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I’ve been trying to do a blog about Archon since Sunday when we got home, but it just isn’t coming. I end up sounding tired or grumpy, and I don’t mean to. I’ll give it a day or so to rest, then try again. I tried to work today, but my mind was too tired. Not from Archon, but from the year in general. It has been a heck of a busy year. I think it’s just all starting to catch up with me. Today I rested. Someone said, I needed some R and R, rest and relaxation. I told the truth, I do R and H, rest and hesitation. I try to rest, then feel like I should be doing something else, and just move restless from one almost task to another. I relaxed by accident. I visited with friends who happen to be co-workers now. It meant that no one got much done, but since most of us had been at Archon this weekend, we were all sort of tired and not in a workie mood. So we talked. We did some work. I went out with the dogs and rested in the sunshine. It was a beautiful day here, not too hot, not too cold. One of those fall days that just make you want to go for a walk. We walked the dogs today. I tend not to think of it as exercise, but it had been so long since we’d done it, my calves let me know that yes it was exercise, after all. Tomorrow we’ll add a little more of our exercise routine into the day, but today was all about getting back into the swing of things. Today was about being gentle to yourself. Not always my best thing.
I watched a movie. I talked to people. I drank tea. I enjoyed the sunshine. I enjoyed feeling good, tired, but good. Right this moment, Trinity is finishing up her homework. I’m sitting here in an apron with cartoon dogs on it, having cut up onions, and garlic so Jon can use them in the stir fry he’s making. It’s one of our favorite meals, and that includes Trinity. Skinless, boneless, chicken for the meat, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, and the before mentioned onions and garlic. It’s cooked up in extra virgin olive oil. Jon will add a little low sodium soy sauce and a little General Tso’s sauce, Iron Chef brand. Rice for it to go over, and it’s a meal. Why all the details? Because I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and talk about a subject I’ve been avoiding.
Jon and I lost forty pounds a piece about two years ago. We’ve kept it off, except for five pounds a piece. It was ten pounds a piece, but we’ve managed to loose five of that, so thirty-five pounds a piece that’s stayed off for over two years. How did we do this? We’ve changed how we eat and drink. It’s not a diet, because most people consider a diet something temporary, this isn’t temporary. We have changed, permanently how we eat. We have tried to make exercise part of our daily routine. It hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it. We both feel better, as well as look better. So many people have asked how we did it, but I’d avoided talking about it. Why? Because I think we’re too hung up on weight in this country, but it’s worked for us, maybe it will work for others. But please understand that loosing weight is not the point. Being healthier is the point. I finally decided to talk about this a little when I had a woman at the convention say, that I must not have to work to have that hour glass figure. I told her, actually, I’ve worked my butt off, literally. Don’t get me wrong, I still have curves. Women are supposed to have curves, not look like adolescent boys with a little bit of chest. We’ve used a treadmill, walking outside, and weight lifting, to make healthy changes to our bodies. We tried ballroom dancing, as well, but to get really good you’d need to devote more time to it than we have in the schedule. We’re looking at adding something else. Maybe yoga, or Pilates, or martial arts. We’re trying to find something to help us over the plateau you get in an exercise program after awhile. If our trainer, Keath, reads this, sorry about the yoga and Pilates, but I’m trying to work on relaxing as well as getting in shape. Before you do any exercise plan talk to your doctor and make sure you don’t have any health issues that would make exercise inadvisable. But if you’re healthy then exercise, eat right, and take it slow. If you want to keep the weight off, don’t loose more than a pound or two a week. If you loose faster than that you can throw your body into starvation mode and you’ll get that rebound weight where you gain back what you’ve lost plus ten to fifteen extra pounds. So slow and steady wins the race.