Tag Archives: Check-in

There is NO “I Can’t”

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There truly is no “I Can’t” and the only limits we have are those we impose upon ourselves. No one exemplifies this more than South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, a quadriplegic who is competing head to head with the rest of the those running in this summer’s 2012 Olympic Games in London.

“Oscar Pistorius, running on prosthetic legs, finishes last in race, first in hearts”

(South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius pops out of the starting block in the men’s 400m semifinals during the Summer Olympic Games on Sunday, August 5, 2012 in London, England.)

At the tiny gym I go to now (not sure it’s really a gym, more like a place where serious athletes and body builders train), one of the owners – my trainer Liz – is going to put a huge poster of Oscar on the wall so anytime anyone says “I can’t” or wants to quit when they still have something in them, she’ll point him out as an example. Not only did he make it to the Olympics, and even with all the padding, those prosthetics HURT! He’s in pain and he’s still running! And maybe he came in last in his first race but he still has the 400 to go. Talk about “never say die”!

I’ve posted the “Versus” motivational video numerous times because it is so powerful. Any goal we want to achieve – mental health, weight loss, getting in shape, relationship or career goals, school, whatever – can be daunting, especially if we don’t have a solid ground of support and/or achievement. There comes a time when it’s necessary to become our own cheerleaders. To discover the strength we have RIGHT NOW inside us to start down a new path. If it helps, print out Oscar’s picture and put it where you’ll see it the most. Use his example to remind yourself that anything is possible, anything that can be dreamed can be achieved.

I believe in you. Now it’s your turn. If you’re already there, I’m working my a** off to catch up!

“On the Ball” Challenge – Day 7 – RESULTS!!

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“On The Ball” WEEK CHALLENGE – Day 7

– FINAL RESULTS –

 

Day 7: “Accountability Check-In“ – FINAL RESULTS:

  1. Today’s Weigh In: Goal: 1.5 pounds loss/week – Start: 208.4, Now:  205.6!!! THIS IS A 2.8, ALMOST 3 POUND LOSS THIS WEEK!!! BLEW THE GOAL OUT OF THE WATER!!!!!
  2. Diet: NO CARB DAY– 1st: protein+veggie (2 eggs w/a little turkey and spinach), 2nd: protein+veggie (tilapia+green beans), 3rd: protein+veggies (large cup kielbasa/cabbage soup), 4th: 15 cal sugar free popsicle – 2, No 5th Meal – had a cup of Cocao chai tea with 1tsp agave nectar (Note: 2nd day of popsicles at night, rather than high fat foods), Water: (14) 8 oz glasses!
  3. Exercise: Not much! Had to stay home for the flooring install so went back and forth quite a bit, but that’s all.
  4. Stability Ball: None – new floor!

Take Away from Day 7 And Final Results:

Thank everyone for sticking by me through this Challenge! Your supportive comments and suggestions kept me going. And the end result being an almost 3 POUND WEIGHT LOSS and closer to getting past the “Magic 200” than in the past 10 years. Meeting my next “Chuck Goal” of 199 this month looks like a real possibility now!

What made the difference? Staying No or Low Carb on low activity days and switching to sugar free popsicles at night instead of celery w/peanut butter or cheese or carrots and hummus. Spending a lot of time on the stability ball. Giving my body a break when it needed it. And especially – having a day spent thinking/obsessing over something other than weight loss – namely the new, beautiful flooring which we’ve waited YEARS for!

It’s Been A Roller Coaster Ride – But Got DOUBLE the Results Planned For!!!

This week the Challenges are:

  • Try to have dinner before 7 PM
  • No High Fat Snacks after 7

Will report on these sporadically but more for my “sticking to plan”. Getting back to the “tips/tricks/information” format for all of you!

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“On the Ball” Week Challenge – Day 7

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“On The Ball” WEEK CHALLENGE – Day 7

(LAST DAY – Final Results Tomorrow!!)

