Talking It Off

Revisiting Positive Thinking

Oct 182011

A post from 2010 – but I’ve been thinking a lot about this again since Twitter is delivering rather more positivity that I can take….

I’m descended, on my father’s side, from a long line of cynics. I’m pretty sure that somewhere I could find a family plaque with the motto, “Don’t get your hopes up.”

It’s not that I can’t see that the glass is half-full. I see it – I can even say it. But I’m secretly looking for the crack that going to leak out all that life-giving water. Let’s call it cynical optimism.

I truly love the research from last year that said positive thinking was bad for people with low self-esteem. However, I also know that, despite the fact that negative is funnier, I need to concentrate on the positive a little more – not because I believe in any wacky “law of attraction” (don’t get me started) but because I know that thinking positively about your achievable goals makes you more likely to achieve them.

In this case – I will never keep the weight off if I keep thinking that I’ll never keep the weight off. period.

So I’m going to get back to some good old fashioned positive thinking – and put away the “buts” for a while.
I’ve had a tough year. I will no doubt have another one. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be a healthy weight and continue to cultivate a good relationship with food and my body. It just means that I need to learn some new skills and to put away some old behaviours.

The positive thinking comes in here. I CAN put away old behaviours. I CAN develop new skills.
More positive: I AM putting away old behaviours. I AM developing new skills. (Not so hard…..)

OK – in reality – this kind of talk only works for me when it’s true. The above is true in a straight forward way and I don’t need to argue it out with myself. It will never work for me if I don’t believe it or if it’s too vague.

“I deserve to be happy and successful” begs WAY too many questions and theological discussions. (I lifted that from a real website called more self esteem or something.)

“A quick run will lift my mood” works just fine and it’s a great substitute for “I hate the gym”.

So here’s to a new day with my kind of positive thinking.

Later…..
OH! Wait! I’ve just found the best article on that research. And, yes, it’s the best because I agree with her.

Influencers & Motivators

Things to try, Thoughts on the Process 2 Responses »

Oct 162011

Been thinking about the positive influencers and motivators over my 30+ years of moving towards a healthy, sane relationship with food and my body. Here are six of them from the 80′s till now:

Ancient History

Weight Watchers- gave me the first experience of actually losing weight but I never ever believed that it was anything other than a diet so I got to go through that particular mill about 10 times, always gaining it all back. Funny, (strange), but even while gaining it all back time and time again, I’d describe WW as successful because I could always lose weight. The loss was their success and the gain was my failure. I’m no longer sure that’s true. However, it has, over time, taught me a lot about what I need to do to lose weight.

Two girls I met in Switzerland - They were Americans who had each gained 30 pounds while living at the L’abri community where high food prices meant a very carb rich diet. I met them as I was just arriving to spend three months in the community and was so horrified by their stories that I decided that I would eat only half portions at every meal while I was there. My nickname quickly became, “Half Please!” as that’s what I called out when people were serving up in the kitchen. I forget this idea way too often, but, deep down, I know that I don’t need masses of food to thrive.

Running – The extra bonus of that time in Switzerland was that I decided to walk as quickly as possible during my daily life but I didn’t consider that I was 4000 feet up in the Alps. When I got back to sea level I was pretty much floating. From that level of fitness, getting into running was easy and I learned that it suited both my body and my temperament. I’ve never forgotten the amazing buzz of pushing it hard up the long steep 16th Avenue hill in Vancouver four miles into my eight mile run.

Middle Ages

My Virtual Weight Loss Buddies - This group of women have taught me not to whine, complain or make excuses on this journey. Instead, we agree to acknowledge the difficulty, make a plan and move on. The result is that I am now very intolerant of any weight loss conversation that involves gleeful discussion of stupid eating. Luckily I still have my buddies with the same mindset. See this page for more.

