Looking back and forward

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Howdy, all.  Your friendly neighborhood Sherrie here.

I struggle with my weight.  You know this because I’ve shared before.  I’ll lose, then regain, then plateau for months at a time.  I’ve done fasts, extreme diets, and taken supplements.  I’ve eliminated entire food groups just to see if it would work for me.  I’ve been stuck on meds for one ailment or another and tried working around the weight gain side effects.  I’ve nearly starved myself following super low calorie plans in hopes of jump-starting my weight loss.

Bah!  I’ve messed up my metabolism and irritated my already aggravated system.  I’ve made weight the central issue instead of my overall health and that had to change. The end of extreme is here and now.  Out are all of the crazy things I’ve tried in the past.  In come common sense and real food.

Real food from plant sources first are foremost.  I won’t tell you that you have to eat like I do, but I will tell you what works and doesn’t work for me.  I operate better on plants.  Beans, greens, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, berries, apples, mangoes, avocados, and the rest.  Seeds and nuts are good, too, just not too many.  Olives make me smile and give me a little salty, fatty goodness in a small serving.  And I love my rice, oatmeal, and quinoa.  I just can’t have huge plates of those alone.

Am I giving up all the sugar?  Not 100%; at least not yet.  I’ve cut back a lot over the years and even more over the past few months.  And it feels good. I get more than enough sugar from fruit 98% of the time. That other 1-2% percent? A cookie or something like that.  Or raw vegan cheesecake.  

So, that’s my plan in a nutshell.  Not just my plan, but my new and much improved way of life. Are you making any changes?  Tell me about it.  You’re not alone.  Not now or ever.

Rambling

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I hit 40 the other day. Yeah, baby! I’ve been looking forward to 40. Reaching it meant I’ve outlived my dad and am smacking the early death curse into a corner. At least holding it back.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted because I fell off the wagon. Way off. The other day I got on the scale and was sad but not surprised to see 240 staring at me. I couldn’t play off being surprised because I know exactly how I’ve been eating and how little I’ve been exercising.

I’ve been thinking about my journey and I decided I’d go back to what worked for me as far as my eating plan. I pulled out my old Richard Simmons’ FoodMover info and am going back to basics. It’s an exchange program based on the old Weight Watchers plan (his words) and similar to the TOPS plan. It helped me get control of my portions better than any other plan I’d tried and I felt really good on it. When I can’t exercise (like this week – gotta love lingering injuries) I can still see a change on the scale and in my energy level.

I am 40 and fab, regardless of my weight. By 41, my inner hottie will be out for all to see!

Good, bad, or ugly, I’ll be posting more regularly. Til then, be well.

Playing catch up

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Ok, I forgot to post earlier in the week. Right now I’m taking a break from my assignment because it was giving me a headache. The assignment and DD’s refusal to complete any of her assignments. Oh, and Snorificus is on the couch drowning out all sounds but his own. Yay…

I had a gain this past Sunday and I expected it. I didn’t journal and it came back to haunt me. I usually have a monthly gain, and this was less than usual, so I’m not as down as I could be about it. I wonder if I could have avoided the gain altogether if I had kept my journal. Seeing the food log in print or on screen makes me think twice about what I have at a later meal.

On the positive side, I had tons of water, fruit, and vegetables, even when we ate out. And I kept the caffeine level down.

Gah! My body is rebelling – my hands are cramping up like they usually do during a flare up. Yay flareup.

Plan for next week:
Add 10 minutes to my walks
Keep the fruit & veggies preppeed and ready to go
Keep foods with inflammatory properties to a minimum

So, how has your week been?