Lat Blog for a couple of weeks

We are getting ready for our trip to Phoenix.  We leave Friday morning from Regina, and will be in Phoenix at 3:30 PM our time. Looking forward to the warm weather and a break from the white cold environment we have been living in for 4 months.  I weigh in tomorrow morning at 9:30.  If I can blog the results I certainly will.  My goal for holidays to not gain any more then 3-5 lbs.  That will keep the process in place for my return.  I jut need to be a bit cautious and not over do it.  No crazy out of control eating, I promise. 

Everyone enjoy the next few weeks, and I will post my new weight after the 16th of March........

Update day

Once again I have been pretty tardy in posting these last few days.  No excuses, no reason's, I have just been ignoring my blog. 

I weighed in Thursday morning and am happy to report that I have entered the 270's.  Not by much, but I have.  I weighed 279.1 Thursday morning.  I am down 1 lb since my lat weigh in, and lost another 2 inch's.  Some asked me if I was happy about that.  My answer to them is absolutely!  Regardless of the amount, I am still going downwards.  Not gaining is an achievement in my opinion.  The whole idea of this program is to lose weight and inch's.  So, I have done that once again, and I will celebrate that small achievement.

My back is bothering me still.  Not as bad as it was, but my mobility is limited.  Not worried yet about the golf ability in Phoenix.  Stretching and moving now has helped allot.  I am starting to get it back into the condition it needs to be for swinging clubs.  I am going to have to be watchful, and not over do it.  Light swinging, and not to many over the top movement and I will be good.  As a precaution, I have found a chiropractor in Phoenix..................

We are now 5 sleeps away from our vacation.  Pretty excited about it. Especially this last week,because of all the snow and the cold winds.  I am really looking forward to wearing shorts and a golf shirt, which I will add will have to be bought since I don't own any that fit.  I did buy a pair of dress pants yesterday in size 42.  Size 42!!! Last time I wore a 42 I was in grade 6...................I think.

Went in to Saskatoon on Friday and went to see heart, my most favourite rock bands of all time.  Laurel is not a real big fan, but she bought me the tickets for Christmas.  It was an amazing show.  Ann Wilson has an incredible voice, and she never let me down at all.  I am adding new Heart songs to the iPod today.................................

One week later....

I made it back to work yesterday, after a long week.  My back was pretty sore.  I did make it back to the chiropractor for another treatment yesterday.  He was able to crack my hip to release the last of the pressure.  The spasms have stopped but the muscles are real sore.  I am still very stiff.  I am gently stretching to try and keep them loose.  I plan to get another massage later this week.  I just need to take it easy and loose.

I have been taking medication for the spasms and pain.  I have tried to keep the program front and center, but some of the pills reaction in my stomach resulted in the need to eat some not so planned items.  I had to put some dairy and grains into me.  I am not sure  how it will effect me weight wise, but I can tell you that it didn't take long to become sluggish after I ate.  I had about 1 cup of yogurt and 1/2 slice of whole grain bread.  With in the hour, I became drowsy and abit sluggish.  I think a combination of the meds and the carbs gave me the problem. 

So, once again I am preparing for the treadmill, and our holiday.  This time no running on treadmill till I know I am ready.  I will just walk quickly and at a higher incline.  As the weather is warming I can do more walking outside with Mozart and Sophie.  oh yeah, cool thing happened tonight.My cell phone rang.  A BC number was on the display.  I usually never answer it, but I thought it was our friends in Kamloops.  Well it turns out, I had a blast from the past.  A friend from Kindersley, who I have not seen in 12 years or more, and not had any contact with in over 4 years had logged onto FB and found me. She then followed my blog, and called the cell phone number from FB.  It was great to re-connect with her.  We talked for about 30 minutes and promised to stay in touch best we can via email.  We hope to get out to Fairmont to the timeshare this year, and if we do she is right there at Invermere.  I look forward to seeing her and her new husband!

