Weekly Weight: 220.0 lbs

I know, the scale is just a number. However it does feel good when that number goes down. It feels especially good when you weren’t sure if it would.

This week was a hard week for me. On Monday I got up thinking I would get a walk in early and I ended up using my walking time to water the garden. I attempted a short walk but the heat was so oppressive that I just couldn’t do it. while i did get my timing down a little bit better and was able to get the morning watering in before the heat hit, walking was simply a no go this week.

usually we get this kind of bone soaking heat in the Dog Days which start late July and can run though August. They came early this year and I just wasn’t prepared. And even though I complained about the lethargy I felt at the beginning of the week, looking back (mostly through garden notes) in past years I have always felt it coming the first few days where the temps spike and soak the world with heat and humidity. The sun beating down on the house causes blinds to be shut on the side where it strikes, the open and shut rotation of blinds changing as the sun tracks across the sky. this makes the house feel shadowed and half asleep. which brings on my annual heat lethargy.

The different I think is that i expect those few days in late summer where the heat becomes too much. We went from just getting hot to oppressive really quickly this year. but as always after a couple of days letting it settle in, the routine shifted and things adjusted. Where I like it is a thing. we are lucky in that the winter isn’t harsh. i have to adjust for rains and blasts of icy winds, but there are maybe a couple of weeks in the winter where i can’t face being out doors. The summertime here though can be a killer.

Literally. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke have taken down many a person. I’ve made myself sick with it, in fact i did so earlier this month (a mild version that warned me to think about when I went outside but caused no permanent damage). Our winters don’t have the biting killing cold other places have, but the summer heat and humidity make up for it. it is just usually more bearable until later in the summer. August is the month where you begin to despair of ever seeing autumn and think happy thoughts about possibly relocating to northern Canada just so you can take a deep breath without feeling like you are drowning in humidity soaked heat.

the heat is like a live beast. You move slowly so as not to draw it’s attention and try to travel after dark when it might be resting.

with the switch, I wasn’t sure i would actually lose any weight but apparently I did. To be honest, i think it is less lost to the effort department and more because it was too hot to actually eat.

The Stats:

Starting Weight: 246.0 lbs

Last week’s weight: 221.8 lbs

This week’s Weight: 220.0 lbs

Lost this week: 1.8 lbs

Lost thus far: 26.0 lbs

I think my body has adjusted. There will be slower movements and adjusted timetables for a while, but I am hoping that the lethargy has moved on and that even if i am moving slow, I can still get back to moving. Just indoors, and with a lot of water.

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Weekly Weight: 221.8 lbs

I know, it is a gain of 0.4 lbs. But I am not going to be upset about that. Clearly a gain is never a happy thing to see, however. As I skipped my walk and yoga yesterday due to an onslaught of phone calls and the inability to get away from my desk for any length of time, I am perfectly fine with the 0.4 gain.

I knew I wasn’t going to get any exercise in. Yesterday I barely had time to run to the bathroom when I needed to. (There was a computer systems crash elsewhere and items had to be recovered and or revamped or redone – luckily it wasn’t my computer system that went down). There were a lot of panicked calls and it was just one of those days. I compensated by watching what I ate like a hawk.

My balance may have been a little off but i can’t really sweat less than half a pound. The day was crazy and extra long and I did not compensate myself for getting through it by overindulging when the day finally ended. For me, that is a win, even with the slight gain.

The Stats:

Starting Weight: 246.0 lbs

Last week’s Weight: 221.4 lbs

This week’s Weight: 221.8 lbs

Change this week: +0.4 lbs

Lost this far: 24.2 lbs

With luck today will be a little calmer and there will be less panic, r at least whatever panic happens won’t include me. Either way, I stuck to my meal plan last night instead of ordering take out and I am quite pleased with myself for that.

Does the Be Calm Stress Patch work?

Let’s face it, we could all use a little less stress in our lives. I think that is one of the reasons products like this Be Calm patch from The Good Patch, are so attractive as products. It promises the possibility of a bit of relief from the stress with one quick and easy patch. Just peel it from the backing and stick it on your inner arm and inner calm and peace can be yours (for $16 for 4 patches).

It sounds like a good idea, But does it work?

Let’s look at some of the details.

