healthyandhot

I took a hiatus in the summer and fall. Lots going on, couldn’t keep up. I finalized the divorce, which was painful, sold that house, bought another house,reinjured my back and went through another medical scare that meant surgery but again wasn’t cancer. Whew.

The good news is, I return 5 lbs thinner. I have been doing yoga regularly (most days) and walking more. I took a great vacation to Japan and reminded myself I am strong, vigorous, and resourceful. Now I am recovering from surgery and looking forward to getting active again and losing another 5 or so. (I took it off before the surgery, the healthy way).

At this point it is much less about the weight and more about getting fit again. I have felt great at this weight before, but I was really muscular and fit. It will be a slow road to get back that strength, and I get discouraged. But I am trying not to focus on where I WAS only on where I am and moving forward.

Eating in boredom or loneliness is my worst enemy, and getting down and not exercising. I know that phrase is probably on everyone’s list, but it is specifically true of me. I like to exercise, and was a 10 year martial artist. But I can get stuck in neutral easily these days. Pictures from Japan are motivational - both because I look so much heavier than I like, and because they remind me I can do whatever I want if I just get up and Go!

Yoga seems a good way to go right now, and has eased the back pain tremendously, but I also need aerobic exercise. I think tapes at home for now. Motivation is harder, but it is self-paced and free. I will set aside time like it is a class and not schedule over it, just as I did for years when I had martial arts classes.

Wishing I had more fitness friends here in the flesh. I used to have a lot, but over time it has dwindled, and I while I am surrounded by people whom I love, many are playing the same tape of not being happy but not taking action. I must not get sucked down by that. I did reach out to a couple co-workers who have set goals and really gone after them and asked them to help me stay on track. Their efforts do inspire me. Neither has a history of fitness, but just started. Now one does century bike rides several times a year, and the other has lost many pounds and has a really regimented fitness schedule along with full-time work and single motherhood. Good role models!

I did not get June kicked off to the great start I intended. Instead, I pulled my back (reactivating an injury I have been nursing for a year) and was in a bit of a slump until Thursday. I didn’t go crazy with eating, but wasn’t exactly spartan either. So: didn’t gain, didn’t lose. Just the same weight as when I began.

Here is the good news: I found a great Yoga DVD (Suzanne Dyson, whose yoga and balance ball routines I have found I really like) and got my back into shape again, with help of massage and acupuncture. I was patient with my body, and did much better on portion control, especially end of week into the weekend. I added more healthy fruits and veggies, substituted salad for fries… all the things that were second nature and just “the way I eat” 18 months ago.

Saturday I walked about 90 minutes with the pooch, and felt great for having done so. Sunday about an hour of walking and my back felt strong enough to do the balance ball routine. I have jumped one up from the beginner, and was challenged byit. I again was patient, didn’t expect to be able to do what I could have in my martial arts peak, and concentrated on just gaining my core strength back. I felt good.

So I begin a new week. Despite bad news (car died, had to be towed; turns out I am still married because husband held some paperwork rather than returning it to the court…) I had a great weekend, and salvaged Monday, ate really well, didn’t snack or give in to sweets at work (my downfall!) and ended the day feeling energetic. Other good news: I have finally gotten my vitamin B12 up into the normal range. Huzzah! It is just all about slowly rebuilding my strength and my healthy habits. Despite no weight loss, I am claiming a minor victory for getting back my oomph after getting knocked down, and feel confident about this week.

PS: car repair billwas only $47. Gotta like that!

While I have been watching portions more and being better about food choices, I haven’t been on a diet or “program” or goal - until now. The June lose 1o lbs challenge begins! I currently weigh a startling 143, the most I have weighed in over 15 years, and only a few pounds from the most I ever weighed. But one must have a starting point, so that is mine. I have a 33 inch waist.

My goals are to bike 50 miles per week, do at least 30 aerobic minutes six days a week, and add a lot more veggies, fewer sweets and fried foods. I have been in a new habit of ordering fries and used to always order a salad, for instance, and clearly salad served me better! I am not big on diet, but on healthy habits, so I need to reinstate thinking of how it is helping me nutritionally when I select foods, and cook and eat more at home.

