Mama Fitness...or This Stinks. Rants and Raves.

Attitude is everything, dah-ling. Yes, quite, and this morning, I am happy for the cool weather, a healthy family and a warm home. So much for the grateful list, I could go on, life is wonderful.

My gut and butt are another matter. This is not the happy weight-loss success story you were hoping to hear. Go to one of those skinny magazines for that. Not that I despise my looks. I love the second takes I get from people when I tell them I have five children. I don't look so bad for a mother of many, and two of them teenagers. I am more fit than I was a year ago, without a doubt. However, bottom line: I have NOT been successful at losing weight and keeping it off. There are fat molecules in the air. My thyroid is off-whack, and maybe I just like sugar more than I should. Burp.

This is a post on the topic of weight in America, by a brilliant writer friend, who, in case you get bored with my posts, has a magical way with words that enthralls and makes you want to read everything she's ever written:
How to Live in LA

Post-European Vacation Update:

I did not gain weight in France. Yee-haw. Not an accomplishment and not a disaster.

Total weight loss in the past year, that stayed off: 9lbs.  I had done away with 6.5 more...but read on.

In France, Italy and Germany, I ate tons of duck, french fries, mushrooms and cheese,  drank too much wine on a daily basis, never said no to chocolate or ice cream, and did not see the inside of a gym even once. I did walk a lot. Still...

I have been back home for a month. I've been to my class at the Y faithfully 3-5 times a week, biked or walked on the days in between and have gained 4 lbs. I have not had one single bite of foie gras nor the merest sip of champagne. I'm not devastated, just mad.

What is making the difference? I wonder if it is never needing to walk anywhere, ever here? Do those daily jaunts across the street to pick up bread and maybe 3 times a week downtown; a half-hour walk and back matter so much? Is it drinking coffee black in Europe as opposed to sugar and almond-milk enriched here? Is it simply not spending as much time outside, in fresh air, which was the norm for 2 months? (Which meant you walked more, which in turn burns more calories?)

My thyroid is practically non-functioning, according to the latest tests. But then, I've noticed all of those symptoms for years, now the blood-work simply matches the reality. So, can't really blame that anymore than I could before.

It's not the fat molecules in the air. My husband, who did not leave his office during the day to walk downtown or even get bread, came home with an extra 12 lbs. He has lost 5 already. Skunk.

Tips and comments welcome...but maybe not if you are a guy, who has never had to lose more than a pound or two in your life. We love you, but you probably don't get us. 

P.S. Last statement does not apply if your resumé includes training Cher, Shailene Woodley or Ann Hathaway.

Mama Fitness: Advice from Down in the Thick of Things

1) DO NOT ask friends for dieting advice. Or at least not in a public, social network sort of place...like a blog or FB, where what ever dumb idea you may have briefly had will forever brand you a crazy person. Be private in your inquiries, very private. Or take the risk of regretting it for all eternity. The person responsible for your health is you. A healthcare professional and one best friend is about all you need...and a way to make calorie-free, gluten-free, sugar-free donuts that taste the same as any normal, cake donut with chocolate frosting...or powdered sugar...

2) FORGET fad dieting. Common sense, statistics and all of my friends on FB will tell you; there is no better way to set yourself up for a re-gain of even more weight. I do not know if pursuing a low-calorie diet for a few weeks is a fad or a necessity. More research required.

3) HAVE A PLAN and stick with it. Premeditating the joy you will get from the food you have planned for each day IS a good thing, and allows for portion control, as you have just obtained all the pleasure you were expecting to get from that little bowl of yogurt. More would just be redundant. Go have a glass of water. Or something.

4) DO have someone with whom you can talk this over. If I blog, it is partially to encourage myself. My husband has incredible self-discipline when it comes to food. He also loves to eat. He is a great sympathizer for me in this journey. (Even though he has never been even 10lbs. overweight in his life.) You need girl friends too!

5) WINE, a word; I find that using this teeny tiny, two-ounce glass for a portion of wine makes life beautiful. If wine should be a forbidden item on my menu, then this little jewel is a treat. That might work for chocolate cake too; I'll have to dig up the kids' old tea set and try.

Mama Fitness; Check-Up Day

So...I am in great shape. My doctor is very pleased; my glucose levels are down, the good cholesterol is up, my blood pressure is perfect. Yaaa me. Yet, I still weigh in 20lbs.heavier than 3 years ago. It is discouraging. It is ridiculous. It is perfectly vexatious. 

When I began this series on shaping up again post-baby years, post-40ish, I did not expect the initial weight-loss phase to last so long or be so difficult. I have a healthy lifestyle; fresh produce, lean, healthy proteins, hardly any grains, exercise 5-6 times a week. I think some weight-loss should naturally follow. 'Snot. I AM toned, strong, healthy. I am grateful. I do not want to put this good health in jeopardy for a smaller skirt size. I love working out, the buzz exercise gives you is better than chocolate...um, a fresh hair cut and a glass of wine. I not only take the stairs, I walk to the bakery and bike to the grocery store. My lifestyle is better. I am not essentially thinner.

I am considering a short-term, super low-calorie diet to kick start things. This is not my first choice, and it may not even end up being a choice at all, but two health-care providers; both a midwife and an MD, have suggested it may be an option I should look into.

Any experience with the HCG injection and very low-calorie diet? Here is the new protocol, post-Simmeons version of it: http://www.dremma.com/.
There is good and bad all over the internet, as usual, but I know none of the participants personally. It would be one course, with a doctor and a plan; for food, for supervision, for long-term weight-loss.