Accountability Partner found???

I MAY have found an accountability partner. 

It's HUBBY! 

I never asked him, I never told him that he needs to change what he is doing, but this past weekend, he said to me that he's going to make an appointment to see his doctor but he wants to kick start a bit of weight loss before he goes. 

Say what??? 

I've been on him for years and years, but he has not wanted to do it. Ever. 

But I think he finally realizes it's time. SO I will be his support and he will be mine. 

We came across our first challenge this week with a trivia night on Tuesday at the pub, so I took it upon myself to cancel. We don't need to start off the week with a failure. 

I'm so excited for his journey.  I need to reel myself in a bit as I can get a bit controlling etc, but it's exciting to see him taking care of himself. 

Let's go!!! 

My Test Worked and then...

Lol... the 2 weeks that I tracked and drank my water and limited snacking were great! The scale even moved and I felt great! 

YAY!!!! 

But then I stopped. Stopped Tracking, stopped drinking water and started shoveling food into my mouth whenever I seemed to walk by the kitchen! 

I need an accountability partner. Someone to remind and push me... hubby is useless when it comes to that and I my two very close friends won't be of much help. One is on Ozempic so never eats and the other doesn't have any kind of issue with food so she doesn't feel my pain. 

Maybe I'll put some reminders on my phone to "remind me to drink and track" and to "put that cookie down!". 

Round 500 let's go. 

Update of the update

 So I wanted to do three things to reign in the bad habits and see if the scale would start moving - how did I do? 

1) drink more water  - I think all in all I did better with this. Still not great, but at least I was filling up my water bottle a few times during the day, rather than filling it up in the morning and then not taking a sip until I was going to bed.. True story! 

2) No snacking after dinner - I did really really good with this one. I want to add in trying to remove that mid afternoon snack now... 

3) tracking my food - started off really good and then stopped tracking on the weekend. I did notice when I started tracking HOW MUCH food I was actually eating. When I would have to stop to add the food into my little app, I realized how quickly those calories add up. Seeing the numbers add up made me want to stop shoveling food into my face, but when I stopped tracking, the accountability went out the door and I found that I was eating more and more. So baby steps. 

I am going to keep up with the 3 this week and see how I do. My weight was starting to drop by end of the week but then it started creeping up for no real reason. 

At least no real reason I thought until yesterday morning when my period arrived. It's been about 4 months since I've had one and so it came out of the blue but at least the weight gain made sense at that point. 

I am still weighing daily - I watched a youtube a few weeks back and the creator had gone to the doctor and the doctor had told her to weigh herself each day, same time, wearing the same thing if possible. She asked him why and said she had always heard it was not good to weigh every day. He said, if he had a patient that had high blood pressure he would tell them to monitor it by taking a blood pressure reading daily so it really is no different asking someone with a weight problem to monitor their weight daily with a scale.  That made so much sense to me so I don't feel guilty about weighing everyday and I do think it keeps me on track. 

So continuing with the plan... will report a loss/gain after I get through this TOM or time of year in my case! 

Little changes

So I've been good the last week, but no movement on the scale. Yes, it went down a few lbs and then back up right away. 

It's time to make some changes. I know that my weight only changes when I make adjustments in the kitchen. It won't matter how often I ride the bike or go for walks so it's time to change the kitchen habits. 

Things I want to improve or change this week:

1) more water 

2) no snacking after dinner - I want to limit snacks in the day as well but current goal is after dinner

3) track my food - this will be the hardest but if I can get back into the routine, I can at least see what I'm eating and more importantly HOW MUCH I'm eating. Cause it's more than I think it is. 

Let's see if this can kick start something.... 

Where oh Where did the summer go?

 It's been a hot minute since I've updated and even though it's been extremely busy, it hasn't been overly interesting and note worthy! 

LOL - but here we are at the edge of another fall season. I like fall. I used to love fall but our falls have been dreary lately, with lots of rain and colder days. It is the start of football season which I love because it means family time. Yes, I like the game too, but I LOVE sundays with the family, hunkered down, yelling at the TV. It's my happy season for that reason. 

