New Year's Resolutions - Is It Time for Bed?

Are you getting enough sleep?  Probably not.

Adults generally need 7-9 hours of sleep every night, teenagers need 8-10 and younger children need more than that.  If you're like me, you're not getting close to that much sleep.  As it turns out, sleep is not a luxury, but a necessity to good health and daily functioning.  Sleep deprivation can lead to chronic health problems, including heart disease and diabetes.  The most surprising fact to me is that there is a direct correlation between sleep deprivation and obesity.  So, if your resolution is to improve your health, lose weight and get fit, improving your sleep is a must.

So now that you are resolved to get more sleep, how do you make it happen?  Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Set a bedtime and wake up time and stick to it.  Sleeping in on weekends is OK, but don't overdo it.  "Catching up on sleep" is no substitute for good sleep patterns.
2.  Keep your bedroom quiet, dark and cool.  White noise machines work very well to block out undesirable noise, such as snoring.
3.  Quality sleep is as important as adequate time.  Try to avoid food and drink (alcohol and cigarettes) for 2 hours before going to bed.  Also, avoid unnatural light (TV, cell phone and computer screens) for 2 hours before bed (whew - that will be tough!)
4.  Make sure you're sleeping on a decent mattress.  Maybe this is the year you invest in a good mattress, especially if you haven't replaced it in the last 10 years.  A bad mattress can exacerbate chronic pain and cause back and neck pain.
5.  If you are taking a vacation, take the opportunity to get your sleep in synch.  Follow that fixed bedtime and sleep without an alarm.  This isn't required, but it might help you get a jump start on your resolution.

Making 2017 the year you improve your health.  Get some sleep!

cindy

Fit Friday - You Gotta Have A Plan!

I'm learning that it's not enough to say "I'll lose weight" or "I'll exercise more."  Those are great resolutions, but with no execution of the resolution you've got no solution.  Enter - a plan!

More than half Most Almost all of what I write here is encouragement for me.  I'm certainly not in a position to be speaking from a place of knowledge.  Having said that, a plan is in order - for me or whoever wants to be successful in getting healthier.

It takes 3 weeks or more to develop a habit.  Until then, you probably need a strong routine.  For exercising, it means scheduling a specific time each day during the upcoming week when you will exercise.  In fact, you should also plan exactly what exercise you will do.  Hopefully, after the 3 weeks of the routine, you will be in a place where you will know when and how to exercise regularly.  I'm still waiting for that to happen.

With weight loss for me, it's all about accountability.  I need to weigh myself every day at the same time.  I know many people strongly discourage that, but for me, if I don't do it every day I won't understand and recognize that the extra helping of mashed potatoes I ate yesterday resulted in the extra pound today.  It can also go the other way - that hour on the treadmill resulted in a bonus pound loss.

Most importantly, you need goals.  The long term goal of 30 pounds by next November is great, but how do you get from Point A to Point B?  How do you know if you're on track?  I recently sat down with a calendar and determined how much weight I wanted to lose.  I don't have a particular timeline - a class reunion, a wedding, whatever, so I don't have a specific date that I need the weight gone.  I do know that I wanted to take a slow, sensible approach (especially after a stint on HcG).  I figured that for the first half of my weight loss I could do a rate of 2 pounds per week (which is pretty ambitious over time), but the second half I would do at 1 pound per week.  I figured out how long it would take me and marked the ultimate deadline on my calendar.  Then, I wrote the goal weight for each week on the calendar.  Now instead of thinking that 6 months is a long way off, I know I need to lose 2 pounds before next Tuesday.  Every "Tuesday" I plan to mark down my actual weight under the goal weight for that week.  If I'm ahead (I lost 3 pounds instead of 2 this week), I just got a cushion!

The same is true with exercise.  (I'm really paying attention to my own advice here.)  Identify the days this week you will go to the gym and the time.  Initially don't worry about what you do there or how long - just GET THERE.  Later you can set the goal for time and exercises you will do each time.  Finally, you can just identify the number of hours per week you need to exercise - how much cardio and how much strength training.

