Climbing Off the Plateau--Stepping up Exercise and Retooling Nutrition

Ah no! I reached 32 pounds of weight loss and am now on that dreaded plateau! I've been sitting here for about two or three weeks. I lose some, go back up some. I've sloughed off a bit with the walking and yoga--I'm sure that has contributed to this plateau. I keep reminding myself that my cholesterol has dropped 22 points--it is one point away from being the "normal range"; I am now taking half of my metaformin dose I have been taking for pre-diabetes; in addition, I have gone down one dress size and no longer have to shop in "women's plus-sizes".

So what am I going to do about this plateau? I really don't want to stay here! The health goals I want to reach are just to important to my quality of life in the long-term.

So here's what I know I need to do:

* Step up the cardio. Walking every other day isn't enough anymore. It is helpful, but I need to go farther. Treadmill, here I come. When the weather warms up, I'll be walking/jogging outside. I don't know how far I can  go into jogging because of my knees. I won't know until I try!

*  Start strength training. Lifting weights--which I've done in the past and enjoyed immensely. Building up muscle tissue will help me burn calories more efficiently. I've got a DVD from the South Beach Diet Recharged that has a weight-lifting routine for those who haven't been physically active for a while. I hope that starting off on yoga first--stretching and loosening my muscles--will prove beneficial as a precursor to weight-lifting.

* Re-examine some of my eating habits. Yup, soda. I don't drink the enormous amounts I used to, but I still have too much of it. I feel better drinking water, teas, and vegetable juices.

* Retool my nutrition. I've been listening to lectures and reading up on nutrition the past two months. Increasingly,  I have come to believe that for me and my particular health issues that eating a primarily plant-based diet with a high portion of raw foods would be best. (I am not saying that everyone should eat this way; this is a highly personal decision.) My best friend told me about a book, Eat to Live, by Dr. Fuhrman. This book makes sense to me and tied up many loose ends in my research.

Dr. Furhman advocates a basically vegan diet--free of  not just meat, but dairy as well. His food pyramid has  meat and sweets at the top, to eaten "rarely." At the base are vegetables, half of which should  be raw. The next layer up is fruits and beans and legumes. Above that are fat sources--seeds, nuts, and avocados, and starches such as potatoes and whole-grains. The top two layers are dairy, meet, poultry, fish, and sweets. Dr. Furhman recommends getting your protein primarily from legumes, beans, nuts, and seeds.

When I follow this nutritional pyramid, I feel better, have more energy, and lose weight. My daily menu will look like this:

Breakfast:  Oatmeal cooked in almond or soy milk, topped with fruit, some nuts, ground flaxseed, a dash of maple syrup and cinnamon. Or, it might be a green smoothie or a bowl of fresh fruit and nuts with a dollop of plain yogurt.

Lunch: A big salad with a homemade vegan dressing made from nuts or a plate of vegetables with homemade dip made with beans.

Dinner: Vegetarian or regular dinner with some meat.

 In his book, Dr. Fuhrman claims that patients who follow his eating plan not only lose weight, but are able to come off medications for diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. I hope to see how I will do following this eating plan. I'd really like to get off my expensive medications and reach a point at which food and exercise is the only medicine I need to keep me safe from diseases. I also found extremely helpful books and YouTube lectures by Dr. John McDougall and Neil D. Barnard. The Vegetarian Society of Hawaii has an excellent YouTube channel of its monthly lectures that I found extremely helpful.

There is a spiritual and environmental benefit to eating primarily plant-based diets as well--but that is a subject for another blog post of by those much better educated in these matters than I am.

Mares Gone Wild

This morning as I turned off State Street in Lindon and headed down the long driveway to the stables, I noticed piles of horse manure all along the drive. This is unusual. I thought perhaps a horse had gotten out. I parked in front of the barn next to Tasha. As Niamh and I got our boots on, we noticed Tasha was stressed out while she spoke on her cell phone.

It turns out my guess about a horse getting out was partially right: all eight of the back paddock horses had escaped. Thank goodness the gate leading out to the street was locked or there might have been horses cruising up and down State Street.

To get them back to the paddock, Tasha told me she loaded up a bucket with grain and the party girls followed her back to the paddock.

I'm really glad she got to the stables first this morning (she usually does)--I'm not sure what Niamh and I would have done besides sit there, puzzled, and making vain attempts to get the horses back to the paddock.

Poor Cash, the resident stallion, was sweaty from pacing back and forth in his stall. Of course, all the escapees were mares--poor Cash--how he must have been filled with longing! I would NOT go into his stall to change his water until he'd been served up his morning hay to distract him. Don't get me wrong--Cash is a sweetheart of a stallion and Shauna has him well trained; however, this morning, the siren call of potential love and sex really had the poor boy longing to get out of his stall.

Niamh and I burst out laughing as we came around the corner of the barn to see the horses in the paddock. I've never see this before. They were all standing in a circle, facing each other. They looked absolutely guilty. Two of them--including Bitsy, the mare I ride--were lying down, just fat and stuffed. They'd gotten into the grain, nibbled on the hay, and we think they got into a bag of apples.

I don't know about you, but all those carbs would make me giddy!

The ground on the side of the barn was covered with hoof prints as was the gravel area we park in. Those girls really did have a party, tearing up the ground, nibbling the sides of the haystacks. 

I'm surprised they didn't T.P. the barn or something.

I was just about done watering when the gate to Bella's stall broke and fell off its hinges. It was a long time in coming, but still, it was inconvienant. Tasha put a new chain on the gate and positioned it so Bella couldn't get out. She thought about it, and decided we'd have to take out that section of fencing (it includes the gate) and replace it with a newer section. Tasha tied up Bella and Dream in the back of their stalls.

Tasha got a mallet and started wacking away, getting the pegs loose out of the brackets that held them. I helped her by pulling and pushing as needed. "If you're ever in a bad mood, just come down here, get this mallet and start pounding the dents out of the fences," she said.

We moved the old section of fencing against the barn wall. Then we went around to the other side of the barn and through a series of manuevers--we had to open the gate of one stall, then another--to get the fence section manuevered around the corner. I think what helped Tasha out was not my strength but pushing my sheer weight into the fence as we struggled to get it into place. Yes, for once being "morbidly obsese" was helpful!

It's times like this it's obvious I am 27 years older than Tasha! She sure is patient with me!

Once we got the fence into place and Tasha untied the horses, it seemed as though we should have had a bottle of wine or  a cake to celebrate! Niamh came out from the arena--she'd been riding Souix. Tasha told Niamh, "Hey, your mom is tougher than she looks."

Niamh gave her a skeptical smile! I have to admit, I felt a bit self-satisfied while knowing full well I'd be sore later. I really think the yoga I've been doing is giving me more flexibility and strength.

Before we left, Niamh and I walked over to the paddock again. Bitsy and Heartbreaker were lying down still. Bitsy slowly stood up--being middle-aged like me, she was a bit stiff.

Yeah, that's what you get for partying like a young filly, Bitsy.

What a day. Niamh and I chuckled all the way home about the party girls in the back paddock.

If I didn't sweat off some weight today, I'll be miffed.