Thursday, March 31, 2011

Jim's week in review ... a day early

Happy Thurday! Yes, Thursday! I am posting a day early, because tomorrow will be extremely busy for me, and I don't want to forget to post. The post will be short, so lets get on with it, shall we? Fooooooood! I am a food addict! I have to admit it. My new med slows down the digestive tract, and if I eat too much, I get heartburn to beat the band! So now, I have to take another look at my eating and make further adjustments. Exercise! I am getting a little more exercise in ... the weather is getting better and I am working around the buildings, doing a little spring cleaning and going out hiking and walking. This is a wonderful thing! Sure, I am not getting on the bike or eliptical, but I am getting around and being more active. Weight! I weighed in this morning at 173.0, which is down .4 from last week. Hopefully as the weather gets warmer and I get even more active, that number will drop even faster. That's my week in review! Have a great week, and happy losing!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Mamavation Monday - Well shoot...

Well, I had a cute graphic here because it wouldn't be one of my posts without it, but blogger is just being persnickity this morning and will not accept any graphic that I try to upload. It also says I don't have any in my previously uploaded section. Silly technology!

So, let's do a week in review. As you may have noticed, last week I was not a happy girl. That's what happens when you're suffering from a broken heart. You stop being happy. In fact, I was downright depressed. Then, on top of that, my knee "injury" of a week previous got worse. Yep, after a week, it got worse. I ended up going to Urgent Care (my doctor is something like an hour away) and after a rather lackluster examination, they told me that I'd sprained it which meant coming home with a knee immobilizer, crutches and pain meds. It also included a note to call my own doctor for follow up. Right.

Ok, so add all of that up and what do you get? Me throwing my hands up in the air and saying I seriously can't do this. I can't workout. I can't stand on my leg to cook. My house looks like it ought to be condemned and I can't do a thing about it. My heart hurts. My knee hurts and yep, I'm done. I only wish that I had been done in a more exciting way. Instead of eating whatever I wanted, I drank maybe one bottle of water a day and just paid little attention to what was going in my mouth. None of it was anything exciting though.

I bet you can see where all of this is heading, can't you? A weight gain. Yep. I put on 2.4 pounds this week. Ouch, huh? Now, I know some of that is really bad habits and not being able to move more than absolutely necessary. I also know some of that is swelling (maybe the .4, she says hopefully) and glancing at the calendar, I would say that some of it is monthly nonsense preparing itself. So, all in all, it could be far worse.

The real question is what am I going to do about it? Am I going to stay down, defeated or am I going to get back up and do what I can to get back on track? I know this should be a no brainer, but I did stop and think about this. I wondered if I was doing the right thing and could I even do this. The truth is, I don't know if I can but I know I'm going to try. Last night, I assigned Angela and Shelley to kickbutt duty. I know these two can and will seriously push me. I need pushing. I need the reminder that I was ** this close (see the space between those *? That's how close I was.) to being at my first 10 pounds lost.  If I did it once, I can do it again and I can go further.

After all, I have a hot date* in April and it certainly wouldn't hurt for me to be a few pounds less by then. *grins*

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This week's question is brought to us by Earth Footwear (whose sneakers I lust after frequently) :

Where will your feet take you this year? Any plans for a big hike, race, or just a lot of walking?


Me? Plans? Exercise? Ha! Ok, not so much ha anymore. I'm actually really loving moving and how good I feel afterwards. I don't really have any plans though. Our family did buy a state park pass this year and I'm thinking that the boys and I will go out hiking this summer at least once. Of course, there's also my at home workouts and getting in some street walking. Who knows, maybe by this time next year I'll be training for my first 5k? Wouldn't that be a hoot?


*By hot date, I mean that I'm getting together with a good friend who I haven't seen in about 4 years. We recently found each other again and agreed to get together when we can. For those of you on Facebook, yes this is my "boyfriend" Zac. Please notice the quotes. The rumors that we're together are seriously flattering (the man is amazing!) but yeah, sadly not true. 

Friday, March 25, 2011

Jim's week in review...

What a week it has been! Busy, stressful, and did I mention busy? I had no idea I could cram so much into one week. So, without further ado, here we go, with the week in review!

