The Menopause Makeover

In my profile I explain that this picture is a watercolor I painted of myself from a photo my mother took. I was about four and we were on a family outing. I was not a happy camper. I don't remember the day, but I know the mood: "I don't wanna.."

Today was an I don't wanna day. I don't wanna get out of bed. I don't wanna drive to work. I don't wanna do yoga.

Tomorrow is a conference day at work. Typically everyone is encouraged to bring in breakfast foods for a breakfast buffet and the boss pops for a lunch buffet. There is always a ton of food. Fortunately I am too busy setting up, encouraging staff to sign in and sign the certificates to pay attention to food.

Okay, so...I'm off. Almost. We leave in the wee hours of the morn. The to-do list for today is daunting. I thought, as always, that I'd get more done before today. Oh well. I did get on the scale this morning and it did go up a couple of ounces, which is not unexpected. That whole fluctuation thingy. But I'm feeling good. And I'm determined to stay on track. I did yesterday and I plan on doing this to the best of my ability through the entire vacation.

So...have fun everyone!!! Hope you all have a great week while I'm gone and I'll 'see' you all when I get back. You all will be on my mind while I'm there!!!

Cole

I overslept by 30 min this morning! I never finished my meal plan for the week and never finished filling my meal bins. So I was ripe for failure.

I grabbed my lunch container, threw in 1/2 ww pita, 2 veggie sausage, a container with some leftovers (1/2 c brn rice and some stir fry veg), an apple, a string cheese, some almonds, a protein bar and a protein shake and took off. It turns out I didn't have to rush, as it started snowing and any day it snows no one thinks twice about people coming in late. They're not strict on times anyway, but I like to be punctual. 

I am stuck.

My weight hasn't shifted for five days, and tonight I realised why.

I'm scared of losing my fat suit. It's my comfort, my protection, my anonymity. It stops people really seeing me. It's stops me needing to deal with something I have trouble dealing with- being found attractive.

It is easier to lose weight when you are happy.  Are YOU happy?  Happiness is a CHOICE that you can EXERCISE.

Morning Everyone!

Yippeee, I can post at last! It was my ad blocker stopping me seeing the box I needed to tick for MM!

Okay, here is my first MM blog, I hope it goes right. 

Ladies - congrats!  The 2-week MM Challenge yielded almost 50 pounds collectively!  Very impressive. As we continue with our personal weight loss goals I wanted to share one of my favorite secret weapons - FIBER.

Fiber is the part of plants that cannot be digested.  When you eat fiber, it passes through your body virtually unchanged.

Benefits of fiber:

I'm somewhat embarassed to admit this, but I was VERY pouty yesterday and Staness, bless her heart, spent some time on the phone with me puzzling out where I might be...not necessarily going wrong, but what it might be that was causing the less than stellar weight loss that I'd planned.  And then...

I got on the scales this morning and I'm down 1 more lb!!

THANK YOU Staness, for believing in me and THANK YOU for being such a patient coach, cheerleader and buddy through this for ALL of us.

Luv ya, and I'm sorry I was such a whiner.  Even though it appears that whining (ok, pissing and moaning too) burns significant amounts of calories.

Stick with this program ladies...IT WORKS!!!

Jayne

Morning Everyone! Well, morning from my part of the world.  

So I did a bit of cheating yesterday.  Doh!  It wasn't huge, horrible cheating, but cheating nonetheless. 

I want today to be my weigh-in day. If it was I would be able to post at least a two pound weight loss for the past week. I have finally reached a weight I haven't seen in over a year. I still have a long, long way to go. But my current clothes are not longer tight and I am able to comfortably wear clothes that I could not wear a year ago.

Today we're having a pot luck at work. Again. This time it is in honor of our coworker who passed away last week. Since her memorial service will be out of town, and we can't attend, our boss thought a meal and slide show of her photographs would be a good remembrance.

So, it should be interesing to see what I can have.

It looks like everyone had a hard week...plateau anyone?  And as I was going through the grocery store yesterday I had an idea.

I thought it might be cool if the MM challenge had positive affects that reached further than just me, you know?  So for every pound I lose, I'm going to donate an equivalent weight in groceries to the food bank. 

Ladies, how are you all coping with family meals?  I find that's what's hindering my progress most.

So let's tally up our weight loss over the past two weeks like we said we'd do.  Everyone just post their total in the comments below, and at the end of the day we'll add it all up and see how much we've lost all together. THAT should cheer us up, (well,  those of us who are grumpy that they didn't see the personal results they'd hoped for eg MOI)   I'll go first!

Jayne

I got nothin'

[insert big sigh]

But I'm stubborn and I'm not going to let this get me down, and I have to think that maybe tomorrow's the day I'll get my big payoff.  But it IS kind of depressing to know that I've been eating according to plan, I've UPPED my exercise and still I'm sitting at only 3 lbs down for the two week blast.  How pissy is THAT?

I'm going to have to look at my portions, change up my exercise and see what I can do to tinker.  What IS happening though is that over all I've lost approximately a pound a week since I've been MM'ing.  I'm grumpy yet determined to make that scale MOVE!

I know, 2 posts in one day?! LOL Making up for not getting a chance on the weekend.

Since the dh made it last night and it was so yummy (and I'm totally not a fish eater, by the way) I thought I'd share.

 Marinade:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 tsp dried dill weed

who couldn't lose weight too fast.   But I see many of you struggled to get more weight off this second week.  

This morning when I weighed myself, I was back down again--1x4.4.  So I'm going with that number.  Total weight loss--4.4 pounds in 2 weeks.

