Bottom Line Challenge Results

 
(Photos taken at the Jellyfish Exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium this April, by me.)


Yesterday was our weigh-in and measurements for the Bottom Line Challenge.

I recorded 885 minutes of aerobic activity (walking, stairs, more walking, a little dancing around).
My blood pressure went down 4 points.
I lost .6% body fat. 
I lost 6.5 pounds. (I enjoyed my extra-long weekend a little too much, LOL.)
I lost 4.5 inches from my waist, 2.5 inches from my hips, 2 inches from my thighs, 1 inch from my chest.

I wasn't enough to win a t-shirt, but it was enough for me. YES!!!

I came in 3rd on my team for success; Phillip was really motivated and dedicated, and lost 28 pounds, our admin was also fantastic at exercise and lost 11. The other 3 sort of forgot about it mid-challenge. :)

(I am going to do another photo shoot with Phillip at work -- he may let me do a follow-up post on his weight-loss success -- and he proudly informed me that he lost so much the blue sweater is too big on him now. Woohoo!)






Bottom line (ba-dum-bump), I am glad they coerced me into it, petulant attitude and all. As I said to my friends in email, all I really did was get off my dupa a little bit, and ate a whole lot better. And it worked.

I am really glad I didn't take an all-or-nothing approach to the exercise; I was completely daunted by the 30 minutes a day requirement, but instead of just giving up entirely, I did as much as I could. I take the stairs now every day, and it doesn't hurt my knee. I walk further to my car (boy, that asphalt project sure helped!), or I schedule plans on the weekend that involve a lot of walking (Botanic Garden, farmer's market). Like I said in my foodstyle reflections, those little pieces of routine have become habits, and now that it is summer there were will be more walking events (or downtown yoga trips) on the weekends.







My next challenge to myself is to start including more consistent exercise on the weekdays as well. I really, really, really want to swim, and now that my new boss is not a fan of us working so late anymore, I think I might be able to do something after work. Time to start investigating lap times at gyms and pools nearby!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY ME!!!

Foodstyle Reflections

My favorite spot at the Chicago Botanic Garden: the birch trees in the Sensory Garden. There is always a slight breeze making the leaves rustle faintly, and the sun is always dappled on the path. I call it "the place where fairies live."


Back in September 2011, I coined the phrase "foodstyle". At the time I was doing daily tracking of my food, but there was still a lot of restaurant and takeout involved, and of course in short order, the tracking faded away. I went through fits and starts of renewed enthusiasm after that, with lots of talk about eating better but little follow-through. By New Years, I was unwilling to even make any bold resolutions, although I did want the foodstyle to continue. (Plus, my doctor had a come-to-Jesus talk with me in December that still echoes in my head.)

Meanwhile, around the same time I started cooking more on the weekends, posting my results in a haphazard fashion until I launched the Sunday Cooking posts in early January. By the end of March, I realized that it had truly become a habit, and even now when I look through the weekly photos, I can see the food getting healthier with each passing week.

Around the same time I made that realization, I complained bitterly about the Bottom Line Challenge that  I had signed up for with my co-workers. While I was still working on the foodstyle, I wasn't mentally ready for exercise too -- and it showed in my awful, petulant attitude. Eventually I stopped complaining about it, and just tried to do a little bit every day. I went on a few walks over the weekends, but mostly I just walked more in my day; took the stairs at work more often, parked further away at home (mostly because of the parking lot paving project), made myself stretch and move more than I had been. I haven't started anything formal like Curves or swimming, but it's on my radar.

Well, eight weeks have passed and next Wednesday is our weigh-in for the challenge.  I am going to be down around 8 pounds. EIGHT. That means I lost a pound a week. YAY!!!!

