Terrific Quote From a Smart Blogger, organic share pick-up day--and a coop recommendation for South Florida peops--plus assorted pics from Saturday's "Dali Miami" outing (and a flashback to the Goya outing in 2007 for comparison), and sort of not "there" yet where I need to be on "get recommitted" week...but I will get there...

I've been sluggish and dozey. I think I need to go through this quieter time, which means fewer blog comments from me, sorry. I need this introspection right now. Untangling knots, as it were (you'll see when you read the quote).

I like energetic and UP better. But quieter, pondering, prayerful is needful some weeks.

I have to shower and get dressed to get my organic goodies, and I'm sitting here unshowered and sort of dragging my feet about cleaning up. How pathetic, right? Well, I know that I'll feel better when everything is clean and sweet-smelling. :D I have to remember that draggy and sweaty is not normal, and clean and bright is better. Some days, the grooming is as hard a chore as a workout.

I only did a quickie grocery shopping thing this past Saturday, so protein sources are scarce. I need to hit Whole Foods, or at minimum Publix (not as good in the meat/poultry, sigh). Hubby eats 4 protein heavy meals a day and 2 to 3 lighter more carb/fat type snacks a day, so I gotta go shop for his goodies. I am fine with eggs, cheese, whey protein (on lazy days). He's not.

This is what my share includes today:

• Strawberries
• Blueberries#
• Mangos
• Gala Apples
• Bananas
• Local FL Cauliflower
• Local FL Broccoli
• Local FL Curly Kale
• Local FL Celery#
• Local FL Green Cabbage
• Russet Potatoes
• Roma Tomatoes
• Romaine Lettuce
• Watermelon Radish
• Fresh English Peas!

Plus I add a share of extra fruit:

• $10 Fruit:
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Valencia Oranges

Last week, the strawberries and blueberries were wowarrific! I mean, crazy good. I hope it's a repeat. Hubby loves strawberries chopped on top of sugar free ice cream for his nite treat. I'm not a big ice cream person. I usually use yogurt or eat the fruit for dessert after supper.

Annie does a great job. And she's a really involved and caring person when it comes to responsible food supplies and eating whole and ecological stuff. So, if you're local in South Florida, consider Annie's Buying Club.  I've bought organic goodies from Annie since 2007 (back when she had a delivery service, which was great when I was sick a lot and couldn't always go to the grocery store.)  If you coordinate the weekly shares, you get your share as payment for your time/trouble.

Next subject: the artistic outing

On the way there...in car...

Interior of Moore Building

I wasn't up to my usual vim last Saturday, but we headed to the Dali Miami exhibit anyway. I'd say it was good, not great. A few pieces really appealed to me. It needed some big, notable paintings to anchor it. The lighting was a fail in some spots (like DARK, could not make out details). But the venue was cool. A historic (for Miami, which is a "young" city) '20s edifice, the Moore Building, in the design district.

Mir in walled courtyard dining at Mandolin

Middle sis and hubby at Mandolin

It turned out to be a lovely afternoon, and me, my middle sis, and hubby enjoyed the outing. I wore my green Onitsuka Tigers for comfort and we parked a couple blocks from the building.

After 2 hours of art-seeing, we walked about 3 blocks to Mandolin restaurant, where I pretty much went a little wild with the veggies and yogurt. (Except for a piece of hubby's chicken kabob, I had a vegetarian meal, cause Greek/Turkish fare...man, they know how to make veggies numsy.) Sis and I split a village salad (a bit of feta, but mostly these really ripe amazing tomatoes). Then we split this veggie stew with yogurt on top thingie whose name I forgot. A Turkish item. And I had as my entree a stuffed zucchini (stuffed with a mixture of veggies, feta, and ground almonds with tomato sauce). And Turkish coffee sans sugar and iced tea to drink. I ate too much. Even vegetarian fare can add up, calorically. Um, yeah.

