Category Archives: getting the lard off

Filed under DIET!, Encouragement, exercise, getting the lard off, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise, encouragement, getting the lard off, smaller jeans!, tangible sign of weight loss

August 2, 2018 · 11:26 am

Long-Term Goals

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I’m about to hit another milestone in trying to get the lard off – almost 20 pounds gone. I’ve lost almost 19 inches overall.

A good friend asked me what the next goal was – and I immediately responded, “40 pounds off.”

But that’s not really what my long-term goals are.

One quote I love says, “Old age is always 15 years older than you are.”

I don’t want to live forever, but I would really like to feel good enough to do most anything I would like to do until I croak. Since they haven’t come up with pills that do it for you, it’s up to ME to try to

get my excess lard off
exercise to strengthen my muscles and bones
do whatever else I can to become/stay as healthy as I can

I don’t really know how much weight I want to lose. I would like to be in the normal range according to BMI charts. If I keep on keepin’ on, eventually I’ll get there. I’ll see how I feel when I get there and then make more decisions. I have high blood pressure that is now finally reading normal WITH medication. I would love it if I can one day stop these. I would like my blood test numbers to be all in the ‘normal’ range one day. (I never really appreciated what a delicious word “normal” is before. We’ll see the fruits of my efforts so far at our quarterly appointment with our primary doctor Monday.)

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After better health, it would be really nice not to have to avoid clothing stores that don’t carry clothes large enough for me, having to head for the ‘fat lady section’ in the limited stores that do. It’s not really a vanity thing. It’s emotional. I would like to be able to choose something I like off the rack and know it should FIT, but only to be concerned if I like the way I look in it. When I have to avoid stores altogether, or have to only be concerned about it being ‘large enough,’ it chips away at my feelings of self worth. I will enjoy feeling much better about myself.

SO –

Good health
Feeling normal about finding clothes without taking a hit emotionally.

Anything else is gravy.

First short-term goal is getting the 20 off officially so that I can get another ‘bear’ from Nutrisystem – hopefully in our next order!

Filed under Challenges, DIET!, exercise, Favorite Quotes, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, opportunities, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as getting the lard off, long-term goals on weight loss and exercise

July 26, 2018 · 4:06 pm

A Little Here, A Little There…

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Progress Report to Date: – I’ve lost 18 pounds and 17.3 inches.

I still seem to be off my weight loss plateau, so I’m happy about that.

I mailed Nutrisystem Customer Service yesterday, asking what can be done about them discontinuing my husband’s favorite lunch (and dinner) item – BBQ Pulled Pork. I also mailed a letter to management in Pennsylvania, hoping that if customer service can’t or won’t do anything, maybe someone at management cares and can. Things are calm for the moment, but we may need to make drastic changes after the next order. We’ll see.

I did the 12 Phase 1 exercises on the 0-6 Pack Abs DVD this morning. Today I must have been doing better about breathing and position because I definitely felt my stomach muscles trembling! It seems to me that that means I’m getting the attention of some of my core muscles. I did several reps of each of the 12 exercises slowly and carefully, watching them and listening and then trying to replicate. I plan to do this same level daily for the next couple of weeks before trying the Phase 1 Workout session. I want to concentrate on doing each position as correctly as possible.

I also did my yoga stretches for another half hour of exercise, so I’m happy with my efforts. Tomorrow I’ll do both of these and try to add something else.

It looks like it MIGHT actually rain this afternoon! Because it’s now overcast, I’m going to head out and see how much progress I can make on weeding the flower planters.

My mantra is ‘KEEP MOVING!’

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Filed under DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise progress, Nutrisystem, trying to strengthen core muscles

July 23, 2018 · 10:10 am

Getting the Lard Off – A Bit Afraid to Hope

The Little Engine That Could said something like, “I THINK I can, I THINK I can,” enabling him to get to the top of the mountain. I’m feeling cautiously confident that MAYBE I’ve broken through the plateau from Hell I’ve been on for a couple of months now.

The chat counselor was helpful, looking at my NuMi log. She said, (I’m paraphrasing and putting a bit of my own spin on what she actually said) –

It didn’t look like I was eating enough (I had skipped the Powerfuel serving at breakfasts, for example)
My snacks didn’t have enough calories many times, giving my body the message that it “needed to store fat for the winter”
It might be a good idea to switch lunches and dinners – giving me ‘heavier meals with slightly more calories earlier in the day

I did these, and they helped a bit, but didn’t actually impress the scales or the tape measure much.

The message I’ve gotten is that I need to shake things up some, since doing the same thing each day expecting different results is stupid.

I’m changing WHAT I’m eating for snacks, thinking that the variety will cause my body to take notice, rather than acting like a slug. I’m doing my yoga each day, but I’m also changing some of what I’m doing for exercise, thinking that will also get my body’s attention for the better.

I started these changes 3 days ago and I’ve lost weight the past two days. It’s early to think I’ve found the answer, but at least it seems to be PART of the answer for me. I’ve been old and sedentary for a long time. I’m still old (and hopefully getting older!) but I CAN do something about shaking things up and moving more effectively.

“I THINK I Can….”

Filed under Attitude, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as "I THINK I can...", diet and exercise, shaking things up to get the lard off

July 22, 2018 · 11:36 am

Encouraged

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I lost a pound yesterday. I don’t know what happened, exactly, but I’m smiling today, happy that I seem to have broken through the weight loss plateau on which I teetered.

I’ve lost 17 pounds and 17.3 inches – definitely a good start.

My husband is doing well, too. He’s on the diabetic plan for men. I don’t really see any difference in our plans, since Nutrisystem cuts out salt, fat, and sugar, still making things that taste good. Our choices each month seem to be much the same – all healthy.

My husband is to the point that he’s taking his blood pressure medicine every other day. We take our blood pressure daily, so we’re monitoring that – plus his blood sugar numbers – carefully. Since we’ve been trying to cut his sugar (before, but also continuing now with NS) he’s gone from having double vision for a scary time, shooting pains in his feet, having to have TUMS with him at all times, headaches, and high blood pressure and cholesterol, to good vision, no pain in his feet anymore, no TUMS in about 8 months now, lower blood sugar numbers and much lower blood pressure. We’re hoping his A1C test will be normal, or very close to it this time.

We have our quarterly appointment with our primary doctor in August, so we’re hoping that our tests will show good improvement in all areas. I’m hoping that our doc will confirm that we’re on the road to better health now. A pat on the head would be nice! :0)

Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diabetic symptoms, diet and exercise, getting the lard off, improvement in blood pressure, weight plateaus

July 19, 2018 · 10:09 am

Holding My Own, But Not Blazing Trails This Week

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This picture makes me laugh. I love the creativity of the person who thinks like this AND the expertise of the person who did the photoshopping to create it.

I had a stagnant week, ‘getting-the-lard-off-wise.’

Progress to date is 16 pounds off and 17.3 inches off.

I’m frustrated that I can’t report any improvement this week, but I’m pleased that I ate three of the four FLEX meals we’re supposed to eat and didn’t gain anything. I enjoyed a FLEX SNACK of a scoop of chocolate ice cream from Braum’s after bowling with friends; a FLEX LUNCH of the salad bar with “Breakfast Bunch”; and a FLEX DINNER of chicken fried rice from our favorite Chinese place. (I got a ‘small’ portion, but I ate the WHOLE thing.)

I can report that I AM doing yoga every day, but the bulk of my ‘exercise’ has been sessions of working in the yard. With our heat index above 100 (our actual temperature will be 102 today!) just walking around in the heat is work for me, much less the weed whacking and spraying of stuff toting 2 gallons of liquid – several half hour sessions per day.

I have become a camel, glugging down water to a fabulous degree, over and above the 64 oz I’m SUPPOSED to be drinking.

So – I didn’t lose, but I didn’t gain – holding my own. I’ll ‘keep my head down’ and ‘keep on keepin’ on,’ and will hopefully be able to report some progress NEXT week.

http://www.exposureguide.com

Filed under Challenges, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as getting the lard off progress report, Nutrisystem

July 12, 2018 · 1:13 pm

Feeling Encouraged

I went for my monthly massage with Lynn Moody this morning. I can’t tell you how much I was looking forward to it. I was stiff and sore in my lower back and Lynn made it feel much better, as usual. I’m so lucky to have found her.

I’m feeling encouraged because Lynn said she could tell I’ve lost weight! I’ve lost 15-1/2 pounds so far, and two people have noticed: Lynn today and our wonderful hair stylist, Michael, yesterday. They might just be being nice, since they know my husband and I are trying to get the lard off, but they didn’t have to say ANYTHING.

Officially, I’ve lost 15.5 lbs and 17.3 inches.

I wish I could tell you that I feel so much more energetic, but I don’t. Maybe in another 15 lbs or so. I’m still old. I still have to push myself to get onto my elliptical trainer, do my yoga stretches, over-the-door shoulder pulley exercises, and weight exercise for my shoulders. I’ve added one new exercise called, “The Oyster” which is supposed to be a really good, effective exercise for people who are essentially pear-shaped, like me. It is supposed to strengthen whatever the muscles are that go horizontally around your core, rather than the ones that run vertically, as most abdominal exercises do.

The Oyster

You’re on your back. You pull up your legs so they’re bent. You come up with arms straight in front of you. You push your lower back into the floor as you do this. You come up so your hands are even with your legs and hold it for a count of 5. You do as many repetitions as you can.

I’m still waiting for the 0-6 Pack Abs DVD I bought. I’m standing on one foot and the other to get started with these because the exercises are especially for people like me, who need to strengthen the horizontal core muscles in the right way for my body type so that I don’t injure myself or make things worse, making my belly stick out MORE. These exercises are also supposed to lessen the pain in my back as I strengthen the core muscles, which makes sense.

I know, it’s hard to listen to me being impatient when I hate to exercise, but I’ll stay with it if I feel it’s beginning to help me.

I’m hoping that each time I get my hair cut or go for another massage, there will be noticeably less and less of me!

Filed under Challenges, DIET!, Encouragement, exercise, getting the lard off, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet, encouragement on weight loss, exercise, exercises for your core, getting the lard off, taking care of yourself

July 10, 2018 · 10:02 am

I’m Flexing

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The Nutrisystem program encourages you to learn how to cook and eat in a reasonable fashion (unlike what we’ve been doing) by having us eat or cook one breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack on our own each week, preferably each on a different day during the week. They call these “FLEX” meals.

I really like this idea. We were on Nutrisystem before years ago before they added the flex meal idea (or frozen food choices) to their plan. We lost weight and then gradually put it back on because I went back to poor cooking habits from the past. This time they’re encouraging us to plan our flex meals for the week and work this idea into our new lifestyle.

So far, I’m having two problems:

I’ve prepared a couple of flex dinners from their Leaf Recipes section. We each ate a serving of it and I froze the rest in individual portions so we can pull them out, nuke ’em, and eat. This is complicated by the fact that I’m eating “dinner” for ‘lunch’ at the counselor’s suggestion, trying to work my way out of a plateau on my weight loss. “I” pull out a flex dinner for lunch one day a week, but my husband either doesn’t think about it or the idea doesn’t appeal to him for HIS dinner. We can only eat ONE of these flex dinners per week, so the ‘reruns’ are lasting weeks and weeks!
When I cook completely on my own, or we get something out, we gain weight back. Example, Sunday evening I cooked two 4 oz steaks. With them we had little bitty potatoes with a little bit of butter and no salt, plus cut up fresh tomatoes. I thought it was a good dinner and my husband thought it was ‘wonderful,’ but we were both up on the scales Monday morning. Last night we went bowling with friends and had a scoop of real ice cream afterwards as our “flex snack” for the week. We were both up AGAIN this morning. Friday we’re due to eat our flex breakfast (or lunch) at a restaurant with the “Breakfast Bunch.” This gain isn’t only for one day, either. It seems to take the whole week to get back to where we were.

My first reaction is to quit eating the flex meals because they’re messing us up. But then the more grown up part of me realizes that this is the whole point of the program. We’re supposed to be learning what a ‘portion’ is, how to choose foods more wisely when we’re out, and incorporating the ‘new’ healthier eating style into our lives as a regular thing.

I’ll probably get online and talk to a counselor about this, since I’m determined to learn the lesson and make it a larger and larger part of the way we live. Right now I’m frustrated, but hopefully a nice person at NS can guide me on a better path.

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Challenges, DIET!, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as dieting, learning about flex meals, taking care of yourself

July 8, 2018 · 11:34 am

Nutrisystem Orders

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Our orders to Nutrisystem finalize at 6 pm this evening.

I love the fact that we can go online to our account and see what our choices are for the coming order and change them at any time. They also send me emails reminding me of the cutoff date so I have all chances possible to make my decisions.

My husband and I are still trying lots of new items, although our choices for the NEXT order are narrowing to the things we like the most.

On evening snacks, I like the ice cream bars the best, looking forward to mine all day long. :0) I love both the fudge bar and the orange cream bar. My husband’s choices for snacks are much more varied than mine. He’s into their cookies, particularly the white chocolate chunk ones, but is ordering about 4 or 5 different ones he really likes.

I’ve changed from lots of egg type breakfasts to cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, and cold cereals. My husband likes their Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal the best.

Lunches and dinners vary, although this time we’re opting for more NON-frozen entrees than frozen.

I’m trying to zero in on our flex meals more and more.

“Flex Breakfast” is our brunch meal with Breakfast Bunch each Friday.
“Flex Snack” is ice cream after bowling on Mondays with our good friends.
“Flex Lunches” and “Flex Dinners” are more fluid. Tonight, for example, for “Flex Dinner” I’m grilling us little bitty steaks and we’re having little bitty baked potatoes. “Flex Lunch” kind of got lost in the shuffle this week. It’s harder because we have very limited choices for eating out in Greenwood that go with our new diet, and we don’t want to completely blow it. We usually concentrate on lots of veggies and a small amount of dip with our NS Lunch anyway. I’ll work on it.

Filed under DIET!, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet, flex meals, getting the lard off, healthy eating, Nutrisystem orders, taking care of yourself

June 27, 2018 · 11:35 am

Getting the Lard Off Progress Report – 6-27-2018

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The BAD news is that I’m still old and still don’t look a THING like Julia Roberts.

The GOOD news is that with the help of the Nutrisystem counselor, I seem to have broken through the plateau from Hell I was on and am losing weight again!

To date, I’ve lost 16.3 inches.

Poundage off is now 14.4.

Other GOOD things –

I’m getting used to drinking 64 oz of water daily, no longer feeling that my eyes are floating. (My husband – who is not even trying to drink any certain amount – is getting used to having to pause the movie several times, though, as the drinking catches up with me in the evenings.)
I’m getting more confident about being able to adapt our life style to the Nutrisystem program, particularly as it relates to the flex meals and our social life. We like to bowl with friends on Monday evenings, for example. We use the trip to Braum’s afterwards as our FLEX SNACK for the week. We eat with friends every Friday for what we call “Lunch Bunch.” We were counting that as FLEX LUNCH, but are finding it easier to work it into the program by having it as our FLEX BREAKFAST for the week. I’m starting to prepare some of the “Leaf” Nutrisystem FLEX DINNER recipes, having fixed two so far. One of the recipes was an “OKAY,” but the latest one, the “1-Pan Rice, Chicken and Vegetables” was a winner. Today, since I made it to 1100 subscribers – actually 1101 now) to my blog – HOOORAAAAAAAY!” – we’re going to Red Lobster for Lobster Tail as our FLEX LUNCH for the week in celebration!
I’m starting to look forward to some of my exercising. I’ll never become like Jillian Michaels, who seems to live for exercise, or like annoying Leslie Sansone, who keeps talking about how much FUN her walking program is and how GOOD it feels, but I AM enjoying the half hour I spend daily doing my yoga stretches and then using my cervical pillow to completely relax for several minutes. I’m trying to do my elliptical trainer for 30 minutes every other day. I’m using all the vacuuming and mopping of floors as my exercise a couple of days a week or more, since I seem to have to devote my life to it to even THINK of trying to keep up with all the dog and cat hair right now.
I’m starting to believe that if I keep on keepin’ on, I’ll eventually lose the lard, be healthier, and feel better as there is less of me.

My next goal is to earn my 20 lb Nutrisystem bear! One day at a time….

taolife.com

Easy Weeknight Meal: 1-Pan Rice, Chicken and Vegetables

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Tagged as getting the lard off progress report 6-27-2018, Nutrisystem, weight loss pleateaus

June 25, 2018 · 4:28 pm

“1-Pan Rice, Chicken and Vegetables”

“1-Pan Rice, Chicken and Vegetables” Flex Dinner

Yesterday I made this recipe. I didn’t finish it in time for lunch, as I meant to. (I’ve been on a plateau and the Nutrisystem counselor suggested that I swap dinners and lunch for one week and get back to her, among other things.)

I ate one serving of this for my lunch, along with some raw veggies and a little bit of salad dressing. I was very pleased. The dish could have cooked longer, getting the brown rice a bit more done, but I used a large skillet and had it on a large burner on the stove. Next time I’ll use a smaller skillet and put it on a smaller burner so that it doesn’t tend to cook all the liquid out before it’s done.

The taste was very pleasant. Many times recipes use more herbs and spices than we like, so I was a bit leery, but this tasted good. My husband will try it tonight – already warned that the rice was a bit ‘chewy’ and the changes I’ll make next time. He’s very forgiving, pleased with me for trying new recipes. I know – he’s definitely a keeper!

I have found when posting recipes in my blog that a lot of the people responsible for the good food would rather I post a URL to their blog and NOT post the entire recipe. With this in mind, the source for this nice recipe is

Nutrisystem, The Leaf, Flex Meals & Snacks, Lunches and Dinners

On Nutrisystem, Count As: 1 SmartCarb, 1 PowerFuel, 1 Vegetable and 2 Extras

Makes 4 servings

282 calories per serving

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Tagged as 1-Pan Rice, Chicken and Vegetables, Flex Dinner Recipe, Nutrisystem - The Leaf

June 24, 2018 · 11:46 am

New Recipe (Flex Dinner)

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The rain has stopped, so we’re about to go grocery shopping. I’m getting the ingredients for a new Leaf Nutrisystem Flex Meal Dinner called, “1-Pan Rice, Chicken and Vegetables.”

I’ll make this when we get home. We eat ‘lunch’ at 2:30, so I’ll have plenty of time. “Why in the world would you fix a dinner in time for lunch?” you ask, having read the title of this post.

I’m trying to break through a plateau in my Nutrisystem adventure. One of the suggestions the Nutrisystem Chat counselor made was that I should try swapping ‘dinners’ and ‘lunches’ for one week and then get back to her. I’ve been doing this, plus the other things she suggested, such as being sure my ‘Powerfuel’ and ‘Smartcarb’ snacks were 80 calories, cutting down on the salad dressing (extras), and eating everything I was supposed to eat for the day, rather than skipping anything.

The result is that it seems to be working! I’ve lost 1.4 pounds this week, so I’m encouraged.

So, I’ll prepare our ‘flex dinner’ for the week and I will eat it for lunch, while my husband will have a serving for dinner, and I’ll freeze the remaining two servings.

Wish me luck?

Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as breaking through a plateau in weight loss, trying a new Leaf Nutrisystem flex dinner recipe

June 21, 2018 · 11:40 am

Whine and Cheese

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Today marks the end of Week 8 on Nutrisystem. I did pretty well for an old, fat broad the first month, but I’ve stalled in the second, as far as any real difference in weight or measurements. To date, I’ve lost 12.5 pounds and 16 inches. I’m pleased to have any results at all, but I’m frustrated that my progress seems to have stalled. I’m fighting with the same 3 lbs.

One great thing about Nutrisystem is its online CHAT. Today I talked to Allison J. I explained my sad problem to her. She wanted to know what I ate yesterday, meal by meal. When she analyzed it, she said

she noticed I was skipping my Power Fuel (PF) at breakfast. I admitted that I was skipping it, sometimes making up for it later in the day. I didn’t realize that WHEN you eat stuff – and in what combination – is very important for your results. (Today for breakfast I ate a Nutrisystem (NS) Blueberry Muffin, and then 2 tablespoons of Cashews).
we decided that I was probably eating too much salad dressing during the day, since I eat it with my lunch veggies and also with my salad at dinner. I’ll cut WAY back on the ‘dip’ with the veggies at lunch and try to watch it better at dinner.
she suggested that I swap ‘lunch’ and dinner’ entrees for a week and then get back with her next Thursday. I’m guessing that the dinners are higher calorie and that it might be best if I ate those during the day, rather than in the evening when I’m less active.
she asked if each of my snacks (PFs and SmartCarbs (SCs) were at least 80 calories. I looked at my log on NuMi and found that my PFs were okay, but my SC was only 65 calories. She suggested that I eat 1-1/2 oranges, instead of just one, to bring the calories up. (Weird, isn’t it? – The idea of bringing the calories up.) I’m supposed to be eating 1200 calories each day, but I routinely came up with up to 200 short.

Thanks to Allison J., I now have several changes to try to see if this breaks through my plateau from Hell. Hopefully, by the time I report next week, the changes in eating will have wrought some changes in ME!

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as breaking through a plateau, the chat feature on Nutrisystem

June 19, 2018 · 1:16 pm

Pat on the Head

First 10 Pounds Off

My husband and I were on Nutrisystem once before, years ago. We were successful in getting a lot of our lard off, but we stopped because Nutrisystem kept discontinuing the foods my husband liked until he got fed up and wouldn’t continue. Since then, they have revamped their programs, so we’re trying again, fingers crossed that they continue providing the foods my husband likes.

One of the things they haven’t changed is a nice reward for progress. When our non-frozen items were delivered today, a cute little bear was in my box. It’s a fun, happy way to show you’re trying and you’re starting to get some results. I had saved the bears I got from the last time, so I gave one of them to my husband. He is underwhelmed, but I wanted to pat HIM on the head for his efforts, too. So here are our matching ‘First 10 Pounds Off’ Bears.

Tangible things are important when you’re changing lifestyles. For us, the biggest change is in learning what constitutes a ‘serving.’ I, of course, glanced at labels on the items I buy at the store, and I’ve noticed that many of the labels tell you the nutrition count for 1 serving, but the bottle or package actually contains at least two, if not more servings. I think almost NO ONE actually eats or drinks 1 serving of most things. This was a huge eye-opener for us. The fact that a serving of rice is 1/2 cup, for example, and one of our favorite meals was chicken chunks and soup over a large bowl of rice, meant that we were each eating enough to feed an army.

Making these changes is difficult. It’s much easier to continue on, mentally excusing your behavior, rather than stopping and really looking at what you need to be doing in order to get healthier, feel better, and hopefully increase your quality of life for as long as you’re here.

The scales are tangible, but ‘she giveth and taketh away’, making you happy one day and disappointed the next. My husband and I refuse to stop weighing every day, though, as it is one reality check that we need to keep on keepin’ on with our efforts.

The measuring tape is tangible, but as I’ve whined before, even with going into the bathroom and looking in the mirror while I measure, I’m not always accurate. I’m telling myself that even if my numbers aren’t completely accurate, it’s the DIFFERENCE I’m looking for. Any numbers showing less are welcome.

Looser clothes are tangible. Women’s sizes have always been a joke, though. You can be a lot of different sizes depending on the store where you’re shopping. Again, I’m looking at the actual clothes I have. I’m able to buy some smaller jeans and shorts now, shopping in the same stores, and usually going from the same brand. That’s tangible progress.

The cute poundage bears are a cute, tangible reminder that we’re on our way to being healthier. The more bears we collect, the better we should feel. At least, that’s the plan…

Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, Encouragement, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise, encouragement, tangible signs of improvement

June 14, 2018 · 1:06 pm

Week 7 – Getting the Lard Off Progress Report

Objective Changes:

WEIGHT: 12.2 pounds down. I have to admit I’m a bit teed off because my husband doesn’t take any responsibility for even thinking about what he’s eating or when, just says, “Thanks” when I bring him the next snack or meal; doesn’t drink the water, doesn’t exercise, and he’s lost more than I have…

MEASUREMENTS: Down 16.3 inches. My husband has no interest in measuring, but he just ordered shorts that are 2 inches smaller in the waist. He put them on this morning and looks GOOD.

I had high blood pressure even with my medication. I’m now showing normal with my meds. “Normal” is such a beautiful word!

My husband is a Type II diabetic. When we started monitoring his blood sugar, it was at around 353 or higher. (Normal is under 100.) This week it was 113!

Subjective Measurements:

Each week we’re supposed to have one FLEX meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack, preferably on different days. Our flex SNACK is ice cream after bowling with friends on Monday evenings. Our flex LUNCH is Lunch Bunch with long-time friends on Fridays. We usually don’t do the flex BREAKFAST, since my husband likes Nutrisystem’s oatmeal and prefers to just stick with that. Flex DINNER – I’ve broiled a thin steak cut into 2 pieces and we’ve had little bitty baked potatoes. We’ve also shared a small container of chicken fried rice from our local Chinese restaurant.

Yesterday I tried cooking our first flex dinner from the Nutrisystem website. It is called “Meat and Potato Casserole.” It makes 6 servings. We ate two and I froze the other 4 servings in labeled individual dishwasher-and-microwave-safe containers. We found the casserole a little dry, but the flavor was good. We had a salad with it. Today I stopped and got some packets of low sodium brown gravy. The package makes 1 cup – way more than enough for the one tablespoon of gravy I plan to pour over each of the remaining servings when we eat them.

I’m not a wonderful cook. The amount of preparation for this meal seemed like a lot to this lazy woman who would rather do almost anything than spend a bunch of time in the kitchen. I used a food processor as they suggested to prepare the carrots and potatoes, but I think the next time I’ll just use my hand-held shredder because clean up will be a lot easier. It seemed that I had half the kitchen messed up by the time the casserole dish was finally in the oven.

That said, I’m delighted to be able to have recipes at my fingertips to help us stay on the good start we’ve made on losing the lard. To complain when I cooked once and had servings for the two of us for THREE meals is a LOT more “poor me” than any of us need or appreciate…. :0)

All in all a good week’s progress. I’m hoping to get off the plateau I seem to be on, but I’m doing healthy things for us.

Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Challenges, DIET!, Encouragement, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, opportunities, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as healthy eating, taking care of ourselves, week 7 Nutrisystem progress report. getting the lard off

June 7, 2018 · 1:47 pm

Nutrisystem Week 6 Progress Report

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I was hoping to be able to report wonderful progress to you, but to be honest, I’m a bit bummed out.

I’ve lost a bit over 11 pounds via Nutrisystem thus far. Since my lardiest – almost 24 lbs. I’ve been ‘good,’ so my explanation is that when you’re old, it takes longer to lose the lard. I’m encouraged by the fact that I’m still making progress, but the slowness is getting to me a bit. I wish the Nutrisystem website had a ‘search,’ so that I could find the article about plateaus again. If I can’t find it, I’ll go back onto chat to see if someone can guide me.

I have found that measuring yourself is an art. I’m following their guidelines and trying to be as careful as possible, but from one week to the next, you would think that the numbers would be close. My accuracy apparently needs some work. My best guess is that I’ve lost a bit over 13 inches via Nutrisystem – almost 30 inches from my lardiest.

Even though I couldn’t swear what my actual numbers ARE, the difference is nice. My clothes are looser, and I’ve gone down a size or two in some cases. I’m moving a lot each day – some days on the official exercises, other days working my heart out in the garden or hauling things around or cleaning. I’m drinking my 64 oz of water each day.

Even though I’m a bit disappointed, my husband and I are doing good things for ourselves. I’m feeling more energetic, needing fewer naps. Each day I feel I’m doing a bit better, and that’s a good feeling. I’m doing what I can to keep serious health issues from my door.

taolife.com

Filed under Challenges, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise, getting the lard off, nutrisystem progress report at 6 weeks, taking care of yourself

June 3, 2018 · 10:25 am

“Knowing” and Dealing With It Two Different Things

Okay. I KNOW that weight loss – particularly as it is reflected by the scales – is a fickle thing. The fact that it’s MORE than yesterday shouldn’t be a big thing. Maybe I retained water. Maybe I gained muscle. Yada yada yada. According to a lot of people, I shouldn’t even be weighing myself every morning – that I should only weigh once a week. Well, I weigh each morning to keep me on track and honest. This morning I weighed MORE than I did yesterday and it’s ‘weighing’ on my mind (hahahahaaha).

