Who wants to be a centurian?

Lately there has been a lot of talk about the moms, dads, aunts, and uncles that are living to the ripe age of 100+. I have to admit that I sit on the fence when it comes to the decision of if I want to live to that age. My Grandmother lived till she was 92 and I still wonder if I want to add another ten to twenty years onto my life.

The study goes to show that people in Okinawa are living a very long time through a diet of fish, vegetables, corn, buckwheat, and mushrooms. That’s great and all but the culture in Okinawa is different than it is in the United States.

My honest question is who is going to take care of me when I’m in my 90′s and 100′s. People in the United States just do not seem to respect people of older ages. Families seem to put thier elderly away in facilities as if they were problems and not people. I’m not saying that all families and facilites are like this but I’m sure we have all read the horror stories.

What kind of quality of life am I going to have? As I said before my Grandmother lived into her 90′s but to me her life wasn’t that great. Grandma was stuck in her home because of nagging leg problems with television and her knitting as her only company.

Though I do have to say that this generation of elders is quite different than the generation that my Grandmother was in. Men and women are into breaking the mold, setting new hieghts, and really pushing themselves in thier elder years.

So right now I still stand on the fence when it comes to the decision of life in my 100′s. Who knows maybe sixty years from now that generation of elders will be far healthier and active than the current.

Absolutely frustrated!

If I was into destructive actions towards my body I would be pulling all of my hair out right now. I’m just completely frustrated with my personal life. The gears have literally grinded to a halt.

I’m not employeed.

I usually like to volunteer at places but I’m unable to get to these places because our family doesn’t have money for a second bus pass. Holy cow we barely have enough for one bus pass in this household.

Then the blasted scale weighed me in at 480 pounds today. I know that can’t be correct because I put in a total of 9 miles this week. I don’t want to brag but that’s a good accomplishment for someone that just barely started training. Today my husband and I are going for a two mile walk and we plan to finish the week with a total of 12 miles.

I guess I’m going to sell the scale and stick to measurements. I’m going to judge myself by how far, how long and how fast I can walk. Other than having children isn’t that what weight loss for women is about? We want to fit into that pair of jeans that is a size 12, 10, 8,…..

I think you know what I mean. The measuring tape is going to become my friend. Hopefully soon I will see the measurements get smaller and smaller. I wonder if my measurements will actually change weekly?  

Weight Loss Intervention

Perhaps obesity can be shed in a new light on A&E. Josh who is over 500 pounds is willing to share his life on A&E Intervention. I know that I’ll be checking it out tomorrow at 9p.m.

Let’s hope this is a wake up call for us all to do everything we can to stay on track, continue to be active, and succeed.

The right measurements a woman should be?

I recently received a search tag as right measurements for women and it literally ticked me off.

 

 

 

It’s sad that our world is so wrapped up in the size of women’s breast, the size of her waist, the dress size that she wears, and how much space she takes up.

 

“Hello People! There is nor will there ever be the right size for a woman.”

I think Vaseline and Dove have it right in their advertising. They show people of different ages and body shapes. Now we just have to get all the other companies to run with this.

 

It all comes down to being comfortable with you. The ultimate goal is to take care of your health and a healthy body exudes beauty no matter what size it is.

 

Now I’m not saying, “Don’t lose weight.” There are some of us that need to lose weight because of the effects of obesity. I’m included in this group.

 

We need to watch out for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, joint problems, and breathing problems because it runs in our family. Women especially have to watch out for female problems that may arise from carrying extra weight.

 To those who are looking for the perfect size, it’s your size, right now. Enjoy your life no matter what size you are today. Take steps to get down to a smaller size if you need to but remember to enjoy your life today.

Do you have all the answers?

If you don’t, these people might. AnswersTV offers HD information about all aspects of health. Currently there is info on GERD and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I’m sure there is more to come because it’s in Beta mode.

I really like the food section. I don’t think we could ever have enough healthy and appetizing recipes.

What do you think of AnswersTV?

Holiday Season is over

The presents have been unwrapped and the Christmas tree looks bare. Hopefully all the holiday treats will be fair.

Actually I did really good this holiday season. I wasn’t 100% perfect but I didn’t pig out like have done in previous years. Though I do now have a bag of Doritos, Movie popcorn, Hershey Bar, and Snickers Bar to burn off. No it wasn’t eaten in one sitting.

So somewhere in the world it’s December 26, 2007. Time to set out the goals and steps to acheive them.

• Learn Fluent Spanish 
• Obtain a full-time job
• Get into the routine of eating six small meals a day
• Be 52+ pounds lighter
• Gain some muscle

Will I be the Biggest Loser in 2008. Even though I probably would not do the show, I have the time to work out like they do on the show. Hopefully I can find a county doctor that will work with me since we don’t have enough for a private doctor.

One thing for sure, I’m not going to wake up on December 25, 2008 with the scales tipping at 460. 

All or nothing

I was making Biscotti for family this morning. It’s part of the Christmas gift that I will be sending them. I had good results with the Biscotti but they didn’t come out like something you would see on the Food Network or at Starbucks.

