Body as Anchor & Filter

How one weight loss loser reverted to basic training

2009-04-13T21:16:00.003-04:00

Weight loss has been on my mind for a while now. I've been overweight at least since my daughter was born. She's graduating from college very soon so my had-a-baby excuse expired years ago. For most of that time I’ve been trying to get on track and start an exercise regime that would be sustainable and work. I've had various degrees of success with some weight loss followed by some weigh gain

A return to personal blogging

2009-04-11T09:15:00.007-04:00

Once again I'm starting fresh. If I can't do anything else I can be persistent. Eventually, it'll work for me and I'll have the body and the life I want. Since the last post I've been working a lot - both for others for pay and on myself. I started following the Simple-o-logy program (more about that later). I also started just really paying attention to what was working, what was not working,

Pilates, yes? no? maybe.

2008-07-10T08:17:00.004-04:00

I went to a pilates class on Tuesday. A Tickle quiz had once said that pilates was the perfect exercise for me. This class was sponsored by the local health department. It's within 1 mile of my home. It's FREE!! It was relaxing. I'd need to do some aerobics at some point. Maybe I could walk to class and walk back? I'll hold that thought.I'm as critical about other people's bodies as I am about my

Summer Weight Loss Dreams

2008-05-24T17:32:00.003-04:00

Today I finally spent 20 minutes playing on the bowflex in an attempt to get back on track with my summer weight loss exercising. All week I'd been planning to restart the Monday, Wednesday, Friday bowflex schedule AND do some sort of aerobic exercise on the other days. My good intentions were worthless.I realized while journaling that my dreams for summer weight loss all involve me doing things

I'm being held hostage by resistance

2008-05-20T09:02:00.002-04:00

Need a wake up call? Calculate your body fat

2008-05-18T08:28:00.005-04:00

Since Sunday, 23 March I've been weighing myself on my Tanita body fat monitor and scale. Why? Because I need a constant reminder that I have to do more to get to my ideal weight. What is my ideal weight? I have no idea. The charts and the general proclamations don't convince me. So I figure I'll know my ideal weight when I see it.Another reason I use the body fat monitor and scale is I want/need

Search for Food High in Iron

2008-05-14T07:50:00.004-04:00

It's been a week since I exercised with the bowflex. How did that happen? I exercised last Wednesday and planned to work out at the hotel where I knew I'd be on Friday morning. Didn't work. Yesterday was the other scheduled bowflex day and there was really no excuse. I watched the time go by. I have been in search of fiber and iron. I really need food high in iron right now. I'm back on the iron

gluten free maple-walnut granola and exercise

2008-05-07T10:14:00.003-04:00

I exercised first thing. Warmed up by walking fast (2.9 mph) on treadmill while listening to the Greatest Hits of Run DMC for 15 minutes. Then did the bowflex workout. Here's my default breakfast and snack. I have it with almond milk since dairy isn't my friend.I make it gluten free by using gluten free oats.)Also, I've yet to find currants so I usually add 2x the cranberries or use another dried

exercised as scheduled

2008-05-06T08:13:00.003-04:00

despite not telling you about it I exercised all of my scheduled days. In fact starting yesterday I've added the much needed cardio. Doing it in small bursts. Yesterday, in addition to the bowflex workout I pulled out an old Xmas gift, the belly dance exercise video. Did that for 30 minutes. Then went out into the world to work. When I came back I pulled out another old standby, 10 minute

Consistency

2008-04-30T23:12:00.002-04:00

OK, I'm being regular, I am exercising everyday that I have planned. I may not do the whole scheduled workout, but I do enough to work each muscle group, at least once. When I eclipse my cardio, I make sure to have broken a sweat and I do at least 30 minutes. My diet still needs work, but I am rarely overeating, I am more erring on the side of under eating.Still I have high hopes. Regina 4-30-08

exercised

2008-04-28T20:58:00.002-04:00

yes, I exercised. In fact I exercised even though I needed to be out of the house an hour earlier than usual. I even moved the weight up to 50 pounds. It's still easy for most of the exercises so I'll move it up again on Wednesday. I'm thinking to start using more for my legs than my arms despite the fact that the shoulder exercise is hard at any weight. I had a moment a couple of hours after

Going,Going,bump....

2008-04-28T19:33:00.003-04:00

I have a new exercise plan that is quite ambitious for the relatively lazy me. What drove me to such lofty plans was a lack of progress. I exercised often, not very regularly, but very often, still no major change in the body parts I really want to improve. My new plan, which ,consists of Mon, Wed., and Fri. Total Body Weightlifting, 2 exercises per muscle group, 10-12 reps, 3-4 sets. Cardio Tue.

