Dukan week 16: sometimes life gets in the way, huh?

My weight fluctuated like the stock market this week; up, down, up, down. But in the end, by Friday, I was at 81kg, so, another 500g released into the fat ether. The photo above and the two below were taken by my eldest daughter yesterday, Pentecostal Sunday, just after Church. I'm very happy my neck has slimmed down and my cheekbones are apparent now, and not hidden behind a wad of adipose tissue.

I'm trying for demure, did I pull it off?

While taking the photo, my daughter cleverly used part of the staircase to hide one hip and thigh... good girl!

So, here's the proof:

As of Friday 10 June 2011, 81kg. 

Oh happy moi!

I am having this incredible pleasure in trying on clothes, because THEY FIT ME. I know I need to firm up, I still jiggle like a bowl full of jelly (or Jell-O, for my American readers,) but it is still coming off, very very slowly, but then, the Grand Canyon wasn't created in a day, now was it? 

Nor Rome. 

Nor the current financial mess the USA finds itself in. (Oops, no Politics, sorry.)

I said this to someone today, and I think it bears repeating here. What do you want to look like next year at this time? Do you want to be closer to your ideal weight or do you really want to be where you are right now? Heh, no judgements, it is after all, your life and YOU are the one that lives it, no one else.

IF you want to lose weight because you are depressed or miserable about your appearance, then simply just begin, NOW. I mean right now, not next Monday or next weekend or next month, or when you get paid, take the first step right this instant. Then the next instant, just continue. Keep stringing the moments together and YOU WILL get where you want to go. Yes, it takes willpower. Yes you will have to face up to WHY you overeat and gained weight in the first place and NO, that will not be easy, nor will it be comfortable nor will it be over in an instant.

But time will pass, whether you want it to or not and next year will be here before you know it, so, you might as well be doing something constructive in the meantime.

YOU just need to have confidence in YOU.

Go on, do it. And then come back here and let me know how you are doing. I'll try to find a cheerleader outfit and some pom-poms and cheer you on.
Well, ok, I'll do that AFTER I firm up the thighs....

Hugs and quiches from Kitty x

Dukan week 15 - results!

Carbs are what slap me down, big time, every time. I can easily inhale an entire warm baguette, it hardly touches the sides, a croissant is nothing but net. Seriously.

By why eat it if I don't even taste and enjoy it? Yeah, why indeed. So I just try my hardest to avoid it.

I've had good days of walking, like the other day down the canal with the girls and a close friend and her Kiki dog. Then on other days, I'll just hobble around the house, barely able to put weight on my foot the tendon is so sore and painful  I've even taken to using the crutches, occasionally. There just seems no rhyme or reason to it, one day ouch, the other, no big deal. So swings and roundabouts, I guess. Just a few more days and I see the Specialist in Saint Brieuc and find out my options. (Hopefully.)

I worked hard to keep carbs and fat down so some weight would shift. So, even though the walking was spotty, I did get the results I wanted:

81.5kg! I'm only a week or so from breaking through the 80kg barrier!

Pat on the back for that.

OK, now... let's discuss other issues, shall we? The next post I'm going to talk about what happens when you lose a LOT of weight. And what I plan on doing about that.

You will want to skip it if photos of a 50-something flabby woman might shock or scare you. :)

Hugs and quiches from Kitty.

Dukan week, uh, let's call it week 14

So I thought I'd go see what my BMI would be if I lost a silly amount of weight, went down to what I was in my 20's. Say, something ridiculous like... 60kg. Hahaha.

Height: 1.64 meters
Weight: 60 kilograms

Your BMI is 22.3, indicating your weight is in the Normal category for adults of your height.
For your height, a normal weight range would be from 49.8 to 67 kilograms.

NORMAL??? 

Wow. Well, darn.

OK, so a bit more to go, you could say.

Here is a recipe:

Kitty's Quick & Cheap Tomato Soup for Cruise.
Makes one litre / 4 servings.
Ingredients:

500 g Sieved Tomato Passata or Tomato Purée
2 tbsp Garlic Powder or dried garlic
1 tbsp Oregano, Dried
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1 Chicken Bouillon Cube
500 ml Hot Water

Directions
Place hot water and tomato passata into a medium saucepan. Crumble in the bouillon cube and oregano. Sprinkle over the dried garlic and the crushed red pepper to taste. Bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes to allow the garlic time to absorb water and soften. Eat!
I also grate Parmesan over this using a Microplane, it adds minimal calories and fat but maximum taste!

Serving size 250 ml /approx 1 US cup
Total Fat 1.12g
Saturated Fat 0.28g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 640.56mg (depending upon the stock cube and the tomato passata/purée)
Total Carbohydrate 10.15g
Dietary Fiber 0.97g
Sugars 1.58g
Protein 3.16g

Hugs and quiches from Kitty

The Rapture, or, Throwing a party and the Guest of Honour fails to appear.

Yes, very VERY awkward, at least for the dozens or more who actually quit their jobs, spent all their money and otherwise burned their bridges.

OK, Jesus, but you DID say...

Folks, if some Yahoo who is spouting stuff he couldn't possibly know himself ALSO has a 'Donate' button on their website, well, it's rather some kinda clue, now isn't it?

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but, I'm still here! A week later and still not a thing has occurred.
Actually, The Rapture happened but none of us were deemed worthy of being called. You might have found one of these on your front door, like I did:

I DID think about it long and hard, what if something does happen? Hmm. I decided that I'd choose to stay here on Earth. I could be a lot of help to those left behind plus some of my loved ones and dear friends most certainly would not be going anywhere. Plus, what use would I be in Heaven? No, if it's OK with God, Jesus and whomever else decides these things, leave me on Earth to help those in need. Heaven can wait, so to speak. I have Eternity.