Day 6: “Accountability Check-In“:

  1. Today’s Weigh In: Goal: 1.5 pounds loss/week – Start: 208.4, Now:  208.6 – .6 Pounds Up From Yesterday! Result: not sure but 9 pm low cal snack might be the culprit.
  2. Diet: NO CARB DAY– 1st: protein+veggies(2 eggs w/fresh spinach), 2nd: protein+veggie (chicken sausage w/1 fresh tomato, vinegar dressing) 3rd: protein (3 Weight Watchers cheese sticks), 4th: protein+veggie (mushroom/swiss cheese chicken w/steamed veggies), 5th: veggie+low fat (2 celery sticks w/2 wedges Laughing Cow cheese), Water: (12) 8 oz glasses!
  3. Exercise: Break day – 1 hour of light cardio in pm
  4. Stability Ball: 1 hours, Result: didn’t do anything

Take Away from Day 7:

I did everything right yesterday, no carbs, 5 small meals, an hour of grocery shopping, and still went up over a half pound. Now a full pound over lowest weight this week and .2 over when I started. See the foot doc on Wed to get ok for more vigorous exercise but hurt ankle on arc machine and think that will set me back again, possibly more “boot time”. Giving this the final day, today, with final results tomorrow. Lost 5 pounds in January, then gained .4 in February.

Action: will call trainer and meet with him in 2 weeks to figure out what the stall is and how to get back on track. Need a “motivation booster” and re-focus on why I’m trying to lose weight in the first place. Part of me just wants to quit now – 70 pounds is a LOT – but still want to prove to myself that can reach my goal and then keep it off. Possibly may need to move my timeline a bit – 48 pounds in 10 months is almost 5 pounds a month and although it’s possible, will have to make some additional changes in both diet and exercise program to accomplish it. Would love to hear from you guys who have lost the last part of your weight and changes you might have made to do so. Will also do some web searching to get additional tips and post them for those in same boat.

Check in tomorrow for LAST DAY – Monday’s Results!

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“On the Ball” Week Challenge – Day 6

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“On The Ball” WEEK CHALLENGE – Day 6

(1 to Go!)

Day 6: “Accountability Check-In“:

  1. Today’s Weigh In: Goal: 1.5 pounds loss/week – Start: 208.4, Now:  208 – .4 Pound Down From Yesterday! Result: exercise and watching diet helped
  2. Diet: LOW CARB DAY– 1st: protein+carbs (oatmeal w/protein powder), 2nd: protein+veggie+little carbs (chicken salad+little bit of carbs), 3rd: protein (leftover roasted chicken), 4th: CARB – 1 small slice angel food cake, Water: (12) 8 oz glasses!, No 5th Meal – avoiding the late night peanut butter
  3. Exercise: 1 hour of strength/cardio in the am, 15 minute session in PM
  4. Stability Ball: 2 hours, Result: think it helped

Take Away from Day 5:
Yesterday you got to enjoy the rant of “Bipolar Lara”and that’s always such an inspiring pick-up! (Just kidding – but at least you know I’m a real person.) Did struggle yesterday but doesn’t everyone? This isn’t easy for any of us and it’s critical to radically accept that fact and then move on. But in spite of that, still did 2 workouts, got in water, and watched diet, well at least did a better job. Read over the wonderful, supportive comments from during the week and wanted to thank everyone for cheering me on. Let me quickly return the favor – all of you are so strong and brave in your own journeys, you continually inspire me – thank you!
And for those of you who either went out and got a stabilizing ball or dusted yours off, here’s a terrific tricep exercise to do while you’re sitting on the thing anyway. You will need 2 hand weights of your choice.
Enjoy your Day and Check in tomorrow for Sunday’s Results!

“On the Ball” Week Challenge – Day 5

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“On The Ball” WEEK CHALLENGE – Day 5

(2 to Go!)

