Day 3 - Goodbye May and Sugar Cravings

I knew soon I would start to crave things I have cut from my diet.  Today it was sugar. Maybe that came from having less coffee or tea with sweetner or maybe my body just realizes that I have not consumed cookies or candy in the last couple days.  I did manage to make it so far without indulging.I think I need more water too but that has always been my biggest challenge. I never drink enough.

This morning I expected the scale to be less kind than the 2 pound loss before but I was pleasantly surprised.

May 31 Weight: 209.6 (2 lb loss)

What I ate today:

Breakfast: 1 banana and a bunch of grapes
Lunch: Mixed green salad with mushrooms, tomatoes, carrots, and a bit of vinegar dressing
Dinner: Brolied chicken, broccoli and tomato slices, along with two slices of whole wheat bread.

Last night while trying to relax and drink more water, I manager to burn my boiled eggs so I didnt have those for lunch today. Not being prepared meant have to buy lunch, but I was able to get a salad from the dining hall. Plus I walked to pick it up so that gave me about a hald mile of exercise in addition to doing the stairs a couple of times and hallwalking some today.  My feet are giving me fits tonight. I am sure it is going to be another sleep in my shoes night but hopefully in time this will get better.

Til tomorrow ...still stepping backwards.

Day 2 - Down But Tired

Whenever I change my way of eating, I wind up with a headache the first few days. It could be the decrease in the caffeine or maybe the body getting rid of toxins. Whatever it is has me feeling lousy but I am not giving up.  Actually my morning weigh in was good.  I didn't exercise like I had wanted to but with the headache it just was not possible. I did do the stairs once, and tomorrow will try to do some indoor walking. Thinking about getting a pedometer and measuring how far I go.


Day Two Weight: 211.6   (1.9 lb loss)


What I ate today:

Breakfast: Two bananas and 1 apple
Lunch: Spinach greens with tuna and half a grapefruit
Dinner: two small broiled pork chops, salad greens with tomato pieces, and two slices whole wheat bread
Not so many carrots today, just wasn't very hungry.

Day One - There is Celery in My Fridge

If you have spent any time around my house, you know the one thing I NEVER buy is celery. Having traveling around the world, I've eaten a lot of strange foods in my life but the one food I just can't stomach is celery. Just a few weeks ago, my mother-in-law asked if we still had the bag she bought. I didn't even know it was there because she hid it the garage fridge knowing I did not even want to think about it.

Well guess what? There are two free foods that can be eaten at any time on the Scarsdale Medical Diet and celery is one of them. The other is carrots. Needless to say I will be a carrot muncher. Since Johnnie is accompanying me on my quest, I bought celery for him. I may have to move it back to the other fridge because I swear I can smell it when I open the fridge door!

 Day 1 went ok. Not great but I had other stressing issues to contend with so it is hard to say if my headache comes from the change in eating or from those issues. I started the day with a weigh in. This will be a daily thing.  

Weight on May 29: 213.5

What did I eat?

Breakfast: Half a grapefruit and a piece of whole wheat toast
Lunch - Large fruit salad - watermelon, grapes, bananas
Dinner - lean broiled hamburger and loads of tomato slices
Oh and lots of carrots!

Exercise was minimal but I did manage the stairs one time today. My goal is to get to the point where I use them each time I go upstairs just for the extra exercise. My other exercise goal is to get a kick board so I can spend some pool time in the evening.

 Looking forward to Day 2.

Why 53?

I've thought a lot about my weight lately. Mostly because I think it is causing my arthritis to continue to flare. I'm not coping well with having every step I take be painful but I also don't want injections for the rest of my life. A few days ago when I weighed, I was 213 pounds. Granted that is down from my highest weight but still way to high.


I am a numbers person. I think in terms of how much more (or less) something is, figure ratios and fractions in my mind, and now spend my work day crunching numbers. So those who know me would not be surprised that one number leads to another. 213 pounds is 53 pounds more than I weighed the day I retired from the Air Force. That was an eye opening number. I have GAINED 53 pounds in ten years. WOW and definitely not a good WOW.

The number 53 instantly struck me because in March, I will be 53 years old. It is not going to get any easier to take this weight off as the arthritis progresses. I need to do it now. So in the number 53, my goal is formed. I hope to take those 53 pounds I gained in the last ten years back off my body before my 53rd birthday. Read on to see how my journey is going.

Backstepping One Day at a Time

Sometimes we all need a motivator. I know I do. I've been watching my weight for the last ten years...literally watching it...as it has grown and grown to where I am now. I've played around with diets and weight loss plans and always wind up back to the same eating pattern because nothing seems to work for me. I've always pushed it off to the fact that I am now over 50 and the pounds just seem to be permanent. At least that was the case until a week or so ago when I read a blog post of a fellow writer. The blog, Size 12 by St Patrick's Day!, chronicles her weight loss journey beginning in May 2011 and resulting in more than a 90 pound loss. What grabbed me about her story was she started at age 48, not in her 20s or 30s, but close to my age. So much for my excuse! The beginning point for her weight loss journey was the Scarsdale Medical Diet which focuses on nutritional eating (skip the processed stuff) and provides a variety of menu plans to use. I'll get more into the actual plans as I go along. So thank you Cherise Kelley for being the motivator that at least has me started. I've set a goal for myself, 53 pounds by my 53rd birthday (March 23). More about the number 53 later but for now my goal is to step the weight back, one.pound.at.a.time.