Weighty Issues

From my experience:  1. Don't take prednisone.  2. Don't take hormone.  3. Do make sure that your thyroid levels are normal.  4. Don't sit for 8-12 hours per day.  5. Don't eat most of your meals at restaurants.  6. If you are taking glyburide, ask your doctor for an alternative that doesn't cause weight gain.  7. Don't use artificial sweeteners.  8. Don't eat when bored, tired, lonely or angry and not even if you are hungry if it is not a scheduled meal or snack.  9. Do weigh and measure the food you eat on a daily basis.  10. Do eliminate or limit refined flour and sugar.  11. Do drink water.  12. Do exercise every day. Build up to an hour - walk, bike, swim,take an exercise class, etc.  13. Do some meditation, or take some quiet time every day.  14. Do stretching exercises and/or yoga.  15. Join a support group -- Overeaters Anonymous is my favorite.

 As of today I am down 111 lbs from my highes weight of 283.  My goal is to be at 165 lbs- one day at a time!

July 2022 A lot has happened since my last post - 2021 was not the best year for out family.  My daughter Sharon had to have her left leg amputated below the knee in March.  Then on April 11 my son Doug died. My world fell apart!  Sharon and I made the best of things for the rest of that year.

 I posted this in memory of my son Douglas Bruce Stoddard who passed away on April 11, 2021 Five Steps to Create an Effective Brand Experience BY  DOUG POSTED IN:  BRANDING Your brand is: “ What the customer says it is, through their thoughts and feelings about their experience (real or perceived) with it “.  How you make people (customers) feel is 10x more important than what your organization makes, sells or does.  On the contrary, a brand is NOT just a name, trademark, logo, packaging or product.   In order to guide customers to perceive your brand in the way you desire, I have created these 5 steps to drive a long-lasting brand experience: Define/Document it :  You have to define how you would like your brand to be perceived through the eyes of you customers.  For example, at one healthcare organization I worked for, we wanted patients (our customers) to feel that their every need was being taken care of.  We simply de...

 Well, I can't believe it is almost August 2019.  My weight loss is continuing and I am still pretty active.  I walk daily, ride a stationary bike several times a week, and use the gym and heated pool at Therafit twice a week.  I eat 3 weighed and measured meals a day containing no flour, sugar, wheat, or artificial sweeteners of any kind.  I drink water, or decaf coffee and tea inbetween. I also work part-time and enjoy visiting family in Florida and California. The reason I don't blog much is because I am so busy.  Also, because I don't get any feedback, I figure no one pays attention.  With all the emphasis on diets and healthy eating I am surprised that no one makes comments. I just looked at my first blog.  I said that I had lost 62 lbs.  As of today, I have lost another 45 lbs, bringing my total weight loss up to 107 lbs!!! Now, I just read another of my previous posts.   I walk 3 miles most days (yesterday on walked...

I have been retired  3 years now and the time has never slowed down.  Personally things are going well.  I am still losing weight and at a new low weight! I love OA and my fitbit! I will try to update blog more often, but with working part-time and traveling several times a  year I never seem to get to do this. These 2 pictures are from Burlington, VT.

Well it seems as though winter is getting our attention! I haven't been doing much except clearing off my car and moving it when the plows show up. Although, I have been reading Dean Ornish and am trying to reduce fat as well as carbs.  My weight hasn't moved much this month, but I am hopeful for the March 1  weigh-in. Hang in there!

I can't believe it is already Jan 21.   I got some good news this month.  My body fat percentage is the lowest it has been in a long time.   In 2000, my body fat was 49%,   This month it is 28.9%! I am thrilled. My trainer was happy too.  I had been complaining for a couple of months that nothing seemed to be happening either weight-wise or body-fat wise. I don't think I mentioned this, but some bone fragments made moving very painful for a couple of weeks. Gradually over the past month I had been working up to my pre-injury exercise routine and last Thursday was the first day I was able to do my full workout.  It felt great.  I spend about 45 minutes in the gym - 12-16 minutes warm-up and then 30 minutes with weights/exercises. The I do a round of exercises in a heated pool.   This helps my arthritis so much.  I would recommend it for everyone.  On the days I don't go to the gym I ride my stationary bike and walk 2-3 miles.  ...

Happy New Year Everyone! As of today, my weight is back to its pre-vacation/injury status.  So hopefully I will be moving forward again. I slept in this morning - the 3 time in the past week that I have slept over 9 hours.  My normal is about 7, so I am not sure what is going on.  However, I actually feel okay except for my achy knees.  I spent over an hour in the heated therapy pool and I felt so good. Also, it is nice to chat with the people who have the same issues that I do. -- Arthritis and old age! Since I retired in June,  I have been trying to organize my house and decide what I want to do.  I have been carting bags and boxes of stuff to GoodWill almost every week, but my house doesn't seem much emptier yet. Working full time is definitely not what I want.  I am working on a new website with my husband, but I don't know how much more of that I want to do. I usually end up on facebook a little too much and sometimes I need to stop mys...

