Look at my Halloween Treats!

The cutest little scarecrow I've ever seen.  AKA The Eyelash King.

There's no-one cuter Over the Rainbow.

E&J with their Daddy, our son Johnny.

Surely you didn't think I meant CANDY!   Not me!  These little treats are WAY better than candy.

I'll check in tomorrow.

Perking Along, Hot 100 Update

Thanks to all of you for your encouraging comments re my last post.  I was a little discouraged in face of my plateau, but Karen got it right in seeing through to my optimism.  I still know I'm going to do this.
That said, I did have a rocky couple of days here, perhaps "changing it up a little" from my toe-the-line diet and exercise regimen of recent weeks.  A little bit of exercise and a few "splurges" diet wise.  Enough of that.  Starting with dinner tonight (my crock pot osso bucco) I'm back on the wagon.

To help focus on this, I've include a couple of pix:  The first is from 2006, the second from earlier this month.  The difference is 40+ pounds.  I see it most in my face.  Also in my forlorn hope that wearing all black would give me that "slim look" I was hoping for.  [The curl to my hair must be applied daily and is not a function of my weight!] Am I the only one who buys things in two sizes??  The one that fits, and the one that I hope will be my size later?  I loved that blouse and am glad that I have it in a size that fits me now, too.

Here's my Hot 100 Update:

My goals:

1. Reach my goal weight by Jan 1st by following the WW CORE plan, weigh & record my weight each morning, attend weekly WW meetings.
2. Exercise at least 6 out of 7 days with varied exercise including at least 2 strength workouts and 3 cardio workouts each week averaging 60 minutes per session.
3. Keep my house and my body chocolate free.  This includes dark chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate candy bars and any baked goods that have chocolate in them.

How I did:

1. I attended my WW meeting which confirmed my suspicion that I am stuck on a plateau.  I will continue to eat on the CORE plan and WI every morning and attend my meetings and hope that I (or my weight, anyway) falls over the edge of the plateau soon.
2. Yes.  This is done, though cardio was harder to keep up with as my running was blocked by my hurt toe.  I am going to try to resume running tomorrow morning.
3. Fail.  Chocolate was one of the splurges I had today.  Steve encouraged us to modify our goals, and I am going to take his advice and modify this goal to allow myself 1 oz of chocolate per day.  I kept up the ban for 5 weeks, but I think having this moderate amount daily will help me outlast this weight loss plateau and the upcoming celebration season.

Plateau, WI

My WI this morning had me +.4  This is discouraging as I have been at  or around 179 for FIVE weeks.  I'm thinking this is a PLATEAU. While some plateaux are beautiful, 

Beautiful Plateau

this weight chart plateau is downright discouraging

Frustrating Plateau--5 weeks at 179 Official WI's at WW

Fortunately, the physicsdiet.com graph does show me that I'm making progress in the right direction.  The chart shows a 'moving average' of my morning weights with emphasis on more recent weights.

Daily Morning Weights as seen on Physics.Com

Tish

179.0

Paradigm Shift

I subscribe to WikiHow on my igoogle home page.  It  has interesting, useful,  or totally off-the-wall articles on how to do things.  Like How to Change a Tire on your Bike.  Most useful!  Or,  How to Cut out Perfect Paper Snowflakes. Interesting.  Or, from last week, How to Winterize a Livestock Barn.  Hmmm.

Today's article caught me by surprise:  How to get Lots of Candy on Halloween  I guess there was a time when I'd have been very interested in doing this, but this evening when I saw it, my reaction was totally different. I don't want to have anything to do with Halloween candy and I certainly don't want or need to know how to get "lots" of it.

I avoid Halloween candy.  I've learned (the hard way) not to buy it until the afternoon of October 31st.  I've given our son Jay the job (privilege?) of opening the bags of candy and doling it out to the little ones who knock on the door.

Jay is a super-hero where candy is concerned, he doesn't like candy and doesn't eat it.  I was there at his birth and know he must have at least half of my genes. Why is it that he has always had such a healthy attitude toward and it took his mom 50-some years to get that smart??

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a saint about candy. There are certain kinds that are still very tempting to me. I literally avoid the candy aisle in the grocery store and avert my eyes from the candy displays at the checkout.  I will buy Halloween candy that doesn't tempt me.  I've been known to buy just mini boxes of raisins and might go that route again this year. Besides Jay, I have another ally in avoiding the pitfalls of Halloween candy. DH, as you may know, is a lifetime member of WW and has been at or below his goal weight for more than two years. He doesn't want to take "leftovers" from Halloween night to his work and I certainly don't want them here. We jointly dump the leftover candy in the trash as soon as we decide to turn off the porch lights.