Then the 4 blocks or so back to the car. I'm glad we didn't valet it--the brief walk was nice, as it was breezy.

I looked kinda crappy in the lighting within the Moore Building--look at the "in the car on the way" photo and Mandolin photos versus the exhibit ones--but here are a few with a bit of the exhibit:

Surrealistic and windblown-frizzy!

Yeah, the sculpture's reaction to my unflattering top--what
was I thinking!-- is pretty much mine seeing the photo.
Top goes to Goodwill.
The bosom is not flattered.

Comparison time: the Goya exhibit in Oct of 2007, a mere 5 months after I started blogging to find a way to lose weight~~

Differences: Glasses (I had Lasik)
3x top, versus L/XL now
Blown out hair, versus natural curls now

Way bigger than middle sis back then.

Five years younger, nearly 100 pounds fatter...

My Prince back then, a bit shaggier and heavier,
but still handsomest guy on EARTH!!!!

Hubby and I both agreed that the third floor would make a great venue for a stylish 30th anniversary party, should we hit the Lotto or something. ; ) But we'll look like crap in the photos! hahah (We "mature" gals need good lighting!)

Next subject: Exercise

Monday I did my Pilates session and walked 35 mins. Yesterday, I only walked 15 mins. I may resort to a DVD tonight, after all the errands are done. I didn't wake up until 2pm, so things are piling up.

The recommitment is still on shaky ground. BUT...I have not quit and every day, I do focus on goals and work on it, just don't have that fire burning yet.

Last matter, and please read to the end:

I will share this terrific quote from a blogger I only discovered in the last couple months, but who has fast become one of my top faves. She's eloquent. Smart. And has been down this same road we have in the fatfighting journey. She just puts the struggle into words better than most, her nimble brain able to capture stuff and verbalize it. I leave you with her words and my total desire for all of us to work on this and be well, be very, very well:

It has taken me many decades of my life to get to where I am now and I continue to pick at and untangle knots in the web I was trapped in. I still feel stuck to it in spots and occasionally feel sucked back in and trapped, but most of me is free most of the time. The one thing that I implore anyone who is trying to lose weight to do is to stop oversimplifying and talking in Yoda-isms ("there is no try, do"). There's a reason most people regain weight after they lose it and I absolutely believe it is this oversimplification and denial of the complex psychological issues that go into changing ones relationship with food. You can't do it forever with the mental tools of brute force, abuse, pat and trite mantras, a stick-to-it attitude, etc. Eventually, for most people, the psychology that got them fat in the first place will re-assert itself and they will regain.

Make it as complicated as it is and take the time to understand that it's just not so simple for most people. You didn't get messed up in a day, week, or even a year. You got messed up over a lifetime. It isn't a short-term problem and it can't be fixed with a short-term solution (and I count dieting culture as a part of "short-term"). 

After the rant, a nice lil quote...so go overcome something today...be a creator, innovator, overcomer. No wallowing or self-defeating actions, k?

Not much to offer today. Feel a little normal peeve at a plumbing issue, but the plumber should come Friday... and I made a doc appointment for Friday to get new Rx for Singulair...my "no Zyrtec" experiment was an epic fail, with runny nose and itchy skin, so back on it..oh, well, we tried...and the endo called to say she'll have me do a lipid profile...and I have cleaning to do. So, see? Boring.

On the plus side, doing fine off the steroids, breathing-wise. Zyrtec still necessary. I keep the hope one day it will be able to go, too.

Hope my rant yesterday was helpful for those who needed it.

Here's a nice quote for today that I pilfered from Melting Mama, who had it in her blog post today:

What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment.  And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new.  Right now.  
~Author Unknown

 I am the one who decides today what I will be today and tomorrow. But mostly, RIGHT NOW.

Yes, we all have certain limitations, but one thing amazing people of all ages, health statuses, economic brackets, intellectual levels, educational levels have shown is that humans have the power to change, transform, break through barriers, heal, create, astonish, alter paradigms, innovate, and just plain overcome everything in their paths.

