Tidbits
Happy March, everyone! I'm so glad it's a new month. Gotta love a new start!
On the Right to Bare Arms
Over on Lynn's Weigh, I enjoyed reading her thoughts on strength training ("Thank You, Michelle Obama"). Apparently Mrs. Obama received criticism for baring her arms in the middle of winter. *sigh*....I feel for her, but she got off easy: she only had to deal with media catiness. I had to deal with a rampaging four-year-old daughter! I'd layered that day, and I removed my outer shirt to reveal (*gasp!*) a tank top. I'm baffled, but am guessing it was tank envy, she's too young to take Mom's "work-in-progress" arms personally...Thing 2 raged, stomped, professed outrage at both my continuing to wear the tank top, expressed disgust of her own (usually favorite) PJ top, and looked for (but did not find) her own tank top. I thought we'd made peace at bedtime, but at 5 a.m. she crept into our bed and mumbled, "I hope your shirt stays dirty forever." So I now ponder which of us has the problem: her for reacting so strongly, or me for stubbornly refusing to relinquish my right to bare arms? Oh, I shudder at the thought of the teen years...I am so in for it.
What Do Grownups Do for Fun?
On the cuter front, Mr. Handsome-and-Handy and Thing 2 were at the park. He decided to use the swing next to hers. The foundation of the universe shifted slightly.
Thing 2: "But Daddy, you can't do that!"
Mr. H&H: "Why not? Grownups like to have fun, too. Why, what do you think we do for fun?"
Thing 2: "Eat crab. And stinky fish. And go to Uncle D's and watch pirate movies. And drink beer."
Hmmm...sounds good to me! I continued the poll with Thing 1.
Me: "So...what do you think grown-ups do for fun?"
Thing 1: [long pause as he considers the question] "Jog. That's it."
Well, between the two responses, that's a pretty good balance, I'd say.
Adventures with Mary Lou Completed
I ended right where I began: at my starting weight. The last bits of advice were those little secrets that aren't so secret....
Friday: "Keep your sense of humor." And something about the importance of being able to laugh at yourself. No worries there!
Monday: "Continue to eat healthy! A healthy diet combined with exercise can speed up or maintain your weight loss." Astonish me.
I consider the current experiment completed, and I'm so glad I got a chance to try it out. Which reminds me, I never did share the family's initial reaction to The Platform....
Mr. H & H [cringing as the kids try it out and Mary Lou's voice emits]: "Ugh! I just want a number. It's like your [uber-motivational relative] to the 3rd power!"
Thing 2: "It's the greatest thing I ever saw!!!"
Thing 1: "It's good. I need to work out lots!" [Both kids start jogging around the living room.]
The Things enjoyed playing with it, which is why I had to move it to the garage. (That, and I feared waking everyone up in the morning.) They would hold heavy objects to make the weight go up, then weigh without them to get the applause or the music; the music was catchy and made them wiggle around the kitchen. Their reaction to some of Mary Lou's advice reminded me of that Far Side cartoon of "What We Say to Dogs/What They Hear."
What Mary Lou Said to Us: "Instead of eating chips for snacks, try eating fruit and nuts."
What Things 1 and 2 Heard: "Gub gub eat chips gub gub, gub gub gub gub gub."
I had originally thought The Platform might be a good tool for teenagers, because of its intention as a tool for motivating, educating, and breaking the weight loss process into manageable chunks. But paradoxically, for me, I found that to be its biggest weakness: its focus on weight loss. Would this help or hinder teens who struggle with society's and the media's messages about weight and body image? Would it motivate them to form healthful habits? I don't think I have the answer to that, but it was a question I had, and that focus stood out as weird to me for some reason. Sure, I like seeing a result on the scale as well as the next person chasing the goal of a weight in the "healthy BMI" range. There's part of me that currently thinks, "Uh oh...is this it forever? Or just a plateau on the way down? How badly do I really want that goal weight number? What am I prepared to do to get it?" But on the other hand, the scale is just one measure, a number without applause, music, silent treatment, or tones of voice implying "great job" or "you could have done better." And part of me whispers, "So? How do you feel? Oh...and you'd better go for that run before it starts raining again." How do I feel? Great! I haven't felt this good since my 20s. Anyhow, I intend to try it again in -10 pounds to see what its maintenance mode is like, but I think it would be more useful generally if it had a maintenance mode from the outset.
Beer and Cake and Being Busy
Charlie Hills (of Back to the Fridge) is one of my favorite bloggers. I'm sure everyone who's visited here probably frequents his blog, but if you haven't, I highly recommend it. He generally makes me laugh, but also made me cheer the other day: he broke through "The Barrier" to Onederland. He credits fewer overall calories (some of which included cake and beer, hurrah!) and being busy. I was struck by the similarity with my own barrier break-through, although I won't be showing any cool charts with explosions. My menu, though, also had some beer...a little cake...and I was very busy. The similarity ends, though, at what I ate on Saturday: a whole mess of the fantabulous Gorilla BBQ. (Yes, that place in the converted rail car featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Thank you, dear friends of ours who had them cater their 5-year-old's birthday party!!!) I'm usually more of a fan of pulled pork--and theirs was hea-ven-ly--but I actually preferred their beef brisket. And the grilled zucchini, portobello mushroom, and eggplant were pretty darn yummilicious, too.
Progress last week
7-day blood glucose average: 97 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting average: 98 (met goal of less than 120, 100% of days)
Weight goal: -1.6 (met goal of maintain or lose)
Food goals: Consumed 5 meatless, low-fat meals and 1 fish meals. (met meatless, missed fish by 1 meal)
Exercise goals: 4-2/3x30 min. cardio (4-2/3 because I only did 20 minutes on Monday...On the other hand, it was 20 minutes with Jillian!), including 1 run. Attended BodyPump class and did the aforementioned 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michales video for my strength workouts. (Missed exercise goals by 1/3 cardio.)
Misc. goals: Got adequate sleep all nights. Finished documenting my adventures with Mary Lou's Platform. Refining food goals for better HDL/LDL still on the to-do list.
Goals for this week
7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or lose.
Food goals: 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
Exercise goals: At least 30 minutes of cardio 5 days, plus 2 days of arms & abs strength training workouts. Include at least 2 runs in cardio, weather permitting (dry and >40 degrees).
Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.
Refine my nutritional goals regarding fiber and fats, to improve HDL/LDL numbers.
1 comment:
ok i LOVE that whole thing about what grownups do to have fun. i always wonder what my kids will think of me since i always thought my parents were fuddy duds who liked cards and talking with other grownups. Boring! Hahaha! Now, I am sure that the kid would say "running" but ooh, if he only knew of the beer and the shooting darts and the dancing that we love to do for fun (that we really rarely do anyway)...
anyway, interesting point about mary lou. i'm thinking i'd like the number, just plain old silent number where you can think your very own thought about that number, better too. and since teens take everything to heart soooo much, i'm not sure if i'd think they were failing if there were a "tone", and if that would be helpful or not. who knows. anyway, great job this week! how do you like jillian's stuff? I love her so much and i have been thinking about getting her workouts, any recommendations or faves? and what are they like??
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