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Linda

I purchased a Wii Fit, and I am enjoying the work outs. I’m not enjoying how my Mii plumps out after I weigh in, and the occassional grunt when I step on the balance board, but overall, I like that it is motivating and gets me moving. I work up a sweat, and I am logging about 30 minutes of work out a day into my Fit Bank. I can’t complain about that.

The first time, I had a Wii Fit age of 47. It didn’t help that I had the balance board backwards when I first did the body fitness test. The next day, the two random balance tests were ones that I easily aced, and my Wii Fit age was down to 24. (My real age is 37.) Day 3, however, the balance tests required me to stand on my right foot, which I broke several years ago, and I’ve had three surgeries, and it still isn’t right. This meant I didn’t do so well on my test, and I was back up to a Wii Fit age of 40.

I’ve also found that there are a few strength exercises that I can’t do. My ankle doesn’t bend right. In particular, scar tissue keeps my right foot from bending forward very far. I can’t keep my feet flat and bend my knees into a squatting position. This means I can’t do the rowing exercise correctly. I can do it, but I don’t earn any points. But even without the points, I am going to keep trying because it is a good work out on my ankle, and it might help improve the flexibility.

So far, my favorite aerobic exercises are the hula hoop (regular and advanced) and the dance step (regular and advance). Today, I unlocked the freestyle, so I am looking forward to trying that tomorrow.

The other day, I was watching television, and my husband walked into the room.

“What are you watching”? he asked.

“Lie to Me,” I answered.

“You have a skinny ass,” he lied.

Fruit is healthy, but I know it can also be fattening. Lately, I have had an overwhelming craving for a fruity drink — something that screams summer. I’m not sure what I want, but I know I want it to be smooth and creamy and fruity.

At first I thought it might be a reaction to the weather. It snowed. And I am not ready for snow.

This craving is very unusual for me. I rarely crave beverages, and on the rare occassions that I do, the beverage I crave tends to be a Coca-Cola.

I couldn’t figure out why every time I get behind the wheel of my car, I want to drive to the nearest fruit-smoothie vendor. And it’s been hard because there aren’t a lot of good fruit smoothie vendors out there. I may have a craving, but I can still be picky.

Yesterday, I finally figured out why I was having this strange craving.

I blame my daughter’s stinky feet. (This will make sense soon, I swear.)

Last Friday, I picked up said daughter after school. Unbeknownst to me, she removed her shoes. And as soon as she did, my nose knew. It was eye-watering smelly. In all fairness to her, she had just finished basketball practice. Those feet were RIPE! I pulled into the nearest gas station and went inside to buy an air freshner.

The choices were limited — pine, vanilla and coconut.

Obviously, I haven’t been driving around in a pine forest craving pina coladas. Can you guess which air freshner I selected?

Coconut. I am amazed the craving this yellow tree hanging from my rear view mirror is creating. Overall, it smells good, but it is a diet buster for sure. I think the next freshner is going to have to be a pine tree. I don’t think the smell of pine will make me crave anything. I’ll let you know.

I stepped on the scale Monday, and I was disappointed. The numbers had gone up not down. I knew it was going to be that way, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be.

I haven’t been good about my eating habits lately. I told myself it was OK to indulge once in a while, and it is, but not for days in a row.

So I am going to renew my commitment to losing weight and exercising. I am even considering taking drastic steps.

One of my big pitfalls, I believe, is the number of calories I consume in liquid form — coffee with creamer, pop (although I don’t drink a lot of this) and alcoholic beverages.

I am going to take the easy step first — I am eliminating all regular pop from my diet. I reserve the right to continue to drink diet drinks because….

I am going to give up alcoholic beverages. This one is tougher because I am a social drinker. It is going to require me to tell people in social settings “no thanks;” and I don’t think that is going to be easy to do. But this is a place where I really need to get my calorie intake under control. If I am trying to stick to a 1200-1500 calorie diet, the 110 calories in just one can of beer is a huge percentage.

I am not yet ready to give up my coffee and creamer. I know I should, but I can’t do it yet.

I am also going to increase my water consumption. I have done this in the past, and I like the way it makes me feel, but I have not been doing this lately.

One of the problems with my intake of liquid consumption is that I like convenience in my drinks. I would much rather open my fridge and take out a cold can or bottle of whatever and consume it than go about the effort involved in grabbing a glass and pouring something or waiting for the faucet’s water to get cold. I need to get over this convenience factor.

