Bit Off More Than I Can Chew

Good morning, blog followers.  It has been a while since my last post, but I can tell you that I am still plowing along.  The title to this blog says it all; I have been a little busy over the last few weeks and I am sure that a few of you can relate when you finally get to a point when you realize that you have biten off more than you can chew.  Overwhelmed.  Overcommitted.  Overbooked.

What do you do when you have allowed life to take over and you find yourself with no time for the things that matter most -- family, health, ... life?  You take a minute to breathe, mediate, and re-prioritize your time even if you have to upset a few people.  Why?  You only have one life to live.  Take the time to do whatever it takes to get up, get out, and get moving.  Nothing and I mean nothing is more important than your health.

I'm glad I took a week off to gain some clarity in various areas in my life. My health is very important to me.  Now its time to trim the fat in my life and eliminate some of the activities that have prevented me from achieving my health goals. Until next time.

Nancy Johnson

I Won't Back Down

Hello fellow fat folks. You've heard me call myself obese and fat many times in this blog. I've been perfectly honest about exercising yet not dieting properly.
Early on in this blog I also mentioned I was fortunate to not be starting from complete lack of exercise. My history has been one of extreme exercise and thus being able to eat a lot. The last four years however I gave in to some personal and family stress that was an excuse to only exercise to much less degree yet kept on eating. Pretty easy to understand gaining weight then right?

Now before I go on let me mention that any thing I have been, am now or hope to be in the future that can be deemed good or positive is something I humbly give thanks to God for. I know I'm fortunate in many many ways.

So I'm fat. I'm also thick skinned and have laughed to myself at the stalker type "Anonomous" person who has been very negative to the bloggers and fat folk in general. He, and yes I'm convinced its a male, last week finally decided to jump on my case. I've wondered why, other than perhaps sexism, he has been so tough on the ladies in this blog and mostly left me alone. Oh well, I'm relieved he finally has chosen me for his redicule. Gives me something to blog about. Thanks Big "A" or should I say "Bad A". Anyway, BA (Bad A) took exception to my indication that I was "fairly fit for an almost 60 year old man". BA says nobody can be fit and fat.

I contemplated this Sunday while doing my 3 sets of 40 push ups and 3 sets of 50 situps and 3 sets of 10 curls using 30 pound dumbells. I continued to contemplate it as I walk/jogged my normal hilly 3.25 mile course. Yesterday as I was loading and unloading 60 pound bags of marble rock and 80 pound bags of concrete at my mountain cabin (driveway work) and then mowed the property with a push mower up and down a steep incline. Yep. I'm sure out of shape.

Hey BA, I said I was "fairly" in shape...I didn't say I was in fantastic shape like I was just 4 years ago. I also qualified the statement by saying for an almost 60 year old guy. So get off your high horse dude. You must really be insecure and stuck on yourself boy.

So all my fat buddies out there lets not let others dictate who we are or will become. Do it for yourself. Next blog I'll talk about how some "fit" people are not always same as healthy people.

If Bill Can Do It (Go Vegan)

I've been reading a lot about a Vegan diet. This isn't for any particular "moral" reason or animal rights consideration, just health.

A week or so ago the news had Bill Clinton back in the news. Remember Bill? Former President, former fat food abuser? So much intelligence and drive yet, he didn't exercise or eat properly and we all know about his abuse of cigars....ahem.....

His recent years heart problems and his doctors lead him to try a Vegan diet. He's lost twenty pounds and improved his vitals about his overall health.

I love veggies and fruits anyway, so, why not consider this for an overall health benefit? I'm still reading various sources about how to do it and what to look out for etc.

I'd appreciate any readers first hand experiences of living a Vegan lifestyle. Again, save your animal rights preaching for another forum. I'm just interested in the health aspects at this point in my life. After all, Bill is only five years older than me.

I'm actually a fairly fit guy for a soon to be 60 year old. But I'm fat and who knows what silent hidden dangers lurk inside my blood vessels. One thing for sure, I need to find an eating pattern to get away from various addictions to fat and occassional sugar abuses to my body.

Another Big Event

My year of weight loss as you may recall, had/has a number of big events. Some of these events not anticipated. I was laid off from my job for the first time in my life earlier this year. My daughter got married. My wife and I celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary. I broke a toe doing a work project at our mountain cottage. I will turn 60 this fall.

Today, I'm attending an orientation for my upcoming search for a new late life career change. I will start a ten week course at Carolina College of Health Sciences to hopefully move into the Phlebotomy field of endeavor.

This will get me back into a schedule or routine that I will work my exercise routines around. It will also give me a bit more walking. My parking deck for the school is on the opposite side of the "campus" or facilities and is approx a 15 to 20 minute walk each way each day. Not much. But every little bit helps.

