It is amazing how time gets away from you. the holidays have been coming at me at record speed it seems! 1 week until Christmas. Yowsers!
At my last weigh in on Monday I was surprised with a loss! My official weight at the office Monday was 234.6! That makesna grand total thusnfar of 21.4 pounds! My weight loss has definitely slowed down but, as long as I maintain a loss of some sort through the first of the year that is a win in my book!
Somehow this entry wound up in my Dothan Dinners For Less blog! Yikes!
Here it is!
A tip I received from the nutritionist last week:
Keeping your water intake up when it is cold outside is very difficult. I myself find it hard to drink water when all I want is hot cocoa and coffee. Her suggestion? Hot tea. I was skeptical at first but since I started drinking it I do have to say that I enjoy it.
How do I remember to drink tea? My mom bought me a tea kettle that I keep full of water on the stove. When I get ready to do something, or when I am readying to leave, I turn it on. It whistles very loudly, so I don't miss it! I make some tea and take it with me on the road. It doesn't go down as quickly as ice water on a hot day but, it does keep me warm when it's chilly outside!
Do you drink tea? What is your favorite flavor? I bought a green tea/white tea fusion yesterday. Apparently, white tea has been found to contain more antioxidants than green! Whoda thunk?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Follow me on my journey to losing 100 pounds by August 1, 2011 for my trip to Jamaica!!!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
No, I haven't fallen of the face of the Earth....
Wow, the holidays can be crazy! There is something about the months of November and December. They seem to fly by every year. Between birthdays, Thanksgiving, Anniversary, more birthdays, Christmas, split families and life in a family of 5 I have been running non stop. I wish that running would cause me to lose some weight! I wish I could say that I have been so busy running on the elliptical that I haven't had time to blog. But, I cannot. That elliptical has been getting some good use, and no, not as a clothes rack! My trip to the nutritionist, the 1st in 2 weeks, proved to be a success! I lost 2.7 pounds since my last visit. I am officially down to 235!! That's the exact weight I was when I had Lillian! To celebrate the success, I bought a sweater dress. I am not sure how it will LOOK when I put it on...but I have it along with a new pair of boots!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
The elliptical is here!!
I did it. I made a decision. It was pretty funny because when Waylon got to PIAS he thought I had made a decision, but, I hadn't. Decisions really stump me. They are so final! Once we get it home and put it together there is no "take it back" without a terrible amount of effort. So, here it is, my Horizon EX-79 elliptical!
It is pretty awesome. After much, much research I picked this model because it had a lot of the same features as the Livestrong LS 13.0e but with a price tag about $300 less. The other deciding factor was the place I bought it. The Play it Again Sports has a great owner who is very helpful. Every time I went into his store (all 3 times) he answered every question I had and tried very hard to help me come to a decision. When I went to Dick's Sporting goods (3 times) to look at their ellipticals not ONCE did ANYONE approach me with help or information. So, the customer service won. Plus, I really like the elliptical! The only feature I am not 100% sure about is the Ipod/Nike interface. In order to save my data and view it I have to use an Ipod. It does have an MP3 jack so I can listen to my phone or MP3 player and the speakers actually sound pretty darn good! Almost in stereo LOL. Even with the fan running and using the machine, I can hear the music very nicely. I used it today for just 20 minutes and it was awesome. Very smooth, extremely quiet and I got one heck of a workout! Another plus, it has a great warranty! One thing that I thought was funny, the same company makes both the Horizon and LiveStrong ellipticals as well as a high end model used in gyms.
Here's to a firmer, sexier physique!!! He, he, he!
I forgot to mention, I used my "bargaining" skills too! The elliptical was priced $999. He left me to make my "decision" and I said, ok, if I take the 79 will you throw in a floor mat? He said sure! Ha ha ha! It felt great. I got a $30 floor mat to protect my floor LOL.
It is pretty awesome. After much, much research I picked this model because it had a lot of the same features as the Livestrong LS 13.0e but with a price tag about $300 less. The other deciding factor was the place I bought it. The Play it Again Sports has a great owner who is very helpful. Every time I went into his store (all 3 times) he answered every question I had and tried very hard to help me come to a decision. When I went to Dick's Sporting goods (3 times) to look at their ellipticals not ONCE did ANYONE approach me with help or information. So, the customer service won. Plus, I really like the elliptical! The only feature I am not 100% sure about is the Ipod/Nike interface. In order to save my data and view it I have to use an Ipod. It does have an MP3 jack so I can listen to my phone or MP3 player and the speakers actually sound pretty darn good! Almost in stereo LOL. Even with the fan running and using the machine, I can hear the music very nicely. I used it today for just 20 minutes and it was awesome. Very smooth, extremely quiet and I got one heck of a workout! Another plus, it has a great warranty! One thing that I thought was funny, the same company makes both the Horizon and LiveStrong ellipticals as well as a high end model used in gyms.
Here's to a firmer, sexier physique!!! He, he, he!
I forgot to mention, I used my "bargaining" skills too! The elliptical was priced $999. He left me to make my "decision" and I said, ok, if I take the 79 will you throw in a floor mat? He said sure! Ha ha ha! It felt great. I got a $30 floor mat to protect my floor LOL.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Egg Coupon!
We don't buy eggs (thanks to the lovely "ladies" of the "Million dollar chicken coop!" LOL BUT this is a good deal for those that do! BTW, locals, save your egg cartons for us please! Also, we may have too many eggs around once Goldie realizes that there really aren't any eggs under her, bless her heart. Anyone who is interested in awesome, nutrient rich, organic, free range as it gets chicken eggs let me know!
If you have any issues, you can use area code 33615 to get it.
Thanks Jenny at Southern Savers!
Water, water, everywhere....except inside of me!
Ha ha ha. I must say that I feel so much better. I started drinking water a big part of my day again and what a HUGE difference it has made! When I weighed in on Tuesday I was 237.8, I got on the scale today and I am back down to 234.2!!! That is almost 4lbs! Wahoo! Now the battle will be to keep it up! I have only taken the Bontril two days this week thus far. I really do not like to take ANYTHING but I certainly need to get my appetite back under control. Actually, I am rather shocked that I lost anything seeing how I ate nearly 12 Chips A Hoy cookies last night. They were reduced fat but does it really make a difference?? No. It was empty calories none the less! Time to get busy and get off of this computer!!
Does anyone have any tips for increasing your water intake during the cooler months? With the weather being so much nicer now and not so sweltering, I find it difficult to get in my 8-10 glasses a day.
Does anyone have any tips for increasing your water intake during the cooler months? With the weather being so much nicer now and not so sweltering, I find it difficult to get in my 8-10 glasses a day.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Ugh...another week.
This is it. I have hit the final slump. I gained another 0.2 lbs which seems very trivial but is HUGE in my eyes! What am I thinking?? This has to stop and it has to stop now! This week I am going to start over. I still have some Bontril left so I am going to take it for the next week or until it's gone, whichever comes first. The elliptical will be purchased this week so I will have no excuses on exercise. I tried my hardest to climb the stairs this morning at the Dr's office and I did it but oh goodness did my knee feel it!
Let me tell you, last night was probably the biggest mistake I have made in the last week or 2. After working a hellacious 11 hours yesterday I was starving. The mindset I had was that since I knew dinner at home would not be a good option for me I would go through Taco Bell, order 2 fresco tacos and call it a night. The line at that place was unreal. I waited for a few minutes and said forget it, I can eat something unprocessed and not handled by a bunch of people at home. Yea right! I got home and felt completely and totally drained! I walked in, grabbed a PARTY PIZZA out of the freezer and ate the whole thing!!!! What on earth was I thinking? Needless to say, my water weight was up this morning after that extra 750 calories, 1200 mg of sodium and 40 grams of fat!!! Ugh. Great way to end the week.
So, here we go. Here is to a much better week filled with healthy choices, water and lots of exercise!
Let me tell you, last night was probably the biggest mistake I have made in the last week or 2. After working a hellacious 11 hours yesterday I was starving. The mindset I had was that since I knew dinner at home would not be a good option for me I would go through Taco Bell, order 2 fresco tacos and call it a night. The line at that place was unreal. I waited for a few minutes and said forget it, I can eat something unprocessed and not handled by a bunch of people at home. Yea right! I got home and felt completely and totally drained! I walked in, grabbed a PARTY PIZZA out of the freezer and ate the whole thing!!!! What on earth was I thinking? Needless to say, my water weight was up this morning after that extra 750 calories, 1200 mg of sodium and 40 grams of fat!!! Ugh. Great way to end the week.
So, here we go. Here is to a much better week filled with healthy choices, water and lots of exercise!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Off to a much better start! How exciting!
After getting on the scale this morning I was electrified! Down to 234.4 pounds! I have officially gotten below the weight I was when I arrived at the hospital to have Lillian. Phew. It is officially down hill from here for me! Finally, I feel as if I am headed somewhere. Hopefully being on My Fitness Pal with my si-in-law will help to keep us BOTH excited and energized to get where we want to be physically and emotionally. Not only do I want to be in a smaller size, my ultimate goal is to be healthier and hopefully live longer. This way I can spend endless years with my family, my children. I would love for them to grasp the same desire to live healthy so that they don't have to fight the same battles that I have had all of my life. Just as Dave Ramsey urges us to change our "family tree" by being out of debt, I want to change my family tree by living a healthier lifestyle.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Changing to My Fitness Pal
I have lost interest in My Fat Secret. I don't feel a lot of accountability anymore using it. My dear sis-in-law is rocking her weight loss and using My Fitness Pal so I am going to jump along and use it with her! Together we can hold each other accountable. (Or so I hope!!) It has a lot of the same features that MFS has and it even has a better Android app for my phone. It has a blog feature and an easier food database. Woo hoo! Come along and join me there! The ONLY thing I am sad about is that my weight loss to date is not accurate. I may delve into the site and see if I can log a weight from August to make it more accurate. Let me know if you join so that we can be "friends."
MyFitnessPal - Free Weight Loss Tools
Monday, November 8, 2010
Moving up, not down, time to get down to business!
My visit to the Dr's office today was not a happy one. I gained 0.4 lbs. Yikes! This is the 2nd week in a row I have shown a gain. Slight as it may be, it is still a movement UP in numbers instead of down. Hopefully this is the slap in the face and the swift kick in the buttocks that I need to get motivated again. I feel like I have hit a stagnant point. When I left the office I went straight to Publix and stocked up on fibrous, no calorie snacks like celery and cucumbers. I also picked up some more hummus and cottage cheese as well as jello. Planning my meals in advance also needs to be a priority for me. For the last 2 weeks I have not "counted" my calories and it shows. I am also hoping to receive the letter I need in order to have my elliptical reimbursed from our health savings account. Maybe with the combination of efforts I will see some results next week. Surely, if I got on here a little more often I might want to stick to it a little more as well.
This weekend was nice though. And really, if you think about the things I ate, gaining less than 1/2 a pound isn't really terrible. We went to the casino on Friday and ate the buffet. I felt like I was doing really well by choosing steamed crab legs and shrimp. (I only dipped a few pieces in butter, then I stopped.) I made sure to eat a salad but what got me was dessert. I could not look at that long row of sweetness and avoid reaching out to it. A piece of chocolate cream pie and strawberry/cherry/marshmallow fondue later, I felt terribly guilty. :( To make matter worse, for breakfast I ate at Huddle House. I honestly don't think there was anything there that wasn't fried or cooked in grease. Even the waffle iron was coated in lard. Yuck. It was not the best decision to order a cheese steak omelet with hash browns and toast. Nope, I can promise. On the way home we had to pull over because I was physically ill. I am sure that the lack of sleep didn't help matters, but I "ate" that breakfast until I went to bed Saturday night. Yucko!! I don't want to see anything fried or greasy again so long as I live. It is amazing how your body rejects such terrible stuff when you go so long without eating it. A good thing I suppose.