I have not lost any weight, but I have been maintaining my weight.

I am tired of not losing weight, and I really need to tighten up my belly. This means I have to exercise regularly.

I am on the right track. I have added biking and walking to my regular routine. When I drive (and I do this a lot), I have started sucking in and holding my gut, letting it out, and repeating, hoping that this will help me tighten that particular body part.

Hubby and I have been walking pretty regularly, and I am biking. For the most part, biking is going well. I can tell that it is still a new activity, however, when I sit down on something hard like in the bathtub when I shave my legs.

I am not where I want to be in my weight-loss journey. It is discouraging. The only thing for me to do, however, is to just keep trying and to step up the exercise.

Easier said (typed) than done, but still. I need this. I can do this. I will not give up.

On my last trip to the library, I picked up a few books. When my oldest daughter saw my selections,she was a bit surprised. The books were: Fat Girl (a memoir), The Fat Girl (an old YA book from the 80s) and a fiction novel titled Beautiful Bodies.

I have tried to read Beautiful Bodies, and I am not liking it. It is supposed to be about six friends having a dinner party and talking, but the first few chapters are each of the characters time before arriving at the party, and it is boring. Very boring. I don’t think I’m going to read anymore. This is progress. I used to keep reading books that didn’t appeal to me.

I haven’t read the YA book yet (or tried), but I did read the memoir Fat Girl by Judith Moore. This is a  book that I have thought about buying more than once, but I didn’t because it is a tiny book and expensive by comparison.

It is also a depressing book. I didn’t learn anything interesting or different about fat issues. There was a lot of self-loathing, and I forced myself to finish it. One review called the book “breathtaking,” but I didn’t get that at all.

One book that I did like recently, and I liked it because it offered a new perspective as well as lots of good stuff about weight — Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett. It is a YA book. It really makes you think, I think. Or at least it did me.

And that’s my review. I am going to avoid weight-related reading for a bit. Next on my reading list: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

or more evidence that I have actually lost weight….

I have lost between 35 to 40 pounds, and I have about 60 pounds that I still want to lose, but I am already noticing the impact my weight loss has had. As I mentioned earlier this week, my clothes are looser and sometimes too loose.

But I think the thing I noticed the most is that I am no longer invisible.

When I weigh a certain amount, I become invisible to most of the male species on the planet. As I go about my day, males look through me or around me but not at me. I don’t mind this since I tend not to notice them either no matter what they weigh. I’m just not looking.

But since I’ve dropped 40 pounds and managed to keep my D-cup breasts, I am no longer invisible. I am getting second glances from men I pass. More often than not, I will also get a smile, a wave, a hello, or some other line. I tend to still not be looking, and I end up startled as a stranger says something to me as I’m lost in thought, or I notice the person I am not really looking at is smiling at me and saying hello. I panic momentarily wondering if I know this person, but I usually don’t. This has happened more to me in the last month than it has in the last two years.

And I wonder is it because I feel better about myself and it shows, or is it because I am invisible when I weigh over a certain amount, and I am no longer invisible. I’m not sure. I just know it is happening now, and it wasn’t then.

It has finally warmed up in northern Michigan and in response I have pulled out my shorts, capris, and various summer clothes. And just like the last two years, I did not fit into the clothes that I pulled out.

But this year, it was because the clothes I pulled out were too big.

I pulled on one pair of shorts that I wore a lot last year, and I knew I would no longer be able to wear them. The room at the waist was more than five inches. Even a belt wouldn’t help.

I also added new holes in my belt because it needed it again.

Although I hate shopping, I find that Iam a lot less resentful when I am buying new clothes because my old ones are too big. Woohoo!

My arms are sore and my shoulders ache. My entire upper body is sore. I spent about three hours raking bark and sawdust from our yard today.

We burn wood at our home, and we bought 10 pulp wood cords a little over a year ago. It arrives as logs in a very high pile. We are now down to less than a third. We’ve been burning it throughout the winter, and it made a mess in our side yard. This is one of the warmest days, and so we brought more wood into the garage, and I began cleaning up the yard. It is a huge process and even after several hours of work, it isn’t close to being done.

It feels good though, but it probably won’t tomorrow. I even have a blister on my thumb from holding the rake.