Within/Without

Let me take a break from my weight….. I’m going to blog on something I have down pact. My facial skin care routine. I don’t want it to sound like I’m bragging but it really works for me. The funny thing is I came up with this regimen when I was a teenager and it still works! The reason it occurred to me to blog about it is someone asked me what type of foundation I used this morning. When I said I don’t wear makeup the look of shock was funny to me. So I’m gonna share with those that are interested. First of all you gotta understand that I am trying to eradicate Laurel Sulfate and it’s derivatives from my life. Look here . I have noticed that my eczema doesn’t act up so severely when I’m avoiding it. I have noticed that there is a lot that triggers skin reactions in me. That is another blog. And one I see coming soon. But I digress. SLS appears in a LOT of products. It provides the sudsing action. So that’s every shampoo, dishwashing liquid, soap, hair products, toothpaste,...

I put on a skirt this morning. That’s not impressive. I put on a skirt every morning. I don’t generally where pants outdoors. I pulled this skirt out of the dryer. Guess what? It is loose. Real loose. I am happy dancing. You gotta be mindful of the history of the skirt. This garment began its life as pants about 5 years ago. Back then I was still wearing pants. When I decided to cease my slacks wearing ways and actions, I did not want to incur the expense of having to replace garments that I wore on the regular. It made perfect sense, since I sew, to convert pants to skirts. That’s what I did with the skirt I’m currently wearing. The trick is the skirt will be a pencil skirt if you don’t have material to add. And who does? Also my skirts have to be long. (3/4) So I have these fitted pencil skirts that used to be pants hanging in my closet. They serve the same function that they did when they were pants. Maybe I’ll blog about why I don’t wear pants later. I said all that to...

I’m still very frustrated with the Weight Watchers plan. This plan has me eating a great deal of food. I find that if I eat healthy food (fresh, fruits and veggies) and not a lot of processed foods and sweets, then I cannot get all the points in. This is essentially a weight loss plan for folks that have bought into the American diet standard. If I ate meat, fast food and canned/microwaved foods, I would be mad thin by this point. But since I don’t it’s harder for me to get in all the food that I’m supposed to have. This leads me to an important decision. What am I going to do? Am I going to for the sake of thinness abandon my ideals and start eating a Standard American Diet? Or am I just going to say wth and stay chubby? Is there a third option? I know that eating the required point amounts aids in raising the metabolism, but so will a fever. I know that a lot of big people say this, but in my case it is accurate…. I just don’t eat that much! Last night found me looking for ...

Its cold as Hades here in the ‘A’. That ain’t cool. One of the reasons I moved here was because of the temperate weather. And it has been cold here since October. Not a good look shawty. I could have stayed home for that. In my various travels on the internet, I came across a site that recommended exercise as a way to warm up. That makes absolute sense to me. If I exercise it gets the blood flowing all over the place. Thereby warming me up. And maybe increased blow flow especially to my skin will be helpful in my fight against eczema. Hmmmmm?.... I cannot easily shake the feeling of cold once I get cold. I will shiver for around 3 hours once I get home. And I have the heat set on Satan. Since I have ‘On Demand’ with my cable, and that On Demand has an exercise channel, I thought why not. So last night found me trying to decide between which workout programs to watch. There are so many, but not so many by Original people. Let me tell you this, I have a real problem with the p...

Okay. I have managed to lose a little weight on this diet. Not a lot, but a little. It is very hard for me to eat all the points. I swear it feels like I have more room in my skin. This diet has had another effect on me too. The room in my skin seems to have helped my eczema. WOW. Who knew? I wonder what it was? Was it the water? Or just more room in my skin. That sounds nasty doesn’t it? Room in my skin. I’m not saying the eczema is totally gone, but it’s on it’s way out. And this blast of arctic air has not made it flare up. Maybe the physicians have something on this weight thing. They are always telling me to lose weight for this thing or that. My current physician knows she will get well there and what for if she steps to me with that script. But I must admit, heartburn goes away with a 10lb weight loss, and now apparently eczema. Peace

I did a baaaaaad thing. I exercised! I walked 4 miles on Saturday. Now there was a point in the recent year that walking 4 miles was not that big of a deal for me. But Saturday…. It was. I’m real good about maintaining my walking schedule when the weather is cooler. Cold makes you want to move. But when it’s hot, and I’m talking about Georgia heat and humidity, don’t nobody want to go out when it’s like that. And once you fall off, it’s hard getting back on. Everything hurts. Everything is stiff. I had my bad and legs lock up on me on Sunday. Definitely not a good look. The heating pad has been my constant companion. My shins are screaming. I know the correct mode of action should have been to go walking again yesterday. And I did…. To some degree… In the mall and shops. And this morning’s commute found me moving much slower than I normally do. So what’s the plan from here? Well exercise must become something that is a permanent part of my life. Walking is a very benign ...

