On My Weigh

Sick of being sick.

Anna — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:47:58 +0000

So yeah, the weight loss is nice. Things don’t taste quite as slimey as they’ve been tasting, which is good. And my stomach must have shrunk some because I’m rarely hungry. Great! But I’m tired of being sick. I’m tired of the coughing and the lack of energy. I wanted to DO stuff this summer and mostly I’m laying around on the couch. This is NOT fun!

Not according to plan

Anna — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:21:19 +0000

Well, I’m losing weight this summer! Yay! But it’s because I’ve been sick. Bleah. Well, no let me back up. I started off okayish and then I ran into a chocolate bar. And then I got myself a little attitude adjustment and reminded myself that yeah, this isn’t going to be an easy, fun journey. That if I want to get back to the weight I was, I’m going to have to make some sacrifices. Plain and simple. So then I was crabby about it but I was eating right and THEN I got sick. I found out today that I have bronchitis and maybe “walking” pneumonia. All I know is that my head pounds from coughing so much and everything tastes like slime. You don’t eat much when everything tastes like slime. Not exactly the way I intended to jump start my weight loss, but I guess we should look at the positive side of everything, no? I do wish I had more energy to do things. Hopefully a few more days and I’ll be back on my feet… THEN I can join the gym and take walks with the kids…

I’m alive…

Anna — Tue, 15 May 2007 14:56:01 +0000

Yes, I’m here. I’ve been ignoring most of my blogs lately. It’s just crazy at the end of the school year when you work at a school. I’m SO looking forward to the summer! I plan to do most of the following:

join a gym
take a dance class with my girls
play LOTS of very active Wii games
take walks and bike rides with my kids (in the mornings, before the temperature hits three digit degrees)
take the time to eat healthier

I may not do the gym if I do the dance but everything else is a real plan! Did I mention I’m looking forward to the summer?

Wii!

Anna — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:20:25 +0000

My husband and I bought a Nintendo Wii about six weeks ago. We’ve played it nearly everyday since. It comes with a sports game CD with bowling, boxing, golf, tennis and baseball. If you’re not familiar with this gaming console, it’s not all pressing buttons. The remote requires *movement* to make things happen. For example, with tennis, except for the serve, there’s no buttong pushing at all. You must swing the remote like you would a tennis racket. For bowling, you do have to press a button and then release when you would release the ball, but you also have to swing your arm back and then forward as if really bowling. And don’t even get me started on boxing. THAT is quite a workout! And yeah, it’s two handed. There’s an attachment for the remote for that.

So anyway, there’s this guy who used the Wii as part of his daily exercise routine for six weeks. Actually the Wii was the only thing he added to his routine. No change of diet, no other forms of exercise. Just the Wii for 30 minutes a day. He was active in his Wii play - you could sit on the couch and barely move the remote for tennis, for example - making sure his movements were mimicking the real play. In six weeks he lost nine pounds. Not fantastic but still really something when you consider that is the only change he made.

So I’m on my own Wii challenge. I’m trying to do at least 30 minutes of active Wii a day (Zelda doesn’t count. Nor does Mario Double Dash because that’s a Gamecube game that requires no movement. But Smooth Moves can count depending on which part). I’m tracking my “fitness age” which is between 20 and… I think maybe 80? The lower the better. The Wii gives you three fitness tests and then gives you a score. It’s not really going to be consistent though because it depends on what tests you’re given. I’m horrible at baseball but I’m pretty darn good at bowling and doing the punching bag in boxing. But it’s fun to track and it’s fun working up a sweat on a game.

Another small success

Anna — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:31:35 +0000

Today we had an office lunch dessert party in celebration of a co-worker’s “un”birthday. I DIDN’T have any cake. I could have had a little, and probably not gone overboard. But Jonathan and I are supposed to take the kids to the movies tonight and I want to save calories for popcorn. So I’m proud of myself for making a decision of one or the other and not indulging in either.

I’m also really happy with my progress. Not so much my weight progress since my attitude adjustment - there’s not been that much time to really see progress - but more with my control over situations. I’m back right in the head.

I DIDN’T have a pastelio!

Anna — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 02:04:46 +0000

Mom is Puertorican and she makes this… pastry - a typical island fare - that is fried with cheese inside. Kind of like an empanada but mmmMmMmmMmmm so much better. Mom called today to say she’d made some. A rare treat unless we happen to be IN Puerto Rico. More rare than bacalao but now I digress. She called to tell me she’d made some and they were fresh out of the fry-daddy and did I want to come by? I wanted to. Oh BOY did I want to. But I didn’t. Discussing it with Jonathan I realize I had enough calories left to indulge in one, but I still made a good choice not going because I’m sure I wouldn’t have stopped at one, and I’m sure I would have dug around in the fridge for the bacalao she made the other day and I would have snitched at least a slice of the pound cake she was sure to have on the counter. And while I was at it, might as well have some of the M&Ms in the bowl. So this was a great success for me. Whew!

Food Journal

Anna — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 22:58:52 +0000

I’m sharing my food journal again. I’m doing it differently this time. This time I’m using Twitter with a separate account just for what I eat. Twitter will note the TIME of an entry so I think this might help me find eating trends and habits better - when I see WHEN I eat what I eat. And of course making my food journal public will help me keep my eating in check - in theory, anyway.

I began this today but had some troubles finding a good way to display it here. I’m not 100% satisfied with how I’m doing it, but it’ll do for now. To see my food journal, follow the link above (at least it’s above using the theme on this date) that says “Eating.”

Moods.

Anna — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:43:27 +0000

I’m having a grim and grumpy day today. And my eating is reflecting that. I have such a long list of things I have to do that I have no business posting this. But I need a break and five minutes isn’t going to kill me, right? So while I’m being crabby and pissy and overwhelmed with work and personal to-do lists, I’m eating all kinds of snacks. The only small success I can muster is that I’ve only been eating 100 calorie paks. But… well, lots of them. But that really is a success right now because every part of my being wants to go down the hall, slap 65 cents into that machine and eat me a Twix. And then shove another 65 cents in and have a Snickers. And then some chips sound really good, surely I can find another 50 cents. But I’ve had a diet drink and enough 100 calorie paks that the Twix would have been better, but I know that Twix will send me down a slippery slope of “what the hell does it matter now” and I can’t let that happen. So really, I’m going to feel proud of the willpower I’ve managed to muster today. And now I’m going to go back to work.

New Motivation

Anna — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:54:08 +0000

Well, I have a new motivation to get back to goal. I’m going to California for a week in July. I was selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator. Whoo hoo! It’s not a job change or anything like that -Â just an honor. But not just an honor. There were 100 selected in the US and Canada. Not sure how many applicants. Probably 103. But anyway, I’m going to Monterey, California for a week for the ADE Summer Institute. So there ya go, a reason to lose weight, and a time frame in which to reach my goal. Apparently the other 187 reasons aren’t good enough - maybe this one will be.

Neglect

Anna — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:19:59 +0000

I’m not trying to neglect this time. I’m really now. Life has been really busy and it seems my personal health has taken a back seat to everything else I need to get done. And when that happens, this site doesn’t get updated much. But it’s spring break now and no big deadlines so maybe I’ll be better.