On the other hand, I suppose if I'm going to end up in Hell, all the Texans and I can get together with my friends from the Desert and install air-conditioning.

So, the Fundies have now decided WHY there are no more dinosaurs here on Earth. No, it was NOT a gigantic comet that hit the Earth or any of that scientific nonsense, nope...

Now doesn't that just make a LOT more sense?

I hope this generated a giggle, that's why I posted on this Fête des Mères. Now I shall leave you with a lovely song that has some lush artwork/animation. Simply beautiful.



Green grass... yes, and I'm thinking the soft green spring wheat..

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, and for me, in my mind I'm sailing into the sunset...

Warm regards and calm winds from Kitty.

Friday the Thirteenth and Dukan Week 13 (Take Three...)

You have no idea how many times I tried to write this post and failed.

First, it was Blogger. I couldn't even access the site for all of Friday and then on and off over that weekend.
Then, my guests arrived that stayed here for a week. I couldn't really lounge around tapping away on my Blog all day, even though they stayed next door most of the time. I still had two to seven children running around that needed goûters and hot cocoa making and plasters applying.
Then I found out that, due to my ongoing issues with my leg, I can't get a medical certificate allowing me to continue practising épee fencing. I'd started it up again, I am REALLY good at it and it is a fearsome workout. But I have to wait until my leg is 'fixed'.
THEN I fell as I was taking a basket of laundry up the stairs and severely pulled my left Achilles tendon. I didn't actually snap it, like I did to the right one in 2009, but it was enough that I haven't been able to manage a walk until yesterday.
Then I got an x-ray of said legs done, to see why I am having these ongoing pain issues and found the bone spurs on the bottom of my heels have grown back. I look like some kind of fighting chicken. I'm seeing a specialist in Saint Brieuc in a couple weeks to see if I need an operation.
Then I spoke to a very old and dear girlfriend and found out some things about one of my ex-husbands. Well... that kinda was the straw in the ointment and the cookie crumbled for me. It's harsh to find out stuff about oneself, about someone who you 'thought' had at one point held a least a tiny shred of affection (but didn't) and I feel like such a fool. I also guess I know how Diana must have felt when she realised what was going on between Chuck and Cammy.
But I've accepted it, I've worked through it, I've decided it is part of my past and I refuse to think about what was (or was not.) I've now thrown off the blanket of depression and I'm back in the sunshine again.
These above are what I'll call "rationalisations" for not posting on my Blog about my weight.
Banging on about accountability doesn't mean diddlily squat if I don't follow through, even if it is just for myself, so, I apologise to myself and anyone else interested. And I forgive myself and hope you'll do the same.

Even though I was ignoring the Blog, I still kept up with what I've been eating on the Livestrong site. (And if anyone cares about what I actually eat on this regime, my Food Diary is public.) I do what I guess is called 'Emotional Eating'. I might have been unhappy as all get out but those warm, homemade Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Toasted Pecan cookies sure as hell helped. Especially when dunked into that enormous glass of Cognac. (Which is actually in reserve for my Christmas Fruitcakes, but I digress.)

Did falling off the wagon and breaking my regime REALLY help? No. It gave me the sugar high from Hell and I woke up with a massive hangover the next day. Plus I ended up putting weight right back on, weight I've been fighting to take off and KEEP off! Bloody wol me, that's for sure.

So, with yet another burst of renewed resolve, I began again.

When our friend Kate died, her sister gave me all of her clothes and many of her personal effects to give to Charity or use ourselves. I took about a hundred books down to the AIKB library, about 10 black plastic bags full of clothing down to Secours Catholique (they were delighted because it was all really nice and new, better women's clothing.) But I decided to keep ahold of her shoes and a lot of her 'casual' clothing. It was too small for me but I figured the girls would get 'play clothes' use out of it (and they have.)

Well, in that mass of shoes (30 pairs!) was a pair of MBT trainers. My older daughter wore them one day and said that I should try them. This makes no sense to me, I had tried them on four years ago and it was like Cinderella's Ugly Stepsister and the Glass Slipper, no way José. But, just two days ago, I tried them on again and the left one fit perfect, the right one was a bit snug but ok with thin socks. My FEET have shrunk?

The reason I say anything is because I can walk in these shoes and the pain is reduced probably 75%. I don't NEED to limp. A couple of paracetamol and it's ok. Of course when I take the shoes OFF, then my tendon screams bloody revenge, but, while walking it is lulled into a false sense of security, that's ok by me!

This is from this morning and yes... that is the heavy side of 84kg.

I'm not giving up. I did slow down, I did backslide but I'm still here. That is what is important to me.

I read a fabulous quote from a woman who basically had her stomach removed so she could lose weight.

You can't continue the same behaviour

 and expect a different result.

That applies to so many, many situations in my life. I'm in charge of me. It's me that needs to change if I'm not content with my situation, I can't expect the world around me to do so. Evolution just ain't that quick. And I have to keep telling myself this fact over and over. I'm hoping one day it will precede all my actions, even possibly one day it will even precede my thoughts.

I have to keep trying to improve. I'm still a work in progress, yes. And please God may it be many years before the final touches have been applied; I still have a long way to go. And I know it.

Because... I might not measure up to some others, but, I am still me. I am still a valid human being. I have worth. And there's only ONE unique, frustrating, complicated and sometimes silly moi.

And *I* am the one with that Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Toasted Pecan cookie recipe.
So there!

I wish you a fabulous, sun-drenched and glorious weekend! I'll be back very soon with something completely random and rather nonsensical but fun! :D

Warm regards, Kitty