The Final Fifteen Pounds

Ever get got at one thing while losing it with another? I'm fussing with this a lot this year.  Exercise habit is churning right along nicely. But drinking a soda everyday. It gets me through 5th period.  I love the kids. Just h aving fits with the allergies.  I worked out last night. Win! And during lunch today. It's a cool workout designed for teachers to do in the classroom. Love it. (I'll share it with you for free if you decide to take the Keep it Cool Newsletter - Stress Relief 4 Teachers ).  The workout cleared my head. And I felt better off.  But I've created this daily habit of the soda. Now I'm having a heck of a time breaking it. I feel better after drinking it, but I know it's ultimately messing with me. So the feeling good is all a ruse. Dang. Well, okay. Need to put my big boy britches on and figure out how to crush the soda while massaging the exercise habit.  This is my whack-a-mole life. In a hurry today. No am...

It's hard to get going. I mean, sometimes it's like opening an old rusty car door that's been sitting out in a field for 8 years.  Right now, the pollen is hitting. And I'm not dripping or headachy or itchy. I'm just tired. It's wiping me out.  I eat dinner. Very pleasant time with my family, wife and five boys. They get going to a karate class. And all I wanna do is sit. Take a nap really. But I thought, I can get on that bouncer for a little while.  I put on an oldish TV show, The Magnificent Seven. BTW, the show choice is important. Don't want something where I need to pay really close attention. It's The Magnificent Seven, I already know the plot. But it also keeps my attention enough that I notice my effort that much. I start bouncing. Don't want to do it. But I get into the show. And in five or seven minutes, I'm warmed up. So I start doing intervals. Real hard for 10 to 20 seconds. Slow it down for 20 or 40 seconds. And I go ...

Sometimes it feels like there's no rhyme or reason to the crazy baloney I do. Do you feel like that? So last night, I go home and eat a regular, modest dinner. And then.... on comes the t.v. and out come the peanuts. The salty ones in the shell.  And I eat.  I pay no attention to how many. And here's the deal: I'm not hungry. I think I've been doing a lot of this. And it's not about check this food on and check this food off.   It's about feeling anxious, or conflicted.  I'm going to say it again just so I can hear myself say it. I want to be 173.  That's the goal. Today 191.  I am struggling getting down to my comfortable 188. Here's what I'm going to do about it. Sit down with a sheet of paper and write stuff out. That was a list of one on purpose. That's the one thing I'm going to do.  I'll get back to you with what comes from it.

What a day... I just wanted to eat.  Working through it....  Here's the win: no doughnuts. Everyday, on the loudspeaker, there was an announcement - "doughnuts on Friday in the conference room." I didn't so much as lift the box to see if there were some healthy bear claws hiding in the box. That's a win. Not even a sniff sample. Ate apples -- win. Ate my salad -- win. But there's an oops - Back at the oops in a minute. Didn't eat any candy on my way to tutoring assignment. Found a place with 50 cent (not the rapper) ice-tea, unsweetened. Win. Confession: I like to eat peanut M & Ms before I tutor. It gives me that lift I need to make it through the two hour tutoring session. But the iced tea did the trick. And oh yeah, I didn't drink any soda. Doesn't seem like a big deal today, but a week ago, that was huge.  What I could have done better: eat more protein or fat at breakfast. I'm realizing that I need to change the ...

There it is, right in front of you, sweet and sultry, saying here I am.  What to do?  The STAAR test in Texas is our state mandated, big-deal test. And we just spent Tuesday and Wednesday doing it. Even Monday was affected. Teachers are spent. Kids are restless. And admin is tired and appreciative of the hard work that teachers have put in. And what is the best way to show your appreciation? Bring on the doughnuts! It really is a nice thing to do. But for the teacher who is trying to lose weight, especially this one, it's a trap. Because I feel like I deserve it.  Is that sweet hole what I really want? I know it's not what I need. Do I really want to dump sugar, processed white flour and fat into my stomach? I don't. But it tastes so good.  But when I'm trying to lose weight, here's what happens (and this is what happened with Coke and me recently): it resets your body's expectations. It's something that happens in the brain. Now, the br...

You ever stayed away from the fattening food for days and then had that quick WANT, that - "Oooo gotta have it NOW!" I had that today. I wanted a Coke. It came at me quickly. Like a stab in the heart out of nowhere.  I didn't give in, and it went away. The feeling really didn't last long. Somehow I was able to get my wits about me and remember that a soda bottle was the last thing I needed in my hand. I wanted it, but I steered away.  That makes four days. Eventually I'll stop counting.  Had enough of that Coke-lust eating my lunch. It's hard to think back and figure out how you get to the place where things go bad. But it is important. And it's crucial that you remember how bad you feel when you actually drink the sugar water (or whatever).  Okay, of course I don't feel bad right when I drink it; I feel bad later. That sick feeling from too much sugar and salt and caffeine all at once like a bomb in the belly. Also the mental pa...