Even better, when I lose one more pound I will have accomplished the goal my doctor set in December; she made me commit to losing 9 pounds this year. At the time I thought that was a weird, low number, but now I get why she picked it. 9 pounds just sounds reasonable: a little less than 10, not as daunting as 20. You can, as I am proving to myself right now, lose 9 pounds just by making small, incremental changes. I didn't have to launch a major diet, pay anyone a lot of money, make any massive commitments or drastic sacrifices. I just had to eat better, do it consistently, and get off my dupa once in a while.

It feels like a damned miracle in some ways, but if I really look at it, it's not. I have had all these pieces of weight-loss tools floating around me for a while now, but nothing has gelled together, and I hadn't really tried to make them. Every time I did commit, I would fall off the wagon and go back to crappy stress eating and making excuses.

Things have gelled together, at last. Each little piece that I have tacked on has stuck. The foodstyle get better when I added Sunday Cooking, and Sunday Cooking got better when I added the Bottom Line Challenge. And I got better at all of it as I finally started seeing genuine downward momentum on the scale.

So what are the elements of the foodstyle as of this moment?

1. Prepare food every weekend to feed us through the week.

2. Everything must have veggies somewhere in it, and for casseroles or quiches, at minimum 2/3s of the dish should consist of veggies. Tuna casserole with only peas in it is not okay; spaghetti squash au gratin or lazy galumpke with a bag of shredded cabbage and my homemade sauce is.

3. Food prep should include cutting up fruit for breakfast and lunch, making sure I have other foods for those meals, and having back-up plans in the freezer for when I am "too tired to cook".

4. Don't have junk in the house. For ice cream, we always have those WW English toffee bars in the freezer, and there are granola bars or string cheese if we get the munchies. That's it.

5. I don't track my food in a log, but I keep track as the day goes by in my head. On Wednesday I ended up having salads with chicken for lunch and dinner, and in the early evening I was still unsatisfied. I realized I had not had enough carbs or protein that day, so I toasted a piece of cinnamon bread and put some light cream cheese on it. That was all I needed. Conversely, if I do have toast or a sandwich early in the day, I make sure I have more veggies and proteins at dinner and fewer carbs.

6. Eat seasonally, and as much whole, unprocessed food as possible. Not only is better for me (and better for the world, blah blah granola cakes) but most importantly it tastes better. And when it tastes better naturally, I am less likely to use cream sauces, butter, all the fattening stuff -- or if I do use them, I use the good ones and in moderate amounts.

7. Conversely, if I do want the fattening stuff, I let myself have it, but only if it fits into my day or I know I can get back on track within a meal. I am even getting better at "treating myself" with food when I am stressed. Yesterday, for example, I didn't have much food with me for lunch, so when Phillip was running to CVS to pick up a frozen lunch, I asked him to get me a small bag of pretzels. We were debating options for that kind of snack, and while I was making jokes about wanting chocolate-covered or just a bag of candy, truly what I wanted was something was something that would sustain me, not give me a temporary sugar high.

I ended up forgetting all about the pretzels sitting on my desk, but I did go out to dinner with my husband instead. Because I hadn't indulged earlier, and I knew I would be home today with a house full of good stuff, I had a half-portion of a light pasta dish, and a small portion of a bread pudding and gelato dessert. I enjoyed every bite of it. :) Today the scale was down anyway, and I dove right into a big bowl of strawberries, yogurt and a little granola for breakfast.

8. We have not ordered pizza since April 26. An entire month.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really, I have to stop on that one. Holy crap!


Of course, there is more to do. The exercise piece needs to keep growing, and soon I want to see some of this success in the mirror. I make up a lot of excuses for why I don't post as many outfits anymore, but the truth is I am very unhappy with how I look right now. I just don't feel attractive or fashionable, unless you can call "hiding as much fat as possible" a fashionable style option. But that WILL come, as long as I keep chugging away at the foodstyle. And then you will see my grinning mug on here more often. :)

In the meantime, there will be plenty of pictures of what I am putting into that mug. Or pictures of pretty flowers as the summer unfolds in front of me while I am out walking. :)



(Helen, these are allium, or wild onions. I think you were asking about them in your blog last week. They are in full bloom here now.)