Life in general: OK, I think I mentioned busy and stressful. Yesterday was our annual “Festival of Nations” at school. As a language school, we set aside one night of the year to highlight the cultural education that is a part of learning a language through immersion. We have performances, displays and food (more on that later). I am the stage manager at my school as one of my extra duties. What that means is that I oversee the technical aspects of any performance on the stage in the auditorium. Since Black History Month is largely considered a cultural event, we lumped our annual Black History Month program in with Festival of Nations this year, which just added to the amount of prep time for me this week. I was at school late every day this week, with last night being the capstone and me at school until 8pm. There is an unbelievable amount of stress associated with this event. Add to that an extra stressor: on Wednesday, my car got broken into at school. Some yutz smashed my front passenger side window and took my GPS out of my glove compartment. I assume what tipped them off to its presence was the mount on the dash, because they took that too. What was absolutely hilarious to me was that they did not that the $200 sunglasses that were dangling on the mount. The sunglasses were worth more than the bloody GPS! So my stress level is a little high right now, as you can imagine. Said stress level has led to me waking up around 3am twice this week (today being the second time) and not being able to get back to sleep.

Exercise: I would like to say that I did the three times exercising that Katie wanted in her comment, but I only accomplished one. Now at this point, I will point out that I DID Hike for 4 miles on Saturday, so that brings it up to 2x if I count that. So, let’s call it exercising twice. However, on that front, I do have to mention a couple things. When you haven’t ridden your exercise bike in a couple weeks, you definitely feel it when you finally do! I was ready to quit at 3 minutes in! However, I pushed on, partly thanks to some good tunes playing in my headphones, and made it the full 15 minutes.

Diabetes/Health: Tuesday, I slipped out of work for an hour for an appointment with Jennifer. At my official weigh in, I had lost 5 pounds in the past month. GO ME! I have started to take the full dose of Byetta, and let me tell you, it has knocked my blood sugar flat! This drug is amazing! I am now going to see Jennifer every other month instead of every month, so I can’t wait to see my weight loss after 60 days instead of 30 (more on that in a few too).

Food/Water intake: Water intake is averaging two liters a day, which is right about where it should be. Food. Well, that is another story altogether. Being so busy, I fell in the eating-out trap again. Plus, one thing I had kind-of forgotten is that I am a stress eater, so on Wednesday during lunch, I went to the deli across the street and grabbed a pint of Dove Ice Cream (Pecan Caramel Perfection … YUM!). I know, I know. I shouldn’t have, but I did. Now, while the Byetta managed the blood sugar just fine through that assault … I really wish that Byetta blocked calories too… Oh, my Cap’n Crunch protest finished up phase one with me reaching the bottom of the box of Crunch Berries I bought. It was fun eating like a kid again, and I will say that it was interesting to see that even eating something as sugary as that is not all that devastating when done in moderation. I am now eating a healthier cereal for breakfast until phase two of the protest starts with me opening the box of Peanut Butter Crunch I bought at the same time as the Crunch Berries. On the plus side, Festival of nations is a huge event with lots of food. Normally I strap on the old feed-bag and have at, but this year, all I had was a couple of Oranginas, which is a sparking orange juice drink made with sparkling water and juice. It is not sweet like soda, and is actually very good. rather than eat all kinds of food at festival, I just had a couple of those and left it there. And now ... the moment of truth! Did all the stress and bad eating kill me when I stepped on the scale?

Weigh in: I hopped on the scale this morning and it read 273.4, for a gain of .2 pounds. I would have expected given my week a gain of at least a pound, maybe two (that Dove Ice Cream is REALLY rich), but instead I held pretty much steady. To me, this is a good thing. It means that my other activities balanced out the bad stuff enough to dull the impact. It means that without the stress and bad eating, I probably would have lost a couple pounds. Well, I can keep on working and lessening my stress level this week, which should hopefully help when it comes time to report in next week.
So, from the depths of a stress-induced 4am blogging session, I will sign off and try to sleep for an hour or so before my alarm goes off, telling me to haul my butt out of bed for work. Until next week, have a great day and a wonderful week!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Mamavation Monday - Short...

This is a short post because it's Monday and I post on Mondays. The truth is, if I could have my way, I'd be curled up in bed today and I wouldn't come back out for a long time. I need to hide. I need to heal and I can't because life has to go on. Kids still need to be picked up from school and people still want my attention. The worst part? I mean other than a broken heart..I can't tell you about this. I can't tell you what happened because it's a part of my life that I rarely share with anyone. If I shared it, who knows how many would stop liking me or trusting me. So, I can't. I can't because I'm afraid. Let's just say I loved him and leave it at that. I suppose I can't leave it at that though because if I do, you'll think Justin and I split. We didn't. It's not about him.

I need to go. I can't do this. I'm here because I have to be. It's Monday and I post on Mondays.

Average Water Intake: 84oz
Workouts: 1 EAS, 1 level 2 walking dvd, some upper body stuff (bad week due to knee injury)
Weight Change: -0.8 (bring me down to 283.4)
Overall Weight Change: -8.4 pounds


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Are you a sweet or savory snacker?  What do you look for in a healthy snack?