Ever tried to quit a habit that was so hard to stop it made you scream? I'm trying.  The latest scoreboard: Weekend = No soda. Win Monday = No soda. Win. Win. And there are good reasons why it started to work. I casually read diet and nutrition stuff. I listen to podcasts like Fat Burning Man , Half Size Me  (it's kinda girly but I still get a lot out of it), and Bulletproof Radio . And they don't all agree with each other on the best ways to lose weight.  But one thing they all agree on (the blogs, the podcasts, and the books) is that drinking sugar is really bad for us. It's starting to sink in. And so I haven't imbibed over the last three days.  But I did every day last week. Half a soda each day. Dang it.  And my weight isn't budging down. Not an ounce. And I mean I posted and everything about how to start a new habit in one day . Remember that? And I believe it. But I didn't have enough foundation in place to make it wo...

Wow. Tuesday... Good day. Took a day I wasn't too thrilled about doing due to a sleepless night and turned it oh so nice. #TLAP Teach Like a Pirate So Monday night, I planned and "attended" the #TLAP Twitter chat. If you haven't done a chat before, TLAP ( Teach Like a Pirate ) is a great one to get you started. It starts at 8 PM central on Monday nights (I'll let you work out the other zones). I came out of the chat with two ideas. Keep my students active. And get them to generate questions. My mind was buzzing (hey, maybe why I couldn't sleep). But those two ideas activity + questioning = engagement. Around the World (my classroom) Here's the basic review lesson we did. Put vocab words up all over the room. Students go around the room to each word and ask a partner a question. The partner tries to answer. BUT THEN the partner who answered gets to ask another question about the same word. I like this because that second question drives the qu...

Gotta think ahead about how things are going to affect you. That's what the weight loss game is all about. Seriously, one blink-eyed decision can have day-long, week-long, and even longer affects.  So yesterday, I drank a Coke at about 3 PM. 12 hours later the affect finally wore off. That 10 ounces, seriously affected my ability to go to sleep. Today, as soon as I get an opportunity, I'm running out to get a bag of juicy apples. That gets me through the rough spots. I also have to work at not taking myself too seriously on a day like today.  Handling Life (and Middle Schoolers) On 3 Hours of Sleep Have Fun Tell Stories Laugh Listen Get Some Exercise Go Home (earlier than normal) How do you get through days when you aren't feeling your best? Add to my list. 

Isn't nice to have a plan to do something to improve your life that you actually follow through with? I did that today. Here's how it worked. If you read yesterday's post, you know that I came up with a plan to make it through the Sunday church feast in such a way that I wouldn't undo all of the hard work from the week.  Here's how it worked. I walked into the community center and fixed my eyes upon the salad. The salad was the target. Then I noticed a huge bowl of fruit at the dessert table. The plan began to form in my mind. The food I need to eat was there. While I was waiting to eat, I drank a full glass of iced herbal tea. BTW, I keep telling myself to do this. I've been trying to start this habit for weeks. I just keep forgetting. So I started to talk about it and write about. Today I remembered! And that's how things often work for me. Keep saying it until you make it happen and it does.  So I grabbed my plate, and skipped the fried offerings....

Mental challenges in the weight loss game can be so interesting. So peculiar to an individual. Here's one I will deal with tomorrow. On a typical school day, I eat lunch around 11. It's a little early, but I don't get to make my own schedule. If I don't eat at 11, I'm waiting until 3 or later.  But on Sunday, I usually eat lunch around 1, two hours later than a normal day for me!  So I'm famished.  Enjoy the Feast and Lose Weight And there is something wonderful before me: a feast. A table laden with wonders. Each Sunday is a different theme. One Sunday it will be Mexican food, on another it will be Italian. You get the idea.  And this is often the best food I've ever tasted. These ladies knock them selves out. I mean it is amazing. I want doubles of everything.  So here comes famished Lieberman with a big old white plate that cries to be filled up. On one end of the table are the entrees, then the sides, and finally the salads, not to mentio...

To lose weight, you must win your fight with sugar. There isn't any diet guru in any system I've ever read that says, "Eat all the sugar you want." So one way that I handle this is that I make rules for myself. Maybe a rule is too strong a word here. I mean more of a benchmark.  Here's one of my sugar benchmarks: no soda. By benchmark, it's an indicator that I'm not getting something my body probably needs: rest, exercise, unprocessed sugar, human interaction... The benchmark tells me that I need to make some changes. I craved soda this week. And last week too.  Craved Soda This Week I get to fifth period class and find that I'm floundering to find the energy to deliver all the way through to 3 o'clock when students get on the bus. So I sneak over to the vending machine and buy a pop.  I usually drink half of it. I didn't do that today (win). Instead, I took some Dr. Christopher Vitalerbs and drank some water. And guess what...