Wow, I have a lot of work to do.  Get out that calendar and get a plan!

Don't forget to check out the Fit Club every Monday for more inspiration.

cindy

Fit Friday - Find Your Thing

While we've been here in Hawaii, I saw this add on TV.  It describes me to a "T" and I love her final choice for exercise.  I think it's mine too.  The rest of the commercial speaks for itself.  Maybe it will speak to you too.  (You will probably need to buffer this video and make it full screen to get the best view.)

Don't forget to find your motivation at the Fit Club every Monday.

cindy

Fit Friday - Why Am I Doing This Anyway?

Yesterday, I wore a suit I haven't worn in 9 years.  That's exciting and I'm pretty happy about it.  Thing is, no one else noticed.  I remember thinking someone would say something, but no one did.  Did that make it less than exciting for me?  Maybe.

One of the biggest problems of losing weight is the idea that it will make you a different person.  If I get to a certain size or wear different clothes, will people think more of me?  Will it change my personality?  Will my problems go away?  Will I stop battling with my weight?  Nope.

I'm at a place now where I have to keep my focus on why I'm doing this.  It's easy to say the only reason I'm doing this is for my health, but that wouldn't be true.  I'm doing it because I want to wear "normal" sizes and shop in any store for clothes.  I want people to see the real me without my weight getting in the way.

Right there - that's it.  I want people to see me differently because I don't like what they see now.

That thought process is a VERY dangerous path.  There's a great article from Sparkpeople about this issue, "The Secret to Loving Your Body Isn't Losing Weight"  In the article the author says the only way she became happy was by accepting herself, fat or thin.  Instead of weight loss being the point of pride, she takes more satisfaction in exercise.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should give that a try.

I hope you're exercising and I hope you're loving yourself wherever you are.

cindy

Fit Friday - One Day at a Time

I'm in an intentional holding pattern right now, just trying to maintain what I've lost for a while before I continue on down the road.  I should be talking more about exercising, but I'm still stuck on food.  I've had a couple days now where I haven't been eating as I should and I have gained a couple of pounds.  (This is why I weigh myself every day so it doesn't get out of hand.)

A friend of mine who has lost about 100 pounds recently put about 40 back on.  It's hard to watch that, especially when I remember how she worked out like a fiend to get that weight off.  She's getting back on the wagon, though, so I think she's a great example.  I have this success/failure mindset - if I haven't completely succeeded, I've totally failed.  This is a dangerous game in weight loss.  I'm trying to address this head on and stay positive.  As I told my friend, this weight gain is not a failure, just a temporary setback.  That sounds so much better.

With Valentine's Day and my husband's birthday, it's been tough not to eat lots of sugar (my cryptonite).  If it's there, I eat it and I feel compelled to eat it so it won't be there anymore.  Hmmm, two problems with this:  (1) I have an issue with "wasting" food; and (2) I have made myself the human garbage disposal.  So many of us grew up with the "clean your plate" mentality, it's just painful to throw things away until they turn green in the refrigerator (although I've never seen sweets do that at my house).  Those poor children in Bangladesh may be starving, but they definitely won't be eating that leftover cake in my refrigerator!  The first problem leads to the next - eat it so it will go away.  This causes binge eating for me - not good.  I think I need to practice throwing away sweet things and then escort them out of the house into the curbside garbage can.

This is all part of the process for me - understanding why I do what I do and addressing it - one day at a time.  After all, there are no failures, only setbacks.

Have a great week and be healthy!  I'm linked up at Fit Club.  Visit there on Mondays to read all of our stories.

cindy

Fit Friday - Be Prepared

Remember that old scouting motto?  I'm starting to think it might be one of the keys to stabilizing my weight.  I have had a lot of success on any number of diets, and I'm convinced that the reason is that if someone is telling me exactly what to eat, I can do it.  (I'm also convinced that is why Weight Watchers works for so many people - you learn to make your own educated decisions about what to eat.)

