button-of-success progress report

16 days ago I blogged about the Cardinal-Cyn-Button-of-Success with strength training being the missing link in my weight loss efforts. This is a progress report. It is also a surefire way to keep me accountable, and on track in the ‘white dog’ zone.

set the scene

In the second half of last year, during my breast cancer treatment, I increased in weight – due partly to side-effects from radiation and partly to Christmas kilos. Since January and for 2 months I exercised (mostly walking) and ate well and lost half a lousy kilo. Then 2-3 weeks back I re-discovered strength training. Within 2 days I had lost another 0.7kg. That’s when I blogged (see Cardinal-Cyn-Button-of-Success).

LLW

Back in January, I commenced my own project called ‘Learning and Living Wellbeing’ or LLW for short. The focus is not just about weight loss, but also about overall wellbeing. I love to learn - explore, research and find things out for myself which is why the ‘learning’ word appears in LLW. And it’s about ‘living’ too – so it’s very active and intentional. I have also identified my relevant value and goal as:

Value: Physical Wellbeing. I highly value long-term physical health to enable my body to operate efficiently throughout my anticipated long life. I will develop and maintain habits which will provide my body with the nutrition, work, rest and activities it needs to achieve this.

Goal: to reverse and maintain the direction my weight is headed until a healthy state is achieved.

results to date

In the 16 days since that Button-of-Success discovery, I have dropped a further 1.3 kilos, bringing my total weight loss since January to a neat 2.5kg. When I put my white pants on yesterday, they were feeling positively loose. The first part of my goal ‘to reverse...’ has been achieved. Just got to maintain the direction now. I am no longer increasing in weight. I feel damned impressed with myself, to be honest! Yes I do!

the horror of hormones

I should also add that during my hormonal week, which these days I can never tell whether it’s going to be regular or not, everything hurts. What doesn’t hurt doesn’t work, and I retain fluid like crazy. My weight will be mostly stable at best, and increase up to a kilo for a day or so, and then suddenly things will start moving again. During that time I take it a little easier on myself – gentler walking and strength training which focuses more on the lower body than the upper, due to a tendency for muscle spasm in my neck and shoulders which results in horror headaches during this week. I drink water like a fish too.

exercise routine

This is my exercise routine for a normal week. Each walk takes around 40 minutes and each strength routine or yogalates DVD also takes 40 minutes:

Monday	Walk & strength training
Tuesday	Walk
Wednesday	Walk & yogalates DVD
Thursday	walk
Friday	Walk & strength training
Saturday	Bikeride
Sunday	Rest

But 2.5 kilos! Howzat eh? Yes! There is still hope for a peri-menopausal, 40-something, pear-shaped couch-potato like me yet! Unbelievable