Walked thru it

Great music is really one of my best motivators.  My walk started this morning with a catch in my left hip.  It hurt.  I told myself, I'd walk it out.  And then I concentrated on the music - first song was Soft Cell's Tainted Love and the next song was Morris Day and The Time's The Bird.  I got myself immersed in the music and completely forgot about the pain.

I'm now done with my walk, and showered - and there's no pain in my hip.  Instead, I feel incredibly energized.  This is great.

Feeling more confident

OK - I'm thrilled.  Compared to what I did before the 2-year hiatus of movement, this seems so small.  But it is great for me.  I've walked 4x since D and I returned from vacation.  And 2 of those times, this is the BIG thing, have been in the morning before work.

Starting next week, I plan to switch two of my walks to Jari Love's Extremely Ripped - with no weights for the first month.   This program uses compound moves to work the full body and is done at a fast enough pace so that the heart rate remains somewhat elevated.  Perfect for me.

And now it's time to get ready for work.

Happy

One of my frustrations for the past three years is that it seems my dear husband does not know how to cook without using butter, cream or sour cream.  And he's especially happy when he can use a combination of all three fats in the same dish.

Tonight's menu: ground beef with noodles.  I gave him no preparation instructions because one does not tell his man how to cook.  I was expecting to pick my way through a fat laden stroganoff type sauce.  I was very happily mistaken.  The dish had no  butter, no cream, no sour cream and it was delicious.

The rest of today went well enough.  I logged. I ate when I was hungry.  I stopped when I was not.  I did get too hungry because I sort of accidentally skipped breakfast.  Bad idea.  But it turned out OK.

And I did pilates when I got home from work.  18 minutes.  Worked up a sweat.

Hey - I'm a maintainer!

It hit me this week that my weight has been fairly stable for the past year.  Sure it's a good 30 lbs higher than I'd like, but it's stablized.  I like that.

I took a few days off exercise - work got in the way one night and I just didn't want to one night.  Back at it today.  Leslie Sansone 4miles express.  My heart rate didn't get above 141 and the average was 130 (my max according to Polar is 135 for moderate).  I did well today. And I feel well too.

After the work out - made a huge salad of butter lettuces, raddicio (sp) and carrots.  And home made caesar salad dressing.  Not quite the real thing, but full fat, full flavor everything so a little will go a long way.

Found a local butcher - YAY!   We bought a month's worth of meat and two properly cut, properly sized filet mignon steaks.  Guess what's for dinner tonight?  Classic - steak, baked potato (D and I will split), sauteed mushrooms for me,  the wonder salad I made and wine.  I'm happy.

More later.

A little better

I kept the workout indoors today - Leslie Sansone Walk Strong - moderate walking intervals interspersed with very light weight work.  My max heart rate was 159 - much better than yesterday's, but still higher than I really wanted.

Thanks Sandrelle and Karen for your comments. The positive support means a lot.

Consistency & Retuning

I see myself following the same old patterns - doing well and then forgetting.   The past few days I've felt bloated and heavy.  Not as light as I had been feeling.  But I'm aware - and retuning* to asking the important question "is this going to make me feel heavy or is this going to make me feel light?"

* I meant to type returning but I actually like retuning.  All musical instruments need to be tuned and retuned and in my case - so does my mind.   And I can retune without guilt.

I got up and worked out this morning - first time in a while.  And for the first time in well over a year, I wore my heart rate monitor.  I had a goal for wearing it - I wanted to make sure I didn't push myself too hard.  I used to push hard and harder and even harder - looking for the calorie burn.  I know for a fact that my completely giving up exercise and healthy movement is a backlash from abusing my body that way.  So, I did get above range a few times - used that as a cue to retune (gees, I love this analogy) and reduce my intensity.  The result - I have an average heart rate of 139 bpm for 58 minutes.  And I don't feel wiped out and icky.

I'm still working on Noaa's blanket - it's really quite easy now that I'm getting the hang of it. I've never picked up stitches before - and I know it's not perfect.  But Noaa is not going to care.

