Two months

Forgive me if I start this post by quoting what I wrote this morning on the Facebook site, This Is Not a Diet:

Well, for me McKenna seems to be weight maintenance. I lost 7 pounds in the first month. One pound in the second month and as of today, I'm 1 pound up, though I'm thinking it's water retention since my period is almost here.

I have no doubt that the program is a godsend for people with binging problems and for those who eat tons of unhealthy food, but for someone like me, who has very little leeway in terms of cutting back (if I eat approx. 1275 calories a day, I will maintain my weight--no loss, no gain) and can't do cardio-vascular exercise due to arthritis, the prospects for actually losing weight are...slim (lol).

I was right yesterday when I predicted that I hadn't lost anything. And sadly, I may have actually gained a pound, though we know that a fluctuation of a pound is statistically unimportant...though to anyone trying to lose weight, it means the world.

Once again, I have to repeat to myself the good side: I have managed to keep off 7 pounds. This is stellar stuff. Truly. And I really want to keep it off, no matter what.

Now, if I am to actually lose more weight, what do I do?

I honestly don't think it's realistic to try and cut back substantially on what I'm eating now. I'm not a binge eater, I don't indulge much in sweets. I must keep following the McKenna system because I think it's the most psychologically healthy thing for me to do. I am happy to say that I eat pretty much what I want and feel at least somewhat less guilty if I have a (gasp!!!) banana, or a bite of cake.

The other side of the equation is exercise. This is problematic for me because of my arthritis. I can walk fair distances, but I can't power walk to really get my cardio-vascular system pumping. My little exercise bike experiment of 30 seconds which I tried last week left me with a frightening new pain in my operated hip for about a day and then about 3-4 days of mild sciatic pain on the other side. Swimming is a committment I am just not up to, given the weather and my time constraints.

I remain committed to my pedometer. Yesterday was looking grim: by 4 p.m., I'd done barely 1,200 steps, but I pushed myself out the door into the f--ing cold and took a good walk. By bedtime, I'd racked up a more reasonable (though not magnificent) 7,300 steps.

So this is my goal: whatever number of steps I've done in the day, do another 100, even if it means walking up and down the hallway a few times. Foodwise: eat even more slowly and continue using the McKenna principles.

I also have to learn to do more effective visualization. This is something I have a hard time with. However, practise does make perfect, so how about 5 minutes a day of really positive visualization? That doesn't sound too onerous!