Jan 25

Weigh In – Week 3

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Well… here I am posting my weigh in late lol. I do apologize. It wasn’t because I wasn’t excited to share my update, it was that I have been extremely busy this past week and a half. Things were so hectic that by the time I got a minute to finally sit it was time for bed! But I did weigh in on Monday and lo and behold here I am.

Drum roll please……. 237 lbs. So thats another 5 lbs! Yay me!

December 29 – 250 lbs.
January 9 – 248 lbs.
January 16 – 242 lbs.
January 23 – 237 lbs.

Obviously, I am really happy with my progress so far. I am beginning to feel more comfortable in my clothes and I love that feeling.

I basically stuck to my plan except for eating every 3 hours. My schedule made it nearly impossible. Every time my phone’s alarm went off reminding me to eat I absentmindedly hit dismiss and kept on doing what I was doing. At this point I have no off limit foods in my house so when I did have to grab something on the go it was healthy (a BIG help).

One unexpected thing that happened last week was that walking got a little boring. I can do a 45 minute walk easily now but I think taking the same path everyday is getting to me. It’s fun walking with my children to their school, but the walk back is so dull. I need to switch up a bit. I’ve also been thinking about joining a gym so I’ll be doing some research on that this week.

Overall I had a pretty productive week. I would have liked to do the eating every 3 hour thing more but there’s always this week. I will try to post my meal plans very soon so you can get an idea of what I’m taking in. This journey isn’t easy but I’m pushing on. I need this. So I will see you on Monday for my next weigh in (on time!). Have a blessed week and keep on keeping on :)

Jan 20

Busy, Busy, Busy.. But Still On Track!

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Ugh… That’s how I kind of feel right now. This week has been so busy with so many changes and distractions. I have been out the door by 7:40am and I haven’t been getting in until after 6. After making dinner, helping with homework, cleaning, and preparing for the next day there is barely enough time for me. Alas, this is only temporary and next week it will be business as usual.

I just thought I would check in and let everyone know that I’m still on track. I am eating all the right things, drinking inly water and green tea and walking. My schedule this week has made it harder for me to eat the smaller meals every 3 hours. So far I’ve only been able to do that for 3 days this week, but this should be easier next week.

I am really looking forward to my weigh in lol, something I never thought would happen. I’m in great spirits and I feel good mentally and physically. I hope you are still on track too, if not you can always get back on track. This stuff is not easy, believe me I know. But it is doable, and do it we shall. :)

Jan 16

My Weight Loss Journey – Week 3

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I have been really trying to eat breakfast everyday because its such a bad habit to skip the most important meal of the day. I usually eat breakfast at 8 am after my morning walk, eat lunch around 1 pm and follow up with dinner at 6. I hate this schedule because it makes me susceptible to cravings. I go so long between meals that I often crash and feel nauseous. I hate that feeling.

This week I plan on eating smaller meals more often. Since I’m so busy running here and there everyday I set my cell phone alarm for 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm. I need to be putting something light and healthy in my body every three hours. My hope is that by doing this I wont get a chance to get hungry between meals, my blood sugar will be more stable and it will rev up my metabolism. I’ve heard great things about eating smaller more frequent meals so lets see how this goes.

As you may know, I cut out a couple things from my diet and have been trying to eat more healthy. Baked instead of fried. Fresh veggies instead of canned. No sweets. But I think I need to be a little more aware of how much fat, cholesterol and salt I consume. Out with butter, whole milk, cheese, oil and sour cream… I haven’t been making a big effort to cut out these things and I know I need to.

I will also try my best to limit my diet to baked or broiled chicken breast or seafood, and lean ground turkey. I’m not a big beef or pork eater but I do occasionally enjoy steak and pork chops. I have been searching for recipes online and found a few that sound good. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

These past 2 weeks have been very successful and I pray I can keep my momentum up. I just keep my focus on my goal and take small steps. So far, so good. I hope you are making positive strides too. Remember, together we can do this!

Jan 16

Weigh In – Week 2

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Today is Monday so you know what that means. Yes, its weigh in time! Am I nervous? A little. I was really good this week but still, the scale makes me a little jittery.

Here goes. My weight is 242 lbs! Yes your girl lost 6 pounds! I am ecstatic lol. I actually screamed when I looked at the number on the scale. This is beyond great.