Time to unwind and decompress. This patch is complete with 15 mg Premium Hemp Extract, Ashwagandha, Passionflower and other key ingredients. (15 mg Industrial Hemp Extract, 4 mg Menthyl Lactate, Ashwagandha Root Powder, Passionflower Powder, Black Pepper Extract (Piper Nigrum)
The Good Patch

It is no surprise that chemicals can be absorbed through the skin. it is the way nicotine patches work after all and those have been around for quite some time.

When opening the package, I was surprised by how large the patch was. It about an inch square. I don’t know why I was expecting something smaller, but I was actually enthused but the fact that it is larger. After all more surface area means more calm, right?

It peeled off the backing easily and adhered well to my wrist. In addition it is clear so once on it more or less visibly disappeared. It just made that section of my wrist look like it had a piece of tape on it. I like that it is invisible.

Even though it wasn’t really seen, I did feel it constantly on my wrist. And that is actually an interesting thing. The patch can be worn for up to 12 hours and I wore it four about nine. During that time I would find myself moving my hand, remembering the patch by the feel of it on my wrist and remind myself that I was supposed to feel calm. I would then take a few deep breaths and do my best to relax and let the calm flow through me.

I am fairly certain that any calm I felt from this patch, came from me feeling the patch and reminding myself that I was supposed to be calm. I can’t honestly say that anything that might have absorbed through the patch actually helped in making me calm. I think that I would have the same level of calm that I would have had if I attached something else to my wrist (be it a bracelet or even a piece of clear tape with no chemicals on it) and made myself remember to be calm. In fact i am fairly certain I would have gotten the same results if I took a sharpie and wrote be calm on my wrist.

I can see the appeal and I can see the reminder is helpful, I can’t honestly say that the patch in itself did anything other than remind me to be calm. It isn’t a bad thing, having that reminder, in fact it was good to have a reminder. However as a product, I can’t really say it was all that effective. It only had the power my mind gave it. This Be Calm from The Good Patch is just not for me.

Weekly Weight: 221.4 Lbs

I know these pictures are often off kilter and cut off, but todays is a little worse than usual. I know that bugs some of you and I am sorry. The reason is that the glass surface of the scale is reflective so I try to crop out as much reflection as I can.

Despite the slightly wonky photo, I am actually quite pleased with the numbers it is showing. Before the world blew up in a wave of Easter and personal family drama, I actually had a sit down with my doctor about my weight loss, or at the time lack there of. I had charts, I had graphs, I had food journals. What I didn’t have was answers.

I think I might have actually scared him a bit if I’m honest.

I’m not sure how often doctors are presented with records and then asked to explain and extrapolate.

I tend to return to historian mode when looking for answers. There are the fact and then there are the meaning of the facts. I had the facts and I wanted the meaning.

He got over it and was, I think amused as the surprise faded. He made some suggestions, I took notes and tried to implement them. well technically I made plans to implement them after the Easter Holiday and then my plans were torpedoed, but now I am implementing them.

And it is nice to see them paying off.

This week is all about adjusting the schedule and convincing myself that I need to get up earlier so that I can walk before the heat hits. Its time to work on avoiding that heat stroke, baby. Once I feel stable I will be incorporating more afternoon strength building and flexibility work outs (indoors, again avoiding that heat stroke)

Thus far I am happy with the way it is working.

The Stats: Starting Weight: 246.0 lbs

Last week’s weight: 222.8 lbs

This week’s Weight: 221.4 lbs

Lost this week: 1.4 lbs

Lost this far: 24.6 lbs

My goal is to lose around one pound per week. This week I managed to exceed it. If this keeps up until I end up in the healthy zone I will be a very happy camper.

Weekly Weight: 222.8 lbs

The last weigh in for May and I am pleased to see the scale numbers descending. It is a very good feeling. I was a little surprised actually. It has been a strange week. My schedule was off, we had workmen at the house on Monday so I couldn’t leave, we had rain that flooded the park and then when it finally looked like a walk was allowable, I realized the weather had officially shifted.

no longer could i just look outside to make sure it wasn’t raining and that I needed a break. We have entered the time of year where a walk is the first thing on the days agenda. Which means that the entire schedule for my work days has to be adjusted. Walking after about 10 in the morning is just not going to happen. Anytime I need a work out after ten am it is going to be an indoor one just to stave off heat stroke.

