Weight Watchers.....Day 1

Today being the first day back doing Weight Watchers I thought I would post an article I just found that offers some interesting advice.  The article can be found on the Daily Mail.com
The big advice is that if you want to lose weight successfully, don't tell anyone.  Opps.  Guess I messed that one up already.



"A study from New York University has found that keeping your diet a secret could help prevent failure.

The findings showed that those who shared details of their regimes with family and friends were less likely to meet their goals.

The researchers explained that the positive recognition people receive when discussing their diet can be interpreted as accomplishment. As a result, dieters are less likely to stick to their plan as strictly as before.Professor of psychology Dr Peter Gollwitzer, who lead the study, explained: "The danger is that you feel that you have already reached the goal and because of that you don't have to act on it any more'."
 
The article went on to say,



"He told CNN that dieters can avoid this pitfall in a number of ways.

'One is simple - you can keep your mouth shut,' he said.

'Another one is to form different kinds of intentions, not only say what you want to do but also when, where and how you want to do it.'

He said that by describing our intentions, we mentally map out our future, so are more likely to follow through.

The third solution, he continued, was to only share your weight-loss plan with a trusted few, who can help you keep on course.

Tara Harwood, a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic, echoed his advice.

She told Fox News: 'You have to be very particular on who you choose. Make sure they are people who are going to encourage you and not hinder you and your success.

'So, you do want to tell some people, however, for the most part keep it to yourself and let other people gradually notice these changes in you.'

Funny enough, I have gone through this myself on just about every diet I have been on lately.  I do great until I see my in-laws.  The minute one of them finds out I am on a diet, for whatever reason, I stop dieting.  So, I will just keep my diet between us.  And, I am going to define my weight loss goals according to those four different kinds of intetions the article mentions.

Hope this helps and good luck to you in your weight loss goals!

 

downside/upside

It is one of those times when things are cutting both ways.

Downside
I am now on prednisone because my sinuses are not healing the way they should.  It doesn't seem like it is a huge thing (will find out more on Friday) but hopefully the prednisone will fix whatever the issue is and help me to get back on my feet.  It is 8 days out from the surgery now and I am not as far along as I thought I would be.  Mostly I am just exhausted 24/7 and I am having some difficulty thinking clearly.  Good thing I stopped all of the pain pills last Monday-lol.

Upside
While I am exhausted and still not allowed to get off of the sofa, I have lost 6lbs.  I am guessing it is due to my total lack of taste and smell at this point.   It is funny how not being able to taste your food really helps you to lose interest in it.

The other upside is that I found another protein powder to try.  It is hemp protein by nutiva. The local health food store is kind enough to sell sample packets.  I will give it a try tomorrow and see how it goes.  Wish me luck!

Nov. 28, 2011

The count down to December 1, 2011 and the re-starting Weight Watchers  (Joe, are you ready??) has started.  Today I am starting to work on getting organized.  That includes creating a list of points for all of the food items in the house and menu planning.  This part always totally overwhelms me.  But, if I give myself two days to get organized hopefully my level of success will be greater this time.

Since my operation I have done a lot of hard thinking about my weight, my weight issues, and why I have not had a lot of success getting the weight off.  I guess that is the one good thing that has come out of not being allowed to do anything but sit on a sofa for the last 7 days.  What I have come to realize is that I just don't believe that I can do this. So, any problem that has come up in my past weight loss efforts has been a reason to give up and fail, instead of an obstacle to over come.  What I am starting to realize is attitude really is everything!

Two weeks ago Sensei suggested a book to me called "Success Principles", by Jack Canfield.  It has really opened my eyes to the way I have been thinking about myself since about the time I got married.  That is when my Celiac disease got very bad ( I blame my husband's love of PA Dutch food but I can forgive him for that -lol) and when I started having all sorts of life problems associated with it.  Due to this I have been through a whole process of one failure after another.  Life has felt very out of control to me.  Previous to this time in my life, no matter how bad things were (with a very bad home life as a kid, having dyslexia and auditory processing disorder, and a bunch of other issues) I always knew I could over come a problem.  Some where along the line I lost my "can do" attitude and started internalizing an attitude of being a failure.  Well, I think I am waking up from that poor mind set and realizing that all I need to do is keep trying.

This is how I am going to approach Weight Watchers this time.  In my previous attempts I felt I had to be perfect with my food/points daily and if I wasn't I should just give up.  This time I am taking the long view approach.  I may not be perfect with points from one day to a next, but it will still be better than not trying at all.

I have also been really inspired by how Bruce Lee (see previous post) looked at food.  His wife said that he wasn't interested in eating foods that couldn't fuel his martial arts.  Since I am doing all of this to fulfill my dream of getting a black belt........well, that is how I have to learn to look at food as well.
Hopefully I am mentally prepared this time.  Wish me luck!!