Have a lovely, long, relaxing weekend, everyone. That's what I plan on having too.

Hello Mudder

After 10 years, they are finally, FINALLY repaving the access road and parking lots of my condo complex. Before I start complaining, I will admit they're doing a thorough job, adding in curbs, redoing our walkways, pulling up years of crappy asphalt and starting literally from the dirt up.

That said, it is highly inconvenient, mostly because every exit in and out of my house is a muddy mess. It has rained several times since the project began, and there are still puddles everywhere. My husband and I now have car shoes that we have to wear to walk through the dirt and mud to our cars parked on the other side of the complex; we carry our real shoes in our hands or bags to switch out for work. The paving is expected to take two-and-a-half weeks but we're are in the middle of week 2 now and it doesn't look anywhere near completion.

And I am really kind of over walking through mud every morning.

ANYWAY. At least this will be gone.



The workers are usually here early so I can't sneak out and get many outfit pictures, but I've gotten a few. Hubby took this one after work last Monday; those red-bow leopard print wedges from Payless are still going strong, and I still get lots of compliments at work about them.



I did quite a bit of spring shopping, which definitely perked my spirits. The best purchase so far is this navy striped knit blazer from Lands End; I was actually at Sears returning some other items I bought online when I spotted it. It's so cute and versatile, I've already worn it 3 or 4 times in the last 3 weeks. It has great detailing, too; the cuffs and collar are a light denim chambray. This was one of the first outfits, with a new purple tunic blouse from Old Navy, my trusty Gap skinnies, and new Me Too flats in tan and black. This might be one of my favorite outfits in a while...



Last Saturday was grocery shopping and cooking, and it just felt like a day for my grey Converse kicks. I added this new Old Navy red striped henley and a new olive green cotton jacket from Kohls wih my faded Old Navy Dreamer jeans. Comfy and casual!




The last bit of news before I log off and get ready for work is that we have resisted ordering pizza for TWO weeks now!! I was feeling the weakest last night so I had picked up some sirloin tips for fajitas, but Hubby had a late lunch so I settled for a chicken salad wrap instead.

Even better news is that it is starting to pay off at the scale; I had been hovering at a 3-pound loss since the beginning of the Bottom Line Challenge, but the numbers are finally moving down beyond that. 5 pounds as of this morning. Woohoo!

10 Thoughts in my Head

1. The painter is coming on Monday. THE PAINTER IS COMING ON MONDAY!!!!

Yes, I am a little excited. Not just for the living room, but he is painting the kitchen too. I've wanted to fix the color of the kitchen for the entire 10 years we have lived here. Plus, since I have to prepare the room for him, taking down wall hangings and pulling everything away from the wall, it seems like the perfect time to do a cabinet re-organization. Maybe we'll even throw away the fax machine! Especially since we got rid of our landline several years ago... ;-D

2. OMG, I had such a good laugh at Phillip when we read some of your comments from Wednesday. I have never seen him blush before! Kudos, you guys. You flapped the unflappable guy. Ha!

3. I noted on Facebook yesterday that I am so sick of all of my clothes I want to set my closet on fire. That's why I stopped taking pictures; I only fit in a small portion of my closet, so I keep re-wearing the same 10 tops and 5 sweaters over and over. This is a typical feeling when I get dressed.



Okay, that outfit was pretty good. But I can't wear it every day. Worse, my favorite part of the outfit, the brown peacock pendant, broke off the chain later that morning. I tried repairing it but it just kept falling off. It's a cheap one from Charming Charlie's so it's pretty much done, but dammit, I liked it.



4. Here's another outfit from last week or so. I don't think I posted it. It was...typical of what I've been wearing lately.



5. To counteract my cranky mood toward my closet, I did finally do some shopping. It's actually been a while since I went on a spree. Packages from Lands End, Gap/Old Navy, and Coldwater Creek (I know! I'm gonna try a few things) are on their way. Maybe I'll do a photo shoot while I try them on.

