The better me and the snag.

Lately I have been trying to work through some of the snags of life. I have slowly been changing my eating habits and are now much healthier than I was half a year ago. I eat breakfast every day, and after an extensive check at the doctors I know that I am as healthy as a horse on the inside. Go figure, since the outside looks like I have been living on the couch with a bag of chips for the last couple of years.

In my quest for lightness I have been forced to push my "thin woman" goal back a year since I seem to have hit the wall. For 2 months now I have not been able to loose any more weight! I have lost 5 kg (11 lbs 0.37 ounces) but now I can't get under 135 kg! I try not to sit still in my office too long but I have not been to the gym since Easter since my workout buddy has quit on me for the spring and summer. The gusto I need to get to the gym alone is too much and the excuses are many and varied.

Today I drew the line. I am getting up and at 'em, so to speak. I am working on collecting some tips to hang in there and change the day to day schedule to the better.
The first thing I am doing is inviting my husband to go walking with me. Saturday we walked in the spring sun for about 1 km (0.6 miles). Not a long walk, but enough for my foot to start hurting and a blister to form on my heal from the little-used shoes.

The second is that I am using the Noom app on my phone to keep track of what I eat and what I do as exercise every day. It is super easy to use and gives me challenges and tasks to do every day. It also shows how much I have eaten and how much calories I have burned the last 7 days on the home screen on my phone so I never forget to keep track (except on week ends when I rarely look at my phone except when I log the housework on Noom).

Third I am picking up tips from magazines like Weight Watchers and Shape. These are the tips I have found so far:

• If you get skin friction when out walking, use talcum powder or baby powder to keep the area dry and friction free.
• Drink your milk, but choose fat free and organic. Milk contains all the calcium you need and as my doctor said: a glass of milk and a few slices of cheese give you all the B12 that you need in a day. Since I can't stand cheese on most days, I drink 2 big glasses of 0.7% fat milk (anything less than that and I could just as well be drinking water when it comes to taste, and I was raised on fat directly from the tank).
  Why choose organic you say? Because it is better for you and the cows! That's why. Since I live in Norway and we keep the cows outside during summer and early fall, organic means that the food given to the cows have been grown, harvested and otherwise produced without using harmful chemicals. 
• Toss the yolks, eat the whites! For so many reasons, cholesterol being one of the top ones. You can use the yolk in cooking or for skincare.
• Spend less than 2 hours in front of the television and if you are seated all day at a desk, try to get up and move around at least 5 minutes for every hour during work and 15 minutes for every hour at home. If you are a student, like me, then do the "15 for the hour" all day and take 45 minutes at lunch to go to the other side of campus to eat.
• Walk everywhere, if you can. This is a really good tip. If you live less than 30 min. walk from work or school why take the bus/car? Walk or bike instead! Get up and move! If you can't walk to work and school, at least try to walk home again. Bring a pair of sneakers/joggers and a good jacket, t-shirt and walking pants. It is easy to bring and you will feel so much better when you get home than if you used the last 20 minutes waiting for and riding in a bus or car only to get home and be tired and sleepy. The walk or bike-ride will wake you up and get an appetite going for dinner. It also makes your body think of healthy food first instead of snacks (it is also easier to keep to a healthy diet if you have in mind that snacks and unhealthy food will only ruin the effect of that invigorating walk you just did).
• Want a snack? Eat a veggie! I keep a tomato handy for when I get peckish. It is juicy, sweet and just what I want most of the time.
• Really really want something not good for you? Take a piece of dark (70% pure or more) chocolate and melt it in your mouth. It will give you that chocolate euphoria and help your body get over the "i need something to snack on that is unhealthy" feeling.
• Do not weigh yourself often. Once a week is enough, and always prefer to check your measuring tape first instead of walking on the weight. Being weight obsessed can lead to serious illness and eating disorders. Find other ways to validate your weight loss.
• Still need something to snack on? Having guest over? Having a movie night? Make popcorn in the microwave or in a pot using oil and keeping the popcorn just lightly salted. Bee careful on the salt!
• Make your own food! Don't think that you save time by going out to eat. You don't! Make healthy, tasty food at home instead. There are many dishes that can be made in the time it takes you to go to the restaurant or diner. And you would be sitting at home, enjoying your meal long before you would be served at the establishment... unless you get lofty and try making something time consuming... but, hey! If you are at home doing stuff (say.. a week end at home doing house work?) try making a slow cooking dish like a roast. If our great, great grandmothers could do it with and open fireplace, no electricity, no inlaid water or machines and 18 hours work days so can we with all the luxuries we have today! The time bind is an illusion!
• Want to see results quickly but not loosing weight? Look for other improvements. If you stretch after every workout, you should quickly see improvements on flexibility. If you work on a balancing board you should very soon see improvements in balance and stability. If you work on your core muscles you should soon mark an improvement in posture and balance. If you walk the stairs every day instead of taking an elevator you'll soon manage the stairs without feeling like you are dying when you get to the top. Walk to work? Soon you will manage to walk faster and longer with less effort. See? Look for improvements in other places than on your bathroom scale.
• Set yourself a goal! Find a reachable goal and print/write it on a poster and hang it where you see it every day. Place it so you can't miss it! Every time you come a bit closer to that goal, make a mark and keep on it knowing you have done good. If you fall off, brush yourself off and try again. Don't beat yourself up over it. Everyone fall off now and then, and even if you have to try and try again, keep at it.
• We did not learn to walk in a day. To walk we first had to learn to roll, sit, scoot, crawl, stand, step and fall. And no matter how many times we fell we got back up and tried again. If you think it is impossible to learn something you have already given up! Watch a kid trying to learn something. They try again and again and again until they get it right and they don't get scared when they fall over and have to try again. We loose that ability when we grow older and are expected to be more careful. Well, forget what you have learned: be like the child and get back up when you fall. Again and again and again.

I think that will do for now. I will post more as I go and if you have any tips: Please do share your wisdom. It is always appreciated!

Mrs. Krogsæter