Hacker Widow

Archive for May, 2011

Walking has become my #1 exercise for about the past year. I have posted in the past about my various walking paths and how beautiful they are. Since I have decided to get serious about losing weight, I have been redoubling my efforts. I am trying very hard to stay positive and focused. It’s kind of hard for this “verified” couch potato. But today, I found this…

No biggie. Probably someone doing work on the sidewalks or something. About 100 yards farther down the path, I notice…

Kind of hard to see, but it is the name Danielle. So now I’m thinking, it’s probably just a bunch of kids messing around with chalk. OK, so I continue on and come to this…

hmmmm….. then…

All of a sudden, I get excited. This is kind of cute. Maybe someone asked their girlfriend to the prom… or to go steady (do kids even DO that anymore??). Now I am actively looking for the pale pink chalk marks, and a few yards farther I see…

I am getting more excited. I start trying to imagine how “Danielle” was feeling. Was she excited?confused? I actually start walking a little faster to see what is next.

WHAT?? How cool!!! My imagination goes into warp drive!!! Danielle is probably FREAKING out when she see this…Can you imagine? The excitement! By now, she’s probably running!!

And then..

Can you imagine him standing here? Possibly with flowers in his hand, waiting for her to turn the slight curve in the path to see him?? *sigh* I really hope it WAS that romantic. I know it made my walk very enjoyable, just trying to imagine the scenario unfold. Congratulations to these two people (who ever they are)  :-D

We are faced with thousands of choices. From the time we wake up, to the time we go to sleep, we are bombarded with them. Everyone from movie stars to infomercials know what we need better than we do. And if you through the word “Diet” into the mix….. look out!!!!  You’ve got green bean, cabbage, soybean, tofu, green tea, low carb, no carb, all protein, no meat, no food choices….it’s enough to make you hide in the closet whimpering! And believe me, I’ve tried most of them. The first time I decided to nip this weight gain in the bud, I joined Weight Watchers. This was roughly 12 years ago. I loved the group support but the weight loss was slllooowwwww. I was a little impatient back then. Then they closed our area meeting place so on to the next. I can’t even THINK about a certain no carb all protein diet that was extremely popular a few years ago, without gagging. The first couple of days, I was in heaven! All the meat and cheese I could eat??? By about the third day, meat had lost it’s appeal and I had extreme weakness and headaches. After some research, I concluded I was going through severe carb withdrawal. I didn’t even know you could do that!! So on to the next diet, touting a low carb plan with no withdrawals. Named after a popular beach on the east coast, it was the next new craze. Problem was, I still had the withdrawal (though not as bad as before), the recipes weren’t the best, and now my cravings were out of control. Cravings are my downfall… Carbs, chocolate, caramel, Starbucks salted caramel bites!!!!!YUMMMMMMM!!!! Sorry, I’m back, anywho, I can now say I have found something that is finally starting to work for me and my freak metabolism. I have been trying a system based on the book The 17 Day Diet. It very informative and easy to follow. The 17 day part does NOT mean you will lose the desired weight in that time, rather that each cycle in the program is 17 days long. This intrigued me. 17 days, that’s not too long, if a cycle seems more difficult. Ok, next is Dr. Moreno’s theory that you hit certain plateaus because your body grows used to a way of eating. BRILLIANT!! So that’s why diets haven’t worked for me in the past…(head slap) So to combat this, in his second phase(which I’m am now starting) he has you very your eating. While you are allowed more foods in this phase, you alternate with one meal from the first phase every other day, thus keeping your metabolism on it’s toes. I am close to day 22 and …drum roll…..10 lbs gone!! While this is not as fast as stated in the book, I’m ok with that. I don’t have the blood sugar dips I used to have. And my cravings…GONE!!!!!! WHOOHOO …shout it from the rooftops!! I am so relieved about that one. So I will trudge on, slowly adding the foods I love back into my diet, hoping that I can continue to make better choices. Will update soon……until then,   BON APPETIT !!

P.S. I am not affiliated with The 17 Day Diet in anyway. These are my opinions and have not received any payment for my support.  Thanks!!

I have decided to blog about something deeply private to me. My weight. I have always battled to be the size “required” by society. I guess you’d classify me as rubenesque. Funny how something that was so beautiful that masters sought to capture images of larger women  for centuries, has become a shameful condition. It saddens me that we have been lumped together with health issues. Now I’m not saying that I am a healthy weight by any means. Goodness know I need to lose some weight. But it is doubtful that I, being 44, will ever get to the Dr.’s goal weight of 135 lbs. Pulease!!! I will settle for feeling healthy, no more pain in my joints, and possibly buying clothes that fit nicely and are comfortable. *sigh* So onward I go, hoping to start and end this journey the same, with the proper mind set to get healthy and stay that way. This is no minor feat. Coming from a long line of couch potatoes, I know I have the deck stacked against me.  Wish me luck and please feel free to hold me accountable. I will be posting about my journey in future posts.