Chocolate Christmas trees count as a vegetable, right?

No update this week. Just wanted to share an awesome internetty tool with you, Zafu.com. I have the worst time finding jeans that fit, and usually, after hours under harsh fluorescent lights staring at the worst parts of my body being amplified in oh-so-flattering ways, I convince myself that the last pair I tried on was made for me, buy the blasted things and go around tugging them up for the next gajillion years while I try to work up enough nerve to go jeans shopping again because they were 2 sizes to big to begin with. Sexy. So, this site? Helpful.

PS- sorry if this showed up twice in your Reader. I kept trying to link or imbed the "mom jeans" skit from SNL and failed miserably and gave up, but Blogger was all weird about it and didn't want to say goodbye to the first post. So, yeah. Sorry I am a dork...

I just don't have the energy for a clever title...

Bleh. I have the mother of all colds. Not to mention the cranky, sick three-year-old who has been waking up at all hours of the night demanding SOMETHING. He has no idea what he wants, but he knows he needs something. I keep trying to remind myself that this, too, will pass and that someday I will be able to lay in bed all frikking day if I really want to, but that is just not so comforting right now.
Anyway, I can't really taste anything right now, so eating is not all that tempting or exciting. Unfortunately, neither is exercising...
How are you faring this week?

Pasta Gluttony would be a good name for a restaurant, don't you think?

Yes, I know that it is ridiculous that the week after I swore not to neglect you anymore, my Monday review is a day late. I suck and I apologize.
Sooo, last week. Last week = not good. Last week, we went on an impromptu date and I blew a gabillion calories on some seriously, incredibly, almost laughingly sub-par pasta. I did not realize that tortellini could taste bad. Never, since the Great Tortellini Awakening of 2000, have I tasted such bad tortellini. And yet, I gobbled it all up, Alfredo sauce that tasted like it was from a jar and all. How gross does food have to be before I stop eating it? Anyone?
In other news of Last Week, a week that will live in infamy, I realized that, even though my doctor told me it was really important to come back in six months to re-check my cholesterol levels and see if I need some sort of medication to keep me, you know, alive, it's been almost a year since I totally listened to him say that and took every word to heart. Good thing you don't really need a heart to live, right? Geez.
The only good thing I managed to do Last Week was work in a walk after the Pasta Gluttony and before the movie portion of the date (my husband and I are very adventurous on the dates: dinner, movie. We like to think outside the box.). The bad news is that it's surprisingly hard to hustle and get a good brisk walk going when you a) are full of sub-par pasta, and b) have a desperate need to mock the emo teenagers who think they are hard core hanging out in down town Boise of all places. It's hard to mock and gasp for breath at the same time. Someone should look into that. Snarky people need to work out, too.
So that was my week. How was your' s? Do you waste calories on anything edible, or do you insist on some level of tastiness? Do you know of some revolutionary exercise technique that would allow me to snark and work out at the same time? Have you thought of patenting it?

I'm bringin' cranky back...

Yeah, those other curmudgeons don't know how to act...
I know I've been neglecting you guys horribly, and I'm sorry. I wish I had a good excuse for it, but I just don't. Lately a lot of things have converged to overwhelm me, and I've been feeling very discouraged with myself, with my goals, with people, and life in general. I didn't want to bring you guys down with all of my whining, but then I realized that this blog is for sharing exactly those kinds of feelings, soooo, get ready for some cranky! Well, not right now, but in the near future, I'm sure.
Anyway, enough about me, how have you been doing during my hiatus? Any breakthroughs, victories, obstacles, or new goals to share?
This week, for me, is honestly just about getting my head above water and I'm pretty desperately hoping to achieve even close to that...

Monday Review has a bad week

Why? Well, we got our jumbo bag of Halloween candy from CostCo early.

This is but a meager sampling of my shameful pile of candy wrappings.

Hope you are faring better in this treat-laden season...

Monday review has cabin fever

Good morning everyone! How was your week? Mine was pretty good. I did well making food choices, moderating my use of a certain delicious cola drink and got lots of stuff done. So, did I get in my whole-hearted half mile? I actually managed two miles...but not outside. Every time I tried to get out with my 3 year old for a run, he would turn into evil boy, kicking and screaming and just being a general pest, so I would just turn on the Wii and do the free run while watching House reruns. So I'm not sure that it counts. Running in place while watching TV? What do you think? Luckily, my husband's schedule changed this week and he won't be leaving the house too early for me to get in a run before the kids are awake. Oh, and I lost .5 lb.
This week, my goals are 1/2 lb weight loss and 1 mile run, um, actually, you know, moving toward something...
How about you?

Ay yi yi

I sometimes think that I am NEVER going to reach my goal. However, recently I have had to stop and think about my progress, and have realized a few things.

1. Even though my progress isn't showing physically, (as in how I look, per se,) I am certainly able to do alot more than I have been able to do for years. I can walk around the zoo without dying. I made it through the botanical gardens without losing my breath, and there are some good hills in there! I can clean my house and not feel like I am going to die. I can lift my 22 lb niece over my head 25 times and still have use of my arms afterward.

2. I have managed to keep up with my cardio. Weights have fallen by the wayside, but maintaining my cardio has helped me achieve everything in item 1.

3. I have always struggled with wanting to do things... mostly because I just didn't feel up to it. I didn't feel like I could do the dishes, because my back would hurt. I can stand at the sink and do my dishes now like it's nothing. This seems like such a small thing, but for me it's huge. Especially because I hate doing dishes. However, now I find myself thinking, "Man, those dishes are bugging the crap out of me!" and they get done.

4. I can play with the dog. Do you know how nice it is to be able to play with Mocha without being afraid I am going to get hurt? Yeah, it's not fun when I trip over her, but you know what I've noticed? If we had her a year ago and that happened, I would have been in bed for a few days. Not kidding. I had a nerve sack that got caught in between two vertebrae when I slipped a disc in June of 2007. The disc went back in. The nerve sack didn't. I thought for the longest time that I was going to end up on crutches or in a wheelchair. I was in such excruciating pain. I was able to get some pain and cortisone shots in my back though, and everything finally went back into place. Then Mike and I started working out. Thanks to that, I can trip over Mocha and recover in seconds.

5. For the most part, I enjoy being up and around others now. That was a big challenge before, when I was in so much pain I just wanted to crawl into a shell and never come back out.

I guess the biggest thing I am saying is even if the scale or your clothes don't show any difference right now, think of what you could possibly be doing better, or more of, and add that to your list of accomplishments. As long as you are moving and improving your everyday condition, don't worry about anything else. Think about the positives and slowly you will find yourself wanting to do more... and actually feeling good while you are doing it.

Monday Review Seems to come around too fast

Happy Monday, internet peoples! How was your week? I have to brag that I did so much better this week! That's right, I'm awesome:) It turns out that in my weeks of laziness, I somehow managed not to gain any weight and last week I lost 1.3 lbs. And the eating was a lot healthier. And I never once started to shake from the amount of caffeine that I imbibed. Progress, no? So this week I have a pretty lofty goal. Lofty for me, anyway. I am going to run a half mile. Which doesn't sound like much until you consider that I mean actually run. The whole thing. With no walking, hopping, or shuffling. No stopping to check my shoelaces. No slowing down as soon as I round a corner and no one can see me anyway. None of that non-committal junk. Really. I'm excited. Kind of.
How about you guys?
Goals: 1/2 lb weight loss
run 1/2 mile

Monday Review Smiles Sheepishly

Sorry I flaked on you guys last week. My daughter had a rotten stomach flu which I am blaming lots of flakiness on, but the truth is, I was just feeling extra frustrated last week. Every time I tried to exercise, something required my immediate attention right that second. And certain hormonal conditions made me feel like I would die if I didn't eat my own body weight in chocolate and salt. I felt like I had fallen off of the bandwagon in a big, lame, losery way. I'm still not quite back on the dietary straight and narrow, but I'm doing better this week. Also, I made a deal with my sister in law that we would run the half marathon portion of the Great Potato Race this spring. Together. Which means I have to be serious about the running now. 'Cause she's like a real runner and stuff. And I don't want to let her down. So that's a huge help.
How was your week? What's helping you stay on track? Any tips on training for a half marathon?
Goals this week: 1/2 lb
Keep track of eating and make better choices

Ten Wonderful Things About You

A few days ago a friend of mine gave me an excellent piece of advice. She said, "Make a list of at least 10 exceptional qualities that you possess, and put it on your bathroom mirror. Then say them out loud to yourself every morning. That might sound hokey, but women don't hear often enough what they do well, or what is good about them. That means, sometimes we have to say it about ourselves."

