Portion Control

Weight loss. It is about portion control, after all.

You will most likely eat what is on your plate as it is placed in front of you. We "eat with our eyes."
If you are "starving" you might want to load up your plate and eat quickly to satisfy your appetite. But eating quantity does not sate the appetite -- eating slowly does. If you believe having "seconds" is the only way to feel "full," then make them small servings.

We've all heard the guidelines for portion control: a serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards. A serving of spaghetti is the size of a baseball (not a Nerf ball, Patty!) An ounce of cheese -- the size of your thumb. A glass of milk is 8 ounces, not 16. One piece of bread is a serving, not two -- what it takes to make a sandwich.

Eat a half sandwich, but arrange it attractively, cut it diagonally. Folding over a piece of bread slathered with peanut butter feels like a snack, not a meal.

If you normally prepare your own dinner plate, let your spouse or your child do it for you. Then it is not YOU eating with YOUR eyes.

Make that plate one of your pretty-- but smaller-- salad plates. Dinner plates are large, more decorative than anything at this point. If you still want to use them, use them as chargers.

Always set your table. Use the good dishes, cloth napkins, crystal water goblets. Don't forget the tablecloth or the special place mats. Satisfaction really does have much to do with what you see.

I'm not a nutritionist, I am not a fitness instructor or a personal trainer. I am an overweight middle-aged woman who has loved the study of psychology all of my life. I can see many, many applications of how the mind can work in conjunction with a new life-style plan. If every journey begins with the first step, then every decision begins with a thought.

The brain generates solutions as it is presented with ideas; it produces more ideas. The brain does not decide what is wrong or right, it simply seeks to execute the plan it is given. Your mind gives it the plan. Your decisions activate the process.

"I can't help it." "I couldn't stop myself." "I forgot all about my resolution."
All of these statements reflect transitory thoughts that act on momentary impulses.
That's why the guilt follows -- because your brain is still on the right track! Your mind, your decisions, your impulses took you off course.

Be intentional. Act with purpose. Be in charge.

I lost TWO pounds this week!
Yay! Go, go, go, Patty!!!

Evaluation

It 's been going on for about a month now: exercise six days a week, every early morning, starting at 5-ish.
We have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, a little sugar, some milk, usually a cup of coffee or two.
Oatmeal is for our cholesterol count; it's not a diet item. On the weekends we have veggie omelets. Delicious!

Lunch usually consists of either a cup of soup, a multi-vegetable mixture topped with red wine vinegar or a spoonful of dressing, a sandwich on ww bread, or some grilled chicken or turkey breast -- or a duo-combo thereof. If there is cake or cookies in the teacher's lounge, I'll take a tiny piece but that is very, very rare. Sweets are not my downfall.

I even make the soup. Lean cut beef in the slow cooker with fresh veggies for vegetable soup, chili with turkey meat and fresh tomatoes and red, green, and yellow peppers.

Weekly I prepare a vegetable tray with peppers, squash, cucumbers, green onions sometimes, broccoli, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, black olives, banana peppers, and a bed of greens -- spinach and romaine.

Snack often is an apple, sometimes with peanut butter. Sometimes I have a banana or an orange or a half PB sandwich. During the day, I snack on a 1/4 cup portion of protein trail mix, mainly nuts and seeds.

Black coffee, unsweetened tea, quarts of water...
At night hot green tea, occasionally a glass of red wine.

Food selections and portion control seem pretty good so far. Sounds good, huh?

But I'm thinking I get in trouble at suppertime. Everything is early, earlier and earliest, so by the time school is out, I am hungry. Hungry! If we go get pizza, I eat a half (a small pizza at App's is not really small.) If we have tacos, I have five of them. And a diet Pepsi.

Okay, I cook. If we have spaghetti, I have two plates, with cheese and butter, a little sauce. If chicken and noodles are on the menu, I have seconds, mainly because of the noodles. I love any pasta, noodles - packaged or homemade, rice, bread, and French bread is the treat of all treats! Chinese food, have to sample so many dishes! I roast potatoes with olive oil to make "fake" french fries. I whip potatoes with skim milk. Broccoli with a little fake butter, sauteed squash in sesame oil, plain green beans, corn, snow peas, steamed carrots..... stuff like that.

Later snacks can be popcorn (with salt) or once in awhile a trip to the DQ for a small vanilla frozen custard. I eat the cone. Of course.

I have not lost any weight, well, maybe one pound or two, so my lack of weight loss has to be due to the portion sizes in the evening.

So, for this week, I am making a concerted effort to minimize suppertime dishes and servings.
One serving.
Only.
No late snacking.
A little experiment to see if that makes a difference on the scales.

Next week I might try cutting way back on ... salt. Well, maybe not.

Yay, Patty!
You can do it!

The circuit

I love the circuit

15 minutes of fast-paced treadmill
to warm up muscles

18 or 20 reps on the machines
alternating with a minute of step aerobics

total 45 minutes

hip sockets turn smoothly, walking becomes graceful
back is straight, posture tall
breathing is deep, more powerful

energy is abundant
hunger pangs are stilled
temper is mellow
patience is long

sleep is restorative
mornings are welcomed

why didn't I do this years ago?

If it's Monday, it must be treadmill day...

Uphill, incline 5, brisk walking.

Pump, pump, pump

An energizing 3 miles and about 45 minutes later I feel great.

Another day done.

Another day closer to my goal.

Go, go, go.

Back on Track

It's easy to get off track, either on purpose or because of circumstances that happen beyond our control.

