Sorry I missed posting week 9, I have been really busy and the days are just flying by.  I can not begin to tell you how great I feel, my energy levels are through the celling.  I feel like I am glowing with good health.  This is wonderful.

One unexpected benifit is that I am now getting more sleep.  Those of you that have known me for a long time, know that my pattern is to stay up really late, like midnight or one.  This would only allow me to get 4 or 5 hours of sleep before I had to get up and get to work.  Now I am getting comfortably sleepy around 10 and am usually in bed between 10:30 and 11.  As always, I fall instantly asleep.  The difference is the ease I feel at going to bed at a reasonable hour, it just feels natural.  Take Shape for Life explains that this is a positive effect of balanced fueling of my body.  I am no longer an “Adrenaline Junky” and now my body has normalized its rhythm.

As I have said before, I am now a Health Coach for this program.  I love what it is doing for me and my family and I would love to help you find Your Optimal Health.

I had a neat experience today.  I am riding MAX now.  Tonight coming home, I was in a seat by myself, actually there were 3 seats in a row that only had one person in them.  When someone new got on, they sat in my seat.  Normally you would say that that was a bad thing, but back when I weighed 345, no one wanted to share a seat with me.  Sometimes people would rather stand than sit in my seat and now of the 3 available seats that person chose mine, pretty cool.

I only lost 1 lb this week and I figured out why.  I have been out of “Fat Burning”.  It seems that an excess ( more than 5 ) of those Crystal Light / Hawaiin Punch flavor packets will throw you out of the rapid weight loss state.  I was trying to increase my water and so was drinking a lot of bottles of water with the packets in them.  I have cut back to just 2 a day and am now back in The Burn.

Years ago, I had anorexia as a side effect of an illness.  I remember how wonderful it was to not think about food.  I shared with a friend that if this was how thin people thought about food “it was not fair”, because for the first time in my life, I was not even tempted by food.  I would eat only when I had that hungry feeling and then as soon as I was no longer hungry, I wanted nothing to do with the food (even if it was just 1/2 a glass of milk).  I asked my doctor if I could get ride of the illness, but keep the anorexia, he said it didn’t work like that.

Well to some degree, he was wrong.  It’s not anorexia, but on this program, I DO feel in complete control and food does not dominate my thoughts.  No cravings, no fears.  Food is simply fuel that I put in my body every 3 hours.  In the morning, I stuff my purse with what I need for the day and off I go.

Last night, I went to a friend’s birthday party.  Food and cake were served.  I had no problem with drinking my cup of tea and visiting with friends.  I could have eaten, if I wanted.  There was food there that would have been perfectly OK on my program, but I wasn’t hungry (I had eaten 2 hrs earlier) and so I was not even tempted.  There was this calm normal feel about it.

The weight loss is wonderful on this program, but to live the rest of my life with this feeling of being in control will be the greatest gift that I can give myself.

Losing 2 to 5 lbs every week is sooo easy and simple on this program.  Weeks go by and the pounds come off – ZAP ! !   and I am 40 lbs lighter.  LOVE IT ! !

Do you have weight to lose before summer?  Reaching that weight goal by summer means you need to begin now.  I am now a Health Coach and I have a program that will help you say good bye  to those extra pounds quickly, easily AND forever.  Come along with me, don’t try to do it all alone, we can help each other.

What fun, I got to move the big weight on my scales down from 250 to 200.  That means I have to move the little weight back all the way to the right.  Now I need to move the little weight, step by step all the way from right to left.  I kind of think of it like the pioneers traveling across the US from East (right) to the West (left) in their covered wagons.

You may think that this is a weird way to think of my weight loss journey, but my family did actually come to Oregon in covered wagons.  I think that this journey, from obese to optimal health, is a lot like the journey my family made 150 years ago.

First it is a journey to a better life.  My family set up farms in the rich fertile Willamette Valley.  They found a lifestyle for them and their families that they could never have experienced in the East.  I know that my new lifestyle will bring me new experiences that were not possible when I weighed over 300 lbs.