Sunday

Weekend is almost over, and I was able to get out a bit over the weekend.  My back is slowly getting better, but it still bothers me.  I need to visit the chiro one more time, and I think this seized hip should be good,  I am not able to do to much bending or lifting.  Sitting position is really sore, and lying down for to long is almost the worst.  I need to get up and keep moving.  The inflammation has gone down, but the area is very sore to the touch.  I am pretty sure the muscles had a pretty good stretch and were inflamed pretty bad.

We went out to Porcupine Plain last night for the RCMP ball.  Had a pretty nice time. We were lucky in the raffles, and  now have new luggage to consider taking to Phoenix.  Oh yeah, Laurel has new fancy dancy girl stuff too.  Lift passes for skiing and some tanning hours were just the end of the win.  All in all, we had a pretty lucrative evening.  The Tisdale Hotel catered for it.  So the meal was very good.  The desserts were to die for once again.  Gene had buffalo and beef this time.  I need to start buying more buffalo to eat.  It is so lean and good for you.  If I can convince Laurel to try it, she would really enjoy it Ia m sure. 

I really miss getting out and walking or walking on the treadmill. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day and will allow me the chance to get moving a bit.  We are now 11 days away from the start of our trip.  The hip and back have to get better for the golf swing.

A long week.......

I missed weigh in this week, because of my bummed back.  I am pretty sure I had a few lbs lost, but it's not official till I can get to see Lana.  Next week is the plan to get the weigh in done and 1 more the week after, and then we will be on holidays after that.  I am excited to get going but also a bit concerned.  I have to make sure my food is proper and  not a carb fest of any type.  Lowering the blood sugar and getting the metabolism brewing works the best.  So, I have got to go out and maybe find something to do both for me.  Dr Oz had some information on products yesterday, so I am going to see what I can find and give a try.

Being laid up is absolutely no fun. I stressed over my injury and our upcoming holiday.  I am worried that the healing will take to long, and I might be restricted to golfing.  Our holiday was about golfing.  It will be a pretty sorry state if the others are out doing their thing and I am stuck to a golf cart watching.  I just wish I knew why the back flares up and be able to do something about it.  It just comes when it wants and I deal with it.  I am pretty sure that this time it was a combination of my slip at Christmas and the impact on the back and hip from sunning. If I can get back out and move, then it will simply be walking from here on in.

Celebrate your smallest of achievments

Every week, we have a visit from a friend who is doing the Ideal Protein program as well.  Each week, we are excited to hear about their accomplishments.  Last night, they had gained 1lb but had lost some inch's.  I can relate to their concern that they gained, but they were so focused on the gain that they forgot they actually lost some inch's.  Why is it we are so focused on the negatives we forget to celebrate the positive results.  Big or small, we have to remember to celebrate all of our positive results.  It doesn't have to be anything major, but go out and enjoy a meal, buy a blouse or simply go out and try on cloth's.  I am finding that the rewards, for a lack of better terms, have been helping me along my 2 lb weekly weight loss.  There is no question I want the weight to come off quicker,, but I am not doing the program exactly as it is laid out.  I enjoy extras in m y food, which is my celebration of accomplishments.  It's not everyday, but I do celebrate.  Let's face it, if we were to keep the plan as it is laid out, we will become bored with it, and when we're bored, what do we do??  Find ways to cut the boredom, and we eat or consume non boring foods.  Chocolate, peanuts or chips.  If our boredom consumption could be restricted to just a nibble, we may be able to get by.  But if your like me, put chips in front of me, and I will make sure there are none left to put away. 

So, go out and celebrate the accomplishments you achieve.  Be proud of the work you have done, and show off the pride you have in yourself and the feeling of being a winner!!

Still on the mend

Stayed away from work again today.  I am pretty sore and still.  Hard to stay in one position to long.  It's not pain more then it is uncomfortable.  I have been taking some medications as well, and my stomach is upset.  I usually try and drink milk to sooth the upset stomach, so I have eaten some ice cream.  It's helped, but I am pretty sure that milk by itself would be better.  Laying around and not getting any exercise has been against my plan to keep moving.  Usually, it takes about 3 days for me to get back moving and about 7 to get back to normal.  I am going for a massage on Friday morning.  That will help as well.

