Author Archives: theplatinummuse

The Beauty Of Pre Planning Your Meals and Exercise

I was recently asked if it was better to have an end goal in mind or to just try to make one good health choice after another throughout the day with no particular goal in mind. My response was that although making good health choices throughout the day is a great idea, having an end goal is an even better idea. I mean, when we are on the other side of the 2020 Election process and the COVID 19 Pandemic, where do you want to be? So, you can drift through the day with no objective other than to get through it, or, you can move in the direction of your goals. In other words, you can swirl safely in an eddy or be out swimming in the stream moving towards whatever it is you want to achieve. Either way, it is going to change the way your mind is swirling. I would encourage you to be proactive in choosing your own direction. Of course, setting up those small SMART goals and rewards as we discussed in an earlier blog (https://platinummusecom.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/weight-loss-smart-goals-and-rewards/) will mess with your mind in a good way.

If you have not already tried pre planning your meals and exercise in advance, give it a whirl! It’s a great way to make tomorrow or even the whole next week flow pretty effortlessly for you. It is helpful in getting over a hunger hump or curb stress eating if you already know the plan for the day. It will help you knock off your daily walk, run, or workout that you want to do too! Write your plan down, schedule it in your planner, and cross things off your “to do” list as you go. It’s a great tool and super effective in nailing down new healthy habits!

Thank you for reading the Platinum Muse and for those of you in the U.S. we will meet up again on the otherside of the 2020 Elections–well, at least on the other side of Election Day. Please vote! And remember it is not our place to judge. We are all in this together and diversity and differing opinions are our strength. Stay strong and focused!

Are You Buying A 2021 Planner?

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I apologize for being MIA from blogging for the past 3 weeks. I have been feeling the weight of this COVID thing more and more as our COVID cases climb. I work in health care so there is no escaping it. COVID is pretty much in my face for 8 hours a day.

With that being said, I did stop to browse in the planner section the other day for a 2021 Planner. I went to my favorite store, usual section, only to find 5 bland pocket planners. Nothing even remotely close to my fabulous 2020 Planner which I bought last fall. Are people not buying 2021 Planners? I glanced up at when I got outside. The sky looked gray and I could feel its heavy weight again.

I returned home and began scrolling on FacebooK which is never a good idea. Did you know it’s actually called “doom scrolling” and is kind of an obsessive-compulsive thing? I have to stop doing that but that’s another topic. This time though I stumbled across a gem that gave me a glimmer of hope for my life returning to normal. It was a video clip from the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (I love that place) about up and coming COVID vaccines: https://www.facebook.com/uihealthcare/videos/264438048227416

I took the time to watch the video in its entirety and came around to see a glimmer of a new reality. One is that, yes, it is looking like several COVID vaccines will be coming up for approval by the FDA in a month or two. Once the vaccine studies are thoroughly combed through again by the FDA scientists, they will be ready for release–maybe winter/early spring for frontline workers and “at risk” folks. Maybe, fingers crossed, by late spring/early summer they will be ready for the general public.

The vaccine trial which the University of Iowa is involved in is looking good. It generates a great immune response from the body, even in the elderly. It is hands down a better immune response than you would get from having the disease itself. Studies have not yet been done on COVID vaccines in kids that I am aware of. The University of Iowa vaccine will give you a sore arm after receiving the vaccine and it will likely have you feeling a bit under the weather–kind of like after you get a shingrix (shingles) vaccine but a bit worse. (Um, please tell me you know that the shingrix vaccine can pretty much prevent shingles and that if you are over 50 years old you have had the shingrix 2 dose vaccine?) This particular vaccine requires two doses given about a month apart.

A word about “herd immunity.” Not a good plan as you need to get 60-70% of the population to have been infected (or vaccinated) and we are at about 10% currently. Having COVID does not generate a very good immune response so you could be reinfected. I personally think trying to achieve herd immunity would be insane and would not look good for the home team if you know what I mean.

So, yes! I am shopping online for fabulous 2021 Planner. I have not signed up for vacation at work until late spring and then (I may have to eat my words later but…) I plan to get my life groove back. Snuggle with my kids and grandkids, travel around a bit, hug my friends, and, eventually unmask. We are 7 months into this thing and we can do another 7 months.

Thanks for reading the Platinum Muse! Keep rolling forward folks. Set goals, and yes, buy a 2021 Planner!

