August | 2013 | Weighty Matters

Checking Out Recipes

by Mary Stella

I love the Internet for many reasons, not the least of which is the easy, nearly immediate, access to information. while chatting on the phone tonight with my friend, Janet, I talked about my kale-rutabaga-cannellini bean soup that I invented. This reminded her of watching Andrew Weil cook a super curried cauliflower soup on the Doctor Oz show. She read the recipe to me but I didn’t have time to write it down, but that didn’t matter. A few clicks on my keyboard and I had the recipe.

While I was on the website, my interest was immediately caught by another recipe for a purple power smoothie. Seriously! I love smoothies and purple is my favorite color. Of course I had to immediately check out this recipe too. Strawberries, blueberries and bananas — Yum! One thing it calls for, that I’ve never tried, is firm tofu. That sounds like a good protein boost. Yep, I printed out this recipe too and will pick up the ingredients this weekend.

I made a smoothie this week with strawberries, pineapple and dragon fruit. Isn’t this a lovely morning drink?

I like getting excited about healthy foods and nutritious recipes. This journey isn’t about eating crappy stuff that doesn’t taste good. It’s about nourishing my body with good food, taking time to select and prepare quality ingredients, and sticking to my food plan. There is a greater likelihood that I will, indeed, stick to that plan if I enjoy the things I’m eating and drinking. The trick is just not to eat and drink too much.

Got any nutritious recipes that you really enjoy? I’d love to check them out!

General Musings

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Taking Nothing for Granted

by Mary Stella

I haven’t been to a Zumba class in to weeks because of meetings, renovations to the place where classes are held and then my vacation. I looked forward to tonight’s class ever since I got home from my trip. After work, I took the dogs for a walk, fed them and then went to the bedroom to change into workout clothes. When I balanced on one foot at a time to pull on my exercise shorts, I flashed back to two years ago.

Getting dressed was a challenge. In order to pull on underwear or a pair of pants or shorts, I either had to sit down or I had to hold onto a bed post or table for steadiness. Even with that support, I still need to bend down as far as I could to drag the clothes on over my foot. Putting on sneakers was even more difficult. The easiest way was for me to sit on the bed, bend my leg at the knee and prop it on the bed too so that I could reach my foot. The other option was to again sit in a chair, bend over and sort of contort myself to get my sneaker on. I can remember a time when I had to pause and suck in a breath so I could finish tying the laces.

***** Before I forget, I need to digress a minute. Someone asked me why I share these memories of the way that I used to be when I was at my heaviest, most awkward self. I do it because it’s important that I remember what it was like. It also matters to me in case there’s someone reading who is struggling with morbid obesity. It helps to know that someone has lived what you’re experiencing and understands. I hope it also helps to know that things can be better. *****

Okay, back to the topic. Tonight I changed clothes with balance and ease. Putting on my sneaks was a simple as crossing one leg over the other, slipping on the shoes and tying in a few seconds. No stress or strain, no struggle or shortness of breath. In that moment I thought, “As long as I live, I will never take this for granted.”

I then grabbed my water bottle and hand bag and bopped out the door. Millions of people do this every day without giving the ability a thought. It’s just normal for them. Now it’s normal for me too, but I will never forget the days and decades when it wasn’t.

Zumba kicked my ass tonight. Even though I’ve been doing Tai Chi, brisk walking and that 7 Minute Workout, I could feel a reduction in my ability and endurance. I pushed on through to get the most benefit from the exercise, ignoring the internal whimpering. When we finished the cool down and stretching period, I picked up my water bottle and towel, said goodbye and made my way to the car. For a second I slumped in the seat and just felt the gratitude sweep through me. I thought again, “I will never take this for granted.”

I need to appreciate every day, every pound lost, every time I walk or dance or move with control and balance through the 108 moves in the Tai Chi set. I want to remember the times that I say no to eating the wrong thing and yes to healthy choices. It’s all hard work and I’m grateful for the willingness to put in the time, energy, effort and determination.

Recovery is precious. It also isn’t automatically permanent. I have to keep nurturing my progress, reinforcing the healthier practices, and maintaining my determination. I don’t want to lose what I’ve fought so hard to achieve so I can never, ever, take it for granted.

Body Matters My Progress

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90% Mental, The Other Half Physical

by Mary Stella

Vacation is officially over and with it my brief foray into eating too many carbs and veering from my food plan. I am focused on my goals and absolutely excited about doing what I need to do to attain the desired weight loss.