Second, the journey was made step by step.  They didn’t just jump onto an airplane and poof they were here.  No, they walked or rode every inch, every step, every mile of the way.  That is how my weight loss is, I must take each step, each pound, each change one at a time.

Third, there were obstacles and discomforts.  From heat to cold, from rivers to cross to mountains to ascend they experienced many obstacles every day of the journey and still they pressed on.  Many of these obstacles were overcome because others had gone before and marked the way.  They traveled with a group, so that they had help when problems arose.  I am also not on my journey alone.  I have family supporting me, I have a coach motivating and directing me and I have a program that thousands have already used to make this journey.

And finally, they never gave up.  Day after day, week after week, they continued the journey.  When they found themselves in The Dallas, with winter upon them and the trip down the Columbia and Willamette Rivers too treacherous, they simply sat firm where they were until conditions were better.  BUT they never quit.  As soon as spring appeared on they went, all the way to Gervis and Molalla, where they claimed their land and settled.   My journey has been like this.  In 2010, I lost 112 lbs, then “winter” hit and I got stuck and stalled.  But spring is here and on I go on my journey.  The good news is, I am half way there.

Lastly, like many who made this journey along the Oregon Trail, I am now a “Wagon Train Master” ( a coach ).  I am now leading others to the rich fertile valley of Optimal Health.  If you want to join me on the trail, let me know, there is always room for more.

1.  I take a multi-vitamin.  I think almost any old multi-vitamin will do, but I take it twice a day instead of only once a day.  Many of these vitamins are water soluable and wash out of your system throughout the day, so I take one in the morning and one 12 hours later with dinner.

2.  Extra Vitamin D.  I have read research that shows that almost everyone that lives in the Pacific NW is deficient in Vitamin D.  It has to do with the fact that we live at the 45th parallel and that we have so many overcast skies.  I take approx. 4000 units a day.  When I told my doctor this, she was concerned that I was getting an overdose, so she ordered it tested with my annual blood screen.  Guess what, after a year of taking 4000 units a day, my Vitamin D levels were normal, but on the low side of normal.  You tell me, do I need extra Vitamin D?   Vitamin D has a lot to do with depression, so if you are feeling a little “blue”, get your levels checked.  Vitamin D also improves your immune system and in the 2 years that I have been taking it, I have had only one short lived cold and no flu (and I have never had a flu shot).  Vitamin D is inexpensive and easy to take.  If you do start taking Vitamin D, be sure to also take Calcium (see below).

3.  Calcium.  If you increase your Vitamin D, you MUST also increase your calcium, this is very important.  If you already take extra calcium, but don’t take extra vitamin D, you are probably wasting you time and money.  Your body needs vitamin D to utilize the calcium.  You also need calcium to metabolize the Vitamin D, they work hand in hand.  If you take extra Vitamin D without increasing your calcium, your body will actually pull calcium out of your bones to utilize the Vitamin D and you do not want to lose calcium.  Some calcium supplements actually have Vitamin D in them, because they know how important the combination is.  I purchase inexpensive Calcium without Vitamin D and take my vitamin D supplement.

4.  Fish Oil – very important.  The list of the benefits of Omega rich Fish Oil is way too long to show here.  Do a quick search on google and you will soon see that it is very close to being the “miracle” pill.  I take 6 to 9 capsules daily, 3 with breakfast and 3 with dinner and then I try to remember to take an additional 3 throughout the day.  Here again, almost any brand will do,  I purchase Kirkland brand at Costco.  The one thing I will say is that if you burp it, you need to get a different supply.  Burping fish oil is really yucky and is an indication that the oil is not fresh or the capsules are deteriorating.  Fish oil is best when it is absorbed in the intestine and so be sure to have it with food and plenty of water to get it quickly past the stomach.  Some people put it in the freezer, so that it does not thaw until it gets past the stomach.  I don’t have much of a problem and so have never had to do this, besides I have a problem remembering to take it if it is out of site in the freezer (remember the freezer doesn’t need it, you do).