Whatever is your obstacle today...tell it to take a hike. It's an opportunity and a challenge, not a barrier. YOU are the main barrier. Overcome what is in you that doesn't believe you can do...IT. Whatever IT is.

I plan to overcome something dark or hard or mean or lazy or indulgent or fearful inside myself today.

You...you wanna, too?

Oh, I guess yesterday's rant was refreshing. :D

A nicely thought out definition of what is "a paleo diet"...

A paleo diet is:

• Eating foods that best support the biochemistry of human animals with a multi-million year history of hunting and foraging, primarily on the African savanna.
• Avoiding foods, such as grains, grain oils, and refined sweeteners, that actively disrupt the biochemistry of these human animals.

The whole article is fun reading. If you're doing Paleo, how's it doing for you? Drop me a line in the comments or a link to your blog or post discussing its effect on you.

We aren't strict Paleo, but we've moved closer and closer in that direction compared to our diet a year, 10 months, 9 months ago. We eat a lot differently than we have most of our married life. And I am reversing some of the damage I've done in those decades.

I'll be honest: I don't see myself giving up butter, cheese, or yogurt anytime soon--though I did ditch milk. ; ) They're not taking away the sucralose for my coffee. But ya never know...we continue to ...er...evolve... in how we eat here....

Some Princess Dieter comments and links speaking on the Theories & Complex Factors on the Matter of Becoming Obese and Getting NOT Obese and a Quote ....on a lazy, bloated, wanna-nap day...

Scale is up from salt and added carbs these last 4 days--both of which cause water retention and scale stalls in me, historically. I knoweth of what I speak.

As much as I have enjoyed the added taters, sushi rice (with my veggie sushi), and brown rice (with my grilled chicken and veggies) this past week, and as much as my salt-hungering tongue loved the dips into soy sauce and shakes of the Celtic sea salt, and as much as my fruit-addict self loves summer's bounty of colorful sweet beauties, it's time to get back on program and stop being slackerish on my tracking.

No binges. No massive overages (though I have gone over calories twice this week). It's just me being hungry again from the carbs. I know it. I've doubled my fruit intake. While that may be a heathful food option, raw fruit, it's still too much in the sugars department for my metabolically not-normal body.

So, back to more veggies, fruit moderation (noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, weep, weep) and scaling back on tubers and rice. I won't ever eliminate them, but I got too loose with allowances. Once or twice a week, fine. But almost every day this week, even modest portions not so fine. For me, it's NOT just calories--it's insulin. It's appetite. I felt my appetite growing and my night-time snack urges return. I want them to go away again and regain the Zen Appetite. :D

Yesterday, I walked and did Pilates. 1 hour and 20 minutes of exercise. Felt good. I'm sore.

Lots of interesting discussions out there in LowCarb/Paleo/Primal blogs after the Ancestral Health Symposium (AHS).

I'd recommend this one first: There is no single cause of (or treatment for) obesity

And I recommend this one for the lucid and gracious third reaction  to the Taubes/Guyunet debate by Dr. Paul Jaminet.

For me, recognizing the food-reward research/findings set me on the road to loss. That was pivotal for me. Then Taubes anti-carb pronouncements helped me see my Insulin Resistant status needed a careful eye on starches/sugars. Dr. Jaminets (and others) on toxins/inflammatory foods helped me realize that as a person with a big family history of and personal affliction with auto-immune diseases, I need to consider THAT aspect as well. All three have served me.

But I agree with Healthy Skeptic--it's a very, very complex situation and it requires looking at the variables. Not all situations are equal, because not all bodies function the same.

However, caloric restriction works. We Challengers know it.

And yet, most dieters who lose regain. Or never make goal at all.

How can one keep on a restricted diet for life (if needed), if the appetite is insane or binges are an issue? Even bariatric surgical patients have issues with regain, so how could it not be for those lacking the assist of constricted stomachs or rejiggered intestines?

