Category Archives: Weight Loss

#Gym episode 12/02: Why stop?

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I was late for my session today because of work meetings which ran late. It meant that the trainer had less time to spend with me. The routine today was:-

10 mins elliptical (I increased the resistance every minute)
Ab exercises (3 on the machines and 3 on the floor)
In between the ab exercises, there was sprinting on the bike for about 3 mins)

The trainer had to leave me during the last set on the last machine and gave instructions that I should finish up with 15 mins on the elliptical. I thought “why stop there?” So this is what I decided to do.

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After all, this is a challenge, isn’t it! If my leg muscles were not in need of repair, I would have done more.

Rewind <<<<<<<>> Continue reading →

Maybe more #protein is the answer

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Had dinner at a hotel tonight with some friends visiting. As I normally do, my eyes headed to the dessert part of the menu first. Was there really anything to entice me? Nah….fortunately 👍.

Grouper to start, then carrot soup and main course was lamb with a chick pea and tomato salad. After that, any thoughts I had about ice cream went through the window.

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So I was pleased that I resisted the dessert. The petit fours came and I still was not moved to have one. Filled up on unsweetened ginger and orange tea.

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Small victory tonight. Long shall they continue with the result adding up to allowing me to wear a dress like this and not feel self conscious.

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#Gym Episode 9/02: I will survive #weighttraining

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Day 1 done and dusted….

Full body workout with Damion Daniel. Quads, hamstring, chest, shoulder, biceps, lats, deltoids. Nope. I am not a novice. I know my muscles. I also know which of them have issues. A lot!!!!! Hopefully as they get stronger and I eat better, the niggles will disappear. Must look after my cervical spine too.

As I was struggling with finishing some of the reps while Damion was gently encouraging me (i.e. not the way Jillian Michaels does it), I asked myself, what is the value of hiring a trainer?

I got the answer when, after he switched up the order of some of the upper body exercises, mi…..couldn’t……repeat…..one…..which……I normally……breeze……through! And mind you, the weights were not heavy. There is also that accountability factor. Trusting me to motivate me clearly hasn’t worked out so well the older I have got.

I guess that’s why he looks like this….

Champion Bodybuilder, Damion Daniel

…..and me like this 😁😂😯;)😮😦😨

Continue reading →

How many #before #weightloss photos am I going to take????

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It starts on February 10, 2016…..check back for updates.

Intermittent Fasting: Day 1 of ????

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I’ve tried Intermittent Fasting before. It’s what Dave Zinczenko calls the 8-hour diet. Apparently there are different ways to do Intermittent Fasting. Who knew! The first time I tried IF, I had a headache the first morning I did not eat breakfast, even though I had had coffee, which you are allowed. This time, I am going to TRY and not have any coffee until the 16 hour fast is over.

Today I had my first meal at 7 a.m., then my last meal at 5:30 p.m. Because I have to teach tomorrow, I will have to eat by 7:30 a.m. so the first day will be a 14 hour fast.  My students need not see my Incredible Hulk transformation due to hunger.

How do I feel right now at 10:30 p.m.? That I should’ve been sleeping already so I would not feel these hunger pangs!! Damn. All now, I would have been eating non-stop. Yes, night time noshing is my weakness. Need to find something to occupy my time in the evenings, besides work. HGTV is trying to fill the gap, but on House Hunters just now, they showed a family buying ice cream in New Jersey and I had to turn away. 🙁

Check back so I can let you know how I am surviving Intermittent Fasting and more importantly, if there has been any positive effect on my weight loss efforts, which is why I am torturing myself in the first place. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Happy Independence Grenada!

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Bleh that the holiday fell on a weekend, but anyway, Happy 41st Independence Grenada!

Went to the Stadium to see the crafts and food on display in the Made In Grenada expo. Some good quality products….if only they had a larger market, or the capacity to export.  But what I REALLY went for, was to find some Oil Down.

First, some photos of the products being sold.

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Not only does it smell delicious…it also has healing properties

 

Pieces for the Kitchen, very neatly made

Pieces for the Kitchen, very neatly made

Hand painted coral is at the bottom of this jewellery piece.

Hand painted coral is at the bottom of this jewellery piece.

Now on to the more important topic. You recall that I have been experimenting with meat since Christmas, after being on a vegetarian diet since 2005. The return to meat was timely. Pig tail is one of the most delicious things in the Oil Down. What exactly is Oil Down? A non-Grenadian did a detailed explanation with picture. Take a look here.

Went to the food stall immediately on arrival. It done! This was 1:30!!!!! Had a bake with smoked herring instead. Then a friend with whom I had shared my disappointment, came and told me there was a lady selling Oil Down. Happy like  a pig in swill. So prepared was I that I had carried a food container and a food bag. Oil Down is carb loaded and I knew I wouldn’t have been able to eat off all of the EC$12 version. Dug in, had half, then packaged the rest.

Then, to top off today, another friend called to ask if I wanted Oil Down. Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss! That’s going to be the Sunday Dinner. Had to take a taste though. It’s THAT good.

Grenada's National Dish - Oil Down

Grenada’s National Dish – Oil Down

Halfway there….may I wasn’t so toxic

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It’s the morning of Day 6. I don’t own a scale so borrowed one the day before Day 1 of this 10-day cleanse I am on. Recorded the starting weight (too high!) and also measured and recorded my bust, waist, hips, 1 thigh and 1 arm. The plan has been very manageable. I thought I would have been comatose, unable to get out of bed and function, but that has not been the case. Only the first day in the evening I felt a headache and that I think was because I stayed up too late.

Back to the scale.  scale2

Continue reading →

Weight Off My Shoulders?

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Weight has been an issue with me ever since I knew myself as a kid. I enjoyed food, so much so that once my sister started to say she didn’t want the rest of her food, in one fell swoop, I was there. Maybe I shouldn’t have been assigned the seat right next to her. Easy access.

Later on I learnt that we get the number of fat cells we are to have for life, by our teenage years. Yes, I got the lot….lots, lots and lots. Depending on what happens with our metabolism, the fat cells fill up or empty out. I’ve not been on ‘E’ ever. The one period in my life that I felt slim, I was still not in a size 12 or less (my mental image of what is slim).

Being fiercely independent, I have resisted getting any ‘help’ over the past 3 or so decades this has been a weight on my shoulders. I felt that persons who could not do it on their own were weak. Cowards. Unable to sacrifice for a goal. Well, despite all my good intentions (“I swear, this Kiss cake will be the last, then I’m going on a no sugar diet”), I have turned into the weak coward, unable to sacrifice for a goal type of person.

What’s that goal? To be able to wear all the clothes I folded up and put away in the suitcase under the bed – what my sister has dubbed “the future clothes.” They are probably all moldy by now.

In comes a friend who tried a 10 day cleanse, and voila, the possibility of a 5 – 20 lbs weight loss seems bright. I had to time it right. Not too far from when I would be going home for Christmas. Not too close either. Continue reading →

Holy Toledo!!!

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At the Hardware store this morning, I saw this scale.

Yikes!!!!!

Yikes!!!!!

Scales are not my friend.

These two cartoons say it all.

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I didn’t cry or curse when I stepped on the scale this morning. I just said

“Holy Toledo!!!!!!!!”