C. All of the above. It just depends on the day. Healthy Snacks? Right now, I can't think straight long enough without bursting into tears to even know. Fruit, veggies...ignoring my desire to eat a chocolate moltan cake with icecream and caramel? 


This was post written in the hopes to win something. Pretty exciting, huh? This week's sponsor is http://www.orville.com/ - Orville Redenbacher. 

Friday, March 18, 2011

Jim's Week in Review

OK, OK, I know, I used this title already. And, up until now, all of my posts have had some snappy title. Just ... go with it. It is 6:25 am and this is when I will be posting, so the snappy titles are probably a ting in the past. there is only so much creativity I can muster when it is still dark out. Remember the line from Good Morning Vietnam? "It's oh six hundred. What does the 'oh' stand for? Oh my god it's early." Well, it is oh six twenty-five and I am writing my weekly post. My morning tends to start around 6am-ish. I leave for work around 7-7:30, depending on how motivated I am that day. Why so much time? Why not be like everyone else and wake up a half an hour before I have to leave? because I don't like to rush around like a chicken with my head cut off. AND, in case I oversleep a little, I still have enough time to get ready without too much rushing.

OK, enough about my morning habits ... lets get into my week in review, shall we?

Water
Water intake is generally up. Probably somewhere around 90 oz per day. Mostly because I have been sick and water has been my bestest friend. I noticed I have been fighting something for a few weeks now. Well, last week Thursday I was feeling crappy enough to go to my doctor's office. Ear Infection and a sinus infection. So, along comes the Amoxicillin, which for whatever reason tends to make me really thirsty, hence the around 90 oz per day.

Workouts
For the second week in a row, I haven't touched either machine. I know, I know, this is supposed to be part of my plan. No health recovery plan (isn't that a better term than diet?) is complete without exercise. What can I say? Between laziness, sickness and lack of motivation, I just haven't gotten on the Bike or the Elliptical in 2 weeks.

Nutrition
Oranges! My friends, why have I forgotten you?!?! When I was a kid, one of the great treats mom would bring home from time to time were oranges. Well, in the height of feeling totally cruddy, I went to the deli across the street and got chicken noodle soup (home made ... the deli across the street is actually a family owned and run butcher shop that has a small grocery store/deli attached and has a HUGE catering business ... everything is home made there with grandma Bunzel's old recipes), As I was checking out, I noticed the oranges in the cooler next to the register and thought to myself, "I could really use the vitamin C." I got one, and since then went to the store and bought a bag and have been having an orange a day.

Along the way, I had read something about the First Lady naming Cap'n Crunch as the worst kid's cereal because of its high sugar content. I am just enough of an a-hole that if the First Lady tells me I should not be buying something, I go out and buy some (take THAT Michelle!). WOW, it does have a lot of sugar in it. I could not believe it! But, my protest against being told what I can and cannot eat will continue until the box is gone. Besides, I think being American means being able to eat and do what you want even if it is bad for you. Cap'n Crunch is not illegal, so she should lay off.

Diabetes Care
Despite the sugary breakfast cereal, all but a couple of my blood sugar readings have been in the area I have been in since starting treatment: within 10 points of my target range (90-130). My pre-lunch readings have been closer and closer to 100 when I take them, with one reading getting as low as 93. Next week, I move from the half-dose of the Byetta to the full-dose. I got my new pens from my insurance company's mail-order pharmacy (paid $20 for over $700 worth of medicine). With the full dose, we will see if the appetite suppressant factor of the drug kicks in, because up to this point, I haven't really noticed it. Even so, I think I have pretty much got this under control.

Weekly Weigh-in
Drumroll please ....................
this week's weigh in had me at 273.2, which is -1.6 pounds from last week. I will have my monthly weigh in this coming Tuesday when I go for my monthly appointment with my diabetes manager so I will post those results after my appointment. I will also tell her about this blog (scary!), so depending on whether or not she starts reading regularly, be prepared for comments from her.

So, we have come to the end of my week in review. Talk to you again next week, and for goodness sake, eat right, drink plenty of water, and hey, get out and move around a few times a week!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Quick Post

This will be a really quick post, because I really shouldn't be up right now. I fell asleep earlier than I had intended to last night (Wednesday - around 9:00) and didn't get my post created for this week. It's now 3:00am on Thursday morning and I should be asleep, but I wanted to get this post created before I forget.

These past two weeks (since I last blogged) I have lost a significant amount of weight. I am not sure what the deal is because I have been eating even more calories than I had planned on, I have cut regular soda out of my life completely. Well, except for the occasional sip of Hubby's soda if we are out and about and I need just a small sip of something. And even when I have a tiny sip of regular soda, it tastes HORRIBLE to me! A few weeks ago, I was actually planning to have a soda, I LOVE pepsi. But when I took a drink of it, I made the most horrible faces ever because it tasted THAT bad to me. I just cannot stand the taste of regular soda right now.

