Advice from a Chinese Doctor

I got this in an email and had to repost it!


Gotta love this Doctor. He is truly a medical wizard!

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it... Don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speed up heart not make live longer; that like say you can extend life of car by driving faster. Want live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies.. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. What are these? Vegetables. So, steak nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop can give 100% recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine.. That means they take water out of fruity bit; get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: If you have body and you have fat, ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Cannot think of single one, sorry. My philosophy: No Pain... Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only do sit-ups if want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: You crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Vegetable!!! Cocoa beans best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

AND.....

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health.

It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills You !

New pictures

Okay, I am really getting brave now! I am posting a picture WITH my face! WHOA! This is me a little over a year ago and today (with my new hair cut and make up). I think the biggest difference to me is my face. And I don't mean the make up or shape. I mean the look on my face. I DID NOT like having my picture taken a year ago! That was pure torture to take that picture. But I wanted to remember how I looked to remind myself why I didn't want to go back there! The pictures now - bring on the camera! I am truly amazed at the difference in my facial expression. I thought the biggest difference would be the shape of my body, not wearing contacts, make up...you know...physical things. But it is the attitude change that strikes me the most in these pictures!

And that, my friends, is why I don't make cookies!

I have NO willpower when it comes to freshly baked homemade cookies. NONE! ZERO! So, I very seldom make them. Yesterday, I decided that since it has been a while and I am now "in control" (snicker, snicker) of my eating habits, I would give it a whirl. DUMB IDEA!! I probably ate a dozen yesterday (and I'm underestimating if anything) and today I ate 4! UGH! I would have eaten more today but shoved them into my kids mouths as often as I could just to get rid of them so I COULDN'T eat more of them! And I can't even say that I did better than I would have a year ago. When I eat out (or in for that matter) I am definitely doing better. But when it comes to homemade cookies, there unfortunately has been NO progress!

Whew!

I made it through my anniversary (and three days straight of eating out) and even lost half a pound that week! Yay!

BUT...this week hasn't been so hot. I am not really doing well with the instinctive eating thing. I am thinking I may need to break down and buy the book so I can get some details on how it is supposed to work. I have reverted back to the "diet" and Jillian for now...ugh. We are planning family pictures for the first part of April and dang it, I want to look good!

I did have a good find this week. A friend of mine told me about these buns:I really like them! They are one point on WW for the entire bun (100 calories, 1.5 g fat, 4 g fiber, 5 g protein). And they are filling! They have the muli-grain (the ones I tried) and a whole wheat version. I would definitely recommend them! I have used them for hamburgers, lunch meat sandwiches, and peanut butter sandwiches.

Funny story

Wow! It's been a while! I have been doing pretty good with my quest to maintain. I haven't gone over my target weight yet but this week might be a different story! It is my tenth anniversary so hubby and I decided to get away for a few days which translates to eating out every meal for a few days! I know we could have stashed some healthy stuff in our hotel fridge and just ate that way, but I figured once every ten years.... We'll see how the scale responds on Saturday!

Now to the funny story. We went and visited an early childhood center that we both had worked in for a time. One of the old ladies that I worked with 7 years ago was still working there. She is one of those old people that always has something to say that is totally off the wall "where did that come from?" We got there and they all were commenting on how skinny I had gotten (I was actually my largest when I worked there). She came up to me and put her hand on my arm. With a very concerned look on her face she said, "Are you okay? This isn't from cancer or anything is it?" I thought, "Did she seriously just say that?!" This time, I just laughed....

I did it!

Whew! I did it! I made it through two weeks scale free (except for my weigh in with hubby last Saturday). My life doesn't revolve around the dang scale anymore! Although, I can see it quickly getting back to that point if I let it.

It has been an interesting week. I did gain a pound this week but I am okay with that. I am still one pound under my "don't go over" weight.

I guess I should explain what I am doing. I am "ditching the diet" (I copied that from a fellow diet blogger hence the quotes). I have come across a new lifestyle called intuitive eating. I have heard of it but Tiffany over at Skinny Jeans linked to another blog that had an article about intuitive eating. If you want to read the article, click here. It totally struck a cord with me. I am so sick of calorie counting and restricting. So I am trying this out. It is a lot harder than it sounds. I have to learn to trust myself. It's a scary proposition when you figure that I am the one who let myself get up to 200 pounds at one point (and no, that was not pregnant).

The first week actually went very well. But last week, I went back into old habits. I went out to eat three times (in one week - YUCK)!! And I didn't "listen" to my body. I have to say, I think the hardest part is having kids who eat very much on a schedule. It is hard to only eat when hungry when I am feeding my kids snacks and meals at a set time every day. It is something I will just have to play with. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Half way!

I made it half way through my two week no scale challenge (except for my weigh in this morning). I fully expected to step on the scale this morning and see a gain. And I was ready to call it quits when I saw that gain. I even had a dream last night and in my dream I gained exactly 2 pounds! BUT, I actually lost a pound! Go me. And I did it without weighing in several times a day! Imagine that....

