Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tryin to keep up...

I have been trying to keep up with exercising and eating right, but I am not doing so well with that. I have been having trouble eating because of some nausea (not too bad, thank goodness). I don't really want anything to eat, and when I do eat something, I don't eat much. Exercising is a problem when I don't eat enough because I haven't taken in the calories to support any extra activity. I did attempt to go for a run with my sister-in-law last week. That didn't work too good, I thought I was gonna throw up halfway through. I estimate I did get about a mile of running in, and I walked the other mile, for a total of 2 miles. I felt awful afterwards though, so I need to do something different next time. I won't be pushing myself so hard, and I will make sure that I have eaten enough that day so that I won't feel so bad. I am going to try and go for at least a short walk each day so that I can stay active as much as possible. The doctor cleared me for running, but I don't know if I'll feel up to that anymore until I feel better. That remains to be seen....

Have a great Tuesday! Stay fit!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Adjusting

Happy Thursday!! I am having an interesting time adjusting to being preggo....At first I was just so happy (which I still am) but now I'm trying to get over being sick. I have a bad case of the pregnancy sniffles, which is also making my throat hurt. I'm taking Tylenol, the only medicine I can take. Also, this week has started the yucky feelings in my stomach. I have been having trouble eating, because just the thought of food makes me feel yuck. I haven't gotten sick or anything, but it has been close sometimes.....especially this morning. Blah! I have been attempting to exercise some days, but when I can't eat much, I don't have the energy to exercise. The doctor did clear me to run, so I tried to do so on Tuesday with my sister-in-law. I did about a mile of running I think, and the other mile was just walking. I definitely thought I was gonna be sick after that. I will not be doing that again until I can get some food in me. I have walked several times for a good amount of time. The doctor said that the first trimester is just a survival period, so I'm just gonna try and do what I can, when I can.

I had my first ultrasound this week! I found out that I am 6 weeks, 2 days today. My official due date is March 15, 2011. I got pictures from the ultrasound that I will try to post later, the baby is about .26 cm long. Baby just looks about the size of a grain of rice according the the ultrasound tech. According to my preggo book, Baby's about the size of a sweet pea. I will go back next week to hear the heartbeat! :-D I hope to get back to feeling better soon so that I can do better about being healthy!

Stay fit!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Big News!

Okay, so as most of you probably already know, I got some really BIG news yesterday....


I'M PREGNANT!!!!!

I am so happy right now, and so excited! I can't wait to continue staying fit through my pregnancy! Also, I've been getting all kinds of questions, and I will write a post in a little bit explaining the whole story :-)

Stay fit!!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Burn more calories every day Part 2

As promised, here are 5 more ways to up your daily calorie burn in order to increase your calorie deficit, and of course lose weight!

6. Do some cardio (maybe while the TV is on?). Doing cardio exercise ups your metabolism for many hours you finish it. Add that to the calorie burn that is created by doing the actual cardio, and your calorie deficit has just gotten a significant boost! When I combine watching my favorite show with doing some cardio, I feel like I have actually accomplished something as opposed to being lazy and just watching TV.

7. Move, stand, fidget. Get off your butt! Whenever possible, do your tasks while standing, or move around while doing the dishes, or just fidget a little bit while you're sitting down. You could stand while having a conversation. You could make 2 trips to the car instead of having your arms super full of stuff. If you have to be sitting, bouncing your legs a bit is a good way to not be so still; but this may not be as good of an idea at work around other people, it can make you look impatient or annoyed which wouldn't be good in front of the boss! Also, you can walk around while talking on the phone if you are using a cordless phone. That wouldn't work so well with a corded phone (but you can try if you don't believe me). Doing these things can burn up to 350 extra calories every day.

8. Clean house/wash car. If you throw in just 30 minutes of cleaning house, you can burn around 80-90 extra calories. Of course, if you're really scrubbing and working hard then you could burn more! Not only does it get you moving and burning calories, but it also gets you a clean house. Washing the car can burn about 110 calories in 30 minutes. I'll have to be honest here and say that I normally leave that one to my husband. However, it might be kind of nice to get outside in the sun and wash the car every once in a while. It doesn't have to be perfect though :-) All you have to be able to say is that you did it, had fun, and burned some calories that you wouldn't have otherwise.