Emotional Eating

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COMING DOWN THE OFF RAMP OF A STRESSFUL EVENT

We have all been there. You know, heading into the storm of one of life’s stressors. The kind where you can’t see through to the other side and you know you are going to get tossed around like a rag doll in the dryer till life decides you give you up and spit you out. A life event. A stressor.

Sometimes we emotionally eat due to boredom. Sometime due to loneliness. Sometimes due to stress. There are all kinds of reasons. What really trips me up though is coming down off a stressful event. I can function well during the actual catastrophe, but, once on the other side of it my defenses fall prematurely. Then I fall into a period of relief from whatever stressor it was, predictably binge eat on my favorite comfort foods, and then have to recover from that behavior and steady and upright myself again. It’s predictable for me and taken me years to identify the pattern. I have not yet gotten on top of it though and it’s a repeated trap for me. I think I get so focused on control while going through a stressful event that I am never quite ready for it to be over. It’s like swimming the backstroke in a pool and then bumping your head on the concrete edge of the pool because you did not see it coming.

I can’t help but wonder how we will all do when we get to the end of the 2020 Elections and then hopefully COVID. Or, will it be such a gradual wind down with problematic ballots and COVID vaccine issues that we will just ease into a state of resolution. Will my stress build and then decline and trip me up again? Can I manage to put a new behavior into practice to ease me back into my new normal without missing a beat? Who knows? But I do know that I will come out on the other side of this one way or another. We all will.

I want to pass along 2 of my favorite low cal sweet treats that you can use this fall to treat yourself. They are kind of comfort foody. Modify as you would like!

Sauteed Apple Treat: Just like the name implies, sautee a few of your favorite cored and sliced apples in some butter flavored cooking spray until soft. Spritz with a little spray butter while sauteing. Remove from heat and sprinkle with a little cinnamon and sweetener of your choice. Place Fiber One Bar (lemon or cinnamon or birthday cake flavor) on plate. Top with sauteed apples and spritz with fat free Ready Whip!

Cheater Banana Split: Slice a banana lengthwise and place on plate. Spread peanut butter or PB2 on the bananas if you like. You can even add in a low cal frozen fudge bar here too if you want. Then, drizzle with sugar free Hershey’s Syrup and top with fat free Ready Whip. (It’s the Ready Whip in the blue bottle.) Again, yum.

That’s it for me for today. Have a most awesome end of the week and thanks for reading! Stay centered and keep taking it to the next level!

Breakfast, I Salute You!

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For years and years (yes, I am that old) I skipped breakfast or started the day with black coffee. I just wasn’t hungry in the morning and this was likely due to late night snacking. In my overweight life, I started every morning with the best of intentions by severely limiting my morning and early afternoon calorie intake. Of course, by 3 or 4 in the afternoon I was stressed, tired, and hungry. This pattern typically ended up with me munching on whatever was at hand while cooking supper for my family. The pattern continued after dinner, during clean up, and then extended well in to the evening hours.

When I started my last (and successful) weight loss journey of 100# almost 3 years ago now, I started each morning with some kind of a breakfast. I didn’t yet really buy into the whole breakfast idea but decided to give it a go. It went against the grain for me to start my morning eating when I had identified that as a problem behavior.

Over the course of my weight loss journey and maintenance I have become a breakfast advocate. I don’t eat a large breakfast, but, I do eat breakfast–every single day. It holds me steady through a productive morning at work and keeps me balanced through the whole day. I don’t skip lunch anymore either. Yes, I’m ready for supper at the end of the day, for sure. If I can’t seem to hang on ’till supper is ready I grab a piece of fruit or some fat free yogurt to tide me over. After supper I know I’m good until morning. I sleep better, no more late night heartburn, and, the best part, I’ve sustained weight at my goal since the end of May.

My breakfasts are on the lighter side with one of the following: 1 serving of Cream of Wheat (my latest favorite,) fruit with yogurt, 1-2 boiled eggs, 2 shredded wheat biscuits with skim milk, or sometimes oatmeal. I head out the door for work fairly early so i’m not big into meal prep for breakfast. Of course, black coffee is still a must. I want to share one of the recipes I use in my crockpot that I make for breakfast or sometimes even take for my lunch during the work week. It’s easy, quick, and healthy. It’s great for fall and company likes it too!