I am off to organize for the holidays. We have family coming in and I am so excited! I think this is going to be the biggest Thanksgiving we have ever had! Ohhhhh I can't wait!!! Yippee!!!
Don't forget to stop over at my other blog, Dothan Dinners For Less. Check it out and tell me what you think!
Amanda
This weekend was nice though. And really, if you think about the things I ate, gaining less than 1/2 a pound isn't really terrible. We went to the casino on Friday and ate the buffet. I felt like I was doing really well by choosing steamed crab legs and shrimp. (I only dipped a few pieces in butter, then I stopped.) I made sure to eat a salad but what got me was dessert. I could not look at that long row of sweetness and avoid reaching out to it. A piece of chocolate cream pie and strawberry/cherry/marshmallow fondue later, I felt terribly guilty. :( To make matter worse, for breakfast I ate at Huddle House. I honestly don't think there was anything there that wasn't fried or cooked in grease. Even the waffle iron was coated in lard. Yuck. It was not the best decision to order a cheese steak omelet with hash browns and toast. Nope, I can promise. On the way home we had to pull over because I was physically ill. I am sure that the lack of sleep didn't help matters, but I "ate" that breakfast until I went to bed Saturday night. Yucko!! I don't want to see anything fried or greasy again so long as I live. It is amazing how your body rejects such terrible stuff when you go so long without eating it. A good thing I suppose.
I am off to organize for the holidays. We have family coming in and I am so excited! I think this is going to be the biggest Thanksgiving we have ever had! Ohhhhh I can't wait!!! Yippee!!!
Don't forget to stop over at my other blog, Dothan Dinners For Less. Check it out and tell me what you think!
Amanda
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Ellipticals
Yesterday was spent testing every elliptical in the city of Dothan. Which, let me tell you, isn't many. There are 3 stores that I know of that carry the machines. We went to Play it Again Sports, Sears and Dick's. I am not sure if I am any closer to a decision than I was when I left. My mind was kinda set on the Esprit model I found online but after seeing so many I am once again unsure. Here is what I have found out.
Play it Again Sports has the Horizon treadmills that are made by Sole. They did not have any set up, they were actually putting them together when we arrived. He said that he would have them ready to see today. The 2 models, the EX-59 and the EX-69 he would have run $500-$700 and the Spirit model would be around $1300 (which can be ordered at Amazon for $999 with free shipping and no tax). He was very helpful and spent quite a bit of time teaching me about the ellipticals and what I would need to look for. It helped, I am sure, that I had educated myself pretty well prior to shopping. Some exciting news was that he is actually getting one of the Esprit ellipticals in as he is a reseller for them. The downside is that it won't be in for a couple weeks. Can I wait that long to try it out? Let alone wait that long to get it? I am ready now. Ugh, just one of the downsides to being impatient. I do feel though that I really need to try it before I buy it. Especially once I got on a few that he had in the store and realized that certain models hurt my knee. How crazy. I am not sure if it is the foot pedal placement or just the difference in the mechanics of the machines. I thank him very much and we trudged on to Sears.
To no surprise the help at Sears was no where near as good as that I received at PIAS. The sales guy knew a little bit about the machines he was selling, but mostly just the "selling points." I did however really like the NordicTrack 990 Pro. It feels sturdy, rides smooth and has some awesome features like iFit technology, it folds up and a power incline. The price on it was $999. Not too bad. The different sites that review them rank it as a "Best Buy" for treadmills under $1,000. Now I had a kink thrown into my plan. Dang it. We waited for over 15 minutes for the sales guy to give me a print out of the specs. The funny thing was that he simply printed it off the website. I got 1 page of the elliptical info and the 2nd page was specs on a refrigerator. LOL. Fabulous. Thanks for the great info sales guy!
Our next stop was Dick's. This is where I was really turned upside down. Not literally, but with my wonderful balance it could've happened! They carry the Sole Ellipticals that seem to get really great reviews online. Honestly, I just wasn't sold on them. The machine just felt weird. I was really disappointed because once I saw that they carried them I thought for sure i would like them. What I DID like, to my surprise, was the Livestrong machines. They just felt so fluid and natural. They had 3 models, the LS8.0e, LS10.0e and LS13.0e. Unfortunately, I can't remember if I liked the 10.0e. Waylon says that I didn't, but I know I liked the other 2. The downside is that the 8.0 doesn't have the tracking capability of the other 2, nor does it have the MP3 option and the price difference between the top and the bottom line machine is nearly $700. The bells and whistles don't add up to that much extra to make it worth that much money. Oh, the other difference is the power incline. The 8.0 has a manual incline and the other 2 have power.
As far as features go, I am not overly concerned with the power incline. If it is manual and easy to adjust that is fine with me. I do like the MP3 player option but my cajun-engineering husband says he could "rig it up for me" to play music. Oh Lord, who knows what that will be. I am having flashbacks of the GPS ziptied to his bike. I do like the technology available to me though. Tracking my progress is a big issue for me. Readouts of my workout is something that I know I would thoroughly enjoy looking at. It is very motivational to see improvement and I just love graphs etc. Have I drug anyone into my dilemma? Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Thank you Alli and Pam for responding and giving me some insight. It was very helpful in my shopping yesterday. Here goes a few more weeks of indecisiveness. Weeeeeee!
Play it Again Sports has the Horizon treadmills that are made by Sole. They did not have any set up, they were actually putting them together when we arrived. He said that he would have them ready to see today. The 2 models, the EX-59 and the EX-69 he would have run $500-$700 and the Spirit model would be around $1300 (which can be ordered at Amazon for $999 with free shipping and no tax). He was very helpful and spent quite a bit of time teaching me about the ellipticals and what I would need to look for. It helped, I am sure, that I had educated myself pretty well prior to shopping. Some exciting news was that he is actually getting one of the Esprit ellipticals in as he is a reseller for them. The downside is that it won't be in for a couple weeks. Can I wait that long to try it out? Let alone wait that long to get it? I am ready now. Ugh, just one of the downsides to being impatient. I do feel though that I really need to try it before I buy it. Especially once I got on a few that he had in the store and realized that certain models hurt my knee. How crazy. I am not sure if it is the foot pedal placement or just the difference in the mechanics of the machines. I thank him very much and we trudged on to Sears.
To no surprise the help at Sears was no where near as good as that I received at PIAS. The sales guy knew a little bit about the machines he was selling, but mostly just the "selling points." I did however really like the NordicTrack 990 Pro. It feels sturdy, rides smooth and has some awesome features like iFit technology, it folds up and a power incline. The price on it was $999. Not too bad. The different sites that review them rank it as a "Best Buy" for treadmills under $1,000. Now I had a kink thrown into my plan. Dang it. We waited for over 15 minutes for the sales guy to give me a print out of the specs. The funny thing was that he simply printed it off the website. I got 1 page of the elliptical info and the 2nd page was specs on a refrigerator. LOL. Fabulous. Thanks for the great info sales guy!
Our next stop was Dick's. This is where I was really turned upside down. Not literally, but with my wonderful balance it could've happened! They carry the Sole Ellipticals that seem to get really great reviews online. Honestly, I just wasn't sold on them. The machine just felt weird. I was really disappointed because once I saw that they carried them I thought for sure i would like them. What I DID like, to my surprise, was the Livestrong machines. They just felt so fluid and natural. They had 3 models, the LS8.0e, LS10.0e and LS13.0e. Unfortunately, I can't remember if I liked the 10.0e. Waylon says that I didn't, but I know I liked the other 2. The downside is that the 8.0 doesn't have the tracking capability of the other 2, nor does it have the MP3 option and the price difference between the top and the bottom line machine is nearly $700. The bells and whistles don't add up to that much extra to make it worth that much money. Oh, the other difference is the power incline. The 8.0 has a manual incline and the other 2 have power.
As far as features go, I am not overly concerned with the power incline. If it is manual and easy to adjust that is fine with me. I do like the MP3 player option but my cajun-engineering husband says he could "rig it up for me" to play music. Oh Lord, who knows what that will be. I am having flashbacks of the GPS ziptied to his bike. I do like the technology available to me though. Tracking my progress is a big issue for me. Readouts of my workout is something that I know I would thoroughly enjoy looking at. It is very motivational to see improvement and I just love graphs etc. Have I drug anyone into my dilemma? Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Thank you Alli and Pam for responding and giving me some insight. It was very helpful in my shopping yesterday. Here goes a few more weeks of indecisiveness. Weeeeeee!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Yikes!
My weigh in yesterday did not go as well as I wanted it to. I ended up gaining 0.4 pounds. Which, in light of my week, was not terrible. It definitely could've been worse. Hopefully once these antibiotics are done and the bladder infection is gone I will get back to normal. There has also got to be a limit to my snacking. It has got to stop. In happier news, I got on my scale this morning and was actually down to 236. Definitely makes up for yesterday's slump.
Does anyone have any tips on searching for a good quality elliptical? Researching them is getting overwhelming. I think I have looked at every brand elliptical out there and have come to no conclusion on what I want. Decision making is not one of my best skills. I can see myself spending hours, then days, then weeks and never making a decision. Help!!! I would like to stay under $1k but still get a good quality machine that doesn't wobble and squeak. An MP3 input would be nice as well. The ellipticals at www.Smoothfitness are really nice but the low end affordable model has not MP3 input and their higher end models only have Ipod docks (which I don't have). Any help would be appreciated!.com
Here's to a great week!
Does anyone have any tips on searching for a good quality elliptical? Researching them is getting overwhelming. I think I have looked at every brand elliptical out there and have come to no conclusion on what I want. Decision making is not one of my best skills. I can see myself spending hours, then days, then weeks and never making a decision. Help!!! I would like to stay under $1k but still get a good quality machine that doesn't wobble and squeak. An MP3 input would be nice as well. The ellipticals at www.Smoothfitness are really nice but the low end affordable model has not MP3 input and their higher end models only have Ipod docks (which I don't have). Any help would be appreciated!.com
Here's to a great week!
Monday, November 1, 2010
It's been a while...
I know it has been quite some time since I have written anything. Time seems to be slipping away from me. As soon as I think I can sit down and do this I get pulled somewhere. I finally decided to just do it. My weight loss has slowed a little bit. I haven't been logging my foods like I was. I am still watching what I eat and trying to stay clear from the junk but I really need to be writing it down. I have however been exercising a lot. Go figure. I go from one to the other. Why can't I do both of them together? Today I walked/ran 3.5 miles in 50 minutes. Not too bad considering I am pooped from not getting any sleep over the last few days. My next step is going to be getting an elliptical machine. When it starts to get cold I am sure I will use that as an excuse not to exercise. My knees are also starting to hurt from running. It feels so good to run but then my knees start crunching and cracking and I pay for it that night. Any ideas on what kind of brace I could use to help alleviate some of the stress on my knees? My right side is worse than my left. I do have an ACE brace but it doesn't seem to do much for me anymore.
Saturday I did my measurements. The areas I measure are arm, bust, waist, hips and thigh. Since August the 11th I have lost a total of 13 inches!! So, even though the scale has kinda stopped moving, the inches are coming off and THAT is what matters to me.
My total weight loss as of my last weigh in was 20.6 pounds. I did it. I broke the 20 lb mark! That is 4 bags of potatoes! Woo hoo! I definitely feel the difference. I noticed this morning how my calves are much more defined and hard lol. It took me by surprise when I was shaving my legs. :D Great feeling! My next goal mark is going to be 30 lbs. Hopefully I will be there in 4 weeks. That will also be my next picture posting. Oh joy. The lipo/Bcomplex shots are reimbursable so I will be getting one a week now. I really hope that they speed the process up a little. I am happy with 1-2 pounds a week but that occasional 3 pound or more loss is really a motivational boost!