Specifically, I have set three free meals a week. I can eat out and eat “whatever I want” those three meals. (a lot of people do a free day, but this allows me more social flexibility). I will still make careful choices. And alcohol once a week, one drink. I have been in a beer habit lately three or four times a week, and that adds a lot of calories.

My challenges: a boyfriend who is overweight, loves to eat out, and is much less conscious of food choices; bad connotations of “dieting”; sweet tooth; back pain slowing down exercise if I am not very careful.

Pluses: I really am feeling ready, and 10 pounds is 2/3 of my  goal. What a great start, and for summer!  Friends are on a healthy eating kick lately, and my partner is supportive when he knows something matters to me. I have good nutritional knowledge and history of success for many years before the down days leading to the divorce. Weather is good, biking felt great.

So, here I go! Wish me luck!

I just popped a batch of brownies (with dried cranberries) into the oven. I know, not exactly diet food. But I was craving something sweet, and a home-baked something seemed a better alternative: I usually feel really satisfied after a small piece if I have the satiation of making it. On the other hand, I could wolf down a whole bag of mediocre store cookies and still feel I want a certain something.

I made chicken breast with a new recipe and a sauce I bought and it was good. Not great, but good. It is supposed to be grilled after boiling in a broth, but I don’t currently have a grill nor grill pan, so maybe lost a bit of flavor there. Had it with a spinach salad, quite a satisfying dinner and fairly easy. I prepared four chicken breasts, so I have some to toss into a spinach salad for lunch tomorrow, and use in some way later in the week, too.

I am struggling with a bit of the blues today - part hormones, part reality of being newly divorced, and compounded by feeling lonely and disappointed about my week’s plans with friends, or rather lack thereof:two cancellations and a couple unrealized ”we should get togethers”. I was really being pretty maudlin about it right after work, but determined that just making dinner and getting used to this being my life is healthiest. I DO live alone, and someone won’t always be available when I am feeling like hanging out with a friend. (The fact my cell, my only phone, was stolen a week ago and the replacement hasn’t arrived has contributed to me feeling isolated this week.)

Biking to and from work yesterday was awesome, and much to my surprise I am not sore today except for my bum, which is protesting the stock seat that came with my bike.  It is about 15 miles round trip, but the trip home is a really brutally long uphill grade for several blocks, so I felt pretty proud of myself. I had taken the “easier” route the day before, but challenged myself to try Greeley. Whew! I look forward to the day when I am so in shape I don’t have to play head games with myself to get up it!

Rediscovered my love of Ethiopian food this weekend, and look forward to more yumminess from that restaurant!

To catch everyone up on my life to date as it relates to this current transition:  I lived with Science Guy for 13 years until last November. I have been Vegetarian (really Pescatarian, since I never totally gave up fish, but only ate it once in awhile when I was out). I did the cooking in my marriage, and considered it a hobby until a couple years ago when I began to feel uninspired. (A dying marriage can do that to almost any hobby, I think).

When I was single before Science Guy, I ate really well. I cooked every night for myself, ate out once a week or so only, and always had a nice sit-down dinner, usually with whatever fresh produce inspired me at the co-op right at my bus stop from work. A good healthy way to eat, and I enjoyed it. I was height proportional to weight and energetic.

About a year ago I hit a period of NO energy, and at some point went to my doc explaining that it had to have roots in a real physical cause. She believed me and did a series of tests that found nothing: iron was good, proteins were fine, etc. Then she tested vitamins D and B12. Dwas fine, but I had almost  no B12. On a scale of 150 to 900 I was a 150. Basement level, and the cause of my fatigue. They used to call it Pernicious Anemia, which is the best name for anything I have ever had medically.

Long story slightly shorter, my body seemed to be telling me my vegetarian ways had worn off.  Maybe the shift in middle age did it, but when supplements and shots only moderately improved my levels I decided I should build meat back in my diet. (It is the main source of B12).

Much to my surprise, I didn’t get an upset stomach and have worked chicken and some turkey and ham back in with little consequence, other than I feel much better than I had after a few weeks of more animal protein. NOTE: eating vegetarian can be a great healthy lifestyle, so this is not a supporting argument for those who think vegetarians are nuts or not healthy…I just think your body tells you what you need, ultimately, and mine has shifted.

