Being a lover of blog posts with pictures I keep putting off posting until I can locate the cable thingy that attaches my camera and computer. Problem is I keep forgetting to look for it and then don't post. Grrr. Need to get my act together. Anyway, had a loss of 0.3kgs this week and 0.7kg the week before. Over the past four weeks I've lost 1.5kg so I'm losing slowly. VERY SLOWLY. I'm getting a bit frustrated by how slowly I am losing but hey, a little loss is better than nothing. This week is week two on the new Weight Watchers ProPoints system and I am still finding it to be easier and more natural to use than the old system. Really not sure why as previously I was feeling very rebellious and angst ridden towards the whole idea of counting points and now suddenly it doesn't worry me. In fact I positively scurry to the computer to track and I love seeing the numbers and statistics all change. Go figure.
I've finally done a quick measure to see what progress I've made there.
Chest
Week 1 113.5cm
Current 103cm
Loss of 10.5cm (woohoo)
Waist
Week 1 101.5cm
Current 94cm (was 93 in July, what's up with that?)
Loss of 7.5cm
Hips
Week 1 119cm
Current 106cm
Loss of 13cm (double woohoo)
Seeing these results has inspired me to dig out my more complete measurement list and do a little comparison. I know I've lost a lot in the upper chest, just at the bottom of my bra under my boobs and just above the knee. Will be interesting to see the difference.
Exercise
I've built up my exercise to 30 minute walks most days (this includes some hills). Two days per week I do a longer walk of between 45 mins to an hour over the same undulating terrain. I haven't been great with the resistance work or yoga as I've been focussing on creating consistency. This is the longest I've been able to maintain these longer walks (as in how many consecutive days I can do them for) in years. Since I first got sick really.
Health
Although I've needed a few afternoon sleeps of late I'm not too worried. I am feeling better than I have in years and I think the sleeps were a response to all the hard decluttering work that I've been doing. I carried and emptied boxes etc and filled a giant pink skip bag (3m cubed) that was collected last week. I have my blood work done next week in preparation for a return visit to the endocrinologist in just over 2 weeks time. We'll see where my thyroid is at (hopefully euthyroid and no longer underactive). If my thyroid is still underactive I think the plan was for me to go back onto thyroxine. As I have active Grave's Disease (overactive) as well as Hashimotos (underactive), it can be somewhat challenging to medicate me properly. I am hoping that surgery to remove thyroid (and the impact of Grave's Disease) is NOT on the cards. As troublesome as it is, I'd prefer to keep my body intact if at all possible. My friend has had her thyroid removed as has not had an easy time since.
Sorry I've been so slow and hit and miss with my posts.
Ooh, I am having a girls weekend here at my place next weekend and I'm feeling quite excited about it. After years of being so isolated and unable to do anything of much at all due to ill health it feels a terribly normal and healthy thing to do. So far there will be 5 of us with possibly two more. Lucky I have a big house and lots of beds!
Drop in and leave a comment if you haven't given up on me. I'd love to hear how you are all doing.
Here's to seeing less of me next week but hearing more....
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Terrible blogger
Well I've rediscovered my weight loss mojo but not my motivation to blog. I've had a loss this week at weigh in. 0.7kgs which brings my total loss up to 6.3kg since May when I first began this journey. Weight Watchers has just rolled out their new ProPoints plan here so I've been on this for 2 days now. It still uses points but these have been redefined and encourage healthier food choices which is great. I've not done my measurements but will do so over the coming weeks in order to have a peek at my progress.
As you know I've really struggled with motivation for awhile and I think even though I stopped tracking for awhile, continuing to attend meetings has been extremely valuable. I think taking pressure off myself and allowing myself to not track has helped me to find my motivation again. I did concentrate on eating only when hungry, eating until satisfied, choosing healthy options instead of tracking points so I didn't just go crazy. I also kept thinking about why I wanted to lose weight and how my life will be different when I do. I have no illusions that life will suddenly be perfect upon reaching my goal weight. I will still lack confidence in some situations. I'll still have to interact with difficult people and circumstances. I will still have the same health history and conditions BUT I won't have the constant nagging presence of extra weight. I won't feel so physically uncomfortable and inhibited. I will have improved my health and decreased my chances of developing new diseases. Keeping my eye on this goal has helped me through this time as has reading blogs of lovely ladies out there in blogland who are maintaining successful losses. Speaking of which, congratulations to Shelley who is celebrating a year of maintenance. Superb effort!
My next goal is to achieve my 10% loss by Christmas. It's only 2.8kg away. So very close. I feel really awkward posting photos of myself but think reaching 10% will be worthy of a progress photo!
Hope you are all well and making little positive changes to your life.
Until next time.....
As you know I've really struggled with motivation for awhile and I think even though I stopped tracking for awhile, continuing to attend meetings has been extremely valuable. I think taking pressure off myself and allowing myself to not track has helped me to find my motivation again. I did concentrate on eating only when hungry, eating until satisfied, choosing healthy options instead of tracking points so I didn't just go crazy. I also kept thinking about why I wanted to lose weight and how my life will be different when I do. I have no illusions that life will suddenly be perfect upon reaching my goal weight. I will still lack confidence in some situations. I'll still have to interact with difficult people and circumstances. I will still have the same health history and conditions BUT I won't have the constant nagging presence of extra weight. I won't feel so physically uncomfortable and inhibited. I will have improved my health and decreased my chances of developing new diseases. Keeping my eye on this goal has helped me through this time as has reading blogs of lovely ladies out there in blogland who are maintaining successful losses. Speaking of which, congratulations to Shelley who is celebrating a year of maintenance. Superb effort!
