Finally Getting Fit

Things have been going great for me over the past month and a half or so. I’m finally seeing weight loss, I’m feeling better about myself, I’m actually happy to exercise… So far, so good.

However, last night I was reminded that not all my demons have been so easily vanquished.

Though I have ventured into the realm of ‘real food’ (non-meal replacement, non-veggies, non-fruit type food) on occasion, I have always kept it bread/rice/pasta/etc free and very light. Mainly meaning I had mostly grilled fish when I strayed. This has been what I feel is a big factor in my sticking with meal replacement.

But last night was the first really hard night for me.

I’m not sure if it was because of time of month coming up (I’ve been known to have HUGE meat cravings the week before TOM) or just some weird thing, but I told my husband all I wanted was a lamb souvlaki or a burger. (We’re talking good quality, good ingredients Australian burger – not fast food crap.) We sat at the pub and all I could talk about for fifteen minutes was souvlaki.

I consider it a victory that the thought was just to have something ‘real’ (which was pretty much any combination of meat and bread that I could think of) instead of wanting to quit the diet entirely. In fact, quitting the diet never entered my mind.

I should change the title to “JM Two”.

In the end, I didn’t have any souvlaki. We got caught up with trivia night at the pub, and we were having so much fun that I wanted to stay there rather than run off an indulge my cravings.

And today? I still kind of want some meat, but it’s not that ‘GIMME MEAT’ type of craving anymore.

Phew. Now only if I could combat every craving with random trivia.

Wow. Half way through 2009 already.

Well, I don’t feel particularly mystified about where the time has gone, it is interesting to think about how we’re half way through another year. Have goals been met? Have we done what we wanted to do?

I went looking through my archives to see where I was and what I was doing in the beginning of January. I found my first weigh-in for the year:

“I actually forgot about weighing in for a little bit. Eesh. You take one week off and your mind goes to fluff… BUT I do have the numbers, though they are not very exciting.

SW: 256
LW: 252
CW: 252

Still at good ol’ 252. Considering the indulgences I let myself have over the holidays, I’m okay with that number. Well, not okay, but I’m definitely glad I didn’t see a gain on the scale.

I am, unfortunately, having one of those times when I really ‘feel’ fat. Those times usually come when I haven’t been drinking enough water, though, so at least I know what to do to work toward getting past the feeling. I’m already halfway to where I need to be for today and it’s not even noon, so that’s a good start.

I saw on Hanlie’s blog that she is keeping track of her exercise minutes in her sidebar and I think that is an awesome day. At the point I’m typing this, I have a pathetic five minutes, but I’m going to keep track of my minutes exercised in my weigh-ins from now on.

Whee! I think I should have a goal number of minutes for the year…

100 hours = 6,000 minutes = ~ 16.5 minutes of exercise per day

Sounds good to me! What do you think? So here is my first recording of exercise minutes.

5 minutes of exercise
5,995 minutes (99 hours 55 minutes) to go!

Now I’m going to do some time on the elliptical! I have to make up for the time I missed!”

Well, the first thing I didn’t get through on was the 6,000 minutes of exercise.

During the beginning of this year, my confidence really took a beating. ‘Normal diet and exercise’ didn’t seem do to bull crap for me, I saw my highest weight earlier this year, I had to be put back on the pill earlier this year… So much. It’s not surprising that I didn’t meet my 6k minutes goal.

Halfway through, and I feel like I’m in a better place. I still battle my demons, but meal replacement is going well for me. I finally feel encouraged to exercise, as I can finally see it helping the scale move down instead of doing apparently nothing for weight loss.

Where I will be at the end of this year, I don’t know. Forty pounds lighter would be nice, but I am just so happy every morning that I step on the scale and I’m not heavier.

I am sad about my missed goal, but that is tempered with knowing the rough months I had to endure while trying to make it and knowing that I am doing exercise now with genuine enthusiasm.

Half a year has passed. How are you doing?

I do this sort of thing on Fiction Scribe when there are a lot of interesting things I’ve read lately that I want to point to. I haven’t really had a need to do so here until things piled up on me this week.

So here we go!

Hanlie at Fertile Healthy has caught the Blah Bug that I’ve been dealing with the past few days. Head over and show her some love.

