Overcoming Yet Another Obstacle

I haven’t posted in a while because I haven’t been doing well in the fight against fat. Here’s what happened.

At the beginning of the month, my husband got new insurance at his new job. I knew we probably wouldn’t get the insurance cards right away, and started spacing out my Synthroid. Because I wasn’t taking my Synthroid every day, it made it all that much more difficult to not only keep the pounds off but lose more weight. In fact, I gained and also went up to 166.

I didn’t help myself any. I figured it was a lost cause, so I did things like get Wendy’s fries and dip them in my chocolate frosty.

And then I had some kind of digestive situation that wreaked havoc on my body, and left me pretty exhausted for a good week. The fatigue led to ordering out 4 nights in a row. (I guess my husband was having sympathy fatigue.)

But the insurance cards came in. I got back on my Synthroid, and while it will still be a while before I’m really back to “normal,” I’m glad the scale was at 164 today.

I won’t win the contest, but I think the contest has confirmed my need for exercise. I would like to boost my immune system, which has kind of been in shambles for years now, and exercise should help with that.

Hopefully I’ll still lose another pound or two before the end of the contest. Which will mean I’ll have to use extreme caution when my son’s birthday cake is cut tonight!

I’ll Make a Comeback - Next Week

I’ve been sick for three days. Sitting around. Consuming calories. Welcoming them into my body. Letting them stick around. They seem to like it. They’ve decided to stick around and enjoy the scenery for a little while.

Sigh.

I haven’t had the greatest start to this fat fighting contest. But when the snot stops flowing out of my nostrils and my throat doesn’t feel like a hot skillet, I will be putting all the calories on notice: They’re being evicted.

Superbowl Summary

First of all - THE GIANTS WON!

I cannot emphasize enough how happy I am about this. For so many reasons.

1. The Patriots beat my Panthers a few years back.

2. The Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians during the playoffs (my husband’s side of the family are Cleveland fans).

3. My dad cheered for the Giants. He passed away last year from a brain cancer. So this win is for him!

Anyway, onto the food situation.

I didn’t do so bad. Mostly because I had a wheat bagel for breakfast and never got hungry again the rest of the day. So I think I ended up ok.

I never did exercise today, but now it’s just time to move forward.

Starting a Diet on a Friday

Ooh, I am none to thrilled about beginning this process on a Friday. Since childhood, the weekend is a time to eat pizza and junk food and dessert, oh my!

What’s worse is the Super Bowl is on Sunday! Ever since I had the best chicken wings in the world at my step-father-in-law’s relatives’ Christmas party in Sandusky Ohio last December, I have been on a major chicken wing kick!

And then there’s beer.

There’s a few ways I could address this.

1. Alot of exercise

2. Super light eating the days before and after the Superbowl, followed by moderation.

3. Eat a salad instead of chicken wings.

4. Eat the foods I love, but just fewer of them.

5. Realize that an indulgence every once in a while creates more long-term success by reducing the amount of desperation and cravings you feel due to the withholding of favorite foods (or the amounts of favorite foods)

I think I’ll go with #5, but I’ll try to add a bit of #4 in for good measure.

Enemies of the Diet

The traditional American diet has many enemies. One of my biggest enemies right now is stress.

My husband was recently laid off and severance is about to run off. COBRA is $1200 a month, so we’re scrambling for another option. But because of my history of thyorid cancer and my husband’s rheumatoid arthritis, we’re rejected for affordable short-term plan options. I’m an independent contractor so obviously I can’t get insurance through my work.

Mix that in with a possible out-of-state move due to out-0f-state job offers and the idea of selling a house in a less than remarkable market - and as you can see, I’m stressed out!

One of the best ways to deal with stress is to exercise. The problem is finding the time to exercise. If you or a spouse has ever been unemployed, you know that you’re actually far busier looking for work than when you’re gainfully employed.

Which brings me to the number one enemy of the diet: EXCUSES.

The truth is that I can reduce stress by not being consumed by my current situation every waking minute of every day. To do that, I can spend a good 30-60 minutes at least a few days a week exercising. And right now, it may be more important than ever to make it happen.