Bruce Lee Diet

I have been doing some research into a "martial arts" type diet.  What I am finding is that in the martial arts, just like every other part of society, everyone has their own way of dealing with diet and nutrition.  But, I did run across one really interesting article on the "Bruce Lee Diet". 

This is less a specific diet and more a set of 6 rules Bruce Lee used for himself, that could really create great guide lines for weight loss.  I will list the rules and you can read the article for specifics.  It is an interesting article because they interviewed Bruce's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, for some of the information.  The rules are as follows:

1. Avoid empty calories
2. Eat less but more frequently
3. Honey and Ginseng
4. Balance your diet
5. Drink tea
6. Take supplements

Again, please read the article because it is pretty good.  Definitely some good things to think about.

I also ran across this article on how Bruce Lee trained that might be a good read as well.

Saturday

Just a quick FYI
We are going to try to get into the dojo tomorrow.  I won't be able to do anything but I can watch everyone else.  Hope to see you there :)

thoughts on losing weight

I am once again sitting here on my recliner waiting for the swelling in my sinuses to go down.  But, today is a much better day.  I got much longer stretches of sleep last night and my sinuses feel a lot better today.  There is definite progress on the healing front.

I have had a lot of time to read weight loss blogs and facebook pages.  For some reason I keep coming across weight loss stories of woman who stopped counting calories or points and yet had huge success.  Instead, they focused on two things:
1) movement and exercise
2) eating when hungry, stopping when full.

I am 100% committed to really getting back into the swing of thing by December 1.   I just wonder why the universe keeps throwing these stories in my path?  Hmnnnn.....something to think about.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hoping everyone has a wonderful day and remembers all that you are grateful for.  Today I am grateful for getting sleep last night and a mother in law who delivers Thanksgiving meals!  Have a great day all!

Gotta complain for just a minute.....

First of all, I have to start by thanking my awesome husband.  The man has been killing himself to help me out.  I am really grateful to have such a great hubby!

I am also really grateful that I have basically had no pain.  There is swelling, throbbing, dripping, draining, congestion, and zero sleep.  But, there has been no pain.

But, what is super annoying about this operation is that you can't really do anything.  Whenever I exert pressure on my head due to movement (like picking up my 15lbs. dog) it really does do a number on my head and causes it to start bleeding again.  So, I really have to stay still.  And, that is driving me nuts.  I also have to eat every two hours to keep my stomach coated. So, basically I am sitting on my butt all day and eating ......aghhhhh!! 

I know it is what I have to do in order to get better but it is really upsetting me.  Oh well!!  Thanks for letting me complain!

On the bright side, I am really hoping that tomorrow night I will be able to sleep in my own bed again.  And, I am hoping that by Friday I might actually get out of the house.  Wish me luck!! 
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

wednesday

I am still in no real pain which I am grateful for.  But, my sinuses are totally swollen and I can't breathe to save my life.  And, this is really messing up my ability to sleep.  So, while I am basically fine I am exhausted and in a grumpy mood.  According to my doctor this is what I will be dealing with for the next seven days so at least I am on track.
Hoping that you are having a great day!!  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tuesday, Nov. 22 -quick update

It is Tuesday morning at 6:42a.m.
Usually the first night after an operation is the worst.  But, it was a really easy night.  The doctor gave me Vicodin for pain.  I took them yesterday until 10 p.m. (truthfully I thought I was taking super Advil until I took the time to read the label. Once I did that, I was done with the Vicodin).  I slept pretty well last night.  I have no pain so far today and I have been up since 4:45a.m.  I am going to just take Tylenol if I get pain today.  And, most of the bleeding has stopped.  Truthfully the constant nasal bleeding has been the most annoying part.  So, I have to say this has been the easiest operation I have ever had (this being number 6).  I am really grateful!
This is probably a good sign, I am getting really bored.  I can't do too much physically yet because I don't want to bust a stitch (no pushing, pulling, picking stuff up for 10 days) but if I can get my husband to go for it, I want to take a little walk today.  I made my own breakfast and tea this morning and it was no big deal.
So, that is it.  Hoping you are doing great today!!

1:30p.m. on Monday

I am back from my surgery.  I was actually awake during most of it and the doctor said I was a "trooper"-lol.  But, I am really doing well and hopefully in 5 days I will be back to a pretty normal life.  Hope you are all doing well today!!!

perfection vs. perfectibility

I had another great dojo day.  I love being there. I love the people there.  I love what I learn there.  What I don't like is how frustrated I get occasionally because I am slow to learn at times.

