Panama

I had a work trip to Panama this week, and I maintained my weight. Actually, I may be down a pound or two- I got in at 2 am and weighed myself this morning. I imagine I have some airplane bload.

I met my goal of getting in 10,000 steps a day even on travel days- I walked in the airports, took the stairs and just about wore my feet right off. By rotating shoes and icing my feet at night I seemed to help them recover- no blisters anyhow.

What's that? How did I eat? You *would* ask that, wouldn't you? :)

I did okay. I give myself a B. (I decided grading myself is kinder than just "pass fail". I tried to make good choices (dodging fried stuff when possible) but I did indulge in the local fare. I didn't let myself bring my usual bodybag full of almonds and other airplane snacks, and I left mayo and cheese off my airport sandwiches.

Last summer on vacation I was a rock- really strict and no bread, etc. I hope that by family vacation time in Aug this year I can be that successful, but for this trip my goal was simply get those 10,000 steps (requested by Woodstock) and not gain. And I didn't.

Tomorrow I have a hike with my daughter and a group of girls from church, so that's good- gotta keep on moving.... then back to M-W workouts with Woodstock on Monday, can't wait!

Did I speak too soon?

About the Fitbit, that is...

FB is tracking well, and my computer recognizes it and links it to my Fitbit account, but it won't synch and show the MANY steps I have been getting in, so I may have to do it manually. Did it's wee "synch-er" get destroyed when I washed it? Who cares, it tracks my steps and stays attached better than any pedometer AND it has the cool flower thing where the more steps you do the taller it gets.

AND this morning my scale showed me down 3 pounds. Oh yeah!

FitBitinstein

I just might have the best news in the universe. MY FITBIT IS ALIVE! And yes, I meant to shout that.
You see, I killed a Fitbit. Okay, two. First I had Blue Fitbit (BF, like Best Friend Blue Fitbit) that I put through the washer, and it would no longer charge or show numbers or anything. I placed it in the Robot Box (where all cords go to die in my kitchen) and hoped it would come back to life.

It's successor, Pink Fitbit got lost. Literally must have snapped off my bra or pants and disappeared. I cried. I offered my kids $20 each to find her. She is still missing in action.

Every so often I would look in the Robot box and pull out BF. And I'd charge him, and I'd wait. But he would only occasionally flash a number or bit of light.

But this past weekend the planets aligned and when I went through my dismal ritual of checking to signs of BF life it happened- he came to LIFE. And he worked all weekend. And he is STILL working and I am wearing him RIGHT NOW.

So for those of you who have washed your Fitbits do NOT discard. I don't know whether putting them into a bag of rice will help (I have friends who have) but I do know that mine is alive again and I am ever so happy, so much so that I made this to celebrate:

I need to synch him up tonight, but if you want to be FitBit friends, here's a link to my profile so you can request to "friend" me: http://www.fitbit.com/user/22BFFW

Waking Up Strong

I don't think I've lost an ounce yet. Okay, maybe one.

Getting back onto eating right has been more challenging than I expected, mostly because of budget and planning. Planning is effort but when your budget is tight it's hard- no grabbing $2 a piece bars or shakes at the club. And I admit feeling like a chubby harbor seal as I work out hasn't exactly helped. I remember this, it's the part where I don't feel good but I know I am doing the right thing.

But this morning I got up after about 5 hours of bad sleep and WHAT IS THIS, I thought to myself. I felt STRONG.

Now there's a difference between sore and strong.
Sore= "hey fatty, glad you got up"
Strong = "Well hellooooo muscles, I see you're still in there!"

And I felt strong! Oh sure, my undies are still too small and I can hardly wait to fit back into the rest of my clothes, but I FELT STRONG and IT FELT GOOD and I remembered why I want to feel like that every single day.

"Welcome Home!"

That's what SkinnyBuns said to me from her stairclimber this morning. How fitting, because going back to the Pro Club after time off for injury (then more time off for bad decisions).

It was like homecoming- I saw SkinnyBuns working out, and the Eagle Guru glided past and said hello, I almost jumped off my stairclimber!

And of course, there was Woodstock. Is there anything better than exiting the locker room and seeing Woodstock there, ready to work out? Nope.