SLOW COOKER APPLE CINNAMON STEEL-CUT OATMEAL

Servings: 7–3/4 cup servings (found at http://www.theyummylife.com back in 2013)

2 apples, peeled (optional) and cored, cut into 1/2 pieces

1-1/2 cups skim milk

1-1/2 cups water

1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats

2 T brown sugar (or brown sugar substitute)

1-1/2 T butter cut into 5-6 pieces (optional)

1/2 t cinnamon

1 T ground flax seed

1/4 t salt

Optional garnishes: chopped nuts, raisins, maple syrup, additional milk or butter.

Spray inside of slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Add all ingredients (except optional toppings) to slow cooker. Stir, cover, and cook on low for about 7 hours.

Nutritional information per 3/4 cup serving): 149 calories, 4 g fat, 27 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 5 g protein.

The How And Why Of Building Better Glutes.

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It seems everyone pays attention to their face and neck for signs of aging. But did you ever sit in your car in the Walmart parking lot and check out people’s backsides? Or check out your own rear view in the mirror? Let me tell you, you can tell an older person from the back by their pancake flat butt. Pants bagging. Stiff gait. You know the visual.

It’s true. Unfortunately, as we age we lose some of those fat deposites that make us curvy in back. Especially if we have graduated into a desk job. Our fat pads lessen, our glutes stretch out and thus get thinner, and our hip flexors tighten and pull our hips in to an unnatural position. Along with weak glutes comes back and hip pain, balance problems, and susceptibility to falls and injury.

Are you interested in filling out the back of your pants again and gaining strength and building muscle to burn calories? Add some glute strengthening exercises to your daily routine. Squats, stair climbing, hill climbing, lunges, hip bridges are all in the top tier of glute enhancing exercises. Add them into your mix along with a hip flexor stretch or two to do your hips and lower back a huge favor. Plus, I guarantee your pants will not bag in the butt anymore!

My favorite hip flexor stretch: Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Now cross one ankle over the opposite knee and pull that knee towards your chest with your hands or a towel or have a partner push that knee in towards your chest. Stretch it out and repeat with the opposite side.

Trouble with squats? Place a yoga ball between the wall and your back and go ahead and squat. The yoga ball will give you added support and a sense of security and allow you to really get in a nice deep squat.

Thanks for reading the Platinum Muse! Squat away and have a great week!

Coming Back From The Brink

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Did you do OK today? On this Monday. Did you follow your plan or did your day spin out of control by 10 AM?

Today my Monday went as planned once it was set in motion. I was able to stay centered and in the moment. Sometimes though our thoughts can get spun up and before you know it we are eating, or smoking, or doing whatever it is we do to try and cope. Our stress levels get ramped up by whatever we perceive our stressors to be and we respond accordingly. Once that chain of reactions begans it is hard to slow it down and stop it. The chemical reactions in our body have begun and sometimes it seems the cycle has to complete itself. It can throw us off our best laid plans.

So, how do we come back from the brink? Take a mental pause and recognize the stressor for what it is. For me, taking a few deep breaths can physiogically break the cycle. Glance out the window if you can and get yourself back in the moment, back to your center. If you feel your stress ramping up again, repeat. Where is your goal, your finish line? Get it in front of you again.

Now, move yourself forward again. No looking back. Get back on your plan. This is how you will achieve your goal. You will never have a perfect day. Laugh, smile, and learn that life is full of slip ups, mishaps, and missteps. Get adept at getting back up on your horse. Just don’t fall off over the other side doing it. But if you do, that’s OK too. You just smile and do it again. We all get it. We’ve all been there. Let’s cheer on each other’s successes this week.

Thanks for reading the Platinum Muse. Next week let’s talk about how our “booties” flatten as we age and how to round things out a bit. Check out your backside in the mirror sometime this week and see what you think!

Driving Your Mindset to Attain Your Goals

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I woke up to another beautiful morning! I am starting to feel those wisps of autumn in the air and the daylight hours are noticeably shorter now. I have a good week laid out in front of me and plan to savor each day.

It seems I just can’t stress enough the importance of keeping one’s head in a good place these days. It turns out, I do have quite a bit of control over my mind set. For me it means replacing every negative though with a positive thought or taking that extra second to take note of something beautiful–even something small. I give away more smiles to people passing by It literally turns my day around. I am better now at walking away from negativity and drama than I was before. It is essential for me to do that if I want to hold on to a mindset that permits me to reach and maintain my goals.

This week I will empower myself by writing down my weekly goal with a reward at the end of the week when I achieve it. I will commit to removing myself from drama and toxic conversations. I will be mindful of what I am eating and drinking. I will challenge my body just a little bit more.