Being the happy-go-lucky person that I am, I said, "yeah, I need to do that!" So I did. You don’t have to limit your list to 10 things, though, I ended up with 11 and over time will probably add a few more.

Now, I would like to emphasize the importance of two things:

1. Put Your List On a Mirror
To be exact, putting your list on THE mirror, you know, the one that you look into the most often, the one that you endlessly criticize yourself in- that mirror. And don’t say you never look in a mirror because I won’t believe you… unless you’ve removed all mirrors from your house and then I would highly recommend getting psychiatric help.

Also, placing that list of all the marvelous, amazing, extraordinary things about YOU on your most popular mirror will make it always visible to you. This way it will remind you how great you are! And that you need to do the following:

2. Say the Words Out Loud
Every morning when you see your list say every item out loud. Yep, it feels silly, yep, it may feel like you’re lying, and yep, it’s uncomfortable, but that’s the whole point! Saying the words out loud is to over come all those negative thoughts that are trying to control and eat away at your self esteem. You are a wonderful, beautiful woman! You have amazing qualities, talents, and features. Believe in yourself!

Hearing ourselves actually say the things on our list triggers something inside us that says, “Yeah, I am all that, AND a bag of chips!” But just when we accept this truth the wicked witch of negativity swoops in and starts blasting a load of evil spells at us. Some of the common spells she uses are things like:

“Biggest Nose, Ever Spell”

“Major Fat Butt Spell”

“Spell of ‘If Only…’” (i.e. if only I weighed less, then I’d look good; if only I was taller, then I’d be thinner; if only I didn’t yell at my kids, then I’d be a great mother)

These spells have devastating effects because they are spells of mass destruction! They wipe away our feelings of self worth- so take a stand for yourself! Defy the witch by rejecting her evilness and then embrace all the wonderful things about yourself. That means repeating your list at least every day, better yet, every time you see it: when you’re doing your hair, make up, or brushing your teeth- okay, that might not be the best time to say your list out loud, so think it in your head.

Also, when you’re saying your list out loud look yourself in the eye. I know it’s hard and will take some practice, but you can do it! Don’t you want to feel better about yourself? Then become a true self patriot and give yourself what you need, which is praise. When was the last time you praised yourself (and not in a sarcastic way), meant what you said, and then accepted it!

As a special note, several of the items on your list should be about your wonderful, physical traits because, as my friend advised, “so that you can make sure your brain is not saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about....’”

Now go do it right now... you know you wanna!

Updated: Oh! And I think every woman should have in spot #1 or #2 "I am a beautiful woman!"

Monday Review is tired, so very tired...

So, it's Monday again. Where the heck did last week go? I had a disappointing week. I tried to give up the Coke habit and did ok resisting it, but was curiously lethargic until about midweek, when I realized that the only thing that had been keeping me from being comatose by noon was the regular and massive doses of caffeine I was accustomed to. Bleh. As for exercise, well, it's hard to exercise when you are mostly asleep all day. So, no weight loss. But no gain, either. Silver linings and all that, I suppose. My plan for this week involves a slow weaning off of the caffeine, clearly cold turkey just doesn't work for me. I just need to find a source with less sugar. Also, I'm going to try this 'most important meal of the day' that everyone keeps raving about. We'll see...

Goal: 1/2lb

How about you guys? Good, bad, or ugly week? New goals?

Because Coke is the new Crack

Sometimes I want to go back in time and find the guy who invented things like, oh, I don't know, coca-cola, and just punch him in the throat. Anyone else? Anyone? No? Just me then? Alright, I jut wanted to put it out there. It would be kind of a fun little field trip, I think...

Behold!

Look what I made!



I'm trying to figure out how to share the code so you guys can add a clicky guy to your blog if you like, but I can't figure out how to write it without generating the stinkin' picture. So, if anyone understands my babbling and knows how to help me, please do!

Edited to add: I figured out an easy-peasy way to add it! Woohoo! Anyway, if you use new Blogger and want to add our linky, add it as a picture in your layout gadgets. There's an option to add a link in the picture, so just pop in our url. The url for the pic is at http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn137/freedomcows007/button.jpg
Hope that works

Monday again

So, at one point last week I was down another half a pound. . .and now AF has reared her ugly head and I'm up again today. To make myself feel better, I'm going to ignore today's numbers and go with the better numbers from last week.

I'm been a little hormonal and hate it! I'm so done with having kids that I'm looking forward to this phase of my life being over.

Until next Monday :-)

Monday Review eats Chicken Soup

Happy Monday, everyone! How was your week? Since I got to spend most of the last two days in bed with a fever, a sore throat, my hubby and the laptop watching season 4 of House, I'm calling it a win. Alright, so I didn't lose any weight and I did drink my body weight in Coke before realizing I was so tired because I was sick and should probably just rest instead of trying to trick my body into being productive, but I can't remember the last time I felt as rested as I do today. And I still managed to work out a few times. Enough rationalizing, on to new goals:
This Week: 1/2 lb
Drink water, not Coke (or at least more water than Coke)
No take-out
How about you?

Checking in

So, I've lost a total of 6 pounds and have about 30 more to go. In some ways, it feels overwhelming but I think the important thing for me to remember is to break it down into reasonable and realistic increments.

I've been much better at watching what I'm eating but trying to find time to fit in regular exercise is hard. I know that I spend too much time online and should trade some web surfing for exercise but I get sucked in way too quickly and for too long.

One thing that is helping is that we made a decision to no longer leave our dogs in the backyard so a few times a day, we've got to take the 3 of them for a walk. And we're doing it family style so we're all out there walking which makes it more fun and not such a chore. It's cute to see an excited 4 year old hold a leash :-)

Anyway, one pound at a time is what I keep reminding myself.

Monday Review is totally on top of things!

Happy Monday everyone! How was your week?
Mine was pretty good. I lost one pound, which is great and remembered to drink lots of water. I did kind of slack off a little last week, not doing quite as much as I should have and snacking more, but not too badly. Only about 20 lbs to go! Of course, that's not how much I have to lose to be at my 'ideal weight', but I'll worry about perfection when I've conquered normal:)

Goals for this week: 1/2 lb
Stop snacking on junk
More time exercising

How about you?

More Links

Hey guys, I ran across this site and this one as I was tirelessly wasting time. I know, I'm amazing. I do it all for you:) Anyway, these might be helpful for logging calories and exercise. Check them out and let me know what you think. Also, if there are any websites that you find useful, throw those in the comments as well. I would love to check those out.

Feeling Rested?

About the sleep thing: I am a lifetime insomniac. So when I read about a sleep study preformed at a college in Conway, AR where participants ate considerably less and lost weight when they got an extra 2 hours of sleep every night for 2 weeks, I was intrigued. So I did some research and found this article and this website. Check it out and make getting a better night's sleep a priority!

Monday Review takes holidays off...

Sooo, how was your week? Mine was...different. I'm having a hard time re-aligning our schedules and routines to fit into school. Getting up early is not something I relish. Other than stressing myself out for no apparent reason about every aspect of our daily routine, I did really well this week. I've lost 2 more pounds. I've been walking Pippi to school in the morning, which I think is really helping, and working out with the Wii, which I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing me rave about. Also, I didn't really snack a lot this week, which has been kind of a big deal breaker for me. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with my progress thus far. Now if only I can get the rest of my life in some semblance of order...

Goals this week: 1/2 lb weight loss
Get more sleep (more on this later)

Great Reasons to NOT Stop Working Out

So, after slacking off and NOT working out for the six weeks I had my daughter (other than walking all the time and only two workouts) I came to realize there are SEVERAL really good reasons why one should NOT stop working out!