6. My stylist abruptly left my salon, so I am overdue for a cut and now I need to break in a new stylist. My third one in 2 years? I might be the black widow of Mario Tricoci.

7. Anne asked where we got our super-awesome new rug; the decorator from Lazy-Boy found it for us, so we got it through them. I cannot recommend their FREE decorating service more highly; Casey is the one who found all the pieces that pulled the room together, and she recommended the paint colors that we will be using. I love color, but I cannot pick the right ones for paint. If you are in need of a new chair or couch and would like some help incorporating that into your home, go to a Lazy-Boy store and use their decorating service. Again, it's FREE. If you go to the store on Willow and Patriot, ask for Casey. She was great!

8. The challenge is...not going well. I did a couple of days of exercise last week, but this one has been a wash. I will keep trying.

9. Even though I will be spending most of it tearing apart my kitchen, I am really, really glad it is the weekend. 

10. I feel like dyeing eggs for Easter. First time I've even had the inclination since I was a kid. I won't, but it's tempting!

What about you guys? Any Easter traditions you want to share?

Sunday Cooking: Making it a Habit

Back at New Year's, I elected not to make any resolutions for 2012. I said things were too chaotic and uncertain, and that all I really wanted to do was this: the Foodstyle continues to go along; I've lost the weight I gained back over Christmas, and I continue to plan my meals and get plenty of cooking in to prepare for the coming week. I'm hoping to add in some minimal exercise soon, just to get myself moving and get my core stronger. I've started making some long overdue appointments, like the dentist and some home improvements. We just ordered new living room furniture and have our paint colors picked out.

On the last weekend in March, I've come to realize that the food prep of Sunday Cooking has become a habit. It's no longer the thing that takes up my whole weekend; by now I know how to browse recipes and shop in such a way that if I don't have a lot of time on the weekend to actually cook, I can still provide for us for the week. Whereas before if I didn't have time, I would throw up my hands and we would eat takeout, now I am able to squeeze in at least an hour and stock us up.

Instead of takeout, we now have:


Strawberries


Red peppers




Spaghetti squash (the last of the sauce is in the freezer)


Roasted Brussels sprouts


Veggie-Chicken meatballs (a recipe from Helen). I went with a spicier seasoning -- Northwoods and Worcestershire -- since that's what we like, and I switched out almond crumbs for real bread crumbs, but otherwise I followed the recipe. I assumed Hubby would not be interested, but he taste-tested one and gave it a big thumbs-up. Who knew?  These will go well with the spaghetti squash and maybe in sandwiches.

I also bought a ton of stuff for salads: spring/spinach mix, seedless cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms. There is also the rest of the chicken thighs marinating in the fridge; tonight they will be broiled or grilled, then we have the protein topper for the salads. Along with the red peppers and strawberries, it should be a tasty spring meal.

All of that took me 90 minutes. Not bad!

++++++

So what else was I doing this weekend? Besides writing reports for work for a couple of hours of Saturday and a pretty full day on Sunday, plus treating myself to a casino trip (and winning a good sum of money to boot)?

Getting our new furniture!! The stuff we ordered way back in January from Laz-y-boy finally arrived. The rug won't be ready until April, and we are scheduling the painter this week, but the furniture was delivered on Saturday and I could not be more pleased.

This is what it looked like before. That recliner was like sinking into a leather swamp; no support whatsoever. Probably the source of most of my chronic back pain.



My house is very colorful! We are painting over the blue now; it's just too dark and sucks up all the light. So we're going with "tiger stripe" orange, and keeping the mustard walls because I love that color. :)



We cleared the recliner out, as well as the cat perch and coffee tables. As I insisted to Hubby it was time for there to be more human chairs than cat chairs. They, of course, disagreed and wandered all over.



The new furniture. LOVE IT.





We got two chairs. This one is the Fletcher model; it swivels and is very soft and comfy. You just want to curl up in it.



