I've got exciting news! :)
I'll let you know all (or at least all I know) about it in a moment. Sorry for the teaser, but I want my regular buddies to hear this, as they know how exciting this is for me.
But let me start somewhere else.
It's right now 1:56 AM. I think I'm done sleeping, which is NOT good. I have slept about 3 hours last night. Mind has been wondering, but not about work. It's been hot in our bedroom, as the summer suddenly has hit us hard (within Danish standards anyways). The fan that we have in the room seems to have died over the winter, so there is no air. I've been tossing and turning the few hours I was in there, and I simply concluded that it was a waste of time to be there. I'd rather go write my journal and exercise.
Well...
No exercise. I got out of bed and my back is hurting kinda bad. I guess too much gardening yesterday. Wife and I did go to the garden and got quite a bit done. I could tell that I pushed it a little too far, but I wanted to finish a few things to have it all look nice and pretty.
I can tell a HUGE difference when I do gardening compared to last year, weighing a lot more back then. I can tell that I am leaner and meaner. I am stronger, and I have much more endurance. I loved it. At the same time the sun was hammering down, so I got a nice little tan going from the few hours out. It's another beautiful day today - actually all week! - so I might go today, depending on my back.
Yesterday was an excellent day every bit of the way. At work I got even more work done than that I had promised myself to get done. In our lunch break we had leftovers from Monday (as always), which was a Frankfurter with a few oven fries and a salad. The menu is the same today, only I will skip the fries. I've had them for three meals in a row now and I'm kinda fried out, so to say. So instead I'll have the Frank for protein (and fat) and a couple of tomatoes with it. Yum!
In our lunch break, Wife and I went to H&M and I bought a pair of shorts. I really wanted to wait buying them until after the surgery (which is in about 3 weeks) but it's simply too hot around here these days. My office is too hot for jeans. Oh, how I love that Denmark is so laid back on the dress code at work. This would not fly in the courts I used to work in, in the US.
Anyways, I needed the shorts, even if I wanted to wait. I wanted to prolong it a little to get the proper size, as I know I'll be down a size or two after surgery. I wonder what size I will be? Much to my surprise, I'm a European size 29 in shorts. They look so TINY! LOL!
...
I'm getting some great feedback from a couple of friends and a few buddies here on Fatsecret, who are using the videos that I have posted from Paul McKenna. They're amazing. If you haven't watched any of it, do yourself a favor and check out my journal from Monday.
My buddy jsfantome posted a comment about it and how she has developed in a matter of a few days, changing the game somewhat for her, just like it's changed a lot for me. I will take the liberty to quote her from what she wrote in the community forum. She says it so well, and I am so happy this is working for her.
Hey Buddy - today really IS a new day! I am walking into this new mindset of being free rather slowly - but I am moving in a forward direction!
I have for many years, and a WIDE variety of reasons...struggled with emotional eating. And I picked up on a key question while recently listening to P.M. - asking myself "What do I "REALLY" want?" before eating something?
Do I want to eat from hunger? Of course, if I do... then that is a most appropriate response. But my triggers typically do not coincide with hunger. What I really want.. is a hug. Or a good cry. Or to go upstairs and take a long hot shower and escape the craziness of my stressed out life!!! What I really want... is to resolve unresolved issues. To have peace in my life. So when that peace is interrupted by the wear and tear of everyday life - I far too often gave in to the stress points... and self-medicated with food.
Even low carb food.
So, I am on a journey to untangle these emotions. And to begin to get this right for me. For my 'mental' health, as well as my physical.
I also, have always known about myself, that I eat tooooo fast!!! Always the first one done at the dinner table. Always. Well, I am learning to slow it down. WAAAAAYYYYY DOWN! And actually enjoy whatever it is I choose to eat. One bite... and I refuse to move on until I have gotten every single solitary YUM out of it I can!!! Wink
These two things alone should keep me preoccupied for awhile!!!
You got this my friend! YOU can do this! And thanks for being here and paying it forward, as you're additions to this site are helping even old timers like me!!!
Much Love.Now, if that is not confirming progress and positive attitude, I don't know what is. It made me smile BIG. Thanks, jsfantome for that amazing post.
...
So... the news. :)
I have had a little communication back and forth with a local school. They arrange evening classes for grown-ups, learning new skills, hobby stuff, language, knowledge... you know the kind.
Well, guess what. Starting this fall, they will also have a weekly class about... WEIGHT LOSS! Guess who's gonna be the teacher?! :)
I am soooooo excited about this. I feel that this might be the beginning of my calling calling me. This is a great way to get my feet wet on coaching weight loss.
I do already have one client that I help. I am doing this absolutely on volunteer basis. I work for free to get the experience, and to pay it forward. He needs to drop 25 kgs in order to qualify for surgery. I have advised him to consider to simply keep going, but he has his heart set on surgery. I will leave that up to him, only I on occasion point out to him how great he's doing losing weight already. Ultimately, of course, it will be his decision in the end. He's one month away from his deadline and he still needs to drop two kgs. He's reach this goal without ANY trouble. I know it.
