Two Years of Sparking!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Today is my two year Sparkversary! This led me to think about where I am today vs. where I was two years ago. The first 10 months I was very active on Spark and had a great deal of success. I lost 40 lbs from my highest weight, I was exercising regularly and tracking my meals regularly as well as participating in teams and interacting with some great friends on Sparkpeople. My sugars were down and my A1C dropped.

Last year was a rollercoaster year for my family. We started the year with losing my husband's grandmother in January; then we had one health issue after another - DH fell on ice and fractured at least one vertebrae in February, my youngest son suffered with Bronchial issues from Thanksgiving 2010 through March of 2011 off and on; I came down with Pneumonia in April and my dd was home for 10 days with the flu. I became a little more active through May, June, July and August - culminating in a wonderful trip to Yellowstone in mid-August. Then the rollercoaster dipped again with school starting in September; Pneumonia for my oldest son in October while dh was travelling to Europe for work; health issues for my FIL who lives with us and for my MIL's husband. My weight and sugars went up and by mid-December I was only 18 lbs below my highest weight and my A1C was too high so one of my meds had to be increased slightly.

Since that point, I have been active again on Spark - tracking my food and exercise, interacting with friends here, and my family is on board with me to make healthy choices for the whole family. I've also begun the Behavioral Track program through UMass Weight Center. Today I am 30 lbs less than my highest weight; I am down 2 pants sizes and now wear a 1X rather than 2X top; (warning TMI coming) I am down a cup size; I now buy 8W shoes rather than 8 1/2 W or 8 WW (Teserandos - that one's for you! No more walking out of my shoes through the stores!) and my blood sugars and blood pressure are down. I have more energy and sleep soundly at night. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the Dr. tomorrow for my annual check-up.

Thank you Sparkpeople and Sparkfriends!!!!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

MAMADELIGHT 3/4/2012 7:50AM

Losing those inches! I know you'll keep it up. Report Inappropriate Comment

MEGA_MILES 2/28/2012 9:33PM

Good job Deb. Keep it up!! Woohoo!! You never quit! Yea!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

ANGELWENDYMAMA 2/28/2012 3:23AM

WOOHOOOO!!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

Enlightening Vacation!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Wow! What a great week for vacation! This has truly been an enlightening week to the differences between being on a diet and making a change in lifestyle. In the past I would not have hesitated to decide that I was on vacation so had free range to eat what I wanted: Ice cream, chocolate, baked goods, pizza, pasta. I was going to work it off by walking around amusement parks and lounging in the pool, right?

This vacation was entirely different. After 5 weeks on the Behavioral Track program at UMass, I've made some big changes in my thinking and decision making patterns. I was very thankful that our vacation was at a timeshare. This allowed me to shop and choose good food to have at the condo and to take for snacks on the road. It also allowed me to do some real cooking for myself and limit the number of times we ate out. However, even when we did eat out, I decided what I would order before anyone else did and was not waivered by their choices. I asked for the pizza with veggies and half the cheese and it was wood fired grill - so the crust was thin and crispy. I also did not eat the whole crust. The one glass of wine I ordered was a 6 ounce glass - and I left 2 ounces in the glass.

As for activity - we hit the slopes for 2 hours on Monday; 2 1/2 hours on Tuesday; walked around the outlets without really stopping in stores for an hour on Wednesday; walked partway down the hill from the resort then back up to get in a total of 3 miles on Thursday; then I hit the elliptical; bike and treadmill in the fitness center for 1.25 hours on Friday. I burned a ton of calories - legitimately!

I feel as though my mind has finally clicked in with the program. I truly find that I crave healthier foods - the junk I would eat before has so little appeal. I feel as though those foods do not taste good enough to waste my calorie/fat gram budget on them!

What a great vacation!!!!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

ANGELWENDYMAMA 2/26/2012 1:20AM

WOOHOOO!!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

Whew! Now I can relax!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

On vacation this week. We've had this week planned at our time share in the Lakes Region of NH for a year. Then 3 weeks before it was to start, our kids (all teens - 13; 14 and 17 1/2) let us know that the youth group was having a sleepover at the synagogue with another youth group from Connecticut this weekend. We didn't want to stop them from having fun with their friends so we made the decision to let them spend the night there (near Boston) and drive with the group to go tubing in Central MA. My oldest son has had his license for a year so is able to drive with people that are not family in the car. It turned out a friend that lives near us wanted to go to the event, but his parents were away so he needed a ride. We drove him into the Boston area then he rode with our kids to the tubing place and they drove him home (about a 40 minute drive). Then the left his house to head north to the timeshare on their own. My husband and I drove to the timeshare on Saturday afternoon. I'm not a real worrywart, but I have to admit that being here waiting for them to arrive was not terribly easy. I know my son's a good driver, but this was his first really long drive with lots of highway; plus all of the kids were in the car. Needless to say, we kept in touch via my daughter by cell phone to check in with them. They pulled in about an hour ago and they did fine. One wrong turn, but the figured it out quickly and got back on track. Now I can relax and enjoy the rest of the week!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

