Day 24: Week 3 Results

I have to say that I cheated a little.  I actually weighed myself for my 3 week results a few days ago...ok Friday actually.  Good news is, I lost another 2 pounds!  So that makes a total lost of 6 pounds so far.  Woohoo!  I'm on track.  Now hopefully I can stay on track. 

This week has been a struggle so far.  Well, at least it seems like it.  I feel like each day I have eaten not great.  Yesterday I went to an appreciation lunch with some other ladies from work sponsored by one of my sales guys.  I was about to order the grilled chicken salad when the waiter said that they had a special today.  Duhn-Duhn-Duhn!!!!  Chicken Salad sandwich!  Ok, I have loved chicken salad sandwiches for a few years now.  [Jason's Deli's is my fav I think...it had pineapple in it!] When I was pregnant I couldn't eat them, unless I made it myself.  Supposedly pre-made chicken salad can harbor listeria [super bad for preggers ladies].  So I have had it a few times since having Ellis.  I couldn't control myself, I had to get it.  At least I did fore go the potato salad and chips for a cucumber tomato salad for my side.  This sandwich was huge!  And delicious.  I ate the first half expecting to not eat the second, but my Dad was in my head saying, "Leah, you better finish what you ordered."  Well thanks Dad, that is exactly what happened.  I finished the whole thing!  Along with the tomato cucumber salad.  I could hear my Dad, "Good job Leah."  Well, bad job Leah!  You were supposed to only eat half.  I've GOT to do better.

Portion control.  That is what I need!  At home, it's easy because I can be dorky and measure my food out before putting it on the plate.  Then I can clean my plate [and make Dad happy].  Restaurants are where I get into trouble.  I don't want to waste food, and it tastes sooo good.

In a study done by the CDC [Do Increased Portion Sizes Affect How Much We Eat?], when a group of people were presented a large portion of food, they ate 30% more calories than presented with the same food, but in a smaller portion size.  Only 45 % of the participants noticed that there was a difference in the size of portions served.  Therefore, it seems like our brain tells us to eat more when we are presented with more food.  How can we fix this?

• Split the entree you order at a restaurant with a friend
• Measure out only one serving in a bowl of your snack instead of sitting down on the couch with the whole bag of chips
• Keep healthy snacks available so that you don't get too hungry before a big meal
• Ask the server to box up half of your entree before they bring it out [never done this, but I should try...obviously]

Tomorrow we are going to probably get Mexican food for dinner, and I am going to try out these strategies and see how they work!  Did you know that 12 tortilla chips is one serving?  Whoa.

Happy portioning!

Day 22: Wake Up, Exercise, Eat, Repeat

As we have discussed before in this blog, Mondays pretty much are the worst day of the week.  You have a great weekend, stay up too late, maybe have some cocktails, and then the alarm brings in the reality that you have to get out of bed before the sun comes up.  You have to go work out [or you won’t do it later].  You have to get kids up and make breakfast. And finally, you have to go to work!  I am so very blessed to have the job I have.  My boss is awesome, and I work for a great company.  I enjoy my job.  BUT [no offense to my job and co-workers] I would rather be at home with my hubs and baby…like everyone else in the world!

So, here are some ways to get you motivated and out the door in the morning….especially a Monday.

http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/quick-start-morning-workout
Wake Up!

Exercise.

It is soooo easy to hit snooze, and not get out of bed in the morning.  But hey, if working out and losing weight were easy, no one would be overweight!  It’s hard to wake up earlier, but if you do it for a week or two it becomes a habit.  [My inner trainer gives me a guilt trip if I don’t get up.]  Even getting up 15 minutes early and doing some easy moves will get your heart going, and your metabolism revved up for a day of burning fat!  Shape Magazine has a good 15 minute mini work out for the mornings: http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/quick-start-morning-workout

 

http://www.thekitchn.com/10-makeahead-breakfasts-to-sta-155762
Yum, yogurt parfait!

Eat Breakfast.