BowFlex day 3

2008-04-25T09:33:00.003-04:00

Went to 40 pounds and that seems like plenty especially for my shoulders. I never realized that they were weak. I'd been super tired since Monday or maybe it was last Friday. Anyway, I went to a meeting last night at Heine Brothers and picked up an expensive bag of "Najla's Gone Nuts" they energized me. That was good. When I got up this morning I stayed up. Yesterday, I just kept getting back in

BowFlex day 2 exercise

2008-04-23T08:14:00.004-04:00

Since last time I did a brief walk. I haven't done that in months. I also signed up to get a "metabolic fingerprint of my resting metabolic rate". AND I'm blogging and YES, I did exercise day two as planned. Well, not totally as planned. What I wrote I'd do is every scheduled day add 10 additional pounds of resistance until 12 reps of the exercises were too much yet 8 was doable. I added 20

started exercising

2008-04-21T08:40:00.002-04:00

Amazingly, I have started to exercise. A friend gave me her bowflex about 3 weeks ago. It's been set up and I've been looking at the manual and making plans and thinking about it and planning my approach, etc. etc. Today I went to the workout room (sounds way better than basement). I took it easy as planned. Main purpose was to just go and DO ANYTHING. Actually, the official plan was to do 12

Call Their Names: Presidential Facts for Women’s History Month

2008-03-17T08:39:00.004-04:00

How much do you know about First Ladies?Show mature women what you know and/or learn something new for women's history month.Eight U.S. Presidents had 13 letter names.Can you name their wives?Well, can you at least unscramble their names then match them up? Here's the Printable Trivia Questions.freebies to help you uncover these fun presidential facts:#1 Take the multiple choice version of this

Hydration and Health

2008-02-11T20:10:00.001-05:00

How long will it take my body to get fully hydrated? How will I know when it is? How do I know that it's not? Is dry skin a sign of dehydration? According to my scale/analyzer my level is 43.2%. ============================== P.S. I'm conducting a poll about women and happiness. Please go to www.multipurposewoman.com/random_interviews to take the Happiness Poll and add your input.

Spirituality Information on Squidoo

2007-12-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

Spirituality Information on Squidoo

Salt N Pepa's hair?

2007-12-04T12:39:00.001-05:00

okay, there's a Salt N Pepa show. Who knew? I was eating lunch and thought I'd flipped channels and ran across the Salt 'N Pepa show on VH1. Salt (what's her real name?) had a weave in and it was driving her crazy. It's not her style. It was itching, etc. Anyway, Pepa (what's HER name?) is all excited about a fake hair line.The last I heard about Salt 'N Pepa. Pepa had gone religious and Salt was

86 the 70 miles per hour speed craziness

2007-11-24T07:48:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving was all that it should have been. Fun with family, good food, relaxation. My happiness level with thanksgiving would have been higher if only I could have done it all from the safety and comfort of my own home. Or at least a home close to mine.We went 3 hours away. It makes sense considering that's where the bulk of the family is now. It makes sense because my sister-in-law loves to

Will drugs for my brain make me happy?

2007-11-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

My electronic issues are wearing me down. Sometimes I can't tell if it's me and my ADD tendencies or if it's really the electronics and forces I have no control over. I've mentioned before that I've been having technical difficulties for weeks. It continues. I have my google accounts all screwed up OR google has me all screwed up with my accounts. The confusion is making me very unhappy as in

Happy to get GTD back on-track!

2007-11-18T20:12:00.000-05:00

My "IN" box has been stuffed for weeks. I've been using it as a holding spot. I haven't done a weekly review in months. It's no wonder I'm feeling off track. To be happy, according to my acronym, I need to be productive.Well, today I sorted all the stuff that was "IN". I even purged a lot of it. What's left? Papers that need filing or trashing. I'd be happy if only I would make some decisions

focusing on being happy

2007-11-17T09:32:00.001-05:00

I'm back to blogging at Body As Anchor & Filter. During the past months I went private. I kept writing. I just did it in a notebook instead of out in the open. It's a different experience and I think that being "visible" and open to comments and other randomness will generate some good elements and contribute to my happiness. So I'm back.My number one focus will be exploring my current working

2006-08-15T21:19:00.000-04:00

I brought a pair of Birkenstocks's (betula) today to replace the Target clogs I've been wearing for months and recently tore up. Maybe these will last and last. I've always wanted a pair of shoes to wear forever - or that I could replace with an identical pair. My daughter approved of them - strange - she didn't like any of the shoes I tried on at Payless.

How'd hip-hop-erize go?

2006-08-15T21:09:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm glad you asked. I went. I was late. I thought it started at 6:30 and it started at 6 - 5:30 on Thursdays. Guess I merged the two. Anyway, I got about five dances in. School started today and I dropped by to pick up my young friend but no one was home. I wrote the times in my palm so next week there's no excuse. I could go on Thursday since it's from 5:30 - 6:30 and the EarthSave event

Who knew to be afraid of Balloons?

