152.4 --Journey Home

By Belinda

On the plane coming back to Canada from a two week vacation in England, I realized that a simple but profound change has taken place--somewhere deep and lasting. I don't completely know how or why, now, but here it is: I have become a "choosy eater."

There is more than a good chance that the change has some connection with the book I've been reading: Press Pause Before You Eat by Dr. Linda Mintle.

"Pressing Pause" is what I am doing. Each day my eating is now based on three things:

1. A heightened awareness and attention to, how hungry I really am.
2. Multipe decisions based on appeasing that hunger with food that is nourishing, healthy and satisfying.
3. Weighing; thinking about; the cost-benefit of food eaten, i.e. is that utterly decadent slice of honey almond cream torte, worth the calories and moments of pleasure? Last Sunday, it was! I savoured every last morsel; appreciated it to the utmost and enjoyed the memory of it for days afterwards.

On the other hand, it is hard to believe, but I, until now a dedicated lover of fish and chips, only had one meal of fish and chips while in England, and that was shared between three of us! It was enough to have a taste of them and I didn't crave more. The thought of the fat drenched batter and starch, no longer held the appeal it once did, and I remembering that I am addicted to fat makes me want to steer clear of it in general.

These choices are an example of what is happening each day.

At the airport, on the way home, when I would usually be stashing away a few Cadbury Flakes, I bought a bar of nuts and fruit called, "Eat Natural, with brazils, sultanas, almonds, peanuts and hazlenuts...and nothing dodgy."

On the back of the bar it said:
Those of you that enjoy reading stuff on the backs of "certain packs" may be a little disappointed when we tell you that this bar probably won't change your life, and it certainly won't prolong it. Sadly, there's not much evidence to suggest that it'll make you more attractive. No, it's just a bar of nuts and fruit. Mind you, when it comes to taste...Eat Natural--Simple--isn't it?

I tucked away the bar in my carry on bag, and during the flight, when a snack was served with tea and coffee towards the end of the flight, I looked at the big double chocolate muffin in the cellaphane bag and reached for my Eat Natural bar instead. My seatmates looked on in envy. "That is much more to my taste," said the lady next to me. Me too!

Small Changes Make a Big Difference

I got tired of the wonky scale in our downstairs bathroom. It had developed digital dementia and registered random weights; sometimes many different ones within a few seconds!

"Enough!" I thought, and caved in and bought a new Weight Watchers one. It was wonderful not to see blinking, rapidly changing, numbers and not to have to weigh several times to be certain of the truth.

The new scale reads one pound less, which made me like it even more, but for the purposes of this blog I will add a pound when I report in.

On Tuesday I was 150.6. It has been a good week even without startling weight loss, because I kept in my mind as a mantra, "Being faced with the same situation you failed in and doing properly this time," only I just thought of it as doing "differently" rather than "properly."

Small changes make a big difference in the long run.

For a guaranteed smile, go to my friend Kim's fitness blog and check out her latest interview with Bonnie Grove, of Saskatchewan. Bonnie's answers are hilarious.
Fit for Faith

Still Stopping the Slide

Dear Friends,
It's been a busy three weeks, but the dust is settling and here I am again.

I must confess that the week after I had a bout with a stomach bug and was down to 149.8, I didn't want to confess that once I stopped having the runs as often, I was back up to 152.8. The two weeks since then I have been 151.8, and this week I'm slowly edging down. Maybe next Tuesday I will have something more inspiring to report in terms of weight loss, but the real battle isn't on the scale at all, but in my head.

I was talking to Libby this morning about that; how we seem to hit an invisible barrier that is hard to get beyond. If I really want to get beyond where I am, icecream, high fat cookies, pie and chocolate bars, cannot be part of my every day life and I have to ask myself which I want more, because I can't have both. I do want to shed the 10 pounds that represent icecream, cookies and chocolate. A day every now and then, even once a week, where that rule is broken, won't upset 6 days of a healthier pattern. Can I do it? Do I really want to? Or am I just fooling myself and content to stay as I am.

At this moment at least, I really want to. I can only take it moment by moment and try to make choices that are consistent with my goal, knowing that it will take a lifetime of living this way to stay where I want to be once I get there. So I'm trying. And I'm drinking more water after talking to Libby, who tells me that it really does make a difference.

Shan, I gave up the push ups. How are you doing? I would like to try again; I haven't done a lot of walking either. I do have a new time management plan that I'm working on. This may help with fitting in more exercise more faithfully.

Thinking about getting rid of something.....

Monday September 8th, 2008

Hi fellow bloggers, I have officially joined with you on this quest for better health. I have commented occasionaly on the blog, but am now making this official. Hi, I am Libby, which was a nickname from childhood. I am not much of a writer, but if I get inspired by an idea or something I've heard that I feel coud be useful I will pass it along.

I started last week with my resolve to loose weight. I have a lot of it to loose. Every step is a step closer than the day before. I joined Weight Watcher's on tuesday last week and have been packing lunches since then. I lack in discipline in that area. This week all is wel though I have managed to pack my lunch and yes actually eat it too. Do any of you have that problem?

After talking with a friend this weekend, I was inspired by something she shared about weight loss. SHe heard someone say : I am not loosing weight anymore, I am getting rid of it. When you loose something you always end up trying to find it.

So out with the idea of loosing and in with the gettting rid of the extra pounds. Ah ha, a lightbulb went off for me. I am going to get rid of as much of me as I can. And to top it off, I can also clean house on the inside. For example which parts of me do I want to keep. What parts of my character would I also like to get rid of in the process and what are the qualities htat I want to keep. For me this is an exciting new way of looking at my situation.

May you all have a good week, and thank you all for your inspiration to me thus far.

Libby