• Getting back into the habit is killer.
  Getting up at 5:30 used to be a no brainer! I just did it, every Tuesday and Wednesday, went and worked out, and felt great. Now I've been fighting a battle that never used to exist- ugh!
  
  
• You get to keep all that muscle you worked so hard to gain.
  When you stop working out you might gain weight (if you're eating more than you're burning) but you're also losing weight- muscle weight- which you DON'T want to lose, the more muscle weight the faster you burn off calories.
  
  
• Your muscles will scream at you...
  ...for trying to do what you used to be able to do, but now CAN'T because you were a loser and stopped working out for FAR too long. It makes me feel like a wimp again.
  
  
• Um... it's like necessary to work out if you're going to lose weight. (said in a sarcastic voice)
  DUH!

I'm sure there are other reasons but I can't think of them at the moment. So if you've got your own tell me in the comments, I'd love to hear them- anything to help me (all of us) stick to our work out goals!

Oh dear

So, I haven't posted here in awhile. I am managing to make it to the gym 3 times a week, most weeks. While I had a cold it was twice one week and once the next. As long as I am getting cardio in right now I am happy. Next week I am starting something I've done before to see if it snaps me out of my funk. When I was at Wells Fargo I lost 20 lbs in a month by cutting out my soda, drinking lots of water, and making sure I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have the eating thing down... I don't ever forget to do that! ha ha ha. Anyway, for breakfast I try some variety. Maybe one day I will have a protein bar, the next day an egg, the next day maybe a bagel. I've found if I do have a bagel for breakfast, I actually stay full longer now. I think that's because my sugars are actually working correctly so I am not instantly going into a sugar overload.

For lunch, it's a Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine. I actually really like both of these frozen meals. They have a lot of variety, they taste fresh since they were frozen (not 100% fresh, but a heckofalot fresher than Nutrisystem) and for the most part satisfy me. Since there tends to be a lot of flavor in them, I am more content with a bland snack in the afternoon if needed. Since I have been eating salad more, that should also help fill me up. My main thing is going to be to remember my fresh fruits and veggies. I ALWAYS forget to pack them. If I don't remember to pack my lunch at night I don't have them. The other problem is... most of the fruit that I like is not in season. So I am on canned now since my favorite is pears. I have to look today to see if there are any fresh ones on sale right now. I haven't seen any in the stores here for a few weeks.

Dinner is pretty much chicken or fish and some sort of steamed veggie. I like broccoli, spinach, ummmm peas. Hmm. Not too many there. I will also sometimes pair it with edamame for extra protein, and I love how they taste. A small serving of rice or pasta rounds out the meal. If I cut carbs out completely I tend to go braindead.

On to good news, the small changes I have made, such as making sure I get my cardio in, drinking less Mt Dew ( I am down to 2 a day instead of 3 or 4 ha ha ha) have made a HUGE impact on my sugar levels. Like .5. And here's a secret... alot of the time I only take one of my pills a day, and for two weeks I completely forgot to take them. If I had remembered those two weeks I am betting that number would have been lower. For me it was very exciting to hear that. Plus my triglycerides and LDL went lower, not that they were too high before, but they were higher than normal because of the diabetes. I need to get my HDl up, but that should also increase with more weight loss and more "good" fats, like in avocados. mmmmm avocado.

Well, I better go. Sorry for the length. I figured maybe putting it down in writing might keep me on track better this time.

Monday Review: only 1 day late!

Sorry guys. Yesterday was a little crazy around here. The first day of kindergarten, canning peaches (I'm a glutton for punishment) and, oh yeah, we got our WiiFit! WooHoo! I'm so excited. Even the kids loved it.
In other news, I lost 2 pounds last week and I have no idea where they went. I did exercise sporadically (swimming with the kids, walking, nothing too hard core) but not 2 lbs worth. Maybe it's the change in humidity? Water weight? I just don't know! I'm not complaining, mind you, it just bugs me that I can't point to something and say, "Yep. That's what's helping. Gotta do more of that." You know?
How did your week go?
Goals for this week: 1/2 lb
actual exercise
drink more water

Running tips from my sadistic brother

I mentioned briefly that my posture and stance while running was apparently the complete opposite of what it should have been, and I thought I would clarify a little. When running, or even just standing, I tend to lean back into my heels. This is bad. Very bad. Don't do this. It puts a lot of weight, and therefore a lot of strain, on your lower back and pelvis. Not what you want. Instead, you should lean slightly forward, putting your weight on the balls of your feet and your toes. Doing this, you take advantage of gravity to push you forward while running. The other thing I was doing wrong? Ummm, well, apparently you shouldn't squeal and come to a complete stand-still just because you get sweat in your eyes. No matter that it feels like it's trying to sting your eyes right out of your face. Apparently, in that situation, you should just strap on a pair and stop being such a girl. Regardless of your actual gender...

The Best of Intentions

Remember how I said I was going to use this summer to jump start my workout?  Well, I had every intention of doing so but got a new job so my 5 weeks off didn't really happen.

That said, I have been eating better but do know that I need to up my physical activity.  How is it that I weighed more this morning when I woke up than I did yesterday evening?  I just don't get it.

School starts next Wednesday and as long as we have a smooth opening, I can feel life getting back to normal-or as normal as my busy life is.

I'm sorry for the lack of posts, I've just been swamped lately.

Monday Review? Sweet!

Oh, hey, is it Monday already? Wow. Well, last week is mostly a blur of packing, teary goodbyes, and airports. I did work out a few times with the help of my WiiFit trainer. I'm thinking of naming her "Mandy". Sounds like a perky trainer name, right? I don't know if I mentioned it, but the WiiFit is pretty awesome:) And I'm totally counting my frantic dash through the airport after an abrupt gate change as "working out". As for eating, well, we've already discussed the whole stress eater thing. Ugh.
It's good to be home and I'm feeling pretty motivated right now. The day we got home I unpacked everything, did laundry, mopped floors, reorganized the kids' drawers according to category, and pulled out a pile of clothes from my own closet that I'm getting rid of post haste. Whew. Back-to-school always affects me this way; it just feels like a good time to sort, clean, and organize. Hopefully all of this "new beginning" fervor will spill over into my diet and exercise...My weight loss goal has become a little more concrete (thanks to the WiiFit:) heh heh) and I know that I need to lose at least 26 lbs to be at a more healthy BMI. My weekly goal is at least 1/2 lb loss. We'll see. I feel good about it, though.
How are you feeling as the summer winds down? Satisfied with your progress, or frustrated? Motivated or stagnant? What are your goals for fall?

They should totally be paying me for this...

So, as I mentioned, my sister and her hubs got an elusive WiiFit this summer and we have been diligently working away at it ever since. If any of you have a Wii and were wondering if this would be worth the money, the answer is, "yes, completely worth every single penny!" So awesome. First you do a body test that measures your BMI, balance, weight, and body control and compares that with your actual age to give you an estimated "WiiAge". It helps you set goals, keep a calendar of progress, keeps track of time spent working out, and gives tips for healthy living. It even keeps track of how much non-Wii exercise you do, letting you log outside activities. And then you start training. You pick either a male or female trainer to give you guidance, tips, and support. They help you through yoga poses, strength training exercises, aerobic activities, balance games and more, grading your efforts and keeping tally of your total workout time. You unlock more exercises as you go along, creating more challenge. It really works up a sweat and makes you more aware of little things you can do to improve your overall health. I'm pretty thrilled about the whole endeavor...so much fun!

Totally unrelated postscript: Since I know a few of you are runners, check this out for a laugh. But be careful. No drinking or eating. Choking from laughter is a horrible way to die.

Calorie Counting Tip #6

I officially started counting calories again yesterday and have been surprised at how easy it's been. Of course, not having much money (as I recently moved out on my own) makes it easier as I actually don't have much food, at least not much of the really tempting stuff, to eat!

Anyway, a few weeks ago my cousin's wife gave me a great tip for knowing how many calories one should eat to be able to lose weight without starving oneself. Take your weight and add a zero to it. That's it! Some examples:

• 140 lbs = 1400 calories
• 155 lbs = 1550 calories
• 170 lbs = 1700 calories
• 215 lbs = 2150 calories
  

As you lose weight your body needs less calories, so this tip makes it easy to keep your calorie intake in proportion to your weight loss.

