I'm just gonna run on by and update 'cause I'm working on something else and gotta get back to it.
This week I ate 20 bananas and 60 oranges. I did not get any treadmill or swimming in. Today I have a terrible headache. I'm not eating quite enough and I'm a little dehydrated. My weight is the same though I am feeling a bit thinner in the hips and bum area!
To date I've walked 31.15 miles, swam 7.5 miles and have eaten 233 bananas and 322 oranges. The banana and orange count amazes me! 9 weeks down, 43 to go!
I'm back. At least I seem to be. Well, at least the food part is intact so I'm going with it. A few days of feeling wonky and not eating enough have left me looking horrible. Once I'm fully hydrated again I'll look a lot better.
The end of the month is looming and I'd like to make a little progress if possible. Exercise has been out all week. Soon I'll have a whole new month ahead of me to continue on the journey.
You may not realize it, this just being Valentine's Day and all, but there are only 157 days left til the first day of summer. You've rolled your eyes at me, but I did detect your split second heart rate increase. Yes, I did.
If you do absolutely nothing different between now and then you'll spend another summer wishing you were fit and trim at the beach in your new orange bikini. Or whatever rings your bell. Speaking of which, I guess the only logical choice was to put the pink bikini on the doll with pink hair but I oh so wanted to see it the other way around *shrug*
Seriously, if you're one of the 17.2 billion of us who suddenly have that gigantic bright shiny object in the sky come out of no where, leaving a wake of frumpy sweat clad wearers behind, maybe now would be the time to make some inroads...
Today I ate 2,567 raw calories, banged out 2.5 miles at a 4.0 average pace and swam 1 mile - which was 60 straight minutes. I kinda love what's going on with this. I walk around in impossibly baggy sweats, sometimes two pair at a time because it's freakin' cold here. I wear plain, non-descript shirts and over-sized jackets. I toss my hair into a pony tail and forget the make up. I look 'like crap' most of the time. No one sees me. I'm completely invisible. I walk through the market and no one notices me. I go to the gym and though I have less clothes on, I don't have fancy work out stuff. My racing suits are ratty and I'm glad. I'm the invisible woman. I could have gone dancing on both Friday and Saturday nights - the two best days of the entire year thanks to Valentine's Day but I stayed home. On purpose. I washed oranges. I did laundry. I was happy.
Why? Because this is time for me. Just me. I don't care what anyone thinks. In an hour I could dress up and look 'hot' by some standards but that's not what this time is for. This is time for me to finally take care of me, work on my diet, my body and my life. I've never consciously devoted any amount of time, much less a year to the care and feeding of myself. Oh, yes to quite a few others - boyfriends, daughter, my elderly mother, former ungrateful spouse, squirrels, birds, dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, neighbor pets - but never myself.
When would be a good time to start taking care of you? What will you do with your next 157 days? What will you do for yourself over the next year?
When I lived in L.A. I used to attend Pilates classes. Let me tell you, it's a LOT harder than it looks. Sleek little machines with shiny cords and hand holdy things - what could be easier? Well after they scraped me off of it the first time, I had respect.
I moved shortly there after to somewhere the word Pilates didn't even exist. That is until QVC. My friend, a quirky 6'2" guy, saw it on TV and thought that was just what he needed to tone up his already rock hard body.
I remember him telling me about it on the phone. It sounded like a Pilates reformer. But surely he did not just buy a reformer, did he? His description left me confused. He couldn't really read the writing on the side so I was clueless. He's a true country boy who has somehow managed to unwittingly slather metro all over himself.
When I saw it I said, "OMG you have a PILATES REFORMER!" He gave me a bewildered look. Even HE didn't know he was doing Pilates - despite the fact it says right on it: Pilates Power Gym. My friend isn't the most literate or worldly guy, but he's genuine. It cracked me up.
Well, I was secretly jealous of the sleek little steel machine with all the bells and whistles. He was doing the coolest work out around and didn't even know it. At about $300 there was no way I could ever get one. Anytime I'd visit I'd look at it with envy.
The good thing about QVC, however, is they always have something new. Couple that with the fact my friend is a QVC addict and you have a marketers dream. When he gets home from late shift he's always seeing what the latest greatest thing is on TV. I can't even begin to name the various interesting gadgets he has in his house now.
Last night at 3 am he calls me.
He said, "I have a gift for you. Would you like my machine thing that you love?" "Umm - your Pilates thing?! OMG, what? Really? YES!", I said emphatically. He said, "I saw a new one on QVC and I just ordered it. I'll bring this one over tomorrow afternoon all oiled and cleaned up for you. Happy Valentines' Day!"
