Weekend News and Ramblings....

Had the BF’s 50th B-Day party at our house on Saturday. He knew about so it wasn’t a surprise. Hard to keep something like that a surprise when you live in the same house and I was running around like a nut case trying to get everything cleaned and organized. He has a habit of sitting around and just watching T.V. and had I been doing all the running around without his help, I would have divorced him (before we even get married :) ).

The party was a lot of fun, we had friends over that I hadn’t seen for some time and they sure did comment on the difference they see in me. Even the BF had been talking to one of the ladies a couple of days before and she told me that he said “I’m with her every day and I see the changes, but she just doesn’t see them”. And he is right. I know I have lost weight, I know I’ve lost inches, but sometimes I look in the mirror and still see the very “fat” me. And that’s because there is still so much to lose and I’m unhappy about how slow this is going. But I did feel good on Saturday when I got the compliments…. Which is something I need to learn to accept gracefully instead of “thanks but I’ve got a long ways to go”. I need to just say “thanks”.

Anyway, I made Potato and Mac salads, Chilli and buns, veggie’s/dip, fruit and of course there were the chips and dip. The guacamole went over really well, the Quinoa/Cranberry/Walnut salad wasn’t quite up there. One lady asked me if this was how I had lost all the weight – eating stuff like this (as she pointed to the Quinoa). I said “Yup, I eat as clean as I can”. Then I lift my bottle of beer to my lips and think what a hypocrite I am…. Beer does not equal clean…

I got my run in on Saturday morning before all the day’s activities started but I didn’t get any in yesterday at all, in fact, I really felt like crap all day long and it is absolutely my fault and no whining here.

Today I came downtown and ran again with my buddy and another buddy who is visiting the city for the week. She is a runner and could have likely run circles around us but she kept pace with us and the conversation going. I have noticed that I can now talk a bit while running and not gasp for breath. This is a great improvement over a couple of months ago. When we first started, we could talk minimally but not to any great length, and used to comment about the ladies running behind or in front of us that chatted the entire time… not us, we were almost gasping. Now we talk, not as much as those ladies yet, but we do talk and that means our lungs are improving. I’m happy about that.

I’ve read the following three words lately – in a couple of blogs and then again this morning in a success story
patience, consistency, and moderation

This is something I need to work on :
Patience – I didn’t gain this weight overnight, I’m certainly not going to lose it overnight. And I’m not restricting my food as I am in this for a lifetime so I need to “learn” the right way to eat and along with that is some ups and downs while I find the right balance.
Consistency – Haven’t really given the consistency much thought yet but what does trigger in the brain in is that I need to plan and prepare everything ahead of time. Without that preparation I can often just grab what is convienient and that's not good.
Moderation – I read something this morning that kind had that light bulb went on effect in my brain. Sugar and the effects of it on your body. If you have just a little bit, it can possibly trigger hunger signals in your brain and you can over indulge in a certain food, not because you are hungry but because something to do with the sugar. I wish I had kept track of the link where I read it but I didn’t. It seems like as soon as I know I can’t have something, when I have just a little bit of it, it triggers a binge type effect and I want to eat it all. I’ve certainly done that “tomorrow is a new day and a new start” thing and ALL of this is triggered by the late night eating. I’ll eat 100% during the day, then get home eat my dinner then “feel” like snacking ALL night long. And usually on crunchy stuff – so I crave the popcorn and chips. What’s up with that!!