Well that’s what I take.  Remember, I am not a doctor or a medical advisor, this is just what I feel is best for me.  To make sure I remember, I purchased little 1 x 2 inch zip lock bags (got them at Natures Store) and I fill them with the dose for each meal, breakfast and dinner.  I sit down every couple of weeks and fill them, then keep them at the kitchen table – easy to grab.

Steady but sure, away the pounds go.

Ok I will admit that this week a couple of the commercials on TV got to me.  The burgers at Red Robin looked wonderful, even though I have never ordered a burger at Red Robin.  The Olive Garden commercial also caught my attention.  I wish I could tell you how I neutralize these influences, I really don’t know how, but I never even considered taking action.  Maybe it is because I am never hungry on this program.  And maybe it is because deep down I know that the actual food is never as good as it looks on TV.

One thing I do know is that if I do eat food that is not on my Lean and Green menu, I will drop out of “Fat Burning” and that will set me back 3 or 4 days.  It takes 3 or 4 days for my body to do the switch over to burning fat for fuel and during that time, my weight loss will be slowed down and I really really really LIKE losing 3 pounds a week.

This weeks goal is to get under that 250 mark ( I love moving the big weight on my scale down a notch ).  Easy smeasy.

I was really hoping for 4 lbs this week, but 3 is good.  Ok, I know these are only numbers, but you all know that I like numbers.  What is really exciting is that I am getting some really great insight on why I have not been able to get the weight off and keep it off in the past.  Each day, I study Habits of Health and I am amazed by what I DIDN’T know.

Read my post from yesterday on motivation.  It is no wonder that so many of us put our weight back on, we are setting ourselves up by using the wrong motivation.  dahhh.

Ok, so this weeks goal is 4 lbs, which will put me at an even 30 lbs lost ( I like even numbers ).  Even if I don’t make it, I know that I will lose at least 3 lbs and hey, 29 pounds lost in 5 weeks is still pretty darn good.

What I learned today

I tend to set my goals by what I don’t want or to solve a problem, i.e. I don’t want to be overweight: I don’t want to look bad, my clothes are too tight, I am uncomfortable in an airplane seat.  Good modivation, Right?   Not!

If I am using a problem as my motivator, the minute I no longer have the problem, my motivation is gone and I go right back to the habits that caused the problem in the first place.  This has already happened to me.  When I lost 100 lbs, everyone said (over and over again),” I can’t believe how good you look”.  Also now my clothes were not just no long tight, they fell off of me.  And for the first time in my life, I flew in an airplane without a seatbelt extension.

I lost my motivation and of course, the weight started coming back on.  I need to use “a desired state” for my motivation, rather than “solving a problem”.  My “desired state” is Optimal Health (being as healthy as I possibly can).  For someone in their 20′s optimal health may be running marathons, but from where I am (senior citizen) optimal health looks a lot different.  Now I am not just striving to “Lose weight”, which once lost, goal met, it’s back to old ways.  Now I am striving to bring a state of optimal health into my life, which requires continuing effort.

btw: I still like to be told that I look good. Please don’t stop. I just am no longer baseing my motivation on it.

** What I learned today from my reading of Dr. A’s Habits of Health, The Path to Permanent Weight Control and Optimal
Health., by Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen.

But now that my body has adjusted itself to the new food intake, it is time to begin to gradually add in some mild exercise.  Baby steps. Baby steps.  I keep repeating that to myself.  This is a life change and the best way to approach it is one little step at a time.

So, for the next week, I am going to workout to Leslie Sansone’s Walk-Away-the-Pounds DVD.  I will start with one mile each day for a week.  Then, if I am totally comfortable with that, I am going to up it to two miles for at least the next 2 weeks.

I know that I am physically able to do 3 miles right now, but the most important part of this is lifestyle change.  The exercise is not as important as the lifestyle change of working a daily workout into my busy day.  So it is more about starting with 15 minutes of exercise and working up to 30 to 60 minutes in later weeks.

Here is a link to a two minute mini-workout by Leslie.  Give it a try.