Thanks for listening to my rant. I am shocked that I got it all out quite condensed!
Saturday I did my measurements. The areas I measure are arm, bust, waist, hips and thigh. Since August the 11th I have lost a total of 13 inches!! So, even though the scale has kinda stopped moving, the inches are coming off and THAT is what matters to me.
My total weight loss as of my last weigh in was 20.6 pounds. I did it. I broke the 20 lb mark! That is 4 bags of potatoes! Woo hoo! I definitely feel the difference. I noticed this morning how my calves are much more defined and hard lol. It took me by surprise when I was shaving my legs. :D Great feeling! My next goal mark is going to be 30 lbs. Hopefully I will be there in 4 weeks. That will also be my next picture posting. Oh joy. The lipo/Bcomplex shots are reimbursable so I will be getting one a week now. I really hope that they speed the process up a little. I am happy with 1-2 pounds a week but that occasional 3 pound or more loss is really a motivational boost!
Thanks for listening to my rant. I am shocked that I got it all out quite condensed!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
So very close!
I am almost there. I can see it! My 20lb mark is only 1.6lbs away! There were a few days this past week that I ate things I probably shouldn't have but I still managed to lose a pound. It is exciting that I didn't gain any! After work one day I came home and ate 3 Reece's cups, 3 small kit kats and who knows what else! That binge had me feeling so terrible. I was truly ashamed. But, I picked myself up that same day and didn't let it bring me down. Once you make a mistake you have to realize that it is OK. Don't let it get the best of you. Pick yourself up and move on. You can't change what has happened earlier in the day or last week. Tell yourself that it's OK, you recognize the mistake and move on. Vow to continue the day the way you should. Don't just assume that since you messed up you can now blow the entire day! Let's look at this:
Say for instance you had a healthy breakfast, good snacks and a healthy lunch. You have racked up 650 calories out of you day of 1300 allowance. You are now left with 650 for the rest of the day. you pig out on an ice cream cone that has 650 calories. Wowwee! All your calories are gone. There are 2 ways you can finish the day out.
Option 1: Sulk about and feel terrible that you have just blown away your entire day. Decide, to heck with it and eat 2 slices of pizza for dinner (700 calories). Now you feel awful for REALLY over doing it. So, you eat 2 brownies for dessert (300 calories). When you sit down to watch TV you grab a bag of popcorn (200 calories) and a soda (225 calories). Now, not only have you used up all of your daily calories, you have exceeded it by 1,425 calories!
Option 2: You realize that the ice cream cone was a bad choice. You really could have and should have opted for a kid size frozen yogurt or skipped it all together. But, what is done is done. When you get home you fix a healthy dinner for your family of whole wheat pasta, spaghetti sauce (no meat) and some frozen green beans. You prepare yourself a salad with no cheese and low fat dressing (100 calories) and eat some green beans with the family (35 calories). For dessert you have some sugar free jello (10 calories) and whipped topping (50 calories). You know you are still going over your calories but you have probably only done so by about 195 calories! That is a difference of 1,230 calories! That is nearly an entire day's worth of food!! And guess what? You wake up ready to tackle another day. You feel positive and refreshed knowing that you came from behind your decision and you still won!
I can't always say that I choose option 2. We are all human and there is only 1 perfect person (and that ain't me!).
So for my weekly weigh in I was down to 238.6 (1.6 lbs to hit that 20 mark!!!) That will be gone this week!! I haven't spoken to the nutritionist in 2 weeks now due to our conflicting schedules, but I have a list of things I am ready to ask her. The readouts are a little confusing to me still and I would like to know how to determine my muscle mass versus water/fat mass so that I can tell if I am gaining muscle and losing fat. This is a tricky part of weight loss. It is discouraging to only lose 1 lb BUT if I am actually losing 3lbs of fat and gaining 2 lbs of lean mass then that is awesome! I keep telling myself that's what it is. : D I am ready to post some measurements. Here goes!
These are from 8/13 shortly after I started and yesterday 10/11
Start Now Difference
Waist: 46.5 44.5 2 inches
Hips: 54.5 52 2.5 inches
Thighs: 25.5 24.75 0.75 inches
Arms: 15 14 1 inch
Chest: 50.5 47.5 2.5 inches
That makes a total of.....drum roll.....8.75 inches!!!
I have lost my readout for this week but I know that my BMI has gone from 40.4 to 38.6!! Woo hoo!!
My mom treated me with a new market tote for my 20 lb goal so I am really excited to get that (yea, I know, I hadn't QUITE made it but I am sooo close!) I treated myself to a new hair style today!
As far as exercise goes, I have been doing a 3.5 mile walk at least twice a week. Today I had my first Zumba experience. That was a LOT of fun! I love to dance (not that I am any good) but it is fun to listen to music, move and have a good time! I can't wait to go back on Friday!!
Thanks for keeping up with me and following me thus far!! Have a great week everyone!! God is GREAT!
Say for instance you had a healthy breakfast, good snacks and a healthy lunch. You have racked up 650 calories out of you day of 1300 allowance. You are now left with 650 for the rest of the day. you pig out on an ice cream cone that has 650 calories. Wowwee! All your calories are gone. There are 2 ways you can finish the day out.
Option 1: Sulk about and feel terrible that you have just blown away your entire day. Decide, to heck with it and eat 2 slices of pizza for dinner (700 calories). Now you feel awful for REALLY over doing it. So, you eat 2 brownies for dessert (300 calories). When you sit down to watch TV you grab a bag of popcorn (200 calories) and a soda (225 calories). Now, not only have you used up all of your daily calories, you have exceeded it by 1,425 calories!
Option 2: You realize that the ice cream cone was a bad choice. You really could have and should have opted for a kid size frozen yogurt or skipped it all together. But, what is done is done. When you get home you fix a healthy dinner for your family of whole wheat pasta, spaghetti sauce (no meat) and some frozen green beans. You prepare yourself a salad with no cheese and low fat dressing (100 calories) and eat some green beans with the family (35 calories). For dessert you have some sugar free jello (10 calories) and whipped topping (50 calories). You know you are still going over your calories but you have probably only done so by about 195 calories! That is a difference of 1,230 calories! That is nearly an entire day's worth of food!! And guess what? You wake up ready to tackle another day. You feel positive and refreshed knowing that you came from behind your decision and you still won!
I can't always say that I choose option 2. We are all human and there is only 1 perfect person (and that ain't me!).
So for my weekly weigh in I was down to 238.6 (1.6 lbs to hit that 20 mark!!!) That will be gone this week!! I haven't spoken to the nutritionist in 2 weeks now due to our conflicting schedules, but I have a list of things I am ready to ask her. The readouts are a little confusing to me still and I would like to know how to determine my muscle mass versus water/fat mass so that I can tell if I am gaining muscle and losing fat. This is a tricky part of weight loss. It is discouraging to only lose 1 lb BUT if I am actually losing 3lbs of fat and gaining 2 lbs of lean mass then that is awesome! I keep telling myself that's what it is. : D I am ready to post some measurements. Here goes!
These are from 8/13 shortly after I started and yesterday 10/11
Start Now Difference
Waist: 46.5 44.5 2 inches
Hips: 54.5 52 2.5 inches
Thighs: 25.5 24.75 0.75 inches
Arms: 15 14 1 inch
Chest: 50.5 47.5 2.5 inches
That makes a total of.....drum roll.....8.75 inches!!!
I have lost my readout for this week but I know that my BMI has gone from 40.4 to 38.6!! Woo hoo!!
My mom treated me with a new market tote for my 20 lb goal so I am really excited to get that (yea, I know, I hadn't QUITE made it but I am sooo close!) I treated myself to a new hair style today!
As far as exercise goes, I have been doing a 3.5 mile walk at least twice a week. Today I had my first Zumba experience. That was a LOT of fun! I love to dance (not that I am any good) but it is fun to listen to music, move and have a good time! I can't wait to go back on Friday!!
Thanks for keeping up with me and following me thus far!! Have a great week everyone!! God is GREAT!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Update from Monday's Weigh In
Great news! As of Monday I have lost a total of 18 pounds!! Also, I have begun exercising. Thankfully, I have found a friend to walk with. This makes it so much easier to get motivated. I enjoy having someone who I can talk her ear off while we are exercising. The trail we walk is approximately 3.5 miles. The first day we did it was Saturday. It took us a little over 1 hour. It was probably about 1 hr and 10 minutes or so. Today we did the same trail in exactly 1 hour! Hoorah! While I was waiting on her to get there I warmed up with a 1/2 mile lap. It felt great to be out in the beautiful weather.
I promised that at 15 pounds I would post pictures....well here they are. This is really hard for me to do. But, this is one small step in my long journey.
These pictures are from 8/11, 254.6 lbs
Here I am, as of yesterday, at 239 lbs.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Krispy Kreme screamed my name....
And I plugged my stinnkin' ears!!!!
It felt awesome! There were plenty of times that I wanted to reach my hand out and take just a little taste. A small morsel never killed anyone....but I resisted. It was hard but it was worth it! I rewarded myself with a Limey Blimey protein smoothie from Tropical Smoothie. The smoothie weighs in at about 300 calories and less than 2 grams of fat but is packed with protein! I couldn't drink the whole thing. Not long ago I could go into Tropical Smoothie and drink down a shake plus Lillian's and still have room to eat! I was nearly sick after drinking just half of it!
My method today for making it through the donut shop was packing myself full of protein before I left and taking a bag of melon balls to much on afterwards. It seemed to work! For breakfast I had the following:
1 Tortilla
1 cup of cooked egg whites mixed with 2 Tbs of plain greek yogurt (cooked together)
1/4 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese
2 slices of Butterball Turkey Bacon
335 calories
42 g protein
11 g fat
My goal for today was to plan my meals out in advance and exercise at least 30 minutes. Done. The exercise wasn't the highest quality but it was exercise none the less. The routine for today consisted of a 5 minute walk around the yard, 15 minutes on the recumbent bike at level 3 resistance and a jaunt at the park with Lillian. She rode her bike around the 1/4 mile track and I walked next to her. We played on the playground together. This is what I want. I want to be the mom on the playground swinging and sliding down the slides. Lillian insisted that I climb up the tower with her and slide down. Terrified doesn't even begin to describe my feelings toward that slide. Who would think a green piece of plastic could be so scary? In my mind I could see myself getting on the slide next to her and not fitting. I looked at that slide many times before I dared to climb on. When I sat down I realized that I might just make it. There was nothing easy about it but I didn't get stuck. I slid down and off the thing and went for it one more time! Hallelujah! God is great!
It felt awesome! There were plenty of times that I wanted to reach my hand out and take just a little taste. A small morsel never killed anyone....but I resisted. It was hard but it was worth it! I rewarded myself with a Limey Blimey protein smoothie from Tropical Smoothie. The smoothie weighs in at about 300 calories and less than 2 grams of fat but is packed with protein! I couldn't drink the whole thing. Not long ago I could go into Tropical Smoothie and drink down a shake plus Lillian's and still have room to eat! I was nearly sick after drinking just half of it!
