Results day in Iowa

10 days in Iowa now. Time to do a status update. I don't have my scales available but I brought my measurement tape. My jeans help keep me honest as well. After they were washed the fit was still good. I can't have put too much weight back on. This morning when I measured myself I did see a little change. My butt's the same, (YEA!) and the rest of me shows the normal weekly shifts. Hmmm 
On the positive side, I have kept snacking to a minimum. I've stuck with my normal breakfast. Dinners have been very healthy, low-fat, and made with natural ingredients. Janice did a great job of pre-planning meals for us and they were in the freezer. All we had to do was pull them out and heat them up. They consist of fresh veggies from the summer, and low-fat meat. The portions are excellent, so I'm not guilty of overeating.

Exercise has been sporadic, but I've kept my pedometer on so I know what I've done. Actually, that just means I know what I haven't been doing! I've only achieved 10,000 steps one day since I've been here and that was the day I managed 2 walks! I've managed to walk 3 days and I've managed to do a weight's workout 3 days as well! Those are the pluses.

I'm ok with 'pluses'. Why look too deeply, you know? But then there's that truth factor.
So here are the negatives.

I've only used the weights 3 times. There is no excuse for that. On any given day I can find time for that part. I don't want to do it everyday, but I should have been able to do it every other day, or 3 times a week, at least. I have only myself to blame. My excuse is simple. I don't like to do it in front of other people. I get self-conscious. So if no one is here, I do it. Otherwise, I should just go off to my room and get it done, but I don't.

Dinners always have carbs, either as a side dish or as part of the main dish. The garlic mashed smelled awfully yummy, so I had a scoop. Sometimes a double scoop. So much for willpower! This is the problem of eating out. I can control what I fix, but it is hard to ignore what is offered to me.

I have reverted to bad habits and caved in when someone offered me sweets. Last night it was 2 large, fresh chocolate chip cookies totalling 44 carbs. (I mean, who would have said no. Certainly not me! FRESH and WARM!) Today it was 2 hotdogs when 1 would have been enough.
I will be here at least 1 week more. I will try to get my weights workout where it should be.

I can say I have met expectations. I knew I would exercise less, and I did. I knew I would eat more carbs, and I did. And if there is one thing I am REALLY good at it is losing all sense of willpower around sweets.
If there was one thing I would like to change about me, it would be my sweet tooth.

If there is one thing I don't do actively enough it is to visualize positive results. I can avoid making pancakes, but if someone is serving them I can't seem to walk away. So I am.....

Still working at it!

Exercise? Puh-leze!

I'm starting to get nudges. Nudges from my conscience, nudges from Dr. Oz, nudges from my doctor. Go away. Leave me alone. I'm walking already, what more do you want?

Dr. Oz says muscle mass burns more calories. My conscience reminds me of trainers from my past...muscle burns more calories than fat...muscle pounds are good pounds, fat pounds are bad pounds, muscle improves your BMI...yadda, yadda, yadda.

My doctor says weight bearing exercises will build stronger bones and help prevent osteoporosis. Shhhh, no one wants to hear they are a candidate for osteoporosis. Can't I just swallow a calcium pill and eat more yogurt? "My gym closed," I tell her. I liked it. It was a small gym, just for women. I don't like those big gyms with 100 machines and kids in their 20's bopping around on them. "Maybe you can try Curves," she suggests.

Nudges.

The truth is there are plenty of opportunities around here, but the gym I really liked closed. I thought I could exercise on my own, but it is really hard motivating myself. I find I balk at the time constraints. If I walk and then exercise and then shower, the morning is gone. (So what's so important about the afternoon," my conscience asks? "You're retired.")

Nudges.

7 pounds in 7 weeks? If you want that to change, you have to exercise.

Hmmm, somehow I have to motivate myself into this. The truth is, after all the outside sources nag at me, my doctor is right. Osteoporosis runs in my family. I need to add exercise to this program.

Really? Puh-leze! (Oh okay... quit nudging me!)