I'm basically gonna use the same approach with my class. I'm gonna make it part sharing my own experience, explaining my tools, explaining "madlog" (Danish for "food log", a Danish version of Fatsecret) and how to use it. It'll be a three month journey for the students, so the time will also be spent clearing the bumps in the road out of the way, and fine tune their weight loss journey. It's gonna be part support group, with a weekly weigh-in to stay accountable, and weekly evaluations on how they've done the previous week. The ultimate goal is essentially to lose weight and prep them to have a reasonable handle on all the food challenges around Christmas.
How does that sound? Would you go, if you saw an ad for this?
I am SO excited to do this.
I am planning on using the time when I am out from work and will be staying home for some weeks to prep my classes. I will basically set up a folder with the lesson plans, what I plan to teach when, make a program for each time we meet, in order to remember it all. This is something I can't just pull out of the hat, I think it's important for a great journey to have it well prepped and be able to do as much as possible.
The only thing that really gets me nervous about it is the chance of someone simply not losing weight, or asking questions that I can't answer. I already have the solutions, though.
About not losing weight: The system works. I know it. I've done it, and seen it a million times here. So if the system works, and a student isn't losing weight, then it's not the system. It will have to be other factors, and of course we'll then have to see if we can find them.
About unanswerable (is that a word?) questions: I will simply read up for next time, and (ab)use all you awesome people on Fatsecret for that. I'm sure many of you will get a kick out of joining me on the side line and helping out. :) Please say you will.
I think that I will get more serious in this part of my life - the weight loss coaching - if these classes are successful. If they work and I can see that I can teach, then I think I will decide to go freelance, and do a little here and there in my time outside work. I have to work out how to do it, as I don't want to work every single evening plus have my day job. However, it's something I'd like to nurture and develop to hopefully live from it one day. I see plenty of clients around, if you get my drift. Sadly, I'm getting more and more potential customers every day.
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So how did I do on NOT counting calories yesterday? I did great! I am absolutely sure that I consumed less than I burned. I did buy a small ice cream - it was essentially a requirement with that sun hammering down on us. I consumed it mindfully, I took as much time as I could without it melting, and I enjoyed every bit I had. The result? I didn't finish it. I made it about 80% through, and I felt that I had enough. I packed up the rest and threw it away.
I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever thrown away ice cream before. I'm not even sure it's legal. :)
My foods, even with two frankfurters throughout the day, was absolutely reasonable on the calories, and put in the yard work and I know that I'm good. I'm trying hard to not add up calories in my head to know where I am, but it's hard to not do. I don't want to be a slave to those numbers, I simply want to be able to go by feel. It's a lot easier when the urge for snacks is gone.
The ice cream yesterday was of course a snack. However, it was also a form of hunger, I think. I was hungry for food, as it was relatively close to dinner time. I had been craving an ice cream all day, but not in the "snack urge" kind of way. It's hard to explain. However, I asked myself what I really wanted to eat, and if I was sure that this was it, and the answer was yes. So, in accordance with the new "eat what you want, not what you think you should eat" rule, I had it, ate it mindfully and stopped when I was full. Success!
Same thing when we came home and had dinner. I didn't finish. I never finish my meals any more. There is ALWAYS something left on my plate.
This happens for two reasons:
1. I believe that we can "trick the inner cave man" into thinking that there is no food shortage, simply by leaving food on the plate. Something happens subconsciously when we leave food. Deep down we register that there is enough food that we don't need to finish the meal, and there is no need to hold on to our body fat in case of food shortage.
2. I get full from eating slow and mindfully. I get full FAST.
This alone has helped me SO MUCH with my new "no-counting" part of my weight loss maintenance.
I have registered a significant change when it comes to eating pace. When I counted calories it was easy to work out what I could eat, but I never looked at the eating pace. I made my plate, and I ate the whole thing. Why shouldn't I? I had the calories counted, and the food was available. No problem.
Well...
I see now that I could probably have lost weight even faster and better had I eaten slower. I don't think I did anything wrong, but I realize that this is a little thing that can change a lot. Simply by putting down knife and fork, or the sandwich, we will lower the pace and we will give our bodies a chance to register that we're eating. It takes about 20 minutes for our bodies to discover this, and if you eat slowly though that time then you WILL end up eating less. It takes a little practice, but it's not hard.
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Okay... this is becoming a LOOOOONG journal. However, I have to share ONE MORE THING... :)
My wonderful Daughter, as you know, is an amazing artist. She draws and paints constantly, and her talents are amazing.
Last week, she put out a challenge on Facebook to have people send her a photo, that she would draw. Typically a portrait, a pet or something like that.
Well, I sent her a photo of me, with my bass. It was basically a photo I took to check out my outfit for our concert just before Christmas.
I sent it to her and asked her to remove the Christmas tree in the background (the image was taken in our living room) and make it "a little more rock'n'roll". Man, did she do it! It's my new profile picture here, and on Facebook, and I'm gonna show it to everyone who I can force to see it. I'm even thinking of doing a poster for my office. :)
Check this out - this is the drawing/painting along with the original photo.
...and here is the original:
Today, I'm thankful for:
- The amazing art of me above.
- Feeling superb, even if I didn't sleep.
- Coffee! Boy will I need it today.
- Getting signed up to teach! "Excited" doesn't even begin to cover what I feel!
- You making it all the way to reading this. I'm impressed. :)
Phew. Okay. That's it. Enough. Sorry for this LOOOOOOONG journal - but what else am I supposed to be doign at 2 (now 3) AM in the morning?
Life is good!
