The tipping point

I knew that I had been slowly gaining weight since we returned from southeast Asia.  I could feel it in my painting pants.  All of a sudden, there was no longer a real need to wear a belt.  When I was in my healthy weight range, they would fall down without some support.  Increased carbs, a terrible habit of eating too much at night, and a lack of exercise were all culprits.  I think the cold weather also made me feel a need to nest, eat heartily, and forestall any worries about weight gain.

It's interesting what turns the light on for me.  I was in the studio yesterday and tried to take a photo using the timer on my phone of me painting.  What I saw when I got back to my phone was the switch.  I knew that my journey back to health and trimness would start immediately, especially as I felt the need to delete the photo.  I took one with my sweater on, which made me look less rotund.


I'm on the fence as to whether I am going to go back to my Ideal Protein program.  I want to see if I can make an impact on my own by adjusting a few things.  I wrote four things down last night.

1.  Weigh-in every day

The first thing I will do every morning after brushing my teeth will be to strip down and see what numbers pop up on the weight scale.  The number that popped up today was the biggest I have seen in a long while.

2.  More water

I will supplant my compulsive snacking with water.  It will help clear out my system and keep me hydrated.  It is also something that I enjoy.

3.  More walking

These cold winter days strip away any desire to get out and move my body.  That has to change.  I need to carve out 30-45 minutes to walk to the store or out in the neighbourhood every day. In fact, just as I'm typing this, I'm going to commit to doing that and marking a letter "W" beside my daily weigh-in number when I successfully do so.

4.  Only super light at night

My weakness is nuts.  There!  I've said it.  I get into the nuts at night and I'm sunk.  So, last night I tried seaweed snacks.  They were flavourful, super light and gave me the little crunch that crave.

Those were the four that are on the sketch pad next to my computer.  Additionally, I'm going to scale down my portions, strip out the carbs, and cut out the sugar.  If I do all of these things - theoretically - the number on the scale should begin to get smaller.   As long as I see progress, I'll keep at it.  Heather has also offered to make me a special ayurvedic tea that could help.

This blog, aptly titled "Middle Age Bulge", was originally started to help with this very same problem.  I'll check in from time to time to let you know how I'm doing.

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