I finally found a stevia substitute that I like - PureVia.  I just noticed that I never posted this. Now I am using a new Stevia - called NuStevia that I use as well as Truvia.  It seems that a lot of companies have joined the Stevia bandwagon, but I wonder if the newer processed Stevia is just as good healthwise. I am glad to see Stevia used in a lot of products, but no where near as many as I would like. - Jeanne

Or at least when I eat out every day and get injured.   I injured my knees on the way to FL and could not do my normal walking every day.  However, since I have been home I have started exercising in the pool and was able to walk 1.75 miles yesterday and ride the stationary bike today.  Friday I see my doctor, but I am definitely on the mend. No matter what, I always need to stick to my food plan.  My weight has stabilized again, and I hope to continue losing toward my next goal of 190.  (I am at 195 - down from a high of 280!) I have an underactive thyroid (but I do take medication)  and weathered two cortisone injections, but I am still losing.  Eventually, I would like to be under 160, but I just focus on each 5 or 10 lbs.  That makes it more manageable for me.   Actually I really just focus on eating less, eating healthy and exercising and the weight does come off. Well, my coffee is done and I am ready to walk.

Vacations are fun but fattening.  Eating a meal a day in restaurants always puts weight on no matter how careful I am.  Also I walked less on most days and missed my gym workouts. I feel like I gained 5 lbs after 5 days in CA.   I will know on the first of Dec. My job of sitting at a computer doesn't exactly help with weight loss either, but I am going to go for a walk now before it gets too cold again.

Well, I guess I haven't been here for a while!   I am currently at a new low weight. I was working two jobs for so long that I had no time to do anything.   I retired in June from teaching and hope to have time.  However,  I spend 3 days at the gym and 1 hour walking on the rest of the days. I also have 2 part-time jobs. I stay away from refined flour, sugar and weigh and measure everything that I eat.  Coupled with moderate exercise, my weight loss is on target. Good Luck to everyone trying to manage weight issues.

I have been reading "The 4 Day Diet" by Ian K. Smith, MD and I really like his supportive approach. His meal plans are similar to what I have been doing, but with several variations to avoid boredom and break plateaus. I am hovering at a new low weight - but keep bouncing up a pound so I hope to focus on eating the right foods. I became aware of Dr. Smith from watching Celebrity Fit Club - something I wouldn't do on my own, but my husband loves to record reality shows and we quickly run through them. I was curious to see what his diet is and so far I like it and have cleaned up my act a little. Although, I did take a break already - after about two weeks! Nobody is perfect -- especially me. Working two jobs and trying to maintain several websites certainly keeps me a little too busy. Last week was my last day until fall for my teaching job at the community college. -- and 17 more days until summer vacation from teaching.

It is beautiful today! The school year is winding down and I am looking forward to summer. On Sunday, I became a grandmother and I am dying to go see my grandson, Brady. He lives far away in California. I'll be there in July. I found out that I haven't been exercising as much as I used to and my weight loss has stalled again. Hopefully this nice weather will inspire me to go out walking more.

Well my weight crept down a little this month. I've been working too much and exercising too little. I plan to walk this morning. I've been working on my website. Check out Celtics, Bruins and Blue Man Group tickets in Boston at http://ticketsproducer.com/ Take care!

I finished my latest course of PT and now am scheduling Tue/Thurs/Fri to be my gym/pool days. It feels great everytime I actually complete my exercises. My weight loss has stalled again. I probably have been eating too many meals in restaurants again. Although I try to be very careful and usually eat half in the restaurant and bring half home, it seems still to be too many calories and definitely too much sodium for me. Although it snowed yesterday, it is sunny now and should warm up a bit. I have a site to sell tickets for all Boston Area events. Check it out ! http://ticketsproducer.com/

I've been busy with two jobs this fall, but figured I should enter something before I get caught up with work again. My 6 month check-up with my doctor was great. I am down 5 lbs and the thinnest he has seen me. All my numbers are good! However, the weather hasn't been good for exercising, but I did make it to the pool and the gym a couple of times over Xmas vacation. I started some physical therapy for my knees and now I have some knee pain again! During the holidays it can be slightly more difficult to eat less, but luckily or unluckily we couldn't spend much time partying. I guess it is good for weight loss. Ciao from the white north!

It seems that I have been doing something right. I have lost about 4 pounds this month! That is the most I have lost in a long time. The only thing that I have been doing differently is that I have been doing pool-therapy twice a week for my arthritis. Unfortunately, now that I am back to work, I may only be able to go once a week. I will do my best to try to go twice a week. Of course, I still try to walk 2-3 miles 3 to 4 times a week. I will be working a second job part-time, so that will be challenging for my food plan and exercise plan. I have been trying to get organized, but I am not there yet. Hope to hear from you.

Today I feel great! My last pool therapy appointment is on Friday and the therapy seems to be doing wonders. I was able to walk today without any pain. My weight also seems to be down 2 pounds (although that has happened several times over the past couple of months only to go up 2 pounds afterwards.) However, just feeling better helps me want to continue losing weight. The challenge, as always, is to keep doing the exercises even when I go back to work. I have several websites to improve in addition to teaching. I also have created a website for my classes, but have no content yet. I guess I need to get a move on.