Weighty Matters Monday #5

Ahhhhh ... I'm happy. I lost 2 lbs this week. :-)

I think I need to eventually buy a better scale though .. as this one weighs in .5 of a lb increments. The other scale that I have, which weighs in .2 of a lb increments, is wildly inaccurate.

I did better this week at tracking what I ate and I think that made a big difference.

I've also worked at keeping my fluid intake up. I've notice that staying hydrated makes a huge difference in my energy levels. Now that the hot weather is upon us, staying hydrated becomes really important.

Back at school this past week, after a month long Spring Break.

A little bit nervous, as a number of our kids went down to visit relatives in Mexico during the holiday.

As you've probably heard on the news, there has been an outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico.

Needless to say, I am washing my hands well !!!

Aims for this week, other than losing weight :-) .... keep on with the food tracking, water intake and getting exercise in !

And ...to answer that million dollar question that Americans keep asking me..

Yes, there are McDonald's fast food joints, in New Zealand ... :-)

And ... like here in the US, they are not good for your diet..

However, they do have the McDonald's Kiwiburger, which you won't get here. :-)

Weighty Matters Monday #4

The scales are still going in the correct direction ...that being ... down.

However, again it was only a .4 loss. Better that nothing..

Spring Break is over, so I'm back into normal routine this week, which means back at school three days a week, plus picking Taylor up, taking her to Karate, etc.

I'm going to walk there and back, most days. It's about a 2 mile (3.2 km) walk, one way, so that will give me a bit of a work out !! :-)

I've also been a little slack about tracking my food intake. So my goal this week, is to journal everything that I eat.

I'll use the WW points system, as that tends to be a little easier than working out calories.

The clip below really has nothing to do with weight loss, though I sometimes feel like reacting, just the way the kid does, when I see a bag of chippies. :-)

Also, I figure the amount of giggling I do, when I watch this commercial, must count for something in the weight loss department.

Laughing burns calories, doesn't it ??? :-)

Weighty Matters Monday #3

I had a .4 of a pound , weight loss this week.

Not great, but I'll take it. At least the scales were moving in the right direction !!

I'm still fighting the comfort eating urge. I'm pretty stressed right now, for various reasons.

J, is still job hunting. He has a job interview, this morning, that he's hopeful about. I'm trying to not get too hopeful and excited about it, but at the same time be supportive. It's a very tough job market, right now..

It's also difficult having him home all the time. Don't get me wrong, I like spending time with him, but I also like my solitary time. Most of my time is spent with people and that usually involves me doing something for them or listening to them. There is not much time when I can just unwind or be quiet within me.

I am extremely homesick. I really, really want to go home. I miss my kids and I very much miss my grand kids. I haven't been very good at staying in contact, lately. Mainly because I find myself feeling a little depressed because I'm here and not there. It hurts. It's also something that I'm going to have to overcome, because not having contact is just as bad !

I'm also not very good at letting people know how I feel. I guess it's a hangup from my childhood, where I wasn't allowed to express emotion, where I was constantly told that I was no good, would never amount to anything and needed to stop whining because there were people worse off than I was..

Boy, I didn't mean to write that much..I guess there is a bit bottled up in there !! I will admit, that I am very tempted to delete most of the above, however, that again is something that I need to stop doing. Keeping it all inside me is not helping my stress levels, which in turn is playing havoc with my weight loss and my health..

Writing this down is one way of figuring out what is going on with me and how to strategise it..

I've been doing a little reading lately, about stress and it's affect on weight. This article has a lot of interesting information and links in it, on why stress may lead to weight gain and how to begin to combat that. I'm going to work on following some of the suggestions. Interestingly, journaling is one of them and writing down some of the stuff that is bugging me, is certainly helpful..

Janine, a blogger I follow, at Journey To A Mini Me is a real inspiration to me. She has lost an impressive amount of weight after WLS. Way to go, Janine !!!

Recently, she challenged her readers to make four promises to themselves. There were four beginning statements, that were the base of these promises. They could be about weight loss or other things in your life. So these are mine. The beginning statements are in red .

I CAN lose weight and achieve my goals in life.

I WILL take steps, even if they are small ones, each day to achieve those goals.