If wanting or wishing were both = to doing, no one would be fat.

And why don't all people lose at the same rate on the same calories? Not everyone maintains on the same calories, even if they are of the same height and weight. Not everyone is as healthy or energetic or satisfied with their meals or nourished on the same QUANTITY of calories. Bodies differ. Medical status differs. Types of food ingested differ. Fluids processed differ (ask a kidney disease patient about that one.) Carbs tolerance differs --ask an I.R. or diabetic person about that. Tolerances of foods differ--ask a celiac disease or I.B.S. sufferer about that. Fat metabolism differs--some of us absorb and fill up fat cells more efficiently. Some of us release fat from cells LESS efficiently. THere are genetic tests for that. Some folks swell up fast with salt. Some are barely bothered. Some are metabolically more efficient and their bodies ratchet up to burn excess calories. Some just make more fat and don't elevate temperature or activity naturally to compensate.

Variables.

Because I'm genetically a fat-hoarder (if I eat too high fat like some low-carbers, I'm screwed), and auto-immune (I can't have some things that don't seem to bother others), allergic (some food groups are totally out to me, limiting what I can eat), and a hyperconditioned overeater (I do respond to the food-reward combo of fat/starches-sugars/salt, so I have to restrict or avoid trigger hyperpalatable foods or I BINGE). I also have hypothyroidism and that affects metabolism and mood and makes losing weight harder. (Saw what happened to Linda Ronstadt when her thyroid went kaput?) I'm post-menopausal, so I need fewer calories than when younger. Age is also an impediment, though not a solid wall 100 feet high.

Impediments aren't insurmountable, they can just make it harder, make it slower, make it maybe necessary to get MORE professional help.

I'm a genetic, medical, neurotic mess. I need to read and study and work to get over the hurdles to lose weight. For me, every pound is a fight. I'm never gonna be the stellar "Lost 8 pounds a week" type. Oh, no. But I made it out of obesity and just wanna stay outta obesity, even if no one ever nicknames me "Slim." :) It's about health for me. Not Perfect Health (as that has always been beyond me, since birth), but better health.

I've said for nearly a year to assorted friends and relatives who ask that I've lost on both low-fat and lower-carb, but that for me, moderating carbs is an appetite suppressor in a way low-fat never was. But that both break the reward cycle and can help people with that. I still believe this. But I think every person should examine their individual situation and see how many of these variables discussed out there on bariatric matters--toxins, carbs, protein, fat, low fat, low carb, low toxin, hyperpalatability, food-reward, etc--and see which are the predominant factors in YOUR life. Depending you YOUR issues, you may need to tweak how you eat or see a counselor or dietitian or specialist in endocrinology. It's not one diet plan fits all.

I also do believe you must reduce caloric intake (as a nation, we freaking eat too much crap and some of us too much even of the good stuff). But I think that for those of us with crazy big appetites, it's worth looking at appetite suppressing properties in moderating carbs/starches/sugars.

Whatever your individual situation is--and you may be much healthier than me and not saddled with a plethora of genetic wackiness, or you may be WORSE off and feel hopeless--just know that you can learn a lot from the scientists and sociologists and psychologists out there working to see how to solve our problems. But it will come down, as transformations always do, to working your butt off and developing new habits It's hard. But it's not hopeless.

Here are a couple ofs quote from Dr. Jaminet--just two the many I read this afternoon among the blogs chattering after the AHS:

It seems to be easiest to induce obesity with a roughly equal mix of carbs and fat; both low-carb and low-fat diets tend to be less obesogenic. This result is compatible with Stephan’s views because carb and fat together are more rewarding than either alone, and with my views because carb-fat combinations can be highly toxic – for instance, a fructose-PUFA combination is more toxic than either alone; or carbs feed gut pathogens while fats carry their toxins into the body.


...

