Weight Loss is a Lifestyle change for the Long Haul (Part 1)

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

While I have my personal version of The Slowest Loser going -- now that I'm over four years into the weight loss process -- I like that I’ve made a commitment to losing weight over the long haul, taking as many as five or ten years to ultimately reach my one hundred pound goal.

I like to think that occasionally, I simply choose to go into maintenance mode to verify that maintenance is something I can handle throughout my life. From the University of Hard Knocks, I know this will be challenging, as I still continue to have a relatively unhealthy love for food. Learning how to control that love will be essential.

In striving to remain positive, I hope to journal further by developing a few reasons why losing slowly has been beneficial to me.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

HEALTHYSOON2 11/25/2010 2:52AM

Your prospective on weight loss is very healthy, and I'm glad that I'm been able to share in it. It's a real pleasure to read a blog that isn't about instantly loosing the weight. It seems contrary to all the articles I'm reading on SP. for showing that it is a valid option... Report Inappropriate Comment

SPECIALGURL7 11/24/2010 11:14PM

I like your way of thinking. I feel that if you lose too fast it can come back just as fast and then some because it may not be a total lifestyle change. Report Inappropriate Comment

PAMAPPLE 11/24/2010 9:52PM

Losing weight slowly is the best way to maintain and keep it off. Research has shown that the two best ways to lose weight is to track your food intake and community support... SP is excellent in both areas!! Report Inappropriate Comment

TOPS-TORTOISE 11/24/2010 8:59PM

Losing 2 to 2.5 pounds a week used to be considered a healthy rate to lose weight. I read an article on Spark People recently that said people who lose 1 to 1.5 pounds a week are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off. Slow and steady wins the race. Report Inappropriate Comment

SHELLEY147 11/24/2010 8:22PM

I think how slow or fast you lose weight is totally a matter of personal preference. I am aiming for meeting my goal weight by my birthday in 2012. I know I can do it by staying focused and having supportive friends like YOU around! :) Thanks for inviting me to join you in the 5% challenge! ~hugs~ Report Inappropriate Comment

TOBYKINS 11/24/2010 7:45PM

I'd like to lose weight a little faster. I've been just maintaining forever! I started with a detox diet and lost 5 pounds right away, about 7 now in total. That was a month ago and I seem to be stuck. I want to change my lifestyle around exercise and eating for the longterm though. At the age of 60 and on medication, it's so easy to gain weight and then not lose it easily. Report Inappropriate Comment

Diary Day: Making Room for Exercise/Walking while Traveling:

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

While traveling can be stressful or anxiety producing in its own right (packing at the last minute, restlessness the night before, etc), I try to make room for at least 90 minutes between major connections for quality walking time, making sure I work in 10-minute units before taking a shopping, rest, or food break.

I’m fortunate in that I have the means to do what most would consider a waste of a day to travel. I recognize that many working people do not have that option in a society where every day of vacation is precious. But at the same time, the travel cost savings go up big time and I am often able to dovetail while making great progress on the current prayer shawl I am knitting.

7:15 am: Walk about five icy blocks to the nearest bus stop. Thanks, SparkPeople, for strength training exercises that improve my core balance!
7:30 am: City bus to neighboring city with transfer to college for breakfast.
10:30 am: Bus where four hours, one wicked ice storm and two wonderful DVD’s later, I arrived at the airport only 15 minutes later than planned.
2:45 – 7:10 pm: Walk and shop at the airport where I enjoyed a McDonald’s cone (150 calories), Subway sandwich (310 calories), and am now the happy owner of three lovely pieces of jewelry (seemingly priceless).
7:15 pm: A much-needed one-hour nap on the plane before the beverage cart came around. Then I happily anticipated trying the new and temporarily free WiFi on Delta. Good thing I didn’t depend on it for my entire addiction to getting lots of SparkPeople points, as the speed was only fair, and after about 90 minutes and a second login, I lost my connection due to a “full” internet while in a Facebook chat with a long-time Napali friend I hadn’t heard from in some time -- fortunately we had nearly completed our conversation.
11:30 pm: Arrived at my warm destination where my partner was ready for my call while recently arriving in the cell phone lot.
1:00 pm: Said night, night to a long day. While I missed my normal bedtime (am in Week Four of the SparkPeople Sleep Challenge), thanks to the luxury of retirement and a less scheduled life, I truly enjoyed the lap of luxury in that I slept a whopping 10.5 hours with only one ten-minute awake time at about 8 am. Apparently I needed the rest and while I typically only remember dreaming once a year, if I’m lucky, I must has gotten some quality REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, as I woke up today to a wonderful dream where I found my application to travel to Asia approved by the Graduate Council at UW-Superior (my place of retirement). What a lovely dream! Even after breakfast and starting the coffee maker, I fell asleep for another hour --now where that additional sleep time came from is beyond me.

Television, Internet, 15 minutes in the sun, and being a lounge lizard in my Sri Lankan caftan and new jewelry is a wonderful day of pure rest and relaxation. Thanks to my SparkPeople friends for making observation to passing yet one more SparkPeople Fitness Minutes milestone. Life is beautiful and as an American, I am truly privileged and blessed with more than I need.