Hey, look: an actual post on Monday!

It's a miracle, I know! But where to begin with this review? Hmmm. Well, I have learned the true meaning of the phrase 'stress eater'. The week of my grandmother's funeral, I ate enough to sustain a small herd of elephants. Luckily, I discovered that an early morning jog or walk made me more conscious of what I was doing to my body all day. Unluckily, there wasn't a whole lot of time for early morning exercise, but I did manage once or twice. My brother flew in for the service and stayed an extra week. Consummate Army man that he is, he talked me into a run with him. I learned a lot about running: my stance was all wrong, feeling like you're going to puke is a good thing, walking is for sissies, ah, slowing down is for sissies, surprisingly, clutching your brother's hand as he drags you down the street at a steady pace is not for sissies (or so he said), oh yeah, and that I am so lucky I didn't follow my father and brother into the military. One PT and I would have been out...He also showed me how to do a 'correct' push up. Even though I thought I was going to die and I got sweat in my eyes (ewwwww), it was fun, and I felt really good for days after. Lets see, what else? After a million trips up and down my parents stairs everyday, I've decided I must move to a house with lots of stairs. It's an easy way to work out and I have a new appreciation for my behind:) It's looking pretty cute after all it's effort...Oh, and my sister got a WiiFit, which I stinkin' love and have already requested as an early birthday present. More about that later, probably. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. I have a few other things to share, but I think they will be posts of their own. One more week in Arkansas, home on Saturday, and then the next week Pippi starts kindergarten! How have you guys been faring?

I'm sorry...

I want to apologize for being so absent. We just moved from Oklahoma to Delaware and then four days after getting here I had to (well, maybe "wanted to" is a better way of saying it) go to a Stampin' Up! Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah for 6 days. I had planned the trip months ago and thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but was wrong since our move had so many problems occur with it. We won't go into all that - it's stressful enough without me typing it out on here.

So, I'm finally getting to unpack, getting my oldest daughter ready for Kindergarten next week, and I just started Weight Watchers again this past Thursday. I'm crossing my fingers that with all the stress right now I can remember where I want to be, and realize what it's going to take to get there! So, wish me luck and I promise to try to be more active on here again. I have been reading all of the posts because I subscribe to this blog to make sure I don't miss any, but I haven't commented much. Know that I really appreciate each of the authors and that I truly do hope that we are helping someone out there even if he/she isn't saying much ;)

Take care and have a beautiful Sunday!!!

Positive vs Negative Self-Talk

I recently had an experience that has helped me realize the impact my self-talk has on the way I feel. For the past 5 weeks I've had my daughter with me so I've spent most of my time with her, including going to Disneyland and a family reunion, but during this time I've also been doing the following:

• Eating a ton of junk and more food than I need
• Stopped working out, although I've gone on a lot of walks
• Thinking and saying negative things about myself

What happened, of course, is that I started to feel bad, both physically and emotionally.

Last Tuesday I was awake early in the morning and realized I needed to relieve some stress I was feeling, so I went jogging. Wow, did I feel good (and sore) afterwards! Because I felt good I started thinking positive things about myself, and as a result I started eating less food, which in turn made me feel better about myself, and so then I felt like exercising... etc. I realized it was a cycle! Which of course I knew but now it made more sense to me.

I've found that as I've consciously made an effort to change my negative thoughts about myself into positive ones, I truly have felt better. Over the past few weeks when I was thinking negative thoughts about myself I felt fat and thought I was fat, but then when I changed my attitude and started talking positive about myself I have felt beautiful and believed it.

I put together some simple charts to help illustrate this cycle of behavior:

Negative Cycle:

Positive Cycle:


Another way to view the Positive Cycle:
This has really helped me over the past week and I feel SO much better about myself by saying "I'm beautiful" when I look in the mirror instead of all the negative junk I was saying the weeks before. So when you look in a mirror, look into your eyes and tell yourself you're beautiful and believe it, because you are! As you continue to do this you will come to believe it, because it's true!

Slacker

Sorry for the long silence, there has been a death in my family. I will be back, eventually, and have lots of stuff to tell you.

Where's my summer going?

Remember how I said I was going to use July to jumpstart my working out?  Well, I haven't had as much time off as anticipated.  I ended up applying for and getting a new job in my district and have been "working" some this month.  It's a great move--I'm moving from the District Office to being an Elementary Principal and I'm moving the boys from their current school to where I'll be--but there just aren't enough hours in the day.

That said, I did make it to the Y today and am kicking myself for not just going and taking the kids.  I have working mommy guilt and don't want to put them in child watch while I work out but I went to look at the Kid's Club area and they will have a ton of fun.  Plus, the boys are always asking to go to the Y anyway.  So, I might as well take advantage of my Y membership for more than camp and classes for the kids, right?

I have made it on the treadmill a few times.  Getting motivated to do it was the hardest part but once I hopped on and finished, I was so glad I did it.

Until next time!

Sage Advice

My mom, for the first time in her life, is feeling a little overweight lately. She made a comment about wanting to "lose her belly" to Pippi, who looked at her in that very earnest way that only a five-year-old can pull off and said, " Oh no, Kat-Kat, I don't think you should. I like you just the way you are. Besides, if you lose your belly, where will I give you pats?" How can you argue with that logic?
By the way, Kat-Kat is the pet name that my kids use instead of calling my mom "Grandma". Long story:)

Healthy-Yet Tasty-Snacks

Hey everyone, what are some semi-healthy, yet yummy, snacks that you've found? I'm a bit addicted to sugar so fruit and veggies don't always satisfy those cravings, y' know! Here are some of mine:

• Fudgesicles: no sugar added and only 40 calories each!
  
  
• Crystal Lite: I like the taste of some of the flavors but only drink it once in awhile
  
  
• Chocolate Covered Raspberry ice cream bar: These tasty treats are only 140 calories and are very satisfying. (I'll update this when I get the exact name or a picture as I don't have any in my freezer at the moment.)
  
  
• Pretzels: low calorie yet crunchy good (if you like them, that is!)
  

Okay, so maybe these snacks aren't "healthy" but at least they're "healthier" than a regular chocolate bar or pint of ice cream.

I'm always looking for new snacks to try so if you have any ideas please share them!

Monday Review: let's call it #8

Hey, remember last week, with all of the optimism? Yeah, me, too. Well, funny story. My little sister insisted on waddling along with me on my walk Monday night and, well, I sort of walked her right into labor. She started having contractions during the walk and around midnight that night, her water broke. So, mt new nephew was born the next morning and I didn't get anything done the rest of the week. That's why I was such a slacker around here: no new posts, no new recipe, nothing. Sorry about that.
All things considered, though, I did pretty well with my diet this week. We ate out a lot, since none of us felt like cooking, but I was pretty careful about my choices. And I made approximately 3,000 trips up and down the stairs at my parents house every day, which I am completely counting as exercise. All in all, not as bad as it could have been.
This week, my dad and I already have a standing evening walk date, I'm going to borrow my brother-in-law's bike, and we've made a much healthier menu. So, I just have to focus.
How did you do this week?

Monday Review: week 7-ish

I finally made it to my parent's house and am now in baby-waiting mode. The other great thing about being here (besides the baby thing) is that I do a lot better exercising and staying active here. There is no shortage of free babysitting and willing work-out partners and people waiting to tell me how great I look, and it's awesome! So, I'm looking forward to this week and trying to forget last week. Can we just leave it at that? Please?
New goals for this week: bike rides! follow diet! Yay!

How about you guys? Good, bad, mediocre?

Long weekend? WooHoo!

Hey guys, have a great Fourth of July and an awesome weekend! See you one Monday!

Not going well...

Oh boy. So I really fell off the wagon the past few weeks. I just got SO stressed out with the changes at work and people not doing what they were supposed to.. and planning the farewell party for our department... etc. It was crazy. I tried to stay away from sweets... but I could not stop with the soda. And the gym... all the sugar made me lethargic after I was done working and I just could not get motivated. All that's over now and I have made a goal this week to sit down and plan when I am doing what. I stick to things better when I am writing it down.