I challenge you to go after what you want this week. Tend to your mindset like you would a garden. Pull the weeds trying to take it over, feed and water it. Make sure the sun can shine on it.

Thanks for reading the Platinum Muse. –Sending out smiles and positive vibes to my readers!

Body Dysmorphia–Does your body image in your mind’s eye match the image in the mirror?

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By now I hope you have read my recent blog: https://platinummusecom.wordpress.com/2020/07/21/a-tale-of-stress-eating-at-its-finest-and-worst-and-how-i-fixed-it/ Now I want to share a funny little tale that happened before my second daughter’s wedding.

We were venue shopping for her wedding and stopped to tour a beautifully restored mansion, “Laurium Manor Inn.” By now I had lost some weight after her sister’s wedding, although certainly not at my goal. We entered the beautiful mansion and I was awestruck by my surroundings. Not realizing one wall was an enormous mirror, I ventured forth to go through what I though was a very wide doorway into the next room. Almost identical to the room I was in as I recall. I mean, did this place go on forever?

Stepping forward, leaving my daughter behind me, I encountered a very friendly looking stranger. “Oh, excuse me!” I said, stepping to the left. The stranger also stepped to the same side as people sometimes do trying to get around one another. I immediately laughed and stepped to the right but the stranger did the same! I noticed too that the stranger had on the exact same outfit as I did! How weird I thought. Then, I stared down the stranger and stepped in to the middle of the opening, now realizing I had been laughing and talking with myself in a mirror. My daughter was standing behind me watching this whole thing and I heard her say, “Mom, are you alright?” We laughed and quickly headed up the polished staircase leaving the woman manning the guest book behind us staring as we quickly ascended the stairs. “The Laurium Manor Inn” is very beautiful, but, in the end we did not select it for the wedding venue.

So, you see, your mind makes it’s self-image of you to suit it’s needs of the moment. It works when both gaining or losing weight. For some reason, the image in your head can lag way behind reality. This even makes it hard to order clothes online during this COVID craziness. Lately, my new purchases, shoes included, are all just a bit too big for me when I actually try them on. I know that’s not a bad problem but still a hassle.

Look in the mirror. Look at pictures of yourself. Measure yourself and try on some new clothes. I mean, you should be able to pick yourself out of a line up, right? Notice your best features and the ones you can improve too! Enjoy the moment and your journey to a better you.

Thanks you for spending a little time with me this evening. I hope this helps someone see their progress in the mirror. Leave me a comment if you like or follow my blog. The Platinum Muse can also be found on Facebook.

A Tale Of Stress Eating At It’s Finest–And Worst, And How I Fixed It.

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This is a story I have only shared with a few people close to me, so far. That’s because it’s embarrasing and not something I am very proud of. I share it here, tonight, because maybe it will help someone else who has found themselves in the same bad pattern of behavior that I found myself in.

It was the summer of my oldest daughter’s wedding. She was beautiful and was engaged to a guy who was everything that we had hoped she would find in a husband. My husband was working out of town, my youngest daughter was out on her own, and I was working the afternoon shift as an RN at a local hospital.

The bridge by our house was being replaced that summer and the new construction going on meant that I had to drive the long way around a neighboring town, cross a different bridge, and then travel on to the hospital. Going to work was not bad, although a more lengthy drive for me. Coming home alone at midnight was a different story. Sometimes I had to drive over a torn up dirt road, through an empty, creepy construction site. Sometimes I had to park up the road and walk home for about 1/4 of a mile down a dirt road and through the woods at just after midnight to reach my front door.

The upcoming wedding, just a few months out, and my long “to do” list had me stressed to say the least. My intentions were to diet down several dress sizes but the stress of the summer proved to be a bit too much for me. I would usually eat sensibly all day but at midnight on the way home I had to pass several fast food establishments. With the fast food smells wafting in from outside I would wind up going through one of the fast food drive throughs to treat myself to some super-sized, delicious, high calorie fat and sugar bomb. Then, who wants that smell and garbage in their car, right? So, knowing better, when I hit an empty stretch of road, I would wind down my passenger side window and toss all of the garbage out of the car. That was so bad on so many levels. Each time I would tell myself that it was the last time, but night after night I continued right up until my week of vacation started for the wedding. I was now exceedingly fat. The dresses I wanted did not come in my size. I wore a stretchy, flowery dress to my daughter’s wedding hoping no one would really notice what I looked like.