Due to the diversity of factors which conspire to cause obesity, it is a rather heterogeneous disease. Its unifying character is that some combination of causal factors induces “metabolic damage,” such as leptin resistance, in a variety of organs, including the brain. Metabolic damage can affect both appetite regulation and energy homeostasis.

~~Paul Jaminet, co-author of THE PERFECT HEALTH DIET

Two Quotes For Fatfighters -- and they're not fuzzy wuzzy...they're a reality slap in the face....

Eh, I have nothing much to add today. I'm getting ready for my walk, so I'll just post a couple of quotes by Epictetus that anyone who's been futzing around with getting in shape--but not making progress--or who made progress and started losing ground or who simply needs to refocus should read many times over and heed.

I know it's the kind of stuff I need to hear and hear often, cause wishful and warm and fuzzy thoughts don't get squat done. If we wanna transform, it's damn hard work with lots of real commitment and daily recommitment on those harder days.

It doesn't JUST happen. No magic pill. No fairy godmother waves a wand. No "wake up and be fit."

You do it. I do it. Meal by  meal and walk by walk and weight-training session by weight-training session and swim by swim and ounce of water by ounce of water and affirmation by affirmation and "no, I won't eat that" by "no, I won't eat that" and "yes, I'm gonna go move, though I don't wanna" by "yes, I'm gonna move now, though I don't wanna."

And it's hard like heck. Then just hard. Then a bit easier. Then a habit (that can be lost if we don't stay focused on goals.)

Well, I guess I did have something to say. No surprise. Hah.

On to the quotes:


    Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practice it, but accustom yourself to something else.
        Book II, ch. 18


    First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
        Book III, ch. 23

Back to EXERCISING! & What the heck is that line down my torso? Oh, is THAT what it is? ; ) Rereading REFUSE TO REGAIN and sharing a quote on metabolism & exercise..and what is your exercise block? Move!

Tanita-san: 186.0

It keeps moving down. I keep smiling.

In less than one pound, I'll just be "overweight". Buh-bye, obesity!

I'm officially back to exercising. Yesterday I walked 28 minutes (stopped when left foot got numb, which hadn't happened until the 40 to 45 minute mark before). I guess I have ground to regain, footwise.

I then went swimming at the local pool for a half hour. I used some of that to work on my triceps (ie, swam in ways that made me force water using triceps muscles).  I also did that thing where you lift yourself out of the pool, held it, went back to water. Lifted out of pool, held it, back in water--twenty times. I did scissors while holding onto the edge of the pool until my inner thighs were exhausted. I just used up energy and moved and had fun.
 
The moon was amazing (we did evening time in the pool), a sliver of newness that got more golden then coppery as it dropped further into the west. It was a gorgeous evening. I'm glad I went out and walked and swam.  Saw an ibis. Saw a ravishing moon. Smelled flower-scented balmy air. It was good to be alive. And because I felt so alive again, I missed my nephew. A lot. And cried, a little. But he's in Heaven, and that's better than here, as beautiful an evening as it was.

I was a little woozy after exercising so I checked my BP: 104/62

Pretty good for a gal who was on blood pressure meds for years until a couple months ago. :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~`
I've been noticing this line that runs down my torso. I couldn't remember seeing this before.

I found out what it is: linea alba.

It is formed by the fusion of the aponeuroses of the abdominal muscles, and it separates the left and right rectus abdominis muscles. In muscular individuals its presence can be seen on the skin, forming the depression between the left and right halves of a "six pack."

I had kidded around with my hubby how after 3 years of Pilates, I had a six-pack under all that huge pile of fat. Apparently, I wasn't far off. You can't do all those abdominal exercises in Pilates training, week in, week out, 2x or 3x a week, and not have results, right?

Mine is not a lean athlete's or personal trainer's version. Heck no. Loose skin. Still a large load of fat. I carry in the torso anyway. When I was a teten and normal weight, I had skinny arms and legs and a poochy tummy. My belly was always my weak spot.