A lot of people skip breakfast, but that is a no-no.  Your body needs fuel in the morning to be able to get your metabolism going and start burning fat.  This morning I made Ellis and I some Kashi blueberry waffles, and an egg each.  I didn’t even dirty a dish!  I scrambled the egg in a paper bowl, microwaved it for 45 seconds…done.  Then I just popped the waffles in the toaster and then put a little Brummel and Brown yogurt spread on them.  Delish.  I’ve also made up a bunch of breakfast burritos for Matt and I, and just put them in the fridge to heat up each morning.  Just scramble a bunch of eggs [I used egg substitute, less fat and calories], add in some chopped peppers and onions [I buy the frozen ones to be easy], spread some refried beans on a whole wheat tortilla, load with eggs, sprinkle with some cheese and salsa.  Then just wrap them up individually in plastic wrap, and you are done!  Reheat in the microwave for about 1 minute.  Here are some other ideas from The Kitchn: http://www.thekitchn.com/10-makeahead-breakfasts-to-sta-155762

 I love the yogurt fruit parfaits in canning jars!

Repeat!

Like I said before, if you can take a few weeks to do these things, they will become good habits.  Maybe set two alarms, in the morning so that if you hit snooze, you have a back up alarm.  I put my workout clothes in the bathroom the night before, so I just have to roll out of bed and walk into the bathroom to change and not have to search for socks or shoes.  Maybe make a pan of breakfast casserole [healthy version] for Sunday breakfast, and then reheat pieces for breakfast during the week. 

I hope this helps you a little, and encourages you some to get up and get going…even on a Monday.

Have a great week!

Day 19: Have your cake, and eat it too.

Death by Chocolate Cupcakes from Yum Yum Tree Sweets

My good friend is having her birthday celebration this weekend, and I am making cupcakes for the occasion…yum!  She is also trying to lose weight as well.  When I asked her if she wanted good, low cal, low fat cupcakes or devilish, delicious cupcakes, she chose the latter.  And thank goodness!  Every once in a while, you need to indulge.  You just have to be smart about it. 

How can I have a cupcake [with it’s buttery delicious frosting and moist chocolate cakeyness], and still lose weight?  Be smart!  Here are some ideas:

Work out.

The day that you are going to be indulging, go to the gym or sweat it out in your living room or on the street/sidewalk [running of course].  Burn the calories before you eat them!  This gives your body a boost in metabolism so that you can burn more calories as well. 

Limit your portion.

This is easy with a cupcake.  Only eat one!  If you are eating something else not already portioned out for you, only eat one serving so that you know how much you are eating.  I measured out ½ cup [one serving] of ice cream the other night and looked at it…it was about a scoop and a half.  I would normally put about 3 scoops in a bowl and call it a night.  Wellllll, that was actually 2 servings!  Limit it to one, log it, and you are good.

Don’t keep leftovers.

It’s great to keep leftover chicken from dinner or reheat leftover spaghetti from last night.  It’s not great to have a devilishly delicious food around the house….staring at you…making eyes at  you…calling your name….  leeeeeaaaahhh.  Leeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh.  LEEEEEEAAAAAAH!!!!!!!  EAT ME!!!!  I’M SOOOOO YUMMMMMY, and YOU SHOULDN’T WASTE MY YUMMMINESSSSS!!!  [insert Psycho shower scene screeching] REEEEE, REEEEE, REEEEE, REEEEEEE!  Just throw out, donate, give away the leftovers.  That way you are not tempted to eat them…all.

I am going to be making some delicious Chocolate Cupcakes with Amaretto Buttercream, and I am going to only have one.  I promise.

Like the wise, old saying states, ‘Everything is acceptable, within reason.’

And watch out for the cupcake with the knife calling your name.

Happy Friday!

Evil Cupcake, hehehe

 

Day 18: Inspire me away from ice cream cake.

Office birthdays mean ice cream cake.  Well, we had a little celebration yesterday for Dec and Jan birthdays.  One of the birthday boys is actually on a low carb diet, so there was a bowl of fruit for him…and of course the ice cream cake for everyone else.  Awesome, right!  Normally a person on a diet would be so psyched to just eat some fresh fruit as an alternative to the ice cream cake.  Wellllll, I couldn’t resist the ice cream cake.  I did have a small slice…topped [of course] with the fresh fruit.  So I actually did have the fruit…but I also had the bad ice cream cake too…great job dieting queen!

