The Adventure - Quarterly Report

This is not where I had intended to restart my blog from, but I’m in my daughter Emily’s apartment in Cedarburg WI. Suffice it to say, Em’s been sick and I am The Mom. Ergo, I am here. I’ll be taking over her babysitting job for a few afternoons so she can get caught up on her school work, and I’ll be cooking and maybe do a little cleaning. 

Emily is also getting nervous about spending the summer here in Wisconsin where she has accepted a good paying nanny job. So while I'm here we'll work on our calendars and come up with a schedule for her weekends. Sometimes she'll come home, sometimes to see Leah, Jason, and Nicholas in Chicago, and maybe sometimes to see her friend Erica who lives here in WI. I'm in Mommy Mode and I'm loving it.

What I won’t be doing while I'm here is gaining weight, or going backwards on my exercise. I’m mapping out a plan for walking 3 or 4 miles every day while she’s in class. And of course I’ll be making healthy dinners for us and Billy and whoever else shows up hungry. In a college town, hungry kids wanting home-cooked food shouldn’t be too hard to find.

But I digress! This blog was to have been my Quarterly Report, to let you know how the first three months of The Adventure have gone.

First, the weight. In 12 weeks, I lost 18 lbs. YAY FOR ME!! That’s 1.5 lbs per week on average, which is close to the center of the acceptable range set by Weight Watchers. I’m on plan, I’m losing, and I’m feeling great.

My workouts are still not regular, set days of the week, because I still have to closely monitor how I’m feeling and what I think I’m capable of on any particular day. But I will say that my stamina has increased, my muscle tone has improved, and my overall sense of well-being gets 4 ½ stars out of 5! That’s up from two or at most three stars in December of last year, Pre-Adventure.

Remember my first workout in the pool? I lasted 25 minutes and had to leave. Now I regularly-ish do half an hour on the treadmill, followed by another half hour on the recumbent bike and then a half hour in the pool. I WORK OUT for an HOUR and a HALF at a TIME. Yes, me, Linda T Meier!! Holy smokes!

On the treadmill, I do 4 minutes with my heart rate in the “fat burning” zone, then 2 minutes at a higher rate, in the "cardio zone." I do that 5 times. By this time my shins are aching, and paying attention to the Cardinal Rule of Fibromyalgia and Working Out, I do not push through the pain. I allow the pain to guide me, and I stop when I hurt. The half hour goes pretty fast when I remember to bring my earphones and my smart-phone-loaded-with-oldies!

On the recumbent bike, I mimic the 4 minute/2 minute workout set up by my trainer for the treadmill. I use my earphones to plug into the little attached TV which is powered by the bike. Again, the time goes quickly.

I don’t get any upper body work on the machines, since my sprained arm is very slow to heal, so after cycling I go to the pool. I may have described them before, but I use these ‘barbells’ made from dense waterproof foam to give resistance when I push them into the water, and it gives me a very gentle strengthening workout for my arms. I alternate using the barbells and swimming laps. The last 5 minutes in the pool I just stretch everything out.

Afterwards I go in the hot tub till I can’t stand it, usually no more than 5 minutes. Then I go in the steam room and breathe in the mentholated steam till I can’t stand it, usually no more than 5 minutes. After a nice, long shower my “workday” is done!

The results are impressive. Weight, looks, stamina, well-being: all are improved. On Easter Sunday at church, in my new clothes and new hairstyle, I received numerous compliments on how good I'm looking. Man, I needed that! 

If this is the result from just one quarter, what will my Annual Report look like at the end of December? Can't wait to see. It can only improve, because God is with me, His Holy Spirit encourages me, and I know that I can do all things through Christ His Son, who gives me strength. AMEN

PS - Have to mention here that Phil has lost 25 lbs, and walk/runs a 5k every morning on the treadmill before work. He just always has to win. J

Peanut M&Ms and Feeling Good

I feel so good! I'm down another pants size, and people have finally started noticing my weight loss so I'm getting compliments. Yay for me!

Monday night was our weekly weigh-in, where Phil and I both won little awards. He has now lost 10% of his original body weight, a little more than 20 lbs, so he got a keychain and polite applause. I've now lost a total of 16.8 lbs, so I got a little star (you get a star for every 5 lbs, I think) and polite applause. We were asked what's working for us, and we said the first things we thought of, but on reflection, I'd like to go a little deeper into why/how Weight Watchers has been totally the right fit for us.

Phil never did eat a whole lot, but since he home-brews really good beer, he was drinking really good beer in generous quantities. Also, most of his eating was happening at the end of the day, when there was no more opportunity to work off the calories. Now, he eats more for breakfast and lunch, has snacks (which he never did before), eats way more fruits and veggies than before, and plans his after-dinner treats (liquid and otherwise) based on how many WW Points+ he has left for the day. So he isn't eating any less than before, he still eats and drinks what he enjoys, and he's losing weight.

He is also exercising almost every day, which makes a huge difference. Phil wouldn't say this during the WW meeting, but I can tell all of you: he runs a mini-marathon every morning before work. That's a 5K, or 3.2 miles (I think) on the treadmill in the little gym in his office building.

As for me, I was definitely eating too much of the wrong things. I'm also now eating more fruits and veggies, and starting my day with a well-rounded nutritious breakfast. Sounds cliche, but it really is important. I get whole-grain carbs, fruit, protein, and good fat every morning, along with lemon water (see below). It sounds like a lot of food, but what a difference this has made in my day!

I know what I'll be eating for lunch and dinner, so I plan my snacks for the day, leaving Points for something after dinner. If my snacks included a sweet, then after dinner I have fruit. If not, then I get in a little something sweet after dinner. I do not deny myself the sweets, the chocolate, the occasional piece of Blueberry Buckle. If I tell myself I can't have those things, I'm on the road to failure. But if I carefully and thoughtfully include them in my plan for the day, it's a big win-win, and I'm the winner both times! Yesterday for instance, I measured 1/4 cup of Peanut M&Ms into a plastic baggie and put it in my purse. I recorded the 6 points+ value for the treat in my daily points log. When I was running errands, I ate my M&Ms knowing that I could do so without sabotaging my weight loss. It. Was. Awesome.

