Fat Ticker Friday! Happy Halloween!

Hey All!

Well, I have indulged in too many sweet treats and gained a pound! I am not going to change my weight tracker unless the pound is still on when I weigh in next Friday! If I am still up a pound I will change my weight tracker to fifteen pounds lost. Call it denial, but I do not think I ate THAT much candy! I have eaten a bit more processed foods than usual so sodium could be at work here. A week of "detox" meaning no added sodium and healthy moderate carb should bring m back to where I need to be. All in all, I must say that the damage could be worse! Hope everyone did better than me and actually LOST instead of gained! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Halloween!

Peace,
Diva

PS: In eleven days, on November 11th I will have a year off cigarettes! Amazing huh?

Cameo Catch Up Blog Post!

Hey all,
I have had a bit of the stomach flu that has been going around so I have not really feeling too well or like posting much....for that reason I am labeling today is cameo catch up day!

First, I cannot believe that I have not lost any weight! I mean, having the stomach flu should have SOME benefits, but nope, apparently not for me! I am still at a 16 pound loss but in the last couple weeks, no loss, no gain! I guess I cannot complain. I have not done all that much in terms of meeting my weight loss goals so I can't really complain....but I am complaining! Oh well, there is always next week! The one thing I need to remember is when I work really hard on something, I achieve. When I half step and half ass, I accomplish very little! What a novel concept huh? Do something, get something! Do nothing, get nothing! I was more in the latter than the former so I guess I shouldn't be too upset! Besides, there is always next week!

The smoking thing was really hard a couple days this week. I wanted one so much I could taste it so I went back to my "quit class" to check in! I will have a year off the crap on November 11 and I really want to make it! It was cool to go check in...my facilitator was glad to see me and asked me to share with the class! Seeing people struggle hard to get a day off nicotine make me realize that delaying smoking a cigarette is way better than actually smoking one! I have not craved a cigarette in quite some time. Lets just say whenever I am under the weather, I want to smoke cigarettes and think about menthol's quit a bit! I don't really understand why it happens! Before I quit smoking, I would always crave getting high. I don't act on the feelings but they come up every time I am sick or rundown! I am feeling a lot better today fortunately.

Gotta run and catch up on some paperwork but first I am going back to bed for fifteen minutes!

Peace,
Diva

Fit Ticker Friday--Couldn't Weigh In

I have had a crazy week and could not get to a scale. Back to School Night, tutoring at the group home and a ton of other things I won't go into. I will get to a scale ASAP. If I had to gage my progress by the way my clothing fits, I would say no loss, not gain. Hope everyone kicked ass and rocked this week!
Peace,
Diva

11 MONTHS OFF CIGARETTES TODAY! WHAT A MIRACLE!!!

I cannot believe that its been eleven months off cigarettes! Go Chantix and fellow bloggers and blogging! I never would have imaged it...eleven months off of that crap Nocodemon! Nicotine is an addictive substance that it had me strung out for thirty years! I am really grateful to be off of it; one day at a time. I just need to remember that I am a puff away from a pack a day and if I pick up I never know when I will be able to put them down. Kinda like those Wheat Thin Crackers I picked up from the store last week! I am done eating them now an do not plan on buying another box anytime soon!

For those of you who have ever read my blog, the number eleven is super symbolic of change in my life and has been ever since I woke up out of the fog of drugs back in 1987! Nmber eleven has been sending me messages for a long time! Since this is the eleventh month of my quit, I am feeling nostalgic!! Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to hitting a year on my actual quit date (11/11/09) but I am going to reminise a bit today because I am in the 1th month and yeah, eleven is special to me!

Today when I woke up as well as last night, I am wondering what new direction my life is headed. This time last year was one of the WORST times in my life....really! I would never have chosen to quit smoking during such a stressful period....it was just time! During these last eleven months, I have been pushed to do things I never thought I would do! Because of this I have a true belief in a higher power, all I could think was that I was being directed to someplace in life that I was not sure of. All I could do was keep the faith and just deal with the experience. Believe me, it wasn't easy!

Right when I first started trying to I quit smoking , I knew I could not stay at my job any longer and kick tailed it into high gear to get another one. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) was talking about cutting positions while I was busy trying to find one! Then, when I was busy looking for a new job, there was a hiring freeze and I couldn't get a new job or even a transfer to save my life! It ended up working out. I got a new job when the freeze ended which was one day before school started! This experience was super stressful because there were pending legal issues along with the job stuff. At his point, I realized that waiting for change to happen is often more stressful than the actual change! I am so glad that that part of my life is on the right track.

Even thought last year was filled with nothing but change or "Reinvention" as I like to call it, I did some things I never really expected to do. I had to privilege and honor to study under professor Skip Gates at Harvard University. That experience had a very profound effect on my life and taught me to never sell myself short and I can do ANYTHING I want to do! I am following up on my plans for move into a different area of education, most likely social philanthropy. There are so many great programs for people who want to make a difference and change the world! That would be me. I never planned on staying a classroom teacher until I retired even thought I think it is a noble career. I am currently shopping graduate school programs and I will let you guys know what I find! There are a ton of fellowship opportunities and I learned that if you do not apply, you can not get accepted or denied!