Not having much of an appetite either.  medications seems to do that to me.  Of well, I will  make sure I am eating something to take the meds with. 

Tomorrow night at 7PM, Lana is doing a information session at the Rec Plex on Ideal Protein.  Please plan to attend.  It will be a great seminar, and answer allot of questions people may have.  I was supposed to speak, but it looks like I may simply be relaxing on the couch instead.

Treadmill accident

I am sitting or should I say not sitting at home right now.  Had a bit of an incident with the treadmill  I was running last night and apparently did something to my right hip/lower back.  I had a chiro appointment today, and will have to go back on Thursday.  Try for a massage  on Friday.  It's muscular for sure, but I guess I had to much impact on the lower back area.  Hopefully it's not long term.  I got to get ready for Phoenix golf!

I will get back on the treadmill when I can.  Just reduce the running I guess, till I can handle it a bit easier.  Something tells me I should have listened to the trainer in Edmonton

Weekend ......Again

Been working hard for a couple of days to make sure that I am staying as close to the plan as I can.  I am .3 of a lb to hit the 270's, and I would like to make it 3 lbs this week.  If I can get to 275 for holidays, then I will be pretty happy.  Holidays is worrying me a bit, in that I am not sure how I will react to the consumption of normal foods with the plan food.  I will at some point be eating this all the time, but that will be after I slowly introduce the normal foods.  On the holiday, I will pretty much be going from program to nothing.  So I am worried a bit about that transition.  I think I will try and get a protein drink to have in the mornings and keep some light protein for lunch's.  This will give me a foreshadow of what to expect and how I will function after maintenance.  If I just be watchful and not get silly, I think the gain will be minimal or nil if all goes well. 

In 3 weeks we will be sitting in Phoenix and enjoying the sun and golf.  I am actually looking forward to the 1st Saturday, because it will be outlet shopping and new cloth's for my new body.  That is going to be really exciting for me.

Weigh in Day

I lost 2 more lbs and just short of 6 inch's with today's weigh in.  .2 of a lb short of the 270's.  That will wait till next week now.  It's a loss and an extra inch's loss, so it's good.

I really tried to go back to the basics this past week, and try not to consume to many carbs or fats.  I did pretty good.  I had some nutri-whip with jello, and I did have 1 piece of pizza.  Other then that, I was pretty much on track.  Lana talked today about alcohol and me having a drink or two while I am away.  Vodka has 0 carbs, but is higher in fat's, which will be a negative.  If I chose to have  drink or two on holidays, I will make sure it's a vodka with diet pop.  I have not yet decided if I am prepared to try that yet.  I will make the decision at the time it comes around.

Total weight loss now is 65 lbs, and 65 inch's.

Reading and paying attention

So, this week I have been trying really hard to get a big weight loss.  I have stopped doing the things that are little extra's in the program. Using coffee cream, having a nibble of something restricted and I have started looking at the labels for the carb amounts once again. I just realized that the Hazelnut coffee creamer I am almost addicted to, has 7 g carbs per teaspoon.  That's a lot considering that most of the protein we eat has 15-20 per meal.  When I start looking back at the use of it, I realize why now I only have had small weight losses for weeks.  So, I am doing m y best to have none during the week.  And restrict the amount I do use on weekends.  It seems fair.  I can't just stop cold turkey, can I??

I ran again on the treadmill Monday night.  A bit tougher this time.  I was tired and had a busy day.  I was hurting from the night before, and I really didn't want the pain.  But, I did get on it. We are leaving in less then 4 weeks, and I gotta get some practise in.  All those stores and shops to go shopping in.  All those golf courses waiting for us to hammer out some divots.  I have to be prepared!!!

- 44 this morning with the windchill.  Phoenix is + 7, but looking for -1 over night.  Gee, going from 1 cold place to the other..................................