What Does It Take?

What it takes to live a healthy lifestyle:

1. Making the right food choices and sometimes saying "no" to something you want.

2. Giving up an hour or so of your day to commit to exercise.


What it takes to continue living an unhealthy lifestyle:

1. Living with health related illesses (if not now, then later), such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma and more.

2. Feeling fatigued and having no energy most of the time.

3. Living with physical pain and breathlessness. Being overweight can cause conditions such as plantar fasciitis (chronically inflamed heels), lack of being able to breathe properly when doing simple things like climbing the stairs in your home, sleep apnea (stopping breathing for moments at a time during your sleep which can be potentially very dangerous), and worse.

4. Living with being teased about your weight, your looks or your lack of physical fitness.

5. Low self-esteem. Being overweight can often correspond with a low self-esteem.

6. Living with not being able to fit into your favorite style of clothes or not being able to shop in the regular-sized clothing stores.

7. Having embarrassing moments such as having to ask for seat belt extenders when on a plane or not fitting onto a roller coaster ride or being uncomfortable sitting in a chair that has arms because the arms squeeze into you.

8. Feeling self-conscious when eating in public. Although it is doubtful anyone is sitting in judgment, it is not always the way things play out in our minds.

The list could be longer, but I will stop here. I know which of the lists I prefer. Do you?

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Planning Ahead & Doing Well

Planning is important when trying to lose weight. If you plan ahead what you are going to eat for the week, it is much easier to avoid those tempting moments when you are hungry, don't know what there is to eat and grab something unhealthy for a quick fix.

With that in mind, Robert and I did a lot of planning ahead for this week. We won the new Slimming World cookbook "A World Of Flavours" at the last Slimming World meeting, so we decided to cook from it this week. So far I have made us two things from the book.

The first recipe we tried was Baked Cannelloni (Italian). We had broccolli as a side dish and the meal was delicious! The recipe feeds four, so Robert, our two teenage daughters and I were all able to have it, and everyone enjoyed it. It was even enjoyable enough for my teenager Angelica that she was willing to eat spinach! (There was spinach in the recipe, and she normally won't eat anything with spinach in it, but she liked the cannelloni.)

Tonight we had Vegetable Lasagne (Italian). It was delicious too, and importantly, it got my teenage daughters eating vegetables without complaining about it! It was full of healthy vegetables like bell peppers, courgettes, onion, and aubergines.

Tomorrow we are having Falafels (Morrocan) and the Tomato & Courgette Flan (French). I'm preparing the mixture for the falafels tonight and cooking it tomorrow. If I have time, I will also be making us the Spanish Orange Cake.

Tuesday, we will be making New York-style Meatloaf (North American) and on Wednesday, we will be trying the Baked Gnocchi (Italian). I am really looking forward to trying all of these new dishes.

I will be adding all of these recipes to my recipe blog as we try them out, along with what we thought about them.

Next week, we might try some of the recipes from the sections for Greece, India, China and Thailand to add even more variety to our meals.

Robert and I have been very, very good this week with our eating and exercise. I've been on the elliptical crosstrainer many times this week, the Wii Fit (using handweights) many times this week, and we've gone on several long walks. We've stuck to the Slimming World plan all week and used very few of our allowed "syns."

I am very hopeful that this week I will finally get past this plateau I've been stuck on for five weeks. My weigh-in is tomorrow night. I'll have a good idea by morning whether or not I will have a successful weigh-in or not. I am probably going to be a little worried until then though, because for the past five weeks, being "good" with my diet and exercise hasn't given me any results. I'm just praying that adding a little extra exercise and getting more variety in my diet has helped.

Challenging The Plateau

I am so tired of fighting this weight! I've been stuck at the same weight for 5 weigh-ins (if you count the week I went up two only to follow by going down two the next week). And this week, my weight jumped up a little right after my weigh-in (as it usually does), but no matter how good I am being, it seems to want to stay up. I am doing more exercise (again, even though I told myself I would never over-exercise again). I am eating completely on plan with hardly any "syns" used at all. But it looks like I might continue at this weight for yet another weigh-in. (I'm really hoping this weekend shows my weight start to drop.)

