170.4 Happy Thanksgiving!

We just got home from a wonderful Thanksgiving feast at our friend's home. Most of the dishes were made with less fat and sugar and were absolutely fantastic! I'm learning, still learning how to do this and still be able to enjoy yummy flavors of old favorites!

We are off to San Francisco for the weekend to attend a wedding so won't be blogging until Tuesday.

As you can imagine, I am very thankful for all those who helped me reach my 80 pound weight loss goal. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all of the wise and steadfast help from Jennifer Scott. And I owe a lot of thanks to Jeff for all the support and understanding he's given me over these past two and a half years, and, to all of you readers who directly or indirectly have given me encouragement. Thank you.

Hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving.

173.0 Bones, My Bones!

This morning I woke up so aware of my bones. I don’t imagine that most people wake up with bones on their mind, but I definitely am not like most people :). What I was really thinking about is that those bones that are now so prominent have been with me all of my life, whether covered with inches of fat or much more visible.

How did they feel covered with that heavy blanket of fat? If they could talk, what would they say about the years of extra strain, weight pressing down on them as they were asked to do a more and more difficult job to support me and help move me through my life?

When I was much heavier, I used to lie in bed and try to find them. I’d make excuses for why they weren’t so prominent. Changing posture due to age was high on my list of reasons. But wait, I was lying down so that excuse just doesn’t ring true. But it sounded good to me at the time when I was weighing in close to the 250 mark.

Why do I like being back in touch with my bones? They are such an important part of me and have served me so well over the years. Except for an errant finger or toe, I’ve only broken one bone in my body throughout my oh so close to 68 years, my 5th metatarsal on the outside edge of my right foot.

My bones also give me my inner shape, and I do like my inner shape. I love my long legs, my long spine, and my long arms. It’s not vanity that dictates this love. It’s familiarity. (And, it's not a breeze buying clothes to fit the dictates of these bones. Often the sleeves are too short, the length is way too short, and the waist line comes up too high!)

And, I love the symmetry of my bones and the awesome number of my bones that are all exactly where they should be, as they should be. Feeling my hip bones again is a homecoming of sorts. And counting my ribs with certainty makes me smile. Maybe I’m just easy to please, but being in touch with my body, my bones once again, is just plain fun! And, I like to think that they are smiling, too.

178.2 Weight Loss Contagion

Recently I've been reading a lot about the fact that there is something to the notion that weight has a contagious element to it. In Women Food and God Geneen Roth talks about how the glue that can sustain a group of friends can be the 10 pounds each wants to but can't seem to lose. And in Mindless Eating, it is pointed out that those who eat together usually will eat the same amount. When you eat out, look around. You will probably see, especially among women, that they can often be close in stature and what they order is similar. One is rarely eating a salad while the other has a hamburger with fries. Before the weight loss, I would always encourage the others to order first so that I wouldn't be eating out of sync with them. If they all ordered salads, why, of course, I ordered a salad. If a dessert was ordered, ah, yes, I, too, would order a dessert! Someone relatively close to me wrote in response to learning that I had lost another 10 pounds that she hated skinny people. (Skinny I am not, but plump she is.)

Jeff has lost almost 40 pounds since I started losing weight. No, he doesn't see Jennifer, and he doesn't consciously use hypnosis (that could be the basis of another post), and we often don't eat the same things. And, I have never told him that he should lose weight or to do what I do :). Suggestions like those usually backfire. But he's been in my contagion zone, if you will. (I'm smiling as I write this because I'm hearing Elizabeth Gilbert's voice in my head reading Eat, Pray, Love in which she uses that expression at least 50 times - not an expression I commonly use!). He's seen me eat half of what I used to eat, never take second helpings, and he's observed my comfort with leaving food on my plate. And, he's probably eaten more veges and salads in the past couple of years than he'd eaten over the first 25 years of his life! He started working out in addition to playing golf, his passion that he used to assure me was all the exercise he needed as he drove a cart around the golf course everyday. Now he often walks the first 9 holes.

I am so lucky to be with a guy who has been able to go with the constraints I put on what food we have around the house. We simply don't have junk food because I don't want to be tempted every time I open the cupboard. He agreed to that. And, if he's willing to barbeque and I want fish or chicken and he wants a steak, that's fine with him. If he wants a potato and I don't, that's fine with me. And, it's been interesting to see how few potatoes actually get cooked, and how few steaks are eaten. We used to eat out very frequently, and he's accepted that I am much more comfortable staying home so that I can control the choices and preparation, so he's given that up to a considerable extent, also. And, when he just can't take it anymore, he'll offer to go to Costco alone so he can get his hot dog fix, and we joke about it.

And what about the wine? I have known couples that have trouble when one stops drinking. There can be resentment on either side and a shift often takes place in the relationship. I've told people that Jeff and I used to really enjoy drinking together. At around 5 every evening, that's what we did. When I decided to stop, Jeff did not stop. That was okay with me and I really didn't expect him to stop. And, thankfully, I didn't experience resentment on his part. But, guess what? He now probably drinks less than half what he used to. Who knew??