I’m about to put together my lunch and snacks for tomorrow. That tip about measuring out even the mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks is a great one. It protects me from mindless eating. One cannot eat food that isn’t accessible! I have some of my yummy kale soup on hand for dinner tomorrow night. In fact, I’m good through Tuesday because I have a lot of leftover grilled rib eye steak around too.

I did pretty good this weekend on getting in my exercise. Thankfully, my cold quickly moved through my system. The chest congestion that clogged my breathing on Friday eased up that evening and was virtually gone by yesterday. Yesterday morning we had a three hour extended Tai Chi class. We didn’t do the moves for the entire three hours, but even if I generously factor in the big and small breaks and the time when we observed the instructor, I think I can claim at least 90 minutes of movement. Today I not only did the 7 Minute Workout, but I also did my half hour brisk in home walking program (30 minutes of approx. 4 mph). After dinner I walked the dogs for about 25 minutes.

The title of today’s post comes from an old Yogi Berra quote. If you don’t know Yogi, he’s a baseball institution. A terrific player, with multiple MVP awards, appearances as an All Star, World Series play and awards and also a manager. Over the decades of his career, he also became known for “Yogi-isms”, funny messed up pieces of advice and commentary. The actual quote goes something like, “Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”

It strikes me that the same can be said of my weight loss journey. Yes, I know that 90% and 50% add up to more than 100%, but sometimes I need that extra effort. I can’t split the necessary elements of physical and mental into even halves. Eating right and exercising are half the battle, but they aren’t possible if my head isn’t in the game and, very often, I need to be borderline obsessive about the mental preparation and consistently psyching myself up for success. Sometimes it feels like all that I do is think about food, although the thought process is different. When in the grip of my compulsion, I’d think constantly about food, specifically what I had, when I could get some, how much I had around me to eat, and what foods I craved at any point in time. Now I have to think about having the appropriate foods in the appropriate amounts and then think about when it’s time to eat those foods. It’s also important to think about food when it’s not time for me to eat, so that I can stand firm against impulse, compulsion and “mental hunger”.

It really does sound 90% mental. I’m okay with that. 🙂 If focusing on this aspect of my journey keeps me on track, then I will wholly embrace it. It doesn’t really throw me out of balance. After all, I can do some of that 90% thinking while I’m also involved in the 50% physical efforts.

Body Matters General Musings My Progress

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Reducing Self-Criticism

by Mary Stella

I’m going to post a really crappy photo. That’s not a judgment of me. The quality of the photo is crappy because I took it of a mirror image of myself in low light with my phone. Here goes:

Sorry for the lousy quality of the shot, but I didn’t think of this blog post topic until after I was already home from the community function I attended this evening. If I’d thought of it sooner, I would have had someone else take a decent shot. Anyway, onto the reason.

I bought this dress and found the hot pink shrug when I went to Ross some weeks back. I loved the colors and the fit and thought it would be great in my wardrobe. Plus it was on sale for a ridiculously low price which fit with the overall plan to not spend a lot of money on clothes while I’m still losing. When I tried on the outfit in the store, I almost didn’t buy it because the sleeves on the shrug are sort of short and my upper arms are really showing their flab and wrinkly, saggy skin. I do not wear sleeveless tops. Most of the time, if I’m around other people when wearing a bathing suit, I also wear a sun protection shirt or rash shirt. Some of that is to guard against excess sun, but mostly it’s because I don’t like how my upper arms look.

Even though I was unhappy with showing too much upper arm, I still bought the dress. Ever since I’ve looked for a pink shrug with longer sleeves, but I haven’t been successful with that quest.

Tonight when dressing for the event, I almost selected a different outfit, but the colors and pattern on this dress made me smile and I really really wanted to wear it tonight. I put it on and drew on the shrug. Honestly, it was like all I could see were my arms and I wasn’t happy. I looked straight on, then to the side. I even went to a couple of different mirrors. It felt like my upper arms flashed a message that said, “Look at us! Look at us! We’re hideous. Look at us!”

I was thisclose to taking off the dress and putting on my second choice, but all of a sudden I got really pissed off at myself. I see plenty of women down here wearing tank tops, bathing suits, or sleeveless outfits with upper arms that are much larger than mine. Trust me. Their arms aren’t the first thing I notice, and when I do it’s never with the thought of, “Holy crap. That woman has arms like a ham. She’s brave to go sleeveless.”

Nah. I only direct that sort of thinking at myself.

Before I could change my mind and my outfit, I said the hell with it and walked out of the bedroom. I was going to the event in this outfit, short shrug and arms be damned.