It’s one thing to “KNOW” the facts and quite another to deal with the emotional reaction when you hope/expect to be down another .2 lbs and find that you’re actually UP .8 lbs. I feel that ‘someone’ snuck (is that a word?) some lead into my underwear.

Since I also “KNOW” that I ate only what I should have eaten yesterday, did my exercises, drank my water – the poundage may come off tomorrow. Since I’m old, though, I’ve also learned that it may take 4 days or more to get back down to where I was only yesterday…

Since I know, also, that I won’t get any awards for fast weight loss, and that, in fact, my body will actually do better at keeping the weight off if I lose it gradually, steadily – I’m talking to myself this morning, reminding myself of all the things I SHOULD be concentrating on –

feeling good that I’m down 11 lbs and over 13 inches from when we started Nutrisystem
that I’m not sitting around feeling hungry
that I like MOST of the foods we’re eating
that both my husband and I are getting healthier as we lose the lard
that our blood test numbers should show significant improvement in August
that we’re doing what we can to avoid the health problems we can control
that we’ve both gotten shorts one size smaller than we were wearing a month ago
feeling grateful that we are in a position to afford a good weight program

Hopefully, tomorrow morning the scales will show me something I like better than what I saw this morning. In the meantime, I’ll continue talking to myself, trying to act like a grownup. :0)

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Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise, when the scale goes UP instead of down when you're being 'good'

May 31, 2018 · 10:57 am

Good Start

coolnsmart.com via David Michael McCune

I lost another pound yesterday, so I’m down 10.6 officially since we started Nutrisystem, and 32.6 lbs down since my lardiest. I have a long way to go, but I’m feeling good that we have a good start now.

My husband doesn’t have much weight to lose, but he is diabetic and his blood sugar numbers have been a real challenge for about two years now. His sugar was off the chart. He had double vision and pain in his feet. He is now registering the lowest numbers we’ve seen since we’ve been monitoring AND he gets to eat fruit again! He really looks forward to his SMARTCARB snack of an orange or an apple, since it’s been two years since he could enjoy them. He also likes to have some blackberries on his cereal on FLEX BREAKFAST day. His attitude about Nutrisystem is good, and for that I’m truly grateful.

“I” am the one who really needs this program for weight loss. Several years back my thyroid was completely radiated away due to Grave’s Disease. A couple of years ago I said goodbye to my gallbladder, which then made the low-carb diet we were trying to follow a challenge, because my body had trouble handling the fat. My blood pressure is a problem, and triglycerides are high, so I’m hoping that getting the lard off and eating healthy will make my doctor realize I’m serious at our next regular appointment in August.

We both are calmer about portions since we know we’ll eat again in 3 hours. Neither of us has been hungry. My appetite has always been voracious – when we were dating my husband would say, “We need to get you something to eat!” his code for me being ‘snappy.’ My husband said last night, “I don’t see any reason we can’t stay on this plan as long as you want to.”

We quit several years ago because Nutrisystem kept doing away with the choices my husband liked. Finally, he was so upset we had to stop. Now they have SO many more choices – also adding frozen choices – that it will take us several months before we have tried everything. We like the fact they let you know when the deadline is for making changes for our programs, and that we can make changes any time we like up until then.

SO – a Good Start on getting healthier!

Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, Encouragement, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as a good start on losing weight, diet and exercise. end of week 5 on Nutrisystem, getting healthier

May 30, 2018 · 4:01 pm

Nutrisystem Week 5 Progress Report

Slow, but steady progress in the ‘Getting the Lard Off’ project.

Poundage lost through Nutrisystem to date – 9.6 lbs. Since my heaviest – 22 lbs.

Inches lost through Nutrisystem to date – 13.3 inches. Since my lardiest – 29.7 inches.

I’m finding more energy gradually. This helps a lot in my exercise program. Each day I’m doing –

Elliptical trainer
weight exercise for shoulders
over-the-door shoulder pulley
yoga for stretching

FabulousTraveling

Yesterday in particular I felt better than I’ve felt in a long time. I’m having to take less pain medicine for my shoulder muscles. I’m having to do fewer ice and heat sessions. I’m feeling looser with the stretching I’m doing. I’m feeling more energy to do a significant amount of cleaning, gardening, pet care, yard work, etc.

Both my husband and I have lost about 10 lbs since we started Nutrisystem. We both have health issues we monitor quarterly with our primary doctor and blood tests. We’re hoping that the next checkup in August will be a good one – showing distinct improvement. In the meantime, we’re agreed that this is something we really need to do for our long-term health and we’re happy we’ve taken the first step.

Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise, getting the lard off progress report, health issues, healthy eating, taking care of yourself

May 24, 2018 · 10:02 am

NutriSystem – 1st Month’s Progress Report

http://www.vetstreet.com

Today we have officially finished the 1st month of Nutrisystem.

I’m particularly pleased by my husband’s progress. He is disappointed that he hasn’t lost that much weight, but he doesn’t have NEAR as much to lose as I do. He’s lost about 4 lbs, but I can SEE a difference in his tummy (though he won’t let me measure or do it himself.) The biggest thing that makes me happy is the lowering of his blood sugar number. It was 117 this morning, the lowest since we’ve been monitoring. (I saw a ‘353’ in my records). Lower than 100 is considered normal, and he actually might achieve that!

He is particularly pleased by getting to eat a piece of fruit daily. We had both given that up entirely before and it’s really a treat to welcome fruit back into our diet. There are some really nice big oranges right now at Walmart and we share one each day. We also have some apples in the fridge, in case the oranges aren’t available, plus some blackberries for fruit on his flex breakfast for the week. He has found several of the cookie snacks really good, and he likes their oatmeal. He thinks the frozen orange dream type bars better than the ones we were eating before the diet!

My Nutrisystem progress to date is 9.2 lbs and 11.8 inches gone. (My total weight loss efforts since my ‘lardiest’ are 21.4 lbs and 26.2 inches.)

Lifestyle changes other than the Nutrisystem eating plan:

I gave up added salt and am buying low sodium canned veggies now.
Neither my husband nor I add any sugar or alternatives to anything.
I am doing more real exercise –
- elliptical trainer – at least 15 minutes,
- yoga 30 minutes,
- over-the-door shoulder pulley – 5 minutes,
- weight exercise to stretch out shoulder muscles – 5 minutes.
I’m more aware of what a ‘serving’ is – basically not enough to stick in your eye. That said, I realize that my husband and I have each eaten for 8 to 10 at each meal and that hasn’t done our health any favors.
We are both consciously eating more veggies (we usually have carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes and radishes with some salad dressing with our lunch and then a tossed salad (with lettuces and spinach from our own garden!) with our dinner.
I’m getting more used to drinking the 64 oz of water each day. I drink a 16 oz bottle of water with each meal and sip at the last during the day. My body seems to be adjusting to it, too. I’m not having to run to the bathroom quite so much.