I'm a busy person.  My days are not well planned and planning what I eat is very low on the priority list.  Ideally, I would carefully plan each day's meals in advance, carefully counting the calories and the fat content, but that's just not realistic.  The other thing about me is when I get hungry or tired, I will eat anything I can find, especially easy comfort food.

I am trying to work around all that.  I have come up with a short list of "meals" I enjoy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Some of them are fast on-the-go meals (even some "fast food") and others are things that are served in places I frequent (like the work cafeteria or favorite restaurant).  By having that short list, I can go into autopilot when I'm in a hurry, tired or hungry and eat something that's not going to sabotage my day.  The short list can even be tailored to suit any restaurant, with the exception of Mexican food which is very hard to eat reasonably.  

Strangely enough, my most difficult place to eat is not "out" but at home.  When I get home from work, I'm immediately foraging for food, even when I know what I am going to eat for dinner.  That's something I have to work on.  I'm thinking about coming up with a specific "snacks" I can turn to when I get home.

A little planning now might pay off in a big way.

Come see more tips at Fit Club - just click on the link to the right --->

cindy

Fit Fridays - Tracking

This is my first Fit Friday, which is my way of offering an update of where I'm at in my efforts to have a healthier life, as well as some little advice I can offer from my previous experiences.  Today I'm offering the best advice I can give as a start.  You have to keep track.  You have to track what you eat, how much you drink, how much you exercise and how much you weigh.  It sounds easy, but I've found it to be one of the hardest things I have learned to do.  Kim from The Fit Club has already written a post on a phone application she uses to help her.  You can read about it here.  I use a website and mobile app called Sparkpeople.  Back in November, I wrote a post about Sparkpeople.  Please check it out here - there are 10 good reasons why you should try Sparkpeople.

Good luck - be well!

cindy

It's a Fit Life

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I have been in a weight loss journey since October.  I am just finishing the stabilization phase after my first round of HcG shots.  I'm a little over where I should be, but I have been maintaining a fixed weight.  Next week I start round two.  I wasn't sure I was going to do another round, but knowing I could lose up to 20 pounds in less than a month (if I'm strict) is too enticing, especially because I would see a weight I haven't seen in more than 10 years.
In the meantime, Kim from "It's a Crafty Life" has started Fit Club so bloggers can offer support and suggestions for each other to get healthier in 2012.  I'm excited to be part of her effort.  There's still plenty of room on this bandwagon for anyone else who wants to join.  I'm going to be doing "Fit Fridays" to show my progress (even if it's only to myself) every week.  If you want to see more suggestions and maybe inspirations, come on over!




cindy

My Personal Best of 2011

Unlike many people, I am ending 2011 feeling rather satisfied with the year.  2011 was the year in which I regained (or found) my emotional stability.  It was also the year I embraced the fact that I am getting older (although I'm not sure these two things were related).  I also had three jobs this year, each one better than the last.  I started writing this blog in June of 2011 and I'm really enjoying it.  Thanks to my friend Katie (SongsKateSang) for suggesting it.  While I don't have a full year to choose from, here are several posts I am proud to say I wrote.  I've divided them into three categories: 

1.  Craft projects:  I personally like the "No Sew Bed Canopy" I made earlier this year because I thought of most of it myself.  Mackenzie still loves it, which is a sure sign of a successful project for a kid.  The most popular craft project in terms of hits is definitely my first Rag Quilt.  I made it before I started writing this blog and I thought there must be a lot of rag quilts out there, but evidently not.  I'm also fond of the "Scrap Fall Wreath" which can also be adapted for any time of year.

2.  Reflective/inspirational/philosophical/religious posts:  I'm very proud of "Musings of an Older Mom".  Of all the things I have written, I would recommend it to women in their 20's and 30's raising preschool children; not so much for your kids, but for you.  Some of my other favorites are  "Chats with God", and "A Woman of Value."

