Fried things and gooey memories......and back to square one!

If you are reading this....did you know that I can see into your eyes....and what I see is myself looking back at me. I know you might be feeling like you are in a deep hole with your weight loss struggle. I understand that more than you can imagine.  I have fought the weight battle all my life.  I finally found something that worked and was doing well and then my dad got sick and we went on a cruise and I thought the new me could handle all the wonderful food offered...and more time spent with my folks not exercising and worrying....and worrying....and my Achilles Tendon screaming at me, hurting and hurting and hurting....and all the while I'm comforting myself with food, because that is what I've always done....and then my dad passed away...which is tearing me up....and then I had the tendon surgery and the immobility and as I'm sure I've said in other posts, I eat when I'm nervous, stressed, sad and bored.....and I eat just because I love to eat.  Eating has been a part of my life as long as I can remember.  Now I know that may sound kind of obvious...everyone eats; but my dad was in food service in the military from the time I was little bitty.  I was around "good" food since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I remember Thanksgivings and Christmases where we got to pick the mess hall we wanted to eat in....by tasting the dressing and the turkey and the shrimp cocktail, and the pumpkin and pecan pies.....and which ever one we thought was the best is the one we ate at....and the military has a policy that it posts on the wall of their mess halls ....TAKE ALL YOU WANT, BUT EAT ALL YOU TAKE!  That notice is for the troops...who are in training, working out, being active....For a little girl who loved to eat....that was like flashing neon sign.....flashing BONUS! BONUS! BONUS! 

I remember places we lived by the restaurants, as did my dad....because he was so finicky a cook, the places we ate had goooooood food....and even at 64 I can close my eyes and taste the fried chicken at Polly's in Albuquerque, New Mexico and my mouth waters at the thought of the old A &W Root Beer Stands that served the coldest most delicious root beer in a frosted mug and a chopped bar-b-Que beef on bun that would make you want to slap your momma!  I still dream about the pot roast daddy would put in the oven after he'd lightly floured it and seared it on both sides and smothered it with onions to make au jus gravy..... he'd leave it cook on 250 degrees until we got back from church and he'd make either mashed potatoes or rice for our Sunday lunch....oh my gosh was that good.....it wasn't until years later that I discovered I couldn't eat beef cooked like that because the slow cooking takes all the enzymes out and It's so difficult for me to digest...........but I love to make it for John, because he loves it and it doesn't bother him............I smile with my heart when I think of the chicken and dumplings my paternal grandma made when we'd visit and always banana/vanilla wafer pudding with meringue topping that she'd pop in the over right before she served it so it was the most beautiful golden brown and the pudding was just a hint of warm............and then we'd go down to New Orleans to my maternal grandmother and she was all about the best seafood gumbo and hot french bread and shrimp/craw fish boils and chicory coffee with beignets smothered with

 powdered sugar from Cafe' DuMond       --big fat (oh wait someone writing a motivational blog for weight loss should probably never use the words big and fat)---but yes big fat shrimp/oyster po'boy sandwiches.....oh be still my heart!  And I can't begin to tell you how I drool  when I think of the enchiladas, Spanish rice and beans they used to fix for us on Wednesday's at my High School in San Antonio every Wednesday and for dessert they made chocolate cake that was just like heaven.....soooooo good.  Whenever we have a reunion at the school.....I can guarantee you someone or several will bring up those Wednesday lunches. 

I have to tell you there just isn't much that I won't eat.......even vegetables that I didn't care for when I was younger I love now..........so are you wanting to reach through the screen and choke me for mentioning all of that good comfort food and conjuring thoughts and memories of all the foods you love.  Oh and if all of that was not bad enough, as you might have guessed I was daddy's girl and I followed him around the kitchen like a puppy dog and learned to cook when I was really young.....loved cooking then, love cooking now.....John says I sometimes wear myself out because I like to cook big and I like to bake big....and sometimes when we are just suppose to bring a little something to share...I bring enough for the whole group! But the does say give me the sweetest compliment when he says "the hard thing about going out to eat is that there aren't many places with food as good as Peggy cooks"  
Yeh, I know...he's a keeper!

What I didn't grow up with was parents who stressed sports or going to the gym.........now before you think that I'm jumping on the old 'Let's blame it on the parents' I'm really not.  I think when I was growing up, there were girls who ran track and did some sports....but I was always kind of chubby and never quite fit in.....you know the old 'didn't get picked till last when teams were being picked'....I was more of the studying/reading/writing type.  But you know once you're out of high school ....college age...and yes back then "thinking of marrying age"......that's what girls did back then...in the mid 60's, it wasn't long before I realized that even though I thought I wasn't very active during my school days....I actually was (you kind of lose track of how much you use to ride your bicycle all over the neighborhood and walked places before you  were old enough to drive .....and in my case even after I was old enough to drive....my folks had one car....and my sis and I never drove (as far as I can remember) until we got married.  So then it became pretty clear that sitting in a college class or behind a desk all day long and being exhausted when you got home....made for a new loving relationship with the television most of the night (and after all they had shows on then worth watching.....lots of them)....you had your nights planned by the shows on a particular night....and what did you normally do when you watched TV...................yeh you guessed it.....pretty much what a lot of people do now....snack....nibble....munch....munch.....nibble .....snack!

And slowly (or maybe not so slowly) the pounds started packing on.......I know there were the lucky ones who didn't pack the pounds on...........like my sister..........she was slim and trim all her life....up until the last year or so.. and still she doesn't have a problem........the only time I ever saw her plump was when she was about 2-3 years old.....she was a little butterball and I was the 'wafer thin' child....now you tell me...how can that be fair! 

And I began the battle that would last a lifetime........and that will last a lifetime. I've strayed down many a "fad diet" path and got on the sea-saw, roller coaster of losing and gaining weight.  My weight caused a lot of problems in my life.....the worst being.... a neat little package of stress with ill chosen mates, and care-taking of an ill husband along with unhealthy eating habits and little to no exercise.  I am sure that was the devastating cocktail of bad ingredients that when stirred together and given a warm body to grow in, gave me breast cancer. Being overweight robbed me of my self esteem.  Being overweight gave me many night of indigestion and other things that go along with a body so overweight the organs in the body can't and don't function properly.  It was not until I was 62 and decided to retire that this huge burning red flag started waving in from of me  and on the flag it said  WARNING WARNING WARNING.....PEGGY YOU NEED TO GET YOUR WEIGHT UNDER CONTROL, YOU NEED TO GET HEALTHY AND FIT.  YOU ARE NOT A YOUNG GIRL ANYMORE and unfortunately when you pass 60, the body seems to start it's downhill spiral if you don't take care of yourself.....Knees start going, Hips start going, Balance starts going. Some of us develop diabetes, heart conditions, blood pressure problems, torn Achilles Tendon...and oh just a myriad of health issues to numerous to mention.

So it was like a 2 X 4 being slung up against my head.....I knew it was time to get this under control.....and obviously everything I'd been trying up to this point was not working for me......so you know the old saying  "If you keep doing what you always did"...."you keep getting what always got".

Some of you know my story....but because I've had to take a few steps backwards..OK OK.....several steps backwards, I'm going to start from square one and take you step by step....and remind myself what I need to start doing again to get to the fit and healthy and most importantly strong and happy person I was......a place where I was in the best shape of my life....and a time when my spirit was soaring and I felt like for once in my life I had the world by the tail.....and I wasn't letting go...........taking the ride of my life.......and that was just last summer.  Life is strange and so often reminds us of the words to the song "I never promised you a rose garden".  But I'm an old optimist and I believe with all my heart that attitude plays a real big role and that absolutely nothing is impossible if you believe and are determined that you can do it. I truly believe that you can turn health problems around and get fit no matter what your age or what your health condition is right now.

Just remember it's usually when you feel like you're in a hole....that God scoops you up and says ....OK....let's turn this picture around and get you back up where you belong....In my mind it all starts with a deep breath and determined commitment!..... oh and maybe some motivational words from a new friend....

Is it easy?....NO Is it going to be worth it YES YES YES!!!

Come back to visit me....there will be more.

Here's three encouraging thoughts for today:

     

 

Disconnected!