December 29 – 250 lbs.
January 9 – 248 lbs.
January 16 – 242 lbs.

My plan this week was to # 1 limit my carbs to whole grains, fruit and legumes, #2 drink three cups of green tea daily and #3 replace fruit juice with water. I also kept my food log and walked daily.

Replacing the carbohydrates was a little tricky. I searched high and low for whole grain bread without high fructose corn syrup (I heard HFCS was the devil!). I could not believe all of the breads at my local market contained this ingredient! All these years of eating bread and I NEVER read the ingredient list. This just makes me want to be even more diligent with my label reading. I settled on small whole grain tortillas that contained 70 calories and 1 gram of fiber each. I was a little iffy about the taste but was pleasantly surprised. They are soooo good and I ended up eating them every day.

My other new favorite thing to eat is black beans. Not the cooked kind in the can but the dried ones in the bag. I had never made dried beans before but cooking them was pretty easy. I served them with brown rice (which is disgusting by itself, eww) and they tasted amazing and filled me up for hours. Score!

Green tea. Oh how I love green tea. I actually steeped the three tea bags all at once in four cups of water, added the juice from a half lemon and 4 ounces of pomegranate juice. I put it into a 40 ounce pitcher and added more water. I drank from it all day plus drank water too. The taste was like weak fruit juice but by the end of the second day I was liking it.

My walks are getting oh so easy. I’m up to walking 45 minutes a day. I’m still tired afterward but I love that feeling of accomplishment and this is definitely something I can do for the rest of my life. This week I burned a little over 2100 calories from my morning walks.

Wow… what a pleasant ending to this second week. I feel so great and proud of myself. Every single thing I did that was for my health was so worth it! I hope your week was just as great. I will see you next week on Monday, January 23 and hopefully there will be less of me. Lets make it happen!

Jan 13

Why The Hell Am I Still Fat?!

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Lets face it, losing weight isn’t easy at all. Weight loss failure is pretty common at least once in every adult’s life. Don’t even get me started on actually KEEPING it off. Up to 80% of individuals who have lost weight gain it all back (and sometimes more!) within five years. This is scary! I know first hand the joy of losing weight, getting healthy, looking great, feeling even better and then slowly spiraling back into misery. Been there, done that, and I will not do it again! I have failed at weight loss in the past for various different reasons and here I tackle my top four.

Reason 1: I’m fine being fat.

Yeah right. I thought I was fine being fat. No one is ever really “fine” being fat. You may convince yourself that you are but it’s all just a coping mechanism. Even if you think you are fine mentally your body may be singing a different tune. Like I have so often stated, I’ve always been overweight. There were many times I went on diets but I wasn’t dedicated or knowledgeable enough about healthy eating . I got to the point where I was content being overweight. I was very comfy buying size 18 or 20 or 22 jeans. I have always had great friends who never mentioned my weight unless it was to ask, “Hey how’s your diet going?” Being fat didn’t really hinder me. So why would I bother eating less of the foods I love and sweating out my hair at the gym? Life is good! And then along came Jordan. Jordan is my thin, athletic, rambunctious 6 year old son (or as I call him, my sun! ). He eats more than me and spends his free time running… for fun. When Jordan was about 4 years old he lifted my shirt, patted my belly and said, “Mommy, you’re fat.” He has been saying it quite often since then though he’s down to about once a week now (I laugh about this but it is so true!). Jordan isn’t being mean, he’s keeping it real. He is stating the obvious just in case I forget. My response? “I know sweetie, Mommy is trying to lose weight.” Yes Mommy is. Thank you Jordan for bringing Mommy back to reality.

Reason 2: I love food.

I love my family. They are from the south, where the food is flavorful and all veggies are cooked with smoked meat lol. If we love you, we feed you. If you are too thin, you are sick. Food is caring, food is therapy, food is joy. My mother is the best cook I know. This is a true story: whenever I eat her food, my mouth involuntarily says, “Mmmm” through the whole meal! I was raised on ribs, ham, fried chicken, pig feet, chitterlings, steak, mashed potatoes, pies, cakes and every other delicious, fat filled food you can think of. Holiday dinners always consist of 8-10 different dishes. Even when I only put a small dab of everything on my plate I still don’t have room. Second or third servings were encouraged, compliments to the chef. Food has always been a major part of my life so I have tried my best to “lighten up” my favorites. Light cookbooks are my best friend! Not only is some of the food delicious, it takes the thinking out of healthy cooking. I choose dishes with lots of color and a little spice to get that same burst of flavor I’m used to. Experimenting with recipes that I find online is amazing! I am still a southern girl at heart so yes on holidays I treat myself to a little bit of my mother’s cooking.

