Birdy Takes Flight

[Birdy]

Okay, enough "woe is me." It's a new day. For dinner two nights ago, I made Mary's Festive Dahl Soup which was a big hit with my 13 year old daughter and her friend who was eating with us. The friend exclaimed when she sat down to eat, "Oh, real homemade food! I haven't had food like this in months." I asked her what she meant and she said her mom "stopped cooking a couple of years ago and all we eat is pizza, frozen lasagna, and steaks and vegies my dad does on the grill." I was surprised! So tonight I'm making a simple pasta salad with little green peas and steamed broccoli with one of Mary McD's tofu sauces. There's also Parmesan for the rest of the family, not me. I think that sticking to Mary's recipes for a while will help get and keep me on track. I've been walking more recently and have the goal of at least a 30 minute walk each day. Tomorrow morning early I'm walking with a friend of mine who is a marathon walker. I heard an interesting interview on NPR yesterday with a woman (sorry I didn't catch her name) who has become an exerciser by not allowing herself to be intimidated or discouraged by placing unrealistic expectations on herself. She and a friend just started meeting at 6 a.m. 5 days a week to go for a walk and did that for 4 years. She said the physical benefits she experienced from just that one change were enormous. Anyway, she's written a book called Fresh Off the Couch. Sounds interesting. How's everyone else doing today? I think I'm going to start keeping a food journal with me to write down what I'm eating, when, where, and sometimes what my mood/experiences are if relevant. I've heard this is a good tool for people trying to lose weight. Keeping me honest, to paraphrase CNN!

[Birdy]

Oh my goodness it is so hot in the Seattle area. Today, it's in the 90s and hotter weather is forecast for the coming week. We're having salad for dinner with fresh corn on the cob. I can handle boiling water for the corn, but, in general, cooking and eating anything warm doesn't appeal to me this week. I tend to lose my appetite in hot weather anyway, so maybe this will be a good week for weight loss. Does anyone have any suggestions for hot weather meals?

For exercise, I've been walking. I wanted to take up swimming but have impingement syndrome in my left shoulder, so walking and light weight training are better choices for me currently. Sunday morning before it got too hot I walked 3 miles. Tomorrow I plan to do the same thing. It's time for new walking shoes as my old ones have holes in the toes and my feet hurt a little after Sunday's walk.

I'm still maintaining a weight loss of between 5 and 7 pounds depending on the day. Seems like scales fluctuate mysteriously. My goal is to lose at least another 10 pounds this summer so I'm back in the upper 140 range again for the first time in years. If I can do that or better, and maintain it, I will be happy. My dream plan would be to weigh in the 120s again which was my weight range from about age 12 to age 42 when I slowly started gaining weight. Is it realistic or even desirable for someone 59 to weigh that youthful weight again? I don't know for sure. I'd be interested in what some of you think.

I saw a very good short video on YouTube recently about 2 people in their 70s and 80s who were advised by their doctor to go on plant-based diets. Both of them were transformed. They lost considerable weight, lowered bp, lowered cholesterol etc., and put diabetes into remission. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Bu6MJZbW0

Have a wonder filled day!

[Letha.]

Hi Birdy,
Snap a photo of your dinner salad & add it to the ’09 Summer Salad Photo Challenge . You will also find lots of other ideas for hot weather eating in that thread.

I watched the youtube video. Good to see older folks making these changes. Lots of seniors figure it’s too late. Also good to see more doctors advocating a plant based diet.

I also wonder about the 150 lb goal weight I’ve set for myself. It’s been so long since I weighed that amount I have no idea what it will feel like. I’d like to be as slender as I can be and still be in good health. It will be interesting to see what you decide to do Birdy.
Letha

[sksamboots]

Your doing great, keep it up

[Anna Green]

Birdy, I don't know about your lost sense of self but I wonder if you did the things you did for yourself back when.. or even new things/ interests if you'd feel more like yourself again. I don't know about you but I have to push myself to do things that I want to do and not just what fits in around my son all the time. I love what I do for him but it is easy to use him not to focus on myself and remember it is good for the both of us for me to focus on me sometimes. I know that is simplistic and for years I needed to build my life around him. There are only so many hours in a day and he needed the time. But now as he goes off to see friends and do his own thing, I think I can do some things I have been meaning to do for awhile. Not that you are in this same place, I don't know. When you were talking about this it just rang a bell with me.

Anyway, I think doing things that are good for you can only help and that's what you are doing. So there.

[Ege Bamyasi]

Hello, Birdy.

I have no doubt in my mind at all that you can and will see the 120s again before you know it, and you'll feel fabulous when you do.

I haven't been under 300 since late 1990 or early 1991. I can remember riding a bike across the city when I was in my 200s but other than that my body no longer remembers how it really felt to be in decent shape though still overweight.

The last time I was at my ultimate goal of 200 was around my 13th birthday in 1982. One one hand, that's a completely alien concept to me now. On the other I just keep reminding myself that if I stick to this plan and add regular exercise as soon as I'm able, the laws of physics will make the rest automatic. The same will hold true for you.

[toadfood]

Hi Birdy, it sounds like you're doing great! I try to remind myself that weight is just a number, and not a very important number at that -- I say that, yet I have a weight loss ticker in my sig, so I'm obviously not very good at practicing what I preach! I have to admit, though, that I did best, and was at my lowest weight in years, when I stopped weighing myself entirely and decided I was going to let God, or the laws of physics, or whatever you want to call it, decide what I should weigh (I was in OA at the time, so I was working on letting go of controlling a lot of stuff). If you're taking care of yourself, you will be the weight you are supposed to be. I'm obviously not following that path right now, but I can testify that it does work.