May you be richly blessed this week. How to you handle travel days?

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

EJOY-EVELYN 11/24/2010 12:19PM

While I wouldn't wish a whole day of travel on anyone, we have to make the best of our circumstances with as best an attitude as possible. It's often a great opportunity to reflect on where we are in life, things we can truly make a difference on, and whatever you care to dream about. While I normally find taking a bus quite humbling, I'm seeing that there are a lot more well-off people taking the bus today due to the state of our economy . . . and they are much more comfortable and accessible to more people than I remember when I was an avid Arbor Hills Bus Buddy in Madison, Wisconsin. 8-)) I appreciate your SparkPeople activity, Ms Soon to be Healthy. Congratulations on making good progress in nearing your ten percent weight loss. I understand you begin feeling a major sense of satisfaction and good health when you reach your first ten percent. Report Inappropriate Comment

HEALTHYSOON2 11/24/2010 10:54AM

Welcome home!!! It sounds like you have a real handle on traveling - and a real handle on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. WTG. I travel for work often and when I get layovers they are usually considered a waste of work time. But, in today's travel climate, they are almost impossible to avoid. I hope you have a wonderful day ahead of you and a great Thanksgiving!!! Comment edited on: 11/24/2010 11:04:31 AM Report Inappropriate Comment

Psychology Today article: How coffee and donuts enhance memory

Friday, November 05, 2010

While we learn to eat a well balanced selection of foods, let's hope we can find our needed sugars from the more natural (vs refined) sugars available. Here's the article I read today. Any thoughts?

Your Brain on Food
How chemicals control your thoughts and feelings.
by Gary Wenk, Ph. D

How coffee and donuts enhance memory
Donuts and coffee, they're what your brain wants
Published on October 11, 2010

Sometimes, what our brain wants is not always good for our bodies. Donuts are a good example. It is early morning and you're driving to work after a nice breakfast of black coffee and two eggs, easy-over, with bacon. Yet, you're still hungry and having difficulty paying attention to the traffic. Why? Your brain is not cooperating because it is not satisfied with that breakfast because it lacked one critical ingredient that your brain urgently needs, sugar . . . .

In compliance with SparkPeople's policy to not post articles or copyrighted material in its entirety, you can find the complete article at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-b
rain-food/201010/how-coffee-and-donuts
-enhance-memory

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  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SPARKLOVE 11/17/2010 1:24PM

It is my understanding that our Brain operates on Glucose. So after fasting all night our Glucose should be dipping low and if we don't include some carbs in our breakfast then we will crave them . If the person in that article you gave us would have included some whole grain toast and a cup of OJ with the eggs and bacon then they could of passed by the doughnut shop without even noticing it. LOL I agree with you , we should get our glucose from a healthier choice than doughnuts. Joy Report Inappropriate Comment

Truth or PeoplePleaser?

Monday, August 23, 2010

I was on the topic of my weight loss and how I was finally beginning to feel better about the effectiveness of food tracking over a 6-day period. In the process, I said to my friend (and relation) that I was happy to no longer be morbidly obese. And with my last BMI check just under 30, I was more in the "overweight" bracket versus the "obese" one. Nevertheless, I'm still fat. Then I said the cruel truth, that "we're both fat." Her immediate response was one of shock, whereas I immediately followed by a sorry and second sorry for revealing what I felt was a truth. She was in disbelief (backing up words from her medical doctor that she was doing well) and hurt. I pray that this may lead to one of those "ah hah" moments that results in both of us making healthier food decisions.

Even with an apology for how this made her feel, I cannot negate how I feel or think at any given moment, so you can see that I tend to opt for the truth. How about you?

# # #

The following material is for HealthyBarb:

We’ve had a heat wave here in the Twin Ports (Duluth MN, Superior WI) so we may not need those virtual snowshoes I picked up for us for your January visit. I’m also glad that our days are beginning to have a little more light. WooHoo! Here’s our itinerary for the day, and I’ll send you some photos of the places we’ll visit . . . we’ll keep the snowshoes in the back just in case we need them.

8:00 AM Lefse breakfast wrap and your favorite relatively non-calorie beverage at the Scandinavian café Takk For Maten in downtown Duluth. Here we jabber so long about our Spark Experiences, we’re here for nearly two hours! WooHoo! Who knew we had so much in common!

On the way to Duluth, we passed Barker's Island where the SS Meteor is docked then went over the blatnik bridge one of three bridges crossing the St Louis Bay (into Lake Superior) from Superior to Duluth:





[insert photo Takk For Maten]



10:00 AM Head up Lake Superior Northshore to visit Split Rock Light House (70- minute drive time, 20 minute prep time, 45 minute hike (and photo shoot) and 45 minute picnic and conversation).