2006-08-15T17:56:00.000-04:00

How balloons impact health Click here: Balloon HQ presents: How Balloons Impact Health

Dancing, Exercise, and Resistance Control

2006-08-09T09:50:00.000-04:00

I went to the hip-hop-ercize class. It was fun. I even took a young neighbor. She's going to high school this year and wants to lose weight so she can join the basketball team. I kind of think of her as insurance. If I'm waivering and she wants/needs to go then I'll go. If she's trying not to go and I'm in front of her house ready then she'll go. We've doubled our chances of success.How is it

Resistance and exercise for weight loss

2006-08-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

In Live the Life You Love, Barbara Sher, advises that when you are resistant to doing something that you actually want to do you should “try to think of a unit small enough to give you a feeling of complete willingness”. I need to exercise. I really, really, NEED to. I want to. I truly do. I’m about to burst. And perversely feeling myself get bigger is keeping me from wanting to move. Yet moving

Would I Actually Play Rugby Football?

2006-07-30T18:14:00.000-04:00

I was out with my daughter and picked up a postcard inviting me to join the Louisville Women's Rugby Football Club. My daughter laughed at me. I don't really know what rugby football is. I think I've seen a practice at Seneca Park a couple of years ago yet that could have been something else.No experience necessary! That's what the card states. And good thing since I have no experience being a

Exercise Fun with Kango Jumps

2006-07-26T07:15:00.000-04:00

In September 2002 I brought a pair of kango-jumps (photo)I went to the mall specifically to get them.That’s an endorsement in itself. (I hate the mall.)Anyway, they looked fun and that’s what I most want from my exercise routine. I also want it to show results fast.I remember enjoying them for a long time. I’d also brought this music tape. The music is silly, “jump, jump, jump, like a kangaroo …

Check out Research IDs Genetic Basis for Fibroid Tumors - Forbes.com

2006-02-14T09:57:00.000-05:00

Click here: Research IDs Genetic Basis for Fibroid Tumors - Forbes.com

Skin Care Conflict

2006-02-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

I brought expensive “un-petroleum” lip balm but I can’t tell that it works any better than regular chap stick. My lips don’t look or feel any more kissable than usual. I can’t even taste the cherry flavor. Yet, somewhere along the way I became convinced that petroleum was not good for women’s health so I spent the extra money for “un-petroleum”.Now I’m wondering, if I can justify the extra

body praise from Jorge Cruise

2006-02-06T13:46:00.000-05:00

I received this nice note from the 3-hour diet newsletter. Yes, it's was just for me :-) Be Receptive to PraiseDear Gwendolyn, Remember the last time you received a compliment? How did you react? If you said something like, "Oh, you liar," "Shut up" or "I'm not what

dance like no one is watching & lose weight

2006-01-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

If a 165 pound woman (that's me) dances wildly for 1 hour daily she can burn 445 calories. That's enough to lose one pound every 8 days. Six Tips to make this work:wear heart rate monitorfind music in the 125 - 130+ beats per minute rangedo it every daydo it in 15 minute increments to get around your I-don't-have-an-hour-to-exercise critickeep a glass of water near bykeep the dancing our little

Who’s that woman with the unstoppable body?

2006-01-30T10:34:00.000-05:00

Confession: I’d love to have the body of a video vixen. There I admitted it, sort of out loud. I don’t want to wear the show-all-your-goodies outfits but I’d like to have the option.Will watching exercise videos help you lose weight?At the library I picked up Unstoppable Women: achieve any breakthrough goal in 30 days by Cynthia Kersey. I love books with definite timeframes in the title.I get

Bad weight loss advice for mature women

2006-01-23T10:10:00.000-05:00

I’m starting to detect a conspiracy theory. The government and food manufacturers have joined with the health care industry to aid the entertainment field in producing and maintaining an audience of fat, sick, depressed women. I’m only half joking. My fibroid problems started when I decided to listen to the government and the weight loss industry. I wanted to lose weight. I wanted to be healthy.

weight loss quagmire

2006-01-16T08:11:00.000-05:00

Why would a rational person need prompting to do something they've self-identified as a goal and that could increase the quality of their life - maybe even save it?

