Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Everyone needs a rest day ...

Right?

According to my geeky little food and exercise log, I haven't taken a day off from exercising for two straight weeks. Today's the day! I will, however, be mopping the floor [Hi, H!] and if it doesn't rain I'll be mowing, too. It's not like I'll be sitting on my ass knitting, watching cable news and eating sugar-free bread-and-butter pickles all day.

Some of the people I see every week are starting to notice I've shed a few pounds. It's nice to be acknowledged for all this hard work. I've been trying for a long, long time to lose, but my body just wouldn't cooperate. I've left perimenopause behind, with all its hormonal swings, and have entered the perfect storm [for me] of being able to achieve some modest success: eating low-glycemic foods, in the right combinations, at the right times, along with intentional activity that has truly become something I look forward to. Well, not the weight-training so much, but I'm loving my long, long walks.

Each little success creates an atmosphere and mindset for more. I can move more easily since I've lost a little bit of weight, and so I move more often, making it easier to lose more. Eliminating sugar and white flour completely is difficult, but each day without it finds me calmer, saner, happier. And if I'm calm-sane-happy, I don't find myself in those low mood swings trying to cure myself with something sweet. Which, of course, never worked.

Or maybe it's just sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair. Or taking vitamins or flaxseed oil. Who knows? I'm unwilling to eliminate anything at this point, and perfectly willing to give every small change I've made all the credit.

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