I don't get it! I lost 127.5 pounds with a pretty steady amount of weekly loss, and yet once I reached the magic ten-pounds-left number, everything stopped, and even changing things up doesn't seem to be shifting it.

And the really frustrating part about this ten pounds hanging on is that I pay £4.75 a week for my weekly weigh-ins and group meetings at Slimming World, but once I reach my goal weight, I get to go for free. So not losing this last ten pounds is costing me money!

*sigh*

I know I should not focus so much on the weight, but it's just ten little pounds! I will not be beat by TEN FREAKIN' POUNDS!

I am stronger now, and that is a good thing. My BMI is probably better than my weight would suggest it is because I have added muscle to my body. My husband keeps referring to me as "tiny" and "petite" (which is music to a formerly morbidly obese person's ears). I have lots of energy too, which I did not have when I was seriously overweight. I can buy pretty clothes in a variety of styles IN MY SIZE, and they look GOOD on me now. I am still losing inches.

And yet that last ten pounds taunts me. I can hear it chanting, "Neener-neener-neener! You caaan't catch meeee!"

But, with my competitive streak in full force now, I know I will beat it. The thought that rises to my mind in response to its taunting is, "Wanna bet?"

Back On The Elliptical Crosstrainer

I must admit, on the day my sweet kitty Caspian died, I did not use the elliptical crosstrainer. I didn't use the Wii Fit either. I did, however, still go for the hour-long walk with my husband and our dog. We spent the walk reminiscing about all the good memories that involved Caspian and all the times he had made us laugh.

Yesterday, I did a lot of exercise though. I spent an hour on the elliptical crosstrainer (10.2 miles). I spent an hour and two minutes on the Wii Fit doing aerobics with 15 minutes of that time using hand-weights. And I still went with my husband to walk the dog, walking for an hour.

I doubt I'll be able to fit three hours of exercise in every day, but my kids are all off of school this week. Having the teenagers home makes it a little easier for me to fit extra exercise time in. And now that I am under 200 pounds, I intend to put some distance between me and the 200 pound mark.

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Because talking about the funny or cute things Caspian did turned out to be really cathartic, I started a new blog to continue to do this. The Kitty's Corner

There's nothing in it yet, but there will be later today. Please send me stories and pictures about your beloved cats, whether they have passed on or are still around, and I will include them in the blog. You can ask for a link back to your site and let me know what name you want credited for the story. With permission, I would like to include the best stories in a book compilation. (Note: You must be the copyright holder of the stories and photos.) You can send other things too. For example, my husband drew a couple of comics based on our cat that I will post there. And a friend of mine painted a beautiful portrait of her cat that I'd love to share there.

Terry's Chocolate Orange

I had to buy some milk and bread a couple of days ago, so I bundled the kids up and got the two youngest into the double stroller and walked to the shops that are about a ten minute walk from here. I bought what we needed and then walked home. I got to my front door and turned the key, and then turned to help Connor, my two year old, out of the front of the stroller.

In his arms was a Terry's Chocolate Orange. He must have grabbed it while I was paying for the milk and bread. Stores always leave horribly fattening and bad-for-you stuff near the tills. Connor hugged it to him like he would a favorite toy.

I didn't want to walk all the way back to the shop, so I decided to take it back or pay for it next time I go.

In the meantime, I considered the treat. I used to love those milk chocolatey orange segments. In fact, with a bite here and there throughout the day, there were times when I would eat an entire chocolate orange in one day.

So how many calories would I be consuming when I had days like that? Well, the box for the chocolate orange says it is 139 calories for a three segments serving. There are 20 segments in a Terry's Chocolate Orange. That comes to a whopping 926.6 calories!

Even knowing this, the smooth texture and delicious scent of the orange called to me all day. *sigh*

Fighting the Snacking Urge

Tonight is my official weigh-in. So of course, I am determined not to blow my healthy lifestyle at the last minute before weigh-in when I have been good all week. And naturally, I am getting the worst cravings for something chocolate and sweet!