My method today for making it through the donut shop was packing myself full of protein before I left and taking a bag of melon balls to much on afterwards. It seemed to work! For breakfast I had the following:
1 Tortilla
1 cup of cooked egg whites mixed with 2 Tbs of plain greek yogurt (cooked together)
1/4 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese
2 slices of Butterball Turkey Bacon
335 calories
42 g protein
11 g fat
My goal for today was to plan my meals out in advance and exercise at least 30 minutes. Done. The exercise wasn't the highest quality but it was exercise none the less. The routine for today consisted of a 5 minute walk around the yard, 15 minutes on the recumbent bike at level 3 resistance and a jaunt at the park with Lillian. She rode her bike around the 1/4 mile track and I walked next to her. We played on the playground together. This is what I want. I want to be the mom on the playground swinging and sliding down the slides. Lillian insisted that I climb up the tower with her and slide down. Terrified doesn't even begin to describe my feelings toward that slide. Who would think a green piece of plastic could be so scary? In my mind I could see myself getting on the slide next to her and not fitting. I looked at that slide many times before I dared to climb on. When I sat down I realized that I might just make it. There was nothing easy about it but I didn't get stuck. I slid down and off the thing and went for it one more time! Hallelujah! God is great!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday's check in...
Monday's visit wasn't the best. I was down a whopping 0.2 lbs BUT Emily said my water weight was up 4.5 lbs. Geesh! Thanks to "that time" I had lots of excess fluid. It was very comforting to know that I wasn't a failure for the week. Hopefully this means that next week will be a great one! I have moved down a size the scrubs at work. That is exciting!
Today was a crappy eating day for me. Fast food and dried fruit threw me over my calorie mark big time. I also didn't cook dinner like I had planned, nor did I eat a salad at dinner. It was a very long, exhausting day and I did not prepare my foods at all. I only thought today was a challenge....tomorrow is the ultimate challenge....Lillian has her first field trip and it is to Krispy Kreme! Yikes!! I must not eat a donut....can I do it? Honestly, I am terrified!! It definitely seems easier as I sit here and watch The Biggest Loser.
Ok...so here are the newest numbers. Hopefully they are a little skewed thanks to the water weight. Eventually I plan to keep a running tab of them so they are easier to compare.
Week 1
Weight 250.4
BMI 40.4
BMR (basic metabolic rate) 1922 kcal
Fat % 49.0
Week 4
Weight 242.6 -7.8 lbs
BMI 39.2 -1.2
BMR 1877 kcal -45kcal
Fat % 46.2 -2.8%
Ok...so basically I have lost 7.8 lbs which is awesome. The only downside is that I am not burning as many calories at rest. That is normal as you lose weight which is why it gets harder as you go along. This is also just since I started the NuYu program. I have lost a total of 15lbs total. That's 3 sacks of potatoes!!
This week is going to be a better week for me. Hopefully I will dig down deep and get a move on it. Exercise is going to be key from here out. My muscle mass has to stay. It won't do me any good to lose a bunch of fat and my muscle. If these people on The Biggest Loser can work out so can I! I need tips, ideas, motivation...any suggestions?
Goals for week 5:
Exercise at least 3 days for more than 30 minutes
Plan my meals out the day before.
Pack snacks to take in the car with me everyday!
As a side note, my husband has lost 10 lbs. He is a little sad. LOL. Gee...the curse of a fast metabolism!
Today was a crappy eating day for me. Fast food and dried fruit threw me over my calorie mark big time. I also didn't cook dinner like I had planned, nor did I eat a salad at dinner. It was a very long, exhausting day and I did not prepare my foods at all. I only thought today was a challenge....tomorrow is the ultimate challenge....Lillian has her first field trip and it is to Krispy Kreme! Yikes!! I must not eat a donut....can I do it? Honestly, I am terrified!! It definitely seems easier as I sit here and watch The Biggest Loser.
Ok...so here are the newest numbers. Hopefully they are a little skewed thanks to the water weight. Eventually I plan to keep a running tab of them so they are easier to compare.
Week 1
Weight 250.4
BMI 40.4
BMR (basic metabolic rate) 1922 kcal
Fat % 49.0
Week 4
Weight 242.6 -7.8 lbs
BMI 39.2 -1.2
BMR 1877 kcal -45kcal
Fat % 46.2 -2.8%
Ok...so basically I have lost 7.8 lbs which is awesome. The only downside is that I am not burning as many calories at rest. That is normal as you lose weight which is why it gets harder as you go along. This is also just since I started the NuYu program. I have lost a total of 15lbs total. That's 3 sacks of potatoes!!
This week is going to be a better week for me. Hopefully I will dig down deep and get a move on it. Exercise is going to be key from here out. My muscle mass has to stay. It won't do me any good to lose a bunch of fat and my muscle. If these people on The Biggest Loser can work out so can I! I need tips, ideas, motivation...any suggestions?
Goals for week 5:
Exercise at least 3 days for more than 30 minutes
Plan my meals out the day before.
Pack snacks to take in the car with me everyday!
As a side note, my husband has lost 10 lbs. He is a little sad. LOL. Gee...the curse of a fast metabolism!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Have you ever lifted 3 sacks of potatoes with one hand?
While reading a blog yesterday, (Pamela), something she does made a light go off in my head. For every 5 pounds she loses she puts a virtual 5 lb sack of potatoes in the shopping cart. Have you ever lifted just 1 of those bags? Let alone 3? When I was at WalMart yesterday in the produce section I walked up on a display of the exact bags of potatoes on her blog. I thought...hmm...and crazy as I probably looked, picked up 3 bags of those potatoes with one hand. That was heavy! 15 pounds of potatoes. Wow. No wonder I am feeling like I can move quicker. Fifteen pounds has been removed from by body. There are a lot of times where I think, gee its only 15 pounds. Now I know that it's not JUST 15 pounds. In the great scope of things it is 15% of my total goal. Such a small number. BUT it is the first 15% and I have done it. Yes. I cheated. I got on the scale this morning and I was at exactly 242 pounds. How exhilarating! What a terrific start to the day! God is GREAT! From here out, every time I lose 5 pounds I am going to take a picture of myself at the store holding up that many bags of potatoes! Yes! I will look so ridiculous, but you know what? I don't care! If only I could shout from the rooftop this morning. That's how great this feels! Thank you Pamela for opening my eyes and helping me to see what a great accomplishment I have already achieved!
The main thing I have GOT to work on right now is exercise. Really, I promise, I love to exercise! Why can't I get my rump moving and just do it? Imagine the success I could have if I added some power to my punch! I am envisioning all the sacks of potatoes I could be holding up. How crazy will I look holding up 20 bags of potatoes? How will I do that?? I have got to get a move on building up some muscle. That is all there is to it. It's kinda funny how I find myself wanting to jog around the house to get things or thinking about how great it would feel to do some crunches. Again, why can't I make myself do it? Any suggestions? Maybe a workout buddy would help. Hmm. I could always put an add on Craigslist. :D
Have a great day! I am!
The main thing I have GOT to work on right now is exercise. Really, I promise, I love to exercise! Why can't I get my rump moving and just do it? Imagine the success I could have if I added some power to my punch! I am envisioning all the sacks of potatoes I could be holding up. How crazy will I look holding up 20 bags of potatoes? How will I do that?? I have got to get a move on building up some muscle. That is all there is to it. It's kinda funny how I find myself wanting to jog around the house to get things or thinking about how great it would feel to do some crunches. Again, why can't I make myself do it? Any suggestions? Maybe a workout buddy would help. Hmm. I could always put an add on Craigslist. :D
Have a great day! I am!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Almost to goal #1!!!!
Today's trip to the nutritionist proved to be a great one! Before I went in to her office, I was talking to my mom. She asked how I thought I did this week. After working all day Saturday and having a crazy busy day at church and work Sunday, I figured I had only lost about a pound. To my surprise I got on the scale and it said 242.8!!! That makes a total loss of 14.2 pounds! Surely I will be well below my goal by the time next Monday rolls around. It is so exciting to be seeing results. Sunday was pretty rough for me. Had I planned ahead and packed my meals, etc, I am certain it would've been easier to stay on track. I did manage to stay below 1800 calories. When I spoke to Emily I told her about my "binge" day and how I ate so much. I then had to back track. Ya know, I used to eat close to 4000 calories a day...I guess a "binge" day of 1700 isn't so bad! This means that next week I will post measurements and pictures. Oh boy....
After my successful office visit I went out to lunch with a friend. I was really nervous about making good choices but I think I did. I had a salad with grilled steak, no avocado, cheese and dressing on the side. Unfortunately I did eat some chips and salsa but I tried to limit them. One thing I have found about eating out is that when I am done, I put my trash on my plate. This way I don't continue to nibble. It worked today! When I found myself still munching on the nachos I put a napkin over them and the salsa on top. Finished!
We are going to a wedding this Saturday. None of my dresses (all 3 of them lol) are appropriate or the right size! My friend and I went shopping. It was so nice to be trying on a size 18. That is big. I know it. But it sure is better than a 22!! PLUS I even bought 2 pairs of size 16 shorts/capris! WOWWY!!
All in all today was a great day. My goals for this week are to exercise and plan my meals out a bit better. I am working on my grocery list tonight and hopefully I can get some meals figured out for the week. Tonight was shrimp and pasta. Oh so yummy and under 300 calories!
Time to work on that grocery list! Here's to a great tomorrow.
After my successful office visit I went out to lunch with a friend. I was really nervous about making good choices but I think I did. I had a salad with grilled steak, no avocado, cheese and dressing on the side. Unfortunately I did eat some chips and salsa but I tried to limit them. One thing I have found about eating out is that when I am done, I put my trash on my plate. This way I don't continue to nibble. It worked today! When I found myself still munching on the nachos I put a napkin over them and the salsa on top. Finished!
We are going to a wedding this Saturday. None of my dresses (all 3 of them lol) are appropriate or the right size! My friend and I went shopping. It was so nice to be trying on a size 18. That is big. I know it. But it sure is better than a 22!! PLUS I even bought 2 pairs of size 16 shorts/capris! WOWWY!!
All in all today was a great day. My goals for this week are to exercise and plan my meals out a bit better. I am working on my grocery list tonight and hopefully I can get some meals figured out for the week. Tonight was shrimp and pasta. Oh so yummy and under 300 calories!
Time to work on that grocery list! Here's to a great tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
So far so good
Yesterday was a good day. I managed to stay under 1300 calories!! It was amazing! We went to Taco Bell for lunch and I got 2 Chicken Ranchero Soft Tacos for a total of 340 calories. I was so full halfway through the second taco. I could't believe it! It feels GREAT! Maybe it really worked, just maybe my stomach can't hold as much now. The plan is to keep some of the Bontril on hand for those days that I just know I am going to be tempted. Let's say, oh, 12 hour work days or maybe a get together where there is a lot of super yummy food. :D Another mileston I have been working on is the pile of candy in my freezer. Thanks mom. :D I haven't touched one stinkin' piece! Not one! I stared at Hershey Bars on my counter for 2 whole days and never opened them! Phew...I did make myself put them away today to keep temptation at bay.
Here are a few recipes that I have concocted over the last couple of days. Most of them are wraps. I found the yummiest, best tasting, low calorie wraps at Winn Dixie. Wouldn't you know that they were out of them when I went shopping today! I had to get the next best ones. They are made by The Tortilla Factory. They have only 100 calories, 8grams of protein! They are even low fat! How awesome is that??
Tuna Salad Wrap
1- 100 calorie wrap
1- can tuna in water
1 Tbs pickle relish
1 Tbs chopped red onion
1 oz low fat Feta Cheese
1 Tbs Light Mayo
Lettuce
salt and pepper to taste
Warm the tortilla in the microwave for 20-30 sec
Mix tuna, reslish, onion, and mayo together in a bowl.
Place on top of warm tortilla.
Top with lettuce and feta cheese.
Wrap and eat!!! YUMMO!
Calories: 318
Fat: 10.5
Protein: 30
Carbs: 35
Here are a few recipes that I have concocted over the last couple of days. Most of them are wraps. I found the yummiest, best tasting, low calorie wraps at Winn Dixie. Wouldn't you know that they were out of them when I went shopping today! I had to get the next best ones. They are made by The Tortilla Factory. They have only 100 calories, 8grams of protein! They are even low fat! How awesome is that??
