Some researchers have "...found indirect evidence that the body's response to cold, which consists
of shivering and hormonal actions, plays a major role in energy
expenditure. Regulation of body temperature, they say, is associated
with weight."(Fiona Johnson, University College, London, 2011) Also, shivering burns about 400 calories an hour! You may have heard the oft repeated advice to drink ice cold water since it takes more energy and burns more fat than drinking lukewarm water, but supposedly even lowering the temperature in your home a few degrees will help with weight loss. Of course, where I live, all I have to do is go to the local grocery store where I swear they keep the temperature deliberately below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
As you get older, your hands are one of the parts of your body that shows aging, and there hasn't been a lot that you can do about it. One help though is to avoid very dark polishes or brown polishes which seem to accentuate wrinkles and make your skin look older.
Everywhere you will read that the hottest new lipstick color for Spring is coral. But if you have less that white teeth, beware. Coral is a color that will cause your teeth to look dingy - as will most red lipsticks that have a lot of orange in them. Instead, go for a coral with a lot of pink in it rather than orange - or opt out of coral totally.
Yes, it has been quite a while since I posted; in fact, it has been approximately 4 to 5 sizes ago! Since January, I have been dieting and trying to get healthy, and I have succeeded somewhat. I told myself that I was not going to go back to this blog until I had lost enough weight that I was happy with the way I looked!
I have currently lost approximately 33 pounds and I feel great! I have gone from wearing a size misses 12 (sometimes 10) to wearing a size 4 in pants (occasionally a 6 in some brands). I feel on top of the world!
The weight loss was precipitated by my son who wants me to be able to climb mountains and be around while my grand-daughter, who is 4, is growing up. One of the great motivators was his purchase of a scale which showed not only weight but the amount of water, body fat (cringe), bone density, muscle mass and a few other factors. My fat percentage was way out of line with my weight and small bones. I looked forward to weighing on his scale once a week to see if I had lost fat percentage (and I kept an eye on muscle I might be losing, too), and then looked forward to telling my son the proud results. When he left in July for his post in Bulgaria, I continued. It doesn't hurt that I live in a townhouse with 4 floors and am constantly running up and down the stairs all day. Because of the stairs, my thighs are hard as rock and I can see daylight between them. Now I want arms just as hard!
Below, you see a photo taken (with my darling Cluny) in the summer of 2012, just before we went to Paris. The rest of the photos here have been taken in the last month. Below, the jeans are a size 10; above the jeans are size 4.
One wonderful change has been in my face; I feel as though my face looks younger and my double chin has all but disappeared.
The only downside: I've had to buy a new wardrobe! It's amazing how many wonderful pieces I have don't fit any more! Even my beloved cashmere sweaters swallow me! But it's a small price to pay for being healthy.
More on how I actually accomplished this in my next post. I did NOT adhere to any paid diet, but did this on my own with the help of one online app.
