Now that I am only 4 pounds from my initial goal, I need to start focusing on my body as well as healthy eating. My daughter and I recently talked about the phrase that is often used by weight lifters - Skinny Fat. I hate that phrase. In some ways it sounds like those who use it believe that their journey for a healthy lifestyle is better, harder, more meaningful than those who do not work out. I also hate it because I think that those who use it to describe themselves are more prone to overdo which can lead to all kinds of eating disorders like over-exercising. That having been said, I do realize that I need some sort of regular exercise regimen.
So here are the first steps in that direction. Due to the fact that I'm totally addicted to running, I have decided to start racing a little more regularly. To that end I have finished my first 10K. I thought it was appropriate that my first virtual race benefit the American Lung Association. I didn't set any records, but I did it. I am also training for a half marathon that I will run in December. As part of the training I do long runs on Saturday, I ran 7 miles this past week and will run 8 this Saturday. In order to improve my time and to be able to go the distance I need to do some strength training. Every summer I teach summer school with the idea of using the money for something special. Last year I painted and refurnished my living room and bedroom. This summer I am putting together a home gym, complete with some miniature equipment for the grandkids. At this point my little gym contains a mini stepper, resistance bands, some hand weights, a couple of kettle bells, a yoga mat, TV and DVD player for workout videos and a mini fridge for water. After reviewing circuit trainers I think I have decided on one and will be adding it next week.
Finally, I am doing a little "vanity" work. My daughter and I are doing a 30 day butt challenge and I am doing a 21 day arm challenge. Unlike when my journey began, this time I am doing before pictures and measurements so that I can really see the progress that I am hoping to make.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
80/20
So I have now done my first 30 at 80/20 lifestyle.
Weight Lost: 6 pounds
Total loss: 56 pounds
I have to be honest here and admit that I ate more like 96/4. I still find it difficult to eat things that are not Whole30 compliant. After doing my first month of 80/20 I needed to decide what my forever food lifestyle would be; I came up with the following:
1. When eating with a group of people, do my best to stay clean, but don't talk about it to the others
2. When eating at someone's home, I would eat whatever was offered
3. I am a teacher and teachers are notorious for eating all the time, potlucks, happy hours... When deciding who would bring what to a Summer School potluck recently I overheard someone say, "Don't ask Jefferies. She never participates." So rule #3 is always participate in school activities and don't focus on what I should or should not be eating, just eat the bad stuff in moderation.
The bottom line is that I love what I am eating. I love playing around with different recipes and I love how I feel.
Weight Lost: 6 pounds
Total loss: 56 pounds
I have to be honest here and admit that I ate more like 96/4. I still find it difficult to eat things that are not Whole30 compliant. After doing my first month of 80/20 I needed to decide what my forever food lifestyle would be; I came up with the following:
1. When eating with a group of people, do my best to stay clean, but don't talk about it to the others
2. When eating at someone's home, I would eat whatever was offered
3. I am a teacher and teachers are notorious for eating all the time, potlucks, happy hours... When deciding who would bring what to a Summer School potluck recently I overheard someone say, "Don't ask Jefferies. She never participates." So rule #3 is always participate in school activities and don't focus on what I should or should not be eating, just eat the bad stuff in moderation.
The bottom line is that I love what I am eating. I love playing around with different recipes and I love how I feel.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Turning 60
To this point I have mostly focused on eating, not dieting, eating. My doctor does not want me to lose any more weight, but I have not reached my goal of 60 pounds, so I'm going to try an 80/20 lifestyle until I can decide what I want to do. However, eating is only part of the solution to a healthy life. I have also begun running. I have no problem getting into the clothes and shoes and hitting the trail or street, but I can't get the running vs. walking part down. So, as a series of gifts to myself I am going to do the following over the course of the next month. 1) work on my lungs 2) begin C25K running program 3) register for a 10K (I did a 5K in March) 4) purchase an elliptical machine for the days that it is too hot to run during daylight hours.
I Must Be In the Wrong Room
Round 4
I have now completed four rounds of 30. I am just a couple of weeks away from turning 60 and when I realized the potential for losing a great deal of weight with this new lifestyle, I considered that it was possible to lose 60 by 60. The results for round 4 are:
Weight loss this 30: 12 lbs
Total loss: 50 lbs
See, totally doable. And then I went for my bi-annual blood work. You would have to know my doctor to really appreciate this visit and even that is no guarantee that you would. My sister is not a fan of his. But here is a rundown of what happened.
Every visit begins, as I'm sure it does with most doctors, with a weigh-in and, blood pressure and temperature check. Everything was good and the nurse commented on my weight loss. She ushered me to a room telling me that the doctor would be with me shortly.