Healthy Fats & Carbs - I have no idea who or what led to this change but becoming aware of healthy and unhealthy fats and carbs has influenced my diet more than anything/anyone else in the past 30 years. It started in the 90′s when we stopped eating fast food and continued up to a few years ago when we discovered the pure joy of olive oil. We no longer think of food as fattening and non-fattening but as healthy and unhealthy. Portion size is still an issue, (must remember Half Please!), but I’m no longer obsessed with low fat (low taste) ingredients. Freedom!

Modern Times – Thinking of the Future

Paul Plakas – He just happened to be the first person I heard use the term “functional” in terms of fitness and I happened to hear it while home in Canada helping my increasingly immobile dad. It caused me to stop linking exercise with short term calorie expenditure (which leads to exercising only while trying to lose weight) and made me start thinking about wanting to be able to stand up from a chair and walk up stairs should I happen to live to 85. Hence the need for good short bodyweight workouts which I still haven’t made a regular feature of my life. Waiting to hear whether my PT (Hey,LixWall!) is going to be able to put those together for me.

This post by Travis Saunders- about sedentary behaviour – is currently shaping my thinking about how I live my life every day. I work from home so there’s no commute and I work mostly sitting at a desk – as sedentary as can be. I used to think this didn’t matter because I was running 3 times a week, but reading about the research has caused me to rethink my daily energy expenditure and move much more throughout the day.

Thanks, Influencers & Motivators! (I wonder what ever happened to those girls from Switzerland.)

Tweet Update

Last Ten Pounds, Twitter & Weight Loss No Responses »

Oct 112011

So far so good on the tweet front. There’s no doubt that I am more motivated to keep on with good weight loss behaviour when I have an easy way to write about it. I’ve been doing the introspective stuff for years now and it’s fun to be able to just spew out the one-liners.

I also seem to be meeting others with a similar mindset. Good stuff.

Tweet Tweet Tweet

Last Ten Pounds, Twitter & Weight Loss No Responses »

Oct 052011

Yesterday, after writing an annual report and getting various other work-related burdens off my to do list ,
I sorted out my clothes for the season.

The verdict? There’s nothing wrong with my fall wardrobe that losing 7lbs won’t fix.
So that’s what I’m going to do.

I am SO BORED with myself and weight loss but, when I put it out of my mind, I gain weight.

The problem (well one of many problems) is that I need a new twist to keep me interested but I utterly reject the idea of a new diet.

SO…I’m going to tweet my way through the next couple of weeks and see how it goes. I won’t have time for loads of blogging but I’m hoping that I can just pretend that I’m accountable to the Twitter world and see what happens.

@talkingitoff

Let’s get tweeting……..

What Doesn’t Work

Keeping Going No Responses »

Sep 182011

Weight-wise this year, I have accomplished nothing but a gain – which isn’t exactly where I wanted to be headed.

However, I have increased my list of things I simply will never do again. And they are?

Weight Watchers. I will happily direct others towards WW but I am completely over it myself. I simply don’t need the crutch of points over just knowing what and how many calories I’m eating and expending.

The 17 Day Diet – or any other diet that severely restricts a food group. Nope never. I can’t believe I ever subjected myself to a diet where the author actually says you might not have enough energy to exercise in the first week.

Which leads me to:

Any new food fad. I will read up on research and listen to the experts but the next fad that comes along can fly right on past my kitchen, thank you.

Then, of course, there is just doing nothing.

Just doing nothing – otherwise known as just getting on with life and eating as I please and not really thinking about my weight- is marvellous for a while and will always be my ultimate goal. However, I have once more proven to myself, to the tune of 7 pounds gained, that I’m not good at this one. I need some accountability in my eating and exercising life.

So I’m back at the working hard and thinking carefully and writing it all down. I will lose this weight and get back into my fall clothes and I will probably have to do this hard work once in a while until I figure out how NOT to eat when I’m anything other than hungry.

And I’ll keep writing when it’s helpful to the journey. I’ve written an awful lot over the past three years and it’s hard to find new an fresh things to say about the weight loss process.

Oh! I know…….

