Category: Uncategorized

Bit the Fitbit Bullet

It looks like I’m dug in and will continue to make progress on my 50% off campaign.  So, today, I ordered a Fitbit.  I saw a woman on the Austin trail using one, and she said it’s super easy.  I like the other tools I’ve been using such as LoseIt, Health Rally, Runkeeper, and even the LifeTime Fitness app.  But, the pedometer I bought wasn’t really very secure and an annoyance.  And, when I tried to use the Runkeeper app when I was on the treadmill at the gym, it just got confused.

The fitbit is pricey and I’ve seen some bad reviews, but I figured I would try it.  I’m a bit of a gadget freak anyway. I’ll let you know what I think about it after a few weeks.  To be frank, there still isn’t a single perfect app to combine all these readings.  It would be very cool if there were one specifically for obesity.  Hummm.

I Stopped Dieting.

Don’t be alarmed.  It’s not what you think.  I realized tonight that I am just beginning a lifelong trek to change my eating and exercise behaviors.  So, this is indeed the new normal.  Not a “diet” or a weight loss program.  Of course, I’m still working toward my 50% off goal, but it is in the longer context of a lifelong transformation and subsequent improved qualify of my life.

My daughter saw a nutritionist this summer.  She told her, “Try not to eat anything that you can’t recognize where it came from.”  Good advice.  I need to learn how to cook.  That’s next on my todo list.   I also need to learn how to use proper kitchen utensils.  Even fancy kitchen machinery, such as a Cuisinart.  Of course, I have one, but have no idea what to do with it.  I’m also interested in juicers, but I hear they are expensive.  I met with a group of woman-folk friends last night who said Whole Foods and Central Market give cooking classes.  I know Central Market holds a class on knives alone.  I really need a “Cooking for Dummies” class.

 

Fat as Puzzle

ImageMy friend Ross who is supporting me on my Health Rally, recommended this blog post, “Thinking about Diets and Other Complex Matters” by Bill Gurley, a VC at Benchmark Capital.  It’s a good post, and has great references.  I’ve already downloaded, “Why We Get Fat” on Audible.

I think there is a lot of truth to the complexity issue he’s pointing out.  That there are no simple solutions to weight loss (or gain for that matter).  I’m beginning to think I need to try every possible theory that is out there.

Even though it doesn’t make logical sense, I find my weight really fluctuates day to day, regardless of what I eat or the exercise I do.  A few days ago I was .5 away from losing twenty pounds, but the next day, I had gained 1.5 (for no apparent reason).  So, I’m still battling with that last pound.  I should probably just stop weighing myself.

I will say this, however.  I feel better.  I’ve had a tough time with acid reflux over the past few years (tmi, I know). But, it’s essentially GONE.  Really gone.  I have seen other dramatic improvements in other bodily functions, but I won’t delve into those details.  So, if for no other reason than to feel better, I’m motivated to keep reinventing myself.

Onwards.

The Fat Trap

The ATX100 take to the steps.So, there was this insufferably long article in the NY Times Magazine, “The Fat Trap.”  I skimmed it when I first saw it, but read it completely just now.  The primary learning is: it is harder for obese people to lose weight and keep it off.   I have known this to be true, but was hoping to remain comfortably in denial.  Read the article, if you haven’t.  I was particularly inspired by this woman’s experience, Lynn Bering.  I’ve added her blog to my blog roll.  It occurred to me I should probably start cross-posting from here to BlogHer.  Maybe I will.  I could use more readers too.

My trainer from last year, Clara, once told me that a fat cell basically shrinks as you lose weight.  It compresses, but does not ever “go away.”  So, if you start eating normally and stop exercising, it promptly just fills back up again.  A quote I saw from a doctor that specializes in weight loss said, “If you buy a fat cell, you can never take it back.” I’ve been wondering about liposuction for this reason.  Not that I could do it now, but maybe in the future.  It seems that these fat cells have got to go, permanently.

I have noticed that there are no end to weight loss theories and programs.  It turns out the gentleman who weighed me last week with the 22nd Century scale, was not a RunTex associate, but a small business owner who sells Kangan water products and has his own gym.  For now, I’m just trying to eat less and exercise more.  It seems to be working.  I can snobify my weight loss and health choices after I’ve gotten further along.

This Saturday, we had a fairly grueling 4-mile walk and drill session.  At least for me it’s grueling, as it’s my fourth time attending the ATX100 workouts.   I felt accomplished, however.  I actually “ran” for about 30 yards.  I fist-bumped the RunTex owner, Paul Carozzo, at the end, and breathlessly told him that was the first time I had run in over 20 years.  That shocked me to realize that, but it was true.  All very interesting to me.

I’m very close to a twenty pounds loss.  Only a half pound to go to reach that goal.  Hopefully tomorrow or the next day, I will.  Lose It, the app, tells me if I keep progressing this way, I should reach my final goal by my birthday, 2013.  I will be 54 years old.  I admit, I sometimes check out celebrities around my age to see if it’s really possible to look good in your fifties.  Whatever.  Like I recently told a friend of mine, I’m really only interested in looking good for a horse.  So, I’m not too worried.