When you are trying to win at weight loss, there are good things that get in your way. The church potluck is one of those for me. I find myself at a potluck feast sometimes three times in a week. And by their very nature, church feasts are not designed to help the weight wary.  Last night was one of these. Long table filled with delights = I eat too many of them. And my scale goes orbital (exaggerating a little). I put too many white things and sweet things on my plate.  I need to go in with a plan.  Here's the plan for next time, probably Sunday: Decided ahead of time to fill half my plate with veggies.  Don't eat white things. Stop after one plate and refill on water or unsweetened tea. That ought to work. What would you do?

It is amazing how fast our habits can change.  So I went on a road trip. Did about 2500 miles in five days. Of course my diet changed. I ate fast food. I ate trail mix (the kind with M and Ms). I even ate a little ice cream to help me stay awake. I didn't get much sleep. I anticipated all of this.  What I didn't forecast was how hard it was going to be to go back to my healthy ways of eating. It has felt like it was dang near impossible.  I know better. It's not impossible.  And I knew it was going to be sorta hard. But man.  In those five days, I got so used to sugars and fats: my body and mind didn't want to go back to greens and fruits. For the last week, I've been drinking soda almost every day. Around 1 or 2 o'clock PM, I get this giant urge to fill my belly with Coca Cola.  Getting my mojo back is way hard. But I will. I haven't given up. Just knocked down.  One of the things I note above is sleep. Getting back to getting 7 or ...

Have you ever capitalized on a sick stomach to keep the weight off? I'm not recommending it or anything.  I think I ate something that make my stomach miserable a couple of days ago. I thought it was one thing; maybe it was another. But I haven't wanted to eat.  So the scale read 183 this morning. I'll take it. Leaving on a road trip. Trying to consider how to keep the calories down.  Gonna work on a low glycemic thing. Lots of green and colorful food. Steer away from the processed. Daily 7 minute workout too. See how that works out. Goal = come back from trip having maintained 183. Probably not going to write much if at all during that time. 

I weighed in at 185 this morning, so I'm prone to mess it up.  Instead, I am focused on the goal.  I wanna be 173 lbs.  I'm happy about the progress, b ut moving on. Lots of work to do.  Mr. Mean is on the job.

188 is my wall. I know that I can lose more. I have been as low as 181 in the last many months. But My body likes 188. I'm having to convince it that it wants to go lower but it doesn't wanna listen.  So here I am at 188. Admittedly, Sundays are a food snag. The food at church is amazing. I plain ole eat too much of it.  Next battle: Eat a normal amount of food on Sunday. Even though I skipped dinner on Sunday after that lunch feast, and exercised for an hour. The scale didn't budge. Not a bit. It will. I just gotta get more mean about it than I am.  Mr. Mean comin' right up.

I don't know where I first heard this: Write down everything you eat for at least five days in a row.  I'm on day five. And boy is it helpful. I use my fitness pal to log it all. It really helps.  It actually keeps me from pounding some things down, just so I don't have to write it down! I got clarity on three things: 1) I was drinking too much coffee, and it was making me hungry; 2) I was double dipping at dinner most of the time (more on that). 3) I wasn't drinking water when I felt hungry. Here's where I stand with that. I reduced my coffee intake. And I immediately enjoyed less hunger for mid morning food.  I'm a dinner double dipper. I eat two servings. It's hard to change that habit. In my mind, I'm willing to change this. I know that in a moment, I can add 600 or 1000 calories to my day. And not even realize I did it. That's why we write everything down. That way those extra servings here and there get accounted for. ...

Today is Friday, and it has been a better week than last. Last week by Friday, I had actually gained weight. Veered well off the plan.  This week, I dropped back down to 188. Even 187 for a day.  I don't "officially" count my weight loss as being real until I see lower numbers for three days in a row. I've noticed that if I get three days that it sticks. And I know that some people don't like the idea of a daily weigh in. But I just look at it as data. Information. Divorce the emotion from the number on the scale. Weigh in at the same time every day. And this is a useful number. It still is hard for me to stick to the plan. My brain doesn't want to do it. I still want to consumer things loaded with sugar and fat.  Open up the hatch and fill up. Uh, that doesn't work. My mind has to get serious about it. Not religious about it, but intent, focused. Some make it a religion. They talk about food choices as being "si...

I'm looking in the refrigerator having one of those 8 o'clock at night moments--looking for something fun to eat. That part of my brain that remembers all of the hard work I am doing, including the 45 minutes of exercise on the rebounder, and I reach for the very low cal smoothie instead of the jar of peanut butter. I can't remember the last time that happened. Here's the thing, I knew what my plan was. I had already varied from the plan to a degree. I didn't want all of it to go away in a few minutes of snacking.  That's the crazy thing. Your mind can be so focused all day long. Then, you get an urge to eat something that will reverse the hard work and literally in 30 seconds you can undo a day of focus.  Now, I did still eat. Or drink anyway. I chugged down a smoothie. We're looking at 180 calories (it's very low cal). But with the peanut butter and crackers, it would have been 500 +.  This would have been better. Get a big glass of water a...