Friday, December 26, 2008

Weight Loss Reflections For 2008

My Weight Chart:
Weight Chart

I don't blog much about weight loss journey which began in November of 2007. As much as I love checking out other weight loss related blogs, I just hate talking about my ups and downs on the scale in such a public forum. Still, confession is good for the soul and I think the end of the year is an appropriate time to look back on successes and issues and think about future goals.

The high point (pun intended) for me this year was being diagnosed with high blood pressure again and being able to get off of the blood pressure meds in only 7 weeks. Major exercise and minor diet overhauls were responsible for my blood pressure now being back to normal.

Admittedly I am a little discouraged that I am not closer to the 200lb mark. I had a plateau for several months in the spring and summer where I was stuck at 250 for months. One health problem after another cropped up. None were weight related but they all had me under doctor's orders to lay off the workouts weeks at a time. Thankfully that's all over and I even walked 10,635 steps on Christmas day.

We decided to try and be a bit more "green" this year and that carried over into health benefits as well. We're growing our own veggies and salad greens again. Chopper is certainly not complaining about all the organic produce he's getting at mealtime. The gardening chores get us out in the fresh air and gives ample exercise opportunities thanks to all the weeds. I have also started mowing the yard with the push mower to get in more aerobic activity that is helpful to the environment.

Food around our house has been interesting this year. We made the switch from white to brown rice and it was much less painful than I expected. I really enjoy it now. I've been experimenting with some new (to our palates) herbs and spices that are proported to have antioxidant qualities. We've had some hits and some misses but it hasn't been dull. I found time to rework a few recipes into lighter and healthier versions to suit our new way of eating. (see sidebar for 'Recipes')

On the whole I think I did okay with my weight loss under the circumstances but hopefully next year will be better. I'm looking forward to more time walking around the neighborhood now that the crazy guy down the street has moved out. For 2009 I need to work on taking my vitamins regularly, drink more decaf green tea and take my lunch to work more often.

No comments: