Tips, Tricks and Friday inspiration

Today's inspiration comes from a cool blog on celebrating the small things.

I'm constantly inspired by my dear hubby, who is maintaining his 70 pound loss since May.  Recently we talked about how much fat you really need and found this great article to advise us.

On a personal front, my parents have just arrived with their RV for a visit of several weeks.  Traditionally, I throw my health plans out the window when we have guests but I am going to do things differently this time.     I don't want to see a six-week setback so I am committed to staying the course.  Here is what I commit to:

Log all my food
Get 3000+ calories of exercise each week (log it!)
Post a weekly check-in each week after weighing in.

The day of my check-in post may change as I accommodate sight seeing -- but I will weigh in and post each week. 

That's it for today folks.  Happy weekend!

Note:  Can one of my faithful readers please let me know if these links don't work for you?  I'm not sure if SparkPeople works without logging in!

I'm mad at myself, but no longer pouting. And to be fair to myself, unhappy as I was, I didn't EAT anything while I was mad. I gained BACK the pound I lost last week. Yep. Here are the stats:
Current Weight: 232.8
Weight Last Week: 231.8
Since last week: 1 pound gained

Eating 3
Exercise 5
Motivation 4

Total weight loss this RIVAS: 0 pounds

On Thursday and Friday last week, I did not keep to my eating goals. Both days I ate 300 extra calories, amounting to 1500 each day. On Friday, I got some insight from my support partner and course corrected. And then there was last night. I met a friend to exchange her child and we wound up eating at a chain restaurant. I was not planning to eat with her but it was well past dinnertime. I ordered a cheeseburger. No kidding. The night before my weigh in. It must have been full of salt too because my fingers, toes, ankles - all swollen up today. I'm sorry now. It was a painful lesson. I will take a look at the lifeshock in that moment of decision.

I am acknowledging myself for exercise, however. Last week I managed to get in 3.42 hours but I logged 5.5 this week! I have some sore muscles and sore knees but not as bad as I was worried it would be.

I am headed to England for a course on Monday. What this means is that I will not be able to report in as I don't expect to have computer access until I return at the end of the month. In the past while at these courses I have managed to get in three extra hours of exercise while away (not counting shopping or sight-seeing). I will be gone for ten days so I am going for 5 extra hours of intentional exercise in addition to group exercise, sight seeing, etc. I will of course also watch my calories and stay in my limit; busy and away from home this is usually not a difficulty for me. As long as I avoid tea houses! I'll carry vegetables and fruit onto the plane, as well.

Yesterday I was listening to the Livin' La Vida Low Carb Show podcast archives and heard a very inspiring interview with Shauna Reid, blogger, and author of The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl. Among other things, she reminded me why I am writing this blog. I wanted a way to record my learnings on this journey in a more interactive and interesting way than a document stored on my hard drive. Check out this podcast, his original blog, and Shauna's blog for a big dose of inspiration.

I missed updating on Sunday, so here is that update somewhat belatedly.

Current Weight: 238
Weight Last Week: 239
Weight loss since last week: 1 pound
Total weight loss this year: 4.8 pounds
(Starting weight, 242.8)

My food choices: 10 of 10 (that won't be the case this week! Argh)
Exercise: 5 out of 10 - I did not exercise but due to a wicked toothache. I was motivated to.
Motivation: 10 of 10 - Motivated and looking forward all week

Yesterday I learned that I have an underactive thyroid. When I see my doctor a couple of weeks hence, I will learn how I might correct that. It was a bit of a relief to know why the weight is coming off so slowly. In other news, I learned that my blood sugar which last year was borderline "high normal" at 112, is now down to a tidy 82; the bottom of the range is 70. I attribute this directly to my change in eating lifestyle since last year; really limiting the simple carbs and avoiding sugary foods all together.

Finally, thank you for reading my blog and supporting my weight loss effort. You are good friends, indeed. I am richly blessed!