Sheesh!

When's the last time I blogged?

(Checks the blog ...)

Wow, May, huh?

Well, it's a new year, so no time like the present.

Have I gained all the weight back? 

Nope! Still rockin' the Athleta size 10 jeans. 

But!

That last 5 pounds I want to lose to get to 100 has turned into 10 pounds. I still ended 2019 around 10 pounds lighter than when I started it.

I blame my (fairly) new job and its late nights. I tend to get off of work and wander into the kitchen, and a 2 a.m. half bagel and cream cheese had been my go-to snack. Or popcorn or some random cookie or other starchy, carby stuff. Or maybe all of them if I stay up too late.

Eep.

I felt myself slipping into some undisciplined habits, so for the new year, I'm spending a chunk of change on a Noom membership. I tried it over the summer, but my head wasn't in the right place for it, and now it is. I already know what foods are beneficial for me and which ones do nothing but make me eat more starchy, carby crap. What I like about Noom is that it's largely a behavioral tool. I can get lazy about meal planning and make all kinds of excuses, and Noom works intensely on building good habits. 

As far as eating goes, the calories per day are good for me. It has me around 1,200, which may be too low for many people, but me and my tiny tum-tum are cool with that amount. It also categorizes food by caloric density into green, yellow, and red. "Green" foods are fruits, vegetables and whole grains. "Yellow" is lean meats and starches, and "Red" is the fun stuff -- fats, desserts, red meat and sugary stuff. Shortly after surgery I found it hard to get in a lot of produce, and to be honest, I got out of the habit of reaching for that first, so I'm loving the friendly shove into the produce department. Today for example, I made an omelet with one egg, a couple tablespoons of shredded cheese and a big handful of baby spinach. Normally I'd have something like a piece of toast or tortilla or bagel half with it, but instead I had half a pear. I've also started swapping bell pepper strips and Greek yogurt dip for my beloved bagel and cream cheese snack, and I can honestly say the creaminess of the yogurt has the same effect as the cream cheese.

Yes, food tracking is involved, but science shows that tracking your food leads to more weight-loss success. And it takes almost no time to point your phone at a barcode or do a simple search for the food.

If you're interested in trying Noom, you can use THIS LINK to get 20 percent off, which is a great deal, because I signed up with zero discount! 

Since I got this full-time job, my blogging and social media activity has taken a big hit -- not a bad thing, if you ask me! So here's the latest selfie-like picture I took, back in October. Other than my hair being a bit longer, I'm still this size, but some days lately I feel like I'm fueled by Christmas cookies -- not a good thing for a bariatric patient.

That said ...

• • • No resolutions
    • No ultimatums
    • No detox
    • No paleo
    • No keto
    • No Whole 30
    • No WW
    • No restrictions

Just smarter choices. Oh, and perhaps a promise to update the blog every week or so. I sorta miss it.

And once again, if you wanna try Noom, here's a code to save some bucks:

https://friends.noom.com/YVNGN05TRUhTOmNm

And what else -- a whole bunch of inspirational graphics!

Well, took a bit of a blog breather during the holidays!

I simply felt like enjoying family time, baking stuff (that I mostly didn't eat) and getting caught up on some work.

Two pounds came off in December, and to be COMPLETELY honest, I was OK with that. Like really, really OK. In the past I would have called out my own B.S. because I would have been disappointed AF and beat myself up for not "doing more." But I didn't work out all that much, ate a surprising amount of Hershey's Kisses without ill effects (something to stash in my slippery slope file) and kept buying smaller and smaller jeans.

So I'll update you on my progress with a series of Instagram photos.

I got thoroughly sick of my hair -- between my half-assed DIY dye jobs, grown-out highlights, regrowth sticking out of my head like crabgrass, and the need to do something completely different.

I wrapped up the year in jeans, but I haven't stopped at a 12. I recently bought a couple pairs of Athleta Sculptek jeans in a size 10 petite ... whaaaaaah??? I can actually zip them up, but I'm realistically around 5 pounds away from them being truly comfortable.

I baked a couple loaves of no-knead bread, which was pretty cool. The first loaf was kinda heavy because I used whole wheat flour instead of bread flour. I liked the second loaf better as it rose better and had a lighter texture. I really don't eat very much bread -- maybe a piece once a week or so -- but I look at baking and cooking as more of a useful arts and crafts project nowadays.