After a few minutes the door opened and there stood Dr. J, laptop in hand as it always is. He peeked into the room, look at his computer and professed to be in the wrong room. Without closing the door, he stepped back into the hallway and spoke to an unseen person. "What room did you say Ms. Jefferies was in, because she is not in this one." He turned back to me and asked who I was. I knew that he knew, but I played along.
"Joy, um Jefferies."
Looking at his computer again he said, "Nope, I'm looking at a picture of her from about 9 months ago and you look nothing like this picture." With that he came into the room and begin the medical visit in earnest.
He marveled at my blood pressure, which is honestly usually pretty good. He inquired as to how I was losing the weight and he asked about what kind of exercise I was doing. He imputed some information into the computer, turned to me and said, "Well, first off you do not need to lose any more weight. He said that my BMI was 19.5 and should not go any lower. Secondly, he said that I needed to have a bone scan as weight lose and age can weaken the bones. He ended the visit by telling me that it was the best exam and evaluation he had ever done on a patient. He even went to far as to say if he was grading me on health I'd get an A+. I've never had a doctor talk to me like that. It felt good.
Before I could leave I had to have blood drawn to check my thyroid, I'm hypothyroid. As I wanted for the lab tech, all three nurses in the practice came into the room to confirm that what Dr. J had told them about me was true and to congratulate me on the good work. It's nice to have family and friends tell you that you are doing a good job, but when you hear it from medical people, it is pretty cool in a different way.
I have now completed four rounds of 30. I am just a couple of weeks away from turning 60 and when I realized the potential for losing a great deal of weight with this new lifestyle, I considered that it was possible to lose 60 by 60. The results for round 4 are:
Weight loss this 30: 12 lbs
Total loss: 50 lbs
See, totally doable. And then I went for my bi-annual blood work. You would have to know my doctor to really appreciate this visit and even that is no guarantee that you would. My sister is not a fan of his. But here is a rundown of what happened.
Every visit begins, as I'm sure it does with most doctors, with a weigh-in and, blood pressure and temperature check. Everything was good and the nurse commented on my weight loss. She ushered me to a room telling me that the doctor would be with me shortly.
After a few minutes the door opened and there stood Dr. J, laptop in hand as it always is. He peeked into the room, look at his computer and professed to be in the wrong room. Without closing the door, he stepped back into the hallway and spoke to an unseen person. "What room did you say Ms. Jefferies was in, because she is not in this one." He turned back to me and asked who I was. I knew that he knew, but I played along.
"Joy, um Jefferies."
Looking at his computer again he said, "Nope, I'm looking at a picture of her from about 9 months ago and you look nothing like this picture." With that he came into the room and begin the medical visit in earnest.
He marveled at my blood pressure, which is honestly usually pretty good. He inquired as to how I was losing the weight and he asked about what kind of exercise I was doing. He imputed some information into the computer, turned to me and said, "Well, first off you do not need to lose any more weight. He said that my BMI was 19.5 and should not go any lower. Secondly, he said that I needed to have a bone scan as weight lose and age can weaken the bones. He ended the visit by telling me that it was the best exam and evaluation he had ever done on a patient. He even went to far as to say if he was grading me on health I'd get an A+. I've never had a doctor talk to me like that. It felt good.
Before I could leave I had to have blood drawn to check my thyroid, I'm hypothyroid. As I wanted for the lab tech, all three nurses in the practice came into the room to confirm that what Dr. J had told them about me was true and to congratulate me on the good work. It's nice to have family and friends tell you that you are doing a good job, but when you hear it from medical people, it is pretty cool in a different way.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Don't Be a Hater
Yesterday I was checking out Instagram and realized that one of the people I am following because she is Whole30, is not Whole30. If I read her correctly, she was Whole30 at some point, but recently quit. She of course has several followers who found her, as I did, by searching for Whole30. So now others like myself who are looking for support, recipes, meal plans... are finding her. Instead of finding Whole30 support you find just the opposite. I'm not the type to start flooding her with negative comments, but I do think that she is misrepresenting herself and the Whole30 lifestyle which can, in my opinion, have damaging effects on someone who is trying to change their bad eating habits. Am I wrong to think she should change her name XXXXXeastsWhole? Am I wrong to think her page should begin with a disclaimer?