I also exercise in the pool at Lifetime Fitness, which never hurts, even with fibromyalgia. Water exercise is zero impact, so my knees, my elbows, my sprained this-or-that are not affected in a negative way at all. After class I do a little bit of cardio by swimming laps and jogging in the water. My endurance improves every week. I'm debating whether or not to go back to the big scary weight lifting room upstairs, since I get the whole range-of-motion, stretching, strength-building, and now cardio in the pool without pain.

In addition to the ideas we get from WW, we look for ideas elsewhere for good nutrition and better health. We both start off the day drinking lemon water. We each squeeze half a lemon into a water glass, fill it with water, and drink it down before breakfast or the first cup of coffee. I could tell as soon as we started this it was making a difference. We got the idea from another blogger, amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com, where she gives 5 reasons for the pre-breakfast lemon water, including maintaining a good Ph level, keeping your skin "clear and glowing," and aiding with weight loss (CHA-CHING!).

I'm feeling good these days for other reasons too. My gastroenterologist has gotten to the root of my digestive troubles, which along with the sprained arm have been keeping me at home and away from the gym/pool. I'm normal-ish again.

So here's where you can help me, my dear readers. I am thinking about taking a zumba class, but I don't really know what it entails. Would those of you who have knowledge of zumba weigh in please, keeping my fibro in mind? Thanks in advance to Shari Jacks McDonald and anyone else who responds.

Thanks for following this Adventure, folks!

Mary Engelbreit meets Martha Stewart

Okay Everyone, I'm back on track! Watching what I eat, and tracking it online at WW. Thank you for being my accountability partners. Next week Monday should be a good weigh in day.

I wish I could go to the gym, I miss it, but not while on this nasty medication. Must stay close to home and plumbing (nuff said). I'm also waiting for the sprained arm to heal up, which is going more slowly than I'd like.

In the meantime...

My 40 Projects in 40 Days (Lent activity, see previous post) is moving along nicely. I set a course to organize our home. Not an easy task. One of the BIG things I wanted to accomplish was to organize my junk drawer. Drawers, actually.

We have a large, 4-drawer chest of drawers in our kitchen, made from leftover cabinetry after a remodel. I designed it, Phil built it. We're good that way.

The original plan was to house all of our table linens, place mats, cloth napkins and the like into one lovely place. But this being My House and not Martha Stewart's House, anything and everything got shoved into those drawers. We also developed not one, not two, but three junk drawers. Who needs that much junk? Not I! Thus the project.

I saw a nice looking junk drawer on Pinterest, with cheerful little plastic bins to keep things tidy. Instead of buying all those bins for the very large drawer I was using, I bought a half-price pack of scrapbook paper and some Mod Podge and went at it, making my own drawer organizer. I used a cardboard box and an old, thick plastic drawer liner which exactly fit the drawer I was using once I taped two sections together.

Finished and filled awesome drawer!!

I sorted, pitched and grouped the three drawers full of junk, and split the remaining stuff into five boxes: keep, put away, give away, yard sale, and give to Phil to figure out what to do with. I put away the stuff that already had a home, like pictures and thank-you notes. I put the give away box and the yard sale box aside to deal with later. The largest box BY FAR was the Phil Box, confirming my suspicion that the real culprit in the mystery of How We Ever Got Three Junk Drawers was NOT ME. That left the "keep" stuff, which would now reside in the new and improved junk drawer.

I laid the plastic drawer liner on the kitchen table, and using the actual stuff from the "keep" box I mapped out with a marker where I wanted the walls of the drawer to be. then I measured and planned, cut up the cardboard box, made 2 1/2" high walls and covered them with the scrapbook paper and Mod Podge. This morning I glued all the dried wall pieces onto the also-Mod-Podged plastic liner, and VOILA! Lovely lovely junk drawer. So lovely it probably needs a new name, like "Efficient Kitchen Management Drawer," or "Mary Engelbreit Meets Martha Stewart Drawer."

Scrapbook paper $9.99
16 oz Mod Podge $8.99
Pretty Junque Drawer - PRICELESS

Drying "walls," and a corner of the marked-up plastic liner

Mod Podged plastic drawer liner before gluing the walls

Finished, beautiful, and ready to be filled

VOILA! 

Looking forward to your reactions!

Recycle, Upcycle, Reuse, Organize, RePurpose!!

Did you miss me? I’ve been gone from Blog World (yes, it’s a proper name, and thus is capitalized) longer than I expected due to a) being out of town and b) dealing with a hopefully short-lived health issue. The doctor has found what’s wrong, and has prescribed a fix. Unfortunately for me the fix is almost as bad as the original trouble. But SOON I shall be back to some semblance of “normal,” a term which for me is as yet undefined since I continue to RePurpose Linda.

In addition to the above mentioned health issue, I have a sprained arm. I think I did it by overtaxing myself on the weight machines at Lifetime Fitness. So I’ve been stymied at the gym AND at home, PLUS we were out of town celebrating my father-in-law’s 85^th birthday and I didn’t stay on the WW Plan, so last week was kind of a bust, repurpose-wise. But only in the realm of my physical repurposing. Last night was WW again, but I couldn’t go. Suffice it to say that my current ailment often keeps me close to home/bathroom. Phil went (was the only guy there which made him uncomfortable) and lost another 2 lbs! I’m so proud of him.