And I'm reading The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas and the complex characters have definitely intrigued me.  So much that I'm about to sign off writing here and pick up the iPad to return to reading.

But before I do - does anyone have any suggestions for cooking swiss chard?  I have the recipe for my first ever tasting of this beautiful green.  I am hoping I love it for it's taste as much as I do for it's color - and if I do, then I think I shall be wanting to cook it quite often.

It's Sunny and Warm

Our first tease of spring came this weekend and I celebrated it by going for a nice walk this afternoon.

I'm inspired by The StoneSoup but found myself going  down that "magic bullet" thinking expressway to spending yet more money on diet books.  Instead I bought Etta James Matriarch of the Blues.  I think that was a better way to spend my money because today, I enjoyed my walk while listening to Etta's magical voice with no buyer's remorse.  I have a feeling I'd feel I'd wasted $10 on The 4-Hour Body or What Makes Us Fat.  I KNOW WHAT TO DO and don't need to spend any more money for some other self proclaimed expert's so-called advice.

That said, I'm still very much pondering a subscription to The StoneSoup's cooking classes.  I want those recipes.

Sandrelle, at Keeping The Pounds Off, is  true inspiration.  She's found herself with a few extra lbs and instead of buying the latest diet book, she took herself to see a nutritionist to get real expert advice.  The advice she received -and shared (thank you!) is sound, doesn't follow a fad and is doable.  Balance.

So, I'm working on my own plan for balance in my food and movement.  I've had a month of getting up early and I'm beginning to get used to it.  It's time to add the next habit: mindful eating.  Measured portions and balanced meals - mindfully prepared and mindfully savored.

And you may ask - how's the knitting coming along.  My scarf is almost finished, but the little fingerless mittens have been giving me the devil.  Here's how far I've done on the first of those:

The knitted garment underneath my start of a mitten is my incredible alpaca robe from Peruvian Connection.  My D is a sweetie!  That was a Christmas gift last year.  So soft and snuggly!

Needing a day to relax and do nothing

I love love love our place in North Georgia.  And going there every other weekend wears me out and leaves me little time to do anything.  The weekends spent at home are always about getting the house in order and getting ready to be out of town the next weekend.  Not enough ME time.

This is a weekend at home and I cancelled my plans to meet a friend so I could have ME time at home.  I'll do chores, but they'll be done leisurely.  What I'm really excited about is making my own yogurt again.  It's been MONTHS.

I haven't posted what I've eaten - so here's a wrap up:

Thurday:
Breakfast:  Yogurt, blueberries and granola, pecans
Lunch - veggie lasagna
Dinner - a few nuts and a chocolate biscotti

Friday:
Breakfast:  skipped
Lunch: Optifast soup
Snack: Slim-fast - and a cup cake (yeah - worth it, too)
Dinner: chicken fried rice (made at home - not too much oil)


And how have I moved?  I haven't.  I keep getting a sore throat, which is my body's way of telling me to take it easy.  I've been getting up around 5:15 each morning and I'm sleep deprived.  Gotta work on that so I can move without feeling exhausted.

13 minutes Leslie Sansone

Oddly feeling at peace

I don't know if it was my decision to get some help - returning to a modified Optifast approach - or that D and I have been openly discussing, though not agreeing on everything, my weight gain, but I feel very much at peace with myself and food right now.

It's not all fun and games - but we are trying to come up with a solution that we both can live with, without compromising our desire to eat dinner together and not cook two separate meals.

If anyone is still reading my blog, you'll notice I've started posting what I eat each day.  This is my modified, no real numbers way of logging my food.  Starting tomorrow, I'll add another post - How I Moved Today.   And dear readers, if you don't see 3 posts a week pertaining to that topic, feel free to gently take me to task on it!  Moving isn't for weight loss  - but for health gain and I know it;s critical to my overall well-being.

And lastly - a nod to my newest favorite blog - StoneSoup.  I love it - the author is promoting very simple cooking with very simple, real food ingredients.