Luckily, I did Spin [ridiculously hard stationary bike workout] that morning and burned like a million calories [about 500], so I was covered.  Yesterday was just one of those days when I couldn’t say no to any food.  Laffy Taffy – Yes!  Ice Cream Cake – Absolutely!  Double Churned Edy’s Peanutbutter Fudge Sundae Ice Cream [low-fat at least] – Why not! 

I need some inspiration to be able to say no to these vices.  There are some ways that I have heard of to remind yourself of your goals and inspire you to do better.  Here they are:

Inspiration Photos:

Usually I have photos of myself at my desired weight posted at work, in the fridge, and in the pantry and that usually works to discourage my bad eating.  There are just a few:

2006 - Girl's Trip to FL

2007 - Surfing lessons in Maui

2011 - Beerfest...then Ellis came along :)
[I was training for a triathlon]

 

Affirmations:

These are positive statements of something that is true…or in this case want to be true.  Here are a few

1.       I am a beautiful, strong, healthy woman.

2.       I am physically fit.

3.       I eat healthfully to fuel my body.

Mantras:

These are a grouping of words that is capable of “creating transformation” [thank you Wikipedia]. Basically they are little inspirational statements that encourage you to keep going.  I have a few that I printed on a label maker and stuck them to my monitor at work.

1.       More Time, Training, & Tenacity [that’s what losing weight takes, and also training for a triathlon…that’s another blog..]

2.       Keep Moving Forward [If you stumble at lunch time, get back up and do good for dinner]

3.       It’s my hand, I can control it [because your hand is what puts the food in your mouth]

Google Weight Loss Mantras and you will find tons!

Now, I’ve got my photos, and I have my mantras.  I need to work on my affirmations.  Maybe I will put them in my phone on an alarm setting or something…hmmm.

Go out and be inspired!!!  Avoid Ice Cream Cake at all costs!

You are worth it!

Keep Moving Forward!

 

Day 16: I think I lost my abs.

No, these are not my abs....I wish!

Yep.  I can’t find my abdominal muscles.  I think I must have misplaced them.  Oh yeah, I had a huge belly [thanks to my wonderful 9 lb 2 oz Ellis] for oh, around 9 months.  I guess they may have gotten stretched to smithereens. 

How did I find this out?  I can thank Mr. Tony Horton of P90X for that.  While doing one of the DVDs on yesterday morning, I found an exercise that was just ridiculously hard [ok, most are hard, but this one was whooooooa hard].  It’s called the Dreya Roll.  Here is how to do it:

1.       Stand up straight with your hands stretched above your head

2.       Bend and crouch down and put your butt on the floor

3.       Roll backwards onto your back and throw your legs straight into the air above you while lifting your butt and back off the ground

Oh, no, it gets harder than that.

4.       Roll yourself back upright

5.       Spring to your feet and stand up throwing your arms straight into the air above your head

And then if you REALLY want to go all Tony Horton on it

6.       Jump up

7.       Repeat.

Yeah, and they did something like 25 in the span of one minute!  Whoa.  I tried to do these.  I could do the first part, but when I tried to jump/stand up, I looked like an 80 year old trying to get up.  Jumping was totally out of the question.  My ab muscles are sooo weak!

When you are pregnant, the baby grows and shoves everything inside [like your organs] to the side.  This also elongates the abdominal muscles and can even make them separate!  Then, when you have the baby, your muscles don’t actually snap back into place like a rubber band, you have to work on them to become strong again.  I thought I was doing this but I guess I was wrong.  It took Tony and his evil Dreya Roll to point it out.

Oh to be 29 again, and be able to complete these kinds of exercises! 

I think I am going to have to get back into doing P90X’s Ab Ripper.  Yes, it is as scary as it sounds.  That’s 15 minutes of nothing but ab exercises…25 reps each.  Ouch!  I need this to get back to where I was though.  

Yikes!

I’ll leave you with one idea today.  Try to keep your abdominal muscles pulled in all day.  Or even for a few minutes at a time.  I’m doing it now actually! [Squeeeeeeze]  Maybe say you will keep them tight when you do your emails, or watch TV, or driveing home from work, or folding laundry.  [Squeeeeeeze]  This is helping to tighten and strengthen your abs.  It helps!  [Squeeeeeeeeze]  And hold your belly in too!