Wow! So right on time my cool new gleaming Pilates reformer shows up, complete with the DVDs it came with.
Now I just need to find the time and motivation to use it.
The month is coming to a close in just a few days. I know I've lost more inches despite maybe just having lost only another pound. Bodies are so weird. I put on an article of clothing today that was formerly tight and binding and was so surprised to simply have it fit - aaaaah! I'm looking forward to the month end measure thing.
A friend of mine sent me this beautiful dress - size 8. It doesn't fit right now. In fact, it fits my daughter. Life just isn't fair sometimes. It was so stunning on her I actually cried. Heaven help me. I estimate I have two dress sizes to go before it fits. Not that long off. Even if I had to wait 3 dress sizes it'll be worth it. I've never had a gown like this. Kinda fun!
Today I stocked up on bananas, oranges, peaches, pineapple, honeydew melon, little round seedless watermelon and spinach. I bought some tangelos to use as dressing. All those things sound really good to me right now.
I'm looking forward to the new month ahead and what changes I'll enact in the next 30 days - in many realms!
There's an interesting article posted --->here<--- that says reducing salt intake could save 92,000 U.S. lives a year. That is a lot of people! Salt contributes to high blood pressure, heart disease and a whole host of other problems like kidney disease and osteoporosis. The article states that women would benefit the most.
Oddly a doctor told me I was 'low in iodine' and then advised me to eat as much salt as I wanted. Hmm. That didn't really seem prudent to me. If I was really iodine deficient, isn't there a better way? I can't believe he didn't prescribe me something. Big Pharma always there to make a buck, ya know.
I did eat some Nori for its iodine content for a while (dry seaweed used in sushi for those scratching your heads) and while I like it fine, it wasn't something that really stuck with me. I didn't really notice a difference in anything, either.
Now that I've been off salt so much things taste very different and of course the edema in my ankles and everywhere vanishes. We don't think about the invisible effects of salt, though.
Does make you wonder if they get people to decrease their salt will there be an increase in iodine deficiency? Can't imagine I'm getting 'enough' iodine now considering my doctor's recommendation.
Which brings me to one of my main points of going raw vegan: To reduce my contact with as many salty nutjob doctors as possible.
Does everyone have collar bones? No, really. I mean it. Logic tells me we do. Those odd (hopefully fake) skeletons in the doctor's office tell me we do but I have to tell you, I've not seen mine in so long, I'm wondering if I really do possess a pair.
I did discover after nose surgery I was missing cartilage that everyone else has, according to the quite miffed and confused doctor who operated on me. I was missing an apparently much needed part of my nose, so why not collar bones? Did aliens abduct them along with my nasal cartilage? I do have a 4 hour period of missing time where I was driving and ended up in the middle of the desert, in California no less. If that isn't proof enough of aliens, I don't know what is. Is that where my collar bones went? Or is it just they're buried, deep beneath...I shudder to think.
Help me out here. Are your collar bones missing, too? I have a pic of me from 15 years ago and I see some faint bumps. I was 105 lbs, a size 2 with a 20" waist and still I can't detect I have collar bones. Is there such a thing as shy collar bones? Why don't/won't mine stick out?
It just doesn't seem fair. I'll let you know the minute they surface. In the meantime, tell me if you can find them in this picture.
No, not the sequel to a Will Smith movie. I've lost 20 pounds! While I'm at it, I also lost 20 inches!
The start of the loss count was November 16 - so two months ago. I lost 12 lbs between November 16th and January 1st. Since the first of the year I've lost 8 more pounds, which in two weeks is no small potatoes. Or in my case, bananas! I can't remember the last time I lost 20 lbs and I'm pretty excited.
The 20 inches, however, was within the last two weeks and pardon the pun, that's huge! Thing is, I didn't even realize it. It's freakin' cold here. It's been -1 degree in the mornings when I take my daughter to the bus. I've been wearing bike shorts covered by two pair of very thick heavy men's sweats and multiple shirts and multiple hoodies and jackets for a few weeks now. I kinda look and feel like the Michelin man. Yes, I do take them off to shower and go to bed but I had no idea all that had happened. I don't look at my body much. I didn't realize I'd been shrinking beneath all those layers. I put on my jeans from last month and went - uhhhh this isn't going to work! I tossed them all into hot water and a hot dryer to try to shrink them. There's no way I can afford to replace all these things right now.
Come to think of it, this must be why my racing suit is falling off of me at the pool!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I LOVE BEING BLONDE!!!
For the bean (or should I say banana?) counters, here are the numbers since on Fitday it's not so easy to view all this.
192 lbs ---> 172
Neck 15 Chest 41 Bust 45 Midriff 38 waist 40 (on Nov 16th, 2 weeks before my surgery, this measurement was 48"!) Belly 45 Hips 45 Thigh 26 Knee 20 Calf 15.5 Ankle 8.5 Bicep 16 Forearm 9.5 Wrist 6.25 Hair Length 16 (I'm growing my hair longer...)
Neck 14.5 Chest 39 Bust 45 Midriff 35 Waist 36 (I've lost 12" here since Nov 16th - twelve inches! A foot! LOL!!!) Belly 44 Hips 43 Thigh 25 Knee 16.25 Calf 15 Ankle 8.25 Bicep 12.5 Forearm 8.34 Wrist 6 Hair 17 (grew an inch!)
Timeline pics and updated weight and measurements coming on January 31st.
2 whole weeks! I've still lost 5 pounds since the first week of the New Year and 17 pounds total since last year. Nothing lost this last week.
For week 2 I've walked 4.1 miles, swam 1 mile and have eaten 22 bananas, for all the banana counters out there ;) To date I've walked 8.7 miles, swam 2.66 miles and have eaten 40 bananas. HA!
I think one thing I'm battling is that I sometimes don't eat enough. Years of calorie restriction and all manner of other restriction, in particular fruit, still makes 'eating all I want' a foreign concept to me, plus it's hard if not impossible to over eat with this life style. You have to eat more. I know that when I don't eat enough in any realm I don't lose and I'm pretty sure that's the case this week.
I must say it is pretty exciting to go grab a banana (or anything else legal for that matter) whenever I want it. I just need to do it more often.
The benefits from week 1 continue on into week 2. I like the no more bloating and the hyper-clean mouth thing, and the sense of smell is interesting. Great sometimes, not so great other times! Environments with lots of perfumed products (perfumes, colognes, fabric softeners, aerosol room sprays, scented candles, scented everything) are pretty overwhelming. The biggest thing I'm noticing this week, however, is that I am more tired while at the same time having much better energy if that even makes sense to you at all. There are at least a couple reasons for the tiredness.
1. I could still be detoxing from switching my diet.
2. I'm not eating enough calories per day.
3. I'm not sleeping enough - I'm having a hard time falling asleep some nights and I have to get up extremely early everyday.
4. I had a hella-stressful week on all fronts except food that didn't calm down until 5 pm today where I promptly fell into bed and sleep hard for 3 hours.
5. I'm just 6 weeks post op today - I may have had a larger portion of my energy taken for internal healing purposes while at the same time I may not have consumed quite enough calories, not slept enough for that matter. Many people are just starting to function again at 6 weeks from this surgery so I've been lucky in this.
6. God hates me and I'm just doomed to be fat and hideous the rest of my life.
Okay, so I don't think it's #6 but I do think it's probably a combination of 1-5! Which is good to review as my head immediately jumps to #6 :)
Plans for the future? Making pasta and hopefully Pad Thai from zucchini. 2 weeks down, 50 to go!
Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so it looks like you'll get off easy in the blathering department tonight!
These pictures were taken on January 5th (L on your screen) and January 12th (R on your screen). I made sure the pictures were the same distance from the camera and same head shot level all around compared to the background. You may notice the painting sticking out of the right side of my head and the corner of the room at the ceiling are in the same place.
I've never seen so much for-the-better change in my face - ever. This is on par or better than some professional spa type face treatments I had years ago through a plastic surgeon and again, these are just the changes over 7 days; my diet will be continuing. Incidentally, recently I reached up to brush my hair off my cheek and actually missed. That's how much the puffiness has changed.
I'll be collecting regular pictures a week or two apart and posting the progress periodically. I did nothing different with skin care during this time and I'm wearing no makeup in either picture. Tonight, however, I'm starting on some new MyChelle skin care as well as resuming my glycolic peels and other various treatments that I do at home. I'm determined to look 20 when this is all said and done - LOL!
Today Lori (BFF) pointed out to me that there is a raw food group right here where we live that has monthly events. Who knew?! She found them through www.Meetup.com. There may be vegan or raw vegan groups in your area, not to mention a whole host of other groups that might interest you as well. Check it out!