Can an Apple a day keep the doctor away?

You have probably heard the saying, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away".  I  know a few individuals who eat their daily apple and they seem to be very healthy and generally pretty fit.  So maybe there is a little truth to this.  :)


After many years of ridiculing my teenaged daughter about her cult-like fascination with everything "i", I finally bit the electronic apple and purchased an iPhone.  As a proud owner of a four-year old Razor phone, my leap to a smartphone was HUGE. Since taking the leap into the 21 century, I have found a lot of "apps" to be time consuming and some like angry birds to be addictive, but there are some apps that can help tech-no-saurs like me who need to lose weight.  You might find these three weight related apps interesting:

• MealSnap -- Pictures don't lie and this app lets you track what you eat by taking a picture of your meal.  Somehow this app is able to magically determine what you eat and the estimated amount of calories.  This is a great app for people like me who absolutely HATE writing down what I eat.  The app is not 100% accurate, but it has helped me do a better job of tracking what I put in my mouth.
• Healthy Habits- This application allows me to chose which specific behavior I want to work on.  This application makes the changes needed to create a new habit more manageable by breaking down helpful tips in a concise way one specific habit at a time.
• FoodScanner -- This application is more accurate than MealSnap and does not rely on a picture of the food to determine the number of calories.  You scan the food item, it registers the food and its nutritional information.  If you don't have a UPC code, you can search the database to find the food and then it tells you the nutritional value.  

Smartphones are wonderful gadgets.  Why not let your smartphone help you with your weight loss journey?  Apps like the ones above make it easier to track the calories going in.  If you have other weight related apps that you are using, send a comment and share your knowledge.  Until next week, take care.

Nancy Johnson

Exercise and Weight

To those brave and patient souls who have hung in there this year following this blog, you've heard me repeatedly mention I exercise but don't diet very well. Initially the shift to more and more exercise helped me lose 24 pounds. I've been pretty much stuck at that weight. Which, when I consider how lousy my dieting has been and that I've not gained weight back..... that is some sort of victory I suppose. But its not the goal. My weight loss journey hasn't so much been a set back as it has been a "slack back". July was tough to even exercise enough to make any progress. I have to keep working on my "mind" to get the dieting in line. In the meantime, since I love to exercise, I see a period of time now that my schedule should really lend itself to allowing a big ramp up in amount of exercise. I'm still a proponent of the calories in versus calories out formula for losing weight. I'm fit enough now to be able to tolerate more strenuous exercise. So time to do it.

I hope that any of you who are struggling with your 2011 goals will not give up either. Its ok to admit our mistakes or lack of focus. It is not ok to accept failure or allow negative "I told you so's" take over our minds. Now get out there and do what you know you need to do to be fitter and leaner.

Creatures of Habit

Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.  We you get right down to it, this is probably why a lot of people simply give up the fight with weight.  It is too easy to just hit the snooze button and get back into that comfy bed and that is what I have done for the past few weeks.  Snoozing and that ain't good!  


My energy level has been at an all time low.  I know my decision to give up the Dew was a long-term good one, but at the end of most days I feel like a worn out rag.  Its been very hard just to summon the energy for work each day, but walking has been getting my afternoon slumps more tolerable. 


Perseverance is key right now.  Its important to remember why I started this journey.  It is not about appeasing the critics.  Its not about how many people "view"  the blog or the comments -- good or bad.  Its about making a real life change in the bad habits that created the weight loss problem.


To date, I have lost 20 pounds and I have not regained any of the weight I have lost thus far.  Now, its time to get out of bed get off of the snooze button and get back on track.  Motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, has said “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”  By changing one small thing each day, each of us can define a new habit which will eventually cause real life time change.  

Nancy Johnson

Mid Day Heat and Exercise

I've been feeling extra tired lately. I mean sit down for a moment and fall asleep tired. I think its the amount I'm out in the heat exercising or working. I've always tolerated heat, cold, rain or whatever nature throws at me when I'm outdoors. Most days I'm up by 5:30 am but I don't typically exercise or do outdoor chores until mid day. Guess what? Its hot from noon until sunset this time of the year. Duh. I wonder if some of the bare spots in my yard are from the amount of salty sweat dumped onto it from my slippery old body.

Perhaps the heat and fact I am getting older is slowly wearing me down. I hate to exercise early in the morning. I think, however, it might be time to give it a try.

21 days to a new me

Its been said that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. I am on day 10 of my new life without the Dew. I know there is someone who is wondering what does giving up Dew have to do with weight. There is probably is no correlation between not drinking Diet Mt. Dew and weight loss. There are no calories in drinking diet sodas, right? At least that was my logic for a very long time. But as I approach AARP age, I realize that even things with 0 calories might not be good for me.