I had been really nervous- here she had put so much work into re crafting me, would she be mad that I had regained some weight and lost some of my diligence in working out? I had asked via email the day before and got a resounding NO, so I felt better.

She was regular Woodstock, and we went right to work- elliptical, stairclimber, then weights and a weigh in (I get points for that for the Alumni Challenge). Then I watched the Lapse/Relapse video, a really good one from the 20/20 educational videos.

Good things about the workout:

1. Seeing 3 of my favorite folks
2. I was able to do most exercises on the same weight as last workout, so I haven't lost as much strength as I feared (I even planked for a full 60 seconds)
3. My cardio wasn't bad either

I can do this, I am not that far off, I can get back to where I like to be.

What a great start to the day. Woodstock and I are on for next week on Monday and Wednesday, I have a couple gift certificates that are allowing me to buy some trainer sessions- HOORAY!

One day down, 43 years to go...

If I only live to be 85.

Seriously, though, it's amazing how hard it is to get that first day going. Woodstock always says if you can hang in there for 3 days exercising and eating right you get past the grouchies and a couple pounds usually drops off (even if it is salty water) and you feel BETTER.

But it's not about a few days, or finishing a program. It's forever.

Now of course there will be days that aren't good but I think the goal is to stick with it every day during the losing phase then to make the days when you slip the exception, not the rule.

Hmmm, that is NOT the easy answer.

So I am taking this one day at a time- no, one DECISION at a time.

• It's morning, will I skip breakfast (a bad habit of mine)
• Should I drink some water (SkinnyBuns is such a good reminder on this)
• It's time to eat, what do I choose
• Have I worked out today
• How can I get more steps?
• Have I been sitting for hours at work without getting up?
• I'm upset, do I eat my feelings? (if yes can I eat them in the form of a baby carrot instead of a Twinkie?)
• How can I help others on their journey (it's surprising how this blog and my weight- losing friends pull me along and inspire me)

So here I am on day two of the next 43 years (or more!) of living in a way that makes me feel good. Come along, it's going to be worth it.

Where am I ?

That sounds like a simple question, with an easy answer. But it's not. It's a question I've been asking myself for a couple months as weight has crept back on, my workouts have gone from regular to less regular to a couple a week.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night worrying. About myself. How can I spend so much time worrying about my weight and my health and so little time doing anything? And I've done this before, I've shown myself I know how. There is NO  easy way but I am feeling the weight (pun intended, I guess) of not doing what is right for my body.

Do you know what is fun? Losing weight and making a list of things that are going better- painting toenails without feeling like you can't reach your feet, going for a walk with a friend without feeling like the chubby fat one covered in sweat, having your purse stay on your shoulder instead of sliding down because you're 'round'.

What is NOT fun is having the things you hated about being overweight come back. But this is entirely within my control and it's time to turn this ship around, starting now.

Okay, kinda starting last week.

ProClub  does a really neat Alumni Challenge where you 20/20 alumni can win prizes and earn points (for more entries) for a 12 week period, to help motivate people to get back on track no matter how far they've strayed.

And I am in it- I love a contest! And I love prizes, even the idea of winning prizes. Now don't get me wrong I am NOT in this for the "most lbs lost" contest, they do have a trip at stake for the person who loses the most. That is a recipe for disaster for me.

What I need to do is get back to my little "crawl along, doing my best, enjoying seeing my body and health improve" state. The scale will go down and I will return to my low weight, but last November when I was challenged to hit a certain weight for a prize I thought I could handle it. I'll discuss this in another post but that turned out to be super far from the truth, I crumbled and I think that launched the decline in health that I have had.

But what is more important than falling off the horse is getting back on. Oh yeah, dust yourself off a bit, but really just climbing back aboard is what matters.

So I've been wearing my pedometer which has shown me the past 6 days that I get NOWHERE NEAR my required steps. Seriously- I get like 1500-2500 a day. How did that happen? It's a slippery slope, folks.

So I was a success story, then I guess I was kind of a failure story because I didn't just lose and gallop off into the sunset. I got bucked off and I sat on the ground crying for myself.  I'm all cried out, the Alumni Challenge is here and I am going to use it to pull myself back into better habits.

So we'll be talking more again, because I intend to blog my way back.