We are stopping Nutrisystem after the food we have runs out. It just got boring really fast and it started to taste all the same. I need some variety in my life. That's another thing that was stressing me out... how much I didn't like the food anymore and how I was going to tell Mike... and I missed cooking. So, we are going to do portion control on our own.

Hopefully this week goes better!!

Monday Review: week 6 (or so)

So, yeah... it's Monday...How did we do? Well, on my end, I did ok with the exercising. I actually took the early morning walk with the kiddos in the jogging stroller and, when we stopped at the playground to give them a break, I even did some pull-ups (chin-ups? what are they called?) on the monkey bars. Yay. However...the eating. Oh, sweet Jesuits, the eating. I'm a little stressed out trying to get ready for our trip and when I'm stressed, I tend to make myself sick gorging on sweets. 'Cause nothing calms the nerves like a sugar coma, you know. The sheer volume of soda, candy, treats and popsicles I ate this week...ugh. I need to go lay down just thinking about it.

My new goals: Lay off the sugar!!! No, really, put the soda down and back away, slowly...

Keep up the good exercising vibes.

Meal Planning Chart

A friend of mine was asking for new meal ideas on her blog which got me thinking about the menu planning chart I made a few years ago. My mom and I used it all the time (when I was living back home) and now she's just using it on her own. Unfortunately I haven't felt motivated to do it for myself. Cooking for just one person is strange to me (mom still has three to cook for) although my daughter will be with me for the next six weeks (starting July 1st, yeah!) so I'll get back into the swing of things having someone other than myself to cook for.

Anyway, here's the meal and menu planning chart I made, hosted at lds.about.com which is the website I'm the guide of. It's the first link and is in PDF format. The file also has a second page full of meal ideas that you can print on the back.

What meal planning tips do you have?

Skinny Jeans

I think that every woman has that one piece of clothing that makes her feel amazing, if only she can fit into it. Television weight-loss commercials show woman after woman squealing with glee after squeezing back into her "skinny jeans". I don't have a pair of jeans or really any particular article of clothing, but for years, whenever I felt wretched and troll-ish, I would snuggle into one of my husband's dress shirts. Something about the way they fit made me feel small, delicate, and sexy. I'm sure I looked like a big frump, but I felt terrific. Until, one day after my second child was born, I fastened the buttons and saw the fabric stretching to reach. What a horrible day! So, for almost three years, I have avoided those shirts like they were the plague, not wanting to feel that way ever ever again. One day last week, though, I was feeling miserable and just needed a pick-me-up, so I pulled on one of Bob's shirts. And it fit! Well, not "fit" exactly, it was just big enough that I felt tiny and small enough that I still felt like a woman and not a little girl. Yay! That's progress that I can really embrace:)
So, what's your equivalent of the "skinny jeans"?

Is it Monday already?

So, my eating has been hit or miss but my working out has been nonexistent at this point. I'm really blaming work right now. I'm a school administrator and the end of the school year is simply crazy!!!! Plus, I just feel swamped and overwhelmed. I barely have any me time and I'm just waiting to get through the end of the week.

Dh and I had a heart to heart talk this weekend and he said that he's tired of both of us being fat. Now, he does 99% of the cooking and will make healthy stuff for us as long as we're on the South Beach together but other than that, his theory is that we should just work out more. Now, I know from my experiences that even when I do work out pretty hard, I'll lose weight but when I watch what I eat when I work out, the weight comes off even faster. So, I did *ask* him if he minded if I did some of the cooking when I'm off :-) It's hard because it is one of the things he truly enjoys doing but I think I'm going to work on getting together lots of healthy things prepped during the day so he can still grill them when he gets home from work. That way, it's a win-win situation! We will eat a lot of salads around here but sometimes, you get tired of eating salads iykwim!

So, I keep saying that work and being tired is getting in the way of exercising but I know if I exercised more, I'd be less tired. . .sigh, baby steps. . .this didn't all come on overnight and it's not all gonna vanish overnight either.

Rachel's Before and After

I'm finally ready to post my before/after pictures. My wonderful mother and aunt Linda took pictures of me (and I took pictures of them) at the Idaho Botanical Garden last week and they turned out wonderful. It was so much fun!

If you missed reading about my history with weight gain/loss you can read it here: Rachel's Story. Now, without too much more delay, here are my current before and after mug shots.

09-1997 (age 22 at 162 lbs)
With my mother.



03-1999 (24 at 135 lbs)
Sorry, mom, it's not a great pic of you 'cause you were crying!



NOW PREPARE YOURSELVES!

08-2005 (30 at 183+ lbs)
Can you see my underlining unhappiness? Like the chocolate milk? This really is a bad picture of me too, but then, I don't think I took very many "good" pictures after I was married.




05-2007 (32 between 165-175 lbs)
This is when I hadn't even known I'd started to lose weight.




06-2008 (33 at 144 lbs)
Don't I look great!?





Now, I still want/need to lose some more weight, but I am SO happy with my progress and how great I look. It's wonderful to feel good about oneself instead of suicidal.

Something Stinks!

And it's not me! Since yesterday something in or around my apartment smells like cooked ground beef that's gone bad... at least that's the closest thing I can relate it to. I can't find out where it's coming from and it's making me sick. At first I thought it was a neighbor cooking something but now I don't know because the smell hasn't gone away. The smell has even set off my gag reflex a few times. Ugh!

I've gone foot by foot throughout my apartment and everything smells normal when I get up close. Plants smell like dirt and, well, plants, the garbage smells like garbage and isn't even stinky, the bathroom has a range of nice smells from all those scented products I use, and the kitchen smells clean. I can't figure out what it is and it's making me crazy!

The only good thing about this is that I doubt I'll be able to eat anything with ground beef in it any time soon... and my desire to eat is at an all time low. Ugh, what a nasty way to stick to a diet.

Update: Okay, I figured it out. The smell WAS coming from my kitchen garbage. I didn't notice it when I first checked it out because the source's stink wasn't that strong, maybe it was building up over time. Yuck, how embarrassing.

The only time I want to smell something that stinks is when it's me- because I'm exercising!

Monday Review

So, this week was kind of a bust for me. I did ok with my eating, but barely got any exercise. Part of the problem was energy: I was tired all week from being up every night with my youngest. Also, I'm taking the kids to visit my parents next week and have a to-do list 3 miles long. And I'm sure that I can come up with 20 more excuses if you'll give me a minute or two...
How did you guys do?

New Goal: Refocus! Re-energize! Rest!

Omelets in a Bag Recipe

Just an FYI to let you know, if you didn't notice already, that a new recipe was posted. It's a fun family recipe making omelets in a ziplock bag- very simple yet tasty!

Update: Here's the recipe now that it's not in the sidebar.

Omelet in a Bag by Rachel

Ingredients and Supplies:
Eggs (about 2 per person for a medium sized omelet)
Grated Cheese (1/4 C per person)
Freezer Bags (1 Quart, such as Ziploc or other brand)
Salt and Pepper

Additional Optional Toppings: (1/4 C per person)
Olives
Ham
Bacon
Sausage
Onions
Peppers
Tomatoes
Mushrooms

While making omelets begin boiling a pot of water.

There are two ways to put these together. One way is to mix the eggs in a separate bowl and then put 1/2 C egg mix in each bag. The other way is to directly crack the eggs into the freezer bags and then squeeze and smash the outside of the bag to mix up the eggs- children love doing this.

To make a medium sized omelet add cheese (1/4 C) and any additional toppings (about 1/4 C). Don’t add salt yet, as the eggs will take longer to cook if you do. For a larger omelet just add more eggs, cheese, toppings, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Close bags, removing as much air as possible, and then put into boiling water. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove bags onto a plate, tray, or towel. Carefully open bags and dump omelet onto your plate. Add salt and pepper to taste. Warning: They will steam when you cut them open, so it’s a good idea to cut up your omelet and let it first cool for a bit.

Note: If you’re making different kinds of omelets you can label the bag with a magic marker.