From the time I picked up my boss/friend to the moment we left, saying goodbye to people we knew at the event’s end, I didn’t hear one negative comment or see anyone recoil in horror. All I heard were compliments on how pretty I looked, how great I looked, how much someone loved the outfit — all 100% positive. If anyone noticed the part of my upper arms that showed beneath the shrug sleeves, they didn’t mention it. I’m pretty sure that nobody cared. If they gave it any thought it all, it might have been, “Wow, she’s lost so much weight, she’s a little saggy in some places.” Honestly, I think the only person it was an issue for was me.

I didn’t worry about it at the event. I certainly didn’t obsess. Instead I just enjoyed myself, hugged a lot of friends, spoke with several acquaintances — you know, all that regular interactive stuff people do at such events. It was a fun evening.

On the way home I took a few moments to bask in the afterglow of the compliments. That’s when I thought of using the experience as a blog post and decided to take a photo when I got home so you could all observe and give feedback.

My takeaway message from all of this is that even now, I am my own harshest critic and when I think negative thoughts, it’s a good indication that I’m not being objective. I can do better. Moreover, I owe it to myself to keep working on reducing this form of self-criticism. It serves no healthy purpose. I can foster much more positive reactions to my changing, evolving body and build on them for the future.

Body Matters General Musings The Past is the Past

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Recipe Calculations

by Mary Stella

As I anticipated, I woke up this morning with too much chest congestion to go to Zumba class. 😦 I slept in a little, had breakfast, caught up on a few things and, eventually, went out to do a few errands. Since Monday, when I was disappointed by the Portugese kale soup I had up on Cape Cod, I’ve had the proverbial bee in my bonnet to make kale soup on my own. I’ve had some potential ingredients rolling around in my head so I decided not to search for recipes on line. Instead, I decided to wing it and see if I could invent something tasty and nutritious all on my own.

I already had the kale that I bought at the farm market yesterday and a couple of containers of low sodium vegetable broth here at home. At the supermarket I picked up a large onion, a large rutabaga, some fresh thyme and some chorizo. I partially cooked the cubed rutabaga and then added it to the pot in which I was lightly sautéing the chopped onions. I sliced the chorizo into half circles and then let it cook in with the veggies which gave everything more flavor and some color. After rinsing and patting dry the kale, I tore the leafy goodness off of the ribs and gave it a rough chop before adding it to the pot along with the broth and a couple of cans of drained/rinsed cannellini beans. I tied up two bundles of thyme, stirred them in along with some black pepper and brought the whole concoction up to a full boil. After a good stirring, I reduced the soup to simmer for 90 minutes while I went out and cleaned the pool.

When I came back in, the house smelled terrific. There is something special about a house infused with warmth and the aroma of a pot of deliciousness simmering on a stove. I am delighted to say that I guessed right on the ingredients. The slight smoky heat of the chorizo married well with the slight sweetness of the onions and rutabaga. The thyme provided another layer of flavor that sparked up the kale and beans. All in all, I give the flavor of my creation two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Taste is one thing, but I wondered about the nutritional value of my new soup. I went online and found a site that calculates the nutritional numbers for recipes if you enter the ingredients. According to that site, here’s the breakdown for my Kale & Rutabaga Concoction, based on a one cup serving size. (Although I rarely eat an entire cup.):

Calories-210; Total fat-4.7g; Saturated fat-1.7g; Cholesterol-9.4mg; Sodium 631.1 mg; Potassium 83.9 mg; Total carbs 31.6g; Dietary fiber 7.4g; Sugars-4.5g; Protein 11.6g.

In the grand scheme of things, this soup fit in great with my total daily numbers. Although I’d love to reduce the sodium even more, I don’t get much sodium in other foods, so I’m okay for the day. The fiber from the beans helps to reduce the impact of the carbs and I’m really happy about the protein grams.

Isn’t it cool that there are ways to calculate the values of recipes that we create? The internet is such a terrific resource for helpful information. I’m half tempted to revisit the site and type in the ingredients for my famous brownies. Then again, maybe I don’t really want to know the truth about those particular treats. 😉 For right now, I’ll be happy to have the number for my soup. I’ve already entered it as a food in MyFitnessPal so that I can call it up easily any time I serve some up. The overall recipe made a lot. I have a container in the fridge that will feed me at least three more times as well as three additional containers in the freezer for coming months.

