Lose the L

Hey, Rootie!  Are you gonna weigh less, or more, with a new hip?

I must be doing something right with portion size- Mr. Wonderful is losing weight. 

Aaah, I love the structure of the School Year.  Thursday we did indeed stretch with Richard Simmons and the Silver Foxes for 20 minutes, Tuesday we did indeed low-impact aerobics with same.  I have a month’s worth of breakfasts, lunches and dinners in the house and absolutely no money for the next 6 weeks to buy anything, so portion size cannot get out of control.

A swimming pool would make everything perfect.  It’s that hot, humid, sun-bleached time of year when I would gladly do laps morning, noon and night.  Two friends have offered “open pool”, but I cannot bear the thought of them seeing me in either of my cleavage-fest bathing suits.  No, I don’t own a large T-shirt.

Maybe this time next year!

I’m doing pretty good with keeping to water.  Mr. W keeps offering me coffee- the first time I folded, but the second time I just put it aside (he fills the mug before asking) for a couple of hours and fulfilled the water requirement first.

Wish I could say I’m doing as well with exercise.  We’ve quit the nightly situps and, although the kids did 20 minutes’ walk on Tuesday, I chose to clean up the homeschooling materials instead.  Boo, Ruthie!

When you’re craving a snack, think about what type of taste you want- sweet, sour, salty, spicy.  (If it’s salty, are you actually thirsty?)  Is there a lower-calorie, or smaller-portion, substitute that will satisfy you?  If so, go for it!  If not, go for a very small portion of the original craving. 

WeightWatchers says lots of dieters try the low-cal version first, no matter what.  When it doesn’t satisfy, they eat a large portion of their original “want it NOW”, usually doubling the calories they would’ve consumed if they had just thought it through and taken enough to satisfy the craving.

I suppose I could start asking “How little a portion will satisfy this feeling?” as I approach food….

What was I thinking?  The company that resulted in Supersize Me would produce low-cal iced coffees?  Granted, the savings are big compared to Starbuck’s, but so is the FAT content! 

Since I’ve had 2 cups of java already today, I’d better head back to the original plan: start with water, stay with water.  One home-made (therefore less calories) iced coffee a day for me, thanks!

Ladies, my apologies for getting lost on the way out of Kansas.  It’s been a tornado- I don’t even know if it’s been a week since I posted, and I do want to encourage myself and you three (welcome Debbie!) that we WILL look GREAT soon!

On the good side, n_g’s reminder to keep up with the water has been, by far, the most pleasant change in my recent memory.  (I’m looking forward to trying Rootie’s breakfast recipe from the Curves book- maybe 2 good changes! Hooray!)

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but a major reason I’m looking to lose the L is because of #1.  She looks like she’s pregnant, and she’s only 9 years old. 

I spend my days and nights looking out, away from myself- at laundry, books, the road- and the only full-length mirror in our house is in the girls’ room.  So it has been easy to ignore my own growing waistline.  When I look out nowadays, however, I see #1- my little reflection.  The tummy, and body proportions, cannot be ignored.   A mix of love and fear (if she’s this overweight at 9, what will she be at 19?) spurs me on.

I’m gonna go do some situps.

OK, I suggested we go out after church.  Mr. W picked KFC, since he “likes the veggies on the buffet”.  We did agree to never go there again.

1.  I ate way too much chicken.  2. I drank 2 big diet cokes, so today I’m being snooty about water.  In fact, I started today with tea instead.  3. I got the kids mac-n-cheez for their side dish (too cowardly to deal with their complaints) instead of veggies.    A flop. 

Haven’t done sit-ups all weekend, either.  Better go do some now.  Sigh.

We had 6 bottles of ice-water in the freezer last week- where’d they go?  I’m hiding 2 bottles in the very back for myself these days. 

I did start with water this morning.  Only one craving for coffee all day, but I didn’t drink enough water.  Why, of course I managed to get 2 diet cokes in! 

#1 decided to do 50 situps and walk around the house 10 times today.  I think she’s hinting that she’d rather do her own program than the Silver Foxes video.  The video was a good choice for homeschool PE- it’s got simple low-impact aerobics (30 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down), and 30 minutes of stretching exercises.  We’ll do aerobics twice a week, stretching twice, and walking twice, God willing.