I would like to sing the praises of my new personal trainer! She’s new and she’s fresh and the big bonus for me is that I’m remembering how good it feels to push myself. I had a session on Wednesday, went out of town for a couple of days, then went for a run yesterday. It was only my second run after a loooooong break but I found myself able to push myself that little bit further before walking to catch my breath.

That’s a major plus for this lazy runner.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress. I’m hoping to drop this weight by the end of October so I can enjoy the new fall dress I bought in the sales last year and haven’t taken the label off yet! (Vanity will always be my greatest incentive.)

Happy New Year – In the September Sense of the Term

Starting Again Again No Responses »

Sep 032011

So the meandering didn’t go so well. Did I think it would? Sadly, yes I did. I thought I was at a point where I could just take off those training wheels and fly. Of course, I also took my hands off the handlebars and then stuck a blindfold on just to make it more of an adventure and – well you know where that gets you.

So here I am a full 8 pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of June.

The good news is that it’s 8 pounds and not 20.

Last week, driving with the husband, I stated the following:

Please remember this moment. I’m stating now that I’m uncomfortable in my skin. Whatever the scales say tomorrow will be the new weight at which I know I have to do something.

The scales said 153 which is actually very good news as it’s a huge improvement over where I was three and a half years ago. In December 08, I thought I’d reached my “uncomfortable limit” but I actually weighed 170.

So what’s the plan?

Weight Watchers? nope

17 Day Diet? NO!!!!!!!

Nutracheck? Yep. Back to the sanest way I know of keeping track of calories.

And what about exercise?

Tomorrow I’ll get out for a good walk and maybe even jog a little. (Today the jet lag is still pretty intense and I can’t face anything more than a stroll.)

And I’m finally going to bring on my weapon of last resort: muscles.

I know I should be working harder to build a leaner and more efficient body and this time I’m going to do it and I’m enlisting the help of a personal trainer. Stay tuned. I intend to feel great in my skin come Christmas.

Fire! Fire! Fire!

Thoughts on the Process No Responses »

Jul 192011

Yes, folks, I weighed myself for the first time in a month – and the last time for the summer – and I’ve gained a solid five pounds. I weigh over 150 for the first time in two years and I’m not a happy bunny.

But I am a determined bunny.

I’m away for the day, travelling to and from a meeting, so I have LOTS of thinking time.

Tomorrow is the big journey with yet more thinking time.

By Thursday I will have thought myself into a healthy eating state of mind.

Meandering ~ not what I had in mind

Last Ten Pounds, Slow Dieting No Responses »

Jul 172011

The first three weeks of “meandering” on this slow journey to a smaller, healthier and saner self have not been what I expected.

I thought I’d make progress towards where I want to be.

Instead, I’ve found myself sat down in a muddy puddle, eating and drinking to excess and feeling listless and unhealthy.

I don’t really feel like stopping but I also don’t like how I’m feeling and I can’t have it both ways. Life’s like that, isn’t it?

Where I am now:

My clothes are ever so slightly more snug – not a disaster but not the direction I want to be going.

My stomach is not functioning as it should which adds to the overall sluggishness and desire to curl up in a comfy chair and eat and drink and read.

I haven’t been moving so I feel listless.

I KNOW I don’t have any excuse. I have not been tied to a chair, prevented from moving and force-fed food and alcohol,

BUT

the husband and I seem to have formed a very unhealthy and enabling alliance in this and it’s tough for one to make a change when the other isn’t in that place.

Bad news/Good news.

I going to be away from the love of my life for six weeks starting Wednesday. That does suck and I’m hoping for a financial miracle which will allow him to join me for a bit. However, I’ve already got my healthy shopping list in my head and I’ve mentally rehearsed how good it’s going to feel to get back to eating greens and protein and not eating so much sugar.

More good: The battery in my Canadian scale is dead and I’m going to leave it that way, thus forcing me to get to grips with eating in a way that doesn’t make the clothes tighter. I’ll have my jeans and my belts with me to keep track of my waist measurement.