But I am back on track, after only one day off. And actually, I partially made up up for it the latter half of that day, just not as intense.

Today I woke up at 5 a.m. as usual, but because it was Saturday, I wanted to indulge in my tradition of watching movies till 9 or 10, then lounge around.... But I turned off the movie before it was over, put on my sneakers and headed for the gym! The workout was intense -- the strength training days are my favorite. I feel great. Full of energy, and ready to tackle the day. Lunch was light, basil tomato soup and cheese toastie.

Strong, purposed, dedicated, committed.

I think it's becoming a habit. For real.
Go, Patty

But sometimes...

One vehicle
one driver
driver sick
no travel
no gym
not happy
but
take care of the sick one
and free time

gooooo
yayyy
meee!

No Progress!

No progress, or at least it looks that way.
The scales haven't changed. My clothes fit the same.

But I still claim victory.

I have more energy and I am sleeping restfully and I am getting a lot of things done. And to a task-oriented person, "get'r done" is definitely a measure of success.

But what I count as a victory is that I have not quit. This is week three. I "should" be seeing something, right? In spite of non-visible rewards, I am maintaining my schedule. I know that it will pay off in the long run, or at least that is what I have always heard, always been told.
Experientially, I don't "know" that, however. But I intend to find out for myself.

I know my health will reward me; good health will equip my body to withstand viral and bacterial attack. Improved sleeping patterns will overall benefit every other area of my life.

I am a kinder and gentler Patty.

Go, Me! Yay!

I wanna be a looooooooser!

Of weight, that is, I want to lose weight.

Sometimes I think of my blog as a great place to record weighty thoughts and ponderous issues like political posits, theological questions, life strategies, even simple mind exercises of thought-- but no, now I am going to use it for weighty thoughts -- literally. I journal sometimes, but in this electronic age, with all the electronic toys, blogging is good.

Why lose weight? Well, it used to be because I just wanted to be cute. Now I still want to be attractive (the adjective changes with age -- cute is no longer appropriate) but my doctor advises the weight reduction. Helps with cholesterol, blood pressure, and a myriad of other common complaints that come with being overweight. Maybe age, too, but all the experts say that nothing has to change because of that!

First of all, I am an "apple." That round shape that describes fat accumulation on the stomach, the rear, and thighs. Even my back is a little puffy, for crying out loud!And I still have inproportionate skinny legs and arms.

I see Mrs. Potato Head.

The week before Christmas I decided I would resume my trips to the gym with a purpose and a plan this time. I'm still at it, this second week into the new year. Watching diet, moving, moving, moving -- we'll see. 6 days a week, 3 on for the breathtaking circuit, and 3 days for interval walking on the treadmill.

I always feel great afterwards -- gotta remember that feeling. And energy! Tons more. Well, at least for the part of the day that I generally use it. I get real sleepy at my new bedtime -- about 9 or 10 p.m.

This blog is not meant to be funny. I just want an accountability of my resolve. I keep my BP and weight in another little book -- top secret! :)

I want to encourage and inspire myself.
You go, Patty!

Electronic Communication

We can all think of examples that illustrate mis-spoken or misunderstood communication. You say things on impulse. You regret it. Wish you could repeat it in a different light.

Explain. Defend. Excuse.

If you are chatting in person, you can immediately "fix" it with a smile, a frown, maybe a little other kind of facial expression, or a touch, a gesture.

If you are chatting online, e-mailing, replying, FaceBooking, even blogging, you can be misunderstood. Psychologists tell us that communication is only 3% verbal -- the rest is non-verbal communication.

These adjunct communication signals include facial expression, body language, and how you position your body with relation to the conversant. Mannerisms such as strategic eyebrow-raising can dramatically change the meaning of a simple sentence, double entendre'. Likewise, toe-tapping and finger drumming convey different messages.

Eye contact ... or the lack of it -- that's a big one! Direct gaze, sidelong glances, stare-at-the-ceiling or focusing on an obscure spot somewhere behind the head of the listener speaks volumes for the one who is talking. Gestures, such as covering the mouth with a hand for either the speaker or the listener indicates lying (or exaggerating) or disbelief (or skepticism). Wide eyes, narrow eyes, twinkly eyes.... all add meaning to mere words.

Electronic communication does not showcase a dry sense of humor. Sarcasm is lost in what is understood as real information. Or derogatory remarks. Anger can be confusingly processed by the reader, or simply dismissed as an unidentified remark. "Tongue-in-cheek" certainly can muddy the flow of communication. So often, included in immediate cyberchat is the LOL, the ha, ha, both either capitalized to show some emotion, or followed by grammatical marks such as exclamation points or question marks or quotation marks. Hanging thoughts or suggestions are followed by ....... dot, dot, dot. Tee Hee, <>, sideways smiley or frowny faces are used as attempts to qualify a statement.

Do we edit our own keyboard correspondence? Not usually -- that "Enter" button is so quick to hit-- after all, we know what we mean! It's clear! We do try to edit after it is received and (often) wrongly ) perceived. It was simply a "self-explanatory" note.

Both the speaker and the listener(s) conduct a conversation from their own perspective, in the light of what they know or feel or assume at the moment. I'm not even going to get into texting, another form of sharing thoughts and information. People are connected to the world at a second's notice through personal cell phones -- all at the prompt of a beep, or more likely, a lyrical signal that tells a little bit about the owner.

Teensy keyboards in one little ever-present electronic hand-held pocket-sized device which includes cameras, the Internet, and Google, just to mention a few functional additions, facilitate instant communication.

Ain't technology grand!
You know what I mean.... right? LOL.