Yesterday, I saw that she posted an article from the blog
of another Whole30 dropout. This is how I discovered that she is NOT Whole30. This one made me extremely angry. She called
Whole30 an eating disorder. According to the author, if you do "Paleo
Challenges" like Whole30, you have an eating disorder. Apparently now that
she has decided that she cannot maintain a Whole30 lifestyle she will trash it
and start supporting being able to push big tires, yes she brags about being
able to push around a tractor tire. She talks about people being held hostage
by their scales (not sure she used those exact words, but I cannot bring myself
to read it again). That's great that she is happy with whatever weight she may be at, but she has no right to make others feel bad for wanting to look a certain, healthy way.
Here's my take as a Whole30 follower with absolutely no
education or experience in the medical field.
Whole30 is set up in increments of 30 days to give you a frame
of reference. There is also Whole9, 21 Day Fix and others. The number is there
to encourage you to try it for that period of time before you start measuring
your success. I am on my 5th round of 30 because I love the way I am eating, how
I feel and what it is doing to my body health wise. I know what an eating
disorder is because I have suffered from both bulimia and anorexia. Whole30 is
NOT an eating disorder. It will not kill you.Your muscles will not deteriorate. Your hair will not fall out. Your period will not stop. It will improve your health if
you suffer from certain health issues. As I have stated before, I have Crohn's
disease - since beginning Whole30 I have not had a single flareup. Not one. I
have psoriatic arthritis - since beginning Whole30 I have not taken
a single injection of Humira ($1,200 a pop weekly, thank God for insurance) and the only negative side effect of stopping the injections is that my hands are
starting to show signs of the psoriasis, but not the arthritis. I can use
Taclonex topical cream for it and it's all good. I have suffered for years with
debilitating migraines (2 -3 a week) – I no longer take Topirmate or Relpax
and I have had 3 migraines since beginning Whole30. That's 3 in 5 months. I
have sciatica. I have had two back surgeries and have at one time or another
been on some pretty intense pain relief medications. I have taken Narco for 14
years. I hate taking it and only take enough to be able to function. I am never pain
free. My pain management doctor is amazed that after 14 years I have only
progressed to taking 8 – 10 a day, but as I said, I am never pain free, just
functioning. Since beginning Whole30 I have reduced the number of pills to 5 –
6 a day. My goal is to wean myself off of them completely within a year. My
doctor says it won’t be possible without further surgery, we’ll see. One of the medications I can’t do anything about it is my thyroid medication. I have been
hypothyroid for 25 years. I can live with that. Finally, I have a tiny little
brown bottle that goes everywhere I go. I have angina and I do carry my nitro
tablets with me at all times. I will ask for a complete physical next January
and am hoping that the cardiologist will be amazed that I no longer need to
worry about my heart. Finally, my family has a history of liver disease, my
brother had a liver transplant a few years ago. I take 50,000 m of vitamin D, because my liver count is always bad. I can’t wait until August when I go for
lab work. I am hoping that vitamin D will be an option, not a requirement.
So all
that boring medical stuff aside where is this woman coming from? Whole30 is NOT an eating disorder. It is a
quality of life giving, life-saving, eating lifestyle. I love every meal of it.
Do I ever slip? Yes. Do I start back at Day 1 when I slip? Never. 30 days is
just a frame of reference. What do I do at the end of 30 days? I ask myself if
there is something I want to eat that is not Whole30 compliant. This month I
will eat some Indian food, malai kofta, saag paneer and tandoori chicken with a piece of naan. The next day I will return to the lifestyle that has been life renewing for me. What I won't do is try to push around a big tractor tire and use that as a measure for healthy. What I really won't do is put down what works for someone else. I won't make someone feel bad about feeling good. I will look in the mirror and like what I see. I will continue running at I prepare for a 10K on the 27th of June. Most importantly I will love my life more than I have in years. .
Monday, June 8, 2015
A Whole New Me
I have now completed round three of Whole30, easy breezy. I have been having a bit of a problem with clothing though. I have literally had a pair of pants fall off when going up a set of stairs. I am down to two pairs of pants because they have belt loops and a couple of dresses, because I have no shame and don't care how they look. So the plan was to use my income tax refund to buy a WHOLE NEW WARDROBE! I have never done that. The closest I ever got was when I got married and back in the "olden" days the bride was supposed to go into to the marriage with new married lady clothes. I bought or my parents gave me the money to buy new clothes for my honeymoon and due to the fact that I worked at Joske's (it's like Dillard's kids) I got a 25% discount and was able to buy quite a bit. But this was different I was going to really throw out everything I owned and start from scratch. While I was at it I decided to get a serious hair cut. I loved it when people asked me what I was doing on the weekend and I could say, "I'm buying a new wardrobe."
