Odyssey : Sunday’s weigh-in showdown!!!

For years, I have logged my weight first thing on a Sunday morning. I do sometimes weigh in during the week as well but it’s probably not a good thing to do if the results checked on a daily basis are likely to throw one off course.

I can say with honesty that I do not get all upset if I have gained weight. I will ALWAYS know why I have gained!!   

Readers who honour me by subscribing to this blog will know that my Odyssey has been a ‘mixed bag’ of a spectacular (if I say so myself!) success of 25kg lost and then a stumbling, erratic climb in weight. About 15kg regained in fact. Hating to admit that!!

The reasons for losing my way on the Odyssey are legion and would fill a dozen posts. I will spare you all that pain!

In future posts though, I will refer to the various factors that caused my wandering off the path; that is what an odyssey is, not so?  :-)

OK, Eileen, let’s cut to the chase!  Tra-la!! … 2.2kg lost since 18th December. 2.2kg in 4 weeks – about spot-on per target of .5kg per week. And that over the festive season.

Sorry, being cocky here I know but taking a bow here and patting myself on the back…hhmm.. difficult to do at the same time… !!!! 

Have a great Sunday xx

 

 

ODYSSEY : A fragile rebirth

Wow! Long time no talk!
Slowly, slowly catchee monkee…..

With immeasurable encouragement from the matchless Dr Anna Hall and her two ebullient, stunning daughters, I have joined a new lifestyle/weight-loss support group started three weeks ago.

Anna Hall, with her passion for patient education and care, has started the support group to assist those of us keen to pursue a healthy lifestyle coupled with a healthy weight.
We have formed a tremendously supportive, very informal support system and we meet every Tuesday evening at Dr Hall’s rooms in Monte Vista, just off the N1.

E-mails fly back and forth all week long and we also hang out in our own closed Facebook group. Anna prepares a short presentation to kick off each weekly session; on any health topic we choose. How cool (and generous) is that! I don’t think it is too late come join us; check out Dr Anna’s website!

So wish me luck with this new beginning which follows a really turbulent and challenging chapter in my life

ODYSSEY : Hanging in there..but only just

“Before you begin a thing,

remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead…

You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal.

Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.”

– Kathleen Norris, Writer

Dedicated to all of you who, like me, are voyaging on choppy seas at this time. Yikes! The water is DEEP!

DEATH OF A TREE :

Crazy thing to write about, hey?

When we moved to La Rochelle, we realised that if we were to make any kind of start on re-vamping the garden, we would have to – sadly – remove a VERY tall, VERY messy and VERY old palm tree. This was not an easy decision as this tree must have been all of 50 to 60 years old.

We were told by one of the very interested neighbours that gathered to watch the spectacle that the tree would have been planted near the original opstal of the now disappeared La Rochelle vineyard. Be that as it may (and I will try to look it up when I have a mo’), Marc had obtained quotes to remove this monster speciman. They ranged from R10 000 down to R3 600! Not cheap.

The decision duly made, we gave the work to a very experienced tree feller who moved in with alacrity. I think work was a little slow in his business.

Herewith some shots of the grand old tree for posterity. Farewell oh mighty one. RIP.

You can see the height of the palm in relation to the corner of the house roof just visible on the right.

The tree feller was perfectly nonchalant about his task.

The tree feller did concede that our tree was the tallest he had ever had to tackle.

I also have a very short video of our tree’s final moments – but have to upload to web and then insert in this post. Will try to do that sometime as the .mov file I have is unacceptable for upload!

ODYSSEY: All psyched up & nowhere to go!

Yeah well no fine. There I was – on Saturday morning all fired up, fasted and keen to get my latest lot of bloods done.

Tootled along in the new Yaris (now named Ruby btw!) to the lab we now use.. only to find they do not open on Saturdays…. Sh*t… not impressed. I was on my way to pick up my granddaughter to take her to a birthday party so could not shoot through to Milnerton where the Pathcare lab does open on Saturdays. I was planning to go on Friday am but decided on Saturday as Fridays would cut into my working day….. hhhmmm. Will have to go to Pathcare lab tomorrow am.

The regular blood tests have now become even more important in my life as I made some quite momentous decisions recently.

Quite momentous in that I have been battling to curb a backslide in my weight loss progress since all the ‘snot en trane’ of the last half year or so. I need all the help and motivation I can get but I have nonetheless resigned from Weigh-Less.  I will miss the lovely pamphlets they produce and I will miss some of the people I met while there in 2009/2010. I will be glad to have R125 a month more to spend on good, quality food. But for the rest – well quite frankly I truly believe that I can teach most of them a thing or two. Some GL’s are tremendous and others just do not have ‘it’ I am afraid.

I have come to the realisation that I went about my weight loss in completely the wrong way. How can a 25kg weight loss not be a raging success story?  You may well ask! I did the right things for me (I thought) – low GI eating plan mainly of my own creation; using nutrition software to keep track of intake; some increase in physical activity >>>>> and therein lies the crunch!

