My Trip -- Part 2

In 1977 (many, many moons ago -- in fact, was I even alive then??), I was engaged to Barry, but we did not plan to get married for another long year, so I enrolled in the one-year secretarial course at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. That was an excellent decision because what I learned that year has been the foundation for all the work I have done since then. Typing, grammar, and shorthand skills weren't the only benefits, though. Three of us students -- Pat, Frances, and I -- became friends and spent a lot of time studying together and hanging out between classes.

Over the years, Pat has been just wonderful about keeping in touch with me. She wrote lots of letters before the days of email and sent pictures and Christmas cards. I have not been nearly as good at that as she has, but I have always admired her ability to do it so well. Thirty years later, we still love to keep in touch which is much easier now with emails back and forth and blogs and such! Still, there is nothing like getting together and gabbing the hours away over coffee, which is exactly what we did during my visit with Carol-Ann. Here is Pat, looking back at me from across the coffee-shop table.

This is a weight-loss blog, so I am duty bound to say that I totally resisted the urge to get more than coffee! We were surrounded by goodies at this wonderful coffee shop, but I raised my chin and stiffened my upper lip! (Actually, I better be honest and admit that I had just eaten!) Now, though, we are starting into the Christmas season with all the goodies and big meals that go with it.

This is my plan: Keep drinking more water, take only one helping at meals, give in and eat only one little sweet each day, and run around like crazy to burn off calories!!

On a more serious note, though, I have been thinking about how in some parts of the world there is no need for weight loss because there is not even enough food to sustain healthy life. So let's remember this Christmas to be very thankful for our many, many blessings!

Keeping Track of Mid-Age Spread with a Spreadsheet!

Well, this is the first time I've thought of using a spreadsheet to keep track of my middle-age spread! Very good, Jeanette! It makes a lot of sense -- especially since your day is spent at the computer! When you come to visit in a couple of weeks you can teach me about spreadsheets! That is something I have never, ever used!

So far I have tried to do this without calorie-counting. My method has been to say goodbye (as much as possible) to bread, cookies, muffins, tea-biscuits, pasta, cake, pie, rice and potatoes. Now the rice and potatoes are not a complete deletion and I do cheat with a tea biscuit once or twice a week. However, I am a bread-a-holic! Bread, buns ... my goodness! I can't be trusted! So the bread and all its relatives are 100% gone during this weight-loss spree. And when I get done, I might just continue with that! Honestly, if you set me beside a toaster with a loaf of bread, a tub of "I Can't Believe it's not Butter" and a bottle of marmite, I'll shnorffle down 4 slices before you can say, "STOP"!

So starches are cut way back and grease and oil also. We tend to have mostly chicken or fish. We've switched from ground beef to ground chicken or ground turkey -- just as delish but less fat! And of those two, the chicken is much less fat than the turkey!

What I DO need to improve on is my water-drinking and exercise. I tend NOT to drink during the day because I'll do almost ANYTHING to avoid the need to use public washrooms and then I sit in my car to drive to my clients and I sit and talk to them before going back out to sit in my car! Lotta calories MUST burn with the driving tensions, though! Good grief!

Black Monday!

We had Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving, and I hear that today is Black Monday which is for online shopping. But for me, this is Black Monday because my weight loss slipped into reverse. I'm not too thankful for this aspect of Thanksgiving! It could have been much worse, though, so today I am climbing back up on the wagon. Kudos to Carol-Ann who is still on track with her weight loss!

My plan for the week:
1. Start writing down every morsel that I swallow.
2. Measure my water in the morning and make sure it is all gone before bed.
3. Walk every day.

Helpful hint that works for me (when I do it, that is!):
Keeping a careful log of everything I eat and the approximate number of calories. This works for me because I tend to lose my grip on exactly how much I have eaten and usually feel like it has been less than it really is. I made an Excel spreadsheet that totals everything for me, so as the day goes along, I can see how much more food I may have. It helps me to make wiser choices when I see that total mounting and know that I still actually want to be able to have some dinner without going over my limit!! I have been trying to keep the total number of calories right around 1200.

Two small squares of dark chocolate!

Just two small squares! That's all! But after not having anything sweet for nearly two weeks, I feel like I just indulged in two whole chocolate bars!

Let's see... do I have any confessions to make? Well...

I ate that fast food meal after the funeral on Tuesday, and that makes me feel like the week is a failure. (One meal couldn't ruin the whole week, could it?!) The rest of the time I have not gone back for seconds on food and have not eaten sweet things (except for the dark chocolate!) and have not eaten between meals for the most part. Still, I don't feel like I have lost much at all thus far this week.

One thing I have been failing on, and this might be the key to why I feel like I do, is I have been forgetting to drink water. I have not been drinking nearly my 8 glassess a day, and I'm sure that is making me sluggish and bloated. [Whoever thought up the word "bloated" really knew what they were doing! Just say it slowly and see what I mean!]

For the rest of this week, I am going to concentrate on the water. Has anyone else had a tough time trying to change habits this week? I think I've made progress in the sense that I am now thinking about not eating before I actually do it instead of saying "Oh, no!" after I've already eaten when it is too late to rectify the deed!