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Fit After Forty

Fit After Forty

September 13, 2011 by ·

I marked the approximate 6-month anniversary of me getting up off my butt and into the gym on my calendar. Make a goal, reach a goal, reward myself. I made it! The reward was to go shopping for new clothes. I actually own very little clothing as most of my days are spend uber-casual in my own office (perk of being self-employed) or at the gym. I have a half-dozen or so outfits I’ll wear out socially or to business functions. With the change of seasons into autumn I thought it would be the perfect time to toss what little is in my closet and get smaller clothes. No. Such. Luck. I am the same exact size as when I started.

Muffin Top

After 6 months of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and a trainer for the past 3 months I thought I would lose some weight. I still weigh 5 pounds more than when I started (I was up 10 pounds, so that’s an improvement) and wear the same size clothing. Blah blah blah I know I’m healthier & stronger and muscle weighs more than fat, but I want to be thinner too. I don’t need to be stick thin and understand I will always have curves, but I cannot stand the belly any longer. I actually feel guilty for wanting to be thinner. Wanting to be thin is selfish, but wanting to be healthy is okay somehow.

I eat better. Very little sugar or flour (most of the white foods are gone). My ‘cheats’ are a bit of frozen yogurt or a glass of red wine every so often. I also added a thermogenic (increases metabolism) and CLA to my diet. The little carbs I have are quinoa grains, and even that’s only twice a week mainly because it’s expensive. With two kids, a husband, and my mom in the house, drastically altering my diet and living off green juiced shakes and kale is next to impossible.

My work schedule is overloaded and the family schedule with the kids isn’t flexible (school is when it is). My gym is open 24 hours a day, so maybe I go back a second time at 10pm? I really can’t get to the trainer 4 days a week. As it is I go twice a week for 30 minutes each day. I run on the elliptical before my training sessions, then I pretty much get my own private bootcamp. I don’t have an hour every single day to run on the elliptical, but that seems to be my only option to lose the fat.

I will set another goal reminder in my calendar for six more months. I’m honestly not hopeful, but I will stick with it because I need to be healthy. Maybe after having two kids and being 40 years old means I’m going to look like this forever.

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Results Not Typical

February 3, 2011 by ·

Why is there this huge divide between being happy and being thin? Rather, why is there such unhappiness in the process of getting thin (and healthy)? I was (am) happy being overweight and eating healthy foods that taste good in moderation. But I’ve got weight to lose because I don’t FEEL WELL being heavier. I didn’t get this way eating bags of chips every night, eating TastyKakes or living on fast food. I got this way by having two kids and getting older – neither of which I would change.

The only way to get rid of the weight for me is to cut out a good part of ‘white foods‘ like refined sugar, flour and starches.  And exercise. I’ve had intentions of getting to the gym, but I honestly don’t have time to go sign up let alone attend. A lot of the problem with this all is that I’m HUNGRY.  To keep my calorie intake at a level that will promote weight loss, I am hungry all the time.  Even if I eat healthy things to get rid of the hunger, I either stop losing weight or gain weight.  Am I destined to feel hungry all the time just to be thinner and healthier?  What if I say *screw it* and choose to eat healthy, but in quantities that don’t leave me with a loudly growling belly all the time? I’ll be / stay heavy, that’s what.  And with that comes health risks and pain.  My knees are shot for a number of reasons, mainly because of all the skating I did as a teen and two knee surgeries.  Losing weight takes strain off my already-failing knees and helps reduce the pain from other flair ups. [Read more...]

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From Fat to Fab

March 27, 2010 by ·

It’s been five or six weeks now and I’m down 10 pounds from where I started.  Not bad, but still about 20 pounds more to go.  Now when I tell you “I am solid” don’t laugh! At my start weight (and size 12) I registered as obese on the BMI scale.  Losing 30 pounds will amount to a size 6-8 when all is said and done.  Not too shabby, but the question is –when the hell can I eat an entire chocolate cake!?–

Just as my last post indicated, I felt like a million bucks after I kicked the sugar craving.  I’m still not eating sugar or white foods (flours, grains, pastas, potatoes) – but have added in back a few starchy veggies like carrots or corn from time to time.  To be honest, at this point I”m a bit afraid to add back in fruits and breads.  I feel better, probably look better, and have more energy (outside of the killer cold/allergies I’ve got).  WHY in the world would I add back in sugar?  I think that’s staying out of my diet, but except for one or two times a month when a scoop of ice cream or piece of cake is in order.  Still on the fence about grains – whole grain, whole wheat, no bleached flour – there is a lot to learn before I make a decision.