One thing I definitely don't need to know:  How to Get Lots of Halloween Candy!

What's your take on Halloween Candy?

Plan B

The exercise schedule in my head called for a long run this weekend.  However, my two littlest toes on my right foot have been getting a little too close and I have a very painful corn that's developed between the toes.  Painful as in it hurts to walk without a layer of silicon between the toes.  Painful as in no way I was going to wear anything but roomy clunky shoes to church this morning.  Painful as in running hurts and would most likely exacerbate the problem with my toes.  You might have noticed in the upper right of my sidebar, that my little Nike+ running avatar is dissing me.  :D I may start wearing it when I walk with DH at night, just so it gets some action.

Not exercising is not an option.  I did kettle bells last night [only 1 more session until my guaranteed results!!] Today, I needed some good cardio.  Biking to the rescue!  I so enjoyed my long ride with Sharon on Thursday that I've decided to explore some more of the great biking trails in this area and expand my repertoire of biking routes.

Today I went the other direction on the Mount Vernon Bike Path, towards Alexandria.  Another glorious day.  I set off about 2:30 without a distance or time goal in mind.  I decided I'd just bike and turn around when I felt like it.  The first part of the path is very familiar to me as I usually do my running on that path.  The bike took me further, though, and I saw some beautiful neighborhoods and areas of my city that I'd never seen.  I ended up riding about 20 miles in two hours.  My little toes felt just fine.

I'm still taking encouragement from my physicsdiet.com charts.  Losing slowly, but losing.  Oh, I was able to finally wear the green dress (size 10P) that I bought at the beginning of September.  Here's my chart from Aug 31 to today.  [you can click on the chart to enlarge the picture]

What do YOU do when your exercise plan doesn't work out?  Do you have a Plan B?

Biker Girls, Hot 100 Update

About to take off after a nice OP breakfast at our B&B with a nice send off from DH,
our one armed support team.

Wait!  I could be drafting behind Sharon if I hurry.

Evidence that we started before the 34 mile marker on the trail.

Carolina Brothers BBQ stop at the 6 mile point, too bad it was only 10:30 am!

Self portrait.  Still smiling.

Sharon and DH enjoying a lunch break at a trail side Whole Foods.

DH,  our super-duper one armed Support Team.

Trail's end, 34.5 miles later.  Tired but HAPPY and feeling very accomplished.

We had a great time.  No flats, no unintended pizza stops, no weirdos on the trail,  and only one snake.  We're definitely going to do this again--and we're hoping the fellas get to come with us next time.  My caloriecount.com site tells me I burned 1768 calories on our ride!   

It's time for the Hot 100 Update!


My goals:

1. Reach my goal weight by Jan 1st by following the WW CORE plan, weigh & record my weight each morning, attend weekly WW meetings.
2. Exercise at least 6 out of 7 days with varied exercise including at least 2 strength workouts and 3 cardio workouts each week averaging 60 minutes per session.
3. Keep my house and my body chocolate free.  This includes dark chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate candy bars and any baked goods that have chocolate in them.

How I did this week:

1. I did not go to my WW meeting (I was out of town on a bike holiday).  My daily morning weights indicate that I am losing, slowly, but regularly.  I will definitely weigh in next week.  I ate OP all week.
2. Nailed this one.  Praise Moves, Hiking, Running, Biking, Strength Training at the Gym, more Hiking, LOTS more Biking.  Averaged more than 120 minutes per day!!!
3. Sharon says I didn't and she was keeping track!  YAY for me.

I'm feeling good about things, EXCEPT I really want to hunker down and get my weight moving down a little faster.  I'm looking forward to a good WI next week.

All for now.  

Quick Update

Hi all,

Another wonderful day.  We changed our plans a bit and instead of biking today, we hiked in Sky Meadows State Park.  An overcast morning opened up to a beautiful sunny fall afternoon.  I took some great pix, but forgot to pack my download cord.  We're enjoying a very nice B&B in Leesburg and tomorrow morning Sharon and I will bike on the W&OD (Washington and Old Dominion) bike trail back towards home (~30 miles).  DH, still sporting a whole arm cast will drive home and meet us at trail's end (or earlier if we call him).