A little update on me. Nothing much new. I've been a little slacking on the exercise front, although we had been doing lots of bike rides, it's now the time to dust off the old Peloton and get some regular cycles in. I was doing min of 1 ride a week but I want to ramp that up to 4 a week with a few strength sessions as well. 

My weight is up. As expected. It's always up in September - which is another reason that I no longer love Fall! :) I'm hovering between 183 and 185. I thought it might just be water weight after our 2 week holiday but it's still there after a week so it's not water weight. Time to get rid of it though. 

Hoping to do more updates as I do think they keep me more accountable. Also catching up on youtube pages and other blogs that I regularly read for motivation. 

Here we goooo again. 

Wedding down... next stop 100km bike ride

The wedding is over and it was absolutely beautiful. I chose the green dress and I loved it BUT.... I got zero pictures in it. Don't know what I was thinking. So stupid. 

It was super hot that day - 36 Cs or 97 F.  I had antiperspirants over my entire body!! 

But it was lovely and we had a great little vacation getaway to wine country. 

Now we are back for a few weeks and then plan for our 100km  or 62 mile ride to Sooke, BC. I'm not overly concerned about the ride as it's fairly flat terrain and our ebikes should get us there without having to charge but I am concerned about my buttocks! I will purchase a pair of padded bike shorts to help with the cushion. 

I'm hoping my peloton rides will help my endurance and allow me to turn off the motor on my bike and ride without assist. We will see. 

A little update on the Peloton. Do I still love it? I do.... I started a strength training program as well but with vacation etc, I get interrupted doing it so I will wait until our vacation is over to pick it up again. You have to do it on certain days or you don't get credit for it so I'll wait until my days are free once again. 

My weight is still the same - 180 but I have drastically reduced carbohydrates again and limited my wine consumption so I hope to see that number start to drop in the near future.  We had two friends in the last month have big scares. Our friend Bobby, had a stroke. This was his 3rd one and it's a bad one. He's been in the hospital for over a month and is not yet ready to move to the therapy ward. He lost the ability to swallow so he is on a feeding tube and has a trach. So hard to watch a friend go through this. Bobby is 52. 

And then another friend had a massive heart attack a few weeks ago. She had 5 stints placed in her and is back home recovering. She is 51. 

Just gotta take better care of ourselves. More activity and less crappy food!  I really want to be around for my kids' weddings (should that happen) and hopefully one day grandbabies! 

I have a small dress shop at my house....

I have purchased so many dresses for this darn wedding....most have been returned but I've managed to narrow it down. I first bought this one.... but found the color washed me out. 

So then.... I bought it in these two colors. I really liked the fit and I could get away with wearing a halter bra so didn't need to worry about dragging out the strapless, which I hate!! Nothing like constantly pulling up a bra that naturally wants to fall down to my waist! 

The green arrived but it's quite a bit more muted than this green below but I still like it. 

And before I make a decision I'm waiting on pink too.... 

And when I was checking out the status of my delivery,  I found these two below. Soooooo bought them too and they arrive today so will give them a try and get it all figured out before the weekend. 

  and   

It is a summer wedding so I could get away with a summer style floral dress but I like the elegance of the top 3 dresses so I think I will stick with one of the top 3 ones and maybe just keep one of the bottom ones for myself for a dinner out etc. 

 I love dresses... I wish I could keep them all but I just don't have enough occasions to wear them! 

Diet Medications

 I have a very very good friend that has made the decision to hop on the Ozempic train. She is overweight and has struggled with her weight for many years and has done about every single diet that is out there.  She is usually quite successful when she finds a new way of eating and does well for 4-6 months and then an event or thing happens in her life and she goes back to her eating ways.  I'm also going to add that in no way is she morbidly obese. She would be considered obese by medical standards but isn't everyone??  She's quite active and exercises regularly but says she's just not happy in her own body. My guess is that she is approx 170 lbs and is 5'4. She might be less weight than that but it's a rough guess. Weight is not really something any of us are public about. 

