Final Spring Focus Update, WI

Just about two months ago, I was reading Karen's blog and found out about Sarah's Spring Focus Challenge.  I had just started this bog and decided it was just the thing to help me get started.  It turns out it was wonderfully timed to help me focus on my weight loss and exercise goals.  Now, we've reached the end and here is what has happened in the meanwhile.

Exercise:  When the challenge started my main exercise goal was to complete the C25K program to re-kindle my running.  I did finish it and am now running regularly 3-4 times per week.  I still walk a bit when I get too hot or tired, but I feel like I can call myself a runner again and my overall pace is starting to come down.   Because I'm older, I don't think I want to run every day, so I intersperse the running with regular visits to the gym to lift weights (with Fitlinxx resistance machines).  I also bike a couple of times per week. Other exercise includes occasional hikes, Wii tennis or yoga,  and any other exercise opportunity that comes my way, like the two 1-hour sessions of Zumba I've done in the past couple of days with my DD.  One month ago (on June 5) I decided to challenge myself to exercise every day.  I did it!    In June :

     I ran 64 miles,
     I lifted 176,090 pounds
     I biked 65 miles
     I hiked 14 miles
     I played 3 hours of Wii tennis
     I walked 7 miles

I think I've mentioned that I'm a statistics nerd!  I keep a little red journal and record my daily weight.  I also keep track of other  things, like measurements and daily exercise.  It makes it easier to remember how I've done and to see how my weight loss is related to the exercise I do.

Eating: My plan of choice is WW.  I follow the CORE plan (what they now call Simply Filling) and which is apparently pretty similar to South Beach.  I like it because it doesn't involve any calorie counting or points tracking.   I set several focus goals regarding my eating during this time.  

The first was to drink 8+ cups of water daily.  This I did very well and continue to do now.  It makes me feel full and keeps me from confusing thirst signals with hunger signals.  It is a lot easier to develop this habit when the weather is hot and awful, but I intend to maintain this for life.


Another goal was to check my portion sizes and rein in some overly generous portions.  I did this short term and put a halt to some insidious habits of excess that had snuck into my routine.  No more double size pasta servings.  I intend to repeat the checking periodically.


My final major goal was to eat more slowly.  I'm still working on this one.  At first I just set myself the goal of taking at least 15 minutes to eat dinner.  I can do this pretty well by now.  I'm trying to stretch this to 20 minutes and to be mindful of eating more slowly at breakfast and lunch too.  Breakfast is hard, because I'm often in a hurry, but lunch is coming along.  I like this goal.  It feels good not to always be the first one done at a family dinner.  It also helps big time in letting me be more aware of "full," not-hungry-anymore signals that my tummy might be trying to send me.


Weight: And, of course, the prime motivating reason for the blog and the Spring Focus.  I wanted to lose weight.  I very tentatively set a goal weight loss of 12 pounds over the two months.  I lost like gang-busters from the outset.  Very surprising and gratifying for a certified slow loser.  I went to my WI this morning (a day early for me) and so can tell you that my total loss for the two months is 17 pounds.  Five pounds more than my goal.   Yay!   I seem to be on a mini-plateau right now--same exact weight three weeks running, but I'm confident that with my exercise and good eating in line, the weight loss will follow.  


Thanks to Sarah for starting this, to Karen for posting about it, and to all my bloggy friends for encouragement, suggestions, laughter, and inspiration!


The jury is still out on the s'more. . .   stay tuned!  We're heading up towards Vancouver Island this evening.  The weather is supposed to be perfect.  High 70s and bright sun!

191.0

a word from our Embedded Reporter

Help, I'm stuck in the laundry room.  It's incredible how much laundry one man can generate (because DH outproduces the other two of us by about 3 loads to 1--really).  We're leaving for a 10 day trip to the west coast at the end of the week.  Between watching the little ones, cleaning & sorting clothes in my closet, getting ready for my sister's arrival tomorrow, and doing the day-to-day things, I'm in way over my head.

Mini Spring Focus Update:

Water--yes
Exercise--yes (3 weeks straight,  planned exercise every day)
Eating dinner slowly--yes.  It was a close call last night, but I dawdled like crazy and stretched it to 15 min.
Weight loss--yes  Lost an additional 1.2 at last weeks WI for a grand total of -17 since May 4th.

WI tomorrow--the last WI during the Spring Focus.  I've got my fingers crossed to dip down into the 180s . . . we'll see.

