More Healthy Steps Forward

Doesn't this pic make you want to drool? Now, I made a couple of those in the pic (they were delicious, by the way). But my problem is...they are not good for anything other than my tongue and my endorphins. So I'm (very sadly) going to be limiting my sugar intake from now on, if I can bear to (just limiting, cutting them entirely is cruel and unusual punishment for someone who isn't diabetic).

The real turning point was me going through and taking my measurements and seeing if a pattern I purchased would work for me. I was a perfect size 14 in my bust and my hips...and a perfect size 18 at the waist. Now, I do not mind the first sizes, but it actually really hurt to see my waist size. Now, I have lost weight this year and I'm nowhere close to thinking that I'm not doing well or that I haven't made progress, because I am and I have. I can only imagine what my sizes were before now! Worse, I'm sure. I know I've lost 4 inches at the waist this year so fair, and roughly 10 or 12 pounds overall. Tight jeans fit me quite well now and my fat jeans are no longer the only ones that fit. It's amazing what an active job can do for you.

But I no longer have that active job. I have the more sedate but more cerebral job, with it's higher wages and benefits. I've made such great progress this year; I'm terrified this new job will have me back to gaining instead of losing weight. So, after work today (my second full day on the job), I went to the store and bought more veggies and some tuna. Now fish hasn't agreed with me in a long time, but processed fish like tuna is ok for my stomach (once my benefits kick in I'm finding out if there's an allergy or just a weird reaction). Then, I went to do laundry and my complex happens to have a gym right next door. So I exercised on the bikes for the roughly hour and 15 minutes it took to finish my laundry. I didn't do it hard, and I did try those step machines that are kinda a cross between a stairmaster and skiing. Those hurt my knees really bad (something about the level of the footpedals or height of everything was not right, nor adjustable), so back to the bikes I went. Of course, my bum hurts now. Next time, I'm either doing laps in the pool or hitting the treadmill as well as the bikes.

I noticed something odd, though. I had a whole host of health problems last year: cramps that knocked me flat for a day or two nearly every month, stomach pain, mood swings, etc. So far, after the move to Utah, I've had none of those debilitating cramps (knock on wood), the mood swings have lost their frequency, and the stomach pain was largely gone. Moving caused a change in diet and I think perhaps the pains might have been related to my using "I can't believe it's not" butter instead of actual butter as I have my whole life, and got regular 1% milk instead of Lactaid (Rosslyn was lactose intolerant and I'm not). Butter is actually better for you and those odd pains stopped when I began buying my own butter and milk. Now, I could be completely off on that point, so don't quote me, but I've stuck with wheat and whole grain bread, but otherwise haven't been eating so well in my home until recently (more salads, etc.), yet that change with the altitude made the stomach pain go away.

But, today. I sat for awhile and realized my stomach hurt. My slacks were very tight (now I wear these nearly every week since I got the first job here, so it wasn't that). I wonder if my sitting down so much contributes to the pain? I walked about and did other things and it felt better. Could it be the butter, the milk, or sitting down so much? Perhaps all of the above? I dunno. I'm not a calorie counter. I won't pay attention to the daily value of my food, but I can see that there's relative health all around (fresh food, veggies, more whole wheat, etc.). So let's hope I can get to a healthier, better waist size and rock my curves more. I like my curves, so I'm mostly aiming at the pooch.