Something that Motivates Me

I think most of us keep track of our caloric intake one way or another - writing it down or some sort of spread sheet seem to be the most common ways. Well, something that helps me on the exercise front is to keep a workout log. I just thought I would mention it. While it can be unsatisfying to look over a food journal to see either how little we've "gotten" to eat, or how much we've eaten (perhaps too much), it is VERY satisfying to look over a workout journal and see how often and how you have worked out. I write down what I did and for how long, and what distance (if applicable). For example, I went to the gym and participated in my first session of Pilates ever. So, I had 20 min to work out before that and I decided to do the elliptical. Here's what my log looked like. I didn't get to go work out today, so I'm working out twice tomorrow. Anyway, here's the entry:

6/17 Elliptical 15 min 1.53 miles
Pilates 45 min

That's it! I write down what I did, and then how long I did it, and if there's a quantitative measurement of effort, I put it down (the distance ;) ).

Maybe this will help you too.

Skin Deep

Lately I've been thinking a lot about societal standards of beauty and how they are really transient and, well...odd. We in the modern age like to think that we have cornered the market on superficial obsession with beauty, but, while the ideal figure has changed, the lengths that women will go to in order to achieve it have not. From constricting, deforming corsets, lead-based eye-liner, and foot-binding to high heels, anorexia and plastic surgery, women have spent centuries torturing themselves to conform these fabricated standards of beauty. Why? I would, like a good feminist, like to be able to lay all of the blame on the broad shoulders of that other gender, but I think that simplifies the issue to an insulting degree, for both men and women. Men, for the most part, have always found certain things attractive, and generally speaking, those things do not include emaciated, stick-thin bodies that would be more at home on an 11 year old boy. And, even if there does exist a certain (Neanderthalish) segment of the male population who do enjoy those things, well, that still doesn't explain why women world-wide feel the need to conform to that stereotype. Why do healthy, beautiful women starve and berate themselves if they are not a size 2? Why do women zealously rearrange their bodies and facial features surgically to obtain an ephemeral concept of physical perfection? What is it about the human experience that pushes us to strive in such unhealthy ways toward an unattainable, completely fabricated construct?
Thinking about this has led me to question why I want to lose weight so much. Is it, in some part, to better fit the societal ideal of attractiveness? As much as I would like to say that my reasons are solely healthy and not at all superficial, the truth is that most of my motivation is feeling (and looking) prettier. You would think that it should have more to do with lowering my cholesterol or building muscle and being strong and active, right? So, my question here is two-fold: does the motive matter as much as the result? and why do these issues of health seem so often to take a back seat to beauty?

Monday Review

Today, I'm babysitting for a friend who just had a baby. Her little girl keeps lifting up my shirt, rubbing my stomach and saying, "baby tummy". It's a good thing she's cute...
Anyway, week in review: I did really well with water-drinking. I have been using those Crystal Light mix-ins, and I love them. I don't care if they are made from dried up cancer flakes and arsenic, they are delicious. With the exercising, not as well. I am in a definite rut. So, suggestions for work outs outside of a gym?
New Goals:

1. Eat more veggies for snacks. I've mostly been eating fruit and I think it's making me a bit sugar-tipsy.
2. Get up early enough to take advantage of the cooler morning weather for longer walks. Maybe even work in a bit of jogging. Maybe.
   

How about you? Did you do well last week? What do you hope to do this week?

I'm Cranky (with pictures!)

Annoying Things:

1. People who dress like this to work out:
   

I mean, really? Is this necessary? Also, do you have to look so happy? For those of you who are curious, this is what I look like in my "athletic gear":

Sexy, no?

2. That the weather went from nice to summer in 1 freakin' day. Now my nice, quiet park has been inundated with college guys playing sports. Don't get me wrong, it was nice at first, but now their energy is just annoying. Apparently bronzed muscles glistening in the sun can get old. Who knew?

3. Speaking of the blistering hot sun, what the heck do the manufacturers of 'sport' sunscreens add to create that lovely oil slick that lingers on your skin for days? Do they think we all want to look like professional wrestlers?

Shiny enough?

4. People who look at me like I'm crazy just because I'm singing out loud in public. Ok, I know I'm no Olivia Newton-John, but I like to think that I can hold my own.

and finally,

5. That on the way home tonight, I saw some teeny-bopper girl wearing daisy dukes, a halter top, and a knit cap. The kind with ear flaps and a big fuzzy pom-pom on the top. Which has nothing to do with anything, really, except that it thoroughly offended me for some reason.

Hope you guys have an awesome weekend!

Resistance is Futile!

(After moving and waiting for my Internet to be hooked back up I'm finally back online.)

One of the things I've been struggling with is resistance. I find that when I don't want to do something I usually have an excuse as to why I shouldn't have to do it or why it doesn't apply to me... but I've come to learn that this is my resistance to change. I'm used to doing (or not doing) something in a specific way and why should I change my behavior now? Why? Why?? Because change is the only way to become better, to improve, to stop something I don't like and start something I do.

One of the things I've been resisting is push ups. I don't like push ups, I hurt for days afterwards, why should I even do them, what good are they anyway, it's not like I'm competing for a strong man competition or something!

So, to defy my resistance I'm going to lie. That's right, I'm going to LIE to myself.

The more we lie to ourselves the more the lie becomes truth. We lie to ourselves a hundred times (or more) a day about all sorts of things. Just listen to the negative thoughts you think, such as "I can't lose weight- others can, but I can't," "I'm fat," "I hate vegetables," "I'm addicted to sweets," etc. When we listen to those lies long enough they turn into truth. If our minds are so powerful to change lies into truth we should use that power for our good.

So I'm giving you permission to lie to yourself! Take one or two negative things you say to yourself and change it into a positive affirmation. Change what you think/say to be the exact opposite. Exaggerate and add enthusiasm and feeling to what you say. Here's mine:

I LOVE push ups! I love how they make me sore after working out- it means I'm achieving my goal of being a happier, healthier me! I feel so happy when I'm pushing myself (literally) forward!

Now repeat your positive affirmation- in your head, out loud, and/or write it down- over and over. You can do this in the morning when you wake up, when you're brushing your teeth, taking a shower, eating, standing in line at the store, changing diapers, cleaning, etc.

So take that, resistance! Your attempts at sabotage are futile.

Disclaimer

While I (and my mother*) think that I am unbearably witty and clever, I realize that not everyone shares my, er, unique sense of humor. Thus, if you come across something that offends you, feel free to let me know. Chances are it's just me making myself laugh...

*This statement does not reflect my mother's actual opinion, but I like to think it does...

WOW

You know, as we "pick" on our husbands, I think that most people would see that it's obvious that we are just talking about some common ground in our struggles of weight loss. I think a lot of women live with men who are blessed by being male. It has been proven that it is easier for them to lose weight, and so in our struggles to lose ours the only people we can rely on to truly understand the difficulties of the human (female) body are other women. So, in answer to Odessas post about our husbands being "damned if they do and damned if they don't" I went to her lovely and uplifting blog and posted the following:

"I'm sure that you think that you're really intellectual with your clever wit in your title and in your sweet posts on others blogs, but on our blog we would appreciate if you wouldn't comment if you don't have somethign supportive to say to those that are struggling with various trials in their lives. We wish you the best as you try to discover yourself and figure out how to get the attention you crave by hurting others. If everyone you know is perfect and you can't say that they don't bother you sometimes then you should write a self-help book on that topic and get rich. You would be the first. None of us claim to be perfect but we at least are trying to help eachother out along the way. Have a great day!"

Can't we all just be supportive of eachother? Are any of us perfect? Do we whine every once in a while when we are feeling down and not very successful at our weight loss? Do we have that right? I think we know the answers to these questions. I just beg of anyone reading this blog that you try to come here in the spirit of uplifting one another. We will come here to complain every now and again, we will come here to vent, that is the point of having this blog. We want a place where women can come (and men if they would like) to discuss our weight loss journeys, trials and triumphs. It just so happens that we are female so if we have a problem with our spouse, it's going to be males getting talked about. I sure would welcome any man that wanted to come on here and vent that his wife wasn't being supportive because the point of venting is that you're usually doing it to let off emotions but also to seek advice and comfort. I would be glad to help a husband who has an unsupportive wife too, this isn't limited to women with husbands who are skinny little things. If my husband being able to eat like a horse makes me sad because I want to too "damns" him, then so be it. If my husband isn't supportive of me, then, unfortunately he's "damned" there too. BUT, I LOVE my husband and I come here to vent instead of nit-picking at him.

