Little Black Guidebook

I liked this article “Best Travel stretches” Via Weightwatchers.com. I have my own little routine of retorative yoga poses for my hotel room and toe scrunches (ala Die Hard), but the following are great as well — adapted from Zeer’s Travel Yoga. These ones are a little different from what I normally do as you actually do them while you travel. Ignore the strange faces, your back will thank you for it. These saved my back this weekend after too much time on a plane.

Loosen up pose
Try this one while waiting in line to check in or board your flight. Place your hands on your hips with your legs hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Make wide, full circles with your hips. Next, place your hands on your lower back, fingers pointing downward. Tighten your buttocks and stretch your upper back backward. Breathe and relax into the stretch.

Friendly neighbor pose
Here’s the perfect stretch when you’re stuck in a seat for hours. Sit near the edge of your seat with your arms on the armrests, holding the sides with your hands. Gently stretch your chest up and forward, and tilt your head slightly backward. Relax and breathe into the stretch.

Crossed leg twist
While sitting, cross your left leg over your right. Place your right hand or elbow on the crossed knee. Gently turn your body to the left and look behind you. Switch legs and twist the other way.

Shoulder rolls
If you’re driving this summer, you can ease some of that tension when you’re waiting at a traffic light or stuck in traffic. Raise your shoulders to your ears, hold, breathe and then drop. Roll one shoulder and then the other in wide circles in both directions.

I haven’t moved a muscle to exercise in almost a month. No, I didn’t give up on WW. I had foot surgery and have been unable to do more than situps. My one month surgery milestone falls on the same day as my next flight, the earliest he would let me get back in the air. I did find it interesting that:

“The British Government has declared war on obesity, and among its first targets are drinkers. According to British government intel, ‘The average wine drinker consumes an extra 2,000 calories a month – the equivalent of 184 bags of crisps.’ This comes via The Telegraph, which further notes: ‘Few middle class drinkers realise that a couple sharing a bottle of red wine a night are both consuming the equivalent of a Snickers chocolate bar in alcohol.’ Appalling. You’d never see the French government release such data.”

So my inability to have even an occasional glass of wine because of my meds is saving me a snicker bar every time. Of course, wine is actually ok for you in moderation and as long as you plan it into your overall day. Speaking of planning, I have been tracking and trying to hit my points every day, but with the complete lack of exercise I’ll be happy to have a maintenance when I go back next week for weigh-in. I did find the above photo very inspiring. She’s exactly my height (5′6″) and got down from 211 lbs to her current weight using weight watchers and yoga.

6. When I exercise now I’m not dying after only 5 minutes. I am exercising without exhaustion and can concentrate on form.

7. The last and most completely satisfying way of measuring my success without a scale has been the complements that I’ve been getting. I don’t know if its because of the weight I have lost or the energy I have showing through with my self-confidence, but I have worked hard and my efforts are paying off.

Finally had the courage to get back on the scale again today and found out I weigh the same to the 1/10th of a pound what I did on 12/4/08 or the day of my last WW meeting. Ok, holiday didn’t totally undo everything and the WW principles totally helped me avoid my typical 5 pound gain and associated guilt. I still need to lose weight, but not more than I did when I started. Yay, go me. Now to tackle my Pilates DVD that arrived in the mail from Blockbuster online.

One of the gals at work talked me into going to Weight Watchers. I think committing to something like a weekly meeting will be good for me. My husband is my best friend so I talk to him about everything, but it is nice to receive support from someone else. Poor guy, probably tired of hearing my body image complaints. I successfully lost 40 lbs prior to our wedding and got within 10 lbs of my goal. Since that time I’ve crept back up until today I stepped on the scale and cringed when I saw that the number was within 5 lbs of where I was at my peak 4 years ago. Ouch, back where I started. This time I’m not cutting out all carbs, but am trying for a more sustainable approach. I was diagnosed with PCOS this time last year. My Dr. prescribed a drug for it, but it makes me feel like I have permanent morning sickness so I stopped taking it. The other remedy for PCOS is weight-loss so I promised myself to go with that approach. The same day as I went to my first Weight Watcher’s meeting I got my reminder that its time to make my next appointment. I really don’t want to sit across from an OBGYN and have him tell me, “So you did nothing and are still having symptoms, surprising.” I’ll go when I’ve made a little progress at least. Motivation for many reasons.

I think health is a better motivator than a special occasion. My wedding was a motivation, but not an incentive for a sustainable change. We have a family wedding coming up next June so it would be tempting to lose weight for that, but really I need to do it for me, for my health, and for my way of life. I just want my energy back.

Also, I’m only 25. I had the idea that Weight Watchers is for old fat Moms. Apparently, not true, there were young ladies, not so heavy people, Grandmas and even a guy. I was pleasantly surprised. With the combination of e-tools to make me accountable for everything and meetings for motivation I am hopeful.