[Squeeeeeze]

Day 15: Week 2, Results

Lions, Tigers, and Scales...Oh My!

Last week was a tough one, and I stepped on the scale this morning fully expecting to not have lost anything [or possibly gained].  All the meetings, eating out, and not being able to exercise was getting to me. 

Love the Special K scales!

But...I lost 1.8 pounds!  Go me!  I was pretty shocked to see the scale.  I even stepped back on to make sure it wasn't wrong.  It wasn't!  Now I have lost a grand total of 4 pounds!  Yay! 

Now, I am going to celebrate and have a chocolate cake.  Ok, no chocolate cake.  Maybe I'll have some dark chocolate instead...just a couple squares.  Woohoo. 

That makes me think, why do we celebrate with food so often?  Birthday dinners and cakes?  Christmas Eve Dinner?  Easter Brunch?  Friday Pizza Night?  Thanksgiving Dinner? It seems like any time we celebrate something, the celebration is centered around food.  How can I change this for my family?

Maybe have a Birthday Dance Party? 

Christmas Eve Game Night?

Easter Volunteering?

Friday Movie Night?

Thanksgiving...ok, that one is really about the food. [And oh yeah, being Thankful!]

I don't know.  I need to think about that one.  I want my kids to grow up knowing that celebrations are about activities and reasons, not all about food.  How do we do that?  Do you know?



 

Day 12: Need a Panic Button?

When I was doing weight watchers, they had a little button on their website that was the Panic Button.  You could click on it and it would take you to a page with success stories and motivation.  This morning I kinda hit the panic button.  I was thinking that I was way over this week, and why not just say to heck with it and get a Chicken Biscuit for breakfast from Chick-fil-a.  I am SOOOO glad I didn’t do that!  [They always make me feel really greasy and yuck, but they are my one true hangover cure!  And no, I was not hung over.] I was just feeling really down on myself, and didn’t want to deal with it today.

Here is what I did.  I Googled “diet encouragement”.  The first link I clicked on said “Inspirational Weight Loss Quotes.”  Yes!  This is what I need!  A little motivation that what I have been doing for two weeks is worth not eating pizza or a donut.  Here is the quote I found was most encouraging:

“Permanent weight loss begins with the acknowledgement that you want more out of life.  You must decide that you are deserving of more happiness, more joy, and more peace.  You want to return to the aliveness that you were born with.”

                                From Catherine L. Taylor, www.secretsofaweightlossmaster.com

I do want more out of life than eating high fat, high calorie foods!  I’m sure you do too.  I want to be able to run around with my daughter and not get tired.  I want to be able to make my husband feel proud that I am on his arm.  [I know he is already, but I want to make him even more proud!]  I want to be able to look in the mirror at my reflection and say, “I did it!”  This quote just really made me think about it.  I AM deserving, and no pizza or donut can give me the feeling I want.  Yay!

I remember a saying that was really popular a few years ago, “That food doesn’t taste as good as being skinny feels.”  I don’t ever want to be considered skinny [curvy is way better for me], but this statement is so true.

Here is something to encourage you.  When you want to pick up a piece of cake or candy bar, [that thing that will bring down your diet and good intentions], say to yourself…

“Does this ________ taste as good as being healthy feels?”

 

Day 11: Don’t be a Tool, Use one!

This has been a crazy week so far. Meetings, boss in town, restaurants, Oh My!  I have no idea if I am going to lose any weight at all this week.  All I know is that I need help!  On weeks like these I have to track everything!  I have to work out every day too.  Do these things always happen?  No.  [I am human.]  I do try my best though.  I have come up with some tools that help me.

Tool 1: www.myfitnesspal.com, and the My Fitness Pal [FREE] App for iPhone

This is such an awesome website/app!  I remember writing down everything I used to eat only a few years ago when I wanted to lose a few pounds.  Oh to be back in my 20’s when it was soooo easy!  I digress.  It was so easy to forget something, and you basically had to guess when you went out to eat.  Now we have awesome things like iPhones and apps for the iPhones.  This is by far my favorite app.  Not only is it FREE, but it is also super easy to use.  You just enter all your personal info [weight, height, age] and your goal weight, and it will tell you how many calories you should be eating each day.  Then, you can track everything you eat!  You can even scan a barcode that is on the packaging of a food item, and it automatically has all the nutrition info in the app!  Crazy huh?!  I love it. 