Although I have all the time in the world as I recover from my Achilles Tendon surgery to write in all three of my blogs, I sometimes spend a great deal of time writing in one blog and find that the things I said in it are many of the things I wanted to say in one of the other blogs....such is the case today.  I wrote in my Achilles Tendon Recovery Support Group Blog many of the thoughts I probably would have written in this Fit At 99 blog.  And although what I've written is not words of encouragement and motivation for you....which I know is what this blog is suppose to be, I want you to know that in some way I hope it does motivate you in your own personal struggle. Weight loss and getting fit and healthy ......and more importantly keeping the weight off and maintaining the fitness and healthiness is an ongoing day to day process and what is happening in our lives most certainly does affect how successful we are with those struggles.  Before you read that blog, please know that even though I said what I said in that latest post, I am determine to be back in the game, maybe not soon, but at some point and I'm going to work on whatever it takes to get me back where I was, happy, healthy, weight under control, fit, vibrant and being an inspiration to you.  So please read and enjoy and feel free to comment, make suggestions, and come back soon.  I'll have a more cheerful motivational post here soon! :)  

The blog you need to go to is  http://achillesblog.com/torngoals/

P. S. I seem to be having trouble getting comments on this blog (and maybe no one is commenting???)...so if you leave a comment, would you also send it to peggylee57@aol.com so I can try to resolve the problem if there is one.  Thanks.

Oh and if you know of any other great motivational fitness/weightloss blogs for seniors and anyone for that matter, please pass them on to me at the above e-mail address.  Thanks !  Keep on keeping on..

To Health, Fitness and a Healthy Weight!

For lunch I'm having a small bowl of steamed veggies and a small bowl of fresh fruit! :)

This is my wish.....

One more day to mark off of my year long recovery from Achilles Tendon surgery (of which today is 17 post-op), but the thought in this poster is still burned into my brain.  I'm going to recover, I'm going to be back, I'm going to lose the weight again and get back to the fit and healthy person I was 6 months ago....and then some....and I hope you won't give us either....come on, join me, let's inspire others to not give up!

Heading for Sunshine....

As I heal from my Achilles Tendon surgery.....these two posters inspire me to dig deep down and not let the current immobility get me down. There's a brighter day at the end of the tunnel and I will be back in the gym, back on the walking/running path, working at getting fit and healthy again. The sun is going down on day 11....when twice as much time has past, I will be 22 days closer to being able to work out...Exercise is the only drug I know of that (if you want to get healthy and fit) you hope you get addicted to again.  Look out gym mates....When the doc says OK....get out of my way....you will feel the sweat flying off of me!!! Even if it takes a year to get there ....I'm heading for sunshine!

If I keep the goal in my mind....

Today is Sunday, April 7, 2013 and day number 11 in my Achilles Tendon post-op.  I am still at "no weight bearing" on my left foot which begrudgingly wears a stiff cast to protect and stabilize it from any movement or injury to the re-attached tendon.  I borrowed this picture off the Internet  This is of some one's right foot, but this is what my left foot/leg looks like right now.  The cast is split on each side, thus a 2 piece cast that can be adjusted for swelling and comfort. It felt wonderful last Wednesday to get it off for a short time while my doc check the sutures and healing.   Now I have a new goal-- that being that 6 days from today I will get the stitches out and most probably will go into a boot....possibly (keep your fingers crossed) I might be allowed to put some minimal weight on my left foot....I'm not sure how they measure "minimal weight", but it sounds good to me.

It's a little goal, but it's a goal none-the-less.  I got to thinking about how that compares to the approach we need to take with weight loss and getting fit.....not as one whopping overwhelming goal...."I NEED TO LOSE 50 POUNDS!", but rather in a lot of smaller goals.  "This week I am shooting for 1 to 2 pounds weight loss" or "I'm going to try to get in 6000 steps each day this week" (Remember steps can be counted not only by actual steps but by other activities you do....see http://www.stepup.excellusbcbs.com/stepChartPop.jsp for equivilent steps to daily activities.  Or you might shoot for a goal of adding an additional 8oz. of water each day to what you normally drink in a day.  Small doable goals are so much easier to work with. Adding a new small goal each week connects all the smaller goals until you eventually reach the whopping goal you once talked about reaching. 