So where do I plan to be?

I plan to feel good and energetic and healthy and I’m going to journal the path to that state. (I think that was a commitment to this blog.)

It all starts Thursday, a few thousand miles to the west of here.

Look Ma – No Hands!

Slow Dieting No Responses »

Jun 272011

In my life, that always ended badly.

But still, I’m giving it a shot.

The past few days have proven to me that I can say all the right things:

Eat only when you’re hungry
Pay attention to how full you are
Drink lots of water
Stick to one glass of wine

But the DOING of them is lagging behind a little.

Because I’m not writing down everything that I’m eating or counting calories, it’s beyond essential that I finally master the art of eating only when hungry and stopping when full. I didn’t realise how far I was from being able to do that.

It turns out I still have diet shaped attitudes.

Am I allowed that?
Do I have enough Points/calories left to eat it all?

My body’s needs and my appetite don’t get a look-in!

My diet-driven thought pattern towards dinner last night was:

cook something “I can eat”
eat all of it – regardless of how much my body wants or needs.

As I was choking down the last bites of a lovely meal, completely stuffed, I found myself thinking, ”And you thought you were over this behaviour…..”

So it’s a matter of continuing on with the basics.

Am I hungry?

Am I still hungry?

And the answer to “Can I eat that?” is YES.

Long Term Weight Loss Goals

Last Ten Pounds, Slow Dieting No Responses »

Jun 232011

Although I can talk “goal weights” with the best of them, my fantasy weight loss goal is actually having food be a complete non-issue. You know – like when they ask a celebrity or a chef what they ate on a “normal” day and the answer is something like:

For breakfast I had a cup of espresso and a slice of mango. Lunch was a a couple of biscuits with a chunk of really strong cheddar and a cup of tea. Dinner was grilled salmon with new potatoes and green beans from my garden and a glass of white wine.

Yeah sure – and a packet of 40 cigarettes.

I KNOW it’s not true but it’s still my fantasy to have healthy eating “just happen”.

But how do I balance that goal with my long and sordidly unbalanced history with food?

Step One: Remove as many “diet trappings” as possible.

What does that mean? No more weighing of self.? No more journalling? I guess it’s essential to decide which elements of the dieting trap are toxic and which are helpful. This is purely personal; one woman’s help is another woman’s poison.

Toxic – Interesting exercise. Turns out toxic is a state of mind.

thinking about food all the time.

ruining happy social times with thoughts of “I can’t eat that”.

tying my weight to any concept of success or failure of me as a person

behaviour that leads to guilt about eating

allowing myself to get carried away by short term results aka dieting euphoria

To sum up : negativity and obsessing of any kind.

Helpful – but only helpful if they don’t lead to the toxic stuff above

weighing self

measuring waist

weighing and measuring ingredients and portions

journalling food

How do I use those helpful tools in a non-toxic way? That’s the cruncher. I guess my question is my answer. To be non-toxic, these things have to be tools rather than obsessions. It will be a day by day assessment as to how I’m using them -or avoiding them, for that matter.

So here’s the plan:

For the first 3 weeks, I’m going to put away the weighing and measuring of food and trust what I’ve learned over the past 3 years about good ingredients and portion sizes.

I will weigh myself occasionally but only if it’s helpful to see if I’m not gaining. Loss is going to be difficult to assess when I’m aiming to lose less than half a pound per week. There will be no “weigh-in day” – just assuring that I’m headed in the right direction.

That’s enough to start. I’m not sure if there’s a Step Two – I’ll think about that over the next couple of days.

Stay tuned.

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Revisiting Positive Thinking

Influencers & Motivators

Tweet Update

Tweet Tweet Tweet

What Doesn’t Work

Happy New Year – In the September Sense of the Term

Fire! Fire! Fire!

Meandering ~ not what I had in mind

Look Ma – No Hands!

Long Term Weight Loss Goals

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