3.  Photography:  I'm not a photographer, but there are a couple of posts I surprised myself.  I'm thinking of "Lilies in Indiana" and "Winter Solstice".


Even though the year ended with a bit of a whimper in this area, I am very happy with my 30+ pounds of weight loss.  It was (and is) the most personal stuff I have written on this blog, but based on the number of hits, it is popular.



It was a pretty good 2011.  I'm looking forward to 2012.


cindy

Adventures in Weight Stabilization

O.K., I had to change the name or I would end up with Part 125 of "New Adventures".  My HcG course (Phase 2) is over and I'm happy to say I lost 34 pounds!  I'm not done losing weight, but now I have to go through 6 weeks of "stabilization."  That involves staying within 2 pounds of my current weight (over or under) for the next 6 weeks.  This is where the real challenge begins.

The important part of stabilization is learning the basic formula for losing or maintaining weight (especially for those of us who struggle with the up and down parts).  That formula is simple - balance the number of calories consumed with the number of calories burned through exercise.  Simple enough, right?  Yeah, sure.  If that were the case, I would be a very rich woman because I could solve the biggest loser of a problem with a simple formula.  But it is just that simple.  Now I need to learn it.

The rules of this stage are no starches or sugar, keeping the fat intake relatively low (about 22 grams per day) and watching the glycemic values of certain fruits so I can stay away from things like bananas, grapes, raisins and a few others.  I need to keep the water intake up too.  I have to figure out how many calories I want to eat each day, in large part based on how much exercise I'm committed to doing.  I'm not a big exercise gal.

I'm excited and intimidated at the same time, but I'm also loving the fact that I'm in different clothes now and looking better.  Keep up the positive thoughts and prayers - it's going good so far!

cindy

New Adventures Part 4

I'm now about a month and a half into this weight loss journey and am happy to report that as of today I have lost 30 pounds!  I'm very excited about this milestone, especially as it comes the day after Thanksgiving.  It wasn't nearly has hard as everyone thought it would be for Thanksgiving - after all, 500 calories in a day won't even get you past the sweet potatoes and stuffing.  But I went into it knowing I couldn't eat any of those starchy foods, so I was happy to join the family eating a little turkey breast, broccoli and jello (sugar free).

I have a little over a week to go with the HcG shots, then it's time for "stabilization".  That's the 6 week period where you can't gain or lose any more than 2 pounds from your base weight.  I have to admit I'm really not looking forward to this phase.  First of all, I want to keep losing weight, with or without the shots.  My "base weight" isn't going to be my ultimate goal weight and I want to keep moving.  Second, in this phase I will have more choices for food and I need to incorporate exercise.  You know, it's so much easier to stay focused when you don't have to make food choices or schedule exercise into the day.  So maybe I should be happy about 6 weeks where I can learn to balance food with exercise, while still negotiating the holiday season.

Anyway, I'm very happy I cleared the first big hurdle of the holidays - Thanksgiving.  Bring on Christmas!

cindy

New Adverntures - Part 3

It's been a while since I updated the weight loss journey.  I my first installment, I talked about my goals and how I wanted to get there, and in the second installment I bragged about how fast the weight was coming off.  This installment is about reality.

I'm just over a month into this and I've lost 20 pounds.  Better than that, I've noticed serious inches coming off in all the right places.  That's the promise of HcG proponents - that the weight loss comes from "bad" fat, or fat that is in the wrong places.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that life has been getting in my way for the last two weeks or so.

Don't worry, the excuse parade isn't coming just yet.  Having said that, I have been pretty sick with a wicked sinus problem that nearly became pneumonia.  I made a decision about a week into the infection to eat a few more calories.  The problem is that once you start eating more (and whatever you want), it can be very hard to get that discipline back.  So I've had some days that just weren't so good, resulting in a serious slowdown stop gain.  (Serious gain for this diet means 2 or more pounds.)