Which also means I need to shift my shower times (because I am going to sweat even on the early morning walks and don’t want to sit around all stinky for the day’s work.) Most of my interactions are on the phone or via computer so I’m the only one who knows, but I feel grungy, which I don’t like.

I know it sounds strange but the summer time is always a strange workout set up. There isn’t just the time a daily work out takes away from your work day (which can be substantial), but in the summertime there is an extra dimension with the heat. To get the work outs in it needs to be a priority, but at the same time there are many other priorities in the work day. Summer time scheduling always makes me feel like I’m doing some sort of complicated word problem for an unexpected math class. As though one of my old math teachers has snuck up on me when i wasn’t looking and announced a pop quiz.

If a short walk takes forty-five minutes and requires a ten minute cool down before a shower can be taken, and a shower where the hair is rinsed but not washed with products takes ten minutes less than a shower where the hair is washed with products and a walk can only occur before ten am, what time do you need to set the alarm to allow your hair to dry before the 11:15 zoom meeting next Tuesday?

Fun stuff. I’m actually going to have to get a new hair dryer at some point soon. The cool setting on my hair dryer is no longer blowing quite so cool and using the hot air function will just make me sweat again so, it is air dry the bangs and wrap the still wet part up in a knot on the back of my head when meeting’s arise time.

It’s not an actual complaint, more something I never realized would happen when I began seriously trying to better my health through regular exercise. Somehow it simply didn’t factor in that the exercise had to be fit in somewhere and that that somewhere would require conscious thought.

Summertime is just the season that requires a bit more thought for scheduling than others. Things to think about.

The Stats:

Starting Weight: 246.0 lbs

Last Week’s Weight: 224.4 Lbs

This week’s Weight: 222.8 lbs

Lost this week: 1.6 lbs

Lost thus far: 23.2 lbs

And so my darlings, with the scheduling for next week needing a bit of a look through and Friday’s work to get started, I leave you. while it was an off kilter week, in the end it worked well or at least I lost a little bit of weight. I’m hoping to keep this trend going.

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Weekly Weight: 224.4 lbs

This week was about getting food back on track and exercise arranged in a more or less usual fashion. There were some extra garden exploits that I’m sure burned extra calories. Last week there were a few days I didn’t feel like eating at all and then came the arrival of comfort casseroles and food was eaten whether I was hungry or not. Now I am back home and it is more normal.

I had no clue what was going to happen when i got on the scale this morning and honestly I suspected there would be a weight gain. I was presently surprised by the 2 lbs loss. Pleasantly so. At the same time I am not sure I can take the credit for that. It was a very up and down two weeks with a lot of emotional upheaval. I am hoping that the weight is gone and I can continue the steady slope into a healthy weight loss.

Also I planned to try this before everything happened. As it is I will be giving it another week before I sign up but there is this site called Yoga Works. It has oodles of yoga classes that you can stream from home and I think I would do better with my inside workouts if I had a set yoga class rather than things I cobbled together from You Tube Videos. we are getting into the season where I can go on my walks if i leave first thing in the morning. Any later and the heat and humidity sap my energy for the day instead of simply providing an exercise outlet.

Which means I need to incorporate more indoor workouts. So I will be inventorying my in home work out gear and seeing if there is anything I need to add with a Prosource fitness order and bulking up my fitness clothing collection and then signing up for the Yoga Works. Since I can’t help but review everything, I’ll let you know how I feel about it as I use it. But I think I am going to give myself another week to settle back into normal before I sign up for it. I’ll post the link below for anyone else interested. As for now, I am going to be happy about the two lbs lost, however they ended up getting lost.

Starting Weight: 246.0 lbs

Last weigh in: 226.4 lbs

This week’s weight: 224.4 lbs

Lost this week: 2.0 lbs

lost thus far: 21.6 lbs

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Weekly Weight: 226.4 lbs

It is the day of reckoning. My first time on the scale in over a month. I knew I gained weight, but I have to admit the scale almost made me cry this morning. I know it is just a number, but it still hit hard.

While I am surprised by how much was added, I am not surprised that it is an increase. Right before I stopped getting on the scale I went to the doctor who basically told me that the reason my scale numbers weren’t really moving is that I actually wasn’t eating enough to balance my exercise and my body just wasn’t having it. So things got adjusted.