Finally, the last comment I wanted to make is related to the psychological underpinnings of my vast weight gain. Another one of my friends recently said, “For me, [being] overweight is just a cheeseburger of emotional crap to work thru.”  This one really hit home.  I’ve reframed my weight to represent all the toxic crap I’ve been though over my adult years.  I’m on the road to cleansing my mind and my body of my polluted past.  So, hello 2012.  I am bringing it.

And slowly, I turned…

Still making progress.  Slower now, but steady.  I can feel the weight reducing somewhat.  It’s almost like I’m a large inflated balloon with a very slow leak.   At the ATX100 meeting, I was weighed on a high tech scale that measured everything possible.  I may start posting those readings.  The RunTex associate explained to me all I needed to know for now was, “Drink more water.”  And not just ordinary water, some kind of scientific water that has a better density or something.  I wasn’t exactly clear on the whole thing.  Will try to get a better explanation next time.  I think I may start video-taping these guys.

On Saturday, we had a demonstration from a woman (Abby, from Heartfelt Yoga)  who specializes in Yoga for heavy people.  I’ve been really curious about Yoga, so I think I’m going to try it.  They’re starting a class with the ATX100 on Fridays, but she also has classes in North Austin which is closer to where I live.

I have been cooking and eating out in restaurants.  For the most part, I’m making South Beach recipes and avoiding all starches when I’m out.  I haven’t had a problem yet finding something healthy to eat on any menu.

What I’m enjoying most, actually (and surprisingly) is the exercise.  I went for a great walk today on a park trail that’s close to my house.  It feels so wonderful to be outside in this beautiful weather in Austin.  The high was about 60 degrees today with bright sunshine.  Trekking through the woods and on the trails just motivates me more.  It reminds me of horseback riding in my youth.

On Wednesday of this week, I will have been at this for a month.  So, one down.  Stay with me.

Happy New Year, y’all.

Some photos from my walk:

  

The Ultimate Texas Test: Queso

Image Image

My son actually agreed to go to dinner with me tonight.  Of course, this meant… Chili’s.  I had to endure watching him eat chips and queso.  But, I did it.  Resisted eating even one.  I ordered this Grilled Chicken dish.  According to Loseit, it has 710 calories.  I only ate half, so not so bad.

So, here’s to iPhone apps, self-discipline, and a nice time out with my teenage son.   Happy New Year.

Hello 2012. A look backwards and forwards.

There’s a lot more to being obese than fat cells.  The psychology of being overweight weighs heavily on a woman.  Especially a single woman. The last time I remember being thin enough to fit into a normal size was 1992– twenty years ago.  It’s almost shocking when I realize as an adult I’ve been overweight longer than I have not been.  My two youngest children have never known me not to be overweight. For a brief time after my divorce, I had lost about 40 pounds, but I was still not thin.  What I find so interesting is that I never think of myself as morbidly obese.  I see myself in my mind’s eye as I was in my teenage years and twenties.  Even when I star in my own dreams, I am never overweight.  A friend of mind recently sent me photos of us in the 70s and 80s.  I remember those days like it was yesterday.

In my case, it wasn’t a layered ten pound gain per year that racked up the extra weight.  I had been prescribed a medicine that, nearly overnight, put over 100 pounds on me.  As hard as I fought against it, I couldn’t beat back the sudden weight gain. With kids, a husband, a job, responsibilities that piled on in my thirties, I just became resigned to living as yet another obese American.  But, there is no denying I have been quietly amassing a bitterness about the new me.   I can’t blame the Pharma drug, because it has always been within reach for me to diet and exercise.   I am looking forward to this year to make progress toward my “50% off” campaign.  I see losing half my weight as the “bad” half.  The half that has kept me from doing all the things I want to do, and would have liked to have done the past twenty years.  It’s more of a reverse metamorphosis or something.

To that end, I’ve been evaluating how to go forward.  I ended the My Fit Foods challenge on Christmas eve. (More on My Fit Foods in another post.) I plateaued at 13 pounds lost, but I’m still content with that. I realize it is going to be a long haul and that program gave me a great kickstart.  It also taught me the wisdom that surrounds eating more frequently in small quantities every day.  I’ve also kicked coffee.  I tried coffee after not having it for such a long while, but it just didn’t taste the same.  Tea, much better.  I’m also getting on the treadmill every day and doing the HIIT training technique my old trainer, Claire, had shown me.  My one major disappointment is that I have not been to the Saturday ATX100 meeting in two weeks now.  That is going to get remedied this week.

I will continue to persevere with my plans.  Zach just sent me a note that Health Rally launched today.  I signed up.  Not sure exactly how it works, but  I hope you will participate in the program.  I called my rally, “Tally Ho!”  The reward is $200 towards riding lessons after losing 80 pounds.  Kind of a mid-term goal, but a good one.  The basic idea is your friends and family pledge what they want.  If you reach your goal, they pay up.  I think I can find 40 friends to pledge $5, no?

All in all, I’m happy I’m moving forward (literally and figuratively).   Happy New Year’s y’all.