Lastly, I hope that we can all make constructive comments and criticisms towards one another instead of hateful and spiteful ones. We don't want to have to moderate comments, but if we get more rudeness like this then we will because those kind of feelings are not helpful to anyone.

These are all the opinions of ME.

Have a great day!

Diabetic Exchange Diet: Redux

Some of you have asked for an example of what I'm eating during the day on the new plan. So here's the breakdown. In this plan there are 6 food groups: carbs, protein/dairy, fruits, veggies, fats, and sweets. For my plan, I need 4 or more servings of the veggies, 3 or more of the fruit, 4 carbs, 3 fats, and up to 75 calories in the sweets group. It's recommended that you try for several smaller meals during the day, trying to incorporate all the groups. The website has a sample meal plan and a planning tool to help. I've just printed out my plan and the serving sizes for all the groups. I have a small whiteboard on the fridge, so I posted the plan near that and just check off what I eat during the day. So, today for breakfast I had 1/2 of a whole wheat bagel, 1 tablespoon of regular cream cheese, half of a banana, and water. For lunch, I had a salad with cheese, a bit of dressing and whole wheat bread. Snacks are fruits or veggies. There are lots of recipes on the website, too, that are tasty and breakdown what you're eating to make it easier to keep track of. Hope this helps, guys!

...think I'll go eat worms...

I started my new birth control pills this week, which make me feel and act in the same delightful way that I did when I was 15. It's lovely. My husband especially, feels the brunt of this regression. I've been asking (ok, nagging) him to be more supportive of my weight-loss and notice my efforts more and yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave for my walk, he said, "You've been doing really well with your walking. Great job." Yeah, that's nice, right? Well all I could think was, "condescending bastard." And then I went for a walk... in the rain. Ahhh, it's good to be fifteen.
So, is it more irritating to you when people don't notice your efforts and progress or when they do? Am I the only immature one around here?

New Recipe

Ok gals, I am going to get a new recipe on here tomorrow for you. Things have been a little hectic for the past few days at work and I was SO tired after the gym last night that my eyes would not stay open. I know the same will happen tonight! So, look for it tomorrow!

Week in Review

How did your week go? I am really excited about my new eating plan, it's going well and is relatively easy for me to stick with. Of course, I did have a tough time with morale last week, thanks for helping me out with that, guys.
New goals:

1. drink more water
2. try something new, exercise-wise

Before and After

I guess I really can't say after since it's now that I'm talking about. I figured I'd put my pics up to show you all the progression of how I got from thin to now and I'm hoping that I'll have pics to show you when I get significantly smaller.
Pic #1 is from May 1987. This is a pic I took at my Senior Prom. I weighed all of about 103 and that is party because it was 87 and big hair was in :-) I never felt I was thin at this time. I thought I was ok. I look at it now and it's scary how you can see my collarbones.


Pic #2 is from May 2001. My oldest was 2 and this is before I was pregnant with #2. I was about 128-130 at the time. I know this dress is a size 6 since it sits in my closet and mocks me right now. I was happy that I was a size 6 but thought I was fat.

Pic #3 is from October 2006. I ran/jogged the Nike Women's Marathon. While it's a huge accomplishment that I completed a marathon, I'm super slow and it took me 8 hours and 4 minutes. . .I'm super slow. . .and I'm fat!

Pic #4 is from May 2008. I'm roughly 166 give or take a few pounds depending on what day and what time of the day I weigh myself. I'm really not happy with how much I weigh. This is at my middle son's birthday and I'm proud of myself since I didn't have any birthday cake :-)

Slow and steady it will be. I didn't gain this weight over night and it's not going to vanish over night. I'll be off the whole month of July and the kids will be in camp (bad mommy, huh?). It's easier for them to do things with their friends and we still have to pay for dd's preschool anyway. Plus, her routine gets really messed up when she doesn't have to go and she's super whiny and clingy. Ds would turn into a huge couch potato and only want to play video games so forcing him to go to camp and stay busy is a good thing. So, I'll have lots of solo time which means I can focus on *me* and part of what I want to do is get back in the habit of working out regularly. My plan is to lose about 10 pounds between now and when school starts up again. Realistically, I know that I could probably lose more but I don't want to set the bar too high and fail and be discouraged.

Walkin' on Sunshine

The last 2 days have been perfect weather: sunny and breezy. Not too hot or too cold. And Bob has been home in time for me to take advantage of it, by myself. This hardly ever happens, so when the opportunity comes along, I run out the door. There is a little park with a walking path that I love. It backs a canal, is covered in old trees, and is a bit out of the way, so there's virtually no traffic noise. I'm not sure why I care so much about the auditory ambiance since I'm always wearing headphones, but it's nice, none-the-less. Anyway, as I was walking tonight, I was thinking about how important music is for me during any workout. Not just the genre or tempo, either. I have a very defined philosophy of the order songs should be arranged in order to sync up just right with the different emotional phases of exercising. Of course, I begin with really high tempo songs, anthemic in nature, because I am either really pumped or need to psych myself up for the endeavor. In the middle of my workout, I usually just want to quit. I'm feeling whiny and introspective at this point, so I need more emo music that makes me feel like someone out there understands my pain. I try not to get too slow, just intense. I also like a bit of profanity at this point.(Ok, fine, a lot of profanity. It just makes me feel better, ok?) Then, as I'm closing in on the finish and feeling really satisfied and mellow, I have lots of nostalgic, happy, but not too peppy, songs. I've tried working out with other people's mixes and it just doesn't work at all. So, I'm wondering, what about you guys? Music, no music, incredibly anal about your play list or couldn't care less?
Oh, and Annette, um, could I hear more about these No Pudge Brownies, please?

Here's where the whining comes in...

Here are some of the things that are discouraging me right now:

1. My husband. After looking at the Diabetic Exchange Diet with me and agreeing that it would be a good thing to try, he ate 3 full plates at dinner. 3. Um, way to get on board, sweetie.
2. TV commercials. Shouldn't it be illegal to show chocolate on network TV?
3. The kids, who are just dying to make cookies, or cake, or some tasty treat. I feel bad for saying no, but I know that I couldn't control my eating with that sort of thing just sitting around the house, begging me to eat it.
4. Watching skinny girls eat. Or not eat. I'm not sure what's worse.
5. The weather. It's been rainy here for the past few days, so I haven't been able to get out and walk. now it's sunny and I just don't have the energy.

How's your attitude faring this week?

Stress....

So, the other day my mom told me that "they" have proven that stress does cause weight gain, or the inability to lose weight, or both in people. I tried to find the news article that she saw on the tv, but couldn't, but came up with this link. It's a good read, and of course even though the study these people mention includes only 40-year old wome and older, it has been "proven" elsewhere, I just can't find it, that it wasn't relative to age.

I'm in trouble....

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/03/15/stress_now_proven_to_cause_weight_gain_in_women_five_key_stress-reduction_tips.htm

Diabetic Exchange Diet

My sister (who is a nurse) suggested that I check out the Diabetic Exchange Diet. She said that in spite of the name, it's really the best diet for anyone who wants to lose weight in a healthy way. I found some great info at the Mayo Clinic website. It seems to focus a lot on serving sizes, portion control, and eating a variety of foods. For those of you who have had success with Weight Watchers, this is apparently a bit similar, but easier, free, and without meetings. I think I'm going to give it a try, so I thought I would mention it here, as well!

Edited to add: I didn't see this last night, but the website actually has a tool to help you determine how many calories you need in a day and how you should divide those calories among the food groups. You can print out your results along with a list of serving sizes. This way, you know that any serving of vegetables is 25 calories and you just watch the size of your serving and how many you consume in one day. You can find the tool here.

My Intro

Hi everyone, I stumbled across this blog through Marie and I can soooooooooooo totally relate. My name is Kathy and I'm fat. . .ugh, there, I've said it publicly. I remember growing up and not being fat but being harped on by my mom to watch what I ate or I'd be fat when I grew up. Well, guess she was right!

