Saturday, October 26, 2013

My 1 Year Blogiversary

The actual date was Wednesday, October 23, 2013 and one year ago I wrote, "So Much to Say."  I truly feel as though I have said a lot and have shared what many of you have had to say also.  I had several personal goals in mind when I started this blog.  I wanted to Maintain my 50 lb weight loss, get the word out about Maintenance, register for the National Weight Control Registry. So here I go:
Current Weight=161
Highest Weight E-VER=216
Hover Weight=200 --hover weight is the weight I always hovered around until I truly got serious or that weight you just can't let yourself go past, per se.  I can point to many journal (writing, ala Bridget Jones) entries whereas my daily weight was 199, 203, 200, etc.
Most Recent Lowest Weight=155
Lowest Weight E-VER=128
Ideal Weight=140 or below but at 48 years old and ~ 5' 4" my 155-160 range has been good.  I fit nicely into my size 10 jeans and my size 12 jeans are baggy. Size 10 dresses are snug but size 12 dresses need to be altered, again, probably the body fat, which I am working on.
I started spinning and I am still running just no race goals.  Spinning is phenomenal I did 2 back to back classes last Sunday, albeit challenging, I was not sore and felt great.  After running 10-12 miles, I would not do anything the next day. Monday I got up and ran 4 miles.  Trust me, this was an AHA moment for sure.  I do still love running, especially in the beautiful California weather but I probably will not run races anymore.  My schedule includes running 3-8 miles 2 or 3 days a week and spinning 4 or 5 days. On some of these days, light weights and even some jump roping.  I am still trying to walk as much as possible.  I can take a long walk over to my Parent's community or cut through over a hill, which are my extra steps just about every day.
One of my biggest accomplishments is remaining off sugar, pure cane (the white stuff) and high fructose corn syrup (hfcs).  Sugar is out of my diet.  For the most part I eat fruit.  I am not doing a lot of sugar free baking because it's easy to substitute one addiction for another--so I am just waiting and if I truly want something I will bake using a natural sugar.  My mother is planning to use turbinado (raw brown sugar)  and maple sugar in her sweet potato pies for Thanksgiving.  I will probably use her batter for a custard without the crust and depending on how I feel I may have a piece of her pie.  I don't feel deprived and I don't miss desserts because I know if I sought out or baked my own I would have a dessert. Many bakeries are now offering sugar-free or rather alternative sugar baked goods, so again, if I sought them out I would have a dessert.  By the way, I have been off sugar for 2 years now and also caffeine.  I have not had coffee, no Starbucks or coffee house coffee for 2 years.  Now, if I am out and want I diet coke or unsweetened iced tea, I am not stressing about the caffeine.
These are all things I have had to figure out for myself and no sugar and caffeine is definitely not for everyone, but this is what works for me.
Lastly, I filled out the online form for the National Weight Control Registry on Wednesday and am waiting for my forms in the mail to send back and wait to hear if I am accepted.  I am so excited that I set out for the goal and did it.  The NWCR is very important for maintainers, I believe.  They want know what works and share it.  Learning what others do to maintain their weight is imperative because it helps those who are struggling.  It sounds like a Catch-22, because what works for one person may not work for another person.  But here's the thing, another person may be able to use a portion of what someone else has done.  
I hope this 1st Blogiversary post is helpful and I will continue aggregate and blog in the coming weeks.  Thank you for reading.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Hiatus