Here's those size 10 petite jeans, and the funny thing about this photo is that I looked at it and thought "No one is going to believe these are a size 10 so make sure the tag is hanging off because you do not look like a size 10." For the most part, I haven't had body dysmorphia but this picture keeps messing with my head. For some reason I feel like I look bigger than I really am.

I spent the weekend at Epcot with a couple of awesome friends: Christine (and her husband, William) and Heather. We ate and drank our way through the world showcase, although my contribution was sneaking sips and bites of everyone else's treats (although I did get a great slice of pizza in Italy and ate around a third of it, and split a chocolate-dipped meringue four ways in France).

Finally saw 90 pounds down a few days ago. Couple weeks later than I wanted, but I am TOTALLY fine with that.

Oh, and before I forget, Julia, you are the winner of the Honey Cloudz sports bra inserts! I'll contact you on getting your info.

Hey, everyone! I haven't been around here much -- I've been catching up on work that had taken a back seat to getting myself feeling and eating somewhat normal. Some updates:

• I've been working at the gym twice a week with a trainer because I really, REALLY don't want to lose muscle with all this weight loss. And so far so good: At my 2-month bariatric checkup, out of the 19 pounds I lost from the last time I was at the doctor (6 weeks), 18 of those pounds was fat and only 1 pound was muscle (or technically "fat-free mass") ... which is GREAT! There's really no way to lose 100 percent of your weight in fat; a little muscle loss is to be expected. But my goal is to try and hang onto every pound of fat-free mass that I currently have (which is currently 119.4 pounds) and perhaps gain even more. 
• Looking more at the printout from the super high-tech Tanita scale at the doctor's office (which is super cool because I love gizmos!), my my target body fat has been adjusted down from 30 percent in February to 25 percent now, and my predicted goal weight went from 172 to 159 pounds. Apparently the scale has a lot of faith in me! Point of reference: I weighed that in college and I THOUGHT I WAS FAT. Yeesh. 
• My weight loss was fairly slow the past couple weeks because I haven't been working out all that much, and I've been testing my pouch with more calories and different foods. The trial and error can be, frankly, nauseating as I find what foods work and what don't. So far, Tiny Tum-Tum really doesn't like solid animal protein but it does OK with ground-up ones, like ground poultry and even ground beef. I also think that it really doesn't like bread very much, so I should probably knock that off. It loves protein bars, cheese, yogurt and smoothies.
• I've found myself starting to stay up too late again and wander into the kitchen. But since I have slain the angry polar bear, there's not a whole lot of damage I can do, save for maybe a cheese stick or a quarter of a peeled apple. Still, I need to work on getting to bed earlier and staying away from the kitchen, just to clean up my habits.

But I've officially started my Countdown to Onederland because I'm only 17 pounds away!

(So, yes, that means I'm revealing my weight -- 217.1, as of today. It's been a while since I said how much I weighed.)

And here's a photo update that I did at the beginning of the month -- I'm actually 9 pounds lighter than that now:

 And if you're digging the workout capris in my "before" photo, I'm selling them on Poshmark right now.  They're by Fabletics, size 2X and incredibly comfortable.

The bulk of my too-big stuff usually gets sent to online consignment shop ThredUp because it's a lot easier and the site is desperate for plus-sized clothes, but I thought I'd give Poshmark a try for a few items.

Here is some free money for clothes!

When you join ThredUp through this link, you get $10 to spend on your first order.  I also have a $5 credit for you at Poshmark when you sign up with my username (GOGOGAIL) as your personal invite code on your own device. To earn credit, you will need to enter username GOGOGAIL as the referral  code at the time of registration directly within the Poshmark app.

I've been doing a LOT of closet cleaning, and let's just say my empty hanger collection is now huge. The purging has also extended to my bookcases, and I've been hauling boxes of diet books to the local library. Ain't nobody got time for them!

The headline is for my nearly 2-month absence from here and for the following:

Don't be insulted if I don't try your Christmas cookies.

Don't ask me if I want to share your onion rings.

That's right, I'm drinking kombucha at a bar.

When my birthday rolls around in a few months, I will be skipping the cake.

It's time to say "no thanks," "not right now," "just water for me," and "none for me."

I have made this grand pronouncement for years upon years (HERE'S one from 2015!), and I'm jumping the gun on 2018 to say I'm gonna go nose to the grindstone and spend the next year losing as much weight as I humanly can without losing my mind.

What's different this time?

I pondered this question last night and decided that what will be different this year is that I'm not going to wiggle or stray or game the system or "just this once" or skip a day or any of that stuff that has slowed, stopped, or reversed me in the past.

Yeah, reversed.