Up for the challenge...I think

I was reading a weight loss blog (http://tiffskinnyjeans.blogspot.com/) and she has posted a challenge to go two weeks scale free. I decided that it is something I need to do. Lately, I have become obsessed with the dang thing! I will still have to do my Saturday morning weigh in with hubby but other than that - I'M GOIN' FOR IT!

On another note (but somewhat related believe it or not), I am so craving EVERYTHING lately! Every time I get in my car, I want to stop somewhere and grab a cheeseburger or a shake or both! When I go to the store, the chips and the candybars scream for me to buy them! Ugh! I know part of it is that I haven't been eating great lately so now putting that junk in my body, I just crave it more.

So what do the two have to do with each other? Well, we decided to have a party Sunday with all the treats (I know, not smart). I was thinking, "My weigh in is on Saturday. I'll do good this week, blow it on Sunday, and then do good the rest of the week to make up for it. It will be fine." But if I can't weigh in on a day to day basis, I won't know where I stand so hopefully, that will motivate me to NOT blow it on Sunday!

I'm still here...

No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I guess I was just kind of taking a break. The last month or so has been interesting. I haven't gained since my last post. I am actually back down to my second to last weigh in on my last competition (which is actually right where I want to be).

Setting a weight loss goal is an interesting thing. I set a goal in the beginning to get down to 150 and then not go above 155 (at least I think those were the numbers). Then I kind of blew that goal out of the water and at one point went down to 131. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I set a goal, I accomplished it, now what? I don't necessarily want to lose more so what is the point in watching every calorie I put into my mouth. But I definitely don't want to gain it back so I need to do something.

I guess that is the "problem" with setting a goal. I have always viewed goals as a sort of finish line. But it seems like, with weight loss, there really isn't a "finish line." Yes, I got down to (actually below) my original goal, but if I mentally tell myself that I am "done" it will all come right back.

At the beginning of this journey, I told myself that by doing it right, I would learn how to eat and how to work out so I would know how to keep the weight off. I am so glad I lost the weight the way I did. I have gotten off course a couple of times. But I knew how to get back on course. And over the year that I have been doing this, getting back on track has become easier.

But now comes the hard part. I need to find a lifestyle that isn't focused and obsessed with losing but on living. My hubby still has some weight he wants to lose so I made a deal with him. He has to lose weight or maintain his weight every week until the end of June. I have to keep my weight at or below 136.6 (my second to last weigh in). I am going to play a bit with that number. I think I would like to get it down to 135 just so it is a nice round number but right now, I'm going to stick with 136.6 and focus more on healthy living.

Drifting is not an option, apparently

I mentioned in my last post that I have been very busy and thus haven't posted. I decided I need to come clean. That isn't the real reason I haven't posted. I haven't posted because I have been HORRIBLE and I keep thinking that I will get back on track before I post so then I won't have to make any "confessions". But that isn't happening so here I am confessing!

I am back to exercising (after about three weeks of NOTHING). I realized how much better I feel when I exercise and I was hoping the exercise would counter balance my eating (but it hasn't). I got a couple of new videos that I'll write about later but they seem to be pretty good workouts.

Okay, I've stalled long enough. Now to the eating thing. I have been PATHETIC in this department. I thought I could just "drift." You know, not really watch what I am eating because now I have "learned" how to eat right, it should just come naturally. Not so much! I have actually gained 6.4 pounds since the final weigh in 3 weeks ago! NOT GOOD!! So here goes my self justification for my weight gain:

1 - I lost 5 pounds the final week and I'm not even sure how I did it. I stuck to my points but didn't exercise and dropped almost a full pound a day. I told my hubby at the beginning of that week that I wasn't going to start exercising because losing a pound a day gave me shot at winning the competition (which I actually ended up doing). So, in my mind that 5 pound loss was somewhat artificial. So if I take the weight from the prior week, I have only gained 1.4 pounds. Still not good but better.

2 - It was the holidays for cryin' out loud! I did tons better than I would have in the past!

3 - I am 20 pounds below my original goal weight so it is okay to have a little bit of flexibility. As long as I can fit into my size 4 pants, what does the number on the scale matter anyway?

Now for a reality check! This little pattern of self justification is what got me into this mess in the first place! I am really good at self justification. On a daily basis, I find myself thinking thoughts such as, "It's only a bite. One bite doesn't really matter (neither does this bite, or this bite....)," or "It's been a rough day, I deserve a treat," or "It's a holiday, special occasion, etc. Who counts calories on holidays, etc?" Maybe I should change the word justification to destruction - self destruction!

So, drifting=self destruction which is NOT AN OPTION! Here is to a better week! No, I am not still bent on weight loss. I am actually happy where I am (or was anyway). But I do need to focus on maintaining. Weight loss is not a trip that you go on and at the end is it done. It is a life long JOURNEY - something that continues even after the "goal" has been reached.