I am settling in fine but this is the second Wednesday that has come and gone and I just couldn't attend to Maintainingmaintaining.  I started right away working retail at Papyrus.  I was working part time for American Greetings in Virginia and transferred to California.  Well, one store could only give me about 10-15 hours per week and they asked if I would mind getting more hours with another store.  So I am working about 20-30 hours/week out of 2 stores.  It's hectic but that's not all.  So as you all probably figured out, I left my professional position without a position in California.  I have been disenchanted with my profession for a few years now.  I have been in 3 positions in the last 6 years and none of them  were what the job specifications indicated well, maybe one but then the Director who hired me, left within 6 weeks and I was left working for someone who really didn't like me.  What a mess!!!  So after Job #3 fell off the rails, I just sort of threw my hands up and said,"There's got to be something better for me to do!!"  So I thought I would become a freelance researcher or just started applying for positions that were not in a "library."  Well, I am living with my nephew and his wife, my niece.  She has been in the Beauty business for over 20 years and recently changed companies to work part time--mommy of my 3 year old grand nephew.  She also has a joint venture happening with her best friend--skin care and toddlers.  At the time I was moving my parents here, she was approached to be the national sales director for a new luxury, celebrity driven product.  She mentioned that she had too much on her plate and that I would be perfect for this with her coaching.  She is well known in the industry and has tons of contacts.  The Brand is thrilled to have her in any capacity so, now it's official and I am the sales executive for said luxury product. A typical day we are all going about 15 hours non stop.  I got over to my parent's place to check on my Dad this evening at 8:30 pm and had a great visit.  Just trying to get in everything that I can. 
My daughter is all settled in San Francisco apartment and her household goods arrived on Tuesday evening.  She lived at her hotel for 6 weeks and was ready to finally sign a lease and sleep in her own bed.  
I plan to weigh in once a month and blog it.  It's the best I can do until I get organized with respect to getting my blog done weekly.  I am coming up on my 1st Blogaversary and had set some goals that I will blog about next week, I am so excited about this.  
Anyway, life is definitely an adventure to be lived and I am surely living it.  

Sunday, October 6, 2013

What's new in Weight Maintenance Research

I will definitely have to read #3, "The role of self-efficacy, coping and lapses in weight maintenance." 
1.Experimental sleep curtailment causes wake-dependent increases in 24-h energy expenditure as measured by whole-room indirect calorimetry.
Shechter A, Rising R, Albu JB, St-Onge MP.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Oct 2. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 24088722 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Related citations

2.TFAP2B -Dietary Protein and Glycemic Index Interactions and Weight Maintenance after Weight Loss in the DiOGenes Trial.
Stocks T, Angquist L, Hager J, Charon C, Holst C, Martinez JA, Saris WH, Astrup A, Sørensen TI, Larsen LH.
Hum Hered. 2013;75(2-4):213-219. Epub 2013 Sep 27.
PMID: 24081236 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Related citations
3.The role of self-efficacy, coping, and lapses in weight maintenance.
Latner JD, McLeod G, O'Brien KS, Johnston L.
Eat Weight Disord. 2013 Sep 29. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 24078407 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Related citations
4.The maintenance of energy balance is compromised after weight loss.
Reed JL, Chaput JP, Tremblay A, Doucet E.
Can J Diabetes. 2013 Apr;37(2):121-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2013.03.022. Epub 2013 Apr 23.
PMID: 24070803 [PubMed - in process]
Related citations
5.Effects of self-selection of dietary sessions on weight loss, dropouts during the intervention, and weight maintenance after 1 year.
Katayama Y, Sasai H, Nagao Y, Eto M, Tanaka K.
Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi. 2013 Jun;60(6):346-55.
PMID: 24067906 [PubMed - in process] Free Article
Related citations

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

A Maintainer's World Wednesday

I am so happy to get back to a somewhat regular routine and this blog.  I made to Southern California and am settling in well.  My Dad is doing well but as many of you know we are just taking one day at a time.  Have a great Wednesday!!!
Maintainers

Time to Get Real
Behind the Scenes:...
WW B2B: Recaps

WI Results
100 October Goals How Important is Cooking to Weight Loss Egg Wrap...

Tune in for Heather's weekly Podcast
My Oh My My MRI Choose To Lose Running Again, and...
Tiger Talk Weigh In Day & ... Pumpkin Oatmeal Recipe Vulnerable Much?
 Vegan Crockpot Sweet Potato...  ...my weekend in bullet form... Healthy Protein Packed Recipes...  Do You Need to Rebrand Your Exercises?
Fitness Maintainers
When You Fall Down Getting your workouts DONE anywhere! Remind me it's all worth it... Randomy Randomness
10 Excuses You Need to Stop Using... Coq to the Fly Ride "race" report Who Am I? Genetic Testing... Four Lessons Resistance Training Taught Me...
Burn, Baby, Burn...and Then Eat? Trader Joe's Must Haves for Fall Happy October The Swing Quest 2013...
Half-Marathon and Marathon Results
Healthy Cooking Maintainers  Caution: possible food cravings below!!!