Cammy at Tippy Toe Diet has a giveaway going on for folks in the US. That doesn’t include me, so I figured I would promote it instead of entering. A copy of Eric R. Braverman’s Younger (Thinner) You Diet is up for grabs.

Foodie McBody at FoodFoodBodyBody put up a post last week that I have been itching to comment on here ever since I read it. Be Mindful, and Don’t Suffer is a post about Foodie’s ‘body philosophy’ for lack of better words. She talks about being mindful, being thankful, paying attention to what you eat and more. All points that I think most - if not all - of the diet plans, systems, etc miss completely. Definitely worth a read.

Why Health Advice on Oprah Could Make You Sick - Yes, there actually is someone out there who isn’t a fan of Oprah. This is a long article on how Oprah apparently doesn’t realize just how much she influences people and how she ‘innocently’ gears her shows to ‘innocently’ support causes she sometimes later denies. All up, it’s a reminder that we’re all different, so no one can be a true, infallible expert.

And there you have it! All the bits and bobs I’ve been wanting to point out over the past week or so.

Heading to the beach with nothing to read? Now you can head out in style with a book from one (or more!) of your favorite authors!

Pump Up Your Book Promotion is hosting our very first Summer Beach Reading Giveaway. Four great authors with 4 chances to win!

All you have to do is head on out to one of the blogs listed below and follow directions to win. It’s that easy!

As the Pages Turn is giving away a copy of Dorothea Hover-Kramer’s Second Chance at Your Dream!

This is the first book to apply the breakthrough insights of Energy Psychology to healthy aging. Energy Psychology is an exciting new healing method that changes the vibrational patterns in the energy fields to produce rapid emotional healing and a sense of well-being. With the help of the over fifty exercises for rebalancing yourself offered in this book, you can face the challenges and opportunities of later life to create a time of energy, abundance and joy.

You can visit Dorothea online at www.secondchancedream.com.

Click here to enter!

Fiction Scribe is giving away a copy of DCS’ Synarchy Book 1: The Awakening!

Thirteen bloodlines, The Brotherhood, fanatically loyal to their gods, the Anunnaki, have controlled the planet since his-story was written. In 1925 Stefano Vasco Terenzio, head of the Terenzio crime family makes a deal with the Anunnaki to solidify his control over the American Mafia. Clever and manipulative, Stefano’s true goal was to put his family in a position so one day they would be able to turn on their masters. Two generations later, the shockwave he ignited was still being felt. Now, as the world inches closer to 2012, time is running out.

The only thing in the Brotherhoods way is Terenzio, a family now divided as a truly epic battle begins that will determine whether mankind continues existing in a world of lies, or shatters the chains that have held it prisoner since his-story was written. Shocking yet hopeful, Synarchy slowly unravels the tightly laced reality we have created for ourselves. Blending the metaphysical with conspiracy, fact with fiction, debut author DCS has opened up a world that will force you to rethink everything you believe about your own. The knowledge within provokes the question; do you really want to know?

You can visit DCS on the web at www.synarchynovel.com.

Click here to enter!

The Book Stacks is giving away a copy of Dr. Ronald J. Frederick’s Living Like You Mean It!

So many of us long to feel more alive, connected, and secure in our lives, particularly now, in these challenging and difficult times. Why is it so hard? Part of the problem, says Dr. Ronald J. Frederick, has to do with a fear of our feelings—a feelings‐phobia—and the consequences of expressing our feelings to others. It’s this fear that keeps us stuck, detached from the wisdom inside us and distanced from the people around us. And yet positive emotional experiences can actually “rewire” our brain and free us up to experience ourselves and our lives more fully. LIVING LIKE YOU MEAN IT: Use the Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life You Really Want by Ronald J. Frederick, shows how we can overcome our feelings phobia in order to enjoy more satisfying lives.

You can visit Dr. Frederick on the web at www.livinglikeyoumeanit.com

Click here to enter!

Zensanity is giving away a copy of Richard Aaron’s Gauntlet!

Six hundred sixty tons of Semtex is detonated in a massive explosion in Libya – the last of a deadly stockpile. The operation seems to have gone smoothly, but within minutes of the explosion, CIA agent Richard Lawrence discovers that one shipment of the explosive was hijacked en route to the destruction point. Days later, a glory-seeking “Emir” broadcasts to the world that he is planning a massive terrorist strike against a major U.S. landmark. And he gives a timeline of one month.