Reason 3: I have too much other stuff on my mind.

My life is hectic, and sometimes stressful. I barely have enough time to comb my hair let alone squeeze in workouts or worry about healthy meals. This “reason” is more of an excuse. I realized that planning and preparing a healthy meal takes no extra time. I also wrote down a detailed list of everything I did for a week and realized that there were times I could sneak in mini workouts several times a day!

Reason 4: My boyfriend likes me like this.

Lol… its true, he does. Even though I was about 30 pounds lighter when we started dating 9 years ago, I was still overweight. He is a great man and yes he accepts me for who I am, flaws and all. I have told him several times over the years that I needed to lose weight. He always says that I am fine just the way I am. Bless his heart. Me and my daughter have figured him out though. He’s a chubby chaser. He will readily admit it. He likes women with a little extra meat on their bones so it was kind of tricky to get his support. Until… the time I lost 20 pounds and we saw a big difference in the bedroom! Only 20 pounds and I was a new woman lol! Things just fit together better. I felt sexier and he noticed, big time. This was enough to get him on the support bandwagon. I received his blessing but was cautioned not to lose too much weight. I figure I can lose all the weight I want, he’s not going anywhere. ;)

Jan 11

Me and Diet Food Don’t Mix

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I’m now into my second week of my new healthy living lifestyle and I must say I like it. The daily walks are getting easier and I overall just feel GOOD. My body is thanking me for this. I have noticed subtle changes that I can only attribute to the walking. I suffer from awful insomnia a couple of times a week but now I’m noticing I get a deeper more restful sleep. My mood is better too which is one of my resolutions this year. I don’t feel as sluggish lately either. Positive changes already, I love it!

Yesterday I announced that I would be cutting out simple carbohydrates and replacing them with high fiber, whole grain alternatives. So while I was at the grocery store reading labels I saw a woman about my age pushing a cart filled with everything DIET. I mean she had diet Coke, 100 calorie snack packs, fat-free ice cream (ughhh!), and about two dozen Lean Cuisine entrees. I immediately had a flashback to the days when I went the prepackaged diet in a box route…

Don’t get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with the items she had in her cart. It’s just that with me they never worked. There was a time when everything I put in my mouth had diet or something or other on the package. The microwave was my best friend. These meals were easy, quick, tasted good ( kind of), and took the guess-work out of eating right. Or so I thought.

The problem with eating this way is that you aren’t really setting yourself up for a lifetime of healthy eating and weight maintenance. You aren’t learning how to be a healthy weight, you are just on auto pilot. A person can get mighty comfy having those lean meals. I know I did. So comfy in fact, I ate them so much that my blood pressure went up and I got bloated from all the sodium. Yea… take a look at the sodium content in prepackaged foods. Makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

Another unexpected result for me was that I didn’t lose any weight. Crazy I know but I really think it was because I was overeating. In my mind I saw “diet” so subconsciously I ate more. The lower fat and calories didn’t matter when I was eating twice as much as I should. I would have been better off with the calorie laden full fat versions.

As a mother, economically I can’t afford to buy dinner for my family plus all my magical diet goodies. It just makes more sense to me to make healthy, delicious food that my whole family will love. Cooking a fabulous dinner then sitting down to the table and eating from a box is not my idea of living.

I have since sworn off anything labeled diet. I will eat fresh, wholesome, regular food prepared in a healthy way or not eat at all. Oh yea, and I wont eat double portions. (Thumbs up!)

Jan 09

My Weight Loss Journey – Week 2

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Since week 1 went well I can’t wait to kick it up a notch this week. Of course my plan is to continue logging my meals and snacks daily and walk 30 minute 5 times a week plus add a couple new healthy habits. I don’t know if it was just the shock of my body getting in some activity that caused my 2 pound weight loss but whatever it was, I’ll take it. I’m anxious to see what some changes to my diet will do in addition to the walking. It takes a very large amount of calories to maintain a steady weight of 250 pounds so if I cut my calories down to around 1500 I’m sure I will see positive results.