Just found out that our vacay house does have wifi!  Yay.  I thought I'd be totally out of touch.  We'll be in Canada on the west coast of Vancouver Island--just north of Pacific Rim NP.  Avg temps this week never break 60 degrees!  Packing jeans and jackets and warm things.  I'm going to take advantage of the weather and get in some nice long runs.  My daughter's family (the other 3 grandchildren) will be with us and all of DH's sibs, kids and grands plus my sister and FIL.

My bin of too small clothes has changed function this week. It's now a bin of too BIG clothes!  The ones that don't quite fit are on a shelf where they entice me to stay true to my plan.   I feel like I have a brand new wardrobe for my trip.  14s fit well and a couple of the 12s fit, as well.  And, if you're wondering, my bin of too big clothes will go to the thrift shop when it gets full.  I'm not leaving the door open for going back.

? Do you save your bigger clothes or give them away?

Spring Focus Update

Sarah started this timely challenge at the beginning of May.  Her timing was perfect.  I challenged myself to lose 12 pounds in two months and have set myself several behavioral challenges as well.

Weight Challenge:  I have lost 15.8 pounds (at my Weight Watcher weigh-ins on Wednesdays) since May 4th.  This is an astonishing rate of weight loss for me.  I attribute it to, surprise, surprise, diet and exercise.  Things are looking good to lose a bit more before the end of the challenge.

Eating:  Believe me, I AM eating.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I'm using the WW CORE (Simply Filling) plan which I understand is quite similar to the South Beach plan.  This is the way I plan to eat--forever.  It makes a lot of sense and DH likes it too.  We have eaten this way for two years.  It's very "doable." Each meal, for almost two months has been basically on plan.  I have vacationed away from home and celebrated family occasions and eaten out occasionally during that time.  It took planning, but I feel like I ate like I wanted to eat.  A very "clean" diet.  There have been a few 'off-plan' things during that time--like a shared dessert on our anniversary and a handful of almonds on a cross country plane ride, but by and large, I have stayed OP (on plan).   I have deliberately eaten more fish than I used to (cutting down to 1 or fewer red-meat meals/week).  I also stopped having dinner left-overs for lunch the next day.  Instead, I plan a lighter lunch, without a starchy food.   I normally eat 6-7 fruits & vegetables/day and I eat plenty of fiber (from the fruits & vegetables, whole grain cereal in the morning, and whole grain pasta or brown rice with dinner).

Portion Control:  I spent a couple weeks checking on my portions by weighing and measuring.  I found that I was (surprise, surprise) over-estimating.  I think this was a good exercise, but I'm back to estimating--I hope more realistically.   I'll repeat the portion checks occasionally in the future to keep myself on track.

Drinking Water:  I started this at the beginning of the challenge.  I regularly drink 8+ cups of water a day now and will continue this.   I benefit from feeling full.  I especially need this in the summer as I need to rehydrate after exercise.

Exercise:  For the past two weeks I've challenged myself to exercise every day.   DONE!  I run four or more miles 3-4 times a week (if it's very hot, like today, there are some walking  bits interspersed).  I bike 13+ miles two or three times a week.  If I've run very early (like today) I may bike after dinner.  I also lift weights (resistance) at my gym two or three times a week.  If I haven't done any of these things (it's happened once in the past two weeks), I will exercise with my Wii (tennis or yoga). 

     This Week:

     Mon--Run--4 mi

     Tues--Gym--20K lbs

     Wed--Run--4 mi

     Thu--Gym--21K lbs

     Fri--Run--6.2 mi

     Sat--Bike--14 mi

     Sun--Gym-22K lbs,  Walk--2 mi

     Mon--Run--5 mi

Eating Slowly: A little over a week ago, I decided to try to eat more slowly.  I'd heard the suggestion before and was quite aware that I was a speed-eater, but I'd never really tried.  I limited my challenge to eating dinner.   This has been a real eye-opener.  It was hard, at first, but I have been able to increase my average eating time (10 minutes is a generous guess of how long I took to eat dinner).  For more than a week, I've taken 15 or more minutes to eat dinner.  The benefits are 1) I feel more "normal" eating more slowly, 2) I enjoy the food more--savoring flavor, texture, mouth-feel, and taste,  and 3) I have more of a chance to hear my own signals that I am "full."