I mentioned last week that this blog will present a multi-faceted repurposing adventure. First, the physical: losing weight and improving my overall well-being through exercise. Second, reverting to the cheapskate I was years ago when kids-at-home were aplenty and money was not. Now, I’ve spent a chunk of the last two weeks on a third facet: repurposing THINGS. This is the more conventional sense of repurposing, which is taking something that no longer serves its original purpose and re-making it into something else. Like making old T-shirts into rugs. Perhaps for profit down the road a ways. Etsy maybe?

Technically, unless it’s torn or otherwise really shabby a T-shirt can still be worn, but if it’s been given away to the Salvation Army I say it’s prime re-purpose material. First I did some research on Pinterest and Etsy, then developed a plan. My goal is to eventually re-use things around the house for the repurposing-things adventure, and since I’m married to a world-class packrat, there’s lots and lots of things around the house, particularly in our basement. But I needed a jumping-off place and decided on T-shirt rugs.

I first want to try a braided rug. Seemed like something I could do. So I needed T-shirts. I had a good number of my own, ones I wear for house cleaning or painting, but for future reference and because I wanted to get out of the house for a while I went to the Salvation Army store in Plymouth to see what their prices were like. The SA store has a perpetual 50% off sale on items with tags of a certain color, depending on the day. I went on “white tag sale day.” With 45 bazillion T-shirts to choose from it wasn’t hard to limit myself to white tags. Not knowing how many T-shirts I would need to make a rug, I bought 8 shirts in various shades of grey, blue and green, for a total of $15, averaging just under $2 per shirt,which still seems a little on the expensive side for used clothes, doesn’t it?

Then Phil and I went to the St. Vincent De Paul thrift store where we donated some old computer equipment and books and the like, and I shopped for more T-shirts. They were $1 each, and since it was “Men’s Day” at St. Vinnie we got them for another 25% off! I like these prices better than SA.

Now all I need to do is cut up the shirts and start braiding and sewing! I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I also have a Lenten project going, which is sort of a re-purposing effort – dejunking and organizing my home, starting with the kitchen. Have I mentioned that I am married to a packrat? Well I am. So when I saw this idea on Pinterest (my new love) I thought it was a perfect fit for my life right now. A) Usually have to stay close to home and B) Want to stop the piles of stuff from growing and pushing us right out of the house. And of course the real purpose of Lent is remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for us, so I purposely do not have the TV or radio on during my project time so I can concentrate fully on prayer and thanksgiving.

Each day during the 40 days of Lent, I'm tackling a different area of the house. Since Lent does not include Sundays, I have a built-in day off each week! Here’s what I’ve done so far:

Day One (Ash Wednesday): The Plan. I couldn’t go to church, so I sat at home and planned out my Lent Project.

Day Two: Paper Piles – My Mother’s stuff. I went through seven years of collected papers (medical stuff, bank statements, bills) and sorted, organized, filed and shredded for an entire day. Felt so good to have that done!

My pretty dejunked shelves!

Day Three: Paper Piles – Phil’s stuff. TEN years of collected papers, same categories. This actually took a day and a half. 

Day Four: Shelves in kitchen near Phil’s desk. I really only had half a day for this because of Day Three running over into Day Four, but it was enough.

Day Five (Yesterday): Phil’s desk. Ohmygosh. He still had floppy disks in there. And software from two computers ago. Printer cartridges from three printers ago. The list goes on. But again, feels really really good, and looks good too!

Closeup. Boxes in top right are full of cards:
thank yous, blanks, birthday, etc.

Today, Day Six, I plan to tackle the junk drawers in the kitchen. Sort, pitch, clean, organize, re-cycle, re-purpose, re-use, and consolidate into one drawer. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Lincoln Thumbs and Laundry Soap

Part of “Re-Purposing Linda,” my year-long quest for better health and fitness, was getting Phil to agree that we should join Lifetime Fitness. This wasn’t easy, because Phil is the only one bringing home the bacon these days. But just because I don’t make money doesn’t mean I can’t give a real effort toward saving money. I’m trying to cut out conveniences and luxuries, and go back to when we had 4 little kids at home and HAD to scrimp. So my re-purposing has taken on a new angle: turning myself back into a cheapskate.

Here’s the original Contract With Phil, written before we joined LF, to help ease his mind about the financial commitment. Following The Contract is another of the ideas I’m putting into action: making my own laundry soap!! I shall pinch those pennies until a permanent picture of Lincoln is embedded in my thumbs.

Contract With Phil:

For as long as we are members at Lifetime Fitness,

Ø  I will not purchase fast food (quarter pounder with cheese, I miss you)

Ø  I will not go to Starbucks

Ø  I will not get cash back at the grocery store

Ø  I will limit my lunch out with friends to once a month

Ø  I will place a complete moratorium on all Vera Bradley purchases (that was painful)

Ø  I will not buy anything over $50 without consulting you (exception: groceries)

Ø  I will not buy new clothes or shoes for myself until I have to because of weight loss and/or wear and tear (can’t be looking shabby!)

Ø  Wherever it’s feasible, I will alter clothing I already have, instead of buying new

Ø  I will go to Lifetime Fitness a minimum of 3 times a week

Ø  I will give up our Saturday breakfasts out

Ø  I will not ask to eat dinner out (but you can still suggest it, and then it’s okay)

Ø  I will not ask for Chinese food or carry-out pizza (unless I’m really exhausted)

Ø  I will not buy any more kitchen gadgets (but as gifts? Yes, I accept.)

Ø  I will not buy any more pay-per-view movies when I’m at home by myself

Ø  I will not buy any more magazines

Ø  I will not spend any more money on the kids’ apartments (but I still WANT to…)

Ø  I will never buy another vacuum cleaner

Ø  I will not buy one more stick of furniture (unless you agree it’s necessary)

Ø  I will have a yard sale in the spring (even though I hate doing yard sales)

Ø  I will not buy any new sewing gadgets even if I love them (yes, now I’m starting to whine a little)

Ø  I will not buy any new camping gear of any kind

Ø  I will continue to go to Firefly, year after year after year <sigh>

Ø  I will not buy you a Father’s Day gift, and you will not buy me a Mother’s Day gift

Ø  We will go small for birthday gifts for each other this year (unless you finally want to rip up the carpet in my sewing room and replace it with something hard and sweepable, like wood or tile)

Ø  I will not buy any home décor items or Christmas decorations

And that was just for starters. The original Contract was emailed to Phil at work so he could peruse it and mull it over before he came home. He agreed, and I’ve held to the bargain, To The Letter.

When I got involved in Pinterest, thanks to my daughters Leah and Emily, I found (or re-discovered) many ways to save money in addition to The Contract. When my kids were small, I came across Amy Dacyzn’s awesome books, The Tightwad Gazette I, II and III (sold now on Amazon in one large volume, highly recommended by ME). These books were compilations of her popular newsletters by the same name. Amy and her contributors taught me to make my own salad dressings and soups, wash out Ziploc bags and re-use them, make my own muffins and cakes from scratch rather than pay for a mix, make potato bread dough and keep it in the fridge, shop at yard sales and thrift stores, and SO much more.

Now, on Pinterest, I have a board called CheapskateMe (a double entendre, meaning both “I am a cheapskate” and “please help me be a cheapskate”). One of the “pins” I added is for making my own laundry detergent. I started there for two reasons; I hate spending all that money for laundry soap, and I hate wasting the packaging (because even if we re-cycle it, We Paid For It). I found that my pin originated with a blog called “Frugally Green,” at frugallygreen.blogspot.com. Here’s what I did, with a little help from my assistant Phil.

First, we bought a Fells Naptha laundry bar, 20 Mule Team Borax, Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda and a 2.5-gallon water/drink dispenser at Walmart. From Ikea, a funnel and a small plastic trash can to mix it all in.

I cut the Fells Naptha into 3 equal pieces, and Phil shredded one of the pieces with a box grater, like you would use for shredding cheese. I put the grated soap into a pan on the stovetop with 6 cups of hot water, stirred often, and heated it on low until the soap was melted (if you try this, don’t let it boil!). Once the soap was all dissolved, I added a half cup each of the Borax and the A&H, and Phil cooked and stirred it till it was all dissolved and thickened to almost the consistency of honey, as directed.

I poured it into a plastic trash can already holding 6 cups of hot tap water, and stirred it up. Then I added a gallon plus 6 more cups of hot tap water, stirred again, and left it set out overnight. All of this took around 12 minutes.

In the morning, as warned on the Frugally Green blog, I found a gloppy mess of glop floating on top of water. I stirred it up, and used my immersion blender to re-incorporate the glop and the water. Presto! Laundry soap! I ladled it into a funnel resting in the opening of my Walmart drink dispenser, replaced the cap and put it in the laundry room next to a little canning jar with measurements on the side. One half cup per load (or 4 liquid ounces).

Now to figure how much money we’ve saved. Hoo Boy. This took lots longer than making the soap, but I needed to convince myself it was worth the trouble (what little trouble it was).

So…

If we do 5 loads of laundry per week, and we live for another 35 years (making us 88, not unrealistic), we will have done 9100 laundry loads between now and Heaven. Holy Smokes. If we live past 88, maybe our grandkids will make our laundry soap for us. Heck, maybe they’ll do our laundry, too!

Here’s my Laundry Soap Cost Analysis:

1 bar of Fells Naptha soap was $.97 and makes 3 batches

1 box of Borax was $3.38 and makes 11 batches

1 box of A&H Superwash Soda was $3.24 and makes 19 batches

We do 4 or 5 loads of laundry a week. So in the next 35 years, that comes to 9100 loads of laundry. That’s 142 batches of laundry soap. But the math is easier if I figure on making 100 batches.

100 batches:

33.34 bars Fells Naptha = $32.34

9.1 boxes borax = $30.76

5.26 boxes A&H = $17.04

Dispenser, trash can, funnel $10

100 batches totals $90.14

1 batch $.90

1 batch = 2 gallons or so

2 gallons = 32 cups * .5 cups per load = 64 loads

.90 / 64 = 0.014, or less than a penny and a half per load.

(Without counting the $10 we spent for the re-usable items, it’s $.80 per load, and that makes it 1 ¼ pennies per load.)

So according to my superior math skills (kidding – I hate math and it hates me back, so Phil had to check my work), I finally determined that after making 100 batches, the real cost will have been less than a penny and a half per load, inflation notwithstanding.

I first used it yesterday, and I liked it! No dyes or perfumes (which make me break out in a rash, and don’t get the clothes any cleaner), no phosphates, no expensive packaging, and best of all it did a great job cleaning our laundry. I first tried it on whites, and they not only look and smell nice and clean, they might even look a little bit whiter than before!

This morning I spent some time on the Sam’s Club website, looking for a good deal on commercial laundry detergent. The best value I could find was a brand I had never heard of, called ECOS. They have 3 types, all of which come in bulky plastic bottles, are okay for High Efficiency washers and are phosphate-free. One of the ECOS types was free of dyes and perfumes: ECOS Free & Clear. An okay option price-wise, though not having used it I have no idea if it gets your clothes clean. It came in at 6 cents per load, which is still more than 4 times my home-made detergent, but far less than other commercial brands. The contest for the biggest money-guzzler seems to be a tie between “Tide with Downy” and “Drops,” each weighing in at a hefty 37 cents per load! Oh. My. Gosh.

One small aside: don’t be fooled by often meaningless claims, like “organic.” Hemlock is organic, and also lethal. Same for arsenic. Poison ivy is organic, but do you want it in your laundry detergent?