Okay, so anyhow, I have been eating more calories than I had planned on, I dropped the exercising down to 3-4 days a week instead of every day, I have increased the water intake, and have dropped a significant amount of weight. As in too much weight, too soon.

I don't know what the deal is. My body is not reacting as anticipated. I weigh myself about once a week, at most. On March 1, I weighed myself. I was 236 and pleased with that. On 3/11, I weighed myself and I was 231. 5 pounds in 10 days. Not so great. In a week and a half, my goal would be to lose about 3 pounds. But it was more than that. By two pounds. Kind of an eek, need to bump up the calories, drop down the exercise a bit. So I did. I figured I was consuming far too few net calories.

Then, yesterday, 3/16 I jump on the scale. 220 even. Whoa - I just realized that's even worse than I expected because that wasn't even a full week's time. In 5 days, I lost 11.5 pounds. That's TWO pounds a day. I was fully expecting to have just maintained the weight, or maybe even to have gained a little bit, not lost on average the same amount per day that I had originally hoped to lose in one week.

So, why is this happening? I am eating more calories and even better foods, I am sleeping regularly for the first time in a long time, my stress level has been sky-high, I have been drinking more water and I have cut out regular soda completely. How do these things together, cause me to lose 10 pounds in 5 days? This is really depressing. It's not safe to drop that much that quickly. I want to lose weight in a healthy way. I don't want to endanger myself even more than my initial weight was already doing. So what is the next step? How do I rectify this?

Is there any chance that a lot of that was water weight? Or the fact that this past week was also (guys stop reading) my monthly? I'm just not sure what to make of this or where to go from here. To be honest, I'm scared to lose weight now.

Later today, I start a new job. It is one that will be Mon-Fri from 8-5 (roughly). Regular hours which will allow me to create a regular schedule, including a regular sleep schedule at night time, like most other people. Of course, my job will be a physical one, so I'm going to need to ensure to bump up the calories again and make sure I'm eating enough. Here's hoping that I can figure something out...

Monday, March 14, 2011

Mamavation Monday - Wow...

Another Monday, another weigh in and another post. You'd think I'd get tired of this but I just don't. It could be because blogging and journaling are two things that I really love doing. It could be because for the first time in my life, I have an incredible support system backing me up on my journey for weight loss. It could just be that aliens stole my brain and sold it to the easter bunny.  Ok, that last one might be stretching things just a tiny bit...

So, how was everyone's week? Mine was pretty good. It was a tough food week because grocery shopping had to wait until today. That means eating whatever you can find and hoping it's not too horrible for you. That's tough for when you're trying to lose weight and be more conscious of what it is you're eating.

It was also week 1 of hazing over at Mamavation. This is an in between campaign period for them and it's when anyone who wants to apply to be considered for the next round of Mamas gets their video entry posted. Then, Stephanie (and from my understanding Leah) puts them through some serious daily workouts. I did a couple of them last week and wow! Leah said something about this week being upper body and needing hand weights for this week. If scheduling allows it, I want to get in on a few of those. I'm so tired of having flabby underarms. Blech! So not sexy!

Randomly or not so randomly, I noticed that I forgot to put my goals in last week's post. So here is my rundown of last week and my goals for this coming week.

Average Water Intake: 84oz
Workouts: 4 (1 walking dvd, 1 hazing, 2 EAS)
Weight Change: -1.6 (bring me down to 284.2)

Next week's goals:
Water Intake: 84oz
Workouts: 4 (including hazing)
Meals: Stick to the meal plan that I created for this week.

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Question: What time of day works best for you to be active?  How do you make sure you stick to those planned workouts?
Since my schedule has changed and I'm now going into town 5x a week, I've learned that I need to get my workout done in the morning. If I don't, I'm quite often feeling just too tired from the days stresses, etc to make myself get back up off of the couch to do it. However, since the hazing has begun, I'm finding myself adding little bits of fitness in at random times. Like, the other day, whenever I went in to fill my water bottle, I did 10-15 wall pushups. Fitness is sneaking its way into my life and I think I like it.
 “This post is sponsored by SEARS FitStudio and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway hosted by Mamavation and sponsored by Sears.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Jim's Week in Review ...

They say it is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all. They say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. They say a job half done is a job undone. Well, I am here to say that a job half done still brings results.

What is the half of the job I have done: I have (mostly) gotten my food intake under control. I had a couple nights where the munchies took over, but on the plus side, I kept the munchies from causing me to gorge myself. I kept my water intake up, averaging 2 liters a day (I use a liter-size water bottle).