I managed to do 80 minutes (13.7 miles) on the elliptical crosstrainer, and I am just going to have to battle those munchies I am feeling. Or maybe I'll have a bite of something sweet to help get rid of the urge for it. I don't know which plan will work better.

Cooking for Slimming World Meeting

Today is another day at Slimming World where everyone is supposed to bring a low-fat or low-syn dish to share. Last time, I made a cheesecake, and everyone liked it, so this time, I made a chocolate cheesecake. Robert made two things. He made a vegetarian pizza and a Spinach and Herb Fritatta. I will share the recipes with photos of the dishes later, once we've had a chance to try them and see if they are any good. The chocolate cheesecake was made with the same recipe I used for the last cheesecake, but instead of adding a teaspoon of cinnamon, I added three tablespoons of Hershey's Cocoa Powder. I won't know if that was the right amount or how good or bad it tastes until the meeting when I get a chance to try it.

Why Lose Weight?

Sometimes, especially when motivation is lacking, it helps to make a list of the reasons why you want to lose weight.

For me, losing weight has many benefits. One big benefit is looking better. I really want to look better and be able to wear the styles of clothes I like. Right now, at my current weight, those styles are not very flattering.

Another benefit is health. Diabetes runs in my family, and being overweight makes it even more likely that I will end up with the same disease. Also, I don't like feeling out of breath when I do simple things. I suffer from back pain regularly, and carrying around the extra weight makes it worse. I used to suffer from plantar fasciitis (painful, inflamed heels). It made it painful for me to stand or walk, and I hobbled around as if I was arthritic. That has already gone away just since losing the little bit of extra weight that I already have.

In my last two pregnancies, I developed high blood pressure. Both times it became dangerous and with one of those pregnancies, it became life-threatening. So far, in this pregnancy, my blood pressure has remained low. In fact, it is even better than it usually is when I'm not pregnant! Seeing the obstetrician and midwife yesterday was a good thing as I heard from them how good I have been doing to lose all of this weight and in keeping my blood pressure down.

Yet another benefit is energy. I have teenagers and small children. For the small children, a lot of energy is required. I have found that I do not have as much energy in dealing with them as I had when my teenagers were small. But when my teenagers were small, I was ten years younger and weighed almost 100 pounds less than I do now. My age might have something to do with having less energy, but I am more inclined to see it as caused by my weight. Being overweight, not exercising and eating unhealthy, high carb and high fat foods is known for making people feel sluggish and tired.

Another benefit is sleep. Since starting to exercise regularly, I sleep better. Getting better sleep helps me in so many weighs. I have more patience with my kids, I crave less sweet, sugary food and I have more energy.

Another big benefit is self esteem. My self esteem is better when I am thinner, and even before getting to my goal weight, just knowing that I am able to do this, that I am able to lose the weight and overcome many obstacles in order to do so, helps my self esteem.

There's also the benefit of being a good and healthy example for my children. I really do not want them to struggle with their weight the way I have. I want them to see that exercise is a good thing and that eating healthy is so much more enjoyable and desireable than eating sweets and other junk.

Gaining control. That's another benefit. My eating can and has in the past been out of control. I would occassionally binge eat, and I always felt badly after doing so, but never felt like I could stop myself. There were days when I would make up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and, instead of baking cookies for the family, I would eat the whole batch of cookie dough! I was completely out of control! But now, I wouldn't dream of doing that. I am able to control my cravings, to an extent, and in so doing, have taken control of my eating habits. In taking control of my eating habits, I am helping to show myself that I am just as capable of taking control in other areas of my life.

The list of benefits to losing weight can go on from here. There are so many reasons to lose the excess weight and so few reasons to keep it. Why not make your own list?

Weigh-in Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my weigh-in. I've been eating well and exercising, so I should lose some weight, even if it's only a little bit. I've been craving sweets lately though. It's been a real struggle not to stuff my face with food that is bad for me. I'm not sure what is causing the cravings.

Still, I should be down at least another pound at tomorrrow's weigh-in. And because my husband has already reached his ideal weight, we are taking the whole family out on Friday to a favorite restaurant of ours to celebrate our weight loss. I feel fairly confident that I will be able to choose a healthy menu there, despite the naughty cravings I have been having.