Over the past year, perimenopause has finally settled in (seriously, I'm 55; how long was that going to go on? Like forever?) and, like magic, 20 pounds crept back on. Seriously, I didn't have to do a thing! 

(Hmmm ... maybe if I "did a thing" they wouldn't have crept back on but that's water under the bridge.)

My 2018 project needs to address the hormonal aspect of my new normal and attack the symptoms that come with the closing of Ye Olde Baby Factory -- like slowing metabolism, the need to get to sleep earlier (circadian rhythm FTW!), and the threat of bone and muscle loss.

Like I have stated countless times, I have been "trying to lose weight" since the age of 10. That is one shitty lifelong hobby, if you ask me. By fully committing to this project in the coming year, I can get the weight off and maybe take up bonsai or knitting or ice skating.

So I am going to read and research and work on a plan these next couple weeks, and I'll report back right before the New Year's ball drops. I'm committing to blogging once a week to document how my plan is working, whether it needs tweaks, and perhaps ask y'all what is working for you.

Deal?

I'm now post-cataract surgery on both eyes (20/20 vision, y'all!) and able once again to workout and lift heavy things. We're also in the middle of a kitchen remodel, so getting to the gym can be tricky when people are coming in and out of the house every weekday. 

Aside from sweeping and vacuuming mountains of plaster dust and whatnot from the other rooms of the house, I've been sneaking in some workouts when and where I can. This morning it was an upper-body routine with my awesome new db2 dumbbell, which I found on Amazon. 

Here's the cool thing -- I found it because Amazon has it on sale right now for Mother's Day. Usually it's $26, but it's $14.99 for the moment, and I don't know how long that sale is going to be going on so GET THIS THING -- IT'S AWESOME.

It's like an inside-0ut dumbbell -- instead of the weight being on the ends, it's in the center, so it's like a hybrid of a dumbbell and a kettlebell.

This morning, while babysitting the dog, who is stuck in his crate so as not to annoy the workers, I grabbed the db2 and alternated bicep curls with overhead tricep curls. Then I did front arm raises and finally wood choppers. I'll probably throw in some Russian twists after I'm done with this and find some more exercises to do with the video below:

 I bought the 8-pound db2 but it comes in a bunch of sizes -- it's just that the 8-pounder is on sale right now. 

(I love that Amazon featured a hand weight for its Mother's Day sale.)

Oh, geez, the finger-wagging woman is back.

I've been swirling this post around in my head for days now. The first draft had me sounding like a raging bitch -- here's now it started:

Don't blame a planet. Don't blame a bagel or the sugar in your coffee. Don't blame jetlag.

I keep having to remind myself that I'M not the one on summer break -- it's my kid.

Tough to do when you work from home -- OK, at least for me. Who doesn't want to spend the day in their jammies playing video games and binge watching Netflix?

So I gave myself a reality check a few days ago. He's the one on summer break, you're not.

Not on break from exercising, eating right or getting stuff done.

I'm taking him to the gym with me three times a week (that's one of the perks of having a Planet Fitness Black Card membership) and we're exploring new machines at the gym. Today it was the assisted pullup machine. I did three sets of 8 at about a zillion pounds of "help." But hey, at least I figured it out.

We're making room for occasional "field trips" -- today we're going to see "22 Jump Street" -- but I need to stay on point.

This summer is all about making progress.

Ever since the age of 10, I have been paying something or someone to help me lose weight.

This has been going on for four decades.

From storefront meetings to online meetings, meal delivery plans to psychologists, I have been feeding the coffers of the weight loss industry for far too long.

Can I do this without paying?

I’m going to try.

There are so many great, free resources nowadays – My Fitness Pal, SparkPeople, Lose It, RunKeeper – that it’s easy to have an arsenal of great no-cost tools on your smartphone. And there’s another one that actually pays YOU to do the right thing.

I know it’s been around for a while but a few weeks ago I signed up for Pact, which used to be called GymPact. You make a pact with the app to log your meals, eat so many servings of fruits and vegetables, and go to the gym or walk at least 10,000 steps on Fitbit. The food logging Pact is connected to My Fitness Pal, the gym uses GPS to find where you're at, and the fruit and veggie logging is done by taking a photo of your food and having the Pact community give you a thumbs up or down on it. (My teenager calls it "Tinder for vegetables.")

I’m already up to $35 on Pact, and every week I make the stakes a little higher. You choose how many things you’ll do for each Pact and how much you’ll give up if you miss the mark.