AHA Moment

We were eating dinner tonight when I happened to notice my son, Jay. I was just about finished with my meal, DH was almost done, but Jay, as usual was still working on his dinner, only half done. Jay is a good eater, he always eats everything he is served and has very few dislikes (he doesn't love nuts, but will work around them). He's just slow. Not the slowest eater I've ever known, but definitely slower than I am. That was my AHA moment. Maybe I should try to slow down when I eat. I've done a lot of tweaking of different things in this life-quest of mine, but I've never even thought of trying to fix this obvious fault. I need to slow down.

Jay was a champion at the Special Olympics in this picture when he was 9.

He's still a champion slow eater!

So this week, that will be my Spring Focus goal. I want to work to slow down my eating. I'm embarrassed to admit, but I usually spend 40- 60 minutes cooking a great meal and only about 10 minutes eating it. My initial goal is modest. I want to spend at least 15 minutes eating my dinner. I'll put smaller amounts on my fork, put down the fork between bites, stop for drinks of water, talk a bit more with DH and Jay, and, if I have to, pace myself to Jay to slow down.

Jay's 14th birthday--he even eats birthday cake slowly!

Jay is our youngest. He is 28, works in a sheltered job in a retirement home restaurant, saves every penny he earns, has a terrific sense of humor, knows the prologue to Romeo & Juliette by heart, picks up litter when he takes his two, mile-long walks around our neighborhood, and loves to shuck corn. He has Down Syndrome. He reads at about a 5th grade level, loves to write in his black & white speckled composition books, and has the world's best collection of VHS & DVDs (all the great musicals, Fairy Tale Theater, every season of Monk, every season of Due South, 12 versions of Romeo & Juliette, the Disney classics, and many other great movies).

I'm doing great, so far, on my goal to exercise every day. I'm going to go work out with my Wii tonight and tomorrow morning is my last day with the C25K. YAY!

Jay shucking corn on the cob a few days ago. He's a handy guy to have around.

How about you? Do you need to take a lesson from Jay about eating more slowly?

Off and Running

I love that first day of school, new notebook, brand-new-sharpened-pencils feel that comes with Monday morning. It's full of possibilities and so appealing to my optimistic soul. So this morning I got up before the alarm and had finished breakfast and was on the running trail before 7 o'clock. What a great way to start the day and the week.

When I got back, I took a quick tour of my garden babies. Here are a couple pix of some of the current

stars that I promised to show you.

That's a knockout rose, my day lily bed, and some hellebore (the green flowers) and a coral honeysuckle.

My Spring Focus goals are going along swimmingly. I wanted to lose 12 pounds between May 4th and July 4th and so far I've lost 9.8 pounds (as measured at my 'official' WW weigh ins). I set a goal to drink 8+ cups of water daily and, except for a couple of days where I knew I wouldn't be able to get to a "facility" easily, I have done this. I think this is a keeper. Having this habit keeps me feeling full. If I get the urge to munch before meals, I have another glass of water and lose the urge. It also does a great job of flushing extra sodium (like from our splurge dinner out at P. F. Changs!). I've also been keeping better track of my portions for a couple of weeks. This has gone okay, but I think the exercise has served its purpose (to make me more aware of the correct portions) and will go back to using my best judgment.

My new short-term goal will address exercise. I want to do some intentional exercise every

day; something over and above the normal exercise I get going about my everyday routine. I'll continue to do my running (week 8 of C25K) 3 or 4 days a week. I'll also bike 13-15 miles a couple of days a week, go to the gym to lift weights 2 or 3 times per week, and do exercise on my Wii Fit as a last resort if I have not managed any of the other three options in a day. I enjoy the Yoga and the Tennis (the Grand Slam Tennis is miles better than the Tennis that comes with the Wii console). I think I can manage every day. I have previously tried to exercise five times per week, but I want to ratchet things up a bit.

My darling grand babies are here (not the garden ones, the human ones). E, dressed in a sparkly, Disney Princess costume, is sitting on her little green potty and watching Sesame Street. J, is in his high chair attacking some chopped strawberries with gusto. I'm going to sign off and play now. Bye!

Spring Focus Update

The Spring Focus is going well. I'm in the groove, which is great news.

First of all, since May 4th, the official beginning of SF, I've lost 3.6 pounds as recorded at my Weight Watcher's weigh in. I'm a slow loser, so this is fabulous. My goal is to lose 12 pounds by July 4. This is kind of a random number, I'll be content to keep up with OP eating and exercise and to keep losing. It doesn't have to be 12 (but that would be nice!).

