Back On It.....

So here is my plan....

First thing is to set some goals...

 

I weighed in yesterday at 175lbs that's just 3lbs over my lowest weight and 20lbs over what is classed as a "healthy" weight for my height...... that helped me to establish my long term goal..... I decided that I would like to loose 22lbs by the end of the year.... That not only puts me into  the healthy weight category, but puts me at 10 stone 13 pounds and everyone who measures in stones knows how encouraging it is to get to a lower stone bracket.....

 

Loosing more weight is not the whole picture though... I also need to maintain the muscle I have.... at the moment I have a normal muscle percentage which means that I actually have quite a good amount of muscle for my height and if I loose more fat and keep the muscle I have I will be in the high muscle category and being strong and healthy is more important to me than being thin.....

 

 

Dieting over a long time isn't easy....and that is why it is good to have times of maintenance built in and to give margin to allow for times of celebration..... doing this will give much more chance of long term success....

 

 



It also helps to have short term goals to keep you going.... So my first goal is to loose 5lbs over the next five weeks.....

Then I am taking a week off.... Yes a whole week.... because I have a really big celebration..... I will have been with my husband for 20 years and that is certainly something worth celebrating! Hopefully I will not do too much damage and will certainly get some exercise during the week, but the important thing is I won't feel guilty about it because I am planning for it and it is the exception and not an everyday thing.... It's part of the bigger picture of leading a healthy and happy life.

Benefits of Fasting.

Enjoyed my fast day yesterday.... honest.... let's hope I will get to enjoy the benefits to...

Balance, Wholeness and Fasting....

Something I really didn't like about trying to loose weight is that I had to stop fasting.....

Now that must sound like a strange thing to say, but a few years into my Christian journey I took up fasting as a spiritual practice.

At times I would have a regular fasting routine in order to help my prayers for certain very difficult situations. At other times I would have a fast day to pray for an emergency which came up. Other times I didn't fast at all, but the option was always there....

Until I got serious about loosing weight.... then suddenly it no longer seemed an option....

Because I saw fasting as a purely spiritual practice, it seemed wrong to carry on with it while trying to loose weight....

For years I have been seeking balance in my life as well as growth in holiness.. These are two things I have been praying about a lot recently and suddenly I think I get it.....

I think I lack balance because I don't see myself as a whole person, spirit, soul and body.... But my Father does... and He cares about all of me, not just my spiritual life...

So I am going back to having a regular fasting routine and refusing to feel guilty about any "non-spiritual" benefits...

My plan is to fast about one day a week, I say about because it wont be the same day every week....

I am starting today which is a Thursday, next week it will be Wednesday and the week after that Tuesday and so on. I wont be doing any fasting on Sundays as they are a celebration day...

I don't want to always do it on the same day because I pray for different things on different days of the week... Today I am praying for priests, those discerning the priesthood, including seminarians and vocations to the priesthood.....

I have had to think long and hard about writing about fasting because I don't want it to be a hey... look at me I'm fasting moment... but in the end I decided it was the right thing to do for a few reasons...

1 These days I am more likely to get a negative reaction to fasting for spiritual reasons...
2 The blog world is kind of anonymous...
3 I think more Christians would fast if they heard more about it...
4 Lastly I don't see it as blowing my own trumpet because to be honest I just don't find it that hard

Feel the Benefit....

 

Just showing off some of the benefits of the weight I have lost ..... Yay!

Before and After

 

 

 

 

 

These two pictures were taken two years apart, February 2013 and February 2014 ....... I am glad to say that the second one is the most recent....

 

I carried on my diet and exercise program but stopped weighing myself for lent.... then I realised that I was quite happy with how I was....

 

All together I lost 5 stone.... yes that's 70 great big pounds and also more than my height in inches....

 

That puts me at about a size 16 bottom and 14 top (UK sizes)

 

I am much healthier than I was and I am glad about that, but after a couple of months of maintaining round about the same weight I have decided that I am ready to start trying to loose a bit more...... 

Just to show I care.....

I thought I would share some of my most useful discoveries from my weight loss journey...

When deciding what kind of exercise to do I was strongly drawn back to Callanetics which I had done several times over the years.

