Quiet Time in a Hotel

I am sitting in a beautiful room in the San Francisco Westin hotel. My hubby is at the Stanford football game and he had a ticket for me. And even though I am retired and have time at home, there is something about the quiet of a nice hotel room that appealed to me. At home, there is this chore or that project looking at me. Here I can just sit at this pretty desk, type on my laptop, surf the web, watch silly television shows, stretch out on a comfy bed and relax in the quiet. I have a glass of wine with me and it is sheer bliss. There is a station on the telly that is just the sight and sounds of nature. A sunset in Hawaii, a stream in the snow, butterflies on a bush. It is a digital station and the picture and color are breathtaking. I am just going to watch it tonight to go to sleep. How I wish I had that station at home.

Physical Self and Dieting

Gosh I get down about my weight. I blamed my weight on having an office position. I sat at a desk in front of a computer for years and years and years. Even since I was 17 years old. Other people gain weight on vacation,not me. I always lost weight. I said it was because I was up and moving and walking and walking and walking - site seeing. It was so different than sitting hour after hour. Many days I would walk during lunch. I didn't have a big lunch most days. Just a heat your soup in a small can. The girls would meet and have sandwiches and crackers and bread and chips. Not me. Just pull the lid off a small can and heat in the microwave. But I was the heavy one. I would try a diet and lose 6 lbs and stop. I tried Weight Watchers 3 times. Lost 6 lbs and nothing else. I went to Curves for a year - 4 times a week. Other women would lightly walk at the stations inbetween the machines. I would run in place until the sweat would drip off me. They talked about how they dropped 20 lbs. and I stayed the same. Curves had a diet club that you paid a little extra. You received the Curves diet and followed it. It was more a low carb diet. I followed it to a T. To a T. I never cheated once. Not once. I gained 13 lbs. in one week. No kidding. Honest. Easy for me to decide that low carb was not the diet for me.

I did Nutrisystem and did finally lose 25 lbs. last year. It took forever and I finally went off it as I was sooo tired of that taste in tomato sauce for dinners. 15 pounds slowly came back on. Despite the fact I also bought the Leslie Sasone Walk at Home DVD's and faithfully did either the 3 or 4 mile walk - with the stretchy band - 4-5 times a week.

For awhile I did the Wii Fit instead of the Walk at Home. I would run that Wii Fit Island over and over and over. So that I was running it for an hour a day. Then I would 'play' on the other games. But the running was my favorite. But the weight was creeping back up and I decided I wasn't getting the same workout I did with the Leslie Sasone Walk At Home. I went out and bought some new Walk at Home DVD for a change in the routines. One of them used hand weights and I did it frequently. But nothing helped.

Now I have the EA Active for the Wii. Ihave completed my first 30 day challenge at the Easy level. Now I am half way through my second 30 day challenge at the medium level. I do feel it is doing some good. When I started the EA Active I couldn't do one squat without using a chair and the bed to get down. Now I do all of them - sometimes I complete several workouts in a row so some days I am doing 30+ squats a day. I can get down just fine. I didn't used to be able to do lunges. Now I lunge fine. I am sure I could get lower yet with them - I am careful with my knees. But I can now do lunges - and a lot of them for the first time in many years. I do think I can see some arm improvement. But my elephant trunk thighs are still the same.
And my weight has creeped up until I have gained almost all the weight back.

In short, I think I work out and am physically more active than the average person. When I work out, I am dripping with sweat. My heart rate is up. I am not filling up with candy, cookies or chips. I have salads and eat fairly light. I am not saying I am a saint, diet wise. But I am not eating horribly. A bowl of cereal almost everyday. If I go to Starbucks for brekkie, I get either the oatmeal or the granola/yoghurt. I have a decaf non fat grande latte. For lunch, it is either a salad or I still have some of the Nutrisystem cuppy things. If I am out, I admit to a chicken burrito but that is maybe once a month or less. I am not a saint, but we aren't eating out a lot. or eating that badly when out. We don't have desserts out.

In short, I know I could do better in the diet, but I don't think I am doing that badly. Plus I think I work out and exercise far more than a lot of people. I don't think I should be gaining weight. In fact, I think some of it should be coming off. My husband doesn't exercise like I do. My kids do not exercise like I do. My girlfriends do not exercise like I do. I don't understand why the weight and fat just clings to me. I am a size 1x. My waists are getting tighter.

Here is my routine. In the mornings I clean house and do some project items. Then a light lunch. Then I work out for at least an hour for the afternoons. ( I retired last spring.) Then it is relaxation, playing on the wii, watching tv, etc. Then dinner - fairly early.

I do have a latte (decaf, non-fat) everyday. I do have a glass of red wine 3 or 4 days a week.
I think I should record everything I put past my lips during a week and see if there are any surprises.

But I confess, I get really down about it. I don't like the way I feel now, nor the way I look. It makes me want to stay home. Because I am not happy with me. I don't feel I look good, even if my hubby thinks I do. I am neat - not a sloppy person in appearance. I think I am fairly fashionable. My hair is neat and I wear makeup and have great jewelry. I never look like a slob. But I feel it inside. And it permeates everything. I stress and stress about it.

So I need to figure out what I can do to make it change. Somewhere I have got to find a diet plan that works for me.

I'll let you know.

Travels again

Well, let's see...since I last blogged I have been traveling as well. Aruba, Columbia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico. Then to Bermuda, Wales, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, Corsica, Gibraltar. Last week to Vancouver, Canada where I am heading again day after tomorrow. Soon back to Mexico and in the Spring, back to the Far East. I love to travel.