I am feeling well tonight :) I have had a few days where my energy was low. I slept in, well, okay I shut the world out with my blankets and struggled with getting up. I also live with a lot of stress being a single mom, trying to conquer some long standing health issues myself and caring for an elderly parent who has lost her memory. It's a lot and there are many days I'm about at my limit. I cannot blame carrots and bananas on every mood or energy dip I go through.
Today, the entire day, was a banner day for stress in ever realm. I ran it off tonight at the gym - 1.5 miles on the treadmill and a half a mile in laps at the pool. Then I kicked back in the jacuzzi which eased my stiff spine, met a cool new girl friend and took a long shower scrubbing every inch with Yes to Carrots body scrub. I love that whole line! It's important to keep your largest organ (your skin!) clear, moist and able to breathe and release toxins.
Anyway, it's late and Cinderella's gotta get to bed before the raw pumpkins start showing up. Don't forget to check out Meetup for a group near you. You might make some new friends and create a whole new support group for yourself if you're looking to make some changes to your lifestyle.
Well, it's been a whole week. I've lost 5 pounds this first week of the New Year and 17 pounds total since last year.
This week and to date I've walked 4.6 miles, swam 1.66 miles and have eaten 18 bananas, for those who keep asking how many bananas I'm eating!
The benefits of just one week:
1. My belly feels peaceful.
2. I have no more of the magical expanding elasti-belly going on.
3. My waist is 3" smaller (full report at end of month)
4. I have not even the slightest water retention bump whatsoever on my ankles.
5. My mouth feels (and looks) so clean it's weird.
6. My sense of smell is incredible. I'm nearly knocked out when I walk into Whole Foods there are so many aromas in there.
7. My face is a lot more clear. I have no new break outs.
8. I'm not craving anything other than more fruit and vegetables.
9. I've had a lot more energy the entire week.
10. I spend a whole lot less time grocery shopping.
11. Unless I choose to make something fancy, I spend a whole lot less time on food prep. Grab some fruit and run if I'm short on time. Easy.
12. Even if I make something fancy I spend a whole lot less time on clean up and dishes.
13. Even less to clean: I don't get the stove or microwave dirty :D
14. I have a whole lot less trash since there isn't food packaging to contend with.
15. I'm requiring less sleep and feeling a lot more rested to boot. This morning I woke up at 4:30 am and wanted desperately to run out to buy parsley - LOL.
16. My borderline sleep apnea thing stopped (at day 3) where it feels like something was stuck up in there and flapping across some breathing port, causing all kinds of snorting and disrupted sleep. I'd suffocate if I was on my back. It's gone. Stopped. Amazing.
17. At week 5 of my surgery recovery, I feel at 100% and I never would have expected that.
18. My bikini line incision is fully healed and turning white. Past experience has been I don't heal well or easily. There is still swelling to go down over time and internal healing. But I have no pain, no pulling, no additional tiredness that tells me I need more rest or more nutrients. Still I am still mindful of my nutrition and of being in bed 8 hours because I know there is still internal healing going on.
I thought this day would never arrive. All these years of learning, contemplating and changing my diet so I could eat in a way that was totally natural to monkeys. LOL! Finally January 1. I'm so ready to do this. I didn't even go crazy and eat a bunch of stuff I'd 'never get again'. I'm so over that. I had a few things in the last days: A cup of coffee, a little chocolate, a sandwich on Christmas day but nothing crazy. Thing was, those things weren't even good when I ate them. So, I'm ready!
Got up today, had a great breakfast of a banana, orange, pear and cantaloupe. Walked 1.5 miles and swam .6 of a mile, or 10 lengths. Hey, I gotta work back up to my former two miles in the pool, which will be 132 lengths. I can't even imagine that right now and I did that for years. It used to take me 2 hours. Today I eeked out 10 lousy lengths. What a joke but hey, gotta start somewhere. I really thought I'd kick out more than that. Well, just getting over surgery. Yep, that's my story. You know what though, I am such a fish I just love how I feel after I swim. I nearly cried when I got back in the pool I was so happy to be there. The pool is salt water so no chlorine but the jacuzzi has chlorine. Hate to admit it but I love how I can still smell the salt and the chlorine on me when I'm done. I LOVE TO SWIM! In fact, my custom license plate frame says, Swim More. Quack Less.
