The Uniform

I know it has been too long since I last posted.  Honest, I tried a week or so ago;  had this great post and somehow managed to lose it before publishing.  That was the beginning of a big down cycle for me.

A very good friend of mine lost her Dad and the family needed help for funeral prep.. cooking, cleaning, chauffering, etc.  I was very honoured to be a part of celebrating this awesome man's life.  Emotionally, the experience sent me into a bit of a tailspin - remembering my own parents, remeniscing about fun times with my friend's family, thinking about my own immediate family.  Anybody reading this may understand the emotional aspect of weight loss or, better said - weight gain.  Many of us ingest calories to calm the demons inside of us.  Needless to say, I had a bad week after the funeral.

When working on the prep for the funeral I felt great.  I was wearing an outfit that I thought made me look, well, svelt... haha.  But that confidence was motivation to keep on going.  When I first put the outfit on I thought I was thinner.  I took a chance and tried on the uniform that I had made for me in Singapore.  Ahhh, THE uniform.

Captain Jerry told me during the flight to Singapore about the custom made suit he had made for him in Singapore.  It was a typical Captain Jerry story... full of expletives, incredibly descriptive, and hilarious.  Seems he had done what a lot of pilots do on  lay overs in Singapore - get a custom tailor-made suit.  This involves navigating your way around the shops, discerning who is legit and who is not, picking out fabric, getting EVERYTHING measured, paying your money and then.... dun dun dun... the 'fitting' in your hotel room.  Well, Captain Jerry had ordered a pin striped suit.  He did the measurements, fitting, payment and what he ended up with was, as he describes it, is a product of a communication failure.  He got a suit with pin stripes running diagonally!  He wore that suit proudly on an airline flight back home and needless to say got lots of attention!

Sooo, me and one of the medics on the flight went through the process of getting a tailor made suit.  We had less than 24 hours in Singapore.  The measurements were done and fabric was chosen in the city and the first fitting happened back at the hotel.  I was exhausted from the flying and the time change and  when the uniform went on, it looked terrible in just about every way.  But the worst was how the pants accentuated my midsection.  We worked to find a solution.  Because the time was short the finished product had to be shipped to me in Canada.  When I received the suit back home in Canada I tried it on and was so disappointed to see that it was not flattering at all, it called attention to my menopausal midsection.  So, it hung in my closet until.... ta dah, last week....

I tried on the suit.

It fit better.  It looked pretty good.  I took out a tape measure and measured my waist and hurrah, I lost about a half inch.

My regular uniform is starting to hang, and I am using the next notch in my belt.  Next post I'll talk more about what I am doing to make that happen.

Weight Loss mystery

When I started my blog I intended it to be a way to keep me accountable to myself with regard to my goal of 'living in a smaller body'.  I've taught and mentored people on goal achievement and know that a goal needs to be specific, results need to be measureable.  HOW to get to the goal must be outlined in clearly written steps, reviewed constantly, and of course acted upon.  I learned some very over-the-top strategies a few weeks ago; I'll boil them down, they have changed my world!

Do NOT get sucked into other people's agendas by opening your email first thing in the morning!  Turn off IM, text functions on your phone until the following are completed:
Exercise, nourish yourself, and spiritually enlighten your mind FIRST.
WRITE down 5 must-do items for the day that move you towards your goal and check them off as you accomplish them.  Consider getting them done or starting on them before opening the inbox.

Then, and only then do you open your inbox and even then, you limit your time.  Respond, make necessary contacts and then close the inbox, along with the instant email update function, until the next and last time you check it, later on in the day... at a time that YOU choose.  Wow, this was hard, but it really made it easier for me to focus on my goal.

So, yesterday at the gym I weighed in.  I was wearing the same thing I had on before.  I have dropped 9 pounds!  I just stood there staring at the big weigh scale - it's one of those that you would find in a doctors office with weights that slide back and forth.  I can't imagine that it could have such a big error.  I'm still mystified since my clothes don't feel much looser and they should be with a big loss like that.  When I shared the mysterious weight loss with my son he asked if I had cut my hair, ha ha.   I've heard its not a good idea to weigh yourself everyday and for me this is proof positive, this big change since my baseline measurement two weeks ago is sooo motivating.  I am walking with a lighter step, feeling healthier, sleeping better and needing less of it.  I look forward to the REAL results when I go for my aviation medical in a month - what will my blood pressure reading be?  my resting heart rate?  my weight on his scale?

I don't have a set exercise routine set up yet but am mixing it all up - Zumba, swim, cycle, yoga/pilates on the ball - just making sure I am moving!

May 1, Zumba!

This is a corner of my bedroom.  During the wintertime I set my bicycle up on a stand so I can ride it.  The funny round thing in the corner is an awesome surround speaker system that is connected to that laptop on the table.  I made 15, 20, and 25 music sets to cycle with.  All I have to do is roll out of bed, hop on the bike and go.  It's perfect - no worrying about that perfect outfit. 

So, yesterday I put the bike back on the road and set up a new little workout center in its place.  There are some DVD's for me to follow - stability ball workouts, free weight routines, dance.  It's perfect for the quick, in between gym days.

So, speaking of "gym"  I officially joined the YMCA today!  Whoohoo!!  The big drawing card, other than the pool was the ZUMBA class!  Wow, does it rock!!  I have always loved loved loved to dance!  And, I have always wanted to take ballroom dance lessons, the "so you think you can dance" kind.  Zumba is this latin dance hard core work out routine.  EVERYTHING hurts tonight.  I am not so sure this is getting me back in shape... I do this class and then spend the rest of the day iciing my feet and hanging out on the couch doing work on the computer. 

My clothes don't feel any looser yet, but the day after tomorrow I have to put on my uniform, I am secretly hoping it hangs off me.  I am such a dreamer, eh?