Recommitment Deja Vu'

2006-01-09T09:23:00.000-05:00

Since November my mind has cleared considerably. I'm sure it's the food or rather the lack of certain foods. I've been able recently to categorize and sort and purge things that have forever just been big amorphous piles of good intentions, hopes, and want-to-dos. Those piles contained a lot of useful and interesting ideas, projects, and opportunities. I found my life's work scattered throughout

questions from a wondering woman

2005-10-15T11:13:00.000-04:00

I stopped writing morning pages. I came to the end of a notebook and wrote, "The End". For some time I had been considering stopping. Morning pages do their job too well - they keep my mind from worrying about every little thing - they make me calm. I've recently decided that I'm too calm. Plus morning pages are private. I'm too private. So no more morning pages - more blogging. I can hear my

time warps and fibroids

2005-03-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

I know I've written since December! Anyway, a lot has happened so I now have fodder for the posts. I have 7 fibroids. I won't romanticize them by nicknaming them the seven sisters. One morning I thought I would but by afternoon I had rejected the idea as useless.I'm not going to have a hysterectomy. Surgery is the first thought the doctors had. Hysterectomy was the first word out of their mouths.

napping my life away

2004-12-30T07:05:00.000-05:00

I took an eleven hour nap yesterday! That's a clear sign that my mind and my body are at serious odds. Lucky for me I had front loaded my day. All of what really needed to be done was done. What feel by the wayside were the things I would have liked to have done - the 30 minutes of daily fiction writing for instance. Bottom-line, I have to force myself to the gym. I don't like the gym. It's a

Check out MyHealthTestReminder.com

2004-12-28T13:44:00.000-05:00

Remember to get health tests - sign up for email reminders Click here: MyHealthTestReminder.com

return to the blood bank

2004-12-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

56 days is the suggested time between blood donations. My palm tells me it's time for me to try again. So I'll make an appointment and see if my blood is any better.

Petroleum Jelly - old school fix all

2004-12-28T07:14:00.000-05:00

I was in bed lamenting my extra dry skin plight when the word Vasaline popped into my head. While I've been playing around with expensive lotions the real cure was just a memory away. Back in the day, my Mother would have petroleum jelly around instead of lotion. I hopped in the tub and when I hopped out I lathered it on. My skin is happy! We actually have Target brand petroleum jelly. The

Track your monthly cycle

2004-12-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

Here's a web site -- MyMonthlyCycles.com -- where you can keep track of your monthly menstrual cycles. You can find more at their web site http://www.MyMonthlyCycles.com?referrer=mmctaf-trkevmain

Poison (page 32) by Kathryn Harrison

2004-12-04T15:51:00.000-05:00

".... but how light might feel were it to enter you, were flesh to become literate in senses other than touch. And of course flesh does, it does--flesh learns everything. Blood flows toward consciousness, bones apprentice themselves, a body's very skin sets itself a course of study. The only truths worth knowing, the only ones we remember, are those we learn by the flesh."

Check out Living Nutrition: Raw food lifestyle magazine, leading the raw heal

2004-11-17T20:56:00.000-05:00

Click here: Living Nutrition: Raw food lifestyle magazine, leading the raw health revolution

Rejected at the Blood Bank on my Birthday

2004-11-02T10:54:00.000-05:00

I tried to give blood but my count was 34 and it needs to be 38. I did get to vote. But this blood thing bothers me. I'm not even really sure what it means for my blood count to be low. I actually feel good today. Better than usual so I thought the vitamens and the extra greens I've been eating were working. Well, maybe they are and before my count was lower. Reading the handout I was given as

worked out

2004-10-31T22:28:00.000-05:00

To get on-track with this exercise program, I've enlisted the aid of my daughter and fitlinxx. My daugher got me to the gym on Saturday. She went to her first live yoga class. She's been working out with a tape for a couple of months. Anyway -- back to me!!! I went reluctantly but as promised without complaining. I had the desk person show me the secret "for special people only" locker room.

Dry Skin

2004-10-15T07:31:00.000-04:00

Problem – My skin hurts. My skin is dry year round but it especially hurts this time of year when the air is so dry. My hands especially suffer. The nails are short and bitten. The cuticles are ravished and spiky. I wash my hands too often. But alternative #1- not washing - wakes up my germ paranoia, alternative #2 – using hand sanitizer (thickened alcohol) – is as bad as washing. So fall rolls

baby step?

2004-10-03T17:49:00.000-04:00

signed self and family up at the YMCA

discipline, control,

2004-10-03T09:47:00.000-04:00

If I can't/won't/don't discipline/control my body how can I realistically expect other aspects of my life to be as I want them? Flow is a fiction, an excuse to be passive. I know this. I know I am reactive. I want to be proactive but my habitual way of being is reactive. For as long as I can remember, instead of making things happen I waited and reacted to what happened. It started as a defense?

starting as best I can

2004-10-03T00:12:00.000-04:00

I will begin at the beginning and follow my thoughts, urgings, readings, writings, intuition, and as yet unknown proddings. I have often referred to the body as a ‘spirit container’. I have heard other people use similar analogies. My body places me in this world. My body is a marker. What is it holding a place for? In linguistics, according to D, a marker is (a) an element of a construction,