The Tipping Point

First, I have to tell you my good news, which is what caused me to think about the "tipping point" to begin with.

I have broken the 200 lb barrier!  I was 199.8 this morning!  I am so proud!  And this is even after my vacation where I ate and drank way more than I should have.  It goes to show that persistence and long term commitment pay off.

And this is what got me thinking about tipping points.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point:  How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, defines the tipping point as follows:

"The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire."

I think it applies to weight loss journeys as well.  Think of all the little things we do every day to help ourselves on our journeys:  eating right, drinking lots of water, exercise, blogging, etc.  The things, little in themselves, cumulate and build into that magic moment when all of a sudden the weight comes off.

For me, you can see (in my graph on the 'stats & stuff' page) the entire first month did very little for me even though I was doing all the right things.  In fact, I was doing them with great intensity and fervor since it was the beginning and I was still in that honeymoon phase of determination and excitement.  And yet, I only managed to lose 1.6 pounds that whole month.

And then, all of a sudden, you can see I reached the tipping point in February and the weight came off - 6.4 lbs of it.

And then came March ... another plateau hit.  And again, all my good habits, little by little, put themselves together until I think I'm at that magical moment where the weight is about to come off again.

It's almost like I can feel the tipping.  I can feel it coming.  Sometimes it's heralded by the desire to eat everything in sight.  Like right before I started to lose in February, I wanted to eat everything.  Anything bad for me.  Like red velvet cake.  I could even smell it everywhere I went.  But I resisted and then - BAM - the weight started to drop.  I hit that moment and tipped.

I think we all have these moments.  We all hit plateaus and it gets frustrating.  But what we need to remember is that during these times, our little actions are adding up.  They are leading us to our next tipping point.

So don't give up.  Keep up your little steps.  Your actions will lead you through your plateau.  If you are too impatient, add in some new steps - they can be very small ones since they all merge together - to help the tipping come faster.  Just know that it's all working, even if you aren't seeing it right this second.  It's coming.  Your magical weight loss wildfire is on its way. 

Hang in there and don't fall off when you tip!

Vaction Survival

Well, I made it through vacation!  Ate like a pig, drank like a fish - had a great time!  Didn't make it to the exercise room once ... well, I actually went and looked at it ("Yep, there it is!") but didn't work out. Glad to be home now though.

It's funny that I actually didn't feel all that great eating the fattening foods.  I used to live for those foods.  Now they don't make me feel well.  And I'm surprised by how quickly I fill up now.  So, all in all, it was a fun trip with not too much damage.  I'm up a few pounds but I expect a lot of that is water weight from all the salty foods I ate.  I'll see what I weigh in a few days.  I expect I'll be close to where I was when I left.

So I'm glad to be back on schedule.  Got up and rode the bike for over an hour this morning.  Did my usual reverse crunches, leg lifts and butt crunches.  Felt REALLY good to be back on schedule.  I will do the bowflex today and then I'll be right back where I should be.  And it feels great!  Who ever would have imagined it would be possible?? 

I found myself checking out the options on the menu and choosing things that were more healthy than other things (don't get me wrong - most of what I ate was not healthy, but I chose the healthi-er options).  Mostly. 

And it's so weird.  I don't feel guilty at all.  I feel good.  I feel better than good.

I guess I needed the time off.  This year has been pretty much non-stop work, so it was nice to take a few days and enjoy my family and do some shopping for silly, trivial things. 

The little kids are still home the rest of this week for their spring break, so I think I'll do some fun things with them interspersed with work.  The weather is actually hot now, so I'm going to work on getting our pool up and running.  My six year old is dying for me to get it done!  After I do some catch up work today, I may go out there this afternoon and tackle that!

At any rate, I'm very happy to discover that I can survive a vacation and get back on track with little disruption.  I was a little afraid that once I was off schedule, I'd never make it back.  That I'd be so enamoured of the rich food again, that I could never go back to my low calorie choices.  But it didn't turn out that way!

Now I have to try and catch up on work and other things, so I don't have the time to blog any more.  I'll be posting my weight graph at some point today for March.

So, I vacationed and I conquered!!  I did it!!

Spring Break Worries

Today is the last day of school before spring break for my little ones.  We will be going out of town for a few days to visit Helen, GA.  I know I'll be eating and drinking more than I should!  But, the place we will be staying has an exercise room and a pool, so I will hopefully exercise more to help balance the eating. 

I am a little worried though.  Even with my planning, it could be dangerous for me!  Especially since I weighed in at 200.6 today - my lowest weight yet!  I'm afraid I'm about to undo everything I've done up to this point.  Now, I know a few days of food and fun won't "undo" me, especially since I know the dangers ahead of time and have some plans to offset any issues (like researching the menus of the restaurants we will eat at, and planning on getting chocolate covered strawberries at the candy shop instead of fudge).  But it's still a scary thing to think the scale might inch back up after it's finally starting to go down again.

But, I will enjoy the time off with my family and if I do de-rail, I will get right back to it as soon as I'm back home. 

And, I amazed myself with my willpower today.  We went into a coffee shop for my hubby to get a cup of coffee (he drinks his black - ewww) and I was able to say "no" to an iced coffee drink - which used to be one of my downfalls!  I am very proud of myself!

In other news, we did get our grill!

I will be grilling some sausages tonight to try it out!  I'm very excited!!

Last night, I made a beef pot pie for dinner that was about 300 calories per serving.  It filled me up, though I think I'll change the recipe a bit.  I'll post it on my recipe page if you are interested! 

Also in other news, I'm at that awful stage where I am in between sizes now.  I got out my summer clothes to wash for the trip and they kind of sag on me.  So I pulled out some of my smaller clothes and they are still too tight.  WTH??  So now I look all frumpy and rumpled which is NOT how I want to show off my weight loss.  Sigh. 