[Birdy]

Hello all,
Letha I'm so computer illiterate that I don't know how to take a digital photo and post it on this forum. Lately we can't even get photos to attach in e-mails. Don't know what the problem is - probably our software.

It struck me in all of your responses that setting a particular weight loss goal feels somewhat like embracing a fantasy of who we want to be. I appreciate your encouragement Letha, Ege Bamyasi (what does that mean?), Toadfood, and Sksamboots. Anna, the phrase you used, "your lost sense of self" really rang a bell for me also. That's what it's all about for all of us I think - trying to regain the appearance and health that we each view as who we truly are. And for sure I put others, especially my children, ahead of myself. You're right, there's a time for doing that, but now that 2 of my kids are grown and out of the house and only one (age 13) is still home, it's time to be the best person I can be. She said to me yesterday, "Mom, you look thinner, have you lost weight?" And I said, "Well, only about 5 pounds." She said some of her friends have asked her if I've lost weight. I'm not sure what that's all about, but what it impressed on me is that my daughters and others their ages do notice their mothers as examples. So if I take better care of myself and my appearance becomes healthier, I'm a good role model for others AND I'm happier with myself.

Well, my goals for today are to eat McDougall foods, to walk 30 minutes, and to avoid melting in the 103 degree heat today. I cannot believe it's this hot in the Puget Sound area. Today and tomorrow are predicted to be in the 100s then "cooling" to the upper 90s the next few days. Maybe next week will get back to more normal temperatures in the 80s. What's the weather like where you live? How are you coping with really hot weather? One of my strategies is to go for walks after dinner when the sun has gone down and it's cooled off.

[sksamboots]

Hi Birdy,

I used to live in the Puget Sound, so that really is hot for over there. I honestly, just like to go swimming or to stay under the air conditioner if it's hot. And I drink lots of fluids...hmm... I think it's wonderful about what you said about your daughter and setting a role model. I'm a firm believer that someone is always watching us, so I can lead by example, by eating Mcdougall food. Good goals today--your amazing

[Anna Green]

Hi. Sorry about the heat there. It was on the national news today. I lived in Seattle for about 5 years until the end of 99. We did not have an air conditioner. I hope you have one. I was remember my walks there and the hills. Whole different thing than walking here. Good for you.

[Birdy]

Sksamboots, thank you for your very sweet post. I do think our examples are the most powerful thing about us, as compared to words anyway. We don't have air conditioning and that's a problem for many people in this area where it's usually not needed.
Anna, I was in southern Alabama last August on Dauphin Island and the heat there was comparable to what it's been like here. Luckily, it's cooled off to about 90 degrees today and for the coming weekend. Then next week is supposed to be back to more normal temperatures.
Will have to post more later. DD needs to go somewhere and I'm the wheels.

[sksamboots]

Hope you stay cool today

[Birdy]

Thanks Sksamboots, I am staying cool now since the temperatures here have dropped 30 degrees. Sheesh! Talk about changes in the weather.

Well, I've been dragging my feet on posting in this journal. For one thing, I've started a Food Journal that I haul around in my purse because I read that people who write down everything they eat lose significantly more weight than those who don't keep an account. Makes sense. Keeps me accountable. For another thing (and I do NOT want to start a big argument here), I got miffed about the newest McDougall newsletter and just didn't feel like posting for a few days. If you're interested, please see the discussion on the thread for newsletters.

Taking up where I left off in an earlier post, I've been thinking about the power of our examples. How who we are "speaks" louder than what we say, etc. That got me thinking about who my examples are, who my heroines are. Whose examples inspire and/or motivate me. How about you? Funny to say this, but my own example earlier in my life when I was thin and active inspires me or haunts me, I'm not 100% sure which. Ha, ha. My great grandmother inspires me. She was probably at the weight she'd weighed most of her adult life when she died at 93 during her afternoon nap following her daily ride on her stationary bicycle. She lived alone until she was almost 90 but, when she fell off a ladder picking fruit from a backyard tree, her daughter said, "Mom, that's it. You're coming to live with me." So she did.

Also, a friend of mine who has an irrepressible sense of joy and humor who is slim and does yoga, takes singing lessons at the age of 60, grows amazing roses and generally lives life to the fullest inspires me. How about you??? I'd love to hear more on the subject of examples.....

[Anna Green]

I have been looking for you. Glad you are back. I love your example. I have a new image of myself as a grandmother and I am picking apples (minus the fall).

[SandraK]

This got me thinking, our impressions of an older person's life can make such a difference, even when we are younger. My ex-husband's parents moved into a retirement apartment in their 50's and basically just watched TV and waited to die. On the other hand, my grandmother was past 60 before I was even born and I remember her driving across the country every summer to visit family. She lived on her own until her 90's, healthy and alert. My husband was so restless when the kids were young and eager for them to grow up and move out. I think he wasn't able to enjoy the moment as much because he had less expectation of a healthier active life later. ('Or he was just weird and selfish.. whatever. I won't go there.)
My brother and his wife just retired a couple of years ago. They've taken their 5th wheel all over the country, and hiked in some beautiful scenery. I need to be healthier to enjoy that lifestyle later.
Good luck creating an outward appearance that more acurately represents who you really are.