This for me is one of those crossroads.  I have a strong perfectionist streak, so when I'm not perfect, I beat myself up and become a "failure."  It's a little hard to come back from that, but I've got a lot more to lose, both in weight and what would happen if I gave up or continued to limp along.

So I'm gritting my teeth, pulling up those big girl "you know whats" and getting back at this.  I need to reestablish my discipline before the holiday mine field is upon us.  This year the holidays are going to be about pretty, creative things, looking good in my clothes and NOT about food (unless I'm making it for someone else :)

cindy

Loving Me Some Sparkpeople!

`Have you checked out Sparkpeople??  This has to be one of the best weight loss sites on the web.  There's so much to say about it but I'll give you ten of the best reasons:



1.  It is completely FREE.  No, really, it is completely free.  It costs nothing to sign up and you never pay a thing.
2.  It is NOT a diet site.  It does not encourage you to pick a "diet," but one is available if you need it.  Mostly it is a support site with great tools to help you.
3.  You can track your weight, food and fitness levels, as well as energy, measurements, goals or anything else.
4.  There is a huge community of people, both local and groups with common interests where you can participate for advice, support or ideas.  There are message boards, blog opportunities and a place where you can create your own page.
5.  Sparkpeople has workout plans, exercise demonstrations, reports of your activities and suggestions for improving your calorie to exercise balance.
6.  There are great articles on health, fitness, recipes, nutrition, motivation and lots more.
7.  You can motivate yourself with streaks, challenges, group activities, spark mail and emails (only if you want them) and stages of weight loss/improved fitness/increased wellness and health.
8.  There is a mobile application to track food, fitness, weight, water consumed and give you reports about the same (oh yeah, it's free too)
9.  The site was started by a guy who approaches weight loss, increased fitness, wellness and lifestyle with a practical and easy methodology (balance calories consumed with the amount of exercise done)
10.  Did I mention it's FREE??

Free Online Diet Plan at SparkPeople.com

I can't say enough about this website.  If you are interested in a place where you can get practical advice, support, a place to track your progress and a never ending supply of information, Sparkpeople is like no other place on the web. By the way, I was not compensated (or even asked) to recommend Sparkpeople.  I just believe in it.

cindy

New Adventures Part 2

It's now been 2 weeks since I started dieting with HcG and I'm happy to say I have lost 15 pounds.  It's pretty incredible, I can hardly believe it myself.  I don't think my head has kept up with my shrinking body because it's going so fast.  It's not easy and I think at some point I'm going to have to be really creative to think of different ways to eat with pretty limited choices.  For the record, that's 100 grams of chicken breast, steak (once a week), eggs or fish; an apple, half a grapefruit, strawberries (which are now out of season) or orange; and 150 grams of cabbage, romaine, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes or cauliflower.  That's one of two meals a day - the meals are exactly the same makeup.  Results, however, are incredibly motivating.

While I'm in automatic pilot eating what I have to, I've been starting to notice when I want to overeat.  Sometimes I'm bored or thirsty and sometimes it's when I've waited too long to eat and am famished.  I also have sweet temptations all the time.  The worst is that I tend to eat while I cook.  I'm focusing my energy on becoming conscious of those times and trying to come up with coping mechanisms to deal with them.  I'm also starting to formulate a plan for when I will be done and how I want to hit the ground running with a strategy for long term maintenance.  I already know one habit that is a keeper - I'm tracking everything I eat to review the calories and nutritional value of what I'm eating.

Overall I'm very pleased with the results and it hasn't been too painful yet.  I'm still not sure what effect blogging about this is going to be, and God forbid this doesn't work - yikes!  In the meantime, hopefully soon I can update with a change in clothes size :)

cindy

New Adventures

This isn't my comfort zone, but I'm going to give this a try.  I am about to start a new adventure in weight loss.  Those who know me "in person" know I've struggled with my weight all my life.  I've been on the roller coaster - up/down up/down - more times than I care to admit.  This time around I'm trying with HcG injections and a very restricted calorie diet.  I'm not going to get into how this works - you can read it on the internet.  I will say this - I'm not drinking the kool aid on the theories behind it.  I'm sure it works because let's be honest - if you're eating 500 calories a day you WILL lose weight.  If HcG helps me do that without going insane, it works for me.