Day 5: “Accountability Check-In“:

  1. Today’s Weigh In: Goal: 1.5 pounds loss/week – Start: 208.4, Now:  208.6 – 1 Pound Up From Yesterday! (higher than when this started, 2 days to go – 1.5 pounds – ready to throw up hands) Result: follow the bouncing ball, very tired.
  2. Diet: LOW CARB DAY– 1st: protein+carbs (green smoothie), 2nd: protein+veggie (leftover chicken), 3rd: protein+veggies (roasted chicken, fried cabbage), 4th: CARB – 2 slices angel food cake, strawberries, cool whip free, Water: (10) 8 oz glasses!, No 5th Meal
  3. Exercise: Ran around doing catch-up errands all day, short work out in PM
  4. Stability Ball: 1 hour, Result: No help at all.

It took years for this guy to get to this level of proficiency.

It will take time for me to lose over 100 pounds, too!

Take Away from Day 5:
Felt very discouraged today, after such a great day yesterday, to be up a whole pound, .2 higher than when I started this challenge. Had to get up early to meet the flooring lady (we’re finally replacing the trashed living room carpet – thank you taxes!) which is hard with the seroquel and threw me off completely.
Been running the last few month’s weight struggle through my mind for awhile now and finally talked about it with my sweetie. Truly blessed – she’s an amazing listener, smart, insightful, and a born problem-solver. And even more importantly, helps me see issues from a different perspective. Together we figured out the “carb cycling” isn’t working, at least the way it’s set up now. Instead of a set schedule, it would be more helpful to face the fact that I will get depressed, I will have off days, and life will interfere with my planned workout schedule. The flooring and cleaning/painting for the Pampered Chef party next Saturday will put quite a dent in things so probably good idea to do no carbs those 2 days and low carb it for the rest of the week. The point – to be flexible and work with life.
What we figured out:
  • I’ve been eating a small snack in the evenings, many times celery and peanut butter – fat to sleep on – SO – no snacks after 7 pm (unless they are low cal, no fat).
  • Sugar is my crack. I use it to self medicate and distract myself in depressions or when stressed or anxious – SO – no sugar after 5 pm. La eats sugar-free popsicles (15 tiny calories) and she’s maintained her weight loss for months. Lesson!
  • I have to stop sabotaging myself. After losing over 70 pounds, it’s getting harder, just like my trainer warned me it would. To keep losing, and then to maintain, I have to step up my game. But that nasty little internal voice keeps saying “you’ve already lost so much, why does getting to some “number” matter – you’ll still be struggling with mood, on disability, a skinny failure. What difference will it really make? Why keep fighting and working so hard when it doesn’t make much difference in the big picture?” After only losing 4 pounds in January and .2 pounds in February and bouncing all over the place, that voice keeps getting stronger.
  • Because I’m my worst enemy at this point, it might be helpful to go for a therapy “booster shot” or at least meet with my trainer to regroup.
  • I let the scale dictate how I feel about myself which, for someone with a mood disorder, is bad, bad, bad. So La is going to hide the scale so I’ll be forced to stick to “Monday morning weekly weigh-in” whether I like it or not. Told you she was great.

Been a hard day but figured out some important insights and we’ll see what tomorrow brings. 2 more days in the challenge. Next week’s challenge is “No sugar after 5 pm.” Yay!

Check in tomorrow for Saturday’s Results!
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“On the Ball” Week Challenge – Day 4

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“On The Ball” WEEK CHALLENGE – Day 4

Day 4: “Accountability Check-In“:

  1. Today’s Weigh In: Goal: 1.5 pounds loss/week – Start: 208.4, Now:  207.6 – .4 more lost from yesterday’s 208 (.8 lb-loss, .7 to go in 3 days!) Result: BACK ON TARGET! – .7 to reach weight loss week goal of 1.5 pounds.
  2. Diet: NO CARB DAY– 1st: protein+veggies (2 eggs/spinach), 2nd: carbs! (small bowl lf granola/ff milk), 3rd: protein+veggies (chicken putanesca/green beans), 4th: CARB – small cupcake, Water: (8) 8 oz glasses!, No 5th meal. Result: Supposed to be a “No Carb” Day but had carbs 2 times and still Lost .4!!
  3. Exercise: No real exercise Thursday – spent all day working on computer, back on board this afternoon.
  4. Stability Ball: None today, Result: Still lost weight!