The half that is left undone? The bike and the elliptical are lonely. Maybe I should move them next to each other so they can keep each other company.

My energy level has been dropping. I read somewhere that low energy levels are part of what cause people to overeat. Something about the body thinking that it is running out of gas or somesuch. In addition to that, the past week has been hugely stressful for me. I am a Civics teacher in Wisconsin and all of the protests and arguments here have weighed heavily on me as people are constantly stopping me for information and discussion. Add to that, I have been fighting a mild sinus and ear infection for the past week. I have known my body was fighting something because the lymph nodes in my neck were swollen, but it was over the last three days I have been feeling cruddy.

So, the final result? I actually lost .6 pounds this week, bringing my weight down to 274.8 pounds. While that seems like a rather paltry loss, I look at it in this light: it is movement in the right direction, and it now makes three weeks in a row with a loss. Those two facts make this a good week.

So from me to you, have a good week!

8^) Jim

Monday, March 7, 2011

Mamavation Monday - What the....

Here we are. Another Monday which means I had to do the dreaded deed again. I had to step on the scale. As you guys all know, I'm not giving away the results until we get to the bottom. I will tell you that today's graphic is a clue as to the results.

Now, let's look back at the week. It was long but Monday-Thursday, I think I did pretty good. I hit 112oz of water every one of those days and worked out on Tuesday and Thursday. I spent quite a bit of time emailing back and forth with someone who gave me some pointers and more importantly, a ton of support.

Then, on Friday, I hit a wall and I hit it hard. I'd had a long week full of really bad cramps (guys who read this, just block that out of your head, ok?) and all the stuff that goes along with that. It was a long week in general with my schedule only partially working out due to some events that came up. On Friday, I had to take Ben to Grand Rapids (aka the big city) to participate in a study that was happening at the Gait Analysis Center there. Driving up there was tough, as always. Then, when we were just going to make it on time, traffic came to a near halt. We ended up getting there about 15 minutes late which raised my stress levels. Then, the 30 minute thing ended up taking 2 hours and we ended up at Denny's for dinner. I looked at that menu and I blew it. I just didn't have the willpower to say no to eating something I knew wasn't great for me. The only bonus was that I did have a glass of water with it. I think I hit 50oz of water on Friday.

On Saturday, I completely and totally self sabotaged myself. I drank maybe 28oz of water for the day, skipped my workout and while I don't remember really eating horribly, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was eating. Yesterday wasn't any better. Well, that's not true. I was much more mindful of what I was eating and how much but my water intake was maybe..umm...10oz? I have no idea what happened.

So, today, I didn't want to step on that scale. I just knew that it was going to be bad. I told myself that it didn't matter. It was a learning experience but deep down, it broke my heart. I didn't want to write yet another "Yep, I screwed up but today is a new day to start over" post. I kept thinking how I'd let so many people down who really believe in me. Then, I stepped on the scale and stepped off the scale and stepped on the scale...and stepped off the scale and stood there in shock. I lost 6 pounds this week...Did you read that number? 6 pounds. Can you believe it? I can't! I can only think that my kick ass first 2/3 of the week laid the groundwork for that and it shows me that the work I put in was so worth it and is going to push me to do even better this week.

This week's results:
Average Water Intake: 84oz
Workouts: 2 (Power Walking DVD)
Weight Change: -6


Now, for those of you wondering what the heck that big pile of meat had to do with 6 pounds. That's a 6 pound bundle of burger! I imagine it as 6 pounds falling off the back of my rear (doesn't it look a bit like a tush?). Woohoo! *grins*

----- Mamavation Monday Question ------


Question: What are your strategies to fit everything into your busy life?  Any areas you need to work on?

I'm not fitting it all in! I'm trying though. I've found that post it notes have been a huge help. I've written my daily routine on them and have it posted on my bathroom mirror. That way, I can quickly glance at it and know what needs to be done before I leave for the day. I'm also a huge list maker and it's helped me a lot. Plus, I just don't beat myself up if I don't get to everything. I make sure that what's really important gets done and I let go of the guilt of the rest of it.
 “This post is sponsored by Earth Footwear and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway.

Friday, March 4, 2011

What a difference a few calories make ...

One of the things I have had to learn about losing weight is that you have to learn about yourself and your personal habits. If your personal habits are not conducive to weight loss, you must change them. This week, I identified one habit that I definitely need to change. I am a mindless eater. If my mind and hands are idle, I tend to eat. I am not taking about gorging like Homer Simpson, but a slow, steady snacking that can lead to weight loss disaster. It is the kind of snacking that leads you to the kitchen and that fresh new box of thin mints during a commercial on TV. You come back with two Thin Mints to enjoy. The next commercial break, you come back with three or four. The next commercial break, you bring back the box to save yourself the trip next time, and by the time Survivor is over, you are pitching an empty Thin Mints box (can you tell it is Girl Scout cookie season?).

