Ok, I haven’t blogged here for a while, so here’s an update.

I have been doing lousy on the weight loss front. I am back to 206 pounds, only 1 pound below where I started.

Also, I measured my blood sugar this morning (for the first time in months) and it was 109 - not good. It should be 100 or less. I’m not at the diabetic point yet, but I don’t want to get there.

Exercise: nonexistent.

So what’s my excuse? Well, I’m trying to do too much. Working full time, a long commute, trying to start another business in my spare time, taking an advanced feng shui course… And on top of all that, a boyfriend (someone I dated before - we got back together - the breakup was kind of my fault). He lives about an hour from me, so I rarely see him during the week. But he spends almost all weekend with me - not that I’m complaining, but when am I supposed to exercise?

We are going on a little trip to New Mexico. I feel kind of bad for being out of shape now. I read that altitude sickness is worse when you are out of shape.

Last time I was in New Mexico, 5 years ago, I went up into the mountains my first day, and got altitude sickness pretty bad (felt so nauseous that it was hard to drive). This time, we are planning to be in Albuquerque the first day, and the mountains on day 2. I hope the extra day will help. But last time, I was in a lot better shape.

That is the lesson from this - you have to get in shape now, because you don’t know when you suddenly will wish you were in shape. I mean really wish it.

So what am I doing, now that I have learned this? This week has been hectic, trying to get everything done for the trip and other things. My place was a mess. I really felt depressed. That was yesterday.

So this is what I did (my feng shui training kicked iin). I cleaned up the house. Got rid of all the newspapers and magazines laying around. Cleaned off the dining room table. Cleaned up my office. My boyfriend had put together my new cabinets from Ikea, so I finally filled them up last night, and got all the clutter in my office put away.

Whew. I felt so much better and more in control after that. I really have to recommend it, if you are feeling overwhelmed. A good straightening up of your space will help more than you think, and it doesn’t take as long as you think it will either.

You might not think this is related to weight loss, but it really is. I eat when I feel out of control. If I had not cleaned up, I probably would have spent the evening sitting on the couch eating and stressing out about all that I have to do. (In fact, that’s what I was doing before I decided to clean up.)

I will get more of my stuff done tonight and tomorrow. Saturday morning we are leaving on our trip. I think the vacation will really do me good.

Hopefully I can get into a healthier lifestyle when I get back.

I have been fascinated with Feng Shui for a long time. Feng Shui comes from China, and it deals with how your environment affects you. If you are oblivious to your environment, you may not notice this consciously, but just try to notice how you feel when your house is nice and welcoming versus when it is cluttered and depressing.

Through Feng Shui, I have learned that how I arrange and care for my home has a great effect on my well-being. I try to keep clutter away, and try not to have anything blocking the flow of energy (energy is called “chi” in Feng Shui) - for example, no piles of stuff blocking doorways and no furniture that I have to squeeze around to get anywhere.

I read somewhere that a cluttered home can contribute to weight gain, and I believe that is true. If your home is healthy, you are a lot more likely to be healthy too.

In addition to general things like removing clutter and obstacles, there are specific cures in Feng Shui for specific problems that you may be having. If you always enter your house through the kitchen (as you might if you always use your back door or garage entrance), then you can have weight issues due to the kitchen being the first room that you see. It right away primes your mind to think about food. One cure for this is to hang a mirror on the kitchen door, so that you see the mirror before you enter the kitchen, distracting you from the food.

This is the case in my house. I always enter through the back door, and the first room I go through is the kitchen. So I hung a mirror on the door into the kitchen. I was amazed at what happened to me. (By the way, if you try this - remember that your intention is very important in Feng Shui, so be sure to think of your intention of having a more healthy relationship to food, as you hang your mirror.)

I had gotten in the habit of having a Lean Cuisine for dinner every night for the past 5 years (ever since my son left for college). After I hung the mirror, I could not eat the Lean Cuisines anymore. I just had no taste for them. So I had to start cooking dinner, and I am trying to cook healthy things.

While Lean Cuisines are relatively healthy, I don’t think it can be healthy to have one every single night and never eat a home cooked meal. I was probably missing out on some important nutrients there. Not to mention the more healthy relationship you have to food when you cook it yourself.

The next thing that happened was that my friend told me about the book, Potatoes Not Prozac, as I mentioned in a previous post, which started my journey to find a good diet for me.

Speaking of clutter and Feng Shui, I recently moved my office into a different room, and made the old office into a guest bedroom. But all my old papers and books were still in there, practically covering the floor. This weekend, I finally got done cleaning it all up. Now the guest room looks great, and I can finally get at the elliptical exercise machine that is in there. So I have been exercising on the elliptical machine every day. (Today is my 3rd day.) I can only do 5 minutes so far, but it’s a start.

So, try a little Feng Shui in your house, and see what interesting changes come about. There are many books on the subject. One that deals specifically with clutter is Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui, by Karen Kingston. Another excellent book is Wind and Water, by Carole Hyder.

The first, and one of the hardest, things I need to work on is getting enough sleep.

I have seen studies on this (don’t ask me where - I read a lot but don’t remember where I read things). One of the things that contributes to weight gain is not getting enough sleep. I know it is true in my case. If I’m tired, I eat just to keep going. And mostly what I eat to keep going is sweets - to get that sugar kick. Plus I drink lots of caffeine, which makes me hungrier. Sometimes I get so tired at my desk at work that I just keep eating anything to stay awake.

And try giving up sugar or eating healthy when you’re tired - ha! All I care about is surviving through the day.

It is so hard for me to get to bed early, though. The evenings are my time, after a long day at work. I have so many things I want to do, or things I want to read, or whatever.

I have been getting up an hour later than I should be lately, because I’m so tired. That means I get to work an hour later (good thing I have flex-time), and get home an hour later - so I end up staying up later… it’s a vicious circle.

If I’m going to get to bed earlier, I am going to have to get up when I should (5 am during the week). So, I thought of an idea - I think I am going to have to reward myself for getting up on time. I would like to reward myself with a nice leisurely breakfast and reading the paper, but I don’t have time for that. So what could I use as a reward? Well, this may sound weird, but I need a new robe - my old one is at least 10 years old and falling apart. I thought I would buy myself a beautiful silky new robe. When I get up on time, I get to wear the new robe. If I get up late, I have to wear the ratty old one.

It’s all about pampering myself without using food. I think we fat people are used to pampering ourselves with food, but we often feel guilty pampering ourselves any other way. We put everyone else ahead of ourselves.

I bought myself a new winter coat the other day. It has this wonderful soft “fur” (not real) around the collar. It feels so good against my neck. I just love wearing the coat. It is so cozy too - lightweight yet very warm. That’s the kind of feeling I would like to get from this new robe. I will have to see if I can find one this weekend.

I am going to think some more about pampering myself in general. I think it would help.

Now, what should I use for a reward for actually getting to bed on time? I am thinking I should be in bed by 10:00 - that would be 7 hours of sleep. I should really start getting ready at 9:00 - I have so much to do - brushing my teeth, letting the dog out, rinsing out her dishes from supper, washing any pots and pans in the sink (I always put this off, but don’t like to go to bed with stuff in the sink), etc. So if I start to get ready at 9:00, I could maybe be in bed at 9:30. I thought of rewarding myself with 1/2 hour of reading time in bed, but I get into a book too much, and then it would be hard to shut off the light at 10:00.

I can’t really think of a reward that wouldn’t just keep me awake longer - maybe I should try visualization instead. But that’s a post for another day.

I’ll let you know how this works out.