Sometimes, It’s Just Random

      5 Comments on Sometimes, It’s Just Random

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I’m trying to get back on track after Easter. I’m doing fine with my eating, but I know the weight isn’t coming off as quickly as I’d like. Of course, it’s only been three days! 😛

I’ve been doing Katie’s MAF training since last Friday (OK, it’s not really Katie’s plan, but she’s the one that introduced me to it, so I credit it to her, ha ha!). If you want to learn the specifics, I suggest going to Katie’s blog and reading her post on it. Basically, it’s training using heart rate data, with the intent to keep your heart rate in the aerobic (most efficient) range.

So, as far as the plan goes…I hate it. 😛 It says that you “may” have to walk at times in order to get your heart rate low enough at the beginning of your training under this program. In my case, walking is pretty much ALL I do; and yet, I can still see my heart rate go above the target just by walking! What the hell does that say about me?

I don’t know, but one thing I can say about myself is that I am not a quitter. So although I’m really pretty miserable training under this program right now, I’m going to stick it out for as long as I can, ideally at least four weeks, per Katie. She swears that it has made her a more efficient runner, and it has also made her enjoy the sport more, so I figure if nothing else, for those reasons alone, I should give it a try!

Other random things: I weighed in at Weight Watchers yesterday. Although I haven’t actually followed the plan in six months ( 😮 ), in order to keep my Lifetime status, I have to weigh in once per month and be within 2 pounds of my goal range. I figure it can’t hurt to keep my status (and free eTools), so I still go weigh in monthly.  I set my goal range pretty high (137, I believe) last year, so that I could stop being so stressed every time I go weigh in. After six months of calorie counting, I’m pretty far under the stated range, but it’s nice to not fret if I happened to gain more than a couple pounds in a month. Such as…

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…this month! I really should’ve weighed in last week, when I was down to my lowest weight in two years, but I just plain forgot. Instead, I had to weigh in after the Easter holiday, never a good thing for me. But that’s OK, I’m still well within goal, and I know it’ll come off in the next few weeks.

I had a chance to actually stay for the meeting, which I haven’t done in quite a while, thanks to hockey schedule. I can’t lie: it was kind of disappointing. The room was packed, which I found surprising, especially during spring break. I’ve been to this leader’s meeting several times, and I really like her, but I just found the interaction to be…lacking. Here’s a list of the topics that were covered while I was sitting there:

  • Garlic paste
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Protein bars/powder
  • Almond Joy bars
  • Sugar content of food
  • “Smoothie” fruits as points
  • Premier Liquid Protein Drink
  • “I didn’t gain weight eating fruit…”
  • Juicing

The part in quotes is actually a direct quote that someone said when they were discussing whether or not one should count the points of fruit when used in a blended drink (such as a smoothie). Although I have come to firmly believe that all foods should be counted, especially since I’m calorie counting now, I must admit that the quote did make me laugh.

There were two reasons why I think I was so disappointed:

  1. People are just rude. :/ They do not listen politely, but instead ignore the person who’s speaking and carry on their own private conversations…quite loudly most of the time! I suppose it’s from years of being a trainer, where I’m always trying to keep my audience’s attention and keep them from talking amongst themselves, but I really hate it when someone is speaking, and other people are talking amongst themselves at the same time. Have some respect, people! It made me not want to contribute, because I just knew that people would be having their side conversations and not paying attention to me anyway.
  2. It’s kind of sad, but I just didn’t feel that the conversations they had were really helpful. You can see by the list of topics that pretty much the entire conversation revolved around food. Yes, I get it: the reason we are all there is because we have an obsession with food. Don’t get me wrong–I love food, too!  But I’ve gotten to a point where I don’t want to talk about it all the time. I was frustrated because it didn’t feel as though anyone was coming up with helpful tips and ideas to help their fellow WW members in this weight-loss struggle that we all face. Instead, we talked about how many points are in garlic paste (a lot), the basics of juicing (not that it was being advocated, just discussed) and how yucky brussels sprouts are (you won’t get any argument from me there).  But what I didn’t hear was any conversation about how to make healthy choices or overcome bad habits. I know there’s only half an hour, and people like to talk about THEIR problems, and, well, food, but I felt kind of frustrated over it all. I definitely did not leave feeling like I’d gotten anything positive out of the meeting, unfortunately.