On Saturday night she broke the news to my other friend and myself that she has been taking Ozempic for about a month. She is thrilled about it and lost about 12 lbs. She has a protein shake for breakfast, a small salad or veggies/dip for lunch and then a regular dinner. 

My immediate internal reaction was "Is she crazy?". Of course I did not voice that concern to her as I could see her excitement and I really didn't want to rain on her parade. 

I know there are pros and cons to all "diets" and weight loss theories. I for one have been on the very controversial low carb diet for almost  4 years now. I lost a chunk of weight following a Keto lifestyle and then transitioned to more low carb which I still follow now. I have maintained my weight within about 10 lbs for over 2 years. It creeps up, it goes does, but I am able to manage it fairly well. 

After I got over the initial concern of her taking a drug to lose weight and the possible complications and side effects one can have with any medication, my feelings turned from concern to anger and jealousy. 

Was she taking the easy way out? Why is it fair that I have to work my ass off to maintain or lose when she can give herself an injection once a week and lose tons of weight and it just be easy?

I was mad at myself to feeling this way. She's such a good friend and I love her immensely but I couldn't stop the feelings.  Why can't I just be happy that she has found a solution that will make her happy?  

Ah.... Vacation...

We spent 5 nights in California last week. The first two nights we were in Laguna Beach and I have to say, I LOVE Laguna Beach. What a beautiful place. I felt like I was in Hawaii with the palm trees and the gorgeous beaches.. so lovely.  Very clean city. Visited with my brother for a few days and helped him do a bit of packing as he was ready to leave his rental and move to a new home. Plan to visit again once he gets all settled and gets the pool built!! :) 

A few quick pics - view of ocean while having dinner on lovely patio

The last 3 nights were in Temecula which is about 1 hour from Laguna in the desert. Here is a view from patio of lovely brewery/winery in Temecula. Our final stop on our 6 hour bike ride. 

 I could have stayed there ALL night looking out at those hills..! 

The view from our morning walks through the Vineyard at the Estate we stayed at - Carter Estates Winery! 

One of many Wine Tasting Flights.... 

Temecula is so different than Laguna Beach but equally as beautiful. We had such a wonderful time. Great weather, rode bikes and saw most of Temecula in one day,  drank some wine and had some great food..... and then turned around and flew home! 

It was a lovely trip and one that we will do again, but it's back to life and reality! 

We have a wedding to go to in July so I gotta get going on toning this body or/and losing some lbs so I can get me a cute dress and look uber cute at the wedding! I have 2 months!! 

Spring 2023!

It's finally that time of year!!! Spring has sprung

Although we are still colder in temps than typical for this time of year, the blossoms have arrived! 

It's so beautiful seeing all the pink from the cherry blossoms and I know that means I'll be sniffling and sneezing more with the pollen and exploding foliage around me, but that's ok! YAY... winter is OVA! 

But in all honesty, I love spring. It's the start of longer days and warmer nights. Whoop Whooop! 

A little bike update from my last post - I received my Peloton on April 2nd and I have to say, I LOVE it! I'm not the fastest or the strongest rider, but I love riding it and more importantly, I love the feeling when I finish riding it! 

Been dabbling in some of the off bike sessions as well. After a beginner full body strength work out last thursday, I was walking like a zombie! But no pain, no gain, right?! All good.. 

Will schedule another strength this week sometime. It's nice to be excited about something again...

A little bad/ a little good

Well it's been awhile since I wrote anything and surprisingly, it's not because I had nothing to write, I just haven't sat down and put everything together. 

First off, my weight is the same, my skin is the same... I'm the same as I was mid february. I have cut out some things from my diet, but it's going to be a journey. When I lost my weight some 4 years ago, I was just younger and things were easier. Maybe because I had been so big and then losing the weight just came easy cause my body was happy. Now I'm older... and my body is just happy it seems at this size. I know I want to be lower, even 10-15 lbs at this point would make me much happier, but it's going to take some work. More work than before it would seem. 