In other news, as the day went on I felt better and less congested. I started getting antsy from lack of exercise. Even though cleaning the pool took some energy, after drying off a bit and testing the soup, I figured I’d give that 7 Minute Workout a try. I love the app I found for my phone. It not only provides the timing for the 30 second exercise periods and 10 second rest intervals, but it also gives the user a head’s up on which exercise comes up next.

In the interest of honest disclosure, I cannot perfectly do all of the exercises on this workout. I sort of suck right now at jumping jacks. I need to do the slightly easier versions of the pushups and planking. Frankly, I can’t correctly do the side plank either. However, I gave everything my best shot for the full 30 seconds and I improvised on the exercises that gave me trouble and made them as challenging as I could. When I was done the 7 minutes, believe me, my heart rate was up and my body knew that it had worked. I think it provided a good pop of intensity and exercise to the day.

Coincidentally, I had the Dr. Oz show on this afternoon. One of his guests was Chris Powell, the trainer from Extreme Weight Loss. They were tackling the problem of people who are doing their best to diet but who aren’t seeing the results. Chris pointed out how many people think that they’re eating less than they are in reality. He provided the basic calculation for the basal metabolism rate. (Your current weight X 12 = Number of calories you burn just in living every day.) He also offered great suggestions on how to cut back, how to use your hand to estimate the right serving sizes of protein, veggies, carbs and fat, and explained something to the audience that I blogged about a while back. Keep the snacks at 100 calories and measure them out into small bags or containers so that you plan, have what you need available, and know that you’re not eating too much.

He and Dr. Oz also demonstrated a five minute exercise boost that mixed low intensity with high intensity in 30 second intervals. Basic steps that you can do anywhere. I can’t see that the five minutes burn too many calories, but it was further evidence that it can be helpful to incorporate these short periods of exercise into our busy days. They add up!

All in all, I’m feeling good about getting myself back on track. There are roughly 19 weeks left in the year. My goal is to be down another 20 pounds by the end of 2013.

Putting everything into the mix, I’m confident that I can do this, based on my calculations.

Anyone else have a goal they’d like to share?

Body Matters General Musings

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Achoo

by Mary Stella

Quick. Anyone have low carb crackers and cheese to go with my whine? I developed a cold while away on my trip. Now I’m home to finish out with a little staycation but I feel like crap on a half shell. Every hour or so I experience a sneezing fit. I’m concerned that by tomorrow it will have moved from my nose into my chest and the congestion will clog my breathing somewhat which will make it damned difficult to do Zumba as planned.

Yes, I believe I just poured another glass of whine.

Oh well. It could be worse. At least I had a really good time while away and, when I’m sick, I don’t have as much of an appetite. On the drive home this morning, I stopped at a famous fruit/vegetable market and picked up some yummy produce. In addition to strawberries and pineapple, I picked up a mamey sapote, Asian dragonfruit, and something called a black sapote which I’ve never had. I have to wait for it to develop before I can taste it but I promise to report back after sampling it for the first time. The kale was fresh and bright so I bought two bunches. They also have an incredible selection of Florida-harvested honey in different varieties with a tasting bar. After much deliberation, I chose the Tupelo honey to bring home.

This place makes fruit shakes and smoothies too, so I treated myself to an absolutely scrumptious strawberry-banana-dragon fruit smoothie for the ride home. This drink was a bright, lovely magenta color from the dragon fruit. Ever hear the expression that we eat with our eyes? Well, I love love love that color, so maybe it tasted extra yummy.

Now I have fruit for smoothies and to make a platter for our extended Tai Chi class on Saturday morning. (Surely I’ll have stopped sneezing by then!) I am also determined to make a kale soup this weekend. While up on the Cape earlier this week, we all went out to a beachside seafood shack. I ordered the Portuguese kale soup. While the flavor was good, the soup lacked oomph. For one thing, there wasn’t as much kale in it as I expected and it was heavier on the broth than it was on other filling ingredients. I’ve decided that, surely I can do better. I’m thinking something with white beans, parsnip or rutabaga, onion and plenty of kale in a vegetable stock, perhaps with some diced tomatoes. Sometimes I like to wing my recipes. Other times I’ll research at Epicurious.com or Foodnetwork.com. If find a recipe that really rings my bell, I’ll use it but I often use one as a starting point and go from there. We’ll see.

I’m totally focused on eating healthy and on plan now that I’m home. It isn’t that I ate unhealthily while away, except for the overabundance of carbs, but I feel like I’m rejuvenating. I have a goal to absolutely lose a minimum of a pound a week and shoot for more. I might have to wait a couple of days to get over the cold before I can jump on the increased intensity of my exercise efforts, but I’ll get to it as soon as I can.