So last night, in a supreme act of will power I decided that I would not snack. I had my dinner, and then I kept myself busy. And you know what? It worked. I made it through the night without eating anything after dinner (but I did drink water!). So now, I have the task of making sure that I continue on this trend. No all-night snacking is my goal from here on out. I will not totally deprive myself, but I will actually pay attention to it from here on out. That being said, lets get to the week in review, shall we?

Workouts. Well, lets just say I have really fallen flat here. I have not done any of my weekly workouts. I haven't gotten on the bike at all, and the elliptical only once this week. I would like to say that I was super busy, but I was only moderately busy. It is amazing how quickly just being a little bit busy will cause us to drop things like workouts.

Water intake. I have found flavored waters to be a big boon here. Flavored fizzy water has reduced my intake of soda and shifted that consumption to water. What can I say, I am a fan of fizz. I also make my own non-flavored fizzy water with a doohickey I bought called a Soda Stream. It doesn't get the water quite as fizzy as store-bought water, but it is still great. All told, I am shooting for the AMA recommended 8X8oz formula, and coming pretty close on a daily basis.

Food. Portion distortion reared it's ugly head on me Wednesday at dinnertime when I ate WAY too much pasta. I also went out on my lunch and grabbed Chinese twice this week, and went to Subway one day. The other day, I ate a sensible lunch at school. Today is a day for a sensible lunch ...

Blood Sugar. With the change in meds last week, we were expecting my blood sugar to go up while I was on the starter dose. With this new med Byetta, you take a half dose for the first 30 days in order to adjust to taking the new medication, then go up to the full dose. My blood sugar, rather than having a jump as expected, went up only slightly, with my readings being less than 10 points above normal, and my blood sugar this morning was only 116, which is much lower than my usual 130-ish (my target range is 90-130, normal is under 100). And before you think it, yes, I know that this morning's excellent reading is because I wasn't snacking last night.

Now the payoff: Weight. I started out on this blog at 277, went up to 277.7 in my first week, and spent the next couple weeks drifting back down to 277. this morning's weigh in was .... drum roll please .... 275.6, for a loss of 1.4 pounds. This is the way I was envisioning my weight loss to be. Slow and steady. Hopefully I can continue the same trend!

8^) Jim

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Time for Me Thursday



It's Thursday and you know what that means! It's time for me! Wow, that sounded egotistical, didn't it? Maybe I should have said it's time for us to do something good for us! Does that sound nicer? If not, well shoot, y'all know what I mean. It's time for all of us to do something nice for ourselves. We need to take care of ourselves because if we don't, we're no good for anyone else.

Today, I'm doing something a little bit different. I'm giving myself a reality check. As some of you may have read over at Welcoming Weight Loss, I've joined this fantastic group called the Mamavation Sistahood. They are some of the most incredible, generous and loving women you will ever meet.

Now, what you may not know is that a few times a year, they select women to become Mamavation Mamas. This is a huge thing! These ladies take trying to lose weight to a whole new level. A few people were encouraging me to apply but honestly, I'm just not ready for that. I was really worried that I was disappointing people by saying no or that maybe they thought I was making excuses. The truth is I'm not ready. This morning, one of their most fabulous mama's, Shelley and I were talking and she said what I'd been saying. She said yeah, you're not ready. This brought some serious mixed feelings. On one hand, I was almost relieved that someone else saw what I was saying. On the other hand it was a big time reality check. Let me explain why.

For a very long time, I had the worse self esteem a woman could have. In fact, I called it negative self esteem because everything I thought about myself was negative. For the past few years, I've been working hard at getting past that. One of the ways I was doing that was by telling myself that I was ok just the way I am. Now, that didn't just mean personality, it meant physically. This morning, suddenly the reality was right in front of my face. I'm not ok just how I am. I'm not. I am a beautiful person but what I have done to my body is not beautiful. It's dangerous. It's scary and it needs to change.

So, what am I doing for me today? I'm exploring this reality check. I'm working on some "assignments" to help me explore how I got to nearly 300 pounds. I'm going to write in my paper journal. Then, I'm going to spend a fun afternoon/evening with my boys. It's Family Reading Night at their school and we're going to go and have a fantastic time!