Take Away from Day 4:
I think after the overwhelming stress of restoring my laptop from a complete crash and the hours spend on the phone with EVIL DELL!!!, my system was just wiped out. I haven’t done any significant exercise in the last two days and have still dropped .6 – over a Half Pound. An important lesson on the effect of stress on the body – sometimes we need to give it a short break from exercise (and maybe a few extra calories) to let it recover. I will be doing my regular workout this afternoon and final one on Saturday. Monday is “Final Results Day” and still .7 away from goal. Seems like a lot but am shooting for it!!
Check in tomorrow for Friday’s Results!
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On the Ball Week Challenge – Day 3

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“On The Ball” WEEK CHALLENGE: Day 3

Day 3: “Accountability Check-In“:

  1. Today’s Weigh In: Goal: 1.5 pounds loss/week – Start: 208.4, Now: .2 more lost- 208 .(2-loss, 1.1 to go!) Result: STILL OFF TARGET by .2 (from Day 2) – Need an additional (.2) on another day to make up.
  2. Diet: Carbs 3 meals out of 5 – 1st: carbs+protein (2 eggs/little ff cheese, 1 small pancake), 2nd: protein+veggie (large salad w/chicken), 3rd: protein+carb (protein/carb smoothie), 4th: CARB HIT BIG TIME – hit the bakery for 2 well chosen treats-it’s High Carb Day after all!, 5th: protein+veggies (small pork chop/mixed veggies), Part 2 of 5th: carbs+fat+sugar – 1/2 bakery Eclair, Water: (1) 8 oz glasses!, Result: Way off target, trying to shake things up, Lost .2!!
  3. Exercise: 1/2 hour of walking (shopping), skipped workout – will do Thursday. Result: a bit of cardio
  4. Stability Ball: 1/2 hour today, Result: Off Target, more tomorrow

Take Away from Day 2:
Maybe I’m not eating enough calories based on my activity level now??? Yesterday ate some serious bakery goods and didn’t do much of a workout except lots of walking. Sat on my butt in the afternoon and late into the night working on two different projects.
And still lost .2 pounds!
Lesson: Giving my body a break after the “laptop nightmare” week of stress looks like it gave it a small “restart”. Eating fewer treats and/or working out a bit might have increased the weight loss, but not sure about that. Needed the time to recover and I think pushing it would have pushed me over the depression edge I was teetering on all day. Will check with the trainer about this but think it will help keep the weight loss going after have completely worn myself out.
It’s frustrating when Life doesn’t go as scheduled and I felt like I was letting myself down, and you guys, by not sticking to “The Plan”. But I still lost weight and feel much better today. Sometimes, you just have to throw “The Plan” out the window for a day!
Check in tommorow for Tuesday’s Results!
Yes, you thought you were safe, but NO,
“Geek Girl” is back!
– For a mental jack-slap on the realities of how food gets from Point A – Origination to Point B – Your Plate and the incredible changes in what, how, and why we eat what we do (the obesity pandemic), read “The End of Overeating. Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite” by David A. Kessler, MD. His background is impressive – Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Admin under 2 recent Presidents, Dean of both Yale and University of California Med Schools, and a Harvard grad. But, most importantly, he himself struggled with obsesity and that pushed him to investigate the American “food priming industry” and pull back the psychological curtain of how we are manipulated into eating foods that make – and keep – us fat. Also, this isn’t his first “go round” – he took on the tobacco industry prior to this fight. For a “science” book, it’s an easy read: every chapter has been a short, easily digested punch to the gut. I like to keep you all on your toes with a bit of cool science every so often, but this book is important. Check out a chapter on Amazon – it’s accessible and you’ll never go into a Chili’s again!
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