Had a big salad for lunch. I was so craving it. First time in my life, however, I've not had salad dressing. I admit I stood there making one of those :/ faces for a while, trying to think of what was legal to pour over it. I know I can make a pureed red pepper and tahini dressing or something but I decided to just tough out out. I sprinkled the teeniest amount of ground red pepper and off I went. It was very good. I didn't miss the dressing at all. All the veggies were great. I probably shouldn't have had a whole avocado - it spiked my fat for the day but it was pretty ripe and needed to be eaten. C'est la vie. The rest of the day may still balance it out, though.
Some of the questions I have about what might be possible: Can I reduce the puffiness in my face, jawline and around my eyes? Will I finally wake up after just 8 hours of sleep and actually feel really good for once? Will I finally have energy to get through my day instead of dragging myself through it in tears? Will my skin clear up and stop breaking out? How flat can I get my belly? Will I look younger? Many people guess I'm mid 30's right now. What will they guess when I reach my goals? Will I no longer need vitamin supplements? Will this help me endure menopause thanks to my recent hysterectomy? I hope so! Will I ever be able to bend over and put on my shoes without needing a nap afterwards? Will the vision come back in my right eye? The loss is considered congenital but once in a while I will actually have crystal clear vision out of it. It's a very, very rare occurrence but I'd love to regain my sight in that eye. The fact it returns once in a blue moon tells me there is hope for the future, despite the doctors being clueless and pessimistic.
Some of the other things I'm looking at doing for myself are: Going to bed by 10 pm so my body doesn't kick in its 2nd wind and screw up my cortisol. Getting up early everyday and getting my 'me time' in before the onslaught of my life takes over. Cleaning up/out one room at a time of clutter. No, my house doesn't look like some NY apartment with paths everywhere. I just want to clean out the cabinets and closets so I can find stuff and think again!
My first pick: The kitchen pantry. I'm going to schedule a day for this and then get on it.
Enjoying my waterlogged self today very much and feeling good!
Despite the fact I don't have television, I recently wanted to watch a reality show that doesn't exist. I wanted to see them take women who were in their forties and make them, "Hollywood Hot". Not just made over but made amazing. 'A list' amazing. I talked to a girl friend of mine who's husband is 'in the business' in Hollywood and it seems the problem is that, apparently, 40 year old women don't appeal to anyone. We're not the right demographic. You have to be between 20-something and 30-something to rate in 'television demographics'. If you didn't already know this, if you're 40 you no longer exist. Of course, this flies in the face of, "40 is the new 20" that we hear being bandied about lately. Really? Then where is my show?! If 40 is the new 20, why aren't we able to see a show that brings that forth?! Aaarrrggggh!!!
You know, since we don't appeal to anyone (tried dating lately?) and we're not (allowed) in night clubs and we don't appear on magazine covers, much less TV, exactly what are 40 year old women doing in the evenings, anyway? Do we not watch TV? Do the Neilsen ratings not even count us after 40? "Oh wait! Susan Smith just turned 40. We have to turn off her ratings-cabob thing on her TV. She no longer counts!"
So let me get this straight. We're so unappealing they can't even make television shows for us and this '40 is the new 20' thing is one of those stupid things made up to make us feel better, like when we tell men size doesn't matter. We're the baby boomer generation they all speak about in such large numbers, yet there aren't enough of us to watch TV? I don't get it.
I still want to see the show but since I can't do that, maybe I'll just have to live it. My impetus was a recent photo I saw of Demi Moore who had just turned 47. I am 4 months younger and I don't look like that. Oh, I used to. I had a 20" waist, beautiful skin, long flowing blonde hair and perfect proportions. I missed the 'petite modeling' phase by just a few years. Eileen Ford rejected my inquiry into petite modeling, saying there was no place for us. Later the Lilliput sprang forth in magazines everywhere. Great. I'd like to think I'm always on the cutting edge but it doesn't really help me. Or maybe it's that I just can't seem to help myself: A Playboy agent approached me at an event I was attending in L.A. when I was 19. I was shocked and all I could think about was what would my family think? At 46 I think I was an idiot. Even I want to see those pictures now. Damn it all anyway.
So, yeah, Demi looks like that because she has gobs of money to devote to her self-maintenance. I'm a single mom. I can't even afford a gym membership much less a personal trainer and frankly, even food and electricity is an issue, heck this is why I don't have TV. But, I do have some things on my side, like perseverance, and I've decided starting January 1st to spend the next 365 days changing my life. We'll probably never see that reality show but maybe I can live it instead, and who knows, maybe I'll find that card from the Playboy guy while I de-clutter myself and my house over the next year.
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