That my friend is stress eating. Plain and simple. And, I am not proud of it.

It wasn’t until a few years later, after I was able to peel away the layers of emotions that I had myself hidden in, that I could began to curb my stress eating and lose my 100#. I started by trying to recognize what I was actually feeling when I was overeating. I had to learn to feel the raw emotion rather than feed it food. I learned that sometimes when I felt like stress eating that what I really needed was a nap, or that I was really thirsty and needed a big glass of water. I learned that sometimes I just had to wait and do something else and that the feeling would pass. Sometimes maybe I was actually hungry and an apple, some yogurt, or some low fat string cheese would suffice. I learned a new way to handle my stress and actually feel good about myself the next day. I liked that a lot. I learned to let my bad feelings and emotions go and I still sometimes have to work on that. I no longer let negative people or thoughts rent space in my head (not for long anyhow) and have come to learn that a lot of what causes my stress is actually not my problem–it’s someone elses.

I hope this akward story of mine helps someone else lighten their emotional load. Leave me a comment if you like or follow my blog. The Platinum Muse can also be found on Facebook.

Start you healthy weight loss plan now!

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Hop on the old scale and write that number down!

Are you ready to commit to a weight loss program? Are you waiting for Monday? The first of the month? Until a Sunday hits the first of the month? Are your days spinning around like an old vinyl record that has reached the end of it’s song and is now just repeating the static click, click…click, click over and over?

I remember the exact moment I committed to a healthier lifestyle and began my 100# weight loss journey. It was 01/22/18, on the eve of my 63rd birthday. I was tired out, overweight, and on blood pressure meds. My body hurt and I was feeling pretty low. I knew I did not want to continue down the same path another day. My birthday gift to myself that year was a membership in Wellness Works (formerly known as Weight Watchers.) I asked my husband if he thought I was crazy, attending my first meeting on my birthday (no birthday cake for me, thank you very much.) Turns out I had his full support, and no, he did not think I was crazy.

Understand, there were struggles, tears, and set backs along the way. With my husband’s never ending suppport and the unending encouragement from my WW Coach, Pam, and my WW Meeting group, I acheived Lifetime Status 2 1/2 years later, in the middle of this COVID Pandemic. For those of you who don’t know, Lifetime Status in WW means that you hit your goal and maintained it for 6 weeks. It’s a goal I was not sure I could ever achieve. I did though and I am still feeling elated! It’s all about sticking to the plan–whatever that plan may be for you.

I sometimes can’t even believe what I’ve done. My life is good. I’m comfortable in my own skin again and having a blast. Who would have ever guessed I would be doing this–in my 60s?

My most recent high notes? Paddleboarding on Lake Superior, hiking Bear Bluff with my daughter, running, splashing, paddleboarding with my grandkids. Next up on my hit list? I’m going to give Mountain Biking a whirl.

Let’s “manhandle” the week in from of us! Set your goal (keep it real please.) Set your reward and follow through. Good luck! You are worthy!

Thanks for sharing in my story. Follow me on Face Book at “The Platinum Muse.” Share a comment and let me know what you think!

Addendum: Paddleboard tips for older, overweight, out of shape adults because I have not found it anywhere else:

Practice stretching out your back and ham strings and balancing on one foot (even if you have to hang on to something.) Strengthen your core a bit, like by doing a few planks. Practice going from kneeling on the floor to putting your hands on the floor in front of you and scootching your feet up under you and going to a standing position. This is how you will get up on your paddleboard if you are like me.
Get a paddle board big enough for you! The bigger the better! Go above your weight range for extra stability.
Take your paddle board out far enough in the lake or river so that if you tip you will not hit anything thing and get hurt.
Now, put your paddle across the board and get on it in a kneeling position. Find the sweet spot where you are the most stable which should be somewhere close to the middle. Plant your knees there. Paddle around kneeling at first.
When your are ready, lay your paddle across the board again and put your hands down on the board in front of you. Rock the board a bit and get comfortable with it’s motion. Then, scootch your hands just a bit forward and scootch your feet up towards that sweet spot as far as you can underneath your body (you’re on your toes and balls of your feet now and not your knees,) grab your paddle, and slowly stand up. Then, smile that big smile of yours and start paddleing!
If for any reason you can’t get to standing just kneel and paddle! Still a blast and hey, you are still paddleboarding! Go for it!