I’m giving up on the home Pilates machine. I’ve tried it and it just isn’t for me. I posted an announcement on Facebook today offering it at a reduced price to any of my local friends. If I don’t get any takers, I’ll ask one of the guys I know if he’ll list it for me on Craigslist. (I’m leery of doing it myself and then having to set up potential meetings with strangers.)

In the meantime, while away, a friend told us about the 7 Minute Workout that was written up in the NY Times. It includes 12 exercises, each of which you do for 30 seconds with 10 second breaks in between. I walked in when two friends and my sister-in-law were in the middle of it so I didn’t do it, but four of the exercises are the ones I’ve been doing from that “Four Essential Exercises” article that I read. The beauty of this 7 Minute deal is that the only equipment you need other than your body is a chair and a wall. I don’t need a lot of extra room either. I’m not sure about the jumping jacks. I haven’t been able to do them great at Zumba, but I’ll give them my best shot for 30 seconds. As far as the step up onto a chair, I might need to start with a footstool instead and work my way up. Whatever the case, I am more determined than I am discouraged.

I even found a free app for it for my phone and a short time ago, found a website that offers a timer so that I don’t need to keep resetting the timer on my phone. Honestly, the tools are all available to make this as easy as possible. All I need to do is supply the body, the coordination, and the actual willingness!

This makes a few things that I need to try and report back to you on. Stay tuned!

General Musings

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Off Track But Okay

by Mary Stella

It’s possible that I’ve had more carbs and sweets in a few days than I usually eat in a few weeks. I should probably be upset with myself but when the food is as delicious as it been, I’m really not.

Each year up here we put together quality meals. People take the lead or team up to prepare for the group as a whole. There’s bread from an excellent organic bakery and organic produce fresh picked from the farm across the road.

It makes me determined that if I’m going to veer from the low carb path, I will only do so for high quality products. None of that crappy store bought bread for me.

I have to admit that I feel a little bloated and my stomach and system have been a little out of sorts, but my taste buds are delighted.

Even the desserts have been great, including my brownies.

To compensate I’ve at least exercised a little with some paddle boarding, tai chi, and at least one power walk around the farm.

My time away ends tomorrow, then I have a couple days of staycation. I firmly pledge to get back on track. I may even do a couple of days of fruit and veggie smoothies and protein shakes to straighten out my system. I already plan to hit Zumba class on Friday morning and we have an extended Tai Chi class on Saturday.

You know, if I never give myself permission to temporarily go off the rails it will feel like my life is one never ending diet.

I’ve enjoyed every bite and taste, amid the warm love and camaraderie of my family and friends. I’ll be happy to once more eat to my food plan.

I’m okay and life is good.

General Musings

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Promise List Item Accomplished

by Mary Stella

I’m away on an annual vacation on Cape Cod. I love this trip where a large group of friends and family rent a property and spend great quality time together. We cook great meals, have a book club chat, and play various outdoor or indoor games. We also have a spaghetti sauce match and other new and old traditions.

One of the Pastafarians is a young woman I’ve known since she was born. Her dad and my older brother became friends in college. You all also know her from her regular comments here on the blog. Hi, Hope!

Hope has read this blog pretty much from the beginning. She knows about my NSVs and Promise List. Yesterday, she was instrumental in making it possible for me to accomplish one of the goals from my Promise List. Paddleboarding!

I will have photos at some point but I didn’t bring the cord to transfer images from my camera to my computer. Be patient. I will share after I get home.

Hope, one of her sisters and brothers in law and I went down to the bay yesterday. Hope demonstrated the technique of strapping the leash to the ankle, starting off on her knees and getting to stand upright to paddle. After she took her turn, it was time for me to try.

I was really wobbly at first, trying to find my balance point even while still on my knees. Then I slowly got to my feet, still wobbly on the board, and carefully started to paddle in short strokes. I called on my Tai Chi techniques to center myself.

Hope called out, “Mary, your left foot is offline. If you move it in line your balance will be better.”

“If I move, I’ll fall over!” I answered. It felt like I would.

Triumphant, I stayed upright for my first foray and maneuvered back to shore. When the others took their turns, I thought I’d try again. This time I found my balance faster and kept it without wobbling. This helped my confidence so I paddled in longer strokes and was better able to navigate a turn or two.