One thing I hadn’t though of was how I’m going to deal with changing sizes and not investing too heavily in transition clothes.  My closet was cleaned out years ago of all single-digit jeans and skirts.  All I have left is my current size clothing.  Scratch that, I now have a closet full of “old” size clothing.  I just realized today I have been walking around picking up my pants from falling every 34.6 seconds and it’s annoying.  Besides, I can’t very well go around in professional clothing with the backside of my trousers sagging down.  Belts don’t seem to help either.  Yes, they hold my pants up, but there is also a huge gathering of material gaped up all over.  Not very attractive.  I have never shopped at a second hand shop (trust me, the clothing I purchase is cheap/inexpensive enough as it is…) but I think some research and a shopping trip is in my future.  Not sure if the clothes I just outgrew are decent enough to sell on consignment.  Thinking back to where I buy my clothes and the fact I keep them until 1) they fall apart 2) they are stained beyond help or 3) don’t fit any longer – I couldn’t face the rejection of the shop owner when they don’t want my wardrobe.  Goodwill it is!  The fact of the matter is, I hate to spend money on clothes.  HATE IT.  High end clothes shopping for me is Target or Kohl’s.  On sale.  Post season.

How am I going to survive not only foregoing a chocolate cake binge, but having to revamp my wardrobe three times on the way to my healthy size and weight?  The stress of that alone is enough to make me just want to eat a dozen bagels and call it a day.

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The Fight to Thin

February 27, 2010 by ·

Earlier this week I started changing my eating habits and dropped sugar and junky carbs and am following the South Beach Diet.  I don’t follow it to the letter, mainly I looked at the foods I ‘can’ eat and ‘can not’ eat and built my own menus around it.  I didn’t get on the scale all week because I’m more about feeling good/looking decent than what the scale says. I’m down 5 pounds since Monday.  I’ve been living the week in sweatpants because we’ve been snowed in, so I don’t know if 5 pounds makes a difference in how clothes fit.

For anyone that has done South Beach or has drastically cut sugar and processed carbs out of their diet, you know how tired and slothy it makes you feel for the first week.  I know I’m just a few days away from feeling like a million bucks but for now it feels like someone drained all the energy out of me, even when I first wake up.  I’ve done this ‘diet’ before, and it is what works for me.  I’m already tired of salads.  I miss chocolate.  Luckily some food company was smart enough to make sugar-free chocolate ice pops.  For now, I just need to get over the boredom that comes with eating eggs, salads, lowfat cheese, veggies, chicken and turkey all the time.

The normal amount of time to be on the strictest phase of the diet is two weeks, but it’s not uncommon (or unhealthy) to be on it for a month.  I ‘accidentally’ stayed on the strict part for a month last time I tried this, then added back in one fruit or one healthy carb (brown rice or oatmeal) a day and still managed to go from nearly shopping in the women’s department to a small size 8 in ten weeks.  I just got in the groove with my menu planning and healthier foods, and by the time I went to put on a pair of jeans for a night out, they literally fell straight off my hips and hit the ground.  Sad truth of working from home, you get stuck in the rut of wearing sweats every day.  I’m in an office a good number of days a week, so I have to wear real clothes (even if they are jeans).

So, while this started out as a simple status update someplace else, it wound up being on my blog.  My ‘reward’ for all of this is to go shopping at a store that I’ve only ever dared press my nose up against the glass and drooled and buy something even if it’s not on sale.  I have a few out of the ordinary talks coming up and I really don’t want to be self-conscious about my appearance anymore.

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