Recreation

A wise relative recently reminded me that I needed to take time for myself, even for 5 minutes.  "The point of recreation (i.e., 'play' and playtime) is to literally "re-create" yourself--that is, re-energize and rebuild and reconstruct." (Thanks UP) And if you go to the link, you will see that Webster's agrees with him, naturally.  I have been ruminating about this since I read it.  I know that I need time for myself.  Like, I know it in my head.  I even give this advice to others.  I need to do this for myself.  But I usually think that I need a large chunk of time for myself, which frankly, is impossible.  So I started thinking about the things I do that help me re-energize.  How can I make more time for myself for the things I like to do?  

Walking has always beens my "me" time.  I need to and will make more time to do this, as my feet feel better.  That is not a quick 5 minutes but I have been making it more of a priority.  I would love to take a yoga class somewhere, but since that is not a feasible option right now, I can do a dvd.  Again, not a quick 5 minutes, but I don't have to leave the house.  I try to check in once a day on my Lose It forums so that I can keep myself motivated and accountable.  But what else can I do that would be considered recreation?  

I am slightly completely obsessed with Pinterest. I love cooking and baking and I totally love being crafty.  Homemade Pumpkin Creamer?  Yes please!  Pumpkin Crunch cake? Delicious! Cupcakes that look like witch hats?  I am so on that!  Do you detect the autumnal theme here?  My time on Pinterest is often spent looking at things that are knit, crocheted or quilted.  I have been practicing my knitting some.  My MIL taught me the basics but I have not graduated to a pattern yet.  I have a feeling I will turn back to crocheting.  Add the 2nd needle and I start getting so confused.   I have lots of wonderful Christmas gift ideas for my nieces and nephews now and I am itching to start sewing again.

What is my point?  I realized that sometimes I am doing activities that re-energize and re-charge me.   Maybe I just need to recognize them as such.  Spending time on Pinterest with my evening cup of tea could sometimes feel like a waste of time.  Perhaps  in labeling my Pinterest-ing and resultant baking as "me" time will help me actually do it without feeling guilty and not put it off for something that is NOT re-energizing.  Like scrubbing the bathroom.  Unless of course I have made homemade bathroom cleanser. (It works, by the way.)  Maybe I need to look at things I do in a different light.  After all, if I looked at walking the dog as a chore it certainly would be one.  But I look at it as more me-time, and so I enjoy it.

For this upcoming week I hope that we can all do this:  put at least 5 minutes aside each day, just for you.  Unplug.  Unwind.  Re-energize.  Re-create yourself.

Heading in the right direction...DOWN!

It has been more than a month since my last update on my weight loss journey.  I am still using the Lose It app and website, so that is where my updates occur more frequently.

Since mid-June:
I lost 22.8 pounds.
BMI went down 2.9 points which means I went down a class of obesity.

In my last post about this (see last update, above) I spoke about the stages of obesity.  Sadly, the previous link I had used to show this is no longer working.  Even sadder?  The CDC website has no information about the stages of obesity.  I am glad that I have been demoted, so to speak, to a lower stage.  I still have a long way to go.  My weight loss in September has been slower than I would have liked.  Considering I have gained in September, historically speaking, I am grateful for the losses I have seen.  I lost 3.4 pounds this month.  I could have gained; I could have stayed the same.  I lost!  Even with a plantar fasciitis/heel spur flare-up.  (ouch)  Oh, and I have had some very serious life events happening that also would have sent me to the bakery/fridge/you-name-it in the past.

I am changing my eating patterns.  I am changing how I view food.  I am changing my emotional response patterns.  I am showing myself respect and love by doing so.  See?  It all ties together!

More on weight loss...

Yesterday I wrote a blog post on weight loss.  Later that afternoon I happened to catch 15 minutes of Dr. Oz.  It was the episode about kicking your carb addiction.  He had on the stage three women who had all struggled with weight loss and carb addiction.  He showed them the fat that surrounds our organs and what a healthy and and an unhealthy pancreas looks like.  Dr. Oz then told them about a 28 day plan to kick the carb habit.  Seeing the organs and actual fat motivated me that much more to continue losing this weight.  It also helped me appreciate what I have done so far.

On another part of the weight loss spectrum I saw an article (of sorts) on iVillage entitled Why I Quit Dieting!  I say another part of the spectrum and not the opposite end because these women were not against losing weight, just against dieting.  I totally get that.  I need to make life changes, not quick fixes.

Reading about the journeys of the featured women led me to the website Health At Every Size.  I do agree with the movement's standpoint.  If you take their pledge, this is what you agree to:  Accepting and respecting the natural diversity of body sizes and shapes.  Eating in a flexible manner that values pleasure and honors internal cues of hunger, satiety, and appetite.  Finding the joy in moving one’s body and becoming more physically vital.