I have realised that far more than what that damn scale says, it is in fact body fat % that has to be monitored and brought down to within the normal  range. At a 25kg weight loss, I looked pretty darn good if I say so myself and I still get compliments about my June 2010 birthday photo used on most websites I frequent. BUT BUT BUT I was a skinny(ish!) fat person!

If body fat % is right, then the weight will be right too… I think… any comments greatly appreciated here!

Lack of robust physical exercise during my weight loss journey resulted in far too much of that 25kg loss being lean muscle. I can feel that and see that in myself. To rectify the matter will not be a simple undertaking but I plan to give it a go. The low GI eating is resuming (for me the only way to go) and the nutrition software has been ‘re-booted’!  The CRUNCH is going to be the physical exercise – aerobic; stretching; light weights; core;  – dear heaven this is not going to be easy at all!!

Anyone know when I can buy reasonably priced skinfold calipers? I am serious! Can order from the USA for +- $20 BUT the freight costs are very high.  www.chponline.com.

While we are mentioning websites here, check out the new diabetes website www.mydiablog.com. Had a long chat with the founder this evening – a German named Wolf. What a great guy.

Blue Tuesday coming up – had a great weekend out & about in the sunshine so not looking forward to my desk again early tomorrow morning.

Have a great week everyone.

ODYSSEY : Turbulence

Morning all

In all the turbulence I am experiencing at this time, I am trying to regain some semblance of control by sorting out files, papers, making copious To-Do lists and just generally getting on everyone’s case!

I came across this quotation (you know how I love them) that resonates with me:

“Patience – it is the ability to idle your motor when you actually feel like stripping your gears…”
- Anonymous - 

I will talk to you all again soon but in the meantime – What do you know about HAES? Have I got your attention? I hope so. I will fill you in on this lifestyle/health approach soon!

Have great day

 

ODYSSEY CONTINUED : SMART goals

My post this morning has to do with goals.  And what’s more, this post is cribbed directly off a newsletter I subscribe to.  Tom Venuto’s BURN THE FAT Fat Burning Tips E-zine : www.burnthefat.com.

‘They’ say – and I have always believed implicitly in this – that a goal is but a dream until it is written down. This post fits in nicely with my post of yesterday about New Year’s resolutions.

Whether we call them resolutions or goals, we surely all aspire to something in  this fresh New Year? It’s like a nice clean sheet; a new blank page in your new 2011 Journal – you do try to keep a journal do you not?!  You do at least try to keep a food log do you not?!  

I think I have mentioned before that some years ago I created an Excel workbook which enabled Weigh-Less members to record daily food intake and the various formulas would add up and track their daily progress. If any one part of the daily formula was exceeded, the figures would start showing in RED!!! If anyone is interested, I could try and dig it up again from the bowels of my computer! Back in about 2007, I sent out literally hundreds of copies of this spread-sheet. Each page also has space for remarks where you can record what a shit day you are having!

But, as usual, I digress ….. let me just get on with it and list what Venuto calls SMART as well as SMART-ER goals:

1. Specific. Set goals with clarity. Get clear. Get precise. Be specific. Your mind does not respond well to generalities.

2. Measurable. Set goals that can be quantified in  measurable units. Kg weight; body fat % (more about that soon); body measurements; clothing sizes.

3. Accountable. Set goals that you can be held accountable to.  Accountable to yourself with weekly progress charts; a daily nutrition diary/food log; and possibly a training journal. Double that accountability by submitting your results to a third party who can hold you accountable!

4. Realistic. Set goals that are attainable and maintainable. ,5kg a week FAT loss a week is attainable.  1Kg per week would be awesome and not quite so easy imho! I will talk about FAT loss in future posts. I am NO expert but have been reading up about it.

5. Time bound. Set goals with deadlines. With no time limit, there is no urgency for completion. Set weekly goals for nutrition and workouts (!); weekly weight and body composition; then look ahead and check quarterly progress. Set long term goals.

Now for the ER part.

6. Emotional. Goals give direction but strong emotions are the propulsion system that drives you in the desired direction. Connect your goals to your values. What’s most important to you about reaching your goals? What will reaching your goals do for you? What will your life be like then? How will reaching your goals make you FEEL?

7. Review often. Stay laser-focused by writing and reading your goals every day. Repetition is one of the keys to re-programming your mental computer for success.

Of course, I have to add my own little rider to this – also adapted from Tom Venuto’s words -

Work HARD at achieving your goals and EXPECT success!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We are goofing off today with our family on one of our ‘most-est’ favourite jaunts – a trip down to Simonstown  – replete with cat box in the boot.  Love that historic place. Now (sorta!)  settled in our new home, I am  ready to rescue a kitten from TEARS – though I greatly fear it may turn out to be two kitties from TEARS as all three of our grandchildren want to be part of the process.  At R450 each, they are not cheap rescues either! But of course we  understand and accept that it is more about donating to an incredible organisation rather than the cost of a kitten per se.

Have a great day everyone!