Lost 5 pounds this month!

What with all the hiking I do around campus, and the regular prostrations, one would hope that I'd be losing some weight. I just hope this is the beginning of getting over my weight-loss plateau.

I've been eating really healthy meals lately, too. I pack lunches for my boys so they don't have to eat at the school cafeteria, and pack a lunch for myself as well. I use these really cute lunch boxes called Laptop Lunches, and because they have the colorful little divisions, it forces me to pack something healthy into each container! (And, of course, they're designed to be environmentally friendly and cut down on trash.)

So I eat really healthy lunches, and pretty good suppers too, except when I have to stay in town. So I'm glad this is resulting in some weight-loss as well!

An illustration of prostrations

Check out this cute illustration of full-length prostrations, at Diamond Way Buddhism website. Perhaps you can agree that this is a somewhat strenuous activity! (And clears away negative karma at the same time, which can be even more strenuous... :)

Doing a lot of exercise lately

Phew! I've been hiking around campus for two weeks now, hauling a heavy backpack the whole time. I believe the hill up to the Admin building, and then the stairs to the third floor, is the hardest part of returning to school so far... :)

As well, I've started back up with the prostrations. I have a perfect time slot to do them in, at the center after lunch and before picking up Abe. It's a two-hour time period, so I can get in the maximum (for me), 300 prostrations. And I even have time for a shower before picking up Abe.

One note about prostrations. The full-length prostrations are a total-body workout. First one crouches down, which works out the thighs and butt. Then one gets into a prone position, which is like doing push-ups, so that gets the arms and back. Then one moves back into the crouch position, which re-works the arms, back and thighs, as well as gets the stomach.

So during the ~90 minutes I'm doing prostrations, I work up quite a sweat, and pause every 20 or so to take a drink. Plus I bought a fan for the center, because that's necessary as well, during this workout!

One thing I noticed right away, after starting these up and hiking around campus, is I've gotten a lot hungrier lately. I'm determined not to eat more, though! The formula for losing weight is to increase exercise while eating the same amount, or decrease the amount one is eating if one's not going to increase exercise. So I've made myself eat the same amount as usual during the past couple of weeks.

I'm really glad my schedule has fallen into place so easily. It's great to be able to find so much time for both practice and exercise!

A New Health Blog

Today I begin a new blog to help me keep track of exercise, weight and meals.

The other day I read an article about people who have lost weight and kept it off. It was very inspiring for that kind of article, because the main person featured was a woman who lost 100 pounds and kept it off. (Often people who lose that much just regain it after a few months.) This woman was so overweight that she couldn't climb stairs without losing her breath, and once participated in a charity walk-a-thon and couldn't finish. So she began a diet and exercise plan and found she enjoyed exercise and kept up her healthy lifestyle.

Here are some features of successful weight-loss, according to this article:

• Eat breakfast every day
• Weigh yourself every day
• Exercise for 1 hour almost every day
• Eat a moderately lowfat diet, with reasonable portion sizes. (Certainly no fad diets!)

The only one of those I do on a regular basis is weigh myself! I have a good 60 - 90 minute exercise regimen, that I actually enjoy when I do it, but the key change is regularity. I also make healthy meals, when I cook, but tend to eat out too much. And I've been skipping breakfast, because I'm usually not hungry in the morning and just want to get on with the other things I need to do for the day.

Today I weigh 165 pounds. My goal weight is 140 pounds. My top weight, about 3 years ago, was 185 pounds. I lost the first 20 pounds by changing my medication (caused weight gain) and changing my diet (keeping track of portion sizes.) I'm sure the key to losing the next 25 pounds is regular exercise.

So there are the changes I need to make, and I'll be keeping track on this blog...