 

I have to admit, I love carbs. Bread, cake, rice, potatoes, pasta, sweets, you name it, I love it. Strangely enough I’m also a carbophobe. I believe in “bad” carbs, any carb that is white or refined, should be avoided at all costs in my humble opinion. On the other hand, your body needs carbohydrates to function properly. The balance between the two is to include “good” carbs and exclude the “bad” ones, What exactly are good carbs? Good carbohydrates come from whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes. They are slowly digested by your body, leaving you satisfied longer and they don’t create a high spike in blood sugar which can cause hunger later on.

 

This week, I will greatly reduce my intake of certain carbohydrates. Instead of white bread, white rice and plain pasta I will use whole grain breads, brown rice and whole wheat pasta. I have cooked with whole grain pasta before and I love it, but I have never tasted brown rice. For some reason I picture it tasting like dirt.. ugh. Hopefully I can stomach it and the dirt thing is just my overactive imagination. I can be a bit of a drama queen on occasion. I haven’t been eating too much bread lately but I’ll buy a loaf of whole grain later today, just in case I have a sandwich craving.

 

I’ll also start using my secret weapon once again. Green tea. I swear by this stuff. Not only is it yummy (hot or cold) but its filled with cancer fighting antioxidants. Antioxidants combat free radicals in our bodies which cause disease. Tons of studies have shown that green tea also boosts your metabolism and your immune system. I will have 3 cups of green tea with fresh lemon a day. Another easy task. I never use sugar in my tea either, just a splash of juice.

 

Speaking of juice, while logging my meals last week I noticed that I drink about five 8 ounce glasses of fruit juice a day, but only 1 glass of water. That’s almost 1000 calories from just drinking juice! Just because its 100% fruit juice does not make it ok. As you can see what you drink can be a large amount of the excess calories you take in. If I replaced four of those cups of juice with water everyday just imagine how many calories I could eliminate. It’s definitely a better choice to eat the whole fruit than to drink a cup of fruit juice. You still get fruit sugars but in whole fruit form you get fiber too which slows sugar absorption. I obviously need to drink more water and less juice and soda, so that is another goal for the week.

 

Three goals for the week sounds a bit ambitious but I feel its doable. I know I can do this and I’m still on cloud 9 from my little 2 pound loss last week :) Wish me luck, my next weigh in is on January 16! Have a blessed week!

Jan 09

Weigh In – Week 1

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Ok… deep breath. Today was the big day. My first weigh in since starting my journey. I nervously hopped on the scale after having a pretty good week, and the results are… I weigh 248 pounds!

December 29 – 250 lbs.
January 9 – 248 lbs.

That’s a 2 pound weight loss in 11 days ( I had over a week between weigh ins because I started on a Friday instead of a Monday.) This surprised me a little because I didn’t really change much and on New Year’s day I kind of pigged out. 2 pounds isn’t even 1% of my weight but just knowing that I made changes that resulted in me weighing less feels fantastic. Overall I stuck to my plan for the week and kept my spirits up. I am very happy with my results and now more determined than ever to stick with it. The small changes this week were surprisingly easy to make. Then again, this is just my first week. Let’s see what song I’m singing at week 5 or week 25.

Guess what?… I love my Noom app! It was actually fun to log my meals everyday. This was long overdue. The best part is that I don’t need to know the exact calories of every single thing I eat. I mean whats 5 or 10 calories off here and there? I can burp and burn 5 calories. Logging what I ate also showed me exactly how much I ate. Yikes! I have been in denial with a capital D. Honestly I never realized how big my portions were, that I skipped breakfast so often or how late at night I ate. Those are huge diet no-nos! I need to seriously work on tweaking how and what I eat. I know this will be a huge factor in my weight loss. My Noom says that I should have around 1420 calories a day so I have to trim my diet down a bit. Well… a LOT.