9. Play with the kids. This can get you burning some serious calories. In around 30 minutes you can burn 120-150 calories depending how much effort you exert. Even if you don't have kids of your own, there are always kids around that want somebody to play with them, like nieces/nephews or even neighbors' kids. Just going outside and playing ball with one of them is a great idea. It burns calories for you, gets said child active, and develops relationships for both of you. A great idea, all around!

10. Cook dinner. I'll have to admit, this one is not one of my strong points. Cooking is not my thing, but it can burn about 60 calories in 30 minutes or so. That's a good average of how long it takes to make a normal dinner. If you do it just 5 days a week, you're halfway to losing 1 pound. All that chopping, stirring, and serving up can be combined with another activity on this list and add up to weight loss.

I hope that this list (today's post and this post) can help you include things in your day that will help you lose weight and live a fit life.

Stay fit!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Burn more calories every day

TGIF!!!!!

I have talked before about maintaining a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. Some days, though it is hard to get in enough exercise to have that deficit. That's why most days I try to do some little things that will increase my calorie burn that aren't too difficult or time consuming.

1. Park farther away from your destination. I try to do this every day when I go to class. I park in the parking deck as far away from the stairs as possible. And depending on how late I am (which I usually am), I try to park as close to the top as possible also so that I have more stairs to walk up and down. If I can't get a spot in the deck, I park in the farthest away parking lot, which is also easier because it is less crowded. So I get double the benefit from parking farther away from my class, exercise and less difficult to park! Sounds like an easy choice to me!

2. Turn off the TV. According to the RealAge doctors (Rozien & Oz...awesome docs), people who turn off the TV can easily burn an extra 100 calories a day. This is most likely because if you're not sitting on your behind, you're probably up doing something that burns more calories than sitting on the couch. However, the docs say that even if you are still sitting on the couch you will be doing something like reading or writing or typing which all burn more calories than vegging out watching TV. You can read the RealAge article here.

3. OR Do something productive while the TV is on. This can be anything from actual exercise to paying bills, updating your blog, washing dishes, and etc. You could even still sit, but sit on an exercise ball to tone up your core! During commercials, you could go put in a load of laundry or do some jumping jacks. Of course, you may want to do the jumping jacks when you're by yourself, I would feel silly doing jumping jacks or anything like that with other people in the house. But anything else can be done alone or with other people around. Anything that will burn more calories is better than staring zombie-like at the TV.

4. Drink more water. I talked about this in my last post (see it here), but to reiterate, water increases your metabolism, which increases the amount of calories you burn. Drinking cold water especially burns more calories because your body has to work harder to bring it to room temperature to process it. Water helps your body perform essential functions, so having enough of it is crucial to burning more calories every day. I try to drink at least 4 normal sized bottles of water each day, and I definitely drink more on days that I exercise.

5. Lift weights. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Building muscle doesn't mean that you have to bulk up though. Lean muscle can be gained by using light weights and more reps (bulk is gained by few reps using heavy weights). Even while resting, you will be burning more calories all day, every day if you have more lean muscle.


Okay, so there are 5 ways to help burn more calories every day. I'll give you 5 more in my next post. They don't require too much effort, and hopefully are easy enough to help you live a fit life!

Stay fit!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Hydration

It's almost Friday! Which means it's almost my birthday weekend!! Yay :-D I am pretty excited about it, can you tell? Haha...

I have not been very healthy this week. I was attempting to lose the 2 pounds I gained back plus a few by my birthday, but that didn't work out so well. I have been stressed this week, which makes me careless about what I eat and about exercising. I have had really good intentions, and I do okay during the day while I'm at work. Then when I get home, I just forget all about my goals. Ugh! I have got to get back on the ball, and I am starting today. I have eaten healthy so far today, but it is easy to do at work because I pack my food at home and can only eat what I bring with me. When I'm at home I just go crazy and eat too much of everything, even healthy stuff, and I don't get off my butt and exercise. But, like I said, I am determined to change that today and be really healthy.

This week, I am greatly increasing my water intake. Each day so far, I have drank at least 4 bottles of water. Hydration is especially important during the hot weather like we've been having. For me, it's kind of hard to get started drinking more water than usual, it feels like I'm drowning myself at first. But once I get a day or two of drinking lots of water, I start being really thirsty if I don't drink lots of water so it makes it really easy to continue. Drinking lots of water is really healthy too, it helps to flush toxins out of your body, and also helps shed pounds. It boosts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories throughout the day. Drinking cold water makes your body burn even more calories because then it has to bring the water up to room temperature to process it. Water can keep you from eating too much as well, because if I have a lot of water in my stomach, I don't want to fill it up with food. I'm also less prone to have caffeine if I'm guzzling water, and I know that I don't need to drink most things that have caffeine in them. There are so many ways that water is healthy, it does wonders for the body!