But the linea alba and segmented muscles ARE gently visible and that is a badge rewarding a lot of cruches, hundreds, and assorted sweat-fests. I didn't have that the last time I was 186. But then, the last time I was this weight, I was not exercising much, other than some dancing/aerobics. No hardcore abdominal work and such. I've spent 3 years knowing what regular sore muscles (abs and others) is like. This is the payoff.

I also note that my legs look great. Working out changes how you look as the fat goes away. If you want to look better when you lose some weight--start working out NOW. I do notice that it helps a lot with contour and firmness, even with the shifty layer of excess skin here and there. I know I'd look way, way worse had I not worked out consistently for THREE YEARS and worked my butt off multiple days a week for 7+ months.

Yes, I have saggy thigh-butt-belly-upper arm-bosom skin, particularly those crinkly-droopies in the inner thigh and upper arms and that panni, from  having been 300 lbs and now 112 pounds LESS than that number. You pay a price. But the abdominal muscles are showing. I SEE THEM when I'm nekkid and it makes me happy.I'm still fat. I'm still abdominally fat, but I finally see what all my hard work did over the years.

I haven't had a Pilates session in over 2 weeks. I miss it. Bad. I always felt so zingy and flexible and alive afterwards. So dang virtuous. I resume next week (and I will assess what the budget allows). But tomorrow, I'm gonna do some mat-work at home. I wanna keep my abs, even if I can't keep training with Liza 2x a week. (Though I'm praying I can. It does my body good.)

I don't wanna lose my ab muscles or my nice thigh shape. I love what Pilates did for my aging body and especially my once thunder-thighs. I really love LOOKING at those muscles in my thighs in shorts. They look GOOD.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I dipped into REFUSE TO REGAIN by Dr. Berkeley last night. Since I reintroduced some starchy carbs recently --potatoes, rice, the safe ones according to the Jaminets-- I find I'm TOO MUCH letting them slide in. More than a couple times a week. I needed a reminder why I need to be very vigilant with starches and make them the "rare" S food, not the usual meal item. My dietitian allowed me one starch serving a day. I did better with one starch serving once or twice a week. I'm doing about 4x a week now. I'm not gaining or anything from it. But I fear re-invigorating my appetite. I am more insulin sensitive, more leptin sensitive, but I'm still someone with "issues" with starchy carbs and sugar and I must always be vigilant. This book reminds me to not let this slide....

The chapter on metabolism is helpful--realistic, but hopeful--and emphasizes the role exercise can play in maintenance. I'm not in maintenance, but I will be, and soonish.

I had exercise on the brain, so a quote stood out. It just highlighted for me why this habit is a habit that's worth developing, even for those just starting their journey of weight loss, even those who haven't yet lost the first 5 pounds on the long journey. I started developing the habit when I was 278 lbs. You are never too big to move in some way.

Here's a quote:

"Exercise may benefit metabolism as well. One study which looked at maintainers eighteen to forty months after dieting showed that those who exercised had normal metabolic rates for size, whereas those who were sedentary had slower than predicted rates. If you want to be assured of a nice, active metabolic rate--exercise. Be sure to include some muscle-building activity to maintain a good store of metabolically active muscle tissue."

It's just common sense really. Move more = higher metabolism Move less = slower metabolism. Diet a lot = impair metabolism. But that impairment seems to improve with time and with increasing muscle mass.

So...if that doesn't get ya to commit to move...you need some deep soul-searching to figure out why.  We all have our reasons, and it may come down simply to plain, old, classic-vice sloth. What's your block?

If you've not exercised in a while--or ever--commit to 10 minutes today. Just ten. Walk, swim, ride a bike, dance to fast music, walk in place in front of a tv show you like, put on an exercise video. 10 mins. Start now.

Okay. I'm off to eat something and figure out how to bust a muscle-building move when a stormy sky threatens my walk. I see an On Demand video as a possibility. Or some dancing. I just got a new electronica/dance cd from Amazon via UPS today. Might try it out.

Go. Burn some calories. Build some muscle.