Today was the day to weigh in and I was disappointed.  But not surprised.  I mean I stuck to the plan all week with the exception of the 1 piece of birthday cake...and I did not miss a workout.  I lost half a pound.  BUT I also had a larger than expected loss last week, and I wondered if I would even out. 

Hey Everyone!

I was disappointed to weigh myself this morning and find that I hadn't lost anything this week. Nada. Zero. Zilch. But 5 lbs last week was good and it puts me in the 5-6 lb. loss range for the two week challenge. 

I was disappointed to weigh myself this morning and find that I hadn't lost anything this week. Nada. Zero. Zilch. But 5 lbs last week was good and it puts me in the 5-6 lb. loss range for the two week challenge. 

I didn't find too much in the local stores and will have to go further south to bigger shops.

I did find an apricot scrub and a cucumber masque, which I haven't tried yet, and Neutrogena alcohol-free toner. (Jayne, I hope it's OK to mention trade names? If not, please let me know and I'll take them out.)

So, good news, bad news.

Depending on how you look at it, that is.

I tried a couple of management things today with surprising results. 

For the last two weeks I've planned my meals and separated the foods into bins in the refrigerator for each day. Today I took it two steps further.

What you do today can affect your weigh-in tomorrow!  

Tomorrow is the finish line of the 2-week MM challenge!  Will you be down 1 pound? 2 pounds? Or 3 pounds?  Will your total weigh-in be 4 pounds? 5 pounds? Or 6 pounds?

Watch your salt and sodium intake today.

Limit coffee/caffeine consumption.

Eat lean protein at all your mini-meals.

Today's my day 29 of Menopause Makeover, the first day of my fifth week. My results are puzzling, but good overall.

I lost only half a pound. On the other hand, since last week I lost a half-inch from my waist and a full inch from my hips!  

A few possible reasons are:

This may be day 12 in the two week blitz, but it is also day forty in my challenge to lose weight. It has been a busy week with little free time to do much popping in here to respond to posts. I have no idea if I have lost any weight this week. I do know that there has not been much change in measurements. 

Baseball season is starting for my children today.  During the week days, they usually have practice or games at 5:30 which means we either eat super early or super late.  In the past, it's meant a lot of fast food because the family just can't wait another 30-45 minutes to eat after we get home at 7:30.  Especially my toddler!

I did better today. I had scumbled eggs for breakfast (my own invention) and I made the turkey chili for dinner. It was very good. The recipe said you could add taco seasoning. I added some enchilada seasoning, which I like. I had whole wheat sourdough bread with it and my counts are still ok.

So this is what I look like!

Today's the end of my fourth MM week. One of the fun things has been to watch my pelvic bones and cheekbones emerge from their blanket of pudge. My face has a whole new shape without the fat padding my features.

But now that the fat's melting away, my face is getting wrinkly!

Post Menopausal Stupidity... I think I need to just stay away from anything remotely resembling chocolate. Be it a lowly M&M found under the kitchen table (ick), or the highest protein content protein bar. If it has chocolate on it, in it, or around it, I'm after it. Remember those Girl Scout cookies I bought last week to help out a friend?

3 days left until the final weigh-in Sunday -  the ultimate 2 week challenge results!

What can you do in 3 days?  Lose another pound or two!

Can you believe that there are only FOUR more days in our two week plan?  For my part I've been working my buns off to ensure that I get to the target of 5-6 lbs lost.  It's been an intense workout week, which has been good, since the beginning of the month is usually a VERY busy time due to all the new content I have to ensure is uploaded to not only this site, but all of our other social media properties.  And so when I step on the scales on Sunday I expect to see some results.  But I've also found that the exercise has been a great way to work off steam/stress!  I'm much more relaxed about things these days...

Anyone else discovering benefits to the plan?  Are you exfoliating/moisturizing?  Are you making the time to treat yourself in special ways?  Are you journaling your progress using the templates that Staness has provided?  I think I'm headed for a pedicure later today...I could plane wood with these hoofs!!!

Jayne

I discovered something about cake.

Tonight, I'm going out to dinner with some other moms to a British pub.  Yikes.  I have to be really careful about what I choose, so I'll do my best to stay away from the starches, carbs, and bread.  I do NOT want to sabotage myself!

 The photo here was taken by my coworker who passed away last week. She had a great talent for photography. 

Do these ingredients sound good for your body?

One of the more frustrating things I've noticed as I go through 'the change' is the occasional mental misfire.  Very disconcerting if you make your living using words, let me tell you!  I'll be talking to someone about something...and all of a sudden, it seems that my brain just simply disconnects and offers what it considers to be a perfectly reasonable substitute for the word I'm actually meaning to say.  Take for example the other evening...

I was on my way out the door to pick up my daughter from work (she's got every book nerd's dream job at Chapters - large book store chain in Canada) but when I opened up the front door to exit, I startled a possum (very large)  who was (I swear) intent on spying on the cat who loves to lie on the rug in the front hallway.  So here is Mr. Possum peering in through the side light of the door and non too pleased with the interruption.   He actually hissed at me as he sauntered off into the bushes!  I squeeled like a girl (naturally) and promptly shut the door and went out through the garage all the time worrying about him causing ankle damage via some sort of possumy retribution.  They are UGLY, SNEAKY creatures after all...even if a grossly misunderstood and overlooked source of protein.

So my husband has "sort of" gotten on the bandwagon with me - he's eating better.  Not that we ever truly ate badly, but it is all about portion and balance and so he's been watching it with me. 

In 2 weeks he's lost 5 lbs.

Which is great but...he's definitely not as focused as I am and he's not working out.