So I am now officially a double-re-purposer, and about to be a triple (see future blogs!). First Re-Purposing experiment in ultra-frugality, a big winner in my book (and on my blog). To anyone who read this far, thank you, and I mean it!! Please leave me a little comment if you will, it would make my day.

Just Keep Swimming...

Happy Valentines Day! “Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who gives tender love. All comfort comes from him.” 2 Corinth 1:3

First off, the all-important Weight Loss Update (imagine a drum roll…): LOSS OF ONE POINT EIGHT POUNDS!! Yay for me! It sure wasn't easy. This weight loss business takes tenacity. Planning. Strategy. Like war. “Know thine enemy!” Yes, we have switched from VALENTINES/LOVE to WAR. I just couldn’t think of a good segway. Except maybe “Make love not war” from the sixties, but I was too young to be a hippy and anyhow I don’t think it’s really apropos.

 So off we go to war. Winston Churchill said, “Never give in... never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.  Never yield to force... never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”  

And in this case, the enemies are many and varied.

a.      Food tastes good. Food that tastes the best seems to be the worst for me. HoHos, Fritos, big messy cheeseburgers, onion rings and donuts, to name but a few.

b.      I was raised in a home with Bill Torbert. I learned that food was not just for nourishment, it was also for attitude adjustments, celebrating, stress-relief, TV-watching, entertaining, gift-giving, and just passing time between meals.

c.      The road is long, and I am impatient. “Lord send me patience and send it to me now.”

d.      My Fibro aches and pains keep me from doing some of the things I need to do. Today, for instance, I was going to take an “Introduction to Yoga” class, and meet with my personal trainer Brooklyn at Lifetime Fitness. I can’t do either, because of painful elbows. That’s a new one, by the way. Heretofore my elbows have been some of the few places NOT hurting.

e.      There are entire days when IBS keeps me home, and not able to do much of anything.

But fear not, for my weapons against blubber and sloth are ALSO many and varied!

a.      Momentum. Once inertia is broken, just keep going. Like Dory the blue fish in Finding Nemo. “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…”

b.      Desire. I desire to be svelte. I used to look good in clothes, and I want to again. I don’t necessarily want to be whistled at by construction workers or anything, but I never really enjoyed that in the first place. I just want to look good, and I will just as soon as that fat woman in the mirror moves to Nairobi Kenya.

c.      Pinterest! OHMYGOSH. My girls have me hooked on Pinterest, and there are some great recipes out there. There are also a billion other things to look at and spend my time on, especially on the days when I can’t do much else. So that means I’m not rooting through the cupboards hunting for a snack. Double whammy! Double edged sword in the Battle of the Bulge!

d.      Philip Edward Meier, who is on Weight Watchers with me, and has joined Lifetime Fitness so we can go swimming together and walk on side-by-side treadmills. SO romantic. Having him count points with me makes it much easier! He helps decide on the menu also, so it’s not always me having to come up with what to make for dinner.

e.      Friends and family who read my blog and leave me messages, here or on Facebook or in emails, are an awesome weapon. It means SO MUCH to have your encouragement, and to know that these words I send out into cyberspace are not being dropped into the waste basket like junk mail. Thank you thank you thank you!

f.       Best weapon: Jesus. Because “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13

NEVER GIVE IN!

Your Excuse is Invalid!

If I joined Weight Watchers, paid the money, attended the meetings, and did not follow the plan for a week or so, then that is a pretty solid reason for gaining 8/10 of a pound this week instead of losing. Why not follow the plan? Let’s see.

1.  Phil went out of town. I went out to dinner with friends two nights in a row; coincidentally those were the same two nights Phil was out of town. Hey, if he’s not eating at home, why should I?
2. I ordered dessert. Both times.
3. Since I knew the numbers were not there, I didn’t track my points for a few days. Coincidentally, those were the same two nights I went out to dinner and ordered desserts.
4.  Since I didn’t track my points for a few days, I just didn’t track them for a few more days. So really, I have no idea what I ate.
5.  Last week I was tested for Celiac Disease. I heard yesterday, I do not have it. But last week I went to two different stores looking for good gluten-free foods just in case, and bought a bunch of them. Like three bags full. And if you buy them, you must try them, right? Right! Some were good, some were okay, and some were yucky. Did I track these test foods in my Weight Watchers PointsPlus handy dandy online tracker? Um, no.
6. There were no Activity Points to track, due to no activity. I crashed, remember?
7. When Phil came home, we went out to dinner. Because twice in one week wasn't enough? I had a black and blue burger and onion rings. Hoo Boy. Nope, didn't track that.
8. Lastly, Superbowl happened. Chips, dip, awesome ribs, and more. 'Nuff said.

 While the above are reasons for weight gain, they are not excuses.  I do not excuse my lack of discipline. But if I don't reflect, find a reason, and make changes, I'll just whine about it and chalk it up to bad luck, instead of bad behavior. And I don't mean "bad" in the sense of "naughty," but in the sense of doing a poor job of following the plan Weight Watchers laid out for me.

Okay, so back to the drawing board (or tracking board). Tune in next week for better results. Really. Because "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13

What Vince Lombardi taught me.

First things first: I lost 4 more pounds! In my first 3 weeks, I’ve lost a total of 11.6 lbs, and happiness is mine. On the exercise front, however, it’s a little more bleak.

I had a conversation with Vince Lombardi recently. You know him. The coach for whom the Lombardi Trophy is named. The coach of the Green Bay Packers, who led them to victory in the first two Superbowls ever.

It started last week, when I was a little discouraged. I had been doing well; exercising regularly. But I pushed too hard, and I crashed. With the crash came overwhelming fatigue. I’ll admit, it was scary. I was full of doubts about whether I could even do this. Maybe I’ve just wasted money on the Lifetime Fitness membership.