Be well...

Scale, Pounds Lost ticker Updated, Restarting harder than imagined, and Quote for those working on becoming "Everlasting Splendours"

Tanita-san: 187.0

That brings me to 112 pounds lost.

I'm happy about that. If I lose 2 more pounds, I am numerically, officially, finally, not obese anymore. Two more.

Exercise: I'm out of the habit. Yep. I put off and put off--hubby this, me that, reasons, yadda--walking and didn't. And realized that I'm OUT of the habit. Before, I'd get antsy if I didn't do my walking and Pilates. Now, I'm happy to sit on my butt again.

This is why I don't take "vacations" from healthy eating. I've read the studies (last year, again this year) on how the brain keeps old habit pathways intact, but new ones can be more "active", let's say. And as you keep doing the new stuff, you make the old habits less pressing. However, revert to old ways, and old habits become more pressing.

While I didn't slack on eating well while having our horrible event, I was totally not exercising. Old couch potato  leanings are in force. This is bad. I have to now exert my full will to get myself to move again.

I know, I really do know, that a few weeks of doing my exercise thang and THAT will be my habit again. But now I have to fight to regain that momentum and habituation.

Sucks.

This is why you don't stop.
This is why you don't say "Oh, just while I'm on vacation" or "Just for my birthday weekend". This is why the brain and old habits can be our enemies, while the brain with new habits are our allies.

This is why.

It's hard now. It wasn't hard before.

Old habits don't really die, or if they do, they die hard. DIE, DAMN YOU, DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so, that was the good and the bad.

I have a ton of laundry to do, my food for today to plan, grocery shopping, and EXERCISE. (And I get the "don't wanna" thoughts just typing "exercise", I kid you not.)

If you have inculcated good habits, keep them up. Slack off and you have to do all the heavy lifting of new-habit forming again.

It's not only positive physical habits I am working on. I started reading a Dallas Willard book last night. I bought it a few months back, but I'm only getting onto it now. I wanted a spiritual read and something to encourage me to move forward and not be beset by grief, fears, doubts. Just keep an eye on TRANSFORMATION, which is my word for this year. Change. Transform. Renew.

He uses quotes from Scripture, of course, and from famous authors. I looked up one of his CS Lewis quotes to get the larger quotation. I like it. I like thinking that we are working to change ourselves, yes, not just on the outside, because inside/outside is interlinked in humans. I believe in soul/spirit/mind, not just body/brain. And I've learned that for me, the inside has to change first to make the outside (words, actions) change. I truly believe we are outside, in what we say and do, what we already are inside. And if we want to change the outside, the inside must be transformed.

For me, mind and soul and, above all, will have to take the step first.

When we cooperate together to take those steps, encourage each other, we're helping in transformations. I think that's pretty cool. Thanks to those who've helped me--authors, bloggers, friends, family. Change is hard. Change is necessary. I hope we're all moving to that better destination, even an inch, today.

Here's the quote, and let's all become "everlasting splendours":

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit— immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: This "not Biggest Loser" Big Loser is RIGHT, so Listen Up!

"America, if there is one message that I want to send, it is that you do not need to be on The Biggest Loser to lose weight. All you have to do is believe in yourself, trust the process and take this journey one day at a time. Don't sit on the couch and watch the show anymore and watch us change our lives. Get up and do something for you. You can do it too."

--Courtney Crozier, eliminated TBL Contestant

hat tip to A Daily Dose of Dieting

My Award for "Self-analytical Blog Post that Made My Heart Fire Up and a Light Bulb Flash Today" Goes To....

Obesity Strike for THIS post that ends with this:

*Let's face it, kids, the food does, absolutely, soothe and calm and provide relief. It is an anxiolytic. It also provides escape and entertainment. And it's readily available, inexpensive and socially acceptable. Hell, if it didn't make me feel better and if it wasn't pleasurable, then it wouldn't be a fucking battle to reign that shit in.