My next goal is to achieve my 10% loss by Christmas. It's only 2.8kg away. So very close. I feel really awkward posting photos of myself but think reaching 10% will be worthy of a progress photo!
Hope you are all well and making little positive changes to your life.
Until next time.....
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Perception is a funny thing.
Thanks for checking up on me while I've been missing in action. Very sweet of you and perks me up immensely. I've been struggling a bit since my return from holiday. My weight was down when we got home then has gone up, down and all over the place (in only very small amounts) over the past 5 weeks. My attitude has been the main problem along with a few hormonal spanners thrown in the works. I've really been struggling to follow the Weight Watchers Point System. I've felt really rebellious, burnt out and fed up with the whole thing. So....I've spent the past couple of weeks mulling this over in my personal journal, while taking walks through the trees, while digging in the garden or washing my hair. You know how it is.
I realised that I am a bit burnt out. When I first fell ill in 2000 I started educating myself about nutrition as medicine. First for general health and enhancing immune function and then after I developed cancer I focussed on foods that help with this disease. I made big changes and little changes, tried this and that but was always thinking about food and nutrition and all the while during this time my weight was going up. So I joined Weight Watchers and started learning again, having to change things again and I think I was just over it. I've been sick and tired of having to think about what I eat. I also had a bit of an attitude problem with Weight Watchers focus predominantly on points rather than the nutritional value of food. I think the points should be weighted in a way that encourages people to eat for nutrition first and all of the highly processed, sugary bars and the like should have higher points. They might be really seen as treats then as opposed to a viable daily food option. Off high horse now.
So what have I done about it? Interestingly, just realising why I was struggling took the pressure off and refocussed me. I just needed to suck it up and do what needs doing in this next stage of getting healthy. I dug out some information on the old core plan (which is closer to my natural way of eating) and have monitored my eating by eating to my appetite, eating mindfully and eating good, unprocessed nutritious foods. As a result I feel better, eating feels less of a chore and more natural and I've lost weight consistently. I'm also back on my supplements (which I went off as they made up 1/4 of my daily points allowance) and feel better for it. Since I'm still losing weight I'll continue to take them. Even though I've struggled mentally, I kept going to meetings and weighing in. I quite like it actually. Meetings are a little outing for me during the week and the group is really great. Combine that with a lovely leader and things are still good on that front.
Another thing I've noticed during this time away, is how our perception of our bodies changes. As I went up the scale 84kgs was huge and I felt dreadfully bloated and uncomfortable. Coming back down the scale 84kgs feels light, movement feels easier and I feel 'slim' at times. I'm sure that I look different to myself as well. On the way up the scale I would have been noticing where fat had suddenly appeared, where I looked puffier and more pudgy. Now I notice how slim I look just above my waist and how I can see more of my collar bones. Perception is a funny thing.
How do you see yourself? Does it change in unexpected ways?
I realised that I am a bit burnt out. When I first fell ill in 2000 I started educating myself about nutrition as medicine. First for general health and enhancing immune function and then after I developed cancer I focussed on foods that help with this disease. I made big changes and little changes, tried this and that but was always thinking about food and nutrition and all the while during this time my weight was going up. So I joined Weight Watchers and started learning again, having to change things again and I think I was just over it. I've been sick and tired of having to think about what I eat. I also had a bit of an attitude problem with Weight Watchers focus predominantly on points rather than the nutritional value of food. I think the points should be weighted in a way that encourages people to eat for nutrition first and all of the highly processed, sugary bars and the like should have higher points. They might be really seen as treats then as opposed to a viable daily food option. Off high horse now.
So what have I done about it? Interestingly, just realising why I was struggling took the pressure off and refocussed me. I just needed to suck it up and do what needs doing in this next stage of getting healthy. I dug out some information on the old core plan (which is closer to my natural way of eating) and have monitored my eating by eating to my appetite, eating mindfully and eating good, unprocessed nutritious foods. As a result I feel better, eating feels less of a chore and more natural and I've lost weight consistently. I'm also back on my supplements (which I went off as they made up 1/4 of my daily points allowance) and feel better for it. Since I'm still losing weight I'll continue to take them. Even though I've struggled mentally, I kept going to meetings and weighing in. I quite like it actually. Meetings are a little outing for me during the week and the group is really great. Combine that with a lovely leader and things are still good on that front.
Another thing I've noticed during this time away, is how our perception of our bodies changes. As I went up the scale 84kgs was huge and I felt dreadfully bloated and uncomfortable. Coming back down the scale 84kgs feels light, movement feels easier and I feel 'slim' at times. I'm sure that I look different to myself as well. On the way up the scale I would have been noticing where fat had suddenly appeared, where I looked puffier and more pudgy. Now I notice how slim I look just above my waist and how I can see more of my collar bones. Perception is a funny thing.
How do you see yourself? Does it change in unexpected ways?
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