This one is the replacement for the recliner, so will be "my" chair. I forget the model name, but it's a great mix of looking very sharp with plenty of back and butt support.



And it's a secret recliner too! So clever.



The salesperson found us a great between table, plus the pretty cushions use all the colors in the room. Another super-colorful patterned rug arrives next month. All that is left is more lamps. I will be on the hunt for those next weekend.



I love my new furniture. Now I have to go to work to pay for it. ;-) Not true; I have a special savings account for home repair and decor that we auto-transfer money into with every paycheck. It had built up a nice nest egg over the last nine years since we moved in. So we've cracked open the piggy bank to pay for all the house repairs and changes this year, including the painter, new water heater, new garbage disposal and possibly new bathroom vanity. Auto-saving accounts are the way to go, my friends. I have another one I call my Christmas club account; we never feel the pinch of the holidays because we've saved up for it all year. Of course, these are in addition to our regular savings account (which also has automated deposits), which I try not to ever touch.

So endeth the unexpected and unsolicited financial advice. :)

++++++

Heh, looking back up at my non-resolution, I can see I also noted that I wanted to start some kind of minimal exercise eventually. The Bottom Line Challenge starts today; looks like "eventually" is here!

Friday Bouquet

1. Wow, thanks to everyone who chimed in with some awesome righteous indignation on my behalf as well as some excellent ideas to get me to incorporate 30 minutes of daily exercise for the Bottom Line Challenge at work. Lots and lots of good ideas, and you all definitely nudged me out of my foul mood about it.

Especially my sister, who responded with a cheery, "Suck it up, buttercup!" 

Nice, right? ;-D



 2. Since it is going to have to be every day, I think using a flexible combination of exercise types will work best; I can adjust depending on my time and stress levels of the day. Some of the ones I will be doing are:

-Wii yoga in the morning, either 15 or 30 minute increments
-Wii dancing in the morning, either 15 or 30 minute increments
-walking with Hubby in the early evening
-walking on breaks with co-workers
-walking on my own, with my "cans" on and zoning out to my music
-possibly swimming on the weekend mornings. I have to check if the park district pool has morning lap time on the weekends, or I might look into joining another gym with more pools.
-10-minute increments with the weights and heehee the Shakeweight I bought and never used while watching TV
-make sure my membership at the Chicago Botanic Garden is renewed and do some weekend morning walks there. (Where all the photos in this post were taken over the years. You can thank my mom and dad for buying me a membership for Christmas for many years.)

I'll be starting this weekend.



3. Weirdly, the one suggestion that I won't be doing right away is buying new exercise clothes. I have drawers full of them already; buying cute workout clothes has been my usual default preparation step when I think I am going to start working out, and honestly, those drawers of barely-worn clothes have been just another reminder of my repeated failure to actually implement those plans. So I don't really need them, and I don't want them. I don't want to do this the same way I've done it before; clearly that hasn't worked. So I am just jumping in and wearing what I already have. Maybe later as a reward I'll buy something cute. :)



4. I am so, so glad you guys are enjoying the "They Walk Among Us" series. I am absolutely loving it; while everyone is so different, there are certain themes that echo among all of them, and have already taught me a lot about my own journey.

• Losing significant weight stretches out over a long period of time. Patience and persistence over the ups and downs is necessary; just don't give up.
• There isn't one particular diet that works for everyone, and many of them used a variety of them along the way. 
• Eating whole, healthy food is how you take it off and keep it off.
• Exercise in some form is required.

5. I do have several more interviews queued up, but if you are a maintainer and are willing to tell your story, I would love to have you join us! Email me at lowfatdressing1012@gmail.com and I will send you the questions. I hope to hear from you!!



6. This week has been so strange: my husband has been in London for work, I've had a training class onsite for most of the week so there have been new people roaming the office and I've been working late, and of course the weather has been so amazing the windows are wide open at home all day long.  The cats are completely befuddled; all of their routines are disturbed and there is a person missing in the house. They are not pleased.