You can also enter your work out information and it will calculate [not sure on accuracy of this] the calories you used for the activity.  These calories will then be added to your total calorie intake.  That means you have a “net” calorie goal!  That also means that if you want to eat a second [or third] piece of pizza, you can if you have exercised!  Woohoo!  You could also ignore the added calories, and get even more success with your weight loss.  I think I may try this method to step it up a little.

Tool 2:  Heart Rate Monitor, I use the Timex Fitness HRM

This is awesome.  I use this to see how many calories I am actually using during a work out.  The My Fitness Pal app it pretty accurate, but I want to make sure I am actually burning what it says I am.  That is where this tool comes in.  It has a chest strap that you wear that transmits your heart rate to the watch.  The watch can then keep track of your calories burned [based on person info you enter into the watch]. It will also track how many minutes you were in your target HR zone and how many you were above or below it.  This also helps we push it more in a workout.  If I am working out and want the most calorie spend for my time, I want my HR to be over 150.  If I look down at the watch, and it says 125, I know I need to push it a little more to get there.  It’s really encouraging!  You can also watch your calories tick away as well!  Oh, I just burned 10 calories with one squat…I’m gonna do 10 and burn 100!  Woohoo!

Tool # 3: Food Scale, Biggest Loser Digital Food Scale

The main thing I use this scale for is measuring portions of meat and pasta.  You will notice if you look at the box of pasta, it will say that a serving size is 2 oz.  How the heck do I know how much 2 oz. of pasta is?  You have to weigh it.  The same goes for meat.  A serving of chicken is about 4 oz.  Some experts say that is the size of the palm of your hand. Wellll, I have larger hands for a chick, so I think that would make about a 5 or 6 oz. serving.  I say weigh it!  [Remember the 7 oz wine pour from Day 4?  Yikes!]  Pasta is a diet killer if you don’t know how much a serving is.  You could be eating twice what you think you are!  That may be another 150-200 calories!  We need at least a 500 calorie deficit to lose weight, so that extra 200 could totally break the bank!

There are lots of other tools that are out there, but these are the ones I use the most.  What are some tools that you use? 

I hope you all have a great Thursday, and think healthy!!!  Woohoo!

PS...I have a confession.  I ate chips and cheese dip at a really yummy Mexican restaurant yesterday.  Forgive me diet...I have sinned.

 

Day 9: Tiramisu! Come on!

Yep, that's right.  Tiramisu.  Chocolate, Raspberry Tiramisu.  The Devil Incarnate.

I work as sales support for Mitsubishi Electric, and today my awesome boss had a meeting that I helped with and attended.  We had delicious catering with chicken and eggplant parmesan, cauliflower panna cotta, mushroom goat cheese ravioli, and [the devil himself] chocolate raspberry tiramisu.  Layers of fluffy custard and cream with liquor soaked lady fingers.  Are you kidding me?  Ok, I got a really small piece, and only ate half.  Ok, I only ate 2/3rds of it. 

I have no idea what the amounts of calories or fat or sugars that were in that little piece of heaven [the devil can where many disguises!].  I was able to have a walk with Matt, Ellis and Chobee.  I actually carried Ellis in the really cool carrier my parents used with us!  HA!

Hiking in North Georgia Dec 2012

 

Deserts.  I love them, but they really love my butt.  They just want to hang out there all the time.  They don't get the hint that they are not welcome to stay!  I have leaned on fruit for my sweet tooth.  I found some awesome strawberries at Kroger this weekend, so I made this yummy dessert here.  I made this for dinner at our friends house, the Desai's.  My sweet friend Sam left dessert to me because she is awesome, and she knows I am trying to lose some of the baby weight.

Strawberry Mason Jar Trifles

What I've learned is to not deprive myself of some of the bad stuff, but be smart and measure.  Maybe eat half a serving instead of that whole serving.  Maybe get the 1/2 the fat ice cream instead of the whole fat.