Tuna Salad Wrap
1- 100 calorie wrap
1- can tuna in water
1 Tbs pickle relish
1 Tbs chopped red onion
1 oz low fat Feta Cheese
1 Tbs Light Mayo
Lettuce
salt and pepper to taste
Warm the tortilla in the microwave for 20-30 sec
Mix tuna, reslish, onion, and mayo together in a bowl.
Place on top of warm tortilla.
Top with lettuce and feta cheese.
Wrap and eat!!! YUMMO!
Calories: 318
Fat: 10.5
Protein: 30
Carbs: 35
Monday, September 13, 2010
It's been a while
The past week and a half have flown by so fast! I realized today that I haven't updated here in a while! Great news, I weighed in at the office today at 246.2 lbs!! That is 3.2 pounds this week! Yeah!! The excitement is awesome! It is amazing how fun it can be to create meals that are healthy. Every time I get ready to fix something I think about how I can make it healthier. What can I use to replace this or that? So far the family hasn't complained too much. The best creation I have done so far is the toasted pizza wrap. So yummy! It has been difficult for me to get all of my protein in lately. I am out of my Spiru-tien shakes and I just can't make myself pay that much for them. Maybe next week. :(
I started the NuYuRx program 2 weeks ago. So far I have lost a little over 4 pounds. Not bad considering we were on vacation for a few days over the holiday weekend! I lost a pound on vacation!! How awesome is that?? Credit needs to be given to an appetite suppressant. I am not going to say I did it totally on my own. The nutritionist suggested that I use a supplement called Botril to help get me through the first 2 weeks of my calorie change. As of today I have stopped taking it. We shall see how it goes. I am optimistic. Hopefully my stomach has "shrunk" and gotten used to eating less than 1300 calories. Prayers please that I can keep it up. Medications are not my favorite things to take. If it were up to me I would never take anything. My nutritionist also suggested that I try a b12 injection. What the heck...lol...I figured I would give it a try. It is supposed to help rev up your metabolism and give you a little extra energy. I will be sure to fill everyone in when I know!
Here is to another week!
I started the NuYuRx program 2 weeks ago. So far I have lost a little over 4 pounds. Not bad considering we were on vacation for a few days over the holiday weekend! I lost a pound on vacation!! How awesome is that?? Credit needs to be given to an appetite suppressant. I am not going to say I did it totally on my own. The nutritionist suggested that I use a supplement called Botril to help get me through the first 2 weeks of my calorie change. As of today I have stopped taking it. We shall see how it goes. I am optimistic. Hopefully my stomach has "shrunk" and gotten used to eating less than 1300 calories. Prayers please that I can keep it up. Medications are not my favorite things to take. If it were up to me I would never take anything. My nutritionist also suggested that I try a b12 injection. What the heck...lol...I figured I would give it a try. It is supposed to help rev up your metabolism and give you a little extra energy. I will be sure to fill everyone in when I know!
Here is to another week!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Spinach and Feta Pita Yummo!!!
This has to be the best tasting pita pizza of all time! Maybe I was really hungry, but it was still awesome! Packed with vitamins too!
Here's what you need:
1 whole wheat pita
1 Tbs pesto, I used basil pesto but sun dried tomato would be good as well
1 Tbs onion (or more if you like)
1 Tbs fresh basil
1 Tbs fresh cilantro
1-2 mushrooms sliced
1/2 Roma Tomato chopped
Handful of baby spinach leaves chopped
1 oz Feta cheese, I used the reduced fat
1 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbs Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Here's what you need:
1 whole wheat pita
1 Tbs pesto, I used basil pesto but sun dried tomato would be good as well
1 Tbs onion (or more if you like)
1 Tbs fresh basil
1 Tbs fresh cilantro
1-2 mushrooms sliced
1/2 Roma Tomato chopped
Handful of baby spinach leaves chopped
1 oz Feta cheese, I used the reduced fat
1 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbs Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- You can either place the pita on a baking sheet or directly on the rack. I made mine on a sheet but I think that next time I will put it on the rack so that it will be crispier.
- Spread the pesto onto the pita.
- Top with onion, tomato, basil, cilantro, mushrooms and spinach.
- Sprinkle the feta cheese on top then add the parmesan cheese.
- Drizle the olive oil over it.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until it is done to your liking.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Movin' on down!
Today marks the beginning of my journey into the NuYuRx program. I think I am really going to like this! Emily was very helpful and she listened to everything I had to say, even though I am sure it was a lot!
My day started off with the question, "honey, where's my scale?" To which I received a snicker for a response. Hmph. The minute I stepped on it I was nervous. One whole week had passed and I had hardly exercised and had worked 2 grueling 13 hr shifts. It was a bit unsettling to see that the scale hadn't budged, maybe even a bit upsetting. I pushed past it though and kept my head up. My mom fixed me a yummy breakfast of one organic, free range, from the chicken coop egg, 3 slices of turkey bacon and a slice of whole wheat toast. Yum, good way to start the day!
We were running late for my appointment, of course, it's the story of my life. When we arrived at the office I was full of excitement. I just couldn't wait to meet Emily. My mom came with me. She is my accountability partner in all of this. Having her there was very comforting. We were both able to gain some knowledge from the experience. They have a scale that reads everything about you. It's a little scary. I was actually thinking maybe the print out was going to have my bra size on there! The little piece of paper shows a lot about your body composition. I learned that 49% of my body is FAT. WOW. I am not sure if I am shocked by this or disgusted by it, not really sure which. I have a BMI of 40.4% and 122.6 lbs of fat. Ouch. If that isn't an eye opener I don't know what is. The best news of all this morning when I got on that high tech scale was that it showed me at 250.4 lbs!! That makes a total of 6.6lbs!!! Not too bad for doing it on my own. The scariest part of the visit.....cutting my calories down to 1200-1300 per day!!! Yowzers!
Visits to the nutritionist will be weekly. I am going to stop using my scale at home....YIKES!! I know!! It's going to be hard, but I can do this! It will be easier to track my progress with these printouts. She gave me a lot of information to look over with many good tips. So far, the one thing that has helped the most is the breakdown of carbs, fats and proteins that I should be eating. According to the guidelines I should be eating 50% GOOD carbs, 30% Protein and 20% Fats. Surprisingly, my pie chart for today shows very clost to that! I finished up the day with 50% Carbs! Spot on! 23% Protein and 27% Fat. Pretty close for the first day! Also, I finished up with a total of........drum roll please.............1,259 calories!!! That even included a trip to Mc Donald's!!! That was a milestone in and of itself. Lillian got a happy meal that mysteriously didn't come with fries. I figure if there are NO fries on the table I will not be tempted. Besides, it's better for her to eat the apples anyway. She didn't fuss to my surprise!
All in all I think today was a success. I feel empowered with knowledge to get through the week. It will definitely be a test this weekend as we head out of town to visit family. My mom will be with me and together I think we can keep each other on the right track. Keeping my fingers crossed and saying a few extra prayers tonight. Tomorrow will be a good day. I just know it.
My day started off with the question, "honey, where's my scale?" To which I received a snicker for a response. Hmph. The minute I stepped on it I was nervous. One whole week had passed and I had hardly exercised and had worked 2 grueling 13 hr shifts. It was a bit unsettling to see that the scale hadn't budged, maybe even a bit upsetting. I pushed past it though and kept my head up. My mom fixed me a yummy breakfast of one organic, free range, from the chicken coop egg, 3 slices of turkey bacon and a slice of whole wheat toast. Yum, good way to start the day!
We were running late for my appointment, of course, it's the story of my life. When we arrived at the office I was full of excitement. I just couldn't wait to meet Emily. My mom came with me. She is my accountability partner in all of this. Having her there was very comforting. We were both able to gain some knowledge from the experience. They have a scale that reads everything about you. It's a little scary. I was actually thinking maybe the print out was going to have my bra size on there! The little piece of paper shows a lot about your body composition. I learned that 49% of my body is FAT. WOW. I am not sure if I am shocked by this or disgusted by it, not really sure which. I have a BMI of 40.4% and 122.6 lbs of fat. Ouch. If that isn't an eye opener I don't know what is. The best news of all this morning when I got on that high tech scale was that it showed me at 250.4 lbs!! That makes a total of 6.6lbs!!! Not too bad for doing it on my own. The scariest part of the visit.....cutting my calories down to 1200-1300 per day!!! Yowzers!
Visits to the nutritionist will be weekly. I am going to stop using my scale at home....YIKES!! I know!! It's going to be hard, but I can do this! It will be easier to track my progress with these printouts. She gave me a lot of information to look over with many good tips. So far, the one thing that has helped the most is the breakdown of carbs, fats and proteins that I should be eating. According to the guidelines I should be eating 50% GOOD carbs, 30% Protein and 20% Fats. Surprisingly, my pie chart for today shows very clost to that! I finished up the day with 50% Carbs! Spot on! 23% Protein and 27% Fat. Pretty close for the first day! Also, I finished up with a total of........drum roll please.............1,259 calories!!! That even included a trip to Mc Donald's!!! That was a milestone in and of itself. Lillian got a happy meal that mysteriously didn't come with fries. I figure if there are NO fries on the table I will not be tempted. Besides, it's better for her to eat the apples anyway. She didn't fuss to my surprise!
All in all I think today was a success. I feel empowered with knowledge to get through the week. It will definitely be a test this weekend as we head out of town to visit family. My mom will be with me and together I think we can keep each other on the right track. Keeping my fingers crossed and saying a few extra prayers tonight. Tomorrow will be a good day. I just know it.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Back on the wagon.
I did it! Last week I lost 2 pounds! Well, 1.8 to be EXACT, but a loss none the less. Considering that the scale said I had gained 2 pounds the week before I consider this a huge success! That is a total of 4 pounds for the week! It all adds up to 5 pounds TOTAL! Yippee! Even though I had no scale I DID do measurements : P and I am happy to report that I lost a 1/2 inch all around (minus the thighs) and 1 inch in my chest of all places! The feeling of empowerment is strong! I CAN do this! The thrill and excitement is awesome because I have done this on my own thus far. No pills, no "magic," and no real plan. Simply eating less and exercising has done it! That, and keeping track of all of my food and being accountable to everyone is really working! An appointment has been made for Monday to speak with the nutritionist in the NuYuRx program. I am excited. This means even MORE accountability. I am actually excited to print out my food lists from FatSecret and take them with me. Almost giddee! Jamaica here I come 'mon!
On another note, I had a BAD binge night at work Tuesday. I am not sure WHY but the last couple days that I have worked have been hellacious! Is that even a word? Needless to say, I hadn't made the best choices during the day but was staying below my calorie line. For breakfast that morning I had a SuperSonic breakfast burrito. Oh those are my favorite! After craving one for weeks I broke down and got it. Not too bad, 550 calories as it comes. It was amazing that I was actually full before I finished it! Next time I will plan ahead (yes, unfortunately I am sure there will be a next time). I plan on having them cut it in half and wrap it separately so that I can freeze the other half. This way there are only 275 calories and I will feel like I am being bad! See, there is ALWAYS a solution. That was not the end of it. For lunch I took Lillian to McDonald's. I know, I know, but it's the ONLY air conditioned play ground in the city! I had an Angus wrap with NO cheese. I could've cut the fat even more if I had asked for no mayo and put fat free on instead but I was in a hurry and didn't realize it came with mayo, duh! While I was at work it was, well, there is no way to explain how incredibly busy it was. So busy that it was on the border of pure insanity! I ate lunch at 1 and did not sit down or even THINK of eating until 10pm. Needless to say by the time I actually ate (midnight), I wanted everything in site. I started with a protein shake. That was good, but I wanted more. Next I tackled the piece of chocolate pie in the fridge, but I wanted more. It is beginning to sound like the Very Hungry Caterpillar! Next came 2 chicken strips and then a roll. I finally felt full and disgusted. BUT, I did not let it get the best of me. I vowed to start anew the next day and I did! The calorie budget for yesterday did get exceeded BUT I made better choices. I am almost positive that had I had the chance to eat a real dinner and make a better choice I would have. Given the circumstances I did what I felt I had or better yet needed to. The anxiety, pressure, stress, chaos had all gotten the better of me. I really wish I knew of a better way to deal with those things without eating. Oh well. Today is going to be a good day! Grocery shopping is on the list of things to do, as well as exercise! Woo hoo! I wonder how much I will save today??