And then the meal plan went out of the window. Thee was a holiday and several family events. We had out of town visitors and choices were justified. Instead of keeping myself to a single Friday night Happy hour glass of wine or cocktail, many sociable drinks were consumed on numerous nights (some alcoholic some not, all more calories than I am used to).Larger portions were also justified as Holiday favorites come once a year.

I can’t regret the carrot cake. I make it once a year and it is one of those cakes I could happily just sit down and dig in with a fork and eat until I am sick. I am not a huge sweet person but this has just the right spicy sweet and tangy notes to be my dessert kryptonite.

And just when I thought the holidays were over until Thanksgiving, Cinco de Mayo showed up and I celebrated with friends at a restaurant that is known for it’s generous portions. It has admittedly shifted the meal plan so tonight is a salad night instead of an indulgent Friday night meal, but there are no complaints from my baby doll, Last night was indulgent.

And I forgot that I would have to get on the scale this morning.

But it is what it is and at least I can stop worrying about how much I gained and take it as an extra incentive to get back on track. The next celebration is my birthday which is at the end of June. (June 27th in case you are wondering) so as extra incentive to stay on track, if I am good then my birthday can be celebrated with an expensive bottle of champagne and any cheese plate I decide to concoct. But until then, I need to reign in my indulgences and get back on track.

The worst is over though, I stepped on the scale and the numbers didn’t kill me. Now I just have to let the desire to see those numbers decrease fuel me into getting back into what I know I need to do. I know ups and downs are par for the course, but I have to admit my darlings, this one hurt quite a bit.

Weekly Weight: Last week of April No Scale

And so the month of April No scale comes to an end. I am relieved that I did skip the scale this month. We had company, there was a holiday with extra feasting and it was nice to not have to think about the scale.

At the same time, I know I gained some weight. I can feel it in the waist band of my jeans. And while I hate knowing that I did gain weight, I think it would have added extra stress on an already stressful month to worry about the scale.

For me, April went bonkers. Earlier this year I agreed to a couple of projects that were supposed to be small ones with limited scopes of work. As time went forward they morphed and just took over. April was when they both wrapped up and so there were longer than normal days mixed in with the house guests and Holidays. To be honest, I don’t actually remember a lot of the month. It went whizzing by in a hail of deadlines.

Last week I realized that the month was coming to an end and that soon i would have to step back on the scale and see the gain in no argument digital numbers. My goal for this last week of April was not to panic. It was to put the month behind me, accept that the weight gain was coming and to not go crazy trying to take it all off before i stepped back onto the scale.

Instead i went through the cabinets and made sure we didn’t have any sneaky lurking holiday items. I made a meal plan and this week I concentrated on getting back on track with the meals and getting into the habit of paying attention instead of granting myself temporary exemptions. Mostly because I know that if i stress about it and try to go overboard then it will usually backfire on me. In other words i may lose what I added over April, but it won’t be sustainable so in may I’ll end up putting it back on again before I take it off. I’ve been on many back and forths over the years. And that is always what happens. So I am trying to deal with holiday weight in a healthier way. I am just accepting it, understanding that it was due to a change in diet and exercise and accepting that the weight will come back off once I get back into my routine.

I a also reminding myself that Easter was the last big Feast Holiday until Thanksgiving. In my family there will be a picnic for Memorial day and a barbeque for Independence day, but both are single events rather than long weekends and easily navigable, diet wise. The feasting Holidays start with thanksgiving, run through the holiday parties, Christmas, New years and then end with Easter. Which means that until November I will just have a few off days here and there, but nothing major to knock me off of my diet and exercise plan. At least nothing expected anyway.

There is always room for the unexpected.

So this is the end of April. Next week it will be back to the scale. While I no longer fear the scale as I once did, I will always have mixed feelings about it and will frequently need mental health breaks from it. Which I think is healthy. Sometimes life simply needs to be lived. While my weight loss is something needed for my over all health and well being throughout my life, it isn’t something that should take over my life. I know as these posts are a record of the ups and downs of my dieting life, weight and it’s loss (or lack of) can seem like the main focus of my world. It isn’t and sometimes it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that I am dieting to better my life, not living to diet.

Weekly Weight: Continuing on with no scale April

Good morning my darlings. This week has been a little strange fitness wise. Allergies have run rampant and both my baby and I have had a hard time of it this week. While it means there was sneezing and limited time outside, it also means comfort food. The weather didn’t help. we planned a cool veggie dinner for Monday and then the temps plummeted so we both wanted warm and comforting.