A couple good things and a couple bad things happened over the last month. I'll try to sum em up 

On Feb 28th, I had what I'll call "an episode". I was going through my day like any other day.  It was approx. 12:30 and I had just finished a call with work and realized I hadn't had lunch yet.  I made a quick egg salad sandwich, but also noted that I felt a little "off".  A little dizzy... nothing crazy and had some chest pains. I figured I was just hungry.  

So I ate and about an hour later, I felt worse. I had a stabbing pain in the left side of my chest and my left arm was tingling from shoulder to fingertips. I've had this before and it's passed after a few minutes. I had some electrolytes because low minerals comes out in me with chest pain and numbness. It didn't help and I started to really worry. Of course I checked out Dr Google, even though I knew that all symptoms pointed to heart.. I called my husband and he rushed home. When he got home I felt ok. Had a little nap on the couch and felt good. I started to wonder if it was anxiety.  Then it returned about 20 minutes later. The pain was not as bad but it was there. Hubby said... "we are going to emerg"... so off we went. 

A quick note that I have severe "white coat hypertension" so I knew as soon as I got to the hospital that my bp would be screaming (220/150).  By the time I walked into emergency and was triaged, it took about 10 minutes for them to get me into a bed,  hook me up with all sorts of wires, take my blood and  set an IV. I had 2 doctors, 2 nurses a blood tech and someone else in the room. It was all a blur. Oddly, by then the pain was very very light. Barely noticeable. But I was there so might as well make the best of it. 

Long story short. My heart was OK dokie. My potassium was low which was causing the numbness and the pain in my chest.  They gave me my BP meds, potassium, did a bunch of heart marker tests and monitored me for 4 hours. I did have a higher than normal WBC so they discharged me with instructions for a follow up stress test to ensure that there was no inflammation around my heart. 

A few days later, I returned to the same hospital but this time for a routine mammogram. Deep down I knew I was going to get a callback. I always do but I really hoped that maybe, just maybe this time I would be cleared. Nope... call back a week later.  I went back to the hospital for my callback mammogram and ultrasound. The mammogram technician was great, she showed me exactly on my film the area of concern. It was a small pea sized dot. Very different from the other blobs (cysts) that I typically had.  Panic set in.  I was taken to my ultrasound room with a male technician. I don't really care male or female but in all the past ultrasounds that I have had, I know that female techs are much more forthcoming with results (even though they shouldn't be). So he gave me nothing. Scanned the boob for approximately 2 minutes, left the room for about 4, came back in and told me I could leave and I would get my results in about a week. Seriously?!?? 

Well good news I guess is I haven't heard from my doctor so I'm just waiting for my letter from the government to tell me I'm good. Hopefully that comes soon. 

Yesterday, I went for my follow up stress test!!! So same shit, white coat hypertension... BP was high, tech was worried... Had me walk on treadmill for about 9 minutes and then stopped the test. I could have done way more but they just stopped it.  Met with cardiologist after the test and he said my results were great.... normal. No problems that he could see. 

So there are a couple bad with a couple good rolled into the above. But here are the two REALLY good things that are happening:

1) during my stress test yesterday I realized how much I miss going to the gym and working out. During the pandemic, our gyms closed and I have never returned. The main reason I haven't returned is because I have no way of getting there!! I used to have a car which I solely used to drive to/from the gym. I never used it outside of that, so during the pandemic I got rid of it. It was literally just sitting in my driveway taking up space. I never replaced it because I just didn't need it. I had cancelled my gym membership and I didn't see the point of buying another car, insuring it just to go the gym. I could go the gym when my husband gets home from work, but honestly it's just too late. I want to workout right after work and be done by 4 so I can get dinner ready etc. Waiting for a car, just isn't convenient. 

So this morning, I bought myself  (and the rest of the family) a Peloton! I'm sooooo excited. I have wanted one for years. It arrives on sunday!! 

2) We have not been on a decent vacation in years. We go away with the family every year, but sometimes that just feels like being home, but in a different home because I still cook every day and do the dog walk thing etc. So after my "episode" I decided to book a vacation, just for me and the hubs.  At the end of April we are going to California! Orange County to visit my brother for a few days and then we are heading to Temecula to spa and drink wine and just be lazy!!! 