But, to end on a couple of random positive notes, there is this:

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That’s me, wearing the outfit I mentioned a couple of weekends ago that had been so tight on me when I first bought it. For the heck of it, I wore to work yesterday, and I felt really good about myself, despite what the scale said earlier this week.

And my last random, positive thing is something that I can’t believe I failed to mention over the last three months: my wedding ring. I know a lot of people who lose weight are thrilled to be able to fit into their wedding ring again. For me, it was the opposite. I gained all my weight right after I got married, and my ring was so uncomfortably tight, I had no choice but to get it sized up. That was back in 1999-2000, when I looked like this:

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(Wow, I haven’t looked at that picture in about 16 years! That was taken on the infamous trip to Italy we took when I was at my heaviest.)

It was only about two years later that I lost the first 50 pounds, and that made my ring quite loose, as you can imagine. I didn’t get it resized though, just because my fingers do still tend to swell in the summer, and while it was certainly way too big, even in the winter, I just didn’t take the time to get it done (or spend the money).

But then, when I lost the rest of the weight, and got down almost 90 pounds, it became ridiculously unbearable. I actually stopped wearing my wedding ring altogether about four years ago, because it literally would just fall right off my finger if I tried to put it on. I knew that I had to go get it resized, but I was concerned for two reasons: 1) the cost, and 2) the amount of time I would have to be away from my wedding ring.  You know, like it wasn’t sitting in a drawer every day, never worn!

Back on New Year’s Day, I decided to put the ring on, just because I missed it.  It was a struggle, but I went out to the mall wearing it.  While there, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get that damn thing resized.  I found a nice little locally-owned place, and to my astonishment, I discovered that not only was it cheap–only $50!–but they could do it while I waited!  I just had to walk around the mall for half an hour, then I came back and voila!

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It’s been so long since I wore it, it’s like having a brand new ring! I wear it all the time now, and it makes me smile every time I look at it.  In case you wondered, it’s a “triangle” or, as they told me when we bought it at Service Merchandise in 1996, a “trillion.”  (Not, unfortunately, worth one “trillion” dollars.)  It was actually something Jason picked out–he said that I should have something “unique,” because I am unique.  (Seriously, how sappy is my husband? LOL!)

So those are your random thoughts for the week.  I’ll leave you with this picture from my run walk on Tuesday morning. (I don’t think you call call anything with an 18:55 average pace a run!)  It was a calm, clear night, and since I was mostly walking, it was actually kind of nice to just enjoy the quiet and the moonlight.

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Sorry, I know it’s a lousy picture, but it was 5am and all I had was my phone! 😉  But that’s definitely the moon!

Thanks for reading!

 

5 thoughts on “Sometimes, It’s Just Random

  1. Cindy R

    I like the new design of your blog! When I saw the picture of you at your heaviest, I didn’t realize it was you until I read the caption underneath. You look so much younger and healthier today than you did in the older photo. Hang in there with your son. Is it possible that he is not being academically challenged enough at school and he is getting into trouble because he is bored? I went through a lot with my son between his junior year and senior year of high school and it continued into his freshman year at college where he narrowly avoided being expelled. I had to learn to listen and not over-react with major screaming and yelling no matter how upset I was so I didn’t push him away. Your son will get through all of this and so will you and your husband.

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Thank you VERY much for the nice words and especially for the insight into your own struggles with your teenaged boy. I really do appreciate knowing that we aren’t alone. Thank you!!

      Reply
  2. Katie @Runs for Cookies

    I feel the same way about the WW meetings. I actually decided to stop going (even though it’s free) because I just wasn’t getting anything out of it anymore. People rudely talk over each other, and I find that one person usually ends up dominating the meeting, talking about herself the entire time, which isn’t helpful for anyone else.

    I cannot believe that is YOU in that picture from Italy! Seriously, I’m just stunned.

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      You hit it exactly! One person seems to love to hear themselves talk and it’s SO frustrating!! The leader can try to steer the conversation away, but it can be hard to do that without coming off as a rude dictator. (Believe me, I’ve been there!)

      I have to admit, I saw that picture and was like, “Whoa. That’s me?!” Ha ha, crazy!!

      Thanks for commenting!

      Reply
  3. Meg B

    Since I have only ever known you at your thinner weight I, too, am blown away by your Italy picture. Also, tell me more about Italy! 😉

    Sorry about WW. It sucks that you didn’t get anything out of the meeting.

    Reply

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