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Showing posts with the label Diet Talk

Let’s Talk Diet and Perseverance: Today is my Weight Watchers’ One-Year Anniversary

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Jennifer, a Shadow Selfie Hilton Head, South Carolina, April 2017 __________________________________ Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. – Walter Elliot ______________________ If 5 May 2016 was the day I decided to lose weight, then May 11 of the same year was the day I acted by going back to Weight Watchers and committing to losing 66 pounds. I have been known to make promises to myself and then not do the difficult work of following through, but this time I did. Today, I celebrate my one-year of perseverance, and, so far, a 62-pound weight loss. I have attended 52 meetings in a row, some of them away from home. I didn’t always feel like going, especially when I had a less than stellar week and/or was on vacation, but I have come to realize that the lousy weeks were precisely the times I really needed those meetings. In my 5 May 2017 post , I outlined some of the strategies I used to help me through my weight-loss journ

Let’s Talk Diet: Celebrating An Important Anniversary, a “Rejourney,” I’m at Goal, AND I’m Close to Goal (???)

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Jennifer (Before, 2010) and Jennifer (After, 2017) But it's not just about "looks" -- That's just superficial stuff. It's also about  physical and psychological health. ___________________ I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest. – Venus Williams __________________________ Back in 2011, I started this site as a diet and exercise space, but then I gained my weight back (and then some). It was as if my arrogance, self-importance, and faux expertise brought me down a few notches, so I decided to broaden the site focus; I began writing about other topics of personal importance. So, for the most part, I have backed off on diet topics. But now I return to the topic of Diet Talk for a good reason: today, May 5, 2017, is the first anniversary of my decision to attempt, once again, losing weight and, most importantly, keeping it off. I remember that day well: as I was being fitted for a CPAP mask, I made

Choices Beyond the Treadmill...

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In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility. – Eleanor Roosevelt _______________________ My life has taken a dramatic turn, and it all began with a hinky treadmill. No worries and definitely no treadmill accidents – this is a positive turn of events. Let me elaborate by beginning with how I handled my Sioux City vacation this year. For the first time ever while visiting family, I did not fall completely back into bad eating habits. Yes, I did step off program slightly (mostly planned, sometimes not so much), but never to the extent that my stomach hurt and felt bloated. And I did not need one stinkin’ Zantac – a first for a “back home” vacation. For the first time ever , I returned home from vacation with a significant weight loss, despite the fact that I wasn’t always on track with mindful eating. I can point to four possible reasons: I conti

Close to Goal

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Close to Goal ______________ Do not be in a hurry to succeed. What would you have to live for afterwards? Better make the horizon your goal; it will always be ahead of you. – William Makepeace Thackeray _________________ I am always close to goal because I have set small achievable goals that can be reached quickly. I may have a large goal in mind, but if, on a day-to-day basis, I concentrate on the small goal, the big goal will eventually be achievable. When it comes to weight loss, setting a large goal is a fool’s mission. For example, saying, “I’m going to lose 100 pounds in six months” is unrealistic, and sets one up for failure. Even setting small weight loss goals can be frustrating, given the day-to-day scale variables. But saying, “For one week, I will eat in such a way as to facilitate good health and sensible weight loss. I  can  control what I feed my body, but I  won’t  worry about the number on the scale. If I eat well and use fewer calories than

I Set a Goal, One Goal at a Time

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I Set a Goal _____________ It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live . – Marcus Aurelius What keeps me going is goals. – Muhammad Ali _____________________ Let’s set one thing straight: I may be “old,” but I’m not yet ready for “God’s Waiting Room.” This wasn’t true two months ago. I felt like crap, my weight was up, and I was tired all the time. But, now, with the CPAP therapy, much improved diet, less weight on my frame, and light exercise, I feel great and much younger than my real age. In fact, I don’t remember feeling this vibrant since the early 1990’s. On June 20, 2016, I wrote about Leptin Resistance and how sleep deprivation can contribute to obesity (although this potential causal effect is still scientifically inconclusive). Having to go on CPAP therapy (also explained in the Leptin Resistance post) was more than a wake-up call. In fact, the very idea of it was almost insulting: “How dare my body

Memoir Madness: Driven to Involuntary Commitment