I hope everyone has a great Thursday! Stay fit!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Hello, all! I am dragging on this beautiful Tuesday. I could not go to sleep last night for some reason, so I am super sleepy today! I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend, I know I did. I am also pleased to report that I was pretty healthy this weekend, even though it was really hard. I was able to not eat too much for the most part, and I made sure to load up on fruits and veggies, and not so much on the slaw and desserts. I also exercised almost every day this weekend. I didn't do any exercise, per se, yesterday. However, I did scrub my house for about 4 hours, so I think that counts! :-)

On the negative side: I gained 2 pounds back :-( I know that it's because I was not too careful last week about what I was eating, and I let myself slack off from exercising a few days when I shouldn't have. It took a few days to show up on the scale, though. I have noticed that it normally take 2-3 days for any change, positive or negative, to show in my weight.

On the plus side: I have had a great start to a healthy week today. I ate a banana and a soy chicken patty for breakfast, and it was super filling. I hate being hungry all morning, so I love it when I find a breakfast that keeps me full. For a late morning snack I had a piece of string cheese and a FiberPlus Antioxidants bar. I didn't need this snack until late in the morning, which is good because for the next few weeks I will be eating lunch later than normal. My lunch consisted of albacore tuna in water and cantaloupe. It was really yummy, even though I did drop some tuna on my skirt, so now I will smell like tuna until I get home! I don't know yet what I'll eat for the rest of the day, but I am going to try to keep up the healthy eats!

I got some home grown cucumbers this weekend from my dad and my grandparents-in-law. I LOVE fresh cukes, so I will be snacking on those all week. They are so healthy! I do dip them in just a little ranch, but not too much, and I make sure it's low fat or fat free. I read today that putting salt on cukes makes them sweeter/less bitter so I think I might try that this week. I have never thought of doing that, and I don't think these will be bitter, but I'm going to try it anyway. I don't want to get too much salt though because I don't want to start holding on to water weight. Has anyone else tried that? I'll let you know how it goes...

Speaking of starting the week off healthy, I read an article today about the best time to start a new diet. It said that you are more open to change when there are other changes going on in your life, like moving or starting a new job, so that would also be an ideal time to make changes in how you eat. I think this could be true, but I think it would discourage people from starting a new diet if they are not in a "change" phase in their life. Changes in eating habits and lifestyle can also be made when there are no other changes going on. To me, it would be more stressful to have too many things changing and going on at one time. Changing how you eat and exercise is a big step and something that you have to keep up with, and I would think that it would be hard to continue with it in times of change. To make up your own mind on the subject, you can see this article here.

Stay fit!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Detox Diets

Detox and fad diets just make me mad. All of the fad diets/detoxes out there that claim to get rid of excess weight in no time flat are just ridiculous. There is no real scientific research to back up the claims that they make, nor is any weight loss attained sustainable. Even worse, these are the most unhealthy way to lose weight that anyone could choose. Detoxes that "clease" the system of toxins and require the user to drastically restrict their diet and/or use a supplement to aid the "cleansing" do more harm than good. Fad diets also restrict the diet or eliminate certain essential food groups, which is not good. Also, the weight that is lost this way is usually not fat, but mostly water and muscle. This is not a sustainable way to lose weight, because most diets like this are short-term, as well as addicting if done for too long. As soon as the user goes back to eating normally, all of the weight lost comes right back, and maybe even plus some. This is why I know that the best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy and balanced diet including all the necessary food groups. This means that I eat a balance of carbs, proteins, and healthy fats from a combination of sources such as fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole wheat breads and other foods. I try to limit my excess sugar, salt and calories because too much of any of those equals weight gain. If I want to do a "cleanse" of any sort, I make sure to up my fiber intake, and also my water intake. Both of these are natural ways to clean out the body, and they are sustainable and not damaging to my body. I believe that it is much better to lose weight the healthy way, a few pounds at a time, than to go on some crazy diet that is going to harm you or not continue in the long run. My personal goal