I'm only 5'2" and weighed 103 when I graduated from high school. I was active and was a 4 sport athlete in high school--volleyball, basketball, softball, and ran track. I did gain weight my Freshman year but it was the Freshman 8-10 and not 15. I did Crew and was the Coxswain so I had to be small. I only did this my Freshman year but worked in a gym the rest of the time I was at UCLA so I had ample opportunity to work out--I lived in the gym. By the time I graduated college, I was about 120 but still a size 4. I thought I was big then, especially since I had the same boyfriend throughout high school and college and he kind of harped on the weight gain.

After college, I started teaching and didn't have time to work out twice a day so the weight slowly crept on. When I got married, I probably weighed about 125-130 and my ex always threatened to leave me if I got fat. Well, I showed him since I got pregnant and left him! After my first son was born, I hovered around 140 since I couldn't shake the weight. I bumped up my workouts when he was about a year old and ended up losing weight. I got to about 128 but was in a size 4 again. Of course, I thought I was fat. . .

It was at this point that I met my current dh and he thought I was beautiful the way I was and couldn't believe I had a child when we met since I was so incredibly awesome looking :-) I left the classroom and went into administration which meant longer working hours so less working out time plus we moved in together and I commuted to work and the weight crept up. By the time I got pregnant with ds #2, I was about 140ish. . .but I was still a size 6/8 and could wear a bikini. I didn't really lose weight after ds #2 was born and then got pregnant with dd. I actually did well during the pregnancy and only gained 16 pounds so I thought I'd be in good shape after she was born. Well, I didn't lose the weight and she's 3 now and I weigh more now than I did when I delivered her. I can't claim "I just had a baby" as an excuse any longer.

I know what I need to do. I need to watch what I eat and get some exercise but I find it hard to find time. I can't get up early in the morning to work out because I stay up too late. I work full-time and have 3 kids and 3 dogs :-) plus dh.

At the beginning of the year, I weighed myself and found out that I was at 172. It was really eye opening and a sad day for me. Since then, I've lost 6 pounds so I'm currently at 166. I don't like it and I know it needs to go down.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you all!

Kathy

Check out today's Oprah!!!

If you can still see it, check out today's Oprah. There are PHENOMENAL weight loss stories featured. The people lost at least 100 lbs I think, and the average is probably higher.

As for my goals I think I posted new ones for this week already in a comment, but for accountability's sake, I did pretty well at going to the gym and/or running. I went running once and made it to the gym twice. Not too bad!! My other goal I bombed at. I bought some ice cream. So, I told Peter that after the junk in the house is gone, that's it. I don't have the will power to throw it away!

What about the rest of you?

Weekly Update

Time to check in on our goals. I have to say that on the walking, I did not do as well as I expected. A migraine took me out around midweek. Our family hike on Sunday did help me make up a bit, though. But on the eating front, I did really well and didn't cave in to the midnight munchies even once. How did you guys do?

On a totally unrelated note, I visited the calorie calculator in the sidebar links and realized that I am still consuming the amount of calories needed for a nursing mother. My youngest is almost 3, so I haven't nursed in a long time. No wonder I've been gaining weight!

This week's goals:

1. Keep track of everything I eat, compare calorie intake to ideal suggestion


2. Find time to do my Pilates DVD at least 3 times this week

Calorie Chart

Here's the chart I use for counting calories. I couldn't figure out how to upload a file to this blog so I've uploaded it to a website I own, but am not using. Anyway, the file is available in Excel or as a PDF file.

This file isn't complete, I put it together from a website my sister used, but it's a great place to start. There are a bunch of other websites out there to help with counting calories too. I just printed the document, stapled it together, highlighted the categories, and kept it in the kitchen right next to the notebook I used for counting calories.

In my notebook I wrote down my starting weight (although I've heard that taking your measurements is a better way to track weight loss) and then began writing down how many calories I had each day and adding them AS I go. When I finish I circle my final count. I have gone days, weeks, and sometimes even months without counting calories. The thing I've learned though is that if I do it, it works, but sometimes you need to give your body a break... I think it's healthy to sometimes maintain weight instead of constant dieting.

Here are some pics I took of my calorie counting journal to give you some idea of how I've done it... it's pretty easy once you get going and it really gives you a sense of control as you see what you're eating and learn to lower portion size. The first image is when I first started counting calories in August of 2007. At first I worked to stay between 1400 and 1600 calories a day. Now, since I've lost weight and actually eat less I try to stay under 1400.


Click image to Enlarge!
This second image is from a few days in May. As you can see my note taking isn't as strict as I got the hang of counting calories. Note: these images show some of my good days when I recorded everything I ate for the whole day, so don't be discouraged if you sometimes have trouble with it, I've had plenty of trouble... just keep trucking along.


I also record my weight loss in the back of my notebook but only update it every few months or so. Here's what my record says:

Beginning of 2007 = 182+ lbs (size 18)
09/2007 = 165 lbs (size 14) after walking during the summer of 2007
12/2007 = 154 lbs (size 12) after joining a gym and calorie counting from August to December
02/2008 = 149 lbs (size 10-12) I didn't count in Dec but gained weight then re-lost it in Jan
06/2008 = 145 lbs (size 8-10) I didn't count in Feb and March, but started again at the end of May.

As you can see it has taken me time to lose weight. When I'm not calorie counting I'm still working out and maintaining my weight so I don't gain it back, except at Christmas time! :-) My goal is to lose another 5 lbs by July 4th which gives me a month. This is a realistic goal that I know I can achieve instead of making a really tough goal (like losing 8 lbs by July 4th) which would be really hard (if not impossible) for me to achieve and would fill me with discouragement and depression. So when making a goal, make it achievable for you, one that you know you can do, then it will fill you with hope and happiness when you do it!

My sister and I have the same height/body type and we've figured that losing 7-8 lbs for us = one dress size. Of course sizes vary for every type of clothing and design/make out there!

Tips for Counting Calories
Tip #1
Find someone to report your calorie count to. My mom, sister, and I email each other our daily calories although we haven't this past week. I won't be counting calories this week either as I'm moving into a studio apartment (after living with my wonderful family for the past 3 years) and am too excited to be packing, moving, and unpacking to count calories. But I'm still working out every Tuesday and Thursday and going on walks when I can.

Tip #2
Give yourself one day a week that you don't count calories, it's a splurge day. If you don't splurge the rest of the week you'll be fine for one time. Just don't go TOO crazy.

Tip #3
You're going to mess up- it's not a big deal! Just start fresh the next day and forget about yesterday.

Tip #4
If you're hungry- eat! Just try to eat something healthier than you usually would have if you weren't calorie counting. (I need to work on this one and eat healthier in stead of always eating junk. I just eat less junk but I still eat too much of it. Oh well.)

Tip #5
Drinking more water will make you less hungry. Sometimes we feel hungry when our body is really telling us it needs water, we just usually don't know that. You can keep track of how much water you drink each day as you mark your calories down, this is a great way to know if you're getting enough water. Another great idea is to drink a full 8-16 oz of water RIGHT when you wake up in the morning. After a long night your body needs water.

I believe our focus should be on having a healthier life style, because the only way I've been able to truly lose weight is when I've made little changes to the way I live, eat, and exercise. It takes time, but it's worth it. You have more energy, hope, and happiness when you're healthier!

Update: Calorie Counting Tip #6

Inspirational Blogger

I just saw this guy on CNN Headline News and he has lost 120 lbs at home!!!! He has a blog set up to help others - thought I would post a link to it here and in the sidebar. Check it out here.

Because What's a Little Public Humiliation Amongst Friends?

I was gathering pictures to do this little project and I realized that about 75% of pictures taken of me are variations of this:

Not entirely helpful. But I managed to scrape together a few, mostly of formal events where I had to submit to having my likeness captured on film...
This is my senior prom. I will never forgive my husband for losing one of his contacts the day before and thus ruining all of our pictures with those glasses.

And on our wedding day:
I can remember feeling like a huge fatty fat fat on both of these days. Now, of course, I am much less delusional...

And, finally, after 9 years and 2 kids:

I realize that this is not a great picture for illustrating body changes, but I'm always the one behind the camera. Anyway, this is me, double chins, grapefruits, and all. I don't expect to look like high school Kristen again, but I would like to feel strong and comfortable in my own skin.