On another note, I had a BAD binge night at work Tuesday. I am not sure WHY but the last couple days that I have worked have been hellacious! Is that even a word? Needless to say, I hadn't made the best choices during the day but was staying below my calorie line. For breakfast that morning I had a SuperSonic breakfast burrito. Oh those are my favorite! After craving one for weeks I broke down and got it. Not too bad, 550 calories as it comes. It was amazing that I was actually full before I finished it! Next time I will plan ahead (yes, unfortunately I am sure there will be a next time). I plan on having them cut it in half and wrap it separately so that I can freeze the other half. This way there are only 275 calories and I will feel like I am being bad! See, there is ALWAYS a solution. That was not the end of it. For lunch I took Lillian to McDonald's. I know, I know, but it's the ONLY air conditioned play ground in the city! I had an Angus wrap with NO cheese. I could've cut the fat even more if I had asked for no mayo and put fat free on instead but I was in a hurry and didn't realize it came with mayo, duh! While I was at work it was, well, there is no way to explain how incredibly busy it was. So busy that it was on the border of pure insanity! I ate lunch at 1 and did not sit down or even THINK of eating until 10pm. Needless to say by the time I actually ate (midnight), I wanted everything in site. I started with a protein shake. That was good, but I wanted more. Next I tackled the piece of chocolate pie in the fridge, but I wanted more. It is beginning to sound like the Very Hungry Caterpillar! Next came 2 chicken strips and then a roll. I finally felt full and disgusted. BUT, I did not let it get the best of me. I vowed to start anew the next day and I did! The calorie budget for yesterday did get exceeded BUT I made better choices. I am almost positive that had I had the chance to eat a real dinner and make a better choice I would have. Given the circumstances I did what I felt I had or better yet needed to. The anxiety, pressure, stress, chaos had all gotten the better of me. I really wish I knew of a better way to deal with those things without eating. Oh well. Today is going to be a good day! Grocery shopping is on the list of things to do, as well as exercise! Woo hoo! I wonder how much I will save today??
Thursday, August 19, 2010
My Big Fat Secret
So it really isn't a "secret." I love FatSecret.com. It is so incredibly easy to use and very user friendly. It is a lot of fun to look at what my "buddies" are eating and I stay accountable to them because they say can see what I eat! GASP! The other feature that is pretty cool is the diet calendar. I can view it in so many ways. Whether I want to see just today, this week, this month, this year, it is all available AND I can print it out! This will come in very handy as I am planning on joining the NuYuRx program at Women's Healthcare. I can simply print out my foods for the week and take them with me to my appointment.
On another note, I weighed myself today. AGH! I know. I had to go to the doctor though to get my jaw checked out. My husband says that it hurts because I talk to much. Hmm. Maybe he is right! Apparently I have TMJ. So, when I got to the office I was actually excited to get onto the scale. I feel like a drug addict, I swear! It was a little unnerving to say the least when 254.6 popped up. But, I told myself, "HELLO SELF! This means that you have taken off the 2 lbs you put on AND maybe a little more since Monday." Considering I had my clothes and shoes on and I had had coffee and water before going I think that was pretty good. Now I am left feeling like maybe I am truly getting somewhere. I have stayed right at or under my 1,800 calories per day and hopefully I will get my exercise in every day. Yesterday I was able to do 5 more minutes on the bike without "sweating it." (Not literally lol, there was a LOT of sweat!)
I am off to get some housework done and maybe squeeze in some exercise before we are off to carpool, gymnastics and my personal favorite...GROCERY SHOPPING! And that my friends IS literal. I truly love it. Sick, I know.
On another note, I weighed myself today. AGH! I know. I had to go to the doctor though to get my jaw checked out. My husband says that it hurts because I talk to much. Hmm. Maybe he is right! Apparently I have TMJ. So, when I got to the office I was actually excited to get onto the scale. I feel like a drug addict, I swear! It was a little unnerving to say the least when 254.6 popped up. But, I told myself, "HELLO SELF! This means that you have taken off the 2 lbs you put on AND maybe a little more since Monday." Considering I had my clothes and shoes on and I had had coffee and water before going I think that was pretty good. Now I am left feeling like maybe I am truly getting somewhere. I have stayed right at or under my 1,800 calories per day and hopefully I will get my exercise in every day. Yesterday I was able to do 5 more minutes on the bike without "sweating it." (Not literally lol, there was a LOT of sweat!)
I am off to get some housework done and maybe squeeze in some exercise before we are off to carpool, gymnastics and my personal favorite...GROCERY SHOPPING! And that my friends IS literal. I truly love it. Sick, I know.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Riding the Roller Coaster
The excitement and thrill of a roller coaster is like no other. The anticipation as you go clicking your way up to the top and then that weightless, gut dropping, heart stopping feeling when you finally creep over the top. The view from the top is awe inspiring. The wind is whirling all around you and you feel free. It is the ultimate adrenaline rush for me. Unfortunately, I ride a roller coaster every day but it is not nearly as fun or exciting for me or my family. After weighing myself on Monday I was terribly depressed. Should I have been? Probably, ok, absolutely not. Yes, I gained 2 whole pounds, but, I also ate things I shouldn't have and drank diet sodas that I knew I should be avoiding. It is highly likely that I gained water weight, and I knew this. Even with that knowledge I still let myself get completely down in the dumps after riding the high and the thrill through the weekend from the weight loss of the week prior. Needless to say, my husband has had enough. The scale mysteriously disappeared from the bathroom Monday evening only to return next Monday I was told. My first thought was of course, embarrassment. How silly of me to have allowed my emotions to control me so completely. They controlled me to the point that I was miserable to be around and no fun to anyone in the house. Everything was in disarray around me as I lied in bed sulking. I am sure anger was somewhere in there but who was I angry with? My husband for trying to encourage me and help me get to my goal? Or was I angry with myself for getting on the ride in the first place?
Yesterday was a much better day. I didn't exercise but I did stay under my calories for the day, even with the binge eating of the remainder of the banana pudding squares. Hey, at least I got my calcium and fruit! (They were low fat and low sugar lol). I felt terrible afterwards of course. But, I did not let that get me down. I had a protein shake and a salad for dinner to keep me on course. There were even calories to spare! So, at 11 last night while I was on the computer I let myself have a few low fat cookies and skim milk.
I suppose I will start today off on a better foot. I managed to get up before the kids left for school and the little one is asleep next to me. Now would be a good time to get up, get dressed and head outside for some gardening. Surely some fresh air will get my spirits up as I ride the roller coaster again, click, click, click, climbing my way to the top, waiting for Monday. I just hope it is a fun ride down and not a twisting knot!
My coffee is gone, and so am I!
OK, so I was going through my email and what do I find? An email from South Beach Diet and this is what it says:
Don't be discouraged if your weight fluctuates day by day. Shifts in water weight, changes in bowel habits, and even the amount of food you just ate can influence the daily variations you see on the scale.
HA HA...it's like they read my mind....
Yesterday was a much better day. I didn't exercise but I did stay under my calories for the day, even with the binge eating of the remainder of the banana pudding squares. Hey, at least I got my calcium and fruit! (They were low fat and low sugar lol). I felt terrible afterwards of course. But, I did not let that get me down. I had a protein shake and a salad for dinner to keep me on course. There were even calories to spare! So, at 11 last night while I was on the computer I let myself have a few low fat cookies and skim milk.
I suppose I will start today off on a better foot. I managed to get up before the kids left for school and the little one is asleep next to me. Now would be a good time to get up, get dressed and head outside for some gardening. Surely some fresh air will get my spirits up as I ride the roller coaster again, click, click, click, climbing my way to the top, waiting for Monday. I just hope it is a fun ride down and not a twisting knot!
My coffee is gone, and so am I!
OK, so I was going through my email and what do I find? An email from South Beach Diet and this is what it says:
Don't be discouraged if your weight fluctuates day by day. Shifts in water weight, changes in bowel habits, and even the amount of food you just ate can influence the daily variations you see on the scale.
HA HA...it's like they read my mind....
Monday, August 16, 2010
The Wonders of the Weekend
Today was a terribly depressing day. After a wonderful weekend I awoke to a weight gain of 2 pounds. Talk about being bummed! I kept telling myself I wouldn't let it get to me but it got the best of me. Nothing was accomplished and I started out the day eating things I shouldn't. After a healthy lunch of stir fried veggies and chicken I realized I needed to quit eating! Needless to say, it was a protein shake for dinner! It hit the spot, filled me up, and now I don't feel like such a pig! We had a get together this weekend to help a few friends learn how to "coupon." I tried my best to make healthy snacks, and for the most part I succeeded. The big downfall was Sunday. After getting up and going for a walk with my mom and eating a relatively healthy breakfast we went to church. When we came home we were cooking all different meals for everyone for lunch and as I cooked I nibbled on left overs from the day before. I nibbled, and I nibbled, and I nibbled. :( As of yet I haven't exercised today. I am hoping that writing this will get me motivated to get off my rump and get out on that bike! Surely once I do I will feel a lot better. That and looking at pictures of Jamaica seems to be helping....
Friday, August 13, 2010
Why is it that on the days I am off I have zero motivation, I can't get out of bed and all I want to do is sit around. But, on the days that I have to work (ie today) I am up and full of energy. Maybe it is knowing that I won't have a ton of time to get a lot done so less is expected of me? But by who? Myself? It's almost as if I justify not doing anything on my days off because well...they are my days off! Then, on the days I work I can say, "look at all I did AND I had to work today!" Seems really crazy but I am guessing that is what it is. Ha, ha, psychoanalyzing myself. I didn't get to do my work out yesterday. No excuses. I just felt too tired. I did however touch up the paint on my baseboards and clean the living room. I feel like I cheated myself by not working out. It will definitely be made up for today!
As far as my eating goes, I think I did pretty well yesterday. I stayed under 1700 calories and drank 8 glasses of water, again! It is not as hard as I thought it would be to get all that water down. I still treated myself with a Pepsi Max yesterday. I also made the mistake of getting a diet coke at Mc Donald's. Oh well. 8 glasses of water still made it in!
Does anyone have an opinion on daily weights? I know deep down inside that I shouldn't be weighing myself everyday. It creates a roller coaster of emotions for me. Lord forbid I go up on the scale, my day is then a rocky one. I just don't know how to stop it. There are days where I get on the scale more than once! As if it's going to magically say I have lost 100 lbs! Neurotic, I know. :) Here's to a glorius and blessed day!
The coffee is gone and so am I!
Breakfast:
Homemade protein shake (coffee, skim milk, protein powder, splenda and cocoa powder)
1 Slice of wheat toast with Polanar Fruit spread sugar free
Snack:
Atkin's coconut bar
4 marshmallows (nothing like waking up from an unexpected nap wanting to binge!)
Lunch:
Broccoli
Taco Meat
4 chunks of left over chicken
Snack:
Atkins Latte shake
Dinner:
Mc Donald's grilled chicken sandwhich (no mayo)
Small fry
Dessert:
Hunts sugar free chocolate pudding with lite cool whip
Day number 2 with 8 glasses of water down!!