Yesterday I had my first B12 injection - OUCH!!  My arm is still smarting.  My doctor said it was like a flaming golf ball rolling down your arm to the elbow and I think that's a pretty good description.  This morning I had my initial lab work done and took my first self-injected HcG.  The self injection part wasn't bad at all.  I used heparin during both of my pregnancies and this was much easier.

Today was day 1 of Phase 1.  Let the craziness begin.  For the next two days, I must GORGE myself.  We're talking 4000 calories (yes, that was four thousand) more than I normally eat.  This is like the mother of all binges.  I'm saying this with a smile as I eat the first of two McDonalds bacon egg and cheese biscuits with a carmel frappachino venti from Starbucks.  I'm going to have fun with this until the stark reality of Monday morning hits with 500 calories a day (Phase 2).

I'm told one of the early side effects is irritability.  Yah think??  Two days of fatty, sugary excess followed by at least 6 weeks of 500 calories a day without sugar or starches doesn't sound like a recipe for giddiness.  Anyway, I'm committed to this and I am pretty good at keeping commitments once I make them.

I'm not changing the focus of this blog to a weight loss forum.  I'm still primarily interested in family and crafts.  However, I will engage in a little self-indulgence now and then by describing this new adventure and hopefully reporting some progress.  I appreciate those of you who send some positive thoughts my way during this journey.

cindy

The Quality of Life

The other day I heard a radio interview with Roger Ebert.  I remember Roger Ebert as the other half of the famous movie critics Siskel & Ebert.  Gene Siskel died about 7 years ago, but Roger was still working as a film critic with the Chicago Sun Times and on TV after Gene's death.  In 2006, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, which subsequently became cancer of the salivary glands and then cancer of the jaw.  He had many treatments and surgeries to rebuild his face which was ravaged by cancer.  Today, the entire bottom of his face is gone and he can't speak because of a tracheotomy.  He uses a computer to speak for him. 

As I listened to the radio interview, I thought it was so sad that his life was basically over because so much had been taken from him.  I caught myself and realized - hey, the guy isn't dead yet.  Actually, he attended the Toronto Film Festival and still writes a regular movie column and well known blog.

While I was looking for pictures of iron lungs for my post about vaccines, I found this story about a 61 year old woman who has lived her entire life in an iron lung.

She lives alone in her house but has plenty of friends and family who visit.  She's very cheerful and satisfied even though she has spent most of her life in a tank.  Again, I found myself thinking her life was so tragic and wasted.

I've had some time to think about my reactions to both of these stories.  How dare I judge the quality of anyone's life?  I just assume that someone who suffers or is disabled can't be happy living through that.  My faith immediately tells me that is wrong, but I'm still struggling with it.

Tonight I read a reflection on Jesus' words to his disciples:  "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you."  How much better can life get than to have your Savior and friend look you in the eye and tell you He loves you as much as God loves Him?  Yet each of these disciples Jesus spoke to would go on to suffer fear, deprivation, doubt and horrendous painful deaths.  God's love doesn't guarantee a "happy" life, at least not by the standards I've been using.

Upon further reflection, I think I'm beginning to understand that suffering can be a gift.  It provides a person the opportunity to witness to God's goodness and mercy in the midst of pain.  Jesus tells us not to be afraid, but to rejoice in the times of trial.  It's not so easy to live life for God's glory when you're living it for your own comfort and enjoyment.  A person who is suffering can give a powerful testimony to God's love and mercy, and show the rest of us that the value of life isn't measured by what we consider health and wealth.  Just look to one of the best examples of this testimony:

A "quality life" is not a life of good health, wealth and worldly happiness.  It comes from the knowledge that life, no matter what the circumstances, is a precious gift from God that is meant to be lived for His glory.



cindy