By taking baby steps you allow time for new habits to form.  I've always heard it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.  So at the end of 3 weeks, you could be aiming for walking 8000 steps (if you added 1000/day each week) and you might be down 3 pounds (if you lost 1 pound a week)....As I've said before and I know you've heard many times....this is a life style change, this is a marathon....not a sprint....slow and even wins.  I know when you need to lose 50 (what seems like a whole ocean of pounds) to lose, 1 pound feels like less than a mere miniscule drop in the bucket.  But be patient and DO NOT GIVE UP.  Those drops will add up to a thimble full, the thimble full will add up to 1/4 cup, the 1/4 cup to a full cup.....so let's say you need to lose 50 pounds......and you started today--April 7th.....I'd say make your long term goal Christmas..........I know, I hear ya...CHRISTMAS!!! that's like forever away from April 7th, but if you take it off slowly, the more likely it will be that you will keep it off.  You certainly may exceed that goal if you lose 2 pounds a week, but you have to ride the roller coaster that comes along with weight loss.  Make that your long term goal....but to get to your long term goal.....make shorter goals....a day or a week at a time.  You'll have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks.  You'll have weeks when you lose 2-3 pounds and weeks when the scale won't budge and OK (heavy sigh) you will also have weeks you may gain a pound or two.  Just DON'T GIVE UP!

We are all different.  You have to find things that work for you, habits you're willing to live with the rest of your life.  If you know what emotions trigger overeating for you (come on you know what they are!) then try to avoid those situations....if you can't and you eat a little more than you should or you eat something you know is not great for weight loss...just take it in stride.  Tell yourself....OK I strayed from my plan, but that's over and done with....now I'm back on track.  I know I've said this before but please don't think of this as a 'diet'....think of this as a healthy lifestyle. And please don't make yourself feel deprived. If you feel deprived (which I think you feel with most ' fad diets'), you will never stick to it.

If you're at a gathering and there is chocolate pie and oh my how you love chocolate pie...then have a small piece, eat it slowly and savor each bite.....if you can't stand to pass it up and you have a whole piece....have it and enjoy it.....don't beat yourself up....realize that it needs to be counted in that day's  calorie count....and adjust the rest of your day's eating accordingly....or go out and walk an extra mile.  Most definitely you are allowed to occassionally step outside your box. Just remember as I've said before in this blog.....and as so many trainers have told me, you can't out exercise a bad diet....so indulge occassionally, just don't make it a habit. 

Bob Harper of "The Biggest Loser" wears a T-shirt that says:


So, there's no vacation from staying fit and healthy but every fourth day you get a break from the exercise.  I think that sounds like a pretty awesome doable goal or strategy to take.

My trainer says eat healthy and exercise 6 days a week and give yourself a break from the exercise and watching what you eat 1 day a week.  My doctor was glad to hear I was exercising and eating healthy but he also advised "that's wonderful, but please tell me once a week you allow yourself a big plate of mexican food" (or fill in whatever is traditional, delicious and definitely not diet food for your neck of the woods).

I'm taking this time while I'm laid up (see picture above and previous blog post) to make myself a list of small doable goals for the rest of the year:
(for example)
1) short term goal-- move from cast to boot in 6 days
2) short term goal--slowly start weight bearing in left foot w/ boot
3) short term goal--switch from boot to tennis shoe when allowed
4) short term goal--slowly start exercising as allowed by podiatrist
5) short term goal--lose 1 pound from starting weight I'm at when I am allowed to start minimal exercise
6) short term goal--increase exercise slowly from one week to the next

...and a few long term goals.....
1) long term weight goal--to lose 37 pounds by April 1, 2014
2) long term fitness goal--to do a 1/2 marathon November 2014
3) long term fitness goal--to complete a marathon June 2015
4) long term fitness goal--cycle 20 miles/day
5) long term personal and fitness goal--learn (again) to swim
6) long term fitness goal--to do a triathalon

Make your own goals.....they can be whatever it takes to get you where you want to be.....add an extra glass of water each day, eat a piece of fruit instead of a piece of candy, eat smaller portions, walk an extra 10 minutes or an extra 1/2 mile......remember baby steps....just keep going...don't give up, especially when you stumble or when life throws a curve ball, deal with it, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and remember what your goals are...and just keep reaching......and keep your goals in mind. Or if you are a visual person, make a "To Do List" for the week and as you accomplish each goal, check it off so you can see what you've been able to achieve. Then use that week's goals to create the goals for the next week. I love this sign because it is so true.