Feeling downright celebratory, I returned to shore. My friends celebrated with me. Hope in particular knew what it meant for me to try this out. I now have it in my head that getting my own paddleboard will be a very cool thing. I could launch right from my sea wall and paddle around the harbor for good core and upper body work.

I might practice in shallow water a bit before venturing out too far. On my own I’ll wear a life vest for safety too.

While I work on this plan, I’m going to bask a bit in the pure glow of marking Done next to another item on my list.

Thanks, Hope!

************************
We went out again today so I added photos of me and Hope in action.

My Progress NSVs

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Doctor Confirmation

by Mary Stella

My surgeon and the PA confirmed what my sister-in-law said that a pound a week is about right at this stage of the game. I shouldn’t worry about adjusting my food plan unless I can increase the protein grams a bit without adding volume.

The PA suggested a few things that might help like making sure I don’t eat anything later in the evening and, if I want to, using some meal replacement shakes more often. The doctor suggested upping the intensity of my exercise.

I guess I was on track with that idea. Even though I walk everyday, when I’m with the dogs we don’t sustain a fat-burning cardio pace throughout. So I’m going to keep walking them but also do the more intense in-home DVD program that I have. The doctor suggested running (not something I want to try.) or stationary bike. That would require going to a gym.

I don’t want to sound resistant but I don’t know how I can fit one more thing into my schedule three times a week. I’ve been trying to get in a second Zumba class. The only other one that doesn’t conflict with work is Saturdays. I’m going to at least see how often I can leave Tai Chi after an hour and make that class.

I also asked about skin removal surgery, specifically how long I have to wait after making goal weight. My surgeon doesn’t have a designated wait time but said that some plastic surgeons may recommend waiting a period of time. Whatever the case, it does not seem that I’ll have to wait a year after hitting goal. That makes me very happy.

So, some adjusted goals in my head. I will continue to lose a minimum of a pound a week. If I lose more that will be extra special but I won’t be disappointed as long as I decrease by at least a pound. I will add more intense cardio work of 30 to 45 minutes to my current exercise at least three times a week. (For starters, even if I have to break it into two sessions in the day.). I will not eat after 8 pm whenever possible.

All doable. Onward and upward (in pounds lost, not current weight)!

My Progress

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Sisterly Perspective

by Mary Stella

I have my three month appointment with my surgeon tomorrow. As overall pleased as I am that I am still losing, being contrary is somewhat in my nature. (Mary, Mary quite contrary, ring a bell? 🙂 ) I can’t help but be a wee disappointed that in the grand scheme of things and over the course of the last 12 or so weeks, I haven’t lost the amount of weight that I’d planned.

When I need a good healthy shot of cut-to-the-bottom-line perspective, one of the best people to go to in the world is my sister-in-law. I groused to her on the phone about my slower pace a short time ago. “How much have you lost?” she asked. “Only about 13 pounds in the last three or so months,” I complained.

“That’s great,” she stated without hesitation, doing the math and reminding me that it’s still a half pound to a pound a week. When I whined a little that I was hoping for three pounds a week, she laughed. “You lost faster in the beginning because you had more to lose.” It makes perfect sense to her that my rate of loss is slower.

Isn’t it funny how we can know such things intellectually but not assimilate them emotionally until someone else latches onto the logic and points it out to us? My sister-in-law is a nurse practitioner. She also gets battling snacking cravings, needing to lose weight, being diligent about exercise and everything else that goes along with taking care of ourselves and being healthy. With her, I get real solid understanding with that terrific perspective.

I’m less disappointed with my progress now that I had that phone chat. I’m still impatient to lose the rest of my excess weight, but I’m not down about it. My s-in-l also reminded me that I’m doing great and continuing to make progress in the right direction. I need to hear that from others from time to time. It reinforces it in my head and emotions. After hearing it tonight, I again wholeheartedly agree. Stalled or slow, at least I’m losing and not gaining. With every day that passes, I reach a new milestone because it’s absolutely the longest that I’ve ever sustained a weight loss effort. Every day makes it that much stronger and even more sustainable. It’s all good.

Tonight I’m happy with my mindset and very grateful to my sister-in-law for the much-needed perspective.

I’m so fortunate to have such a loving family. Can’t wait to see them this weekend!

General Musings My Progress

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Weighty Matters

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Checking Out Recipes

Taking Nothing for Granted

90% Mental, The Other Half Physical

Reducing Self-Criticism

Recipe Calculations

Achoo

Off Track But Okay

Promise List Item Accomplished

Doctor Confirmation

Sisterly Perspective

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