I have learned a lot from all the things I have paid for, but it’s time to cut the purse strings and do it for free.

Since I have officially become a gym rat, I thought I'd share my gym bag essentials. I used to run into the gym, workout and leave all sweaty. But I now do humanity a favor and clean up after I'm done.

So, what's in my gym bag?

In a word, a lot. I need a bag to hold my shoes, a change of clothes, towels, shower necessities and workout gear. I'm also a bit of a gym bag hoarder -- always on the lookout for the holy grail of bags. It has to be big enough and sturdy because those gym lockers are small and a lot of squishing goes on.

My latest "holy grail bag" is the Live Well 360 Luxx bag. It's big, good looking and really well made inside and out. That can be a problem for a lot of gym bags -- the companies make the outside sturdy but skimp on the bag's lining, and that's where all the stuffing goes on. It's pricey but I have a feeling it'll last for years and years.

That's the Luxx bag, above.

What goes with me into the gym: I love that Camelbak Groove water bottle. It's super sturdy, holds a decent amount and there's a built-in water filter so I can refill it virtually anywhere (and it's purple!). I'm also not a fan of calloused hands, so I wear gloves. These are by Under Armour and they're not particularly well padded in the palm but they're ventilated and serve the purpose (and they're pink!). I also have my trusty iPod Nano loaded up with Rock My Run mixes and podcasts. My favorite earbuds right now are Sol Republic Relays, which sound great and stay in my ears comfortably. And the piece de resistance -- my pink Gatorade towel. First, it has my initials all over it, it's the perfect size for draping around my neck or on a machine (and it's pink!). 

(I know -- it's like "Rainbow Brite goes to the gym.")

I made a point of photographing my lock because I've had questions about it in the locker room. I bought it years ago at Home Depot and I love that I don't have to stash a key anywhere or memorize a bunch of numbers. It's the Master Lock 1500 iD Speed Dial. Instead of a numerical combination, you set up the lock with a series of directions. It also comes in a bunch of colors, so I can spot my big blue lock in the locker room.

Before I get into the workout room, I make sure there's not a speck of makeup on my face. I'm not interested in looking fiiiine while working out, and not having mascara running down my sweaty face probably looks better than the alternative. So if there's any makeup to be removed, I keep a pack of towelettes in my bag. These are new ones by Biore and they're thorough yet gentle.

After the workout: Shower time! A couple of things that are key for me are a good-looking pair of flip flops and a beach towel. Sure, it makes you feel like you're going to the beach but the flip flops keep your feet from catching athlete's foot or MRSA (!) and the beach towel is big enough to use as a privacy shield when removing your workout clothes. I then roll up the stinky clothing in my Gatorade towel and stuff it in the bag, and if I forget other shoes, the flip flops go with everything. (I snagged those Havaianas for half price at TJ Maxx.)

In the shower: Here's where I think I should win some sort of multitasking Nobel Prize, so follow closely. First off, I tried using travel sizes of shampoo and conditioner but they're just too small and I was constantly replacing them so I settled on 8-ounce sizes of each. I do use travel sizes of shower gel because you don't need as much, especially when you're using a disposable facial washcloth (the dry ones, not the premoistened ones), which doubles as an everything washcloth. Here's what you do:

1. Shampoo your hair, rinse and condition. Leave the conditioner in.
2. Wash your face with the facial washcloth. With some of that cleanser left on the cloth, add just a little dab of shower gel to the cloth and wash the rest of yourself.
3. Rinse everything.

I dunno -- I think it's ingenious. You can waste a lot of shower gel by just pouring it into your hand and you don't work up a good lather without some sort of puff or cloth.

I also use travel/sample sizes of mouthwash and I picked up a few of my fave at BlogHer Food last weekend. (Apparently food bloggers are more interested in food samples than mouthwash samples, and Colgate had a lot of extras.) I also have a tube of my new favorite toothpaste -- Crest's Be Adventurous, which is CHOCOLATE MINT. (I know!) Don't worry, it's not like brushing your teeth with chocolate frosting -- it's got a mild chocolate flavor with more of a mint base. But c'mon, chocolate toothpaste? It's also great for evenings when all you want to do is dive into a pint of chocolate ice cream. 

So that's what's in my gym bag -- what are your gym bag essentials?

Got this great little video from the folks at Fitweek.com. When you're watching TV and hit a commercial break, instead of heading to the kitchen for a handful of "Oh, no you didn't," pull out some dumbbells for a quickie workout. (But what does one do when watching "Mr. Selfridge" on PBS?)