I was talking on the phone last night, should have been building, but I was in fact talking. And I shared a small fact from my past with the person I was speaking with. This person not only actually listened, but cross referenced the information with other information that I had given in the past, just in passing. Gotta be more careful! Anywho…. This person said something that made me stop, think and begin researching. It went like this…. Me: “I ran track for 2 years in high school. The 1st year, I didn’t run. But I managed to get it together by the second year so I could run a little” Other: “Why couldn’t you run that 1st year?” Me: “I had to train myself to run straight” Other: “What’s wrong with your running?” Me: “It’s hard for me to walk straight. So you know running is a challenge.” Other: “Hmmmmm……” I am being purposefully vague about who the other person is. This is my blog and it’s all about me! But the other person was absolutely right and exact. And I feel/felt like Boo Boo ...

Today is a much better day. Though I need to put this out there. I am struggling to eat all this damn food! I’m going to get a candy bar or a gas station brownie on the way home to make my point total. I know all the food is supposed to increase my metabolism, but who has the time for all the chewing that goes into eating all these damn vegetables or all this damn fruit that has low or no point values? My boss is giving me the fisheye because every time he looks over my shoulder there is me with something in my mouth. Minds out of the gutter please. I know obese people who say they don’t eat much and then cook an entire pack of bacon for themselves, but that aint me. I really don’t eat like that. I eat 1 real meal a day and snack the rest of the day. I suppose it’s the snacks that are doing me in….. As far as how I’m feeling today, it’s a much better day. My tongue has a little coating on it, but that’s it. No headaches, no nausea, no nothing. I drank all that god forsaken ...

I kind of get now why I put on a few pounds over the holidays. I work in a healthcare office. Over the holidays all the offices we refer to have been sending up cakes, pralines, cookies and all manner of sweet treats. Not wanting anything to go bad and be discarded, (because I’m all about the team effort) every morning I would come in and have something with my coffee. Then after lunch, I need just a little nosh of something sweet. Dang. Been doing that since Thanksgiving. And it got me. It really hit home when I got here this morning the 1st morning after the holiday and I realized that I was fiending for something sweet and why. I purchased a banana and an apple from a street vendor this morning at 5-points. How smart was that? Trust that I will be wiping the hell off the apple skin. Also this morning, being the 1st morning officially back, found me on mass transit. That is my usual mode of transportation, but I haven’t been riding at all since I have been on vacation. Act...

Today was one really crappy diet day. I feel physically ill. I had headaches all day, was irritable, my heartburn is acting up so much in fact that it woke me up out of a sound sleep and it is 1:32 am. I have cramps and looseness. Now I'm kind of nauseas. Don’t laugh or be disgusted. It is what it is. I don’t know what up with all of it. I ate all day trying to maintain appropriate blood sugar levels. I did have a lot of bread and cheese (pizza). I had a roll in the morning and then about 3 cups of grapes, a bag of microwave popcorn. I’m not big on the microwave tip, but it works in a pinch. And 2 slices of cheese pizza. I tried hard to eat all the points, but came short by 4. And its not like they roll over. Now I can’t sleep. Just thought I’d share. Peace

I am obsessed. Ever since I made the decision to tweak some things regarding my physical form, I have become surreally obsessed with my weight. I consider myself extremely good looking. Indeed. I look in the mirror and I can get myself off on what I see. But acknowledging that there is room for improvement has set me off. I had to decide that if weight loss is to be the goal, then what is to be the method. I have tried many diets in the past with varying levels of success. The only 2 diets that ever worked for me were Weight Watchers and Cybertrim. Cybertrim allowed me to lose 60lbs quickly. So much in fact that my clothes were falling off me because I couldn’t afford to replace them as quickly as the weight was coming off. They don’t make it anymore and every now and again I find a kit and it makes me nervous. I am certain that joker is expired! WW allowed me to lose a significant amount of weight over time. Too much time. I like that you eat real food the actual way that you would ea...