespoon macaroni salad, one tablespoon chocolate mousse, one tablespoon mashed potatoes along with one tablespoon gravy. Just think of what a decorative plate you would bring back to the table! One tablespoon from 50 different dishes!

But let’s face it. Living on one tablespoon of cheese souffle is like smiling at only one child at Christmas. Or having one cashew. Or hugging only one grandkid. Satisfying as a bath in ice cubes. We know we should be sticking to the one-tablespoon-rule for our health, for our diabetes and our cholesterol. And most times we do alright.

But sometimes our libido cries for liberation. It just cannot be satisfied with the one-teaspoon-rule. We try to tame it. We hide the food. We buy celery and apples and lean chicken and fish. We succeed where others fail. We lose weight, lower our cholesterol, add some years to our life.

But then something as innocent as a whiff of freshly baked bread or bacon frying and we’re whipped up into a frenzy of biblical proportions. Why is that?

I do believe in moderation. Fortunately for me, the older I get, the fewer things I can digest properly. A couple of cream cheese canapes is not worth the agony of hours in the bathroom later. Spinach Dip, Ice Cream Sundaes, Hot Cheese Spread, all no-nos with the digestive tract from Hell. Yet I have to admit, I cannot pass a chance to try a scoop or two. Just to check it out, you see.

I try to avoid get-togethers where rich foods are the center of attention. Most times I can say “no thanks.” But just as often I hear myself saying, “Just one bite.” Then my big-mouth libido takes over and bread and pasta and Ceasar’s Salads are the order of the day. And as I hang my head in shame, I still enjoy the crumbs at the corner of my mouth or the sweet slide of butter still on my tongue.

I guess I’ve lost the thread of this whole blog to the whims of the wonderful world of food. So let me ask you — what foods weaken your will power? Which sumptuous feasts make you moan with delight? Which part of the banquet table can you not pass by without sampling?

Think I will go bake a loaf of bread while I wait for your answer…

 

Ye of Little Faith … or Willpower … May Read

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

ice creamI am so weak. I am such a loser.

I’ve been sluggish lately; trying to adjust to my husband’s new job schedule (nights), my job schedule (days), cooking and not cooking, sleeping and not sleeping. All those things post-menopausal women go through.

I was going to try and do something about the sluggish thing. Diets aren’t for me. I love the taste of food too much. But common sense told me I can’t live on Fettuccine Alfredo and lasagna the rest of my life…not if I wanted to live to see 70. Or 80. Or, goddess be on my side, 90.

So I was going to go on that low-carb diet. Lots of meat, veggies, and water. I drink a lot of water at work already, so that’s not a problem. I started walking during my morning and afternoon work breaks. I was being a good doobie.

Then stress comes along. Too much salad too many days in a row kept me in the bathroom. Scrambling around in my frig for something that goes with the meat/veggie/water thing that is ready in 15 minutes more than impossible. Husband cooks dinner that I have to clean up. Can’t catch up with my writing or my friends or my sleep. So the crabbies hit me full force. And what do I do?

Meet my bff at McDonalds for an ice cream sundae. Then have a bowl of cereal (carbs!!) before bed.

What ever happened to MAKING A COMMITMENT? What ever happened to WILL POWER? What ever happened to the whipped cream and nuts that are supposed to come atop the sundae?

I admit my weakness will not cause the moon to slip out of orbit or get Gordon Ramsey to stop yelling at his Hell Kitchenites. But it bugs me that I can’t seem to stay true to trying to lose a few pounds. Oh, I know — tomorrow is another day. I didn’t fall off any wagon. I’m still walking and drinking water and eyeballing salads. I KNOW I have to move it or lose it. Cut proportions. There are already a dozen things I can’t eat any more because they mess me up in one way or ten.

But somehow it just seemed right to share my joys and sorrows with my bff over cheap ice cream. She, too, is swimming in her own pool of drama, but somehow we found comfort and support over a chocolate dipped ice cream cone and a hot fudge sundae. Seeking solace and laughs and camaraderie,  I would have willingly followed her to the local Italian restaurant, too.  That’s what friends do.

Tomorrow I will be back on the low-carb road. I chopped up some chicken for my salad and will have a burger for breakfast, along with some grapes and broccoli and whatever else my frig gives up. I will not be weak. I will not give up.

But I will be looking for my next excuse for a plate of Shrimp Scampi. With noodles.