I did not go to my WI today as we were running late AND I didn't get in my last chance run.  I thought about going to the meeting here tomorrow, but it's after our B&B breakfast.  I don't want to hop on the scale right after breakfast AND we want to get a relatively early start.  I think I'll just skip this week.  I can't share any new pix, but I'll leave you with today's physicsdiet chart--showing lots of green.

Happy trails to YOU, too.

The day before WI

Hi all!   I got my trip to the gym in early today and managed to add a bit to my usual routine of lifting.  Later I met Sharon & Mr. B and we stopped for lunch at a great little Italian bistro place in Alexandria before heading into DC.

We took a behind the scenes tour at the National Cathedral.  Then we drove to Arlington National Cemetery.  Here are some pix:

View from the South Crossing

Not a gargoyle (no gutter pipe) but a "grotesque."

Unbelievably beautiful fall leaves.

View from JFK's eternal flame back toward Washington

Me, beside my sweet mother's grave.  She would have been 90 yesterday.

We're eating so well--healthy, nutritious, and OP.  Tonight we had Tilapia, broccoli, & roasted butternut squash.  After dinner--Wii time!  Sharon and Mr. B were newbies to the Wii and we had a great time and laughed a lot while playing with the Wii fit and some of the basic sport games.  I think we may have gotten Mr. B hooked!  

Tomorrow we're off on our mini bike holiday.  Lots of biking.  I plan to go to my WI on the way out to our bike holiday headquarters.  Off to bed now so I can get in my Last Chance Run before the WI.  

Bye for now.

Perfect 10

As If 

Mr. B and Sharon

What a great day!  Biked to Mount Vernon with Sharon and Mr. B today.  Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect route, and perfect destination.   Our ride was about 16 miles round trip, including lots of hills. We parked the bikes and toured Mount Vernon when we got there.  Here's a picture taken along the Potomac River on our way. Nice snacks of almonds and dried apricots and plenty of water.  We toured the house, explored many of the trails on the grounds, and went through the new Education center.  One of the highlights was the film of Washington's military career that included a couple snowfalls on the audience.  We also enjoyed the long DOWNhill parts on the ride home!







Thanks to my daughter, Laura, I've found a new weight loss tool that is really fun and quite interesting.  Laura has lost about 20 pounds in the past couple of months by using this site:  caloriecount.com 
You enter a bit about yourself (weight, height, age) and then enter your food and exercise each day and it analyses your nutrition.  I really like seeing how well I'm doing on filling my nutritional needs.  I do take a daily vitamin, but I'm interested in filling those needs with things that I eat.  Here are a few of the charts it had for me after I entered today's food.

Check it out!

Fabulous Friday, Hot 100 Update

Hello loyal readers.  I've been bad about posting this week and am woefully behind on reading (I MISS you guys!), but all is well and I hope to get back to my regular blog routine.  Thanks for sticking with me.

Sharon and I rocked it today with diet and exercise.  We went to 75 minutes of Praise Moves (yoga) this morning and enjoyed a perfect fall hike this afternoon at Mason Neck State Park.  Mid 60s, sunshine, a light breeze, leaves painted in fall colors and good company--what more can you ask for.

Orange Dream

Our meals have been spot-on perfect.  It's like having your conscience personified keeping you company all day--in a very good way. Maybe like Oprah's food and exercise coach who was with her throughout the day. Dinner tonight was baked chicken with lemon-soy sauce, brown rice, roasted butternut squash and roasted green beans.  For dessert we had this:
Orange Dream
Combine 1 large container of plain, fat free yogurt with 1 large container sugarless jello (orange is my favorite).  Nuke on "high" for two minutes in the microwave. Stir well. Pour into four parfait glass and layer with fat free cool whip as desired. Garnish with mandarin orange slices and sliced, toasted almonds.   YUM!

Mr. B (Sharon's husband) arrived this evening.  Tomorrow morning we're all going to bike to Mount Vernon (except for DH, still hostage to his full arm cast, who will meet us there to tour the plantation).

Hot 100 Update--Week Three


My goals:

1. Reach my goal weight by Jan 1st by following the WW CORE plan, weigh & record my weight each morning, attend weekly WW meetings.
2. Exercise at least 6 out of 7 days with varied exercise including at least 2 strength workouts and 3 cardio workouts each week averaging 60 minutes per session.
3. Keep my house and my body chocolate free.  This includes dark chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate candy bars and any baked goods that have chocolate in them.