What are you going to do for you today? Are you going to find time to journal? Paint your nails a delicious new color? Curl up with a favorite movie? Spend some time moving that body to get your sweat on? Make sure you head over to Life With Katie and let me know!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Weigh-In Wednesday

This past week went pretty well, I think. Here are the totals:

Thursday 2/24
-
64 oz. water, 1548 calories, no breakfast, workout - 453 calories, net calories - 1095
Friday 2/25 -
64 oz. water, 1010 calories, no breakfast, workout - 113 calories, net calories - 897
Saturday 2/26 -
48 oz. water, 678 calories, no breakfast, workout - 113 calories, net calories - 565
Sunday 2/27 -
64 oz. water, 1080 calories, no breakfast, no workout, net calories -1080
Monday 2/28 -
64 oz. water, 1127 calories, breakfast, no workout, net calories - 1127
Tuesday 3/1 -
64 oz. water, 1891 calories, breakfast, workout - 517 calories, net calories - 1374
Wednesday 3/2 -
64 oz. water, 1592 calories, breakfast, workout - 449 calories, net calories - 1143

It's personal evaluation time now. My water consumption was good all but one day, which is a definite improvement. I worked out 5 out of 7 days, which I am also mostly pleased with. I had planned to take Sunday off from working out, but I didn't plan on taking Monday off too. My net calories stayed in the range I was hoping for all but one day and even that one day, I am okay with that total, as I was seriously short on some of the other days.

I am still not eating enough calories most of the time and I think I need to step up the intensity of the workouts as well. Even still, I dropped down to 236 for my weigh-in this week. That's -2 pounds from last week, which was my goal.

My goals for next week are to consistently get a 300+ calorie workout in every day, eat enough calories for my net calories to be between 1100 and 1200, continue the 64 oz. water each day and to eat breakfast at least 3 times this next week again. The breakfast thing really throws me though. Most of the time when I eat breakfast, my stomach gets upset and all I want to do is to lay back down and get some more sleep. Not conducive to my other goals at all, but it is important for my metabolism and that's what I want to get revved up, so I will keep with the breakfast plan.

Also - according to one site, for my weight loss goal, it says that I should eat around 1200 calories per day (net) but on another it said that I should eat around 2000 per day (net). That is a huge difference! Any input from anybody? I weigh 236 pounds, I am 29 years old and female. I am essentially a beginner with my exercise level and would like to lose 2 pounds per week. I am okay with lowering the 2 pounds per week down to 1 pound, but this is the criteria that these two very different totals came from. Any suggestions?

Win a Treadmill? Yes, please!

Yes, my lovelies, this is another post where I hope, pray, fingers crossed, oh please oh please oh please pick me beg to win something totally awesome to help me in my weight loss/fitness journey.  However, hopefully you'll all take something away from it, as well.

Fitness and living healthy is something that has become really important to me over the last few months. I've wanted to be a skinnier person for years, but I never really connected skinnier to healthier. How short sighted is that? I was focused on only one aspect and never stopped to realize that just like a lot of life, it's about the big picture. If I want to be a smaller person (no more skinny talk!), then I have to be a healthier person. No more weeks of eating nothing but high sugar, etc cereal. No more sitting on my butt doing absolutely nothing for hours on end.  I look back to one of the happiest period of my life and I realize that I was always up and moving. No, I wasn't working out but I was moving around the house. I was playing with my babies and I was cleaning and organizing. We all know how happy organizing makes me! If you don't, check out my other blog.

One of the challenges for this post was to share some of my fitness tips with all of you. Well, guess what? I don't really have very many because I'm just starting out on this journey. However, I will share a few things with you that I'm learning as I go.


  • Water is important. Heck, our bodies are made up of tons of it and just like you sometimes flush out your radiator (no, I don't know why I'm using a car analogy here, but just go with it!), you need to keep your system flushed. Otherwise, ickiness (Yes, that is a word, I swear.) will build up inside and your body will slow down.
  • Exercise is important. We need to sweat out the ickiness. Our muscles need to be used or they don't stay muscles. Muscles are good. They keep the body moving and living and being strong. 
  • Don't try to do too much at once. I see a lot of people who are trying to up their water intake, increase their exercise and totally change their diet at once. Chances are it's not going to work. It's too much. It takes something like 21 days to create a habit. It takes way longer if you're trying to change a ton of habits all at once.
  • Habits can be like sneaky ninjas..or in my case, like those moles in Whack a Mole. They pop up under my feet and try to trip me up. Be prepared to do a bit of dodging and whacking. This isn't easy. It takes time to build up these skills. If you trip, pick yourself back up and keep going.
  • Don't give up. If you need help, ask for it. I lean on my Mamavation sistas all the time. I'm blessed because Angela lets me text her a hundred times a day. Sometimes, she even challenges me and pushes me. Don't tell her, but secretly I love it and I am excited and thrilled when she does. If you need a fitness buddy or someone to be a Water Warrior with you, ask. Heck, if you need, ask me. I have 3 people that I text each day to remind them to drink and I don't mind doing it, at all!
Now, to the other part...Why do I deserve a treadmill? Those types of questions are always so hard for me to answer because of that word deserve. I can't say that I deserve one more than anyone else. I just can't. I don't know everyone's situation and I would bet that there are tons of folks out there who are deserving. So, I'm going to tell you why I need one and how we, as a family, could use one. 