So food wise, it was not the best and exercise wise it wasn’t great either. Working out when you can’t breathe properly doesn’t work.

I’ll admit, I was relieved not to be getting on the scale this week. I was tempted by it because I knew it wouldn’t be good news, but I knew I would mentally berate myself if I did see a rise in weight this week. So I did the healthy thing and just didn’t step on the scale even for my own curiosity. Even though I shouldn’t I do berate myself for weight gain. This week it is understandable if I did gain weight. I simply can not work out while sneezing my head off.

I know this. So I am trying to be kinder to myself. Which sometimes I forget to do. So No scale this week and One more week in April to go without the scale. Given the visitors and the Holiday, and the candy and the weather, and the allergies. I am pretty sure i gained weight this month. The trick for me is not to go crazy next week trying to make up for an entire month in one week, well technically two. Next Friday is April 29th, so no weigh in. My next weigh in is May 6th. But I still need to remind myself to be sensible with my workouts and just get my menu and workouts back on track.

The plus side is that the weather looks like it is going to stay in the warm zone which means we can switch the menu out of winter mode. I’m already planning a spring roll salad for Monday. It is one of my favorite warm weather meals. It is exactly what it sounds like, a salad made from all of the fresh veggies that would be in a spring roll with a light and tangy vinegary sauce. The best part is that I can make it on Monday and then we can eat it both Monday and Tuesday nights. I love the two for one meals. It is very filling but not all that caloric. It will be good to finally get back to lighter meals. For those interested I plan to start posting the recipes of some of my favorites. But for now, I have to accept that this was not a good weight loss week (I know this even without the scale.) It is a marathon and not a sprint and I am working to build healthy habits for the rest of my life, not drop weight fast. admittedly i feel like I have been circling the same spot for a long time now, but I only fail if I stop trying. If you are on your own weight loss/healthy life style journey, I hope you don’t get discouraged and remember to be kind to yourself along the way.

Weekly Weight: April No Scale Continues

Today I was actually relieved not to have to get on the scale. We had company last weekend and to be good hosts we brought in things we normally wouldn’t have in the house. Much of the week we have been dealing with left overs just to clear them out of the pantry. One of the things I have noticed though is the sugar intake.

I long ago cut out sodas from my normal day. We will keep a six pack of mini ginger ales in the cabinet, but to be honest, a six pack will last several months and then more than likely one can will be incorporated into a Friday night cocktail (Sometimes even a mocktail I really like taking one of those cans pouring it into a glass and adding a drop of sour cherry syrup to it and calling that my Friday Cocktail.)

We had three 12 can (regular sized) boxes on hand for company. My baby took one box to work just for meetings. I had a couple earlier in the week because they were there but after I realized the sugar was affecting me and my sleep patterns, i stopped drinking it. It is one of those things I simply don’t think about any more. People talk about how sugary drinks are bad for diets, but since I rarely indulge I focus more on salt and fat when I think about diets. Also my big weakness is cheese rather than chocolate so I know I can walk away from the sweets more easily than the savory.

It also helps that we don’t bring it into the house. But this week it was there. and because it was just there I indulged. I had one of those moments where I realized how much grocery shopping affects my diet. Simply put, you can’t eat what isn’t in the house. I know that sounds like a foolish statement to make but it was really brought home to me this week. This week I ate things simply because they were there. Why bother to add a little flavoring to water if the soda is right there taking up space? Why cut up celery sticks if there is a bag of chips right there? Do I know the other stuff is better for me? Of course, but the other stuff can be consumed with no effort or thought. And since we prepared things for company instead of preparing snacks and other things for the week, I hadn’t helped myself out by doing the prep work early like i usually do.

It was a bad week for food, but an eye opening one. even when you realize that what you by matters, sometimes you just need a hard reminder that you are the gatekeeper. You are the one who decides what to bring into the house and you are the one who ultimately decides what you will eat based on what you bring into the house. I knew that. Of course I knew that. But sometimes, it is really good to have that hard reminder. This week more than anything else, that was what I got. Sometimes, I just need things spelled out for me.

Hopefully it helps you too if you are on a similar get healthy journey with weight loss.