We were both really happy to finally eat our way through Order #1. We were both down to things we really didn’t care for, and so cheered when we finished the last of the first order and could dive into Order #2. It was funny, though, because our first lunch we each had “White Bean Chicken Chili.” We are wusses when it comes to hot, spicy stuff, and this was almost too hot for us to eat! I read the ingredients and found they had put jalapenos in it. We could get it down by having a veggie in our mouth and then adding a bit of the chili in there, too. The flavor was nice, other than the hot, but I went to the website and took that particular choice off of Order #3 for both of us… :0)

We feel that our first month on Nutrisystem has been successful. I enjoy planning the flex dinner we’ll eat each week. (We’ll have salmon and steamed broccoli this week.) My husband is learning to put his glasses on so that he can SEE the color coded choices in his bins in the pantry and the freezer. He is also learning to actually read the directions for nuking his food, rather than just winging it. I’m still spoiling him by bringing his snacks to him (like his 1/2 peeled orange and 2 oz of nuts mid-morning) but he’s learning to be a bit independent, otherwise.

On with Month # 2!

Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, Encouragement, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, opportunities, quality of life, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise, end of month #1 on Nutrisystem, getting the lard off, Progress Report

May 23, 2018 · 12:55 pm

Yesterday’s Harvest

I’m grateful for the harvest yesterday. In the picture above you can see that my spinach plants are not enjoying the heat. Lettuce and spinach are cool weather plants and I usually enjoy quite a harvest before the too-hot begins. I’ll harvest as much spinach as possible because I can freeze it.

The head lettuce leaves are still okay, but looking a bit stressed. These plants are happier than anything else, with the exception of the radishes, in the square foot garden right now.

I’m sad because the really hot-too-soon in the season weather we’ve been having is causing the romaine lettuce to bolt. I’m not sure how much more I can harvest before the leaves taste bitter and I have to compost the plants.

We’ll enjoy the fresh lettuce and spinach for salad each day for as long as possible. I’m not sure whether I’ll get more broccoli, but the hope is that I’ll get more from the shoots from the main plant after the center has been harvested. The radishes and onions are doing fine, although some of the green tops of the onions are shooting up and trying to make seeds. The tomato plants on the other side of the house are growing rapidly. They like the heat. I have a few blossoms, so I’m hopeful we’ll enjoy a nice crop this year.

Filed under Arkansas, Challenges, DIET!, Favorite Things, getting the lard off, Greenwood, Healthy Eating, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds, taking care of yourself

Tagged as broccoli, eating healthy, head lettuce, onions, radishes, romaine lettuce bolting, square foot gardening - Greenwood AR, tomatoes, too-hot weather so early in the season

May 21, 2018 · 10:33 am

Flex Meals on NutriSystem

Nutrisystem

Learning to actually LIVE with a new way of eating is very different than simply grabbing a package and nuking it. My husband and I will finish Month # 1 on Nutrisystem on Thursday. Part of the program I like is the “Flex Meal” idea, where you learn to eat out plus learn to cook meals incorporating the new things you’re learning so that you can function in the real world. You have one flex breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack each week, preferably on different days.

“Flex breakfast” –

My husband eats his regular cereal with some blackberries and milk.
I eat my old low-carb breakfast of 2 thin slices packaged turkey, a hard boiled egg, some shredded cheese, and a bit of butter, nuked.

“Flex lunch” –

This was easy. We use our “Lunch Bunch” on Fridays. My husband has chicken fingers and I have a nice salad built from the salad bar, including hard boiled egg, ham chunks, cucumbers, shredded lettuce, and a sprinkling of cheese shreds, plus one spoon of dressing.

“Flex dinner” –

You can see from the chart above we’re supposed to have 1 smartcarb and 2 powerfuels.
What we are doing is cook something we’re really missing – but a lot less of it than we used to eat. Last week we got two thin steaks. (This was a big change because we usually get thick ones to grill.) We love baked potatoes with steak. Instead of the two ‘boat-sized’ white baking potatoes we usually get, we got two little-bitty potatoes. My husband was upset, but I asked him to just try it. He asked in a deprived voice, “Can we eat corn?” while gazing longingly at a nice group of ears. I said, “yes,” not really knowing for sure, but knowing that if he feels TOO deprived, he won’t stay on the new eating plan. I convinced him that we would share one ear.
I froze one of the steaks and cut the one I was cooking into two pieces. Lean beef is the ‘powerfuel.” I husked the ear of corn (smartcarb) and broke it into two pieces. We each had a little, bitty potato. (a starchy carb). After we ate last night, my husband came over and said, “You always do such a perfect job that I don’t think about saying anything, but the meal tonight was delicious.” :0)

“Flex Snack” –

This is easy. We go bowling with good friends most Monday evenings. Afterwards, we either celebrate our good bowling or commiserate over lousy games by going to Braums in Fort Smith. We each have one scoop of ice cream and savor every bite. (Mine is chocolate.)

The Flex idea allows us to not feel deprived, keep fun social stuff with our friends even though we’re trying to get the lard off, and put the lessons we’re learning to the test while we’re dieting, so it isn’t just a mindless process, learning to eat this way the rest of our lives. My husband is trying to keep his sugar under control – a HUGE change for him. (He even calls ME ‘Sugar.’) When we started Nutrisystem almost a month ago now, I gave up all added salt. (I used it on everything – even things that were known to be salty.) I’m hoping this will help my blood pressure numbers.

My husband’s weight loss is 5 or 6 pounds, but the biggest thing to me is that his blood sugar numbers are the best they’ve been since we started monitoring them in 2016. I keep a record, and we started with numbers like 353 (which is future amputate your parts territory). Today it was 122. The goal is under 100, but for the first time since we discovered he has Type 2 Diabetes, we feel we might actually get to the goal.

Official end of week 4 report Thursday. Next quarterly monitoring at our primary doc’s – August 6th. (After about 3 months on the program)

Fingers crossed.

http://www.selfsavingprincess.com

Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, empowerment, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as flex meals on Nutrisystem, taking care of yourself

May 10, 2018 · 2:21 pm

Nutrisystem Week 2 – Progress Report

Since starting the ‘Nutrisystem for Fat Ladies’ program two weeks ago, there is less of me!

Weight lost: 6.6 lbs*
Inches Lost: 5.5 inches*

*(Couple this with what I lost before Nutrisystem – and my total loss since “MY WORST” is 19 lbs and 15.5 inches.)

My husband refuses to do anything but weigh, and he’s lost 3 lbs. He’s drinking stuff during the day, but doesn’t want to even think about drinking 64 oz of water per day. He’ll eat fruit and nuts, but fusses about anything else as his PFs and SCs each day, eating some of what I bring him, but not all. He will eat a salad, but fights other veggies, mostly, so I’m doing veggies and dip for lunch and salad for dinner. He’s on the diabetic program, and his blood sugar readings, which we take twice per week, are the best he’s had since we started monitoring him!

___________________

I’m still feeling a bit obsessed with food, since I’m setting the alarm so I don’t miss one of our ‘feedings’ at the zoo, and am fixing PowerFuels, SmartCarbs and Veggies a good part of each day. I’m still needing to ‘read the list’ of what is good, but I’m getting better at it. I’m finding it easier to drink the 64 oz of water daily. In-between, I have a cup of coffee in the morning and another during the evening. My body is still trying to get used to the different eating regimen, but I’m gradually feeling more comfortable.

My husband and I are going to sit down together at the computer tomorrow and make final decisions about what will be in our order that will ship soon for month #2. He found he had chosen several things he didn’t care for. I’ve been letting him eat some of my choices to get him through this first month and he wants me to help him choose for next month.

