A Miracle Pound

Tuesday is "random" thought day. We'll get back to discussion on what "is" willpower on Friday's blog.

My longest walk this week was six miles. My total for walking and jogging only 15.75. Did the normal SPEW workouts four times for sit ups and push ups etc etc. The grazing on fruit routine during early day helped the hunger cravings some this week but still had one day of too many brews while working outside and had fried chicken one night and ate 3 sugar cookies during the week. So plenty of room for improvement. As you recall I lost 3 pounds last week and somehow a miracle happened and I still lost another pound in spite of my few eating/drinking sins. Total now at 28 pounds.

I've started my ten week training course at CCHS so some regular schedules will be needed and for me makes eating easier to control Plus, an extra mile walking per day to and from parking deck to classroom.

The inspirational guy at church walked six miles and rode his bike ten miles last week......per day most days. Go dude!!!

Another "go dude" to the man I passed walking in neighborhood this week. He was shorter than me and a sinewy thin older guy. Walking at a good pace. I figured he was maybe 70. Nope. He is 83 years old and walks and rides his bike everyday too. Way to go old folks. I want to be like that guy!

Beating the Pavement

Ah, this is my time of year.  The weather is finally getting cooler and I can go outside and take a comfortable walk. Walking is a cheap way to exercise. All that we need to get started is a good pair of shoes, a safe route and the motivation to move.  The last one is the hardest for me.  BUT I do find music to be a great way to keep me motivated and on track. A while ago, I asked for suggestions on songs to walk with. You all gave some GREAT ideas and I have created a few walking playlists. Below is my hip-hop version:

• Let's Get it Started -- Blacked Eyed Peas
• SOS -- Rihanna
• Womanizer -- Britney Spears
• Push It -- Salt-n-Pepa
• Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
• Disturbia -- Rihanna
• Ring my Bell - Anita Bell
• I Got a Feeling -- Blacked Eyed Peas
• Please Don't Stop the Music -- Rihanna
• Boom Boom Pow -- Blacked Eyed Peas
• Can You Feel It -- Michael Jackson
• 3 -- Britney Spears
• Gonna Make You Sweat -- C+C Music Factory

As yesterday's remembrance of all those who died ten years ago reminded me, life is precious. So let's appreciate life by putting on our shoes and walking. Make a date to walk with a friend you haven't seen in a while or find a charitable cause to walk for this fall: diabetes, breast cancer, the heart. All of these causes are great ways to show our appreciation for the gift of life.

Share your playlists and let me know where you go to walk.  Who knows, maybe our paths will cross!  Remember every journey starts with a single step.  Take the small steps today to net results tomorrow.  Until Wednesday.

Nancy Johnson

Weight Loss Takes Willpower

There are thousands of weight loss plans and books and cook books etc out there for anyone to use. The websites are full of studies and plans and helpful tips. Same thing for exercise and fitness. You can get in shape and lose weight using so many of these plans. I know people who have lost weight on Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins, South Beach, via walking, jogging, rowing, boot camp participation. My point is, pick a plan or a combination of ideas and most will work. That is "IF" we have the willpower to actually adhere to any of these techniques.

Throughout most of my adult life I've been up and down in weight. Not always fat, not always in top shape. I'm a "yo yo" exerciser the more I think about it. I generally have exercised to some degree all my adult life. Sometimes, I just get really immersed into it and that is when I get lean then I tapper off or get injured or whatever the excuse is and since I wasn't having to "diet" per se, the weight would come back on.

Calories "in" and calories "out" is not an equal opportunity process. Age, gender, current weight and environment and genetics all enter into the mathematical equation for what it takes to lose weight. Most fat folks don't think about each meal and whether it will put pounds on or help reduce pounds. By the same token most normal weight people I know also "DO NOT" make conscious decisions about eating either. Some scientist believe different peoples brains urge them on to eat more than others. Some people find eating more pleasurable than others. But when we are fat and do want to lose weight. We have to think about it. It may not seem fair that you have to exercise more and eat less than the person next to you to weigh the same as they do. But that is the cards some of us are dealt with and its up to us to make those choices.

It takes willpower. Next Friday I will delve into what willpower is, or might be. What is your opinion about what willpower is? Be careful. I'm not looking for examples of what people with willpower "do". I'm looking for that inner most psychological essence of energy in our minds that is "willpower".

Now get out there and work at it fat buddies and may the willpower be with you.

What you feed grows

It seems like common sense that if you feed something that it grows. This is true for the body, mind and soul. For the last 2 months I forgot this truth. At this point of my journey I have allowed commitments in my life to sidetrack my weight loss journey. This has happened before. Sometimes the detour lasted a week, sometimes a month and sometimes the pity party never ended. It was because of this truth that I decided to do this blog. I think I represent alot of people who want to be healthy; who know they should eat better; who remember how good it felt to be in shape BUT just don't, can't or won't take the necessary actions to make it a reality. In the past my detour wasn't a public issue. Shame is a GREAT motivator. Let's be honest for a minute. If losing weight were easy, everyone would be slim and trim. If losing weight required little effort just thoughts, the weight loss industry would be put out of business TODAY.