I WANT to move forward and get out of this rut I'm currently in. I know that I CAN do this because I AM stronger than I give myself credit for.

I WON'T let myself down anymore.

I now challenge you to write 4 statements about yourself, using the first two red words, in each statement. You can also add 'I' statements, as I did in the third one :-)

Okay, now I'm off to have a shower and then I'm going to walk up to this area,


Which is about a mile and a half, from where I live and photograph a colony of marmots that live there.

What have you planned for your day ?

Weighty Matters Monday #2

Okay, I have good news and bad news...



The good news is that I didn't gain any weight ...

The bad news is that I didn't lose any either ...

It's been and up and down week.

I've done pretty well on making sure that I keep up my fluid intake, an area where I was having a problem. I've certainly been feeling better, physically, because of that.

There were a couple of days, where I found myself getting into that vicious, mindless, eating cycle. Partially through boredom, but mainly because of stress.

Fortunately, most of the food I have in the house, currently, is 'good for you food' ...so I guess there is some conselation in the fact that while I over ate, it was in the 'good food' category. I do also get that it really is not a good thing, though and I am back on track, stress and all!

I also went for a couple of good walks. Took my camera SLR 35 mm camera along, as one of my aims is to work on mastering the art of 35mm film photography.

I shot a roll of black and white film, as well as a couple of rolls of colour. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out, especially the B&W.

My aims for this week...

* Keep up my fluid intake.

* Find something else to do when I find myself in the comfort eating cycle.

* Get daily exercise.

What do you do to distract yourself when you find yourself wandering around looking for something to midlessly eat, otherwise known as 'grazing' ??

Okay, onwards to a better week, at least weight loss wise !! :-)

Weighty Matters Monday #1

As I mentioned, in a previous post, I've decided to devote every Monday to my weight loss journey. I don't, however, want to make this blog solely a Weight Loss blog, as I do not want to get back on the treadmill of having that, the whole focus of my life.

That's what happened when I was doing Weight Watchers. Sure I lost weight, but when I found myself looking at other people's plates and mentally calculating the points on them .... enough was enough..

I really believe that if I want to reach my goal, I need to be accountable for what I eat and how much I exercise.

I don't want to be on a diet though. I HATE the word 'diet' with a passion. I personally think it sets you up for failure, because you instantly think of deprivation and all the foods that you can't eat.

What I want to do, is change my habits by eating smaller portions, finding other things to do when the mindless eating, or comfort eating, urges hit me and eating food that is better for me.

I also want to get more exercise and pay attention to my fluid intake.

I tend to forget about drinking fluids. Sometimes I don't recognise the signals that I'm getting dehydrated until I start feeling tired, achy and brain fogged.

I'm hoping to put up tips that help me, recipes and so on.

I'd really like to hear from you, as to what works for you. Once I figure out how to use 'Mr Linky' you can place a link to your post at the end of mine. In the meantime, if you want to join in, just let me know and I'll link you.

Support is a very important part of succeeding in anything you do, so lets give each other some support!! :-)

Good news, is that I lost 2.2 lbs this week. :-)

I found two interesting articles, that pertain mainly to the American diet. Hopefully these issues are not rearing their ugly heads in other countries, as much.

Firstly, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP , which can be found in a frightening number of foods here in the States.

This link and this link gives information on some of the affects, that consuming high amounts of HFCS can have on us and our kids.

The States is showing a worrying increase in juvenile diabetes and juvenile obesity and there is evidence that HFCS may play a significant part in this.

Why would we want to subject our kids to this?

In an attempt to encourage dieters, to eat foods such as chippies, etc ... some manufacturers started using OLESTRA in their foods.

This link may give you pause for though, before you're tempted to throw that bag of Light Crisps into your shopping trolley.

I tried this stuff awhile back. I bought a packet of Lay's Chips. They're not kidding when they say they may cause cramps and diarrhea!!

The first serving I ate was fine. The next serving was not so fine. The stomach cramping was agony and I dared not travel to far from the nearest loo for about 24 hours after eating them!!

Plus, even if you don't have those side effects, your body doesn't get to absorb needed nutrients due to the rapid passage of the food through you.

Definitely no longer on my grocery list!!