I am going to make this year about me. In January I enrolled into a VIP spa program where I pay a monthly amount to a local spa which forces me to go in and get treatments etc. It's been so wonderful to "treat" myself while taking care of my skin too! 

Even though the heart episode that I had last month resulted in no terrible health news, it also woke me up that I really really need to increase my heart health. I'm getting older, I need to get control now. 

And it's just time to do something different. Yeah, it's going to be expensive to travel to california and stay in expensive spa resorts, but who cares??? In addition to taking care of our bodies, we gotta take care of our mind and soul too! 

Breaking old habits

The scale has not moved but that's ok. I'm working on developing new habits, or rather breaking old ones. 

It's crazy how quickly we develop new habits. Back in the summer, even though I was pretty lax on what I ate, I did not snack. Ever. Or very very rarely. Lately, I have had what feels like scheduled snacks. I have a small snack at 2 in the afternoon and then usually again around 4 or 4:30 after I finish work. It's a small snack, but it's a snack and it has become the norm.  I need to get back into my proper eating window of 2 meals (no snacks). 

I'm desperately trying to break those little habits that have crept back into my life. Habits that I didn't even notice were happening because they had just become the norm. 

The goal this week is to break old habits and create new ones. I'm trying to break the habit of snacking in the afternoon. That means I have to eat enough at lunch to sustain my hunger pangs until dinner time. I'm pretty good about not eating anything after 7:30. 

I have managed to greatly reduce the number of carbs I have been eating and I've already noticed I'm sleeping much more soundly and my skin is improving! Yay... so good news on that front.  Eating less carbs should help with the "snacking" too.... 

Like a smack in the face!

 For the last year I have been satisfied with my weight. Although I would love to drop lower and finally get and STAY in the 160s, it hasn't been a priority and I've been more than satisfied living my life in the 170s. 

For over a year I have shuffled between 170 and 178 comfortably while still living a good life. I haven't been exercising, I've been able to socialize with family and friends and not worrying about what I eat, life has been good and I've been happily maintaining. 

Until this week. On January 30th when I stepped on the scale it read 181.3. It's only a couple lbs from where I was the week before, but there was something about that 8 that smacked me in the face. 

I was down all day. I ate chocolate and candy and just wallowed. A stupid number made me feel so bad. 

I always told myself that regardless what the scale said, I would base my "health" and wellbeing on how I was feeling. When I stopped to think about that, I had to admit to myself that I haven't been feeling great. I know my clothes are tighter than they have been, my skin is awful right now and I have woken up a few times lately and hubby has told me I am snoring again. All signs that the extra few lbs are hurting me. It's not just a number... it's reality. 

I think deep down I knew that I've been overplaying my hand with the drinks and the snacks and the sweets, but I kept saying to myself "As long as the scale keeps in the 170s, I'm doing alright!". Well, the scale shifted and therefore, I need to shift too. 

I'm not going to start any new diet or way of eating, I'm just going to seriously reel things in this time. I need to feel better. 

New Year.... same old same old...

 I've been AWOL because my life has been THE SAME.  Nothing has changed. 

Had a lovely time through the holidays and ended the year pretty much in the exact same place that I started it. Still wanting to lose the weight, still not doing anything about it. 

I still want to lose it, but apparently it's not that important to me. 

Started of January in a slump. Weather was the craps, everyone back to work and trying to get back into a regular routine. But I need to change the routine. I just can't figure out how to change it. 

I did say that this year I'm going to do more FOR ME.  I'm putting me first. 

So I'm starting with booking myself a spa appointment every 6-8 weeks. I had a facial over the holidays and Loved every single second of it. I need to treat myself more often. So that is the first plan. 

And that's about as far as I've gotten so far... but it's a start. 

I'm still fighting the weight. Still hovering between 177 and 179. Daily... all the time. At least I didn't put on a bunch over the holidays. But I do need to get off a good 10-20... that would make me feel amazing. 

So we hit 2023 in the same way as 2022. Just need to figure out how to make 2023 different than 2022... 

I'll get there..