  You have to:
    know where you are going and what you want to achieve
    plan where you want to be
   know the baby steps (small goals) that will get you there
                                       
Yours in fitness....
Peg






 

Where have all the flowers gone?

I haven't been on this blog in a long while and so much has happened in my life....and I am in the mood and certainly have the time to unload all of my downfalls, losses and struggles to this point.  I've also not written in my other blog called Whimseys-Writings-Thoughts in an equally long time, so I'm going to copy and paste this post over to that blog too (so that I can speak to the followers I have with this blog and the followers I have with the other blog.  A dear brief acquaintance whose blog I follow (Hi Bonnie) has started writing about her weight loss journey and asked if anyone wanted to join her.  Of course my hand went flying up because as you may have notice in my prior posts on this blog I have been on a spiral off the wagon and am just overwhelmed as to how to get back on track.  For those of you new to this blog and don't know my weight loss progress let me give you a brief recap.

So let's start back in June 2011....John and I decided to retire and move from Maine to Texas to be closer to my folks and on our drive down, we stopped and met an old buddy of John's and at that time this is what I looked like (picture with blue crop pants)

...I was tipping the scale close to 200 pounds!!! (Well I'm only 5'2"....so we're talking a bit of a weeble).  We moved to a 55+ senior citizen community that sported 2 professional gyms, 5 pools, 3 golf courses and miles and miles of walking/jogging/running trails.  I had no excuse to not get serious about my weight. The gym doors were opened and the fitness classes were chanting my name....Peggy....oh Peggy....it's time.  My dad had been having problems with arthritic knees and I was all of a sudden driven to get fit and healthy so that I would not have those aches and pains when I got to be his age (then 87). I jumped in with both feet, joined a group called Lighten Up For Life and started eating healthy, measuring food and counting calories.  I started taking fitness classes and back to my true exercise love of power walking.  I went as the expression goes...."Whole Hog"!  On Mondays and Wednesdays you could find me at the gym taking a back to back Core/Cycle and then Cycle/Aerobic Dance classes.  I did 1/2 hour of core work, 45 mins. spinning (stationary bike), another 1/2 hour spinning and a 1/2 hour of aerobic dance.  On Tuesday and Thursday I went to an hour strength class and an hour on Tuesdays with a trainer on the weight machines.  Friday usually found me at the gym lifting weights and Saturday I would power walk and was up to 8 miles in my own personal training for a 1/2 marathon. Things were going unbelievably well.  The weight was literally falling off of me.  I was thrilled when they tagged me as the "Poster Child" of the weight loss group....having lost some weight on my own before I joined the group in September 2011 and then having lost an additional 40 pounds with the program, by the time I went back to Maine for a visit, I was down 52 pounds...and


This is what I looked like



I was on top of the world....started this blog....determined and dedicated to get fit and be fit at 99.....that is still my goal....but somehow along the journey....life happened and I lost my way. And as my friend Bonnie said one day without exercising or watching what went into my mouth became two and two became three....three became a week and so on....and so on!! If you go back and read some of my other posts on this blog you see some of the things that made the wheels to my wagon start falling off.  I began having trouble with and nursing a chronic injury to the Achilles Tendon in my left leg; first trying to just keep working through the pain, then seeing a podiatrist, doing physical therapy, wearing a pneumatic boot, getting cortisone shots etc. offering only temporary relief.  Around that same time my dad who lived in San Antonio started having major medical issues and was in and out of the hospital.  So you begin to see the picture that is forming....I've slowed down on the exercise due to the Achilles Tendon and missed classes when I was down staying with my mom and taking her back and forth while dad was in the hospital and to my dismay picking up my old habit of eating to sooth my stress and concern for my dad's health. I eat when I'm stressed. Then I went on a cruise in December that was just absolutely the best vacation I had ever been on, eating and enjoying the non-stop food supply of delicious culinary presentations.  Telling myself this was just 7 days....a few extra frozen yogurts at the machine you pass by on your way to the pool would be OK....I was on vacation....I'd easily work it off when I returned to the gym the next week.  In the meantime, the heel was not getting any better and neither was dad's health....so more of 'less time at the gym' and comforting my breaking heart at dad's deterioration with more food.  I eat when I'm nervous. And the pounds just kept creeping back on. Sadly I lost my sweet daddy on March 1st....and consoled my broken heart with food.  I eat when I'm sad.

