New Phase

A new phase means we ended the old phase with photos. I still don't love taking those photos, but this time, I did see some differences. Last month I wasn't at home when I took the photos (different background, different outfit, etc.) so it was harder to compare, but this month, the photo set up was the same, and my body is looking different.

I don't know if I will ever be able to rescue my poor tummy from the effects of 5 C-sections, so I may never lose my poochy belly, and I don't think I'd ever spring the 5 grand to get a tummy tuck, but hopefully losing the fat will make a difference. Of course I've lost the most inches from my poor, already-flat chest, but hey, whatcha gonna do...

Today's new habit is to Make Smart Carb Choices. I like that phrasing. Smart. I am a smart person, so that is in my possible trajectory.

There were two options in the lesson assignments: eat no refined sugar foods at all today, or replace all starches with greens or beans. I chose option 2. I feel that is within my reach and even to do it at a higher nutritional age, in other words, to strive for mastery.

So, instead of oatmeal this morning, I opted for this: 

Mixed baby greens and mushrooms were
sauteed in about a tsp of vegetable oil till soft. I turned down the heat,
added 1 egg  and scrambled it with the lot. Add a perfectly ripe pear
from this week's produce co-op and a cup of peppermint tea in a
Star Wars cup. 

I am still happiest with the small and subtle changes in my mind and heart that I'm seeing as a result of this program. I've moved forward in important ways that go beyond how I eat. Since the mind and body are connected, this makes perfect sense, of course. I am grateful for the lessons and nudging to change thought processes. 

And so, it's a new week. I've been losing about a half pound a week on average, and I feel like that is a great start. I have more than 26 lbs to lose though, so I would like to accelerate things a little so that by the end of the year I will have lost more like 35-40 lbs. It will help my knee so much to not have that weight on me. 

As for the new workout, it all looks good. I so appreciate the modifications page. Since I let my gym membership go to save some money, I am doing everything at home. I think I can manage everything this go-round except the deadlift, but there are several alternatives I can try. I am also committed to getting steps each day. No number in mind, just staying active. I feel so much better. 

It's been a rough allergy month. Shortness of breath, a sore throat and even swollen lymph nodes on my collarbone have made some workouts challenging lately, but I can do it. If I can't muster the complexity of the PN workout, I feel really good about doing 4 or 5 circuits of a 7 workout. It really challenges me. 

Today, I have a fair amount of work to get done. I will do my workout now, get showered and dressed and get about 2 hours of work done before I go help a friend. Then I will help another friend and be able to do several hours of work this evening. That schedule works for me. Even though I get up early, I move very slowly through the morning hours. I don't want to give in entirely to that tendency, but I also don't have to completely ignore it. I feel achy and stiff in the mornings and sometimes I have to be up for 3 or 4 hours before I can muster a workout. So, I don't feel guilty about that. 

Off I go!

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Back Home and Settling In

The weather is changing to fall. I'm cozying up. I'm back home and feeling settled.

As for Precision Nutrition, I've lost about 5 lbs or so, which thrills me. I've lost some girth, and the jeans are feeling different. Not loose yet, but thinking about it. That's cool. I'm getting my period this week, so I'm feeling a little bloaty and not expecting a loss this week, but that's okay.

My mind is easier somehow. The first round of lessons were really about the mind, not so much the body. My mind is complicated, my body is pretty simple. Heal the mind, heal the body. It can be done. We read The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown and it was really powerful for me. I'll review it on my other blog soon.

I already like veggies and smoothies and things like that. I already like exercise. I'm putting it together and that's good. I think the single biggest changes I've made are eating slowly and the eating to 80% full. That really matters to me. So, it follows that I'm eating fewer calories. Add that to doing more strength training, and my body will change. It's science.

Coach Pam asked me why I think I'm having success, and I think it boils down to the fact that this is a program for grown ups. It's not a club, it's not gimmicky or precious. It's facts and science and offers opportunities for me to succeed. I can take the opportunities or not. That mode of behavior change resonates with me. I'm in control.

I also like that it runs on the principle of positive behavior change rather than negative. When my kids were little, somewhere I read that instead of telling a kid "DON'T do that!" all the time, which leaves a blank space in their mind, tell them what to DO. It makes sense, and it worked for me as a mother.

In PN, instead of saying "Don't eat junk!" This program instead says "Do eat this. And this. and Do exercise. And be good to yourself. And be honest." It's filling the time and the belly and the mind with actions rather than only pointing out mistakes and missteps.

The bottom line is that I haven't given up chocolate. No one has told me I have to, so I haven't. I am doing all the things I have been told to do, and so I think I'm eating less chocolate. I know I am. I choose to eat the chocolate as a reward or because it's delicious, not because it's a nervous response to stress.

So, that's why it's working for me. Choosing positive ACTIONS instead of being left with blank spaces left by being told NO. It works for me and my stubborn mind. I can go at my own pace and because I choose to do so, I'm more likely to want to.

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Doing It Anyway

Something I learned to say out loud from Melody Ross was "She did it anyway." What that means to me is: 

• It doesn't have to be perfect to be worth the effort. That is a pretty big deal for me. 
• "It" is anything from working out to being happy to eating well, to forgiving, to not getting caught up in emotional stuff that is not real. ETC.. (I have a lot of etcetera in my life.)
• Sometimes buckling down and just doing what you're told is the best thing of all. Trusting someone else's judgement and experience rather than trying to limp forward with all my past failures can actually be freeing. 

Today's bit for the Did it Anyway file is that I worked out. 

A real, challenging, exactly-what-was-on-the-schedule workout that made me sweat and my muscles tremble. I did it even though I didn't have a gym. I didn't have all the right equipment. I'm staying in my son's college married-student apartment that gives new meaning to the word cozy. But I did it anyway. I compromised and was creative. I also reaped the rewards of forethought, as I'm traveling and brought some good essential equipment with me. I actually made a decision to pack this stuff first, as a sort of declaration that I'm really going to make this lifestyle change I'm going for a top priority. I want changes in my body and mind. I'm pretty okay already, so this doesn't cancel out all that I am and have been and experienced. I'm looking for abundance. To add to. And this is one small way to do it. Pack fitness stuff first. More and more, I can feel that translating to actions like Read PN lesson first. Work out first. Strategize eating first. 

My tiny foam roller, yoga mat, jump rope, resistance band and
workout clothes, all in a packing cube. 

Of COURSE it's not happening all the time, but that's the point here. 

The more important moment in my mind is not the moment of lapse, but the day AFTER the moment of lapse. Will I start again or let the lapse (the not doing something formerly known as failure) get me? 

Doing it anyway means I have infinite do-overs. Eventually, 2 do-overs in a row becomes a streak of starting again, and after that, it becomes a habit. 

It felt good this morning to do the whole workout, wholeheartedly. To persist through the shaking legs and stop and correct my form, then complete the reps. 

I hope I'll remember that feeling tomorrow when the challenges arise. I hope you will, too. 

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