MINIDRIVER63 2/22/2012 3:53PM

There are some nice hiking trails on Mt Sunapee, and I doubt if there's any non-man-made snow on the mountain. Have fun! Report Inappropriate Comment

TSERANDOS 2/22/2012 2:38PM

It is so hard to wait patiently when our kids are driving. I'd love to tell you it gets easier but that would be lying. Hope you had a great vacation! Report Inappropriate Comment

Changing it up

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Reinforced this week how important it is to have a plan B. My normal workout schedule is Cardio on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. I know that Wednesday night and Thursday night I have too many commitments to allow me to get a decent workout in beyond a 10-15 minute strength training session. Some weeks however, this schedule has to adjust due to things like a monthly meeting or school event. This was one of those weeks. No matter how I tried, there was no way I could fit in a cardio session on Tuesday. I had trouble sleeping on Monday so I woke late on Tuesday, then I locked my key in the car so was a half hour late to work. I had to use my lunch "half" hour to pick up my glasses which ruled out a lunchtime walk. After work I had a Softball Board meeting then since I had the car, had to pick my oldest son up at the High School from Jazz Band. I finally got home at about 9:30.

That meant, I needed to figure out a way to get some Cardio in today. So I decided to get a walk in at lunch time. We have a great walking path at work that is about 1.5 miles around. I usually do the loop in the same direction when I go and it takes me about 30 minutes. I wanted to do more that 1.5 miles, but didn't have a full hour, so couldn't just go twice around the loop. I also wanted a little more incline on this walk. So I thought about it and decided to try two things to change it up. First, I went in the opposite direction; this meant that I had to go up the steepest incline section instead of down. Second, there's one point where the path divides, so I decided to make the loop a figure eight. That allowed me to add some distance while making me go up the second steepest incline section.

I have a cardio tracking app with GPS on my phone that allows me to automatically track my walks. When I finished the walk it was just shy of 2 miles and I completed it in 35 minutes. So I succeeded in not only lengthening the walk and increasing the incline portions, I also increased my pace. Not too shabby!

Had my third B track meeting tonight. The meetings are going well. I'm getting some interesting information. Working to keep my fiber intake up, fat and sodium down and minimize my grain carbs. Seems to be helping to keep my sugars down and it's definitely helping with the weight. I'm down almost 10 lbs. from where I was when I went to the Endocrinologist and I've lost 2 inches in my waist and 1 on my hips since 12/31. My energy level is definitely up and my blood pressure is down.

Thank you all for your encouraging words and comments!!!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

TSERANDOS 2/13/2012 1:59PM

What a great lunchtime workout! Great news on your inches and blood pressure. Report Inappropriate Comment

ANGELWENDYMAMA 2/8/2012 11:23PM

You are doing great! That change on the exercise seemed to work really well and you did it in far less time, too! Go you!! Report Inappropriate Comment

Planning for Super Bowl Sunday

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Okay, I'm officially nervous about today. For the first time since my youngest (now 13) was an infant, my family is going to an actual Super Bowl Party. This will make it much more difficult to stay on target with my daily goals. I definitely need a plan for this day. Up until now - I have controlled what was available to eat on Super Bowl Sunday. So, here goes.

This morning I started with a bowl of Bran Flakes and fruit salad. I will get my work out in before 1 PM. Then stick to a light protein and veggie lunch. My daughter has to go to a 2 hour tryout/practice session for her softball team, so I will go and walk around the Super Walmart while she's there to get a bit more Cardio. I'm bringing a "Healthy" version of Nachos to the party. Once there I will look to see what the food options are, then build my plate focusing on the veggies and fruit options with any lean meat options. I will keep a cup of water always in my hand to ensure that I keep my fluids up and avoid the empty alcohol carbs (It helps that I am the designated driver). I will also wear jeans which will be less forgiving if I begin to overindulge. Lastly I will find a spot that is away from the food in order to avoid mindless grazing.

This is the best that I can plan. All I can say is Go Pats!!!!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

MY_HEALTH_BABY 2/5/2012 7:11PM

Fantastic! Report Inappropriate Comment

DSBRIDE 2/5/2012 1:02PM

Great plan! You sound like you have it altogether! I'm sure that things will work out well for you if you remember to concentrate on the game and the people and not the food. Good luck, ;) Report Inappropriate Comment

SHEENADEE 2/5/2012 11:28AM

You have a fabulous plan!!! These type parties really can be diffficult. You are definitely increasing your chances of success by giving it good forethought and getting in your workout in advance too. You can do this! You've encouraged me to get with my workout soon as well so that I don't talk myself out of it later. Report Inappropriate Comment