[insert photo Brighton Beach just outside Duluth along our northshore "scenic" route that we so enjoyed! This is an incredible place to read or meditate in nature with the rolling waves of Lake Superior (sometimes quite violent)]





11:00 AM We’ll light the fire at the picnic Shelter at Split Rock, where I’ll place our slow cookers on heat for our picnic feast of hot lentils and curries awaiting us as we return to the fire-warmed shelter by Noon. The smells are divine!

[insert photo Shelter and Split Rock Light House]





1:00 PM Visit Gooseberry Falls (just five minutes south of Split Rock) where we walk to two beautiful waterfalls in about 35 minutes.

[insert photo Gooseberry Falls]





2:30 PM Stop at the working Taconite Loading dock of Two harbors where we also see the tugboat Edna along the lakefront.





3:30 PM Visit Little and Big Manitou Falls at Pattison Falls (Wisconsin State Park about 12 miles south of Superior. It’s here we have 4 pm tea (light hot milk tea with __ your favorite snack freggie.]





4:45 PM Visit our last set of two waterfalls at Amnicon Falls, a Wisconsin State Park just 12 miles east of Superior (there’s a shortcut from Pattison).



5:30 PM If you can stick around, we can visit the Chinese Buffet where we can place a bigger emphasis on being freggie-holics when we make great choices (albeit, a lot too salty).

I’ve just shown you four or my favorite places in our beautiful northland! Whether accessible by snowshoes, hiking boots, or simple sandals or walking shoes (in the summertime), are incredibly awesome!

I've since visited Split Rock Lighthouse and Gooseberry Falls so all the photos above are pictures I've taken. Use as you like.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

EJOY-EVELYN 9/17/2010 1:46AM

Found this journaling aid in a SparkPeople email received on July 27: The dangers of people pleasing No matter how hard you try, no matter how many hours you spend pondering and planning, and regardless of how hard you try, you absolutely cannot please everyone. It is impossible. So do yourself a favor and stop now, before you drive yourself farther toward insanity. There are many drawbacks to being a people-pleaser. A big one is that you often put yourself in a position of subservience. Sometimes you even put yourself last, which helps no one. Remember that helping yourself and doing what you feel is important should be valued. Find worth in your own opinions and viewpoint, and don't let your desire to please others compel you to keep yourself in the background. Falling short of perfection only proves that you are a normal human being. Report Inappropriate Comment

What Motivates You?

Friday, September 04, 2009

I'm motivated by other positive people. SparkPeople is a great resource for finding the most positive pe0ple I know. Do you have a favorite activity, visual, scent, or word(s) that help you stay 0n track towards that healthier lifestyle you've come to know? If so, please share. Thanks!

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Paradise is Calling!

I am so lovin' my home away from home today! $20 at the farmer’s market today brought me a taste of freggies heaven: 4.5 lbs tomatoes, 1 lb green beans, potatoes (Idaho, red, and sweet), 2 bunches of asparagus, 3 red sweet peppers, 6 medium zucchini, 9 oz fresh bean sprouts and a small to medium sized watermelon.



One free parking spot also provides me a delightful waterfront walk along the Caloosahatchee River . . . just a few miles up from the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico. This water girl and freggies queen truly is feeling heavenly today.





The snow in my northland home cannot leave soon enough, as we’re been in yet another winter storm watch. Yikes! This is how I left the DLH Airport (the old terminal has been raised for removal):



Don't get me wrong, I love all four seasons, but I can also appreciate the paradise my newly met SparkFriends (FloridaSun and ZellaZM below) live in and Birthday Bear (BevieAnn) enjoys while visiting Hawaii.





May you find joy in this day and every day. What is bringing you great joy these days?

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

VISUALLYRICS 12/10/2011 10:06AM

I LOVE music!! Music always motivates me! Report Inappropriate Comment

EJOY-EVELYN 12/10/2011 9:24AM

Spark Healthy Reflections 12/10/11: People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily. - Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker What do you do to motivate yourself? Makes sense doesn't it? The secret to staying consistent with your goals is to stay motivated. That means finding ways to fire yourself up on a daily basis. Being inspired at a seminar, by reading a book, or while talking to a dynamic speaker is easy. But what happens when you're on your own? To follow through on that burst of motivation and reach the finish line, you need regular booster shots. Give yourself those little positive reminders that you have an important job to do and a good reason for doing it. What's pushing you? Surround yourself with visual, verbal, and physical "pep talks" that trigger that motive. It doesn't take long for dust to gather on your momentum, making your goals turn stale. A daily dose of motivation kicks off the dust before it can settle and gives you a fresh, clean start. Report Inappropriate Comment

EJOY-EVELYN 10/7/2009 4:42PM

I find that visiting a State Park or getting out of the house to make a difference in someone elses life gets my mind off food and adds to a more positive state of mind. I also enjoy being in learning situtions (professional and persional development). Today, I met with a group who are working on a benefit dinner to help with the medical finances of a friend. Yesterday, I partipated with a Missions Group whose goal is to serve the greater communty . . . we later broke bread together with a wonderful pot luck dinner. Report Inappropriate Comment

LORABASHAM 9/4/2009 6:49PM

I don't know about a word but I think about my wedding dress that I want to get back into. Report Inappropriate Comment