You can visit Richard online at www.richardaaron.com.

Click here to enter!

Four great authors, four chances to win! Hurry before contests end!

Heading to the beach with nothing to read? Now you can head out in style with a book from one (or more!) of your favorite authors!

Pump Up Your Book Promotion is hosting our very first Summer Beach Reading Giveaway. Four great authors with 4 chances to win!

All you have to do is head on out to one of the blogs listed below and follow directions to win. It’s that easy!

As the Pages Turn is giving away a copy of Dorothea Hover-Kramer’s Second Chance at Your Dream!

This is the first book to apply the breakthrough insights of Energy Psychology to healthy aging. Energy Psychology is an exciting new healing method that changes the vibrational patterns in the energy fields to produce rapid emotional healing and a sense of well-being. With the help of the over fifty exercises for rebalancing yourself offered in this book, you can face the challenges and opportunities of later life to create a time of energy, abundance and joy.

You can visit Dorothea online at www.secondchancedream.com.

Click here to enter!

Fiction Scribe is giving away a copy of DCS’ Synarchy Book 1: The Awakening!

Thirteen bloodlines, The Brotherhood, fanatically loyal to their gods, the Anunnaki, have controlled the planet since his-story was written. In 1925 Stefano Vasco Terenzio, head of the Terenzio crime family makes a deal with the Anunnaki to solidify his control over the American Mafia. Clever and manipulative, Stefano’s true goal was to put his family in a position so one day they would be able to turn on their masters. Two generations later, the shockwave he ignited was still being felt. Now, as the world inches closer to 2012, time is running out.

The only thing in the Brotherhoods way is Terenzio, a family now divided as a truly epic battle begins that will determine whether mankind continues existing in a world of lies, or shatters the chains that have held it prisoner since his-story was written. Shocking yet hopeful, Synarchy slowly unravels the tightly laced reality we have created for ourselves. Blending the metaphysical with conspiracy, fact with fiction, debut author DCS has opened up a world that will force you to rethink everything you believe about your own. The knowledge within provokes the question; do you really want to know?

You can visit DCS on the web at www.synarchynovel.com.

Click here to enter!

The Book Stacks is giving away a copy of Dr. Ronald J. Frederick’s Living Like You Mean It!

So many of us long to feel more alive, connected, and secure in our lives, particularly now, in these challenging and difficult times. Why is it so hard? Part of the problem, says Dr. Ronald J. Frederick, has to do with a fear of our feelings—a feelings‐phobia—and the consequences of expressing our feelings to others. It’s this fear that keeps us stuck, detached from the wisdom inside us and distanced from the people around us. And yet positive emotional experiences can actually “rewire” our brain and free us up to experience ourselves and our lives more fully. LIVING LIKE YOU MEAN IT: Use the Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life You Really Want by Ronald J. Frederick, shows how we can overcome our feelings phobia in order to enjoy more satisfying lives.

You can visit Dr. Frederick on the web at www.livinglikeyoumeanit.com

Click here to enter!

Zensanity is giving away a copy of Richard Aaron’s Gauntlet!

Six hundred sixty tons of Semtex is detonated in a massive explosion in Libya – the last of a deadly stockpile. The operation seems to have gone smoothly, but within minutes of the explosion, CIA agent Richard Lawrence discovers that one shipment of the explosive was hijacked en route to the destruction point. Days later, a glory-seeking “Emir” broadcasts to the world that he is planning a massive terrorist strike against a major U.S. landmark. And he gives a timeline of one month.

You can visit Richard online at www.richardaaron.com.

Click here to enter!

Four great authors, four chances to win! Hurry before contests end!

I’m in need of some positive thinking and visualization exercises for the future. I want to think about my goal, ground myself a bit, and then go after it with all I have once more. I hope you’ll join me in doing so and play Monday Mailbag.

You know how it works – MM is my tribute to my love of receiving mail (or is it just my loathing of an empty mailbox?).

Every Monday I will post my question for you to answer on your blog. You then come back here and leave a link to where you’ve posted your answer so we can all get to know each other.

Easy peasy. Wanna play?