I can’t believe that I was going to trash a heart felt gift idea because they weren’t perfect. It made me realize how much of an all or nothing attitude I had. I was going to make the perfect Biscotti or I wasn’t going to send any at all. Which is a bad thing because they taste really good.

How much of an all or nothing attitude do I have with weight loss? I honestly believe that the journey of weight loss is about learning. You don’t allow a baby to learn how to walk because the fall down, get bruises, scrapes, and bumps. You let them experiences the journey of learning to walk.

 I’m learning a new life-style. There are going to be days when I don’t exercise. There are going to be days when I don’t eat 100% correctly. It’s the point that I continue through the journey of creating a healthy lifestyle.

Eating For Today

Breakfast
fruit shake with skim milk and ice

Lunch
2 cups of Fresh Choice Chinese Chicken Salad
1 Fresh Choice Corn Muffin
2 cups of salad (spinach,radishes,zuchini,carrots,peanuts)
4 Tbsp thousand Island dressing

Dinner
Strip steak
1/2 baked potato

Total Calories 2014
Total Miles Walked 2 1/2 miles

I really have to get use to eating like this again. I’m really use to not eating anything for breakfast and lunch. I think I have some healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinners planned for my family and I. They include imitation crab salad with lots of vegetables, burritos with blackbeans, vegetarian lasagna, and some other things.

The 2 1/2 miles really kicked my butt. That was just from shopping for Christmas gifts and doing things around San Jose, California. I can really feel the muscles in my legs and behind saying “Stop Walking.”

I don’t want to stop. I have the duty to transform my body, mind, and spirit. I’m looking forward to seeing changes happen in my body and in my spirit.

Eating out of emotion

Richard Kuhn from Dstressdoc saying “Most people focus on food to shed weight and then wonder why they gain it back. The better goal is to focus on the emotions that we use food to dilute. Learn to embrace them and literally forget about food as pounds come off naturally”

 

While I agree that we should focus on our emotions when we are dealing with life and weight loss. I cannot agree completely. I think there has to be a balance between dealing with our emotions, feeding our body healthy food, having an active lifestyle, and having time to reflect each day.

 

How emotions became connected to eating, I don’t know. People see it during every holiday, birthdays, and even nightly dinner. People have learned to connect around the dinner table and with food.

 

When people don’t find answers to road blocks in their life they could turn to habitual, emotional, or destructive eating. I know for me it was boredom and emotional eating that was my downfall.

 

Plus the fact that money burned in my pocket like a five alarm fire. So not only did I use food to deal with emotional stress but also I bought food to deal with my need for spending.

 

As for spending, I’m now trying to save has much as I can instead of spending it on food. If I do spend extra money, I try to look for ways to enjoy life. Some of these things are local trips, the movies, local theaters, and spending time with my hubby.

 

As for emotional eating, I try to recognize the times that I want to eat due to stress. Then I talk myself out of it. I will give myself points on why I do not want to eat something. I’m not perfect but I find other ways to deal with the situation at hand

 

I look forward to the day, but I’m not a counselor at the moment. If you’re dealing with emotional eating, work on other ways that you can solve the road blocks in your life. You’re always going to come up against roadblocks but you have control on what you do about them.

 

Tell yourself:

I’m not going to use food to relieve stress.

I will find another solution to this problem.

I eat food only to fuel my body.

Family gatherings don’t have to be about the food.

Week 2 Report

Last Weeks Weight 465+
This Weeks Weight 460+

I feel that next week is going to be so much better. 459 Lbs is going to hit my scale at home next week. I feel it so much that I can visually see it. If you don’t already know this, currently I have to use to scales to weigh myself. I do this because when I step on the one scale, it gives me a read out of ERR.

Except when I weigh myself with two scales I’m at 461 pounds. So I know that If I get down to 450 pound on two scales then I can start to only use one scale. Major joy for me because I can donate the other scale.

Last Weeks Measurements
Neck 20 in
Bust 57 in
Ribs 54
Waist 70
Hips 75
Left Arm 16
Right Arm 16 1/4
Left Bicep 25
Right Bicep 25
Left Thigh 43
Right Thigh 43
Left Calf 23
Right Calf 23 /12

Week 2 Measurements
Neck 20 in
Bust 57 in
Ribs 54 in
Waist 70 in
Hips 75
Left Arm 16
Right Arm 16
Left Bicep 25
Right Bicep 25
Left Thigh 43
Right Thigh 43
Left Calf 22
Right Calf 23

Not bad results, wooohoo! I would have liked the measurements to be from my chest, ribs, waist, hips, or thighs. Any reduction in measurements is a good reduction.

As for this week. my goal is to plan out healthy meals for thirty days. I just think that Michael and I are eating a lot of high processed foods. I personally don’t think that is healthy. I’m really trying to stick with the diet pulpit of eating food for fuel. I need to figure out the things that I want to fuel my body with.

I also want to increase my activity. Three hours of activity was good but I really would like to have five hours. That will be two days to do something like light stretching and then the rest of the days will be cardio and weight training.

I don’t think I’ll have any problem including more activity because I will be adding volunteer time at the Animal shelter that I volunteer at. Hopefully they will have me doing things like walking the dogs, cleaning cages, and all the active stuff. Then I know I’ll be getting my activity in.