Hubby comes home this afternoon, and next week will be our first week of having a full staff on my team. I am sure the first few weeks will be just as busy as the last ones, since the two new people need to get up to speed, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hurray!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone.



1. African Daisies, 2. Purple echinacea, 3. Field in wider perspective, 4. Orange and Purple coneflowers in a field, 5. Gargoyle Fountain, Spring, 6. Irises around the pond, 7. Faces to the sun, 8. A welcoming entrance, 9. Baby Blue Eyes, 10. Inverted Baby Blue Eyes, 11. Like, wow. Totally., 12. Lilies of the Valley, 13. Bleeding Heart, 14. Allium, 15. Colombine, 16. African Daisy

Don't Poke The Bear

I cannot believe it is only March 20. First, it feels like a hundred years have passed since my birthday...which was a week ago. Second, it is more gloriously warm and sunny than it is in June. I am in a horrible mood, but I can't deny how great it is outside.

I'm trying to wear more spring in my outfits without really buying anything new or trendy (you will never catch me in floral ankle pants, in case you were wondering). Since it is so legitimately nice out, all of my sandals from last year are already out and in rotation. So glad I got a good set of them that are still in excellent shape. The orange, the turquoise, the olive -- all are being happily worn. The olive peeptoe booties do a good job of lightening up an otherwise dark black-pants outfit. (The melon cardigan and gold jewelry helps too.)



Then on Friday I took the bears out of hibernation. Shaved 'em and everything!



Wearing nude microfishnet stockings, which are almost the same as wearing no hose at all. A cute dress and a long-lost purple cardigan, some embellished flats and I was good to go!

+++++++

In other news, my co-workers talked me into doing a team challenge to lose weight and exercise more. We weigh in and get measured tomorrow, then it starts for 8 weeks next Monday. The challenge is about scoring points, depending on how much exercise you do and how much weight and body fat you lose over the time period. I was all for it -- I could use a good structured kick in the pants -- but then today when we were going over the rules in detail, I got really panicked and now I am dreading it.

I didn't catch before today that you have to do a minimum of 1440 minutes of exercise -- which is 25 minutes a day, seven days a week (or 36 minutes, 5 days a week). Do you know how much I do right now? NONE.

I know, I know, deep in my gut I know that I need to move more, and I was looking forward to this challenge to get that going. But I was expecting to have to do a half-hour 3-4 days a week. I was thinking I could ease myself into it, and then maybe by the end of the challenge add more than that. I was NOT expecting to have to start right off the bat at a sprint. I can't even really miss a day, or I will fall behind, and skip more days, and fall more behind. And then let all my teammates down (there are some nice monetary prizes for competing and winning, and several of them really want to win.)

I am just so...pissed off about the whole thing. I feel like I am doomed to fail before I even start, and the pressure is pissing me off even more. Everyone else was talking about how they already work out 2 hours already a week, and so adding another hour wouldn't be so hard. I wanted to cry.

It feels impossible to me. I can't even get up the stairs without my knee giving out. Which I know should be even more incentive to exercise, but it's not. All I can think about is even if I just do 30 minutes of walking every day, how much every inch of my body is going to hurt, and how little rest I will have before having to do it again the next day, and how I am working 10-12 hours a day and am stressed beyond belief and am barely hanging onto eating right by my fingertips. When the hell am I supposed to even find the time for this? I was just thinking that I needed to start going into work earlier because so much is piling up. I never leave before 6pm, and I am in bed early too. But no, now I need to find a free hour somewhere every day. And my f***ing running shoes. Which probably don't fit. (Can you hear me cursing? I am cursing a blue streak!)

This doesn't feel like something that is motivating me to keep improving myself; it feels like just one more expectation that I can't meet that is crushing my lungs so I can't breathe.

I have 6 more days to get myself into the right headspace for it. Great. First I have to get over being so pissed. Why didn't I read it more closely before I agreed? Damn.

Sigh.

So that's what I'll be working on this week. My f***ing negative attitude.