When I told my sad story to my friend Vince, he said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

Well I’ll be darned. He’s right! And crushing fatigue brings crushing cowardice. So okay, I wasn’t really afraid. It was the fatigue talking. But I really was tired. I told him maybe I would quit for a while and try it again in a couple of months, when I’m feeling more up to it.

But Vince said, “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”

Okay, no quitting. Check. “But Vince,” I said, “What if I just get knocked down again?”

He responded, “It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.”

“But I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do what needs to be done,” I told him. “I don’t even know what the heck I’m doing half the time!”

Coach Lombardi insisted, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”

Okay, so I needed to evaluate my desire to get better. Did I have a strong enough will to keep going, to build muscle, strengthen my bones, increase my stamina; motivation enough to work for months and months before I saw results? After some introspection, my answer was a resounding YES. I have the will to succeed.

Vince seemed pleased. He encouraged me further by saying, “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

Now that was a new concept! I guess the more I pour into this Adventure, the further I get on my journey, the more difficult it will be to give it all up and slide backward to where I was.

Okay, not to whine or anything, but I hadn’t been dealt a winning hand! I start with significant handicaps: fibromyalgia, diabetes, chronic fatigue, muscle pain even before I get started.

But my friend Vince had an answer for that one too. He said, “The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”

Thank you Coach Lombardi, buddy of mine, you are so right! We’re not all capable of the grandiose effort. In my quest for health, I can’t do too much at once. I’m starting from a different place, and at a slower pace, so my success has to be measured by different criteria. I’m doing all I can with the hand I’ve been dealt, knowing that my hand is like nobody else’s and I cannot judge or be judged based on anyone’s progress but my own.

“Two steps forward and one step back” is a net gain of one step forward.  It’s progress. It’s success. Besides, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and that is NOT a quote from Vince Lombardi. It’s from the bible. Philippians 4:13, to be exact.

The other quotes, the ones in red, were actual quotes from Coach Vince Lombardi.

Be the Tortoise, Not the Hare...

In the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, we all know that the turtle won because slow and steady wins the race. Turtles are ugly and I would much rather be a cute bunny rabbit, but being a rabbit has its downfalls. 

Yesterday after I posted my blog, I crashed. Not my car, myself. With Fibromyalgia, when you push too hard or do too much, you’re always in danger of crashing, meaning you hit a brick wall and have not one bit of energy. The only fix is to spend a day (or two or three) in the recliner or in bed. It usually means more pain than the typical day, too.

One day last week, after the Aqua Flex class, I did two breaststroke laps in the pool. Afterward I was really really tired, but I managed to get myself home and still did my machine exercises the next day. I did the same two laps after class two days ago, thinking I got by with it last week so why not try it again? Burn some extra calories, build a little more muscle.

This time, though, I did myself in. It was too much. Big crash. 

I had to cancel yesterday's personal trainer session. I watched a lot of TV. I read a book. I napped on and off. Such a boring day, and such a disappointment after being so active, but I did it to myself.

I’ve been relaxing again this morning, but this afternoon I’m determined to get back in the pool. I guess if I work hard in the class, which I do, that needs to be enough for one day. Today, I’ll take it easy, and just do what I feel I can. Otherwise it’s one step forward, two steps back.

Praying that God will guide me through an unhurried Adventure. That He’ll help me not to be impatient, and let me know when I should take things to the next level. 

Turtles RULE! Slow and steady wins this race! Be the tortoise, not the hare…


"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13

Weigh-Ins and Dark Valleys

Greetings, Friends! To those who might have been waiting to hear about yesterday’s weigh-in, thanks for following my Adventure stories. I waited to post until this morning, because I’ve had to talk myself out of a big funk.

I was looking forward to weighing in! I’ve been working SO hard, physically and mentally. In the previous two weeks I only skipped one day at Lifetime Fitness. When I’m there I work as hard as I can. At home, I eat within the prescribed limits of the Weight Watchers plan. Even when Phil and I went out to dinner, we planned ahead so we could stay on-plan. I felt proud of what I was doing, and I just knew the scales would reward me. Well, pride goeth before a fall.

After working out in the pool yesterday afternoon, I ran some errands then waited for Phil at the WW meeting place. I was going to put off getting on the scales until Phil came, but I couldn’t wait to see those new numbers. It’s probably a good thing, because then I had time to get over my disappointment before he showed up, so I could act happy for him when his new weight was announced. Phil lost another 3.4 lbs, bringing his total to 11.4 lbs in two weeks. He’s doing great!

I only lost .2 lbs. Yes, that’s one-fifth of one pound. ONE FIFTH of ONE POUND. For this I worked my butt off? I told Phil what a great job he did, but one look at my face and he knew I was disappointed in my own loss, or lack of. When I told him what it was, I really wanted to keep my eyes from tearing up, but was unsuccessful. It’s a good thing he didn’t give me a hug at that moment or there would have been a full out flood of tears right there in the Weight Watchers weigh-in room. He just looked sad for me, and that was enough. He knew just what I needed from him at that moment. Mind you, he’s not always so discerning, but this time he was spot on.

I told him what the WW lady said. I had asked her if my lack of weight loss could be due to gaining muscle by working out so much, since (I thought) muscle weighs more than fat. She said, “A pound is a pound.” My very first thought was, “You are not very nice.”

But in a technical sense, she’s right. It’s like the riddle you give a third grader:

Question: Which weighs more, a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

Answer: Neither; they both weigh a ton.

Five pounds of fat and five pounds of muscle both weigh five pounds.

The proper way to express this concept would be, “"Muscle is heavier by volume than fat." I got that quote and the picture embedded here from a website called onemorebite-weightloss.com, which talks about emotional eating.

Therefore, if I have gained 5 lbs of muscle while losing 5 lbs of fat, I have lost volume, not weight.