Here is what I'm going to try next, baked apples with fat free ice cream...ok, my mouth just watered.

Take that Tirami-freakin-su! 

Day 8: Rainy Case of the Mundays

Here in the beautiful state of Georgia, it is a rainy, nasty Monday.  I was 10 minutes late.  I spilled my coffee in my car [luckily not on me].  Great start to a Monday, right?  Thank God I had a better experience with my scale this morning.  I have officially lost 2.2 pounds since I weighed in on day 1 [last Monday]!  Yay!

This weekend was actually not terrible [diet-wise].  Saturday I actually got up and exercised wearing my heart rate monitor [gift from my Dad last Christmas J].  I did the P90X Cardio X [I say that very toughly in person…channeling my inner Tony Horton (arms up in an X)].  The HR monitor said I burned 600 calories!  Woohoo! P90X work outs always, never fail, make me sore.  Today it was the little muscles in the back of my arms and along the sides of my shoulders from the kickboxing. 

Also, Saturday I had dinner with some great friends, and I was asked to bring the dessert.  I made a healthier version of strawberry shortcake…in Mason jars!  Yum!  I will have it up on my other blog [To Make or Not to Make] hopefully by Wednesday.  I’ll let you know when it’s up.

That’s all I have for today, it’s been a busy one!  I hope you don’t have a case of the Mundays…

from Office Space

Day 5: TGIF…Yikes!

Thank God it’s Friday.  To most people that phrase is followed my giant smiles and maybe a couple Woohoo’s.  I [on the other hand] am stricken with fear.  I love, love, love the weekend, but my diet does not!  When I am at work all week, I am busy at my desk.  I don’t have time to walk around and think about how bored I am and how much I want to eat something.  I only have my nice little can of soup at my desk and maybe some yummy Soy Crisps [awesome crispy puffed rice and soy crisps that pack an awesome 5 grams of protein per serving, and only 120 calories for 17!!!].  I may have some hot chocolate or a piece of Dove chocolate as an indulgent snack.  The temptation to eat bad stuff or over indulge is just not there.

At home, during the day, the pretzels are calling me.  The Ice cream is calling me.  The peanut butter is calling me.  The cheese is calling me.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not cutting any of these OUT of my diet, I just have to pick and choose what I can eat during each day.  When I’m at home, I want all of it!  

So, I need some kind of a plan.  Maybe portion out a serving of pretzels that I can eat, so I won’t hijack the whole bag.  Maybe I need to plan out exactly what I am going to eat each day.  I don’t really know to tell you the truth!  I need help with that.

The thing is, the weekend symbolizes having fun and not having the restrictions of work and schedules.  It also means going out to dinner and maybe having a few drinks.  Well, adult beverages have lots of calories! 

·         Margarita, large – 325 calories

·         Regular Beer, pint – 205 calories

·         Cosmo – 215 calories

·         Dirty Martini – 325 calories

·         Gin and Tonic – 200 calories

·         Red Wine, my 7 oz. pour – 175 calories

If you have two beers, then you have to do 45 minutes of a Spin class to burn it off!  Yuck!  The best way to have an adult beverage on a diet is to pick your liquor of choice and add it to some club soda or diet soda.  My friend Mariah introduced me to Bacardi Torched Cherry Rum and diet coke.  Yum!  It tastes like Cherry Coke!  Just make sure to MEASURE [don’t forget Day 4!].

Me and Mariah at the Buffett concert 2012

So I guess this is what I need to do. 

Figure out how to eat small, controlled portions of my snack food I like, make sure I get enough protein and fruits and veggies, work out [no, not on the weekend!], and measure my drinks!  Go for a walk, hike around Stone Mountain, do a workout DVD, or [dare I say] go to the gym.  But, beware of the gym on the weekend.  Only the really die-hard, rock-bodied, and steal-minded [and butted] people show up on the weekend.  That’s ok, because one of these days, I’m going to be one of them!  Woohoo!

I hope you all have a great weekend, and I’ll see you on Monday!

Day 4: Measure Up

The scale says I’ve lost 1.5 pounds!  Yay me! 

Usually at this time in my diet, I have lost a few pounds and am getting bored of eating only 1,200 calories a day.  I miss pizza, and ice cream.  I don’t enjoy measuring out my cereal in the morning so that my 1 cup of multi-grain Cheerios doesn’t turn into 1.5 cups. 