I agree with all of that, for sure.  I also believe that I need to see cold, hard facts sometimes.  I was reading another article linked from the Dr. Oz show page about Treating Morbid Obesity through gastric bypass.  I am not going into that whole issue, but it did have some interesting information about the stages of obesity linked to BMI.  I copied the pertinent paragraphs below:


At this point, you have to ask what do the numbers mean? You are underweight if your BMI is less than 18.5. You are normal weight if your BMI is 18.5-24.9. You are overweight if your BMI is 25-29.9. You are obese if your BMI is over 30. Now, it does not end there.

All obesity is not created equal. There are different levels or stages of obesity. Stage I is 30-34.9, Stage II is 35-39.9 and Stage III is 40-49.9, and a BMI of 50 or greater is considered to be super obese. To put this in context, there is an obesity elevator and each stage is a new floor. An alarm bell should ring as you go up each floor to warn you that you are in danger. The higher the floor, the higher the stage, and the more your life is in danger.

I don't know about you, but I had never heard of those stages of obesity.  It was actually very helpful for me to see this.  Even when I was thinner I was considered overweight, BMI-wise.  I have been considered obese medically-speaking for ages.  It was rather easy for me to just see the obese label and not think about how obese.  I went to a website to calculate both my BMI before I lost the 15 pounds and now.  I have reduced my BMI by 2.1in 8 weeks.  That is awesome news!   I need to see those numbers.  I need that dose of reality.

Using the Lose It! app is necessary for me right now.  I know how to eat healthily.  I know what to eat and what a portion is.  But I was not doing it.  It is like any habit...once you get out of a good habit, it is hard to get back into it.  Bad habits are easy to stick to!  :)  I was not choosing the correct foods to fuel my body.  I was eating a lot of food but I had no energy.

What is my point after all this?  We all do what we need to do.  I am doing what I need to do.  I am so appreciative of the support I receive from everyone.  I am remembering to not judge foods.  Chocolate cake is not bad and salads are not good.  They are foods with different nutritional values.  I know that there will be days when I am in the mood for grilled chicken over salad and there will be days when I want chocolate chip cookies.  All of it is okay.  Only I can decide what is okay for me.

p.s  There is a an option to be "friends" on Lose it.  I don't really know what that entails but let me know if you are interested!

Just Lose It!!!

I entered the summer with a expectations that were just a tad unrealistic.  I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could lose 30 pounds.  Give or take.  Yes, I know, you are all shaking your head right about now.  I am smh at myself.   I just found out that smh = shaking my head.  Had to use it.  :)   The thing is, I had never really voiced those expectations.  I am sure if I had someone would have laughed corrected me.  I was not really saying anything to anyone because, well, I did not want to fail.  I hate failing, maybe more than anything.  How silly of me...I don't want to fail but I set expectations that would have been impossible to meet.  But I had mentioned to a few people that I wanted to take the opportunity of working in a structured, busy environment to start anew on my weight loss journey.

So the results are in...I lost 15 pounds from the beginning of camp.  Yay!!!  I ate healthier than I had been, was working outside and on my feet in the heat for 8 hours a day and walked a good bit.  So now here is where the real work is going to begin for me.  I am home for the next 3 weeks before the school year begins again.  I have lots of time to snack.  I am not sweating on my feet for 8 hours a day.  If I am hungry, there is food in my house, unlike camp where I brought my lunch and any snacks.  Even though I was cooking all day and even tasting small bites many times through the day, I did not eat what I was cooking all that much.

I know I have to move.  That is always a big part of weight loss for me.  I also know that I need to pack and bring my lunch to work.  I found a few lunches that worked for me this summer.  it can be a little boring, but I think that's actually a good thing for weight loss.

The big change I have made since I am home now is that I am diligently tracking all my food and exercise.  I had used this app before but then this summer it was more difficult because we were not allowed to use our cell phones during camp.  Plus I was taking lots of "tastes" but not full servings, so it was challenging.  The app I am using is Lose It.  I find that it is easy to use and I love that I can scan foods.  I have also put in some of my "usuals" in the recipe section so that instead of adding my coffee, cream and sugar separately I can just add my coffee for which I already measured and calculated everything.  Additionally, when I scan in, say 2 chocolate chip cookies, and I see that I just ate 160 calories, I am less inclined to grab a few more.  A cup of grapes for 62 calories versus 2 cookies for 160.  There is a reason why the author of the "Eat This Not That" cookbooks is doing so well.  I just needed to see it for myself.

Along with using the app I am measuring most things again.  Years and years ago I lost a lot of weight by measuring and writing it all down.  That is how I will do it again.  I know it might take me a long time and I might even have setbacks here and there.  That is just being realistic, and I really don't want to trick my mind into thinking I can lose all the weight by Christmas.  It's just not going to happen!

I know beyond a doubt, that this is a journey.  And I also know I have to be patient with myself and have realistic expectations.  And also, like a journey, there are twists and turns, valleys and mountains but I just have to continue along.

One more note... Whenever I am tempted to think that 15 pounds is nothing compared to what I need to lose, I remember what my BFF Michelle told me another time I was on WW.  I think of a 5 lb bag of sugar, even pick one up next time I am in the grocery store.  It's heavy!  That is a lot of weight that is no longer surrounding my organs!