So congratulations Jeff on the weight loss, and thanks for all of your support.

190.0 "The Power of a Gentle Nudge"

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, May 18th about a study that was done at Stanford. The aim of the study was to learn if having a buddy or a support person or even computer voice checking in with folks about how they were doing with their exercise program helped people make it over to the gym more often. What the study discovered is that those folks who had a real person calling them and people who heard a computer voice asking how they were doing both did much better than those who didn't have any kind of support. ("The Power of a Gentle Nudge", by Kevin Helliker, page D1.)

I've mentioned this before and wanted to write about it again in light of this study. If you need someone to care how you are doing, someone to check in with, find a friend or a support person like a physical trainer, a therapist or a nutritionist. If they don't offer, ask if they will give you a call now and then to inquire about how you are doing. Or, I could be that person for you. Send me an email at smbmiller@cox.net and I'll nudge you either with an email or phone call, whatever you prefer. I can always use help, too, so maybe we can help each other.

So, that's it for now. I am off to do the elliptical!

187.6 TLC

I keep driving by this poor cactus. Actually, it's not so poor. It is being well cared for in spite of its issues. The issues the saguaro (pron. sue-are-o) cactus faces are familiar. If it takes in too much (water is its nemesis, and we had a very rainy winter this year), it begins to lean and will eventually topple over if not given support. It touches me to see how much TLC goes into protecting these very special plants.

These plants weigh between 3200 and 4800 pounds, depending on their size and the number of arms they have. While being held up, the job of the cactus is to stabilize itself by drying out so that it weighs less and can eventually support itself. What's really amazing is that each of these mighty plants has one tap root that grows down about 2 feet, and then has another root system that is only 4"-6" deep that spreads as wide as the cactus is tall.

I've been thinking that we all need to take care of ourselves with TLC, just like these plants receive when they are in trouble. So if you are struggling, get some help, either from a professional, a good friend, or perhaps, me. You can always email me at smbmiller@cox.net if you have questions or want to chat about what is going on with your weight loss. I'd love to be a part of your support system.

And by the way, if you want to read more about these majestic cacti go to http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Saguaro%20Cactus.php.

188.8 Exercise AND Eating Less

Since I have been feeling so bad, I haven't been exercising... and I've lost about 2 pounds! I have been listening and reading about that study that claims to show that women can't lose weight just by exercising, and, in fact, need to exercise an hour a day just to prevent weight gain.

From my vast experience :) with all sorts of diets and exercise regimes, I have come to understand that you can't lose weight unless you eat less. This program that has enabled me to lose... are you ready?, 58 pounds, is all about eating about half less than you usually would, and building in exercise to help speed up your metabolism. When I used to exercise in my 30's and 40's, I always felt hungrier than ever after the exercise, and found that treating myself to something really yummy (read fat and sugar) was how I motivated myself to keep it up. What I didn't value at that time is that exercise is really all about getting healthier. Oh, and I didn't lose any weight!

If I go back and take a look at my weight loss history over the past couple of years, combining exercise with eating less shows a huge correlation. Without exercise (due to pain and back issues that pretty much prevented all exercise except water therapy), I lost 10 pounds. Just about a year ago, after a less invasive back surgery, I was able to start walking and I got in the habit of walking 4-5 days a weeks for 20 - 30 minutes, in addition to the water therapy, and I have lost 48 pounds since then. OMG, as I write this, it is just plain hard to believe!

Where did I get the support and courage to keep at this day after day? Jennifer Scott's encouragement and teachings about viewing life in a totally new way, listening to my inner spirit, along with using hypnosis, including self hypnosis, all played into it. Making a big change in my life has involved many factors, not just one. I think my success is a reflection of that.

Whose Thigh Is This?

After writing yesterday's blog, I received comments from 2 of my faithful blog fans. One supports me in staying true to the course I have set for myself because it has worked so well, and the other challenges me (she always does:)) to think about the fact that I don't really know how many calories my body needs to stay healthy and still lose weight. I know how many calories I need to eat to maintain my weight and I know that if eat about 500 a day less than that, I can lose a pound in about week, but how many calories do I need to sustain my health? Who knows? My inner voice, my inner spirit is suggesting that I not worry about calories in and out since we don't know that number, but to eat enough so I don't lose control due to hunger. I can do that, and I'll see how things go.

This morning as I was getting out of bed I looked down and saw my thigh. But I didn't recognize it because it's definitely gotten thinner. "Whose thigh is this"? to the tune of "What Child is This..." ran through my head. That started my day off with a smile.

(I didn't get weighed today because we were at a friend's home. Tonight we are going out to dinner with friends so I will need to take care to enjoy the meal with awareness!)