Weight Loss Blog For Women Over 50 Whose Quest For Substance Got Misdirected.

December 18, 2009 at 11:27 pm · Filed under Background

Hi, My name is Marlowe (I’m also known as Susanne from a previous life) and I’m a Pisces.

This blog is about sex and about weight and about power, and how they can get all muddled up.

It is also about older women – I’m just over 50 and post-menopausal – and how weight loss is supposed to be difficult for older women.

It is also about a bit of psychoanlaytic awareness, spiritual and metaphysical principles.

But in many ways, it will also be a bit of a rant against society, because of the double standards around food, and weight discrimination, and health in general.

That’s not to say I’m not totally responsible for my excess weight, but there are an awful lot of issues to navigate, with some being easier to identify than others.

I like to gather information.  It’s what I do that gives me the greatest joy.  I’m definitely a bit top heavy in the intellectual and imagination area – not that I think I’m smarter than most people, but that’s where I have lived, to the detriment of my physical body.

And in my research around the weight issue, I have never come across a site like I intend this one to be.  The focus will not be on foods or even exercise – although they will be pillars of my success – but the main emphasis will be on the psychological and spiritual, so most of my future writing will be from that slant.

Eventually, after I reach my slender goal, I plan to collate these notes into a book.  So if you’d like to join me in this journey, please feel welcome to come along.

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New Rules For Eating – A Book By Michael Pollan

March 31, 2010 at 5:40 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

You MUST watch this informative video about the New Rules of Eating

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Do You Want Another Good Reason To Avoid Softdrinks?

February 12, 2010 at 7:33 pm · Filed under Food & Nutrition

Check out this article here.  The gist of it is that the strong dose of instant sugar boosts insulin levels and continued behaviour like this will put you more at risk of getting pancreatic cancer.   The researchers qualify “a lot of softdrink” at 2 or more a week.  2 softdrinks a week doesn’t seem a lot.  I’ll REALLY have to trim this food (?) out of my lifestyle.  Arrgghhh!

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Someone Noticed

February 7, 2010 at 3:17 am · Filed under Progressive Stats, Responses From People Around Me

I had someone mention a couple of days ago, out of the blue,  that I appear to have lost weight.  I was chuffed by her comment, because, truthfully, I was feeling apprehensive that I maybe wasn’t losing any at all.  Did I writer earlier that I asked Lyndell not to weigh me at the one month mark?

My wedding ring hasn’t become any looser – I guess I’m using that as a short-hand way of determining my progress.

Despite my words about power and fitness, yes, I’d like to lose weight.  About 55 kilos all up.  If I weighed 62 kilos I think that would be wonderful.  I’ll refer to it from now on as my “natural weight” as opposed to my actual weight.

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Comments About Personal Trainers

February 7, 2010 at 3:11 am · Filed under Support & Helpful People

There was an article I saw last week that pretty well bagged Personal Trainers - PT’s – commenting how underqualified they were, and how a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon, so PT wannabes are being exploited by Training Organisations wanting to make a quick buck.  If you’re going to read the article, make sure you read the comments as well.  Most observations are second hand.

However, my observation has been that most people working in the fitness industry come from two main camps.  The first camp is made up of people who just love being physically active and who want a career based around this passion.  The second camp is made up of people who have made their own hard slog journey from obesity to fitness, and who want to help others achieve this transition also.

My personal opinion is that trainers from both camps work best with clients with similar values to themselves – so the fitness fanatics train other fitness fanatics, and people who used to be large train others who no longer wish to be large.

It’s about connection, empathy and being inspirational.  I love my PT, Lyndell, because I respect the path she has taken – one I plan to take as well.  She knows the pitfalls I will be encountering and can help me overcome them or avoid them altogether.  That is what is valuable to me.

It is well, well, well recognised that to be successful in an endeavour, be it building a business, losing weight, writing a book or learning to be an artist, you need a coach or mentor to teach, train, touch base with.  Alone, we can disappear up our own intellectualisations and rationalisations and never achieve anything except a bunch of words.  How many of us know what we need to do to lose weight but never get around to applying it.  That’s where a PT comes in.  It’s about ACTION.

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Your Friends Can Make You Fat

February 7, 2010 at 2:54 am · Filed under Society Influences

This message has been around a while now, but to see a short video or read a transcript of the video, go to this site. The message is, in essence, that having fat friends changes behavioural norms – that which is considered to be normal. So it may be normal to have big meals, it may be normal to buy clothes that are size 18 and above, and so on.