As far as my eating goes, I think I did pretty well yesterday. I stayed under 1700 calories and drank 8 glasses of water, again! It is not as hard as I thought it would be to get all that water down. I still treated myself with a Pepsi Max yesterday. I also made the mistake of getting a diet coke at Mc Donald's. Oh well. 8 glasses of water still made it in!
Does anyone have an opinion on daily weights? I know deep down inside that I shouldn't be weighing myself everyday. It creates a roller coaster of emotions for me. Lord forbid I go up on the scale, my day is then a rocky one. I just don't know how to stop it. There are days where I get on the scale more than once! As if it's going to magically say I have lost 100 lbs! Neurotic, I know. :) Here's to a glorius and blessed day!
The coffee is gone and so am I!
Breakfast:
Homemade protein shake (coffee, skim milk, protein powder, splenda and cocoa powder)
1 Slice of wheat toast with Polanar Fruit spread sugar free
Snack:
Atkin's coconut bar
4 marshmallows (nothing like waking up from an unexpected nap wanting to binge!)
Lunch:
Broccoli
Taco Meat
4 chunks of left over chicken
Snack:
Atkins Latte shake
Dinner:
Mc Donald's grilled chicken sandwhich (no mayo)
Small fry
Dessert:
Hunts sugar free chocolate pudding with lite cool whip
Day number 2 with 8 glasses of water down!!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
On a roll
This week is proving to be a productive one. Thankfully. No internet means no time to waste on the computer. I do find myself occasionally surfing on my phone, but since it is rather inconvenient, it is usually purposeful. I did manage to take some pictures yesterday. They are really hideous. Ashamed doesn't begin to describe my feeling towards them. Looking at myself that way has really given me that extra PUSH to get moving and motivated. (Not that Jamaica isn't doing that already...ahhhh). Whether they get posted here, I haven't yet decided. Maybe I will put them up when I have lost 15 pounds and have a better comparison that can make me feel better about them, ya know, being in the past. I jumped on the scale this morning and I am officially at the "zero" mark on my scale. Phew...that is a big relief. Hopefully from here out the scale will have a nice minus next the gargantuan number it shows me! My sweet hubby spent a half our in GNC yesterday looking at all of the protein powders for me. He must have read every bottle there. He definitely knows more about protein now than he ever did! Oh, I also took measurements. Again, I am NOT posting those until there has been some improvement. They are right here next to me for safe keeping.
I mentioned before that I am using this really cool app on my Droid called Calorie Counter. Love it! While I was using it the other day I realized that they have a website as well. Check it out, Fat Secret. You can log your daily food intake and it shows you the percentage of your daily calorie allowance that you have used. It is really helpful. Another neat feature is the buddy option. If you have buddies they can see what you are eating. Talk about motivation and accountability! You can follow me there if you like. My user name is Mandamaern. The day ended yesterday and I was nearly 200 calories under my goal! Again, I felt like I ate a lot, but when it all added up it was right on target.
OK, I am off to get my day started. Computer time is about to end and the coffee cup (with sugar free french vanilla creamer) is empty. Time to get moving! House has to be clean for my coupon party Saturday. Woo hoo! Party animal here! :D
Yesterday's foods:
Breakfast:
egg white omelet with cheese
whole wheat toast with sugar free strawberry preserves
Snack:
Atkin's Mocha Protein Shake
Handful of mixed nuts
Lunch:
Tuna with 1 tbs of mayo and pickle relish
Lettuce
Cucumber
1/4 cup shredded cheese
Snack:
Atkin's coconut bar
Dinner:
Chicken breast saute'd with broccoli, onion and soy sauce
Peas
Dessert:
Lite Cool Whip
sliced peaches
Banana nut bread granola
Exercise:
Bike 25 minutes
Circuit training 10 minutes.
I mentioned before that I am using this really cool app on my Droid called Calorie Counter. Love it! While I was using it the other day I realized that they have a website as well. Check it out, Fat Secret. You can log your daily food intake and it shows you the percentage of your daily calorie allowance that you have used. It is really helpful. Another neat feature is the buddy option. If you have buddies they can see what you are eating. Talk about motivation and accountability! You can follow me there if you like. My user name is Mandamaern. The day ended yesterday and I was nearly 200 calories under my goal! Again, I felt like I ate a lot, but when it all added up it was right on target.
OK, I am off to get my day started. Computer time is about to end and the coffee cup (with sugar free french vanilla creamer) is empty. Time to get moving! House has to be clean for my coupon party Saturday. Woo hoo! Party animal here! :D
Yesterday's foods:
Breakfast:
egg white omelet with cheese
whole wheat toast with sugar free strawberry preserves
Snack:
Atkin's Mocha Protein Shake
Handful of mixed nuts
Lunch:
Tuna with 1 tbs of mayo and pickle relish
Lettuce
Cucumber
1/4 cup shredded cheese
Snack:
Atkin's coconut bar
Dinner:
Chicken breast saute'd with broccoli, onion and soy sauce
Peas
Dessert:
Lite Cool Whip
sliced peaches
Banana nut bread granola
Exercise:
Bike 25 minutes
Circuit training 10 minutes.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Back on track
School is back in session here. Yahoo! Now maybe life can start to get a little more "routine." A big goal for me this year is to get my rump up before the kids every day instead of waking up to the sound of the door shutting as they head out to catch the bus. In order to do this though I am going to have to change my schedule up a bit so that I am not getting home from work at midnight or later during the week. I really think that getting up with them is going to help me get motivated and get moving!
I no longer have internet when my husband is gone. This would be thanks to me having "wetted my phone in the ocean." It is amazing how much housework can get done when the giant time vacuum is no longer available! I am now forced to get everything done on the pc first thing in the morning and that is it. This may be very helpful. I actually found myself getting slightly...dare I say it....bored!
As I was going through my list of foods yesterday I was appalled by how incredibly long it was. My total calories were 1,657 but the list was so long! If I could cut out a few of those snacks it would've been substantially lower. Although, I guess I should give myself credit for at least choosing foods that are low in calories. That is one step up! I was reading somewhere yesterday that eating a breakfast higher in fat will help you to metabolize fats during the day. It's like revving up your metabolism to burn fat. This also helps to fill you up and keep you from eating too many....you guessed it...SNACKS! I suppose I should try to have eggs and toast this morning and see how it goes! I did manage to get back down to 255 today. It dawned on my yesterday that I have to loose 2 pounds per week to make my goal by the end of July. Wow, the pressure is on!
Another tidbit of information I read yesterday in 2 different articles (yea I had time to read since there was no internet...) when you work out you should mix things up to increase the fat and calories burned. There was a good work out plan in the Better Homes and Gardens magazine from this month that outlined it. You start with 5 minutes of cardio, do weights and sit ups, then finish up with at least 5 minutes of cardio again. I managed to do 10 minutes of cardio, weights and sit ups then finished with 10 more minutes of cardio. I can feel it today! It amazes me how out of shape you can get!
Here is to a great day!
I no longer have internet when my husband is gone. This would be thanks to me having "wetted my phone in the ocean." It is amazing how much housework can get done when the giant time vacuum is no longer available! I am now forced to get everything done on the pc first thing in the morning and that is it. This may be very helpful. I actually found myself getting slightly...dare I say it....bored!
As I was going through my list of foods yesterday I was appalled by how incredibly long it was. My total calories were 1,657 but the list was so long! If I could cut out a few of those snacks it would've been substantially lower. Although, I guess I should give myself credit for at least choosing foods that are low in calories. That is one step up! I was reading somewhere yesterday that eating a breakfast higher in fat will help you to metabolize fats during the day. It's like revving up your metabolism to burn fat. This also helps to fill you up and keep you from eating too many....you guessed it...SNACKS! I suppose I should try to have eggs and toast this morning and see how it goes! I did manage to get back down to 255 today. It dawned on my yesterday that I have to loose 2 pounds per week to make my goal by the end of July. Wow, the pressure is on!
Another tidbit of information I read yesterday in 2 different articles (yea I had time to read since there was no internet...) when you work out you should mix things up to increase the fat and calories burned. There was a good work out plan in the Better Homes and Gardens magazine from this month that outlined it. You start with 5 minutes of cardio, do weights and sit ups, then finish up with at least 5 minutes of cardio again. I managed to do 10 minutes of cardio, weights and sit ups then finished with 10 more minutes of cardio. I can feel it today! It amazes me how out of shape you can get!
Here is to a great day!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
And the challenge begins....
Ok...so I received a message from my mother yesterday that caught me by suprise. My mom is always trying to encourage me to lose weight. She is doing a great job getting rid of hers and wants me to be healthy and happy. She gave me a goal. One that I am very excited about! If I can lose 100 pounds in the next year and she loses her last 50 pounds we are going to JAMAICA! WOW. Shocked hardly describes my feelings. I am nervous about it though. Deep down inside I know I can do it. I fear failure.
The scale this morning said 256.6 pounds. I gained 3 pounds over vacation this weekend. My mother and I shared most meals to cut calories but I am sure that the long island ice teas and last 2 meals being at Mc Donald's did NOT help matters. Hopefully lots of water will help get this back off! She gave me a recumbent bike to use. It will definitely be used today, right after I get off this computer.
My meals for yesterday:
Breakfast: (not very healthy thanks to watching Julia and Julia the night before!)
1 french hamburger bun toasted in butter and olive oil
5 thin slices of deli ham
1 egg, scrambled
2 tbs of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of coffee with 1 tbs chocolate flavored ID creamer
Lunch: (after learning of my challenge!)
1 cup lettuce
2 pieces of sliced turkey
1tbs bacon bits
1 tiny tomato from the garden
1 tbs shredded cheese
15 sprays from the Hidden Valley Ranch salad spritzers
1 apple
2 tbs all natural peanut butter
Dinner:
1 slice of sausage with sweet baby rays BBQ sauce
1 cup steamed broccoli
1/2 cup french cut green beans
1/2 cup mac and cheese
Dessert:
1/2 cup sugar free fat free chocolate pudding
3 tbs lite cool whip topping
I had no snacks because I was full most of the day. The calories didn't get counted but I would imagine I was close to if not under my 2000 for the day. What do you think?
Here is to a better day today. I think I will try to get my calories under 1900 and start gradually cutting back. Maybe another 100 calories next week.
My boys are back home after being gone for a month and school starts next week. Things will hopefully get back on track and making meals will be easier I hope!!
The scale this morning said 256.6 pounds. I gained 3 pounds over vacation this weekend. My mother and I shared most meals to cut calories but I am sure that the long island ice teas and last 2 meals being at Mc Donald's did NOT help matters. Hopefully lots of water will help get this back off! She gave me a recumbent bike to use. It will definitely be used today, right after I get off this computer.
My meals for yesterday:
Breakfast: (not very healthy thanks to watching Julia and Julia the night before!)
1 french hamburger bun toasted in butter and olive oil
5 thin slices of deli ham
1 egg, scrambled
2 tbs of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of coffee with 1 tbs chocolate flavored ID creamer
Lunch: (after learning of my challenge!)
1 cup lettuce
2 pieces of sliced turkey
1tbs bacon bits
1 tiny tomato from the garden
1 tbs shredded cheese
15 sprays from the Hidden Valley Ranch salad spritzers
1 apple
2 tbs all natural peanut butter
Dinner:
1 slice of sausage with sweet baby rays BBQ sauce
1 cup steamed broccoli
1/2 cup french cut green beans
1/2 cup mac and cheese
Dessert:
1/2 cup sugar free fat free chocolate pudding
3 tbs lite cool whip topping
I had no snacks because I was full most of the day. The calories didn't get counted but I would imagine I was close to if not under my 2000 for the day. What do you think?