I CERTAINLY don’t like measuring my wine either!  There is not much better than a glass half way full [ok, really ¾ way full] of delicious, calming, velvety red wine.

 

I poured what I thought to be 5 oz. of wine last night [into my pretty purple tinted glass], and decided I would measure to prove to myself that I could eyeball it.  Well, it turns out I poured 7 oz!  [No more eyeballing for me!] Now, that’s only about 42 more calories, but when you only have 1,200 in a whole day, those extra 42 calories count!  That’s about 10 extra minutes of moderate walking, 6 minutes of aerobics, and about 4 minutes of spin/cycling.  What if I had over shot my cereal by ½ cup?  That would be an extra 55 calories.  Add the 42 calories of wine and 55 calories of cereal, and you have a twenty minute walk you need to do to make up for it!  It adds up quickly.

Since we are talking about measuring, I need to measure myself!  I can’t believe I have forgotten to do this so far.  I will be doing that today.  

Body measurements can tell you more about your weight loss than the scale can sometimes.  Many times when we start exercising and weight training again, our bodies change their composition.  That means replacing flabby fat [yuck] with lean muscle [Woohoo!].  Those 5 pounds of fat actually take up more room than the same 5 pounds of lean muscle.  Just look at it!!  YUCK!

 Also, water weight can affect your scale’s output as well.  If you are not eating healthfully, taking certain medicines, or not drinking enough water you are likely to retain any water that you do drink.    

Think about it.  One 16 ounce bottle of water weighs about 1 pound.  If you drink one of these just before you weigh yourself, you will weigh 1 pound more.  That doesn’t mean that you gained a pound, you just have that extra pound of water weight.  [Whew]

How do I get rid of extra water weight?  This is what I’ve found.

1.       Cut down on sodium.  Lots of microwave dinners and soups have tons of sodium!    Try to look for low sodium options.

2.       Drink MORE water!  Drinking more water can help get excess sodium out of your system, and it flushes excess fluids as well.

3.       Eat naturally diuretic foods.  Some foods like bananas and avocados that are rich in potassium can help get rid of excess liquid in your body.

4.       Exercise! Sweat it out!  Just remember to drink water afterwards.

Learn more info about water weight here:

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/lose-water-weight-keep-it-off.html

Homework for tonight is to take measurements and before and after photos!  Woohoo!  Maybe one of these days I will share those…

Happy Thursday!

Day 3: Sick Dieting



Wedding Day - August 8, 2009

 

One of the joys of having a wonderful husband is being able to take care of him when he is sick.  That also means that most of the time I will get whatever he had a few days later.  For the past 4 days, I have had the nasty, snotty, sneezey, coughy crud that my hubby had.  Time to break out the yoga pants and lay around all day.

BUT WAIT!  I’m TRYING to lose weight here!!  How am I going to do that when I am sick!  All I want to do is sit around drinking cocoa and eating soup.  Of course the cocoa is much more helpful when you can dip cookies [or graham crackers, yum] into it!  And soup is waaay better when you can dip copious amounts of crackers or [even better] a gooey grilled cheese into it!  There goes the diet.  Well, I didn’t do either of those [yet], and I hope to stay strong and keep the Loser faith. 

Here are some of my coping methods for being sick and trying to lose weight:

1.       Drink hot tea.  Any hot tea.  Even hot water with lemon juice.  It opens up your sinuses with the warm steam, and it has no calories if you drink it without sugar or milk.  If you must, pop a little Splenda in it to sweeten it up without the extra calories.

2.       Drink water.  Water will fill you up, and it can help flush those nasty viruses from your system and keep you hydrated when your faucet for a nose won’t turn off.

3.       Eat broth based soup.  Skip the [yummy, delicious] creamy stuff, and go for a good chicken noodle or veggie soup.  They have much fewer calories and fat grams.  [That way you could sneak in a serving of crackers or oyster crackers and the scale won’t be able to tell J]

4.       Go for a walk.  I have been trying to go for a walk each day I’m sick.  It helps get your metabolism going again so you keep burning those calories and fat.  If you are so sick you can’t move without being dizzy, PLEASE sit your but down and rest!  Also, don’t try the whole walking thing if you have a fever.  That won’t turn out good either.