How I did:

1. I lost .4 pounds at this week's WI so I have 15.6 pounds to lose by New Year's to reach my goal.  I'm hoping that I'm finally getting over the plateau and will still be able to reach the goal. 
2. Done.  I exercised 6 out of 7, ran 4 times and did 3 cardio workouts.
3. YES.  There was a near disaster this morning when I saw a solitary chocolate chip that was on my kitchen counter.  It managed to rouse all my chocolate cravings.  Fortunately, on closer inspection, I discovered that the chocolate chip was actually a half coffee bean that had escaped from the grinding process earlier in the morning. 

Wordless Thursday (!), WI

Sharon (Gains and Losses Life Through Sharons Eyes)  is here!!! We'll both post tomorrow, I promise.

Yes, Green is Good!

WI today.  Down 2 sticks o' butter.

178.6

Weekend Recap

With DH in front of a corn field.

E with Rudolph and Daddy
The pink tutu is E's, not Daddy's!

We're BACK!  We had a great weekend. We left Saturday morning and went to a wonderful rural farm called Butler's Orchards in Maryland.  Our youngest granddaughter, E, was celebrating her third birthday and we all met there to enjoy a Pumpkin festival.  We had a great time.  Hayrides, a pumpkin patch, a huge Cinderella pumpkin carriage, giant slides, ponies, large shallow bins of dried corn, and a moon bounce area. We had a lot of fun.  No kids besides E & little brother J, but parents and a full complement of grandparents, an aunt, and a grown cousin.  We had birthday cake in the grass by a corn field.  I passed on the cake, but had brought 4 large cans of mandarin orange pieces (which I know E adores) and everyone wanted some.  I also had some ff cottage cheese, but no one else opted for that--guess they were full of cake or something!

DH, Jay and me with Aunt Bettie

After the party we kept on going out to Nellysford, near Charlottesville to spend a couple days with my aunt.  She's my mother's only sibling and one of my favorite people to spend time with.  You'd never guess she was 88.  I always thought I was adopted because I don't particularly look like either one of my parents, but whenever I've spent time with her, people assume that I'm her daughter.  I'd love to think I'll look like her when I'm 88!  Interestingly enough, though she was never obese, she did lose 25 pounds (with Weight Watchers) when she was in her late 40s and has kept within a few pounds of her goal weight for 40 some years.  She was very interested in my eating plan and diet strategies because she complained that those few pounds were all settled around her waist and she wants to get rid of them.

Meals went fine.  I said I'd bring makings and cook dinner the first night we were there.  I put the ingredients for my go-to stir fry in our cooler and so that was dinner. She offered ice cream for dessert (which pleased Jay no end!) but I opted for a wonderful Bartlett pear.  I also took my ff cottage cheese and mandarin oranges for lunches, and a box of my shredded wheat for breakfasts.  Dinner the second night was a pork roast, a squash casserole, sweet potatoes, and a turnip slaw.  There was a bit of margarine in the casserole and some bacon cooked over the roast, but I ate reasonable portions and avoided things I don't eat.  I offered to make a green salad with my olive oil vinaigrette and had that instead of the slaw (mayo & sugar).

I went running in her beautiful neighborhood just before sunset the first night--views of the mountains and valleys with a definite touch of fall color.   I took a bye on exercise yesterday.  I went for a long run when we got back this afternoon.  I'm still good for 6 out of 7.  The scale was telling me good things when I was there, and that helped me stay on track.

I don't have any babysitting duties this week because Johnny and his family are going on a small vacation.  I'll be busy, though, because we're expecting company later on in the week.  This is the week I get to meet one of YOU!   Two points if you've put two and two together and can name that blogger!  I feel you can definitely expect two very on track bloggers over the next 10 days or so--sort of like camp--lots of exercise (hiking, a mini bike holiday, Praise moves, and maybe some Wii tennis and kettlebells), good OP eating, and lots of positive reinforcement!

Okay,  I'm off to tackle some laundry . . .

Happy Weekend

I've got my running shoes, my pillow, my journal and my scale packed.  We're off for a weekend getaway.  No WiFi or even Internet.  Yikes!  I may have withdrawal symptoms by the time we return on Monday.  Be good, have a great weekend--I know I will.