lose 15 pounds

I’ve gotten no where, but I’ve really been ignoring this and just trying to work out more and eat better. I’m up to 3 hours of strength training and 2.5 hours of spin classes per week, following Mark Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” program and doing a spin class after each strength workout. According to the fancy body composition machine at the gym, on May 21st I weighed 177.1lbs, 23.1% bodyfat, and my BMI was 26. All I need to do is sort out my diet, which really just means, after eating all the healthy nutrient dense foods that I already eat, I need to stop eating crap on top of that.

working out at curves, riding my bike more, eating smaller portions, eating out less often, stayed away from sugar and alcohol for 21 days (but it wasn’t entirely, i slipped up).

eating more is working because I’m down a pound this week! Amazing.
It’s not been easy, the first few days I felt stuffed and uncomfortable and after that I felt like I was starving all the time and felt sick at times. At the weekend I ate some junk – a frozen pizza, smarties biscuits (2 bags…), diet coke and chocolate – and that made me feel really sick and completely robbed my body of all energy, not to mention, really irritable. I’m sure I ate way too many calories, but I’m still a pound down today, so that’s good.
I hope hope hope that I’ll lose another pound this week and not re-gain this one, would be soooo nice to see my weight going down, even if it’s very slow. I’ve just made chocolate chip cookies, need to hide them somewhere now….

Goal: to lose 15 pounds in 3 months

There it is in living color: BELLY FAT. Please…say it isn’t true. Desperate to find an authentic article I could trust, I came across the Mayo Clinic website.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM03913

Most everything else that has to do with older women and weight gain is trying to sell products: colon cleanses, tonics, supplements…I know. I inhabited that world for many years…and now I’m a fully-converted skeptic.

Here’s the skinny (oops): This visceral fat, aka “belly fat” accumulates in our abdomens (bellies, ladies), between our organs. Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, is the fat you can feel if you pinch some skin and tissue around your middle. It’s the invisible fat, the visceral fat, that puts us at greater risk of disease, such as heart disease, breast cancer (been there, done that) and diabetes—more than does excess subcutaneous fat.

As we age and our metabolism slows down, the amount of fat in our bodies slowly increases. Here’s the kicker: Women experience an even greater fat percentage increase than men do. Then after menopause (yours truly), our body fat distribution tends to shift—less in our arms, legs and hips, and more in the abdomen.

Unfortunately, space necessitates brevity. In a nutshell, these abdominal fat cells are no slouches; they’re actively producing hormones and other substances that can affect our health. Here’s what scientists have discovered: ”...some fat-cell-produced hormones can promote insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes; others can produce estrogen after menopause, which may increase your
breast cancer risk.” One this for certain: Excess hormones affect overall health and too much visceral fat can disrupt the body’s normal hormonal balance.

alright, back up six pounds. yeah, that stinks but oh well. i’ll just have to work harder to keep it off from now on and even harder than that to get more off. i say to myself muscle weighs more than fat but really, i’m still not happy with where i am at, so making excuses is just silly. i need to keep at this until i am happy with the results.

I’m feeling better, I’m definately exercising more, eating better (most of the time) and have more energy. And the scale has yet to budge. I guess I had this vision of the pounds just melting off…I guess that’s just remembering back to high school when weight was never an issue.
it’s disheartening to have made so many steps in the right direction and nothing to show for it. On the bright side, I’m continuing to do all the right stuff (for the most part), so eventually I will see some sort of change, right? That’s what I’ll keep telling myself.

And then put on 6.
... (squelching frustration)

On the up side, my skin has improved a lot.
I’ve started practicing yoga weekly.
It’s helping me relax and breathe.

I’ve been eating a healthy diet, and I don’t want to alter that much.

I’ve already cut out all candy junk food, except for the occasional (rare) dark chocolate.

My major problem must be controlling what I eat during that one time of the month. (Know what I mean, ladies?) I just binge like crazy!

I’m learning to love my body, which works so hard to maintain equilibrium every day and takes me where I want to go.

15 pounds is the goal.
I won’t give up!

A world of cute clothes and swimsuits are ahead of me!
(I haven’t worn a swimsuit out in public in years.)

My food plan is pretty simple: small protein; spring greens w/beets and olive oil/balsamic drizzled over; veggie & starchy side. It doesn’t change much, so it can truly become tiresome. When desperation sets in, I look, naturally, to EatingWell.com. The newsletter that dropped into my email inbox today featured some dandy low-cal, low-fat, high fiber recipes. I took a look at Turkey w/Blueberry Pan Sauce. My daily diet includes dark berries over just about everything, but blueberries and turkey? I had to check this out. It’s definitely a winner. The recipe suggests barley for the starchy side, but over the holiday weekend, I discovered Kashi’s 7 Whole Grain Pilaf. It’s awesome, ya’ll. I’ll use it with this easy dish and get more fiber. Those berries for dinner will be a new twist.

Thanks to Evernote, I re-discovered a WebMD article called “Is Weight Gain Common During Menopause?” I’m able to use it in my final project but, the point is, I’m in trouble. Remember those 15 pounds I’m determined to lose? Well, seems there’s truth in my doc’s words when he said “Women your age…blah, blah, blah…” The article by Wendy Fries said that one study found that women gain an average of 12-15 pounds during this phase of life. Drat! Is that why these 15 pounds are being so stubborn? And, yes indeedy, my once pear-shaped figure is looking apple-like. I swear! This can only mean….No, I refuse to speak that ‘A’ word. Well, last time I checked, I still have a brain (of sorts). Thanks for everyone’s support; keeps me from grieving over lost youth.