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List 1 Of Exercises I’ve Been Shown

January 31, 2010 at 11:52 am · Filed under Wellbeing, Fitness & Exercise

I do a lot of walking still – actually look forward to the treadmill, but mostly just continue to walk with my dogs.

Here is a quick list of exercises Lyndell has shown me so far. I’m writing this mainly for my own benefit, so I have a record of it in a place I can easily find.

1. With 3 kilo weight, draw the letters of the alphabet out big, like with a light saber.

2. With a 2 kilo weight in each hand, squats, sticking the bum out as far as I can (!) Do 15 twice.

3. With a resistance band, stand on it with both feet, and “row”. 15 times twice

4. Again with a resistance band, stand on it with one foot and lift forward, towards chest. 15 times. Twice.

5. Another resistance band exercise: (check if standing with one or two feet on band) and flap like a bird. 15 x 2.

As I’m writing this, I’ve just purchased my own set of resistance bands on ebay – $26 and free postage from Hong Kong.

And just for the record, Lyndell had me using the green band.

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Bad Weather Contingencies

January 25, 2010 at 10:03 pm · Filed under Wellbeing, Fitness & Exercise

I live in the tropics and we’re moving into our summer wet season when the heavy monsoon rains come, along with an occassional cyclone (aka hurricanes for my north hemisphere readers).

I’ve taken to walking my dogs around the neighbourhood, covering about 1 kilometer, in the early morning. But when the weather gets too bad (it hasn’t yet), we may or may still do this walk, depending on how heavy the rain is. As a rule, I enjoy walking in the rain and like my dogs to be comfortable with it as well.

But I got to thinking what I would do if it was torrential rain and heavy winds. Well, I could always go the the nearby gym, or if that’s not an option on account of various factors, then I could just walk up and down the corridor in batches of 10 minutes, or play one of my exercise dvd’s and follow along.

I don’t want bad weather to be an excuse for not doing anything.

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Baby Step Progress

January 24, 2010 at 10:55 am · Filed under Progressive Stats

Well, I can now lift my leg over the bike bar. And I can walk the treadmill at a level 4.

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I Wish I Could Be Like My Dogs

January 17, 2010 at 7:47 pm · Filed under Wellbeing, Fitness & Exercise

Whenever my three pooches get an inkling that there is a walk coming up, they start getting excited. I’m sure they are mind readers.

Even for our long morning walk, where they all come back exhausted, putting one paw infront of the other, it doesn’t deter them from eagerly starting out for the next morning’s walk.

I love their attitude and motivation.

Me, well, I’m still at the stage of “C’mon, I gotta do this. I need to do it, it’s good for me. I’ll be glad I did it when it’s over.

So I guess by getting my dogs excited, I’d feel like a real heel if I didn’t go through with it.

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How I’d Rate My Effort In The First Two Weeks

January 16, 2010 at 7:19 pm · Filed under Progressive Stats

I’ll make this into two categories – one is staying to my exercise routine, and the second will be my food choices.

In week one, I get 6/7 for sticking to my exercise routine, which I did before work.

However, in week 2, I only get 4/7 because on Wednesday and Thursday I started work at 4 am, so it was too early to get any exercise in before work. I don’t want to be walking the streets at that time, and it’s too early for the gym, which opens at 5.30. Sadly this 4 am business continues indefinately. So I may have to look at some options when I come home at 4 pm – but this is a time when I’m not strongly motivated because I’m tired, hot and bothered. I’ll have to look at those days more closely and see what solutions I can find.

I put a gold star on the calender on our fridge for every morning where I put in an exercise effort. It helps to show my husband the commitment I’m putting in.

Foodwise – for week one, I successfully did not purchase ANY takeaways, yayyyy! Although this was also a matter of finances, I liked how I had planned and prepared my breakfast/morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea. Yes, morning and afternoon tea is important because when you’re sitting in a car all this time, peckishness can be your undoing in giving in to get a takeaway snack. So I’ve learned to either have a nut bar or some cut up carrots for a snack at these times.

Week two, there were a couple of times where I got takeaways – result of feeling self righteous. However, even then I tried to keep the impact minimal, by choosing small items.

So overall, I’d say well done. I’m trying not to be fanatical in my lifestyle shift, but try to be flexible about it so that I’m not beating myself up psychologically about where I may lapse.

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