Weekly WI: A Smidgen Of A Loss

Happy Tuesday (or in my case, Happy Weekend)!

You know how when you feel like you have had a great week that you should have a HUGE loss?  Yeah, well I didn’t but boy did I want to!  In hindsight, I think I ate out too much (at least one meal per day for four days straight).  I showed a smidgen of a loss, which I’ll surely take, and am working this week to eat less meals out.  I know that 2+ pound loss is waiting to get out so I’m doing to do all I can to assist it.  Come on body…cooperate!

My goal last week was better activity accountability.  I’m working on that again this week.  My weekly totals on my Apple watch show I met my 450 movement calories five of seven days last week.  Yippie! 

The only days I didn’t actually get in any activity was Saturday and Sunday (Wednesday I counted my walking downtown 12 blocks as my “activity” even though my Apple Watch didn’t register meeting my gals).  I had some left hip pain on Friday late at work so I took Saturday and Sunday “off” from activity.  However, I did try to stand more at work and keep myself accountable there. 

I have some meal ideas for this week as well.  I’ll get the groceries bought in so I am all prepared.  I really want to make this week a very successful week.

To The Bone: A Netflix Movie

I stumbled across a Netflix movie called To The Bone.  It stars Lily Collins who plays a young woman struggling with anorexia.  After trying numerous in-patient treatment programs, her step mother finds a new radical doctor, played by Keanu Reeves.  Lily’s character, Ellen, begins this new in-patient program lead by the radical doctor which takes place in a house with five other woman and one man all struggling with eating disorders of some kind. 

If you have Netflix, I highly recommend this movie.  It is very raw and emotional at times.  It really hit home with me on many levels.  Ellen is fixated on counting calories and exercising.  As are the other patients in the house.  Food can be an addiction but unlike drugs or alcohol, you can’t just stop eating.  If you do, you will die.  And this movie really brings to light the seriousness of anorexia and the impact it has on not only Ellen but her family and even the other patients in the house. 

I read an article on the actress Lily Collins.  She struggled with an eating disorder years ago.  She shared that she had fears she could digress if she chose to play this role.  She had to keep reminding herself daily that they were paying her to play a role and not to look skinny.  She said as it turned out, it was very therapeutic to play this character and she was glad she took on the role.

Food is on one side of the addition spectrum.  Weight loss can also be an addiction.  In the thick of my early years with Weight Watchers, I traded food for activity.  I couldn’t eat and I didn’t know what I should do with myself, so I exercised a lot.  When Kenyon worked the night shift, I would be at the gym exercising for hours.  I just didn’t know what else to do.  Weight loss consumed me.  Counting calories (points) and thinking about food was a constant.  I would often have my meals planned out and pre-tracked for several days in advance.  Kenyon tells me now it used to drive him crazy how I was always thinking about what we were having for dinner the next day when we hadn’t even had breakfast today.   

Addiction can take on many forms and sometimes you don’t know how to reach out for help.  This image of what you should look like or what weight people tell you that you should be starts to take over.  It is exhausting trying to please everybody else.  Eating disorders are no joke.  If you think you need help, please reach out to somebody.  Even if it is finding a counselor you can talk to.  Learning to love yourself takes time.  Be patient and please treat yourself with love.

xoxoxo

Countdown To Vacation

44 days until vacation!!

I am so excited for our upcoming New York City & New England Cruise vacation (and slightly stressed about the money since I’ve not saved as well as I had planned many months ago).  I am so burnt out on work that you will most likely see a countdown periodically.  This will be the longest vacation Kenyon I have had in over a year.  We were supposed to be going on this vacation last September but had to delay due to building/closing on our new home.  So, I am well over do!

We will spend a few days in New York City before we board the Norwegian Gem for a seven day cruise.

 

Ports of call include:

Halfax, Nova Scotia – Canada

 

St. John’s Bay of Funday, New Brunswick – Canada

 

Bar Harbor, Maine – USA

 

Portland, Maine – USA

 

We will also have two at-sea days, day one of our cruise and day seven of our cruise.  Normally, I am not a fan of at-sea days and can often get bored feeling stuck on a cruise ship.  However, in this case, I am looking forward to downtime and time away from electronics, WiFi, and cell data.  Some of our best vacations have been when we are in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. 

I’ve been doing some trip research and Kenyon and I still need to decide if we want to do any formal excursions.  I’d love to hear any advice you have for New York City and/or cruising.  Or, if you write a blog and have some posts I can read.  I love reading about other people’s vacations and travel tips.

Let the countdown begin!