179.4 Are Lollipops A Food Group?

Since I have been procrastinating about going over to the gym, I decided to go on line and see what I could learn about the way to do exercise to lose fat. Am I looking for a rule:)? Not exactly, but here's what I have come up with as a gem of the day:

Interval training, strength training (weights), and proper nutrition are the essential ingredients to achieve weight loss from all areas of the body while maintaining important muscle mass.

One of the most obvious things I've noticed during this weight loss journey compared to past quick loss programs is that I do actually look and feel stronger. I know I have greater, rather than less, muscle mass and I attribute that to losing weight at a much slower pace while at the same time slowly but surely increasing the amount, and type of exercise that I do. I've also been eating foods from all of the food groups and not starving myself of any nutrients. I'm laughing to myself as I write this because a friend on Facebook just wrote that her 3 year old son has been working very hard to convince her that lollipops are a food group!

Now let's see those numbers just left of the title continue to fall.

185.0 Focusing on Exercise

I've really been focusing on the exercise element of this program because I know it's extremely important for me to keep moving both for burning calories and for keeping my arthritis from crippling me. Doctors have discovered that the best way to treat arthritis is to move, not sit around. And, I really love it.

I love the Wii Fit Plus, I love the feeling of accomplishment when I do the elliptical, and I love my water workout. I'm not a big fan of lifting weights, but thanks to my recent physical therapy I can do 3 reps of 15 lifting 4 pound weights. I know that's not very much, but when I started, two pound weights were hard for me to do. My short term goal is to move up to 5 pound weights.

So, I think it's time to drop another pound. I'm ready.

185.4 The Lure of a Nap

I just woke up from a very delicious nap! I slept for about an hour and a half. I should have written that I woke up from a very long, delicious nap. I always feel a little guilty when I take a nap, and so I rarely do... now. I used to suffer from severe depression and I devoted every afternoon to sleeping for long periods of time. Ever since that time (which was a long time ago now), I have connected naps with depression and guilt, and weight gain!

But today I was tired. I lifted weights and then did the elliptical for 25 minutes and then was just plain tired. I could write a long list of reasons why today it was okay to nap, but I won't. It doesn't matter, really. So, I've decided that I can take a nap now and then and just let it go. I won't go back to napping everyday. I've got too much to do and napping draws me away from staying aware, present and ALIVE! And, there is the matter of not burning very many calories while napping.

So now it's time for my water workout. That makes me feel very much alive!