This week’s question:

Even though I am on meal replacement and thus am quite limited in what I consume, I still love cooking. If anything, doing this has enhanced my love of cooking even though I don’t get to eat any of it. I can’t say that I make a lot of healthy things - I like baking which means sweets most of the time - but I make healthier things by cooking from scratch.

I’m wondering…

What are some of your favourite healthy recipes?

Remember to leave a link to your answer in the comments!

(If you have any question suggestions for MM, I’d be happy to hear them! I don’t promise to use all suggestions, but I do promise to read them. Thanks!)

Previous Questions:

Read the rest of this entry »

SW: 264
LW: 238
CW: 236

Total Squats: 199
Total Push Ups: 147
Total Sit-Ups: 223

Today I saw a gain of two pounds on the scale. One of the nicest things on the planet? Seeing a gain and not freaking out. I went up by about two pounds, but that is still less than I was at last week, so obviously I’m happy. Even despite all that, I think the best part isn’t being less than last week but being okay with the gain I saw this morning.

Sure, I want to do something about it, but it didn’t ruin my day. I just thought about all the things I did yesterday (including not drinking enough water), other factors that could contribute (week before TOM) and that was that. I’m going to do better today. And there you have it.

I guess I’m just stunned over the fact that I can take that sort of thing now. Granted I may have felt differently about a four pound gain, but the best thing about this diet is that my weight doesn’t instantly shoot up huge amount by just thinking about ‘naughty’ things.

Other things are going well. I started the second week (I’m a week behind Cammy *waves*) of the challenge this morning, and I must say that I’m not fond of squats. Hehe. However, I am recovering better and faster than I did in the very beginning, so that is a plus.

I’m having a hard time imagining being any thinner than I am at the moment. I’ve tightened up a bit on my stomach and definitely around my face and neck, but it has been so incredibly long since I was in my 220s (almost there!) that I’m wondering what it (and beyond) will be like.

Wonderful, I’m sure.

I hope you all are doing very well.

Heading to the beach with nothing to read? Now you can head out in style with a book from one (or more!) of your favorite authors!

Pump Up Your Book Promotion is hosting our very first Summer Beach Reading Giveaway. Four great authors with 4 chances to win!

All you have to do is head on out to one of the blogs listed below and follow directions to win. It’s that easy!

As the Pages Turn is giving away a copy of Dorothea Hover-Kramer’s Second Chance at Your Dream!

This is the first book to apply the breakthrough insights of Energy Psychology to healthy aging. Energy Psychology is an exciting new healing method that changes the vibrational patterns in the energy fields to produce rapid emotional healing and a sense of well-being. With the help of the over fifty exercises for rebalancing yourself offered in this book, you can face the challenges and opportunities of later life to create a time of energy, abundance and joy.

You can visit Dorothea online at www.secondchancedream.com.

Click here to enter!

Fiction Scribe is giving away a copy of DCS’ Synarchy Book 1: The Awakening!

Thirteen bloodlines, The Brotherhood, fanatically loyal to their gods, the Anunnaki, have controlled the planet since his-story was written. In 1925 Stefano Vasco Terenzio, head of the Terenzio crime family makes a deal with the Anunnaki to solidify his control over the American Mafia. Clever and manipulative, Stefano’s true goal was to put his family in a position so one day they would be able to turn on their masters. Two generations later, the shockwave he ignited was still being felt. Now, as the world inches closer to 2012, time is running out.

The only thing in the Brotherhoods way is Terenzio, a family now divided as a truly epic battle begins that will determine whether mankind continues existing in a world of lies, or shatters the chains that have held it prisoner since his-story was written. Shocking yet hopeful, Synarchy slowly unravels the tightly laced reality we have created for ourselves. Blending the metaphysical with conspiracy, fact with fiction, debut author DCS has opened up a world that will force you to rethink everything you believe about your own. The knowledge within provokes the question; do you really want to know?

You can visit DCS on the web at www.synarchynovel.com.

Click here to enter!

The Book Stacks is giving away a copy of Dr. Ronald J. Frederick’s Living Like You Mean It!