So I had to ask myself, which would I rather have? Less volume, or a better number in my little weight-tracking book? I answered myself: Less volume. Less of me. So did that happen? I believe so. I was able to start wearing jeans a size smaller than I was wearing two weeks ago, Pre-Adventure. A whole size smaller! I should be very happy with that, and I AM. Here’s a list of what's better about my life than two weeks ago:

ü  I’m sleeping GREAT. Dr Oz says that proper sleep is critical to weight loss, and his web site has some important tips to getting a good night’s sleep. Remember, as part of The Adventure I joined his Transformation Nation, and now I can draw on his wisdom anytime at the TN website.

ü  Because I’m sleeping better than I have in years, I’m waking up refreshed, and ready to start my day. I don’t have to talk myself into getting out of my nice warm bed. I want to get up! Gimme that first cuppa coffee and lemme get at my day! It’s my day, a gift to me from God, and I’m ready to live it.

ü  I’m more alert now. Less brain-fogged.  I’m better able to read my bible and understand what it is I’m reading. Better able to pray, to plan my day. More awake!

ü  I feel healthier. Just over-all healthier. Sometimes even peppy. I still have fibromyalgia, and it will never be gone, but I’m not sitting dormant until I can’t get around without a walker. That day may well come, because that’s often what this disease leads to. But if I’m healthier in mind and body, I’m almost positive I can postpone that awful day for a good while longer than I would have otherwise.

ü  I’m wearing smaller clothes. I have a stash of clothing in several sizes. This time though, when I’m done with the larger items, I’ll either alter them to my new size or donate them to the Salvation Army. I’m not going to keep them around “just in case.” I don’t want to make it comfortable to put weight back on.

All in all, I really have talked myself out of that funk I was in. Last night was not good. Today, having calmly reasoned things out, and prayerfully considered the truth of the matter, it is a very good day indeed. Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Thank You, God. Though the Evil One wanted me to suffer over those numbers in my weight-loss tracker, You have comforted me, and calmed my fears. I’m ready now to get on with this day You have given me.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13

Spice Cake on my Day Off

Yesterday was my first day off since the beginning of The Adventure. I didn’t go to Lifetime Fitness. Phil and I had a nice date, going to the Plymouth Ice Festival, out to dinner at Applebees, then to the State Wayne Theater to see “War Horse.” Excellent movie, by the way!

I didn’t feel real comfortable taking a day off from my exercise. I thought maybe if I skipped a day inertia would once again set in, and it would be hard to break it. Phil said it was a good idea to take a break every now and then to rest up. And even God rested on the 7th day!

Even though I had a day off from the gym, I wasn’t completely dormant. I got some exercise walking around Plymouth and to/from the car, parked several blocks from downtown.

Earlier in the day, we had gone online to the Applebees website to decide what we wanted for dinner, then saved enough Weight Watcher points for our evening out.  The website has all the nutrition information for everything Applebees serves, so it’s just a matter of calculating points based on the 4 areas: carbs, fiber, fat and protein. I do that on the WW website, with their online tracker.

It made the evening stress-free and more fun! I was neither cheating, nor depriving myself. I did pass up dessert, as I was not willing to spend 26 points to eat their apple pie!! And you know I love my pie. Instead, we made our own dessert at home; a Spice Cake in a Mug for 5 points!

On the way from the restaurant to the movie theater, we stopped at Kroger and picked up two cake mixes; a Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix and a Betty Crocker Angel Food mix. When we got home, we mixed the two dry boxed mixes together with a wisk in a large bowl. Then we put ¼ cup of the mixed mix in a mug, stirred in 3 tablespoons of water, and microwaved it for 2 ½ minutes. Voila! Spice Cake in a Mug! We each had one, topped with lowfat Cool Whip. Warm, tasty spice cake! Loved it! And only 4 points for the cake, and 1 point for the Cool Whip.

I was thinking I could make a “free” topping for the little cake sometime by cooking down an apple into a chunky sauce. Maybe with some Splenda or Stevia. We’ll see!

Tomorrow afternoon I work out in the pool, and tomorrow evening Phil and I get back on the WW scales to see how we did this week. Results will be posted here!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13

YOGA - Oh. My. Gosh.

I lasted exactly eleven minutes in my first-ever yoga class. Silly me! I thought it was just a lot of stretching. Well I can stretch with the best of ‘em, right? Not exactly.

Yesterday morning after doing my prescribed workout on the weight machines, I didn’t walk on the treadmill, but saved my energy for the evening yoga class I would come back for. In my uninformed mind, yoga sounded good. Relaxing. Soothing. Meditative.

I arrived early so I could speak to the instructor and say “I’m brand new, so what should I expect? What do I need to do?” But there was no instructor available to speak to, so I lay down my brand new lavender yoga mat on the floor like other women had done. Slender women. Maybe that should have been a clue.

The room was dimly lit and quiet. The Slender Women were either lying down for a pre-yoga rest or doing some little bit of stretching. I don’t know what I’m doing yet, so I took off my shoes, set down my water bottle, placed my neatly folded towel beside me, and lay down. I wasn’t expecting to use my towel, because this was just supposed to be stretching, right? Maybe some meditation thrown in? Easy stuff. No sweating involved, surely.

 Apparently if you are not a slender woman, you need 5 or 6 mats on top of each other so the bottom of your spine won’t touch the floor. That was painful! So instead I sat with my legs crossed Indian style. Can you still say “Indian style?” Maybe that’s not PC anymore. Sorry to whomever may be offended by my thoughtless remarks.

While I was sitting, waiting for something to begin, the music came on. Now, I have no objection to the music itself, but it did not lead me to a calm, relaxed frame of mind, which is where I thought I would be going. It sounded like the music you hear in The Lion King movie, at the beginning. Drums, women chanting, men with deep bass voices doing “ba-bum ba-ba-bum.”  Seemed an odd choice to me, but what do I know?