Today I asked Sensei how he deals with frustration. I meant this in relation to trying to perfect Kata.  His response was that he just realizes that eventually he will get things.  He said if you keep working at it eventually it will get where you want it to be.

This answer kinda shocked me.  Here is what stood out to me: his level of relaxation about having problems getting something right, his confidence in his ability to solve a problem, and how he didn't seem too worked up when I wasn't getting things right.

This level of stress free confidence is just not how I live my life.  I am more of the "get it right the first time or quit" kind of person.  Observing Sensei's attitude really made an impression on me.

My dad has a saying "perfection vs. perfectibility".  Truthfully he says this because he is a college art professor and it sounds cool in a Zen loving "Beat generation" kind of way.  But, truthfully in our family the rule was be perfect the first time or give up an abject failure.  This is an issue my husband is always talking to me about.  He is constantly trying to help me realize that most of my problems in life come from this attitude.  So, it was kinda great today to watch Sensei do Kata which looks so perfect and realize that how it got there was down to his willingness to start out imperfect and work some 30-40 years to make it perfect.

Then Sensei brought up my constant need to weigh myself.  He explained that it takes 30-90 days to figure out if something is working for your body.  And, that I really shouldn't be weighing myself more than once a month.  That made me really think.  Our friend Joe and I are probably going to re-start doing Weight Watchers around December 1.  This time I am really going to try to focus on establishing long term good habits vs. quick weight loss.  Also, I am going to limit weighing myself to once a month to see what happens.  Maybe I can finally learn to invest in  the process of perfecting things instead of being all upset because I am not perfect.

Playing hooky

On Saturday I am suppose to be at a craft show/community yard sale that my mother and sister-in-law organized at our local fire house.  I am suppose to be there all morning but I have decided to rebel and skip out in time to get to karate.  My husband is awesome because he said he is willing to stay behind at the craft show so I can get to the dojo. 
So Joe, if you are reading this, I am hoping that I might see you there!

My blog might be down until after Thanksgiving.  According to the nurse I am not allowed to do anything physical for 10 days after my operation.  That brings me to December 1.  Hopefully I will be able to start walking after a few days.  I can't imagine what sitting on my butt for ten days would do to my progress but that is another story.

So, everyone have a great Thanksgiving, enjoy your holiday, and good luck in your goals!

Novemember 16, 2011

Well, I guess it is really going to happen.  I got the call today from the nurse to go over information for my surgery on Monday, Nov. 21.   I asked the nurse about recovery time, she gave the impression that the first five days are pretty intense.  I asked her how bad it really was?  I explained to her that I have had 3 major knee surgeries and two other ones so far, so I understand that surgery is not fun.  Her response was that...it is going to suck.  Ha.ha. 
I appreciate her honesty. 
Oh well, it is what it is. 
I am just hoping that my recovery time is short.

Ok, hope that you are all doing well!!

My ultimate goal

“Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment.”  Morihei Ueshiba

A man I know owns his own dojo down south.  He posted this video because one of his friend's is training with wounded warriors.  People want their black belts for a variety of reasons.  One of the reason's I want my black belt is to eventually be able to do this kind of work.   To me, this is amazing! 

Welcome

There are a lot of new visitors coming to my humble blog. I just wanted to say welcome!  Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! 

Vitamin B deficiency

People with Celiac disease can easily become deficient in the complex of B vitamins.  I have dealt with this all of my life, even before I knew I had the disease.  Generally it shows up physically as very bad anxiety.  Due to my operation coming up, I had to stop all of my vitamins. And, over the last week my anxiety was starting to grow and get out of hand.  I should have recognized the symptoms but it wasn't until today that I understood what was going on with me. 
(just in case you are curious to learn more you can read about it here)
It is also particularly important to keep up with taking B vitamins if you are on stomach acid reducing medicines (which I am ) since they also lower the amount of vitamin B complex that your body can absorb. 
So, the end result is that I have been feeling and acting a little overly emotional lately.  For those of you who deal with me on a daily/semi-daily basis, if I have been annoying I am really sorry!!!!  Thanks for your patience in dealing with me!!!   And, next time I get like this please feel free to tell me to go take my vitamins-lol.

part 2

Ok, I wrote that other post  and I didn't really even get at what I was feeling inside.
Doubt.
I am feeling tremendous doubt inside today.
Doubt that I will ever get the weight off or get back to karate.
It is so easy for other things to get in my way. 
I have things in my way that are obvious like my weight and my physical ability.  Then there are the unseen things that get in my way and those things are what kill me. 

Those unseen things basically boil down to one thing.....allowing myself to put other things first.  An example is that  I always let family derail me.  It isn't like I have a child to take care of.  The family that derails me consists of a bunch of adults who really can take care of themselves.  They don't actually need me for anything.  It has always just been my job to take care of them and now it is a habit that is hard to break.  Even yesterday, I could have gone to the dojo even if my husband wasn't feeling up to it.  But, I just stayed home when I should have gone regardless of what hubby was doing.