So many of us long to feel more alive, connected, and secure in our lives, particularly now, in these challenging and difficult times. Why is it so hard? Part of the problem, says Dr. Ronald J. Frederick, has to do with a fear of our feelings—a feelings‐phobia—and the consequences of expressing our feelings to others. It’s this fear that keeps us stuck, detached from the wisdom inside us and distanced from the people around us. And yet positive emotional experiences can actually “rewire” our brain and free us up to experience ourselves and our lives more fully. LIVING LIKE YOU MEAN IT: Use the Wisdom and Power of Your Emotions to Get the Life You Really Want by Ronald J. Frederick, shows how we can overcome our feelings phobia in order to enjoy more satisfying lives.

You can visit Dr. Frederick on the web at www.livinglikeyoumeanit.com

Click here to enter!

Zensanity is giving away a copy of Richard Aaron’s Gauntlet!

Six hundred sixty tons of Semtex is detonated in a massive explosion in Libya – the last of a deadly stockpile. The operation seems to have gone smoothly, but within minutes of the explosion, CIA agent Richard Lawrence discovers that one shipment of the explosive was hijacked en route to the destruction point. Days later, a glory-seeking “Emir” broadcasts to the world that he is planning a massive terrorist strike against a major U.S. landmark. And he gives a timeline of one month.

You can visit Richard online at www.richardaaron.com.

Click here to enter!

Four great authors, four chances to win! Hurry before contests end!

I was responding to comments the other night and came across Little Miss Fatty’s Pants weight loss blog. While she is struggling a little bit with things right now, she has taken that all-important step of deciding to make her life a better, longer, healthier one.

I was looking through her past posts, and there was one that contained a letter to her boyfriend.

While her letter was a short one, it conveyed the love she has for her boyfriend and the appreciation she has for him looking out for her.

Well, that inspired me to write a thank-you to my husband…

Dear Mr. JM,

Me

I have had a few people ask me lately about the Tibetan Rites, as I have mentioned that I am combining them with three challenges: 200 Squats, 100 Push Ups, 200 Sit-Ups

If you’re curious about the Five Tibetan Rites, there is an easy print version you can take a look at and print off. It’s not that many pages, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.

You can read about the background of the Rites, but most people want to know the benefits…

“Potential Benefits of the Five Rites

The authors provide many examples of the benefits of the “Five Tibetan Rites” including the following: looking much younger; sleeping soundly; waking up feeling refreshed and energetic; release from serious medical problems including difficulties with spines; relief from problems with joints; release from pain; better memory; arthritis relief; weight loss; improved vision; youthing instead of aging; greatly improved physical strength, endurance and vigor; improved emotional and mental health; enhanced sense of well being and harmony; and very high overall energy.”

Personally, the first thing I noticed when I started doing the Tibetan Rites was the fact I wasn’t cracking and popping so much. My back, my right wrist and my right knee seem to pop all the time and sometimes get sore to the point I need to ‘pop’ them. Not anymore. The Tibetan Rites took care of that within a few days.

I’m not sure about some of those claims, but I do feel more peaceful and better in a general way when I am doing the exercises. It feels like they are ‘just right’ for starting my day off well.

Whether it’s helping me with the weight loss, it probably is. I use muscles I probably wouldn’t use all that much doing them. And keep in mind that all this is happening for me, and I’m still on the alternate techniques because I don’t quite feel up to the full techniques yet.

If you start using the Tibetan Rites, please let me know. I’d love to get other people’s opinions on it.

Day two of the triple threat challenge has me moaning, groaning and even pouting a little bit. But it certainly hasn’t been even close enough to deter me from keeping on with the challenge.

Out of the three exercises – squats, push ups, sit ups – and the Tibetan Rites, I’ve found squats the thing that gives me the sorest parts. I didn’t see it coming. With the walking, elliptical, etc I do and have done, I didn’t think it would be that bad.

Think again.

Though the thought of quitting didn’t even enter my mind until about three seconds ago, I decided this morning that extra motivation is always a good thing. So what I did was set up a way to keep track of the total number of each exercise I do by day and overall.

Sure, it’ll be cool to do 200 of each when I complete the program, but there are a lot more that go into getting up to that number. Being the Excel spreadsheet addict that I am, I couldn’t resist creating another page now could I?

And my stats look like this:

Total Squats = 77
Total Push Ups = 58
Total Sit Ups = 87

Now, if you had ever told me growing up that I would do that many of those three exercises, even spread over days, I would have called you crazy. And here that’s the total in two days.