5.       Eat lots of fruit and veggies!  These are a great source for vitamins C and E that help boost your immune system.  Apples, berries, broccoli, spinach and grapefruit to name a few.  Check out the WebMD website to learn more:

 

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/antioxidants-your-immune-system-super-foods-optimal-health

I cheated a little and weighed myself today, so I know that I am on the right track and my [pain in the butt] cold is not derailing my efforts.  Yay me!  We will see what the scale wants to say on Thursday…Yikes!

 

What are some things that you do to make yourself feel better when you are sick?

 

I always snuggle up with my grandma Marilyn’s quit.  It makes me feel like I’m at home and my mom is taking care of me J 

Day 2...not 1?

Day 2…not 1?

Yes, that’s right.  I’m starting a new blog on day 2 of my weight loss adventure.  Why, you say?  Because I need some accountability!  I am trying to get myself healthy and lose some of this weight I’ve been carrying around since Miss Ellis [my sweet baby girl] made her appearance on December 17, 2011.  Yes, that’s not a typo…2011!  I’ve been carrying around this baby weight for more than A YEAR!!!!

Baby Ellis, 2 Days old and 1 Year old!

Let’s start at day 2, post baby.  December 19, 2011 – still in the hospital, but finally starting to feel closer to normal after delivering my precious [but large] 9 pound 2 ounce bundle of joy.  I start thinking to myself, “Hey!  I don’t have that huge belly anymore!”  Then, “Oh, but I do have this semi large smooshy belly now…”  I figured that since I kept exercising up until about 2 weeks before Ellis was due [gotta love swollen feet], I would get rid of the semi large smooshy thing pretty fast.  Well, I was wrong.  I dropped about 30 lbs in the first 6 weeks by breast feeding [that’s a whole other blog!] and walking around the neighborhood with Matt, Chobee [our 7 year old child/dog] while pushing Ellis in the stroller or the baby carrier.

She is Out!!

THEN, after my ok from the doc [after my 3^rd degree tear…did I mention Ellis was a big girl?], I started my DVD exercising.  I started slow, and worked up to a pretty good stamina.  I lost about 10 more pounds.  Then the wall came.  I started working again, and then the guilt started too.  Who knew that a working mom would feel too tired and too guilty to work out.  [DUH!]  Apparently this is pretty common.  You wake up a few times a night to feed your precious baby, then leave her for work in the morning, and [crazy enough] I felt too guilty to go to the gym! I felt like I should be at home with Ellis [and sometimes Matt J] rather than spending time at the gym without her.  [Gotta love mommy guilt!] I would get a few work outs in a week [maybe], and I just stopped losing weight. 

No matter how many calories I DIDN’T eat, the scale wouldn’t budge.  I figured the reason was because I was still nursing, and I had heard that nursing can either help you lose weight, or help you keep it on when you are trying to lose it.  So then, I gave myself a little pass to wait until I was done nursing Ellis [lucky me, I have an excuse.  As you see, this is an easy pattern to get into!]

In October, Ellis was done nursing, and I had gained back about 5 more pounds.  I still had the semi large belly, but it wasn’t as smooshy…just a little hangy.  [Sorry if you got a mental image of that…]  I was still carrying around about 17 pounds of baby weight…who knew that pizza and donuts [my main cravings…shocker!] could weigh that much!! 

I did the Advocare 10 Day Herbal Cleanse, which was awesome, and lost about 6 pounds in those 10 days.  Then Thanksgiving came…Then Christmas came…Then New Year’s came.  And NOW it’s January 8^th, and now I have 27 pounds to go till I get to my pre-baby weight.  I also want to lose an additional 13 pounds on top of that!

27 + 13 = 40 lbs

I want to do this before July 1.  I don’t know if it is possible, but I’m gonna try. 

And if anyone out there is interested, I will be writing this blog to keep myself accountable!  Join me if you want!  I can always use encouragement, and I know everyone else needs it too!  We are in the same I Wanna Be a Loser…Today boat!

I want to be this same woman…just 40 lbs lighter and healthier!