The kindly-looking bearded male instructor came in at exactly 5pm, the scheduled start time, and asked if there was anyone in the room who had never done yoga before. I raised my hand, as did two other women. The instructor, speaking to those other two first-timers said, “It’s good to see you beginners in the middle of the group. Usually beginners stay in the back by the door for a quick escape.” Soft chuckles from the Slender Women. I know he wasn’t talking to me, because I was in the back by the door.

He asked what kind of music we wanted, and gave us three choices. Before I could even process the options, someone yelled out, “Reggae!” Holy Smokes.

Now with Reggae playing in the background, he led us through our warm up. Oh. My. Gosh. I have not done male-style push-ups, well, ever. Even in Air Force Basic Training, at which time I was in the best shape of my life, we did not do male-style push-ups. After some “reaching for the clouds” type stretches, he had us down on our ridiculously thin yoga mats doing push-ups. My knees never left the ground, and I only did two. Then my tummy hit the ground with a little huff of escaping breath.

After a short time, I realized why there were NO other chubs in the class. This was not a class for a porky, heretofore sedentary middle-ager with fibromyalgia. It was for reasonably fit persons with reasonably good upper-body strength.

I tried to do it. I really did. I didn't understand the instructions, like "standing neutral position," or some such thing. I had to keep looking at the women around me, though the instructor had said to keep my eyes closed. I was always either two motions behind, or waiting for the next instruction, or wishing I had read "Yoga For Dummies" before I came to class.

It became apparent I could not do it. Not yet. I felt that our bearded leader had given me permission to bug out, since I was already in the back, near the door. Without fanfare or permission, I picked up my neatly folded towel, shoes, water, and brand new lavender yoga mat and high-tailed it outa there.

To those who will now say, “Linda don’t give up!” I say: this is not me quitting, this is me waiting to lose another 60 lbs or so before I try it again, otherwise I set myself up for failure. While waiting to lose enough weight and gain enough upper body strength, I will read "Yoga For Dummies" if it exists. And when I go back to this supposedly entry-level yoga class, it will be with information, determination, and a twin sized bed mattress.

Today, back in the pool!

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13

It's All About the Motivation

Phil and I were talking about motivation. What’s my motivation for doing this, for going on The Adventure? It’s a lot of work, and the progress is slow, so what is it that’s keeping me (and will keep me) going?

I told him my main motivator, which I’ll save for last in this blog post. But since we talked, these are the motivators I’ve come up with. They are in reverse order of their importance.

Ø  Motivator 5: My as yet unborn grandkids. Not born, not yet expected even. But I so look forward to meeting them! Will Nicholas’ sons be tall and handsome like him? Will Leah have some sweet/sassy girls like her? Will Billy have a little crew of athletes? Will Emily’s houseful be loud? What fun we have ahead of us as they begin to make their presence known! But before they start arriving, I want to make sure I’ll be able to care for them, play with them, crawl under the dining room table after we throw a sheet over it to make a “tent,” take them to the zoo, and on long hikes at Meierfly (Meier family campout at Firefly Lake). I want to be healthy for my future grandkids.

Ø  Motivator 4: My children. I don’t want them to worry, or to have to help Phil take care of a sick old lady who can’t tie her own shoes or take steps without using a walker. I want to BE there for them the way Phil’s parents have been there for us all these years. If I’m sick, overweight, and blind from diabetes, how can I be what I want to be for my sweet kids?

Ø  Motivator 3: Myself. Some might argue I should put myself first. Others might say that my kids should have a higher priority than me, but I’m being honest and this is how I feel. I don’t like being sick. I’ve had fibromyalgia for 20 years or so, and I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. A little fibro-humor there. The kids have their own lives now, and though I know they still need me, they don’t need me like they once did. It’s my time.

Ø  Motivator 2: Serving God. My body is God’s temple. Okay, this phrase might be over-used. It might be trivialized, but it IS biblical. You might ask if I’ve been building a temple annex all these years! But there it is. God expects me to love and serve him with my whole heart, mind, body and soul. If I’m not taking care of myself I can’t serve Him as I want to. In past years, I’ve had the excuse of taking care of a household of 6 (sometimes 7 when Mom lived here), so if I wasn’t ready to jump at the clarion call and go to far off places to preach The Word, I think that was okay. I believe putting my husband and children first was exactly what God wanted of me at that time. Well, no more. I can serve Him in other ways now, and I want to be able to answer the call when it comes.

Ø  Number One Main Motivator: Philip Edward Meier, my husband. He’s just the best. I’ve said it before; I feel a little sorry for every woman who isn’t married to Phil. I hope other wives feel the same about their husbands.

A) I want to grow old with him. I have plans to be that cute elderly couple people smile at when they see us holding each other’s wrinkled old arthritic hands.

B) I don’t want to leave him alone too soon. I do eventually want to be the one who goes home to our Father’s house first, because life without him is unimaginable. But I would rather go much later, rather than sooner. My own father died too early, and I believe his death was caused in no small part by ignoring his health problems until they caught up to him. I won’t be like that, because I want to stay here with Phil for as long as God says I can stay.

C) This is the big one. Argue my priorities if you must, but this is the big one. Phil has made a big sacrifice to give me year-long Adventure, and I won’t disappoint him by not doing my best. I’m not raising kids anymore, but neither am I doing much to contribute to the family’s finances. We give our tithes and offerings to God at church. We are still helping two kids finish college. We live in a lovely home. I have my dream sewing room. I don’t want for a single thing. All because Phil gets up and goes to work every day. On top of all that, he has paid for us to join weight watchers, and for ME to join Lifetime Fitness. Not US. We can’t afford for US to join. But Phil freely gives me the membership so that I can be healthy. He puts me first. He, and the love and self-sacrifice he shows me each and every day, provide the greatest part of my motivation. Thank You God for my Philip!

<pausing now to wipe tears>

God bless and keep you, and thanks for reading!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)