Everyone knows that to lose weight you have to eat better and move more but another very important part to losing weight is sleep and my sleep habits have been atrocious. I average 5 to 6 hours of sleep and this has impacted my weight loss because most days I have been too tired to work out and that has to change.

So, I am now going through the withdrawals of giving up the Dew but I know that in the end, my sleep will improve and I will feel better as I replace the false energy from the green bottle with the real energy from exercising. Right now I am off for a nap. Until tomorrow.

Another Good Example for Weight Control

On my recent trip to see some of my wife's relatives in Pa, I ran across a 69 year old cousin in that family that is another good example for weight control.

This particular lady is a very energetic person who works full time at a law firm. Yes, she is 69 with no intention of sitting back and taking it easy. She gets up at 4am and walks during the week and goes to a gym a number of times per week. I noted she also eats low fat diet and small portions. Does it work? All I can say is she can work most of us into the ground and is very slender and fit looking.

It reminds me that the last time I lost a lot of weight I too was very involved in activities to the point of not having time to over eat and yet was in a habit of making exercise an "essential" part of my day.

With all this in mind, today I will walk 3.25 miles, bike for thirty minutes and lift weights. Sometimes you find inspiration even when you least expect it. Look for an example, a person who can inspire you. It could be a spouse, a work associate or a personal trainer. Ultimately, we have to be able to "fly" solo. Until we are successful going solo, take any help you can get.

Lack of Drive

Finally. July is over. I've driven my 5,000 miles including 2900 just last week. All that sitting in car or on a motorcycle was terrible on my exercise/diet. I only exercised twice last week for example.

An odd thing happened during my two walk/jogs last week though. My jogs felt better than ever. You may recall that due to complications with my broke toe I've not been jogging any or much during my walks. For that reason, I expected it to be very tough to ease back into jogging my uphill sections of the walking course. I have no explanation other than maybe my legs were more rested than usual.

Anyway, in an otherwise lackluster month, it was a ray of hope for getting back to decent exercise.

Here's a tip for new joggers or old ones looking for a way to do an "interval" session without being on a track. If you are in a safe environment to listen to music while you walk/jog, try walking for one song....then jogging for one song for your "hard versus easy" pacing. Or you can use each new "block" to change up. If money is no object, you can get all kinds of great timing pieces too that have everything from simple stop watch functions to GPS and heart rate monitors built into them. Whatever it takes folks.

Picking blueberries

I enjoy the occasional blueberry muffin and pancake.  During my last visit with my mother, I had the wonderful opportunity to pick blueberries at one of my cousins house.  After I recovered from the shock of getting up so early on a holiday, I actually enjoyed the fresh air and commune with nature.

Picking the berries and later eating my Mom's blueberries pancakes reminded me on how nice it is to actually know where your food comes from. So for the next month I will explore some of the local farmers markets to get a taste of what our local farmers are producing.  Send me your suggestions on the best farmers markets in the Charlotte area.  Any within a 25-mile radius would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Nancy Johnson

Can a camera help me lose weight?

I recently read an article in a running magazine that I'm going to adhere to their advice about keeping track of what you eat.

You may recall that I don't have motivational problems to exercise. I have problems keeping a detailed diary of what I eat. The magazine article said to use your camera on your cell phone to take a picture of what you eat all day long. Then at night, go back through the pictures to help you recall what you ate and then you can diary it. Also, if you are about to give in to temptation, perhaps have a picture of yourself semi-naked to remind you of why you should not give in to the temptation.

They used to say a picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to a picture of my fat body, two words come to mind...... "oh my".

As most of you know there are also various phone "apps" to log calories etc but I still need to be able to just zap a picture and do my exercise and eating logs once as I prepare for bed and plan the next days menu etc.

I'm sure some of you have other techniques you can share with all of us that helps you keep track of things without having to constantly type or write it down multiple times of the day. Try it. Share your ideas. Now get out there and control yourself folks.

Phone a friend

On Who Wants to be a Millionaire, contestants have the option to call a friend when they need help with a question they don't know or are not sure about the answer.  It always amazed me when the friend would pick up the phone and have just the right answer and the friend would get to move on to the next level.  Imagine, a friend being there in your time of need for such an occasion.

Most of us will never have the opportunity to participate on a TV game show, but each day we get to play in the real game of life.  Unfortunately, there is only one chance through this game so we much take each day we are given and live it to the absolute fullest.  We don't have to wait until our number is called to join a TV game show, everyday we can phone a family member, friend, coworker, Toastmaster, neighbor or anyone you have haven't talked to in a while.  Encourage them to join you in this healthy initiative. Invite them on a walk and talk.  You will both be better for it.  Try it and let me know what happened.

Until next time.

Nancy Johnson