It's a rawly honest post examining a startling weight regain, emotional meltdown, and epiphany that changed a fundamental philosophy. I was rivetted.

It even scared me a bit.

It reminded me of something similar in my life--twice--that led to my morbid obesity Not a trifecta like hers, but well, I know what being in THAT place feels like. I know the depression that leads to food-stuffing. I know the sense of unfairness that made me wail daily for almost a year about how I did not deserve what was happening. I don't know about this blogger, but I was really, really close to ending it. I was suicidal--and not just in the form of bingeing.

It's potent, that post.

You should read it.

Quote for the Dieter's Day: Think HEP, not DIET

So the first step towards permanent healthy weight loss is, somewhat ironically, to lose the diet and the diet mindset. Instead think about a Healthy Eating Plan (a HEP) that you could live with and enjoy for life. The best answer is to dieting, then, is: A lifelong program of everyday healthy, pleasurable eating coupled with regular exercise. To lose weight, eat less and exercise more. How boring! How prosaic! Yet how true.

--Meg Selig in "Why Diets Don't Work...and What Does."

Quote for the Dieter's Day: It's not Self-Denial; It's Self-Love...

This one is thanks to "Rapunzel" of In Pursuit of my Inner Pin-Up blog:

So, here's what I'm thinking. How about instead of considering every day of dieting one of self-denial, how about thinking of it as an act of love? Saying no to the bacon/french fries/pizza isn't punishment, it's self-love. Sweating it out on the treadmill or around the park with my dog isn't torture, it's self-love. Choosing salad over a Big Mac isn't deprivation, it's self-love. See what I mean here? Doesn't that tiny little shift in perspective change the whole diet mentality?

Wise Words for Wednesday: On Pilates and Aging

I've seen women totally transform their bodies with Pilates, myself included. My Pilates experience more than any other exercise has convinced me that it's possible to grow stronger, more fit, and more flexible with age - not the opposite.

_{Christiane Northrup, M.D.}

Quote of the Day: Sugar, not Fat!

For the past couple years, I have started to move more and more into the position espoused by today's quote from Dr. Mercola, though I won't say I espouse his entire nutritional philosophy:

The truth is, many of the health problems attributed to fat and cholesterol are in fact caused by SUGAR, not fat!

I think it was just hearing about sugars and inflammation, sugars and cancer, sugars and diabetes, sugars and upping cholesterol, sugars triggering binges, etc. It was just coming to me as: Okay, this stuff is like poison in many ways. It has to be reduced (or for some ELIMINATED) from one's daily meals. Multitude of health issues may be impacted (some seriously) by ingesting sugar (sucrose, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, and etc ad infinitum).


I do think it still comes down to calories for weight loss--burn more than what you eat or stay the same or gain. Period. Gastric bypass' popularity has proved that even those who said they couldn't lose weight by eating less were lying. The surgery made them eat less: they lost. (Unless someone can show me a gastric bypass patient whose surgery was done properly but right off the bat either didnt' lose or gained.) Eat less than you burn, you lose weight. Eat more than you burn: gain weight. (And yes, some people naturally burn more--freaking lucky devils--and some naturally burn less --we the cursed ones-- for all manner of reasons, such as some naturally fidget, some naturally have an urge to NOT sit still, some have great thyroids, some have whack pituitaries, some have endocrine disorder.) It still applies: Even if you're a metabolically blessed person who can eat five turkeys and two pigs and a palmful of chocolate a day and burn it off, if you eat the SIXTH turkey and the second palmful and don't burn it, you'll gain.

But I think that simple, processed carbs may actually be the diet devil. Time and more research will tell.

Until then, finding a way to eat fewer calories that your body needs daily with maximal satisfaction (however one defines satisfaction, be it bulk that fills the tummy or small portions of most-desired foods, or high fiber, or high liquid, or meat or no meat) is the only surefire way to go down, down, down on the scale. Less in than out. But also BETTER IN...