My plan this week was to get in 30 minutes of activity, preferably walking, a day for at least 5 days a week. Out of the last 11 days I took my 30 minute walk on 7 days. Days 1-4 were a little rough due to me not being used to taking these walks. I made it simple, I grabbed my Android phone, started my Noom walking workout, and headed out the door. I just started walking in any direction for 15 minutes and then turned around and took the same route back home for a total of 30 minutes. This was fun and started getting easier each day. I felt tired after each walk but the feeling of accomplishment was so well worth it! My 6 year old son walked with me and we had a blast. He thinks its great seeing me walk and he is laughing less and less when I start to huff and puff :) My children are both very active and are encouraging me to be active too. They see that I am serious and support my efforts by praising every little thing I do, just as I’ve been praising them their whole lives. It feels good!

I also did a couple “alternate” work outs in the last week and a half, which Noom also keeps track of. I did some heavy housecleaning for 45 minutes, played in the park with the kids, and did yoga. Knowing that I can add these things in as workouts made me want to stay active. I burned a total of 1400 calories through activity this week! I want this to be my way of life and it will be.

I look forward to the challenges of the weeks to come with a brave heart. This is my first of many small victories!

Jan 04

This Walking Stuff Feels Good

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Its been 6 days since my pledge to adopt some healthy habits and start losing this weight. So far, so good. I feel good mentally and physically. My body is slightly aching from the daily walks but its the “good” ache. Not painful at all but it tells me that my body is doing something its not used to doing.

This morning the temperature was 16 degrees when I walked the kids to school. Freezing! I wore only sweatpants, a tee shirt, a sweatshirt, hat, gloves and a scarf. At first the cold was really bothering me so I started walking faster to warm up. It didn’t take much time for me to feel comfortable and start enjoying my walk. The best part about this? I can walk at a higher intensity and still feel the burn but I don’t sweat. Sweat is annoying to me. I know, I know… its a necessary evil, but I don’t have to like it. I got my workout on something fierce and when I came home and took off my hat, my hair still looked good. Yesss!

When we walked yesterday morning my daughter’s friend’s mother offered to drive the kids to school. Since it was cold of course my little angels quickly abandoned me and hopped in the car. I decided not to turn around and go home but to continue my walk (yay me!). I passed one of my son’s classmates and she asked where Jordan was. I told her he was already in school and I was just walking to get some exercise. Today I passed the same little girl and she waved and yelled, “Go Jordan’s mommy, Go!” I laughed so hard… she was too cute. She absolutely made my day. I gave her a thumbs up and kept on walking.

Maybe its just my imagination but I feel something. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know its something. I am so confident that I will reach long lasting success. I have finally hit “my time”. I am ready. I am not GETTING tired of being unhealthy, I AM tired. This can be put off no longer. I am doing this for my children, they deserve to have a healthy, happy mother and just as importantly I am doing this for me. Go Jordan’s mommy, GO.

Jan 02

Resolve To Be A Better You

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Happy New Year! This is just a short holiday post to check in with you all. I pray that this post finds you and your families happy and healthy.

Boy, I don’t know about you guys but to me it feels like 2011 flew by. Welcome 2012! I have been really excited about the coming year and the positive changes I plan to make. Every year I usually make resolutions just for the heck of it, sometimes not even remembering them the following year. This year I decided to make a huge deal about resolutions with my family. I figure we can use this time to reflect and ask ourselves what we can do during the year to ensure that we each grow as a person. Everyone is a work in progress but we sometimes forget this, we get comfortable.

So I challenged my family, and I challenge you too, to take an honest self inventory. I guarantee that there is room for progress. Could you work on being a kinder individual? Should you learn to say no more often? Do you need to lower your cholesterol? It could be anything, something small or something life changing. As long as it will make you a better YOU!

I have been thinking about this for the last month and I have a list of 10 things I want to accomplish in 2012. Of course one of the major ones is to become a lot healthier which includes losing this weight. This is a major focus in my life right now. I also have more personal resolutions like being more patient with my children and listening more than talking. To some people these may seem small but believe me, these are things I know I need to work on.

Hopefully, on December 31, 2012 we can all look back on our resolutions and see that we did stick to at least some of them. Even a little progress is progress. If we really cut up and did nothing we resolved to do, oh well, we can try again. Either way we should never stop striving to improve our selves, our lives, or our situations. I believe in us! Have a great year!