I had planned the whole shopping experience out. I had put together boards so that I knew exactly what I was looking for. I had gone through my jewelry chest, shoe boxes and purses to see what I would need to buy and what I had on hand (nothing more than a year old would remain). I had Ali that day, so I knew I had to have a plan if I was to get anything accomplished and I have to say she was a trooper. The last time I bought a pair of pants or skirt I was a size 10, remember I have no hips and that is where pants hit. Plus I shop at Old Navy where they are known for vanity sizing, so maybe they were size 12, but the tag said 10. I felt very confident that I would be able to comfortably be able to wear a size 6 since I was going to Old Navy. I gathered up all the colors and styles on my list and headed to the dressing room. After trying on three pair of pants I got redressed and sat down to think. What a terrible depressing problem I had encountered. I could 1) go home, dig my old clothes out of the bag and wait a few more weeks to try shopping again or 2) buy a size FOUR, 4,4,4,4,4, because the 6 was TOO BIG but they may not fit me a month from now, because they might be too big and I didn't have the money to do another whole new wardrobe. I even tried on a 2 and if I were 30 years younger and not a middle school teacher I probably could have made it work until they loosened up in a few weeks.The truth was there was no decision to make. I could not continue wearing the clothes I had been wearing, so by the end of the day and several stores later I had purchased about 3/4 of a whole new wardrobe. I decided some things could wait until I reached my goal weight. Did I mention that the tops I bought to go with my size 4 pants were mediums. I don't think I have ever worn a medium top.
The next step in my makeover was to get my hair cut. I had made an appointment for the day after the shopping trip. I was almost as excited for the hair as I was for the clothes. I had even decided to give up the stylist who had been cutting my hair off and on for 30 years. I researched salons and stylists on Yelp and found the one that I thought would give me just what I was looking for. If you want to know how that turned out you can read my review on Yelp for Bliss Hair Salon. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Round 3 is in the bag and here are the results: An almost whole new size 4 wardrobe
Weight 146 (BTW I am 5' 71/2")
loss of 10 lbs this 30 and an overall total of 38 lbs gone forever
Did I mention that my pants are size 4?
I had planned the whole shopping experience out. I had put together boards so that I knew exactly what I was looking for. I had gone through my jewelry chest, shoe boxes and purses to see what I would need to buy and what I had on hand (nothing more than a year old would remain). I had Ali that day, so I knew I had to have a plan if I was to get anything accomplished and I have to say she was a trooper. The last time I bought a pair of pants or skirt I was a size 10, remember I have no hips and that is where pants hit. Plus I shop at Old Navy where they are known for vanity sizing, so maybe they were size 12, but the tag said 10. I felt very confident that I would be able to comfortably be able to wear a size 6 since I was going to Old Navy. I gathered up all the colors and styles on my list and headed to the dressing room. After trying on three pair of pants I got redressed and sat down to think. What a terrible depressing problem I had encountered. I could 1) go home, dig my old clothes out of the bag and wait a few more weeks to try shopping again or 2) buy a size FOUR, 4,4,4,4,4, because the 6 was TOO BIG but they may not fit me a month from now, because they might be too big and I didn't have the money to do another whole new wardrobe. I even tried on a 2 and if I were 30 years younger and not a middle school teacher I probably could have made it work until they loosened up in a few weeks.The truth was there was no decision to make. I could not continue wearing the clothes I had been wearing, so by the end of the day and several stores later I had purchased about 3/4 of a whole new wardrobe. I decided some things could wait until I reached my goal weight. Did I mention that the tops I bought to go with my size 4 pants were mediums. I don't think I have ever worn a medium top.
The next step in my makeover was to get my hair cut. I had made an appointment for the day after the shopping trip. I was almost as excited for the hair as I was for the clothes. I had even decided to give up the stylist who had been cutting my hair off and on for 30 years. I researched salons and stylists on Yelp and found the one that I thought would give me just what I was looking for. If you want to know how that turned out you can read my review on Yelp for Bliss Hair Salon. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Round 3 is in the bag and here are the results: An almost whole new size 4 wardrobe
Weight 146 (BTW I am 5' 71/2")
loss of 10 lbs this 30 and an overall total of 38 lbs gone forever
Did I mention that my pants are size 4?
Round 2
February 5
This is round 2 in a nutshell. On February 5th I was anxious to start my second 30. On day 31 of my first round I rewarded myself with a brownie (moist, decadent, with cream cheese and fudge icing). It was good, maybe even great. But not something that is a regular part of my life anymore.
After 30 days of my new eating lifestyle I can report that I have not had any flareups of Crohn's. I had one manageable migraine. I have not taken a single injection for my arthritis and I can function well without it. I am not pain free and to that end I am still taking Narco for my sciatica and arthritis, but I am down from 8 or more a day to 6 a day.