Another huge change for me was this summer I went to a "Fitcamp" and was trained by Isabeau Miller from the "Biggest Loser" I wanted to train with someone who KNOWS how hard it is to change your life when it comes to weight loss and exercise and had dealt with the struggle aspect personally. I have had trainers who were pretty much athletes their entire life and I think they have a really hard time understanding the mindset of obesity. I wanted to work with someone who was not physically "perfect" but doing everything that could be done to change the physical as well as emotional self and knows that every day is a challenge and a choice! I got the privilege to work out and train with a ton of amazing people who wanted more for themselves and their lives! The power of having eight or ten people with the same mindset is a really powerful thing! Jimmy Moore and his wife Christine who run a blog called Livin' La Vida Low Carb videotaped the entire journey of all of the fitcamp attendees and posted the videos on Youtube. It was a hard but necessary two weeks for everyone and I learned so much that I cannot even explain how it changed me! I would love to see more people be able to have this experience and a career in philanthropy would allow me to focus on seeing these types of programs get funding. I love that Jimmy provided scholarships for people who really wanted to make changes in their lives. That is the kind of stuff I hope to be able to do one day!

Anyway, while all of these changes were occurring, (there were a TON more I just won't bore you with them) I kept plugging along, reading other people's blogs like Maggie, Mamaflo, Lynda and Brandie and Stan. I would read blogs, post blogs and just not light up. Even when I wanted to smoke with my entire being, I just didn't or I would just delay it until I no longer wanted one. Its funny, when I first started blogging with these people, I seemingly had nothing really in common with them except that we all were trying to quit smoking! We were all different people from different regions....or so I though! Stan and I actually live in the same state, same valley and go to many of the same places (although not together!) The girls I blog with have families and different lifestyles but we are like a little community....and I have to say thank you guys for being so supportive! There are others too that I have met in the last eleven months of this journey....if I did not mention you personally, sorry! (Some of you have blogs in other places, private blogs or different circumstances) just know I really appreciate all the people who have been there for me during my quit!

Gotta run, I am off to celebrate with a mani/pedi!

Diva

Fat Ticker Friday--Fell off the Fitness Wagon!

Hey All You Hot for the Holiday Folks:
Well, this was not a good week on the weight loss front. The two pounds I lost I put right back on! I may have gained more, who knows. This little slip up make me remember a couple of really important things this week. They are as follows:
1.) First, I need to always remember to pack my food for the day. This Tuesday I was running late and I did not pack my lunch, no water, nothing! I ultimately ended up in the school cafeteria. Yep, the food is HORRIBLE! (Since I eat small meals or snacks frequently throughout the day, by the time lunch hit I was starving!) I ended up eating macaroni and cheese which was served with garlic toast! Talk about carb overload! It was all downhill from there. Too many processed carbs for me makes me feel sluggish and rundown. Unfortunately, even though too many carbs (especially processed carbs and/or white sugar/flour) make me feel bad, once I start eating them, my body starts to crave more. Once I got started it was REALLY hard to stop putting them in my body! Today (Friday) was the first day I am back to a more normalized diet. Since I do not eat white flour anymore, I think that the white bread and regular macaroni I ate had a profoundly addictive effect on my body. Maybe its my imagination but I swear I was craving carbs like I was on drugs! I mean, I even ate a whole box of wheat thins! Fortunately for me I had purchased the smaller box!

2.) Bad eating is like smoking one cigarette... Once bad eating or smoking or whatever starts, its super easy to say "F*C^ It" and keep going! What started out with one bad meal lasted three days and I am still not totally sure if I am done! (Just being honest!) I will have it all out of my system by Sunday for sure!

3.) I make a daily choice to do what I need to do as opposed to what I want to do. I know that if I keep doing what I am doing I will keep getting what I am getting......and that can be good OR bad! When I eat properly and work out, I lose weight. When I eat poorly I feel badly and gain weight. Life is about choices and this week I made some really bad ones!

4.) I alone can choose to change my circumstances. Next week I will make sure I am up early enough to pack a lunch and go to the store to buy groceries. If I do not buy processed foods like Wheat Thins, I will not have them to eat! By the way for those of you like me who at one time believed that Wheat Thins were "healthy," According to many nutritional articles, "Wheat Thins are made from wheat, which is a grain but in reality what started off as a whole grain in the end the product doesn’t even resemble its former self. Wheat thins are enriched, contain high-fructose corn syrup, oils, and artificial additives. Also, there’s hardly any fiber, so they are digested quickly and will definitely spike your sugar levels." This is what happened to me and I think caused a carb load induced eating binge! Lets just say I did not stick with the recommended serving size of 13 crackers!

I hope everyone did well this week.

Peace,
Diva

It Looks Just as Stupid When You Do It.....or I Do It!

These are some of the pictures from a folder I was given today from the TUPE (Tobacco Usage and Prevention) coordinator... if he only knew! The folder was decorated with lots of smoking animals and truthfully, I did feel kind of silly thinking about a cigarette after looking at it! I am close to 11 months off of that crap and need to keep it that way! Thought I would pass it along! As a former smoker for over THIRTY YEARS, its kind of embarrassing to think I once thought that smoking cigarettes looked cool!  

Peace,
Diva

Hot For The Holidays...Friday Weigh In

Well, its time to get one of those weight loss tickers. I am down a total of 16 pounds since August 15th when I began this journey. I'm not sure exactly how many weeks that is but I am almost positive its seven. This week I lost between 1.5 and 2 lbs. I weighed myself late so I am posting now. I am glad I am seeing some progress as I didn't lose anything last week. Last week I was happy not to have gained, this week I wanted to see some fruits of my labor. My new goal is to be at a minimum of a 20 pound weight loss total by the end of the month. This seems like a realistic goal. Truthfully , a 25 pound loss would be great but I am setting my goal at a minimum five pounds loss by Halloween. I hope everyone participating is doing well.
Peace,
Diva

Wordless Wednesday--Fitness Rocks!