Over the the past few weeks, my heart and head haven't been into writing this blog. I felt that the only people who were reading were the negative naysayers of society who got their jollies posting negative comments. Then I ran into a friend who happens to read this blog. Right there in the Walmart aisle, she feed me the positive words of encouragement I needed to hear. Thank you, Cheryl, for reminding me why I volunteered to do this blog. It wasn't for the notoriety. It wasn't for the money (contrary to popular belief). It was about sharing my journey (good and bad) with those who share my plight. Cheryl reminded me that positive people are reading and I need to stay true to the mission.
Thank you for that reminder.

27 Pounds Worth of Random Thoughts

Going forward with this Blog I intend to generally use Tuesday's as a "random thought" day. That is, give some overall general stats on anything different I did for the exercise or diet for the prior week. Also give weight change and perhaps even reveal my eating excesses of the week. I don't think some of you folks can understand how much I overeat sometimes. For instance this past week I ate a small package of candy corn while driving over to my mountain cabin. I ate six hot dogs (chicken dogs) in one meal. I had too much pasta and wings one night.

On the flip side, I didn't have but two beers all week and from Wednesday forward got back to what helped me lose a ton of weight six years ago....."grazing". That is, during the day I ate grapes, bananas, apples, oatmeal, carrot sticks etc to keep from getting wildly hungry during the day. Then at night, I ate very controlled portions. So overall, for me, I had a better than average calorie week. I also had a very heavy exercise week. Pretty much my normal weights, bike, walk/jog/push ups etc. In addition, however, I had two very strenuous work days on my driveway job at the mountain cabin.

Most of the 24 pounds I had lost earlier this year was due to a ramp up of my exercise. I had stabilized at that reduced weight. So the only two options were to decrease calories and tweak the exercise a tad. One week isn't something to get all celebratory about. It is a long term string of weeks that will matter. None-the-less, I lost 3 pounds last week. So that is 27 pounds so far. Its a nice step in the right direction. We'll see what this week yields. The "grazing" materials are in house so that is my eating plan. Lots of small portions of clean food.

Friday blogs will be more about the psychological aspects of losing weight. The mystery isn't how to lose weight when it comes to the diet and actions that work. The mysteries lie in the mind and what willpower is. Why "ONE" area of a persons life is more difficult to control than others. etc.

See you Friday.

Who needs the labels?

An anonymous commenter posted, "Being fat isn't like a race. It's about lack of self control and poor choices. Therefore, it does say something about a person." Really? Democrat. Republican. Black. White. Young. Old. Fit. Fat. Obese. These are all labels that we use to describe others and yourselves. Labels serve a great purpose on inanimate things; not people.

There was alot of discussion last week about whether Dan was fit or fat. Obese or okay. Saturday's anonymous commenter is one more example of how society thinks it is acceptable to belittle larger people. Yes, we are bigger than you. So what? Most of us are law abiding people who contribute to society.  Unlike some of the anonymous commenters, we are not hiding behind the glare of our computer screens and the click of our keyboard. We are openly talking about our weight issues as we try to deal with them in our own way. Our way not yours.

Its okay to disagree with the things you read in this or any blog.  It is not okay to be disrespectful.  This is why I decided last week to limit comments to my posts. This was a difficult decision for me, the consummate debater. I have NO problem holding my own in any disagreement, but holding a one-way discussion where I share my opinion and then the Anonymous naysayers share their view from the protection of their closets, just wasn't fun anymore. I prefer two-way open discussions with grown-ups with names even if the names are fiction.  Anyone who wants to openingly share his/her comments can email me at Energizingcharlotte@yahoo.com.

Health is more than a number on a scale and just because someone is larger than "normal" doesn't mean that person shouldn't be appreciated, included or respected. Let's stop labeling people. Let's use this forum to encourage each other, to share what we know and to tell others how small changes today can have big results tomorrow.

Nancy Johnson

Are You Morbidly Obese?

The term "morbidly obese" has been tossed around this blog for months now. For the most part its been used as almost a verbal weapon by some. So the question is.....am I......are you....morbidly obese? If I'm not and you are does that make me superior to you? Heck no. I'm still fat. I'm just lucky to be otherwise healthy......so far. I don't even get a cold but perhaps once every 3 years or so. My BP and heart rate are good. My blood sugar is great. My back and legs are strong and sturdy. I'm strong in general for an old geezer and have ever improving endurance. If you are, by chance, morbidly obese you by definition do have some extra health challenges facing you that are way more serious than my wimpy exercise and diet journey and I am pulling for you to find a way to get healthy. Of course proper medical care and consultation with your doctor is a must. But back to the question of "if" we/you are morbidly obese. Here's the criteria:

1. Are you more than 100 lbs over your ideal body weight, or

2. have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40, or

3. have a BMI of over 35 and are experiencing severe negative health effects, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, related to being severely overweight?

4. unable to achieve a healthy body weight for a sustained period of time, even through medically supervised dieting?

These are serious questions and not something to reticule a person about. I hope that anyone facing these very tough issues pull through and succeed to live your life to its fullest. Weight doesn't make a person good or bad. It can impact your life however and the quality of that life.