Here is to a better day today. I think I will try to get my calories under 1900 and start gradually cutting back. Maybe another 100 calories next week.
My boys are back home after being gone for a month and school starts next week. Things will hopefully get back on track and making meals will be easier I hope!!
Monday, July 19, 2010
This weekend flew by like a jet plane! I worked a 12 hour shift Saturday and I did really well with my eating while there. One thing I did notice was that since I didn't eat a "good" sized breakfast I was hungry ALL DAY. I ate a lot of very healthy snacks but I really feel like had I eaten more of my calories in the morning then I wouldn't have been so darn hungry all day! It was pretty slow at work also so that makes for more time to nibble and munch :( . Sunday I did great...until Ci Ci's. I had cheese toast (wheat) for breakfast and lots of water until lunch time. We ate a late lunch and I kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn't want dinner! I had 4 slices of pizza, a salad, 4 breadsticks and a piece of dessert pizaa :( Oh I felt like crud!! Dinner was never even thought of...I was even sick at bedtime. Yuck! BUT on a good note, I only gained 0.2 pounds over the 2 days. That is not ANYWHERE on track but I really thought it would be worse! So....today is a new day. Off on a better foot. Wheat cheese toast and a small serving of hashbrowns/eggs for breakfast and coffee with splenda. I WILL exercise today! Yesterday I must have sweated out anything extra I would've gained! We have chickens and I was busy outside making a fang dangled waterer! It was HOT! Here's hoping today is great!!!!
Amanda
Amanda
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Counting Calories
Good morning! Off to a later start today. My sleeping schedule is such a mess. Surely if I could sleep normaly I would have a much better day.
How does everyone else count their calories?
I use this program on my Android phone (love it!) that counts my calories for me. You can even scan an item and usually it finds it and puts it in the food list for the day. It tallies everything up so you know how much you have left to eat. I actually went to bed last night with a few calories to spare! According to this program for my height, weight and activity level (non existant!) I need to consume 2000 calories. Initially I thought this was a lot! But, now that I see that even eating 2000 calories I was STILL hungry and really wanted to make some bad food choices I can see where this is probably a large decrease in my daily intake :( and thus the reason for my obesity....I hate the sound of that.
My food choices for the day:
Breakfast:
1 Slice of french bread with cheese
Lunch:
Hotdog on a white/wheat bun
1 serving of baked french fries /w ketchup
Dinner:
Zaxby's house salad /w grilled chicken
1 packet of light ranch dressing
Snacks: (my downfall)
15 Wheat thins
1 serving of Laughing Cow cheese
1 cup of watermelon
1 Activia Strawberry Fiber yogurt
1 cup of cherries /w pits
1 spiced chai tea /c skim milk and splenda
I got up this morning and the scale said........254.8!!! I must of done something right!
Have a great day everyone!
How does everyone else count their calories?
I use this program on my Android phone (love it!) that counts my calories for me. You can even scan an item and usually it finds it and puts it in the food list for the day. It tallies everything up so you know how much you have left to eat. I actually went to bed last night with a few calories to spare! According to this program for my height, weight and activity level (non existant!) I need to consume 2000 calories. Initially I thought this was a lot! But, now that I see that even eating 2000 calories I was STILL hungry and really wanted to make some bad food choices I can see where this is probably a large decrease in my daily intake :( and thus the reason for my obesity....I hate the sound of that.
My food choices for the day:
Breakfast:
1 Slice of french bread with cheese
Lunch:
Hotdog on a white/wheat bun
1 serving of baked french fries /w ketchup
Dinner:
Zaxby's house salad /w grilled chicken
1 packet of light ranch dressing
Snacks: (my downfall)
15 Wheat thins
1 serving of Laughing Cow cheese
1 cup of watermelon
1 Activia Strawberry Fiber yogurt
1 cup of cherries /w pits
1 spiced chai tea /c skim milk and splenda
I got up this morning and the scale said........254.8!!! I must of done something right!
Have a great day everyone!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Off and running....well walking...
I have to say that I am off to a good start. One day down, a few hundred more to go! Water increased..yes! I got up this morning and walked outside for 20 minutes. Grocery shopping is done. I have to say, I am a very frugal grocery shopper and it has always been dificult to shop on a budget and buy healthy foods. Fortunately there are a lot more options out there now than there has been in the past. I bought Activia Fiber yogurt and it is great! I was full after eating it for an after dinner snack tonight and wow was I suprised! It is definitely worth the try AND there are coupons out there now for $1 off just click here
Try it out! Good stuff!
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vi&tqnm=zeulecv89641328&o=63784&c=DN&p=BbdAhzK2
Try it out! Good stuff!
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vi&tqnm=zeulecv89641328&o=63784&c=DN&p=BbdAhzK2
Starting out
Ok, this is my first time doing this. I want to give a whirl. I have been reading a lot of blogs from others and it is inspiring. I have never been a great writer but there is a first time for everything!
I am tired. I'm tired of being tired. Tired of having no energy. Tired of feeling like I am missing out on my children's lives. Tired of fighting high blood pressure, anxiety and the fears that this extra weight is giving me. I'm just plain tired.
This is difficult but I am going to do it. Today I got on the scale and I weighed 256 pounds. I have weighed more. The highest was 276 this go round. In February my parents and I got onboard with the South Beach Diet since my father was fighting heart failure, 2 years since his massive heart attack that nearly killed him. We were all doing really well, him and my mom especially, when he died suddenly in his sleep. I had lost 20 pounds easily. You would think that this would be a major awakening for me. How can I live like this? Why do I do this to myself? Do I really want to live in fear of a heart attack or heart disease? Not any more!
I have fought my weight since kindergarten. As long as I can remember I have been overweight or battleing to stay thin. I remember kids in the 3rd grade teasing me because I had "boobs" already, but they were kind enough to let me know that they weren't REAL boobs...they were fat boobs! My mom decided when I was in Jr High to sign us both up for Jenny Craig. We did it and it worked! For the first time in a LONG time I was thin! 135 pounds!! Shopping for size 5 clothes was awesome! I finally fit in! Over the course of a year the weight piled back on. In highschool I got active, riding my bike everywhere and the weight fell off again but in my senior year I got pregnant.
I believe I weighed close to 276 right before I had my first son. I was young and had the mindset that "I'm going to get fat anyway!" This was great since I had always battled my weight and now I could eat anything I wanted! WRONG! I carried that weight for nearly 2 years when I started exercising a LOT, rollerblading, going to the gym. The weight fell off. But, weight yo-yo'd like my relationship with my now ex-husband. While I was pregnant with our 2nd son I did great, I didn't gain a lot of weight but I was still big. I divorced my ex-husband after the years of torment of an on-again off-again relationship. I started nursing school and was introduced to the Atkin's diet. It worked great! The weight dissapeared and I got down to a very comfortable 175, size 14 and kept it off for a few years.
When I met my current husband I was about 185 pounds and felt great. I had a great job and now an even more wonderful man in my life! Life couldn't get any better, or so we thought! After 6 months I got pregnant and vowed I would NOT gain all that weight back. The cravings were intense. I did really well only gaining 25lbs the first 33 weeks until my blood pressure went up and I had to stop working. That last 5 weeks I gained nearly 20 pounds! Diet pills and exercise dropped it back down to nearly 200. Just when everything seemed on track my dad had a heart attack. I felt led to take a full time job at a cardiologists office and loved it. I especially loved all the wonderfully delicious and very UNHEALTHY snacks the drug reps brought us. Breakfasts, snacks, candy, lunches, snacks and more snacks! Sometimes there would be double snacks! It was so hard to fight off the urge to eat and the food won, like it always did. By the time I left there I had gained nearly 50 pounds.
It is my hope that blogging about this will open my eyes and help me see how I got to where I am today. I need accountability. I am vowing today to start a food diary for the next week and doing some sort of physical activity every day. Next week I will reassess and see where to go. So many people have done this...shoot..I HAVE DONE THIS...I know I can do it again! I have to. I want my kids to enjoy their childhood with their mom by their side, even in the pictures. There are so many stories like mine. If you look through the photo albums mom is only there during the times she was thin. I want to be there all the time. Starting today.
Please, follow me on my journey and let's do this together. One baby step at a time.
Step 1: Food diary and MOVE every day, at least 20 minutes
I am tired. I'm tired of being tired. Tired of having no energy. Tired of feeling like I am missing out on my children's lives. Tired of fighting high blood pressure, anxiety and the fears that this extra weight is giving me. I'm just plain tired.
This is difficult but I am going to do it. Today I got on the scale and I weighed 256 pounds. I have weighed more. The highest was 276 this go round. In February my parents and I got onboard with the South Beach Diet since my father was fighting heart failure, 2 years since his massive heart attack that nearly killed him. We were all doing really well, him and my mom especially, when he died suddenly in his sleep. I had lost 20 pounds easily. You would think that this would be a major awakening for me. How can I live like this? Why do I do this to myself? Do I really want to live in fear of a heart attack or heart disease? Not any more!
I have fought my weight since kindergarten. As long as I can remember I have been overweight or battleing to stay thin. I remember kids in the 3rd grade teasing me because I had "boobs" already, but they were kind enough to let me know that they weren't REAL boobs...they were fat boobs! My mom decided when I was in Jr High to sign us both up for Jenny Craig. We did it and it worked! For the first time in a LONG time I was thin! 135 pounds!! Shopping for size 5 clothes was awesome! I finally fit in! Over the course of a year the weight piled back on. In highschool I got active, riding my bike everywhere and the weight fell off again but in my senior year I got pregnant.
I believe I weighed close to 276 right before I had my first son. I was young and had the mindset that "I'm going to get fat anyway!" This was great since I had always battled my weight and now I could eat anything I wanted! WRONG! I carried that weight for nearly 2 years when I started exercising a LOT, rollerblading, going to the gym. The weight fell off. But, weight yo-yo'd like my relationship with my now ex-husband. While I was pregnant with our 2nd son I did great, I didn't gain a lot of weight but I was still big. I divorced my ex-husband after the years of torment of an on-again off-again relationship. I started nursing school and was introduced to the Atkin's diet. It worked great! The weight dissapeared and I got down to a very comfortable 175, size 14 and kept it off for a few years.
When I met my current husband I was about 185 pounds and felt great. I had a great job and now an even more wonderful man in my life! Life couldn't get any better, or so we thought! After 6 months I got pregnant and vowed I would NOT gain all that weight back. The cravings were intense. I did really well only gaining 25lbs the first 33 weeks until my blood pressure went up and I had to stop working. That last 5 weeks I gained nearly 20 pounds! Diet pills and exercise dropped it back down to nearly 200. Just when everything seemed on track my dad had a heart attack. I felt led to take a full time job at a cardiologists office and loved it. I especially loved all the wonderfully delicious and very UNHEALTHY snacks the drug reps brought us. Breakfasts, snacks, candy, lunches, snacks and more snacks! Sometimes there would be double snacks! It was so hard to fight off the urge to eat and the food won, like it always did. By the time I left there I had gained nearly 50 pounds.
It is my hope that blogging about this will open my eyes and help me see how I got to where I am today. I need accountability. I am vowing today to start a food diary for the next week and doing some sort of physical activity every day. Next week I will reassess and see where to go. So many people have done this...shoot..I HAVE DONE THIS...I know I can do it again! I have to. I want my kids to enjoy their childhood with their mom by their side, even in the pictures. There are so many stories like mine. If you look through the photo albums mom is only there during the times she was thin. I want to be there all the time. Starting today.
Please, follow me on my journey and let's do this together. One baby step at a time.
Step 1: Food diary and MOVE every day, at least 20 minutes
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