I’m learning some general things on how to eat so that we can keep this weight off as we go and through the rest of our lives:

Eating small amounts every 3 hours during the day keeps hunger at bay. The combinations keep your tummy happy and your energy on a steady level – probably keep my husband’s blood sugar from spiking, too.
Making sure you get enough protein with meat, dairy and nuts, and good fruit rounds out your nutrition.
A little bit of bread goes a long way.
Meat is used as a flavoring, rather than the main course.
The invention of turkey – as in sausage and patties – cuts way down on calories and tastes good, too.
Cutting out fat, salt and sugar is a good thing and quite doable.
Drinking lots of water is important
Making a point of exercise is important for lots of reasons
“What constitutes a Serving” is an eye-opener
Learning how to eat when NOT eating Nutrisystem is a life skill important to develop a little bit at a time.

I think the weight loss after week 1 is supposed to average 1 to 2 lbs per week. I would be very happy with that. I want to get the lard off and KEEP it off, becoming healthier in the process.

On to Week 3!

Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, Encouragement, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as diet and exercise, Nutrisystem progress report - week 2, taking care of yourself, things I'm learning from Nutrisystem

May 8, 2018 · 1:33 pm

Moving These Old Bones

YourEllipticals.com

Week 2 of the Nutrisystem program suggests that you resume – or start – exercising. No longer having any excuses, I’m trying to work in a session on the elliptical trainer and a session of deep stretching through Yoga each day.

The first day I could only do 15 minutes on the elliptical. Yesterday I was able to do 30 minutes. I wear headphones and an MP3 player clipped to my shirt as this poor old body works out. I use the elliptical trainer because it’s so much easier on the joints than other exercise machines. I can move as fast or slowly as I need to. I can decrease or increase level of pressure needed to move the pedals. I can choose how many minutes I exercise. You can smile, picturing this old broad slogging away on the elliptical in my garage, eyes closed, singing along with my favorite tunes…. :0)

fffound.com

I’m not yet using my DVDs for my yoga. I’m moving really slowly on my mat, holding stretches for as long as I can, breathing into them, trying to get my muscles to relax. Relaxing seems to be more of a problem than anything else. That – and getting back up off the floor! :0) I feel much better after I’ve finished, though – more loose and flexible – so I’m determined to get on the mat every day.

The biggest problem at this point is that with eating every three hours, drinking four 16 oz bottles of water each day and the running to the bathroom that causes, plus the exercising leaves a much shorter day to do everything else that I’m used to doing.

I’ve decided though, that my health is my first priority. I’m trying to do ONE thing on my to-do list otherwise each day, and see how that goes. Today it’s cleaning off the back porch so that we can enjoy meals out there before summer hits.

We finish Week 2 on Thursday and I’ll provide an update then.

Filed under DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as elliptical trainer, health as a first priority, Nutrisystem week 2, yoga

May 5, 2018 · 1:15 pm

Folding Myself Into a Paper Airplane – Take 14

BoredPanda

NutriSystem suggested that I NOT exercise during the Turbo 13 week, so I happily followed that suggestion. Thursday of this week we started Week 2 of our programs, so there was no longer an excuse to lay off more formal exercising.

I’m now doing kind of a ‘free-form’ series of really long, slow stretches I learned from the “Gentle Yoga” series by instructor Cat Kabira. I found the series of DVDs through the website Sixty & Me, and I’ve been really happy – both with the website and the DVDs.

I’m stretching for 30 minutes (with Amber, our 93 pound puppy safely behind the gate in the office), trying to relax and move my body into good stretching positions and holding them and breathing into them. I lost some ground by not doing this every day, so I’m going to try to practice each day now.

The other thing I’m doing is 15 minutes on the Elliptical Trainer. We have it set up in the garage, so there is little excuse not to take advantage of it. I’m having to really push to do the 15 minutes, having been quite slothful lately.

Each day I’m getting a bit looser. I’m hoping to shed some stiffness and soreness as I move.

Filed under exercise, getting the lard off

Tagged as elliptical trainer, getting the lard off, yoga for old ladies

May 4, 2018 · 6:24 pm

Confusion Re NutriSystem Solved

urbclekki.wordpress.com

Yesterday I happily started Week 2 of our Nutrisystem plans, carefully having made note of Powerfuels (and lists of) and SmartCarbs (and lists of), as well as what each of us was to eat at the various times of the day.

I got to the point of adding dinner into my NuMi tracker records and discovered that I was going over the calorie limit at the top! I had thought that one of the perks of the Nutrisystem plan was that you didn’t have to count calories, but it was clear that I had messed up in some way. I deleted the veggies I had planned to eat and the snack I had been looking forward to eating after dinner, staying under the calorie limit.

I contacted one of the nice people connected to Nutrisystem via the live CHAT today – one of the great parts of the program, in my estimation. She said that I needed to switch to “nutrisystem’ instead of ‘turbo 13’ as the current stage of my program. (I had thought that when the NuMi page congratulated me on finishing the Turbo week, they would make any changes needed.) The kind lady switched my program stage for me and I was off to the races again.

We ate our first FLEX meal (meals eaten off the plan to teach you how to cope with the real world and not break your new eating plan). We’re supposed to eat one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner, and one snack as Flex meals each week, preferably not on the same day. We ate our regular Lunch Bunch with our good friends, not wanting to change our cherished time together. My husband had his loved chicken fingers and I had a big salad and a hard boiled egg, figuring I was eating two servings of veggies and one powerfuel.

We are delighted to be eating FRUIT again! We haven’t eaten fruit in maybe over a year, due to my husband being a type II diabetic and our trying to eat low carb. It’s such a treat! My husband’s blood sugar number yesterday was the lowest it’s been since we have been monitoring it!

We are making changes to our next order on almost a daily basis, finding things we don’t particularly care for, and other things we really like and want more of. The website makes it easy to do that.

So, my confusion and upset from yesterday was solved today. I’ll happily dive into the freezer this evening for a nice entree for each of us and probably an ice cream sandwich!!!

Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as chat on website, confusion about Nutrisystem, diet, eating healthy, taking care of ourselves, turbo vs nutrisystem 'stage'

April 28, 2018 · 10:03 am

And So It Begins – Getting the Lard Off – Day Three

http://www.buzzfeed.com

We started Nutrisystem on Thursday of this week, the 26th. So far I’ve lost 3.6 lbs.

The Nutrisystem people stress that you shouldn’t weigh yourself every day. They suggest once a week. I’ve always weighed myself every day, though, and I need the feedback that I’m going in the right direction, or at least staying reasonably steady. Even though this is just water loss, I feel happy that I have a good start. I have a long way to go, but losing weight is a great thing to be doing with my time each day. :0)

They also stress not to do any exercise the first week. Well, that’s all well and good, but I’m getting lots of exercise getting up to go to the bathroom all day (and many times at night, too.) Plus, life goes on, and I need to get things accomplished around here; so, no formal exercise until next week, but I HAVE been being active.

Example – since winter FINALLY seems to be over, we took the snow tires off the Honda Ridgeline yesterday and put the regular tires on. This is a laborious project, but after doing it twice a year for several years now, we have it almost down to a science. My husband does the heavy stuff, like getting the tires onto the “wheel studs.” (I just had to ask my husband what was the actual name for those. I hate to call everything ‘thingies.’) I’m a pretty good go-fer – rolling the snow tires out of the way, rolling the regular tire over to my husband, handing him the wheel nuts, bringing him tools, putting things away, etc. It takes us about half an hour now, when the first time it took us twice that.

