Week 3 155.4

By Belinda

I think that last week's Sunday weight must have been a scale error! It does happen sometimes. Anyway, since I started the process of making a permanent lifestyle change two weeks ago, I have lost just under 3 pounds. Oh, I wish it was 6 by now, but I have been eating differently and exercising more.

Yesterday Molson and I walked up to the top of a steep hill--a 5 km walk. We did 3 walks last week and I'm aiming to up that this week. I also got out our 5 pound weights and did an arm workout yesterday.

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm writing here, I would probably throw in the towel at this point because it is discouraging to be losing so slowly, but I am committed.

This morning I read about an Olympic gold medallist, Zatopec (1952), who said that he had trained for 14 years for the games. Dr. Richard L. Ganz writes, in his book, The Secret of Self Control: No matter how much it hurt, he had determined to keep at it until  he achieved his goal. His gold medals were merely the result of countless steps. "Countless steps;" those words resonate.  Each choice is a step in one direction or the other.

Breakfast at Cora's

Cora's is a national treasure; the opposite of a "greasy spoon." It is a place where you can meet a friend for breakfast and munch on delicious and healthy food while sipping on black coffee and green tea respectively, which is exactly what I did on Friday morning before starting work.

Irene had already said that meeting there would fit in with her new eating regimen, so I had a heads up that something was afoot, but I had no idea that I was about to get a huge inspiration boost.

Some time in mid January she decided to get healthy and lose some unwanted pounds. So far she's down 33 pounds and is looking terrific. By the way, Irene did give me permission to share these details.

I quote, "You can say what you want, we all need to encourage each other, kind of like a "Fat Busters Fraternity." Maybe I should change the name of Stopping the Slide to The FBF! I thought of that this afternoon when someone sent me a Dilbert cartoon where Dilbert says:"We've been doing great since we redefined success as a slowing of failure!" I think "Stopping the Slide" was what I wanted to do when I started this journey, and this blog helped me do that, but I'm a bit more into actual success at this point! :)

Irene is sticking to roughly 1000 calories a day; not rigidly, but by being aware of how much she's eating and aiming for that amount.

We talked about our favourite healthy food discoveries and Irene had some great ones:

• Fresh tilapia (a fish) from Loblaws, coated in a small amount of breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese and quick fried.
• Salmon from Costco, topped with Cross and Blackwell Mango Chutney (Loblaws or No Frills sell it)and a little bit of goats cheese, baked in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes then turn off the oven and leave it for five minutes. Yum!
• Irene gave up coffee for water or green tea with Stevia sweetener.
• Catalina dressing (the lowest cal. dressing) with lots of salads

Irene has upped her exercise, taking her dog Moses out in the morning, riding a recumbant exercise bike and she also bought the Lesley Sansone Anniversary set of 3 DVDs on Amazon.

Another Irene tip: "I also recommend Kosher pickles as a snack (zero calories)."

Way to go Irene!