Fitness Challenge Update: Losing Weight the American Way

[This article was  first published as Continuing Weight Loss the American Way on Technorati.]

Last week found me taking care of some stuff in Colorado, so I opted to give myself a pass for losing weight as long as I didn’t gain any weight.

Still, I managed to lose about a half pound and gain a new found admiration for people who travel all the time. The traveling road is brutal and fraught with too much sugar, fat and salt.  

While I sat in my aisle seat waiting for take off, I was once again reminded the importance of sticking with this frying in your own fat weight loss challenge. A rather hefty woman made her way to the back of the plan with a seat belt extension in hand. I don’t want to ever become one of those people who make the news because they get booted off a plane for being too fat or made to pay for another ticket because they can’t squish their behinds into their assigned seat. No siree, Missy.

Things like that mortify me and make me pray--a prayer of thanks that I never reached that size. A prayer of thanks for God’s blessings and strength to keep this weight loss challenge thing going. A prayer for the hefty woman and whatever baggage she hauls around her.

Traveling also gave me a chance to reflect. Here are a few things I learned on this trip:
#1… Gaining A New Perspective…I flew American Airlines and despite its bankruptcy woes,  everyone with American was very, very pleasant. Not a sour, dour person even when faced with some really, really stupid passengers.
You’re probably wondering what all of that has to do with this weight loss challenge. Well, when I start feeling grumpy (which I do from time to time with this dieting thing), I think of others who are having tougher times than me like those American Airline folks. While I'm worrying about what food to put on the table, they're worrying about how to put food on the table. See what I mean?

#2…Finding Healthy…Although I miss the little snacks we use to get for free on flights (pretzels, nuts, blah, blah, blah) such things aren’t good for my weight loss thing and certainly not good for the seatbelt extender in the back of the plane. I don’t even drink the free sodas on airplanes. (Sodas are bad, remember?) Instead, I drank my overpriced $3.50 Fiji water. For a snack, I even managed to purchase a 130 calorie healthy snack at the airport (some hummus and cucumber slices.) Of course, I had to look past all the fattening stuff, but it can be done, and for once, I finally did it.

#3… Missing Fitness Routines… Being gone made me miss my exercise/yoga regiment. I really did miss it. For the first time, I realized I don't have to talk myself into going anymore. I just don't need to go; I want to go.
So maybe some more pounds will want to go, too, and take a little trip far, far away from my behind.

Seat belt extender? No danger here.

Week 9 of the "Frying In My Own Fat" Weight Loss Challenge: Experts Appear Surprised by Weight Research

[This article was first published as Week 9: Experts Appear Surprised by Weight Research on Technorati.]

I don't know why researchers and health experts always seem so surprised when they "discover" this or that in their recent surveys about fatty this or skinny that. The latest surprise discovery was that three in 10 overweight or obese people don't view their weight as a health issue.

Maybe that's because some of those other studies showed that a lot of overweight people really don't view themselves as fat.

Then there was that sleep thing they connected to weight loss. Blah, blah, blah. Sure there are some scientific factors that weigh in here, but on a basic level, you don't need to be a rocket scientist or commission a study to figure out the more you are awake, the more time you have to eat.

If I were a gamblin' woman, I would wager that these experts' facial expressions must be something akin to a permanent rendition of Macaulay Culkin's "Home Alone" face.

Now, that's a face I can related to.  I feel that way every single time I step on that scale and those numbers refuse to move downward. 

This weight loss challenge has been quite a challenge lately.

Daunting actually.

I don't quite understand why it's so easy to put these extra pounds on, but so difficult to take them off. I found a recent article that provided a laundry list of stuff that can sabotage weight loss. The list was mainly a collection of common sense things.

Then, of course, another article discussed how mindless eating can cause weight gain, too.

Gee whillikers, another shocker there.

I'll tell you what sabotages weight loss… F-O-O-D.

Let's all practice our "Home Alone" face as we step onto the scale for Week 9 of the "I'm-Frying-In-My-Own-Fat" Weight Loss Challenge.


Can I have a thunder thigh roll, pah-leese?

Just as I suspected. Weight loss for this week:  one measly pound.

No shocker there.

Carol: And Now For The True Test…

Alrighty then… so I figure after my last appeal of "Is anyone out there?" there's probably  about two other people reading this thing besides Joel and me.

Somewhat of a disappointment, but then again, life is filled with disappointments, and we muddle through, do we not?

After watching Julie & Julia, I guess I was expecting a tad more readers. Instead, I just got hungry and wanted to whip out my Julia Child cookbook and whip up a few recipes.

But I didn't. Now before you get overly excited about my amazing exhibition of will power, I must say that frankly I was too tired and went to bed instead.

So let's have a brief recap of the week where we left off…

• Wednesday…garage, cold, kickboxing (cat OK)
• Thursday…yoga… doing better at not falling over. Thankfully, no Killer Dolphin poses.
• Friday…garage, cold, kickboxing (cat still OK)
• Saturday…walked 2 miles
• Sunday…walked 2 miles

OK, now for the real test, the real challenge… Monday is Pilates Torture Time. Doomsday Becky is out of town… Dora Who's Not The Explorer is out of town. "A," who is Dora Who's Not The Explorer's daughter, supposedly does not plan to attend without her mother…  Hmmmmmmm, who does that leave? There are two other sporadic people who randomly show up, so that really only leaves…


Oh my, that leaves only ME… ME ME ME…

So do I go? I'll get back to you on that one… 

Carol: Pilates, Midweek Update & Me

Quick, snappy update…

Monday…

• Went to Pilates with my exercise buddy (the other half of the Exercise Doomsday Duo. I’ve written about that here and here.) Ah pilates… the website description may say that "Hollywood celebrities and supermodels use it to maintain beautiful physiques," but I think it's just another way to torture an aging body into poses that it was never meant to strike. Joel thought he was a dismal failure in his running. Well, compare that to my little foray into Pilates, he'd probably look like an Olympic runner. 
• Because I am a glutton (yes, in more ways than one) for punishment, I signed up for that class, too.

Tuesday… 

• Crawled out of bed. Legs and other parts a bit sore from that pilates thing. 
• Cursed Exercise Doomsday Becky. 
• Drank three cups of coffee.
  
• Went in freezing garage for my kickboxing workout
• Did NOT scare the bejeebers out of the cat this time
  
• Exercise Doomsday Becky.
  
• Pretended to smack the daylights out of Exercise Doomsday Becky.
• Went to work
• Ate two pieces of Emergency Chocolate
• Felt guilty about the Emergency Chocolate, but went to yoga to become one with the Skinny Minnies
• Announced my two goals
• Got some dubious looks about the whole Eagle Pose thing while I was tilting over.

 Let's see how the rest of the week goes.