The dilemma now is I no longer have a map of “How I Eat”. I quit eating meat at 19, so I am learning how to prepare it, have a bookshelf full of only Vegetarian cookbooks, and am finding that the portions sold in stores are large. I will need to build a whole new menu and planning strategy around it. But hey, I am on the New Life path anyway, so it will flow right in!

My challenge (yes, that means everything up to here was really a digression) is that I am having trouble cooking for one. I enjoy cooking with or for friends, but find I eat out or “piece” when left to my own devices. I also have really fallen into the down cycle of eating sweets to boost mood and or blood sugar when  I am uninspired to make a meal. Thus the weight gain…

I think one thing that will help is if I prep a bit of the next nights meal the eve before. Then it is just waiting, it isn’t like I am starting from scratch. I got together with a friend two Sundays ago, and we made a couple salads, freezer fish cakes, and a lentil dish to kick off the week, and it really worked well. She doesn’t eat meat, but I could add a chicken breast and have a totally balanced meal with little effort. It stretched quite far into the week, too, and was fun to do together.

Any suggestions or tips that worked well for you? Great quick recipes for the workweek? Words of wit and wisdom?

Thanks, and good wishes to all!

Today, Sunday, didn’t start well for me. I had a misunderstanding with a good friend that left me feeling lonely, and  for some reason missed my ex husband, Science Guy, terribly. (I feel he deserves to be called more than “my ex”, thus the handle.) My cell phone (and only phone) was stolen a week ago and the replacement hasn’t arrived, so I couldn’t call a friend. I stopped by the house we are selling to take care of some details and ended up sobbing in front of Science Guy. I will also note, Science Guy mucked up a contractor appointment critical to the house sale, so add pissed off to the list of random emotions…

What to do? I was in a heap on my sofa with my gawky dog next to me and thought: “Exercise is what I need to kick this funk. Exercise and a fresh start!”

I have a new bike. I bought it weeks before I injured my back and was diagnosed with a bulging disc that sent me into PT for months. No biking allowed. That was, however, over a year ago - and I figured it was time to get back on the bike. I had stopped at a bike shop and gotten a critical piece of info on why my tires wouldn’t take air (presta valves are new to me) and now pumped them up, found the helmet & gloves, and with great trepidation slid into spandex.

I was worried I would struggle with the new paddle shifters, but they are intuitive and it wasn’t a problem. I headed East but the trail ran out earllier than I expected, so I cut back SW and along a bike lane that gets a lot of use. It was perfect, about 70 and sunny, and the wind was strong but felt great.

I circled my neighborhood and still felt good, so I struck out on the route that will be my commute to work. I know the half on the other side of the river, it hooks up about where my commute from the SE neighborhood did. But the first leg from home to the bridge has seemed intimidating. It was a breeze - and all down hill. Which is why I was intimidated: going home is a long grade up. I hit the bridge, turned around, and started back home. I really figured I would be walking the bike up the steepest longest part of the grade.

I made it all the way up without standing on the pedals or having to stop. I am so pleased! Now I know I can start commuting, which will build exercise easily into my schedule and reduce my carbon footprint and wear and tear on my car. All good!

Unless I am too sore to move, I will start tomorrow, my first day back to work after a week off.

Today begins the journey back to being healthy, having more energy, and feeling sexy again. My commitment to this blog and the BuddySlim site is a commitment of focus, time and effort on my health and fitness.

It goes away fast, folks: a little over a year ago I was bike commuting to work a couple times a week (about 7 miles each way), taking Salsa dance lessons, and doing martial arts for the 9th year in a row. I could knock out 40 pushups and had great abs, even with the little bit of plump I usually carry.

Then came in quick succession a back injury and a divorce. Right after I left my husband I lost weight - I was never hungry and it felt like I was on speed, I was always agitated and wound. But very soon that went away, and the lost weight came back, with reinforcements this time…

I am 5′0″, so five pounds on me is a jean size. I need to lose about 15 pounds. I weighed in today at 142. Since I never used to weigh myself I don’t really know exactly where I want to be, but I know how I want to feel, and I know I used to have a waist!

Your encouragement, support, and helpful tips are much appreciated. I am having trouble getting started, and while exercise was a regular part of my life until recently, I have always resented dieting. Alas, at 42 it seems to take both to lose, so I will plunge in…

Thanks for the site, and good luck to us all!