It seemed ideally suited to my present lack of fitness, as it is very gently and builds flexibility as well as long lean muscles.

I had thrown away my old videos, not because they were no longer wanted, but because the video format was no longer useful.

So I set about looking for some Callanetics DVDs.

I wanted to get the Beginning Callanetics DVD as it shows the modified positions for different health problems and is a shorter work out - this was one of the videos I had previously used.

But I also wanted to get something new. In the end I opted to pair it with the am/pm dvd as that would give me something new while at the same time keep to shorter workouts.

After time I also added the Cardio Callanetics DVD and the Quick Callanetics which has 3 workouts to target different parts of the body.

Callanetics is very gentle but because it works very deeply on the muscles you have to be careful not to over do it at first.
 

While looking on You Tube for information on Callanetics I came across a lady who had been giving one of these Magic Measures (by Rosemary Conley) away and it seemed like a really great idea so I ordered one.

There are two sets of plastic tabs, you put the big on your first set of measurements, then after that you put the second smaller set on and these move about over time as your measurements change.

As time goes by it is really encouraging to see the gaps get bigger between the 2 sets of tabs.

Another top tip is to get a workout partner .......

 

These are mine, not much good for the exercise DVDs or going to the gym, but great for a long walk!

To make keeping an eye on your food intake the diet plate could be helpful....

Keeps things simple, but make sure you get the right on, male or female!

I cut out the sugar in my tea and found that my coffee tasted too sweet so I managed to cut down the sugar in that too!

I have never been fond of drinking water, but the more I drink it the more I am starting to appreciate it!

This site has loads of foodie information...

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

And above all don't forget to set ......

 

And when you reach your goal, celebrate and set another one!

Less of Me....

I had been keeping a private blog about my efforts to loose weight and get healthier, but I have decided to share bits here, because the results do make my life more joyful and just might be encouraging to others.

So far I have lost over 30lbs. I also had sleep apnea which went away very quickly and now I am much more comfortable. Also it is now much easier to get clothes I like.

It has taken me a long time to get to this point. Many factors have made it more difficult, such as my son's illness and there has been the odd step backwards I am pressing ahead.

I have learned to cherish each pound lost...

On this journey it is very easy to forget that food is not the enemy......

Food is a wonderful delight created by our amazing Father who made us with taste buds so that we could appreciate his gift. Take time to choose food which will not only taste good but will do you good and don't forget to say Thank You for the gift.

Neither is your body your enemy....
God made it... look after it!

 

The "experts" say that keeping a journal helps with weight loss and so I did. At first I kept it on a page on my private blog, but started a 181 Day Health Diary on 11th January which shouldhave run up till 11th July (my husbands birthday).

Unfortunately my plan got derailed in May (sigh) between back problems and other health issues, but I have started on my journey again.

Between Christmas and New Year I lost my 4th (out of 6) sibling and have already lost a nephew.

It's scary... The life expectancy in my family is very low - averaging out at just about the age I am. It's not that I am scared of being dead... I am confident of where I will end up by the Grace of God.

What scares me is having to face my God knowing that he had more for me to do but that my choices brought me home sooner than he intended

Also I want to be strong and healthy enough to do the job he put me here to do.

I can't do anything about any genetic factors (but God can handle them) but I have to take control or the choices I make.

I don't have a particularly unhealthy lifestyle.... I have never smoked, or done any drugs and I drink very little alcohol so the only factors I can improve on are diet and exercise.

So back to the Health Diary....

 

It's a hard back notebook with Russian dollies all over it (ideal shrinking lady symbol don't you think?)

I attached a matching two sided pencil case, to keep all the bits and pieces I need to fill it in.

 

Everyday I keep a note of what I eat and drink and any exercise I get. There is a space once a week to make notes and at the back I write hints and tips which are particularly helpful.

This is where the child in me comes in the thing is covered in stickers...

I have butterflies for when I have done a workout dvd, flowers for when I go for a walk...
Now I have added stars for 5 minutes on the bike and circles for a glass of water...
Not to forget my favourite... I have Russian dolls and symbols from their tummies... every weigh-in I get a symbol for a half stone and a doll for a full stone... so  now I get 2 of each!

I am such a big kid .... but that is OK because.....