On the bright side (I always try and find a bright side ... it keeps me sane) I am close to going down a size which means a shopping trip for some new outfits!  Maybe that will help me through the next few days when we go on vacation by helping me make some good choices.  I just sure hope I drop the size soon.  I hate this in-between stage.

Well, for now I will frumpishly continue on my journey. 

Grillin' Time!

I made Boca burgers on the grill last night!  I put mushrooms and onions on top with a slice of lower fat Swiss cheese!  Added a little mustard, ate it on a wheat thin bun - tasty!!   Hubby and the kids liked it too!  I made a side of suddenly salad, substituting one of the tablespoons of oil for water and it turned out great!

I was able to cook the onions and the mushrooms without any oils or butter at all.  I used the cooking spray and then added chicken broth a tablespoon at a time as the frying pan got dry.  I put a lid on the frying pan to help "steam" cook the veggies.  Worked pretty well!

I'm so excited about grilling season!  We are hopefully going to buy a new grill this week!  If we do, I'll post a picture!

There is so much you can do with a grill for lower fat cooking!  I'm going to try some foil cooking as well.  That's a great way to have flavor without adding a lot of calories. 

I'm having a great time exploring low calorie foods.  I love to cook and I love to eat.  I had always dreaded a "diet" because I love food so much and the thought of doing without just killed me.  But what I'm finding is that I'm having a blast experimenting with lower calorie recipes.  It's actually fun!  And I'm trying things I never would have deigned to eat before - like the Boca burgers! 

So I'm looking forward to grilling experiments as well.  Nothing like grillin' in the sun with the smells of summer all around.

Now I just need to find some "skinny" alcoholic drinks and I'll be set!!

Determination

This bladder infection is kicking my butt.  I'm still not feeling well.  BUT, I did ride the bike for over an hour today.  And I rode yesterday and did my bowflex strength training, so maybe my determination will kick my infection's butt.

There can't be enough said about determination.  It is the will to keep on going.  We might have motivation.  We might have "reasons" for our journey, but none of that matters unless we have the determination to actually WORK for it. 

Determination keeps us going.  It's the drive for our journey.  Our vehicle.  Without it, all we have are wishes and wanna-be's. 

I've WANTED this for years, but I haven't had the DETERMINATION to do anything about it.  It was a long journey just to get to the point where I got on the bike for the first time.  It's been determination that keeps me there.  Every morning.  Even when I'm tired and don't want to get up, I do.

I'm amazed at how different this journey is from my past "diets."  I honestly believe I can do this forever.  I'm not starving myself, I'm just making better choices.  And I'm finding foods that I can celebrate with and enjoy rather than eating just one type of food or prohibiting any type of food.  Who can live like that? 

I may not be losing the weight quickly like some people, but I am losing it.  Down 11 lbs now.  Still haven't broken that 200 lb barrier, but I'm at 201.  Very close!  And the weight has been coming off for almost 3 months now.  Used to be I'd already have failed my diet and be back up by 10 lbs. 

So, I'll keep fighting this infection and keep going on my journey.

After all, I'm not broken ... I'm a work in progress.



Sickness vs. Willpower

Well, I'm sick.  I've got a bladder infection and feel terrible.  Luckily the doctor was able to fit me in and get me on medicine, but I still feel terrible.

On the one hand I was too sick to eat much all day.  On the other hand, by last night I wanted some kind of comfort food.  I certainly wasn't up to cooking so we ordered out pizza.  And I ate two pieces.  Not a very good choice, but it was a tasty one.  And it made me feel better.

This is another example of how food is emotional for me.  I turn to it whenever I'm down. 

The good news is that I'm feeling a little better today.  The medicine seems to be kicking in.  I slept better as well, so that helps too.

I didn't ride the bike yesterday - was way too sick.  Today I may be able to.  I'm not 100% but I think I may be up to riding for a time.  I was supposed to do the bowflex yesterday as well, so maybe I'll try and do that today, too.  My back is killing me and the doctor said it's from my infection.  And I had forgotten to take my blood pressure medicine yesterday so when I got to the doctor it was 180/110.  NOT good.  So I might actually take today as a day of rest to give my body a chance to heal without stressing it out with exercise.  I'll see how I feel later and go from there.  I will definitely exercise tomorrow if I can't do it today.

So, sickness does a number on my willpower.  I feel like I "deserve" to be pampered when I'm sick and apparently food does the pampering to me.  At least in my mind.  I probably need to come up with an alternative comfort.  Like just going to bed and sleeping rather than turning to food.  I need to try and eat healthy even when I'm sick.  Probably more so than when I'm NOT sick, because my body is trying to heal!  Plus there are some healthy yummy foods out there too ...

This picutre was very funny to me today for some reason. 

At any rate, I'm on the mend and will be back on schedule by tomorrow.  And I haven't gained any weight, so that's a good thing. 

Since sickness is a part of life, I have to have a plan for when it happens.  Then again, a few pieces of pizza when I'm not feeling well isn't the end of my journey to good health.  It's just a speed bump, and I can get back on the proper road once I'm well.  The point is that I need to stay determined and not forget my good habits while I'm sick.

I think I can do that.  I WILL do that.  My willpower is weak during illness, but my determination is stronger than both.

Motivations.

What motivates you?

I am motivated by inspiring quotes and pictures.  I've always loved words.  I live them.  I breathe them.  And now, I've put them up all over my house to inspire me!  And when you tie them to pictures, it's even better!

Here are some that I love:





So, go out there and find your motivation!  Keep up what you are doing and get yourself re-focused and excited about yourself and your actions!

Just do it!