  • Michigan can have some seriously fickle weather sometimes and it's not always possible to get outside to walk.
  • My 11 year old has cerebral palsy and having a treadmill in the home could do wonders for keeping him loose and moving.
  • My 10 year old is really getting into Fitness and being healthy. I know he would love to be able to use something like this.
  • I need to lose weight. I am not at a weight where I feel even remotely comfortable running/jogging/walking in public. Having a piece of equipment, inside of my home, that would allow me to help shed those pounds would be an amazing blessing. 
  • This one is a bit silly, but Jim and Deanne have fitness equipment and I want some too!
  • I really do want to change my life and the lives of my children. I want them to grow up to be healthy, active and happy men. I want to be a healthy, happy and active mom. I want to be able to run around with them and not get exhausted from it. 
  • I can't afford a gym membership or fitness equipment. I'm working out now thanks to a sale on a dvd and the generosity of someone doing a giveaway. The truth is, I need help and for once, I'm not being afraid to ask for it. 
If you made it this far, thank you! I know this was one heck of a long post. I hope that everyone takes a little bit of something away from it, even if it's just that "Wow, this girl can just keep writing!"

I wrote this blog post while participating in the Bookieboo and Hayneedle Treadmill blogging program, making me eligible to win a treadmill. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

How to Burn Calories During "Homework"

A few weeks ago, Leah (@Bookieboo) challenged all of the Mamavation sistas to do some homework on Valentine's Day. If you look at the picture over there to the left, I bet you can figure out what that homework was. Now, since I'm not lucky enough to have someone on hand to "study" with, I decided to put this post together for those of you out there who are.

This, my loves, is the best way to burn calories during sex. I'll include the calories burned so that you can decide if you want to leave any out. However, I highly encourage you to do as much of these as possible. Consider this your homework workout. No cheating!


Do your homework as if it were an emergency. (Calories Burned: 911)
During foreplay use an industrial sized vibrator. (Calories Burned: 114)
Insertion w/ the male not fully aroused. (Calories Burned: 108)
Use the weightlifter position during sex. (Calories Burned: 100 (man), 45 (woman), 13 (spotter))
Use a hammock. (Calories Burned: 155)

Option 1: Do your homework in the gym! (Calories Burned: 141)
Option 2: Try it on the monkey bars! (Calories Burned: 85)
Option 3: Do it at Cal Tech! (Calories Burned: 101101)
Option 4: Try it on the Lincoln Memorial ( Calories Burned: 54)
Option 5: How about during Lift Off? (Calories Burned: 54321)
Option 6: While using the Trampoline! (Calories Burned: 42) (Combine with 2 for extra calories!)

Throw in some hot fudge! (Oops! Calories Gained: 144!)
Using Leather Restraints: (Calories Burned: 44)
Do your homework before a big meal! (Calories Burned: 74)
Turn on some Motown! (Calories Burned: 45789)
Add in some Hallucinogens. (Calories Burned: ooooOOOOoooo)
Add in some cartwheels & somersaults! (Calories Burned: 58)
Nobody likes a quiet partner! Throw in some howling at the moon! (Calories Burned: 13)
Girls, go for the appalling orgasm! (Calories Burned: 107)
Granted, if you go for the feigned orgasm....(Calories Burned: 134)

Afterwards, go shout it from the rooftops (includes hiking up 3 flights of stairs!)(Calories Burned: 83)
If your homework leaves you feeling disoriented...(Calories Burned: 20)
If his pre-mature ejaculation leaves him begging for another chance (Calories Burned: 51)
If your pre-mature ejaculation leaves you packing up to leave... (Calories Burned: 45)

Bonus Calories: Sex during the July 4th Fireworks! (Calories Burned: 1776)
Optional forms of sex: Oral sex before oral finals (Calories Burned: 119)
Optional forms of sex: Masturbation wearing boxing gloves (Calories Burned: 156)
Optional forms of sex: Avoiding it in a 40 man holding cell on a Saturday night (Calories Burned: 2,161)

Wow! Who needs The Biggest Loser DVDs when you can just do Leah's homework with a bit of fun added in?!?

(Information found at: CalorieLab)

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