I also planted a 6-pack of tomato plants and several squares of radishes yesterday. Since we don’t have our irrigation system going yet, later I got a hose hooked up and watered them. I rolled up our big fireplace rug and stored it under the stairs in a storage place and then vacuumed the living room, foyer, and office. The big thing yesterday was washing the two large dog bed covers, airing out the innards, then putting everything back together.

Add to that setting a timer so that we stay on our program for the day, eating every 3 hours, and you have much of our day yesterday.

My attitude is better since we’re finally on the road again to getting the lard off. I’m hopeful that as the extra weight comes off, we’ll feel better and better.

Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as Day 3 of Nutrisystem, getting the lard off, taking care of yourself

April 27, 2018 · 9:46 am

Whisper

sayingimages.com

We made it through Day 1 of Nutrisystem. We have to say that they have improved a lot since we tried it years ago. I am eating and drinking out of the ‘magic red box’ (Turbo 13) in the Uniquely Yours for Fat Ladies program, and my husband is in the Diabetic Uniquely Yours program. His reaction yesterday was, “This isn’t half bad!”

Honestly, we were so busy eating or drinking at the proper times we hardly had time for much else. :0) We weren’t hungry. We did have a pang after dinner when we would usually have an ice cream sandwich or an orange dream bar, but we can have an after dinner snack NEXT week.

I drank the 64 oz of water, plus a couple of cups of coffee, so I got my exercise running to the bathroom during the day and four times last night…

We have Lunch Bunch today. We’ve done this for a hundred years or so, seeing good friends and catching up, and we’ll continue doing it regardless of what eating program we’re on. Starting next week, we can have Lunch Bunch be our flex lunch, as we’ll have our ice cream after bowling be our flex snack. Today I’m going to have a salad and write it up as the one I would have had with my lunch later, as one of my 4 servings of veggies per day. I’ll try to keep my husband on track for the rest of the day, but he’ll make the decision whether to cooperate or not.

I’ve started losing the expected water weight, so my body is recognizing that things have changed. Good start!

Filed under DIET!, Encouragement, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as Day 2 of Nutrisystem, eating healthy, taking care of ourselves

April 26, 2018 · 10:14 am

NuMi

Today is our first day on NutriSystem. I’m on the Uniquely Yours (for fat ladies) program and am eating from the Turbo 13 (magic) red box. My husband is on the Diabetic Uniquely Yours for Men. I ate the Maple Sugar Oatmeal breakfast and my husband ate the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. I don’t care for oatmeal, but it was easy to fix and I found it palatable.

We essentially eat and drink all day –

8:30 breakfast
11:30 Snack One (first week a shake)
2:30 Lunch + veggie
5:30 Snack Two – (first week a nutrition bar)
8:30 Dinner + veggie
+ at least 64 oz of water (I’ll try for a 16 oz bottle of water for each main meal, and then one sipped during the day.)

For exercise, we’ll run back and forth to the bathroom from drinking all the water!

I have to tell you that, since my husband and I tend to use “National Tissue Week” as an excuse to go off our good eating plans, having meals (and especially portions) will be a great wake up call for us. I don’t seem to have the proper whatevers that are supposed to tell you you are full. I could eat a full meal and then eat another an hour later, so I’m also looking forward to only having to go three hours between eating.

The last time we tried Nutrisystem several years ago, they didn’t offer frozen food, and the variety of foods was less than we would have liked. Now it could be months before we can try everything! I’m also hoping that they won’t start discontinuing the options my husband has chosen, as they did last time. That was the thing that made us stop. Now they have as a major focus teaching you what is healthy to eat, what a reasonable portion is, and have you practice flex meals once each week from Week 2 on. This gives you a chance to not only learn how to choose what to eat if you eat out, but guidance as to what to eat for home-cooked meals so that you can learn healthy habits from the outset.

This morning I started NuMi, a food tracker to guide you through the program. You can input your goals, monitor your progress, record what you eat and drink, etc. One of the first questions was where I was in the program. When I input that this was my first day on the Turbo 13 week of Uniquely Yours for Fat Women, it immediately came up with what I was supposed to be eating today. I input my maple sugar oatmeal and it told me how many more calories I had allotted for the day, and showed me what else I would be eating.

I went through the quick tour, then immediately screwed up. I hit the ‘fast entry’ button for breakfast, and then decided I wanted to actually type in what I ate. I had a time getting the first entry off, but finally did it.

I hope that this program will help us, indeed, get the lard off, and teach us how to KEEP it off once we reach our goals. My husband will reach his goal before I do, but I’m hoping he’ll keep me company, continuing to use the program, or be satisfied with my new cooking choices and techniques.

Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, Healthy Eating, taking care of yourself

Tagged as Day One of Nutrisystem program, NuMi

April 25, 2018 · 11:52 am

Almost There!

Our frozen stuff was just delivered by Fedex. It was nicely packed in large styrofoam coolers with dry ice, the whole cooler shrink-wrapped and clearly labeled whose was whose.

We have just finished putting things away. It turned out that our frozen snacks went into the freezer in the pantry. Mine fit in one gallon sized ziplock bag, so I didn’t have to mark anything. Of the three trays I had cleaned out in the chest type freezer in the garage, my husband’s frozen stuff filled two of them to the brim. I put some of my stuff in the third tray, and put others in gallon ziplock bags. It’s really clear whose stuff is whose, so I didn’t have to mark those, either. :0)

Today is our last hurrah of ‘free eating.’ I’m not sure how we’ll spend it.

Tomorrow morning will start the first day of our Nutrisystem plans.

Any time you change your eating habits violently, there will be snags. We have Lunch Bunch Friday. I’ll go to visit with my friends and have a glass of water, opting to religiously stay on the program until I get a ‘flex meal’ NEXT week. My husband has opted to get his regular chicken fingers for Lunch Bunch. One meal off the plan in the first week won’t be the end of the world. He has agreed to do this, so I’ll work on getting him to go with the program as much as possible.

Tomorrow I’ll make us a salad bowl – two cups each for each of us , so all we have to do is dip out the servings when it’s time to eat lunch or dinner. I’ll also plan to serve us a cup each of broccoli with our dinner. (A serving is one cup of raw non-starchy veggies or 1/2 cup of cooked veggies, so this will be our 4 servings for the day.)

______________________

“Here is a quick glance at what you’ll eat during your first week on Nutrisystem:*

Nutrisystem Breakfast from Turbo Takeoff Box (Husband chooses from his stash)
TurboShake (for women) or Nutri-Pro Shakes (for men)
Nutrisystem Lunch from Turbo Takeoff Box (husband chooses from his stash)
NutriCurb Bar
Nutrisystem Dinner from Turbo Takeoff Box (husband chooses from his stash)
At least four servings of non-starchy veggies and 64 ounces of water throughout the day

Source: NUTRISYSTEM

(Exercise is taken care of from drinking the 64 (at least) oz of water each day. Our eyeballs will be swimming, and we’ll be running to the bathroom a lot. :0)”

I hope that you are finding ways to take good care of yourself. Hopefully, this will be the start of our getting the lard off, moving more, and feeling better and better.