I spent time with mom for most of March helping plan the services and helping her sort through things....no exercise and bad eating....and the pain in the tendon still not letting up.  I saw a new podiatrist who took lots of X-rays and with an MRI told me that I had 25% of my Achilles Tendon torn, I had a fluid-filled bursa behind the torn tendon and a spur hitting the tendon.  More physical therapy was offered as an option with no guarantee that would bring me any better results than the last round of PT brought.......or....the offer of surgery with a good enough guarantee to repair the tendon and get me back to my full workout program..........with one small caveat.....that being the recovery time......(are you sitting down?--it's a doozy)....recovery time of one year!!! What to do, what to do?  I could go on with this constant nagging pain in my heel and never be able to train for the 1/2 and full marathon I so had hoped to do for my 65th birthday or.....I could bite the bullet, have the surgery and begin the long long recovery.  That's what I chose to do and on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, around noon, the nurse told me to have a nice nap and when I woke up in recovery......my year back to being able to do a full workout program to get fit and healthy began.  I'm only on day 7 of that surgery and am literally going bonkers.  I am 3 weeks in a cast (no weight bearing on the left foot), 2-3 weeks in a boot (no weight bearing), 2-4 weeks in a boot (some weight bearing) and physical therapy, then into tennis shoes and walking. 3 months till I can return to daily activities (which takes us to the end of June), 6 months till I can even begin to do any lower body exercises (which takes us to September) and a full year till I can go back to my full workout program that includes balance work, cardio dancing, spin (indoor stationary bike), squats, planks, and my beloved power walking and running to train for the marathon. Only day 7 and I am bored out of my mind.........and do I even need to say it.......  I eat when I'm bored!  I think we can say without a doubt that I use food as a crutch; that food and I do not have a good relationship; that food is like a narcotic to me; as they say on TV it's my 'fix'. It is my drug of choice. It is like an enemy to me....an enemy that I befriend. All joking aside, I am just as much an addict (to food) as an alcoholic is to alcohol or a drug addict is to his drug of choice.

When I was talking to my sweet little 88 year old mother last night, about how the sedentary lifestyle this recovery is causing me to have is definitely not a plus in the weight loss department........mom suggested, "this would be a great time to lose some weight"--"since you know you can't do much exercise, you could really watch what you eat and eat smaller portions". And so that is what I am going to do. I am going to turn this somewhat negative long recovery situation into a positive weight loss program. With the permission of the doctor (I have a 3:00 appointment today) I am going to start doing some upper body exercise, start recording everything I eat on "LoseIt.com" and set my allowable calories/day to an appropriate number to allow for weight loss even with my limited movement. Because it still holds true that you lose weight by expending more calories than you take in and you can lose weight even if your activity is limited....not an easy process, but a challenge I am going to take on.

I am going to take this time to sort through my feelings, to write down my thoughts, to really dig deep into my mind and heart; make a new habit when it comes to where I turn to when I'm stressed, sad, or bored. And it needs to be somewhere other than to food. 

So yes Bonnie I'm with you on this journey....and yes to all the people from Lighten Up For Life who might be following my blog....and yes to the trainers and friends who are cheering me on and continue to tell me my down slide is only a small bend in the road that I can overcome....as I've said before in other notes....I must truly believe that    and that

I am going to be limited in my mobility for a while ..... for a long while....so I'm looking to you for support and cheering.  Let's make this happen!  Lets make good use of the time we've been handed and make our stressfull times, our nervous times, our sad times, and our bored times productive. Let's fight off the urge to take care of all these emotions with food.


So I've got a year til I'm back to full workout....I must remember

I may be laid up right now....I may have to make some major adjustments to reach my goals.....but one thing I do know.... 

I am counting the lost pounds as flowers....and so now I am wondering......where have all the flowers gone? 

Right now I am frustrated to tears with the restrictions this recovery is handing up but with your help I'll get through this.  I'll get the wheels back on my wagon, I'll pull myself backup on that  bench seat, grab the reins and start this long journey again.  As Bonnie asked....who's with me?