Weighty Issues

Today I went to one of my favorite support meetings. It was a small meeting today, but I really got a lot out of it. It is so important for me to be able to talk about eating and emotional issues with people who have issues similar to mine. Most of the people at the meeting were like me in that our food and weight issues started at a young age. Some of us were overweight before we were 10 years old , but all of us had food and weight issues by the time we hit teenage years that have stayed with us our entire adult lives.

Now that school is out, I thought I would follow the rice diet from Duke University for a little while to see if I can make my body go to a new low weight. Unfortunately, I got bronchitis the last day of school, so I don't think that I am following it the way I should. It is primarily a vegetarian diet and I do think that it is healthy to eat more beans and grains. I have switched from one meatless day to 6 meatless days, so hopefully I will weigh less next week! After July 4th I will be traveling for a week and that is always challenging for following a special food plan.

Well, this was quite a week. I got very sick on Mother's Day with some sort of intestinal flu and spent the day sleeping. I woke up Monday morning to find the overflow from the Merrimack river to be two feet from our back door. Our condo association brought sandbags to put around our bulkhead, but we were told that we would definitely lose our basement. This was very upsetting as we have a finished basement full of electronic equipment. However, our condo association brought in contractors who built a sand dam at the edge of the property which kept the water from getting any higher. We never got any water in our basement! We lost power for a while and spent the week without water, but we were very grateful that we never got flooded. The best news is that through it all, I stayed on my food plan!

I got great Mother's Day presents today! My daughter and son sent me beautiful flowers and a box of organic fruits, vegetables and greens! I will be able to cook a healthy meal and decorate the table on Mother's Day. The day will be special for me even if they can't be with me.

I have lost another pound -- or I should say let go of! I have lost over 23 percent of my body weight. This week I am on vacation so I am really enjoying the weather. I have walked 2-3 miles every day since Thursday. Saturdays I go to a weight-loss support group which I find tremendously important. I also write in a diary every day. I write down my food and anything else that might be on my mind. I also find this helpful in staying on track with my food and exercise plan.

On Sunday I usually make my breakfasts for the week. I make low-fat bars with ricotta cheese, egg whites, wheat bran and splenda. Sometimes I put blueberries or other fruit on top. If anyone is interested I will post the recipe. Having these bars ready makes it easy for me to eat a healthy breakfast on the run. I try to keep some in the freezer for really busy weeks.

I was happy this week to see that I have lost inches in the past month or so. I have lost an inch from each measurement. That probably explains why people have been noticing my weight loss even though I have been losing slowly. I have been attending a boot camp at work with some other teachers and my fitness has improved a lot. I can't say that I really like doing crunches and push-ups, but it is rewarding to see the improvement. Since the end of January I have gone from being able to do 30 crunches to over 100. I went from doing about 10 very modified push-ups to 30 less modified.

One of my favorite activities is to walk along the Merrimack River in Lowell. I try to walk every Saturday and Sunday morning. Today the sky was overcast, but the current was almost imperceptible and the river became one long mirror of the opposite bank. It was mesmerizing.  While I walk I listen to my mp3 player. Annie Lennox's album "Bare" is one of my favorites, along with Maroon5 and Keith Green. Two years ago I wasn't able to walk a half mile. Now I usually walk 2 - 3 miles.  I also have been attending a strength training class with a personal trainer two days a week. That is also starting to make a difference in how I feel. As soon as I find the charger for my digital camera I will post some more pictures. I also like to keep my mind fit (a necessity as a math teacher). Tuesday, 3/14 is Pi day. So HAPPY PI DAY everyone! If you are interested in Pi check out the following website: http://www.angio.net/pi/piquery Enjoy! Ciao!

I went looking for a picture to post and I found this one of me with my cockatiel. This was taken a few years ago. I gave Petey (who happens to be a female) to a good home. She now has a mate and several adopted babies. I miss her a lot, but my work and school schedule didn't give me enough time to spend with her.

Yesterday was my weigh-in day. I let go of another 2 lbs. Todate I have let go of 64 lbs. Notice I said "let go of". I really don't want to "lose" weight. A friend of mine explained that if I lose weight that implies that I want to find it. I am tired of losing and finding-- I just want to let go of it entirely.

Blogging seems like a fun thing to do, so I thought I would try it. I never seem to have time to contact all the friends I would like to, so maybe they will look at my blog. Who knows? I am always struggling with my weight, so maybe my journey of weight loss will be of interest to someone else. As of today I have lost 62 lbs and want to keep going. I have also changed careers a couple of times -- maybe that is interesting?? Over the years I raised a family, sold Avon Products, developed software and most recently started a career as a high school math teacher. I have several hobbies -- computer games, genealogy, drawing, painting, sewing, and crocheting to name a few.