THE GI DIET WEEK #9: SLOW GOING...

Here I am checking out David's thigh. He's in pretty good shape. Must be all that time he spends in the gymnasium! As for me, I think the reason things are going slower than I'd hoped is that I am not getting the amount of aerobic and floor exercises that I need to tone up. My weight hasn't budged again, although last week's measurements showed I'd lost a bit off my bust and hips (none off the middle which is my major problem area.


So I will try and increase the exercises now the weather seems better. Today I went out for an hours' walk. And I am able to get back to my old waterfit group for the next two weeks, which I find is a much more strenuous workout than the new place I was attending. (And besides, there's not a lot of Asian ladies talking the whole time which I find distracting.) At the Brit pool there are singing Italian mermaids instead.

I will try to make time to get to the gym now that my morning classes are finished for the Spring break. It means taking 2 buses but if the weather is OK I don't mind that too much. It's standing around bus stops in the pouring rain and icy cold that has deterred me this winter.

Now it's Springtime and surely the weather will warm up so we don't have to bundle up in heavy coats every time we go out, which I find makes taking brisk walks a little more difficult

I was away for the weekend and made a few slips on the food plan -- nothing too serious til last night when I went out dancing (good exercise!) and drank red wine which isn't exactly on the program at this point in time. But it's my one little 'sinful' cheat and doesn't happen every day. However, I'm going to have to be more diligent because soon it will be bathing suit time (I need to get a new one) and I don't want to look like an over-stuffed sausage on the beach. A voluptuous mermaid, perhaps. But not a sausage!

I've followed all GI recipes the last two weeks and found them to be tasty and satisfying. So now it's grocery shopping time again and I will sit down tonight and plan my next week's menus. Generally I use either the GI recipes or some from Weight Watchers and South Beach Diets, both of which fit in the scheme of things.

DANCING AWAY SOME POUNDS. WEEK 8, GI DIET PLAN

LES GIRLS DANCING ON NEW YEARS EVE

A small victory today when I weighed myself and found I'd actually gone down a pound. Not much, but after the plateau I've been on which I'd found so discouraging, this was a good sign. I think perhaps the stepped-up exercise program is helping. Not that I'm doing as much as I should. But I've manaed a couple of longer walks, got to waterfit today, and I have a plan in place to help me get back into the old exercise routines that I used to be so faithful at doing.

One thing I love to do is dance, so I try to go dancing on the weekend. I like salsa dancing a lot but we also go to hear my son's Blues band and then we dance rock 'n roll. I also like waterfit and swimming and although I haven't been that fond of the new pool I've been going to, it has helped. But now that pool is closed for Spring cleanup and I will go back to Britannia which I like much better (even though it's farther away and takes me 2 buses to reach there). I looked at their Spring recreation program and discovered a couple of fitness and yoga classes that suit my schedule. So I plan to try and enroll in them when they start up. And once the weather clears I'll get the bike out and do more of the Jenny Craig fitness walks that I used to lve doing.

Meanwhile, I am following the GI recipes in the book and really enjoying them. This week I made the hamburgers (on 1 side of a bun only and cole slaw on the side) and the meat loaf, which was absolutely delicious. No need to deprive oneself and starve on this program. And my fridge is full of good things to make gourmet meals, so I will, as usual, sit down and make my week's menu up and from there will choose each day what I want to eat. Most of the recipes are for 4 servings so I put the extras in the freezer and have ready-made TV dinners when I don't have time to cook.

I'm hoping for more weight loss this coming week. It seems much slower to lose on this than when I was following Weight Watchers so I am thinking of counting the points as well, just to make sure I'm not eating too much, although I've been pretty careful and trying hard to stay away from the RED things. They do seem to creep in though. Sneaky!

STEVE PLAYING BLUES GUITAR AND SUE DANCING

STARTING WEEK#7 ON A LOW NOTE

ME , AT THE STARTING LINE FOR FOOT RACES, OLYMPIA GREECE

It's week #7 of the GI diet and I had felt sure I'd lost more weight. What a disappointment when I weighed in at the pool yesterday and the scale had not budged. In fact it may have gone up a fraction or two. I've been tracking my food, marking in red any time I went out of the green zone and tried real hard not to do that. But still no results.

About the only thing I can think of doing is upping the exercise regime. I know i'm not getting nearly enough and not half as much I used to do before the winter laziness set in. I got out all my videos and DVDs for exercises, my hand weights and stretchy rope and so far all I've done is look at them as they sit there cluttering up my coffee table. I'm trying mentally to devise a plan of action. Today I thought it would be good to start going for a Jenny Crait fitness walk early in the morning before I plunk myself in front of the computer. And yes, I will do that but first let's get some decent weather. One moment it's raining, then a bit of sunshine as a teaser, and then rain again and it's way too cold. I think when the sun is out to stay for awhile it will be more inviting to think of getting out and doing my fitness walks, going to the gym and other things. Meanwhile, I really must get out the yoga book and try to resume some floor exercises. I can't believe how lazy I've become. I've also become so stiff I can hardly walk sometimes. That is NOT good!

So, keeping in the spirit of the Games (after all the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held here in Vancouver) I will get back at that starting line and make a run for it! Go for the Gold, as they say. I have to get myself into good shape for my holiday in Greece which is coming up pretty soon.