One of my short term goals is to really solidify the habit of drinking 8+ cups of water a day. Except for one intentional lapse (when we had pricey theatre tickets and I didn't want to have to get up and go) I've really done well with this. Having my own pitcher full of water staring me in the face if I go to 'check on' how things in the fridge are doing really helps. I even find myself getting thirsty if I go for an hour or so without drinking.

A new short term goal, that I'm just beginning is to really pay attention to portions. Today I discovered that I was mis-estimating my standby ff cottage cheese--I thought I was serving myself about 3/4 of a cup, but it was actually less than 1/2 cup! I used a measuring cup to serve myself whole wheat pasta for my spaghetti tonight.

My exercise is an ongoing focus for me. I've just finished week 6 of my C25K and am feeling great about it. DH and I go for a 13 mile bike ride about two times/week. We also go to the gym to lift weights, weight machines, twice a week. Throw in a little Wii tennis for fun and occasional 2 mile walks in the evening.

Weekend Wrap-up

I'm feeling good about the weekend. My meals were all OP and yummy, I exercised each day, and I even made serious inroads on the laundry.

DH and I went on a long bike ride this evening. When he bikes by himself he rides 40-60 miles. He's nice enough to slow down and accompany me on our hour-long rides. We have a great bike trail nearby, but usually prefer to bike on a route through some beautiful neighborhoods and a 150 acre National Park to avoid the crowds. We enjoy looking at the gardens, seeing the houses and there is very little traffic. Our usual route is just over 13 miles and takes us an hour or so. It has one big hill going out and another coming back. The hills aren't actually horrible, but I usually end up in the lowest gear spinning fast and hoping to make it to the top. I'm hoping to get fitter and breeze up that hill by the end of this summer. In nice weather (spring, summer & fall) we go out about three times a week.

My Couch to Five Kilometers C25K running program is going along well. I'm half way through week five (of the nine week program). It always seems like the next step will be harder (impossible), but I've managed so far and anticipate doing tomorrow's run as well. I downloaded a free podcast from itunes that has Christian music with the C25K directions. It's great not to have to consult my watch to time my runs and I love the music. The link, above, to C25K has a link to several podcasts with various languages and music. This is a picture of my running trail. It's in a National Park and absolutely gorgeous. Just five minutes from our house. I use the Nike+ with my Ipod and my little Nike+ Mini to the right of this post will always

tell you how I'm doing. I think, as I write this, that I've logged my 201st run and some 745 miles since I got the Nike+.

I did the C25k two years ago and was running well; I even ran a 10 miler a year ago April, but I slacked off and gained weight. I've never stopped "going running," but my running slowed and got interspersed with lots of walking over the past year. Now I'm getting back in the groove.

Tonight I made one of our go-to favorites, Marinated soy-lemon chicken. We had brown rice and a green salad with red leaf lettuce, avocado, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Last night it was grilled scallops (marinated in orange juice) and a salad (black beans, corn, chopped red pepper, cilantro, green onion, and avocado). Friday night we had a stir fry (sliced red peppers, green onions, shitake mushrooms, and flank steak) and whole wheat orzo mixed with tomatoes, fresh baby spinach, lemon juice, and toasted pinenuts. Lunches were all the same--fat free cottage cheese with fruit (sliced strawberries or canned mandarin oranges). This sounds boring, but I'm trying to stay far away from bread, pasta, or rice for lunch and this is what appeals to me now. And it's super easy. And, for now, it's working. Breakfasts all the same, too. Shredded (non-frosted) mini-wheats and sliced strawberries. Snacks: fruit (clementines, strawberries, natural applesauce), air-popped popcorn last night, meringues (100 calories worth each day), and my favorite, WW bars.

My Spring Focus challenge (see icon/link to the right) is to drink 8+ cups of water every day. So far, so good. It's definitely easier in the summer. Most days, I drink over 8 cups and I always have a glass of water by the bed. It's funny, but I'm even thirsty sometimes. I got a late start drinking my water today (I only had one cup before church and we weren't home until 1 pm) but I'm on my final glass now. I know that Weight Watcher's has changed to suggesting any liquid, but, for me water is better. I still drink fat free milk with dinner and have a very occasional cup of tea, but water is my go-to drink. I'm hoping my water chugging, my exercise, and my OP eating will bring good news at the scale this week.

Any suggestions for a quick non-bread, pasta, rice lunch?