Kudos to the ultimate goal and all, but watching those numbers rise is definitely a great ‘here and now’ boost.

As I mentioned before, I’m combining the triple-threat challenge (hehe, I kind of like that) along with the Tibetan Rites (which I will post about soon, Foodie!). Along with getting out when the sunshine was available, this combination was exactly what I needed (and I knew it would be).

Take a look…

Ah, look at that beauty. And, for my friends who interpret things in pounds…

I am just one pound away from my next reward – new pajama pants! – but I’m not thinking about that very much at the moment. I’m thinking more about how I’m at my lowest weight in years, I feel great and exercise is more than proving itself to be a useful thing!

(Of course, exercise is always useful, but now it’s actually helping the scale to move.)

Things have been a bit weird for me, to be honest, and I’ve been spending a lot of time examining how I feel about things like the weight loss, my life, my work, etc. I’ve been quite stuck in my own head for a while now, but I think that’s okay for the moment. I’m figuring a lot of self-stuff out.

I sincerely hope everyone is doing well.

I’m in need of some positive thinking and visualization exercises for the future. I want to think about my goal, ground myself a bit, and then go after it with all I have once more. I hope you’ll join me in doing so and play Monday Mailbag.

You know how it works – MM is my tribute to my love of receiving mail (or is it just my loathing of an empty mailbox?).

Every Monday I will post my question for you to answer on your blog. You then come back here and leave a link to where you’ve posted your answer so we can all get to know each other.

Easy peasy. Wanna play?

This week’s question:

I love logic puzzles, number crosswords, sudoku… All that sort of stuff except traditional crosswords. (And I’m a writer. Figure that one out.) Anywho, I was in love with puzzles long before I ever heard they are good for your brain, but since hearing that, I do make sure to take time to do some puzzles every now and then.

I’m wondering…

What do you do to take care of your mental agility and fitness?

Remember to leave a link to your answer in the comments!

(If you have any question suggestions for MM, I’d be happy to hear them! I don’t promise to use all suggestions, but I do promise to read them. Thanks!)

Previous Questions:

Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday Mailbag I mentioned how Cammy has set up her own personal challenge combining the two hundred squats program, two hundred sit ups program and one hundred pushups program. Not quite genius enough to think of these sorts of things on my own, I decided that I would quietly tag along for a bit.

The program dictates you do the exercises three days a week, which unfortunately means I have to start on a Monday. But given it’s a matter of convenience rather that psychological urge to start on Monday, I think it’s fine.

I did the initial testing and found that I didn’t do too shabbily. The past two years of power walks, off and on gym time, and off and on exercise of other sorts has apparently had a good effect, as I am starting all three plans on the middle ‘level of difficulty’.

The programs are all six weeks long, but I have no qualms about sticking it out for longer because I’m doing them all at the same time. I’ll also be combining them with the Tibetan Rites (which I will do every day), so that should help me keep up my flexibility and help with any soreness that occurs.

I’m not putting pressure on myself with this one. I’ve only printed off the first week of directions because I just want to see if I’ll enjoy it and be able to keep it up without killing myself. Starting next Monday lands me ending the program (if I keep it to six weeks) just before my next doctor appointment, so it would be nice to be able to do this.

I’ve mentioned on this blog a few times how I have managed to lose weight before and yet, for some reason, I hit my sabotage point – 244 – and screw it all up in one way or another. For some reason, that number always trips me up. It’s like something clicks in my head and I feel like ‘it’s okay’ to just drop everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve.

But something different has happened this time.

I talked yesterday about how moving the scale from the lounge to the tiled floor of the kitchen gave me not only a steadier scale that didn’t need constant adjusting but also a six pound difference in my weight.

Well, that six pound difference just so happened to take me right past my sabotage weight and plant me firmly on the other side.

Huh.

The moment I had been dreading trying to get past was suddenly gone. Poof. No need to deal with it.

And I have even lost another two pounds since then.

I always knew that the sabotage point was well and truly just in my mind, but to pass it so easily was… weird. And strangely, a complete non-event.

Knowing that I had suddenly gotten past the sabotage point with ‘no muss no fuss’ has apparently broken whatever hold it had over me in my mind. I smirked at being past it, but I focused more on being near (and now in) my 230s.

Is that weird or what? Something that had been so big to me is just gone.

Hooray!