The Weight with Menopause

Yes, so what.  You may be thinking, "why did you weigh yourself in the first place if you don't really care?"  It's simple... Curiosity. Friday I was curious to know if 1 week of changing habits could make a difference on the scale and it did seem to however, I had a horrible weekend of fried indulgence and I don't want to be addicted to weigh ins.  It's time to keep my eyes on the true objective and that's to be better at listening to my body.   Weighing constantly (even weekly) and tracking contributes to me losing sight what of my body is telling me.  I need to quiet the noise around me and listen to what's inside to determine what my body needs. Why?  Because no one told me or hinted to how different my body would react to food after partial hysterectomy.  It didn't occur to me that I would experience such changes so I didn't research it either.  I wouldn't change it for the world because there's a long list of things that are b...

As of Friday things were going well.  I was feeling great and confident that things were feeling right.  Digestion was good, energy was good, weight was good.  (I was down 2.5 pounds.) In come the weekend. I slept in Saturday and proceeded to my hair appointment at 11am.  I met some girlfriends for lunch after.  I ordered a side salad with a fried calamari appetizer and blue cheese dressing for dipping.  Hm.  Something's going on here.  4 or 5 hours later I'm headed to a party but I don't feel hungry.  I'm a pescatarian so I only eat fish.  To prepare for the party I call ahead to see what's on the menu and quickly realize that I need to pick up some dinner.  I decide to go for collard greens and fried catfish.  I think to myself, "It's Saturday... indulge a little more." By 8pm I still wasn't feeling hungry despite the fact that I missed breakfast. Hm. I knew I needed more calories and didn't want to wake up hungry (...

That is the question. With Weight Watchers tracking you're allotted so many points per day and you're supposed to eat all of them.  I think the same applies to other tracking tools.  Actually, I think that's the general rule of thumb for any healthy eating habits. BUT. I'm not hungry.  I ate pretty harty and healthy all day and then when dinner time roles around I just want a couple of bites and I'm done.  I'm not sure if I need to stuff myself or not but I used to and maybe it's time to stop. At first I thought I felt full because of my snack after work.  Today it was a nut/cracker mix but it's typically just an apple on the way home.  I only had about 1/4 cup or maybe a little more but not enough to replace a meal.  I rowed and walked to get some sweating into the daily routine and still wasn't hungry after.  Now it's almost 9:30 and after having a few bites of dinner I am not hungry... at all. If I were still tracking I would've ...

I'm so full today.  All I did was to incorporate more veggies into each meal and moved my daily apple from afternoon snack to with lunch. Voila!  Full after each meal. I felt hungry when I think I'm supposed to and only ate when I had the feeling that it was time to eat. Very little snacking, which was a small piece of chocolate. Speaking of chocolate... That was the most delicious peice of chocolate I've had in a very long time.  I had  a little bit of a sweet tooth and thought "why not?"  I enjoyed it within moderation, I ate clean all day, I worked out, and it's been so long that I figured I deserved it.  The goal is no longer meeting a very narrow and specific number at the end of the day but refocused to feeling better inside and out. To feel better I either need to: Accept where I am because at 42 I'm not crazy out of shape but just holding onto a few extra pounds.  (20 to be exact.)  OR I need to eat cleaner but with purpose. I...

It's been 1 day and I actually feel freer today.  Free from tracking and the worry of "whoops, did I throw away that package before tracking it?"  Don't get me wrong;  I still ate healthy today.  I had some quinoa and edamame, fruit, snap peas, etc... the good stuff.  I even worked out today.  HARD. One aha is that if I'm not going to track, I need to stop tracking.  That includes in this blog.  I started the first day by entering what I ate for the day.  THAT's tracking people!  I'm watching what I eat and how much I eat and even peak at the calories and nutrition before consuming.  That's it. Keeping it simple.  I know how many calories I want to consume in a day so if I know approximately what I'm getting with each meal and that should be enough. Wait.  Am I addicted to tracking?  I think I am.  At least I'm aware and breaking free. No weight progress to report yet because I didn't weigh myself toda...

Why am I starting this blog? I had a partial hysterectomy 3 years ago and no one can seem to tell me the truth about the changes in my body. I get the hormone changes but wasn't expecting the distended belly or weight gain. I've asked my doctor and she says it's normal but there's not advice offered on what to do.  Don't get me wrong... I have a GREAT doctor so this is not a stab at her but my personal attempt and journey to see if I can figure out what in the heck my body needs to feel like me again... a slimmer, happier me. Why do I NEED this blog? First, I like to write and never do so freely.  Second, I feel like I need to document my thought process and progress to help me to better digest potential issues that I may not recognize or have been ignoring.  The writing process forces me to stop and really think about the external forces that affect me. Why start this journey now? Because I gained 30 pounds after surgery and have been struggling to get it of...