See that picture? That’s me right now, 15 pounds overweight. When I saw that picture…I mean, I knew I had gained weight, I knew what I weighed, I didn’t realize I looked like that. Frumpy. Old. Out of shape.

Well, it’s time for a change.

Care to join me?

I began this on 2/11/24. I bought a Fitbit. I downloaded the Lose It! App. I joined my local market health points program. Started drinking protein powder again.

After not doing any serious exercise beside swimming during the summer and riding my bike now and then, it was time to up my game.

I own some adjustable dumbbells and 2 sets of Bala Bangles for my wrists and ankles and an aerobic stepper.

You can buy them here:

Fitbit: https://amzn.to/3OX3BOO

 Adjustable Weights: https://amzn.to/3SSKRAS

Bala Bangles: https://amzn.to/48rUhZZ

Aerobic Stepper: https://amzn.to/48Ak1ni

Protein Powder (Vegan): https://amzn.to/3wtSR40

That’s a start, right?

My body is severely injured. Torn rotator cuff, tendonitis, bad knee, etc. Exercise is not simple or painless.

A gym is NOT in the future for me. Can’t stand them. To many smells. So I must work out on my own, in my own 500 square foot space.

Many years ago, I had a personal trainer who taught me some stuff, so I started with that. After a few days, it just didn’t seem like enough, so I began watching YouTube.

Since I have already been at this for two weeks, I am not going to re-hash the workouts I have done, but the ones I like and will use again, I will post here.

Never having been a big eater, I was bulimic from age 13 to 18. (Quitting on my own when I got bored with the routine). Food and I have always had an interesting and tough relationship.

So, besides starting a workout routine, I am changing the way I eat, again. Forcing myself to eat a decent breakfast, three meals a day, protein shakes, and going vegetarian a few times a week.

The vegan and vegetarian lifestyles are not something I can handle for long periods of time. It’s easy, for me, to forgo meat and dairy for periods of time, but not forever. I need to know there is a prize at the end of all of this.

I have a few concerns/habits/bad lifestyle choices that are definitely going to hinder my progress.

One: I eat one brownie per day, divided by 4, with weed, for menopause. I have a great recipe. It helps my nausea. I use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, vegan butter instead of dairy butter and I’m working on replacing the sugar but trying to find a balance that is edible is not easy.

Two: I am quite fond of my nightly libation: Irish Cream Liquor. At night, I have one ounce in a cup of decaf coffee, then 5 ounces mixed with almond milk, heated for one minute and thirty seconds.

Those two things right there kill me on calories. The brownie has about 237 calories, and the Irish Cream, 600 calories for 6 ounces. I did cut that amount in half, it was 12 ounces. I am looking for a replacement with less calories if anyone knows of one. I can no longer drink wine or beer and many hard alcohols are out because of the nausea. But I really like my booze.

So, I need to work extra hard to work off the extra calories that keep me mentally in balance. I will not do without them as they are the last pieces of sanity I have. I’m quite sure, if you are in menopause as well, that you have some calorie laden comforts you are unwilling to depart with. So let’s work around them and bust our asses.

I am using a mix of strength training, cardo, HIIT, and LIIS with some yoga thrown in.

Today, I have worked out twice, using these YouTube videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKevDYtxc-s

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3h_Yr40rhg

Lastly, I plan on doing a 30 minute yoga, seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB3Y-4a3ZrU

My food log for the day consists of one slice of Dave’s Killer Whole Wheat Bread with organic Peanut Butter. One cup of seedless green grapes, 1/8 Chocolate bar (sea salt dark chocolate), the brownie, 2 protein shakes, and a buttload of water.

Dinner will be one half of a leftover hormone free/antibiotic free local bone out pork chop, some smoked paprika long grain rice, and the last of the stir fry broccoli rabe.

Dessert has been cut out, the brownie and booze are enough calories to fight.

This will be a daily blog and I will post my results. I weigh in every Friday. Starting at 130 pounds, I am down to 129.2. The goal is about ½ a pound a week with me losing 15 pounds by or before September 6, 2024.

Are you on a menopause weight loss journey? I would love to hear about it.

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Note: No one has paid me to endorse anything that I recommend. I have chosen these items based on personal research only, and trial and error.

If you buy from my links, I may get a commission/referral fee from Amazon or YouTube.

You can find all the videos I workout to on my YouTube Channel.