Now for the big news. On the 28th Elyse was running in her first 5K and I wanted to be there to support her. If you live in the Austin area, you will remember that as the day they shut down IH 35. I worried the entire way that I would miss her big moment. As it turned out Alivia and I were the only ones who did make there to cheer her on. I'm not sure you could really call it cheering as our hands were buried deep within out outerwear and our faces were covered with scarves, but we were there. Freezing our butts off. It was almost comical. At one point the runners had to run across a bridge, but it kept freezing up so they had to hold the railing and side-step it. I'm sure no PB was set that day.
We were celebrating Elyse's 30th birthday that evening with a family dinner. When we went to the store I was careful to purchase Whole30 compliant items for me and Erin. Elyse would be celebrating the BIG 30 and was free to eat whatever she wanted. Erin and I were going to try to stick to the plan.
Best laid plans - I made bottlecaps (floured, fried, jalapeno slices) with creamy jalapeno ranch dip. I confess I ate a couple... dozen. But I was celebrating sort of. I found out that I am going to be a grandmother again. I had mixed feelings about the announcement, because Erin has been trying to get pregnant for almost a year and I knew that this announcement would be hard on her. The news was enough to curb my appetite for the rest of the party. My heart was aching for one daughter and I didn't feel like I had truly expressed to the other how happy I was.
Although one of our family members was now with child, we made the family decision to run in Ali's school's 5K at the end of March. Hence, Ali's Rainbow Heart team was born.
And I was hooked. I couldn't wait to run again, although I would have to wait because I had some serious shin splints and was sure to have aching muscles tomorrow. But now I didn't just want to race, but run for the sake of training to race. I'm even thinking 10K next time and running this one again next year for a medal.
Here's the really important stuff that you probably want to know, at the end of the 2nd round of 30 days I am weighing in at 156! That's another 12 lbs for a total of 28. Way to go me!
This is round 2 in a nutshell. On February 5th I was anxious to start my second 30. On day 31 of my first round I rewarded myself with a brownie (moist, decadent, with cream cheese and fudge icing). It was good, maybe even great. But not something that is a regular part of my life anymore.
After 30 days of my new eating lifestyle I can report that I have not had any flareups of Crohn's. I had one manageable migraine. I have not taken a single injection for my arthritis and I can function well without it. I am not pain free and to that end I am still taking Narco for my sciatica and arthritis, but I am down from 8 or more a day to 6 a day.
Now for the big news. On the 28th Elyse was running in her first 5K and I wanted to be there to support her. If you live in the Austin area, you will remember that as the day they shut down IH 35. I worried the entire way that I would miss her big moment. As it turned out Alivia and I were the only ones who did make there to cheer her on. I'm not sure you could really call it cheering as our hands were buried deep within out outerwear and our faces were covered with scarves, but we were there. Freezing our butts off. It was almost comical. At one point the runners had to run across a bridge, but it kept freezing up so they had to hold the railing and side-step it. I'm sure no PB was set that day.
We were celebrating Elyse's 30th birthday that evening with a family dinner. When we went to the store I was careful to purchase Whole30 compliant items for me and Erin. Elyse would be celebrating the BIG 30 and was free to eat whatever she wanted. Erin and I were going to try to stick to the plan.
Best laid plans - I made bottlecaps (floured, fried, jalapeno slices) with creamy jalapeno ranch dip. I confess I ate a couple... dozen. But I was celebrating sort of. I found out that I am going to be a grandmother again. I had mixed feelings about the announcement, because Erin has been trying to get pregnant for almost a year and I knew that this announcement would be hard on her. The news was enough to curb my appetite for the rest of the party. My heart was aching for one daughter and I didn't feel like I had truly expressed to the other how happy I was.
Although one of our family members was now with child, we made the family decision to run in Ali's school's 5K at the end of March. Hence, Ali's Rainbow Heart team was born.
So on March 25th we ran or walked or did a walk/run in the Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children 5K Run and Ramble (how's that for a mouthful). I have never run for the sake of running. I am a soccer girl raised in a softball family. I have done nothing even remotely athletic in years, but when I saw other runners my age or older passing me, something snapped. Erin and I began running leaving behind the people we had promised to walk with. At some point Erin decided to take a break from running, after all she had now gone public with the fact that she was expecting to give me yet another precious grandchild due just three weeks after Elyse. I crossed the finish line by myself with a few family members there to cheer me on.
Here's the really important stuff that you probably want to know, at the end of the 2nd round of 30 days I am weighing in at 156! That's another 12 lbs for a total of 28. Way to go me!
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