The unseen things are the unconscious ideas you have in your life from which you need to break free: attitudes, habits, and beliefs about yourself.   A big part of me believes that I am always going to be this hugely overweight woman, trapped in this body, running around after people (family) who don't even really need me, and that I will live a small, sad life.  I think after all of the years of being sick and undiagnosed I developed this way of thinking about myself because I didn't dare hope for more.  But now that I am getting my health back and I have a chance in life, I have to work my butt off to reach my goals. I can't allow the doubt to take over.  I have to keep my focus.

We all have dragons to slay.  The first thing you have to do is identify them.  And, then  you have to come up with a plan of action.  I think in this blog I have identified my current dragons.  Now I have to come up with a way to slay them.  That is something I have to think about today.  I still have a lot of doubt but I think I can look past it now and keep working towards my goals.

I hope that you are asking yourself what are the unseen things that are keeping you back from reaching your goals? What can you do to fight them?  Now, go give that dragon a really hard time!!

Nov. 13, 2011

We didn't end up going to the dojo yesterday.  We had a pretty intense week and it seemed better to stay home and get organized.  But, I have to tell you that I missed the dojo and actually felt guilty not going.
(next week is the craft show and I am thinking of sneaking out early and going to the dojo on Saturday.  Not sure how it can workout but I am going to try).

My weight is still going down which is great.  But, I feel like I need to step up my work outs.  Not sure how to do that.  I am sorta frustrated because I am finally making some progress and wanting to bump up everything I am doing to the next level.  And, then the operation is going to happen in a week.  According to people who have had it you have to not exercise for at least 10 days.  That is just enough time to throw me off of my game.  I am hoping that 10 days is all it will be before I can start to exercise again. 

Anyway, I guess I am feeling really guilty for missing the dojo yesterday.  I will have to try to make up for it this week by working out at home even harder.

Friday update

So, it has been a crazy week here at our house.  Talked to my hubby last night asking if he still wanted to go to the dojo on Saturday .........it is not looking too good.  He is exhausted and looking a little overwhelmed.  We are going to talk about it tonight.  Maybe he will be in a better mood tonight?
Anyway, other than that things are still moving in the right direction.

Nov. 10, 2011

Quick update-
The weight is still going down slowly so I am glad about that.
Half way through my week of family stress and so far so good.
Need to focus the rest of my time this week on running kata.

hope you are having a great week!!

overwhelmed

I am feeling a little overwhelmed lately.  I am still getting the daily headaches (so I am glad that my operation in in 13 days).  This is making working out difficult.  Also, while the food journal worked out OK at first.......in the long run it didn't really make a huge difference.  Once again I am finding that employing intuitive eating techniques (i.e. eating when hungry, stopping when full and not thinking about food otherwise) seems to work best for me.  I think it is because when you use intuitive eating techniques ultimately you are responsible for what you put in your mouth, not some diet.  When you take 100% responsibility, things tend to work out better in the long run. So, for the next two weeks until the operation I am just going to focus on that.

I am also overwhelmed because I have a lot of family stuff on my plate this week.  Love my family but they stress me out.   Nough said...

We are going to try to get into the dojo this weekend.  It will be the last weekend I could get there before my operation (PS-God forbid I would die on the operating table but if I did, please have my ashes sprinkled over the dojo.....yeah, I am not kidding).

Hope you are all having a great week. Hope to see some of you at the dojo on Saturday.

This weekend is not a dojo weekend.....

And, I am really missing it..........
Oh well, hopefully next weekend.

Nov. 2, 2011 quick update

I am still using my food journal and I am still researching the Herbalife protein shake.  My weight is still about the same as it was last week (maybe down one more pound).

I guess you could say that I am under some stress right now.  This week I am having a different medical test done each day to prepare for my sinus surgery on Nov. 21.  I am still getting a daily sinus headache which makes me feel pretty stressed out due to their intensity (no longer allowed to take Advil due to upcoming surgery and Tylenol isn't cutting the pain at all).  It seems to me the stress I am feeling from it could definitely be slowing down the weight loss.  At least I won't have to wait too long to get the situation corrected.

The research I have done on the Herbalife protein shake is promising.  They have a line called "Formula 1, Allergy Free" which is free of the foods to which I am personally allergic.  It seems like one canister contains 30 servings for just under 40 dollars.  Not a fantastic price but if it is something my body can tolerate than I am willing to give it a try.  I will update you on how it goes once I get to try it.

On a side note: I want to wish our friend Joe good luck with his wife's surgery!!  We are keeping her in our thoughts!