Coffee Day 2012- Celebrate!

Coffee pot is is camouflage for this tortoiseshell.

Happy Coffee Day 2012!!! I'm celebrating, the kittens are celebrating. Life is good!

Coffee has played a part in my weight loss and weight maintenance, in my opinion. 

What works for me:

1. Drinking coffee in the morning (YES, please). I'm a morning person, I'm going 100 miles an hour, but I tend to be grumpy and get a headache without my morning 2 cups.

2. Using coffee to socialize, relax, & treat myself. (Black coffee only- no fancy drinks!). Nothing better than grabbing a cup of coffee and reading at a local coffee house or going for a stroll on the beach. Love the beach & coffee culture. Fortunate to have it year round. 

3. A good cup of coffee can fill a gap before it is time to eat.

4. In the evening, I use a cup of decaf coffee as a signal to stop eating. And, ordering a cup of decaf is satisfying while others are ordering decadent deserts. My "stop eating" signal and choosing to forgo a large sweet bomb keeps me ending the day on a good note, and I wake up feeling even better. Awesome tool to know & use.

5. I mostly make coffee at home, to save $$, but I do use black coffee as one of my only food treats, without problems.
6. Using the excuse "I'll want some grounds for my garden" and then heading out to a coffee shop. Heh, Heh, Heh. My plants do seem to like coffee grounds. Major points if you spot my slippery slope excuse to go out for coffee in this step. ;)

What doesn't/didn't work for me:

1. Drinking regular coffee past 3-4 messes with my sleep.
2. Drinking coffee beverages with more than black coffee.
3. Drinking coffee and thinking I deserve a biscotti, cookie, or other "treat" I gave that up for weight loss & maintenance.
4. Making sure the lid is placed on a paper cup so the sipping hole on the lid is away from the cup seam. If the drinking hole is right over the cup seam, it becomes a dribble cup!!! If you place the lid on the cup over the non-seam area, you are good to go, no drips. Try it, it works. You are welcome!

Enjoy Coffee Day 2012!  I raise my cup to you, cheers.  Karen P.

Rule 2, step 2- Add while subtracting

Surf meets the turf

I'm choosing a rule, with a sub-rule from Refuse to Regain (by Barbara Berkeley, MD) to write about. My opinions are my own, your experience may vary.  I would highly recommend the book.

Rule 2, Step 2

Add while subtracting:
This rule & step deals with adding new things back into your life during the first year of weight maintenance. The author gives different ideas for changing exteriors, interiors, environment, and spirit. The idea is to add in new things to your life to replace "thrill" eating and any other subtraction you may have made since being overweight.

lemon grass

For exteriors, I've changed up the garden (potted plants EZ only) and I'm letting my hair grow out a bit. I bought an inexpensive submersible camera for my tide pool adventures.
 For interiors, I'm studying for a test for work and reading weight maintainers blogs. Also listening to my favorite podcasts, Everyday Paleo- by Sarah Fragoso, Make Shift Happen Show by Dean Dwyer, The Paleo Solution- Robb Wolf while I go about de-cluttering.
For environment, I'm attempting to de-clutter and I have a whole new living area, compliments of some very kind relatives who were moving. Added to that our 2 new tortoiseshell kittens.
Changing my spirit, still working on that one. If I can squeeze in some volunteer work in an area that is near and dear to my heart. If time runs out, I can pursue that opportunity early next year.

I like it. It's nice to identify with a new way of living and the thin me. I would not dream of going back to the old way. Like a switch that is permanently moved.

Discuss.

7 month weight maintenance update

Kitties doing the 7th inning stretch

 7 Month Maintenance Check-In

Weight : 114.4
Goal weight: 115.4
Weight over the month: 1-2 pounds above goal weight
Long term goal met: weighing in for my health insurance discount.
Exercise: Steps- keeping around 9-10 thousand a day- most days.
Strength training: 1 day per week  ( not enough-no excuses)

My weight has been a little higher this month. I've gotten a lot of comments that it looks like I've lost weight. Interesting. Now I understand a little better why some in the Paleo world do not weigh-in or use their scale. I am back to keeping my carbs 80-100 grams a day to see if I can maintain at or below my goal weight of 115.4. The lower carb range really seems to help. I cut out one fruit serving a day and that's all it takes. Very do-able.  I've included the 3 month graph. You can see the shift in the graph. My "scream weight is 119". I just want to avoid the weight creep. The 115-116 pound area is where I have a natural weight plateau- but the 113-115 area is where I maintained the first 6 months. Time will tell where I'm supposed to be.

Long term goal met:
Yeah! I weighed in for my 2013 health insurance discount. I was in my normal BMI and my waist is below 35 inches- so a $30 discount a month is MINE. I figure I'm saving much more than $30 a month in avoiding co-pays for obesity/chronic disease type of doctor visits. I love this. It's very motivating for me to live well and save some cash. Time is going to pass and spending my money on something other than health care is well worth this effort. The 2014 discount is now a new long-term goal.

One side note: At the blood draw/ bio-metric measuring- I weighed in a full 4 pounds more compared to my home scale. The clothes and some water I drank really added up this time around. This is even more motivation to keep mid- BMI and to stick to my weight maintenance template. I used to maintain around the cut-off of my BMI healthy range. 

Exercise:  The pedometer continues to motivate me to keep my steps higher and to keep from being sedentary. Love it.

Strength training: No excuses. The biggest mental block (and it's all mental) is not having my gym clothes with me on my way home. Because if I arrive home- it's a lot harder to go back out again. And the gym is all lit up like a casino as I make my way home. I have to remove all excuses and then there won't be a problem. So- I will be packing my gym bag the night before and placing the bag in the car. Using a sticker system on my calendar. Jr. Family member can call me out on it if I miss.  I will reward myself with something at the end of the month for 2 days of gym a week. Once I'm at the gym- I love it. I feel great. And I know it's good for me.

Off to go to the gym. No better day than a day off work to get my September started right.

* ( key board is not working- so no comma's today. will need a replacement- naughty kitties dumped coffee- not hot-just messy- on the keyboard- love the kitties- sometimes too curious.)