| |
|
SLENDERELLA61's Recent Blog Entries
|
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
I've used the bleach and trays four nights and I can see that my teeth are slightly whiter. I greatly reduced my coffee and tea use for two weeks, but then went back to it. My teeth are still whiter than they were before I bleached.
I have enough bleach stored in the refrigerator to do about 6 more nights. I'm thinking I'll wait and see if I get more motivated to try to reduce the staining drinks before I use what I have.
Eating an apple almost every day, as well as a well balanced diet with lots of fruits and veggies, and very little sugar certainly helps with dental health as well as weight maintenance.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sometimes I worry that I may be obsessed - with food, with the scale, with exercise, with smaller clothes, with my waist line, with SparkPeople, etc. But I had an experience this week that made me think perhaps a glimmer of sanity on this issue is beginning to emerge in me.
I tried on some clothes. A size 4 pair of pants was too big on me. So I decided I would try size 2. I tried on 3 pairs of size 2. One was too short, one was too tight, and one was just right. I considered buying it just because it was a size 2. I mean, how cool is it to go from size 2X to size 2? But I didn't need another pair of black pants. I decided to pass.
In the past I have bought quite a few clothes just because I fit into a 12, into an 8, into a 6, etc. Never again. I'll buy what fits, looks good, and I need. No more supporting vanity sizing for me. Perhaps that is a step toward sanity.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
I looked at each of my streaks, eliminated several and added a couple. Overall, I've gone from 14 streaks to 9. I now track the whole FEWSS (food/fuel, exercise, water, sleep & SparkPeople) program, and focus on one of my weaknesses.
Here - drum roll, please - are my new and continuing goals:
Continuing goals:
1. Log in and get SparkPoints (currently 196 days)
2. Get 8 hours of sleep per night (1 day - 55%)
At Goal and Maintaining Team Goals:
3. 2 servings dairy daily (170 days)
4. Read team member's blog (8 weeks)
5. Exercise 30 minutes 5 times per week (6 weeks) - may add more after healing
6. 8 cups of water daily (1 day; 93%)
New Goals:
7. Eat within calorie range 6x per week
8. 2 strength training sessions per week
Revised goal:
9. No more than 8 sweetener packets or equivalents per day (reduce to 4)
We'll see, but I think these streaks will help me stay focused on factors important for my success.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
I added 2 streaks myself, streak numbers 13 and 14. Thirteen tracked that I burned 307 calories per day, a number SparkPeople had calculated that I was suppose to burn with the exercise program I had chosen. After injury, I reduced that to 120 calories per day. I have decided to keep my team goal of at least 5 cardio sessions of 30 minutes per week. I think one cardio streak is enough for now. After I'm totally healed, I will increase cardio some. I may decide to add a streak to track at the higher level, but I'll wait to see.
Streak fourteen is the one I'm having the most problem with. Actually, I gave up temporarily and quit tracking it when I reduced exercise and my calorie range. The weather was heating up, too. Excuses, excuses. I decided to let myself drink diet soda again as a reward for sticking to the lower calorie range. While I was at it, 2 splendas in my coffee or tea was no problem, either. Bad thinking. Streak fourteen is to track my use of splenda and artificial sweeteners, gradually reducing until I get to the recommendation of no more than 4 packets or equivalents per day. In December I started tracking and felt certain that just by paying attention I was reducing, but I found I averaged around 12 packets a day. I cut back gradually and got to 6 or 7 per day pretty successfully, when I bargained myself out of this goal. I rationalized that I don't see any difference in how I feel, it doesn't affect the scale, who knows if it really hurts you, etc, etc. Another rationalization has been that I set the goal that I would hit no more than 4 packets daily by my birthday, June 6th. I tell myself, I'll just enjoy now and cut it off then. Well, the truth is I know it is not good for me. It is highly likely that artificial sweeteners keep stoking that sweet tooth of mine. It is obvious that it is something the body just doesn't need. I will start tracking again. I will make progress.
One other streak that I want to add is strength training. I'm debating whether to track 2 or 3 days per week as success. I usually do 3, but I may just track two as my minimum. Some weeks two days may be enough of a challenge. More next blog...... -Marsha
Friday, May 07, 2010
My streak nine is to get 8 hours of sleep per night. My performance on this streak is the least impressive. My longest streak is 5 nights. However, overall I have gotten 8 or more hours of sleep 55% of the time since I started tracking this streak. My bet would be that before I started tracking I probably achieved 8 hours only 20% of the time. So I think it helps me to track this goal. I considered dropping it to 7 hours of sleep, but I know I do better on 8, so I think I'll keep trying on this one. Sleep really is important. I have learned that I must be very careful and vigilant about food on tired days, and it is hard to get enough exercise when I haven't slept well.
I'm going to keep streaks ten, eleven, and twelve, because they all are connected to the At Goal and Maintaining Team. I'm a co-leader and don't do very much to help the team, so at least I can participate in the team goals: exercise 30 minutes 5 times a week, read team members' blogs, and a duplicate of drink 8 glasses of water.
So, to recap:
Streak 1 - log on = keep. I think SP tracks is automatically.
Streak 2 - exercise 360 minutes per week = substitute fewer minutes
Streak 3 - 8 glasses of water daily = keep the one below related to At Goal and Maintaining
Streak 4 - 5 servings of fruits and veggies = delete; automatic for me
Streak 5 - 2 serving dairy per day = keep; related to At Goal and Maintaining (changed mind)
Streak 6 - one filling food 1x per day = delete; automatic for me
Streak 7 - vitamin pill 1x per day = delete; I may not need a vitamin daily
Streak 8 - eat 25 grams fiber = delete; automatic for me
Streak 9 - sleep 8 hours per night = keep; keep trying
Streak 10 - exercise 30 minutes 5x per week = keep
Streak 11 - 8 glasses of water daily = keep
Streak 12 - read team members' blog = keep
I do have 2 other streaks I had added that I haven't decided about yet.
The one streak I know I want to add is sticking to my calorie range. Overall, that is the most important thing I can do to maintain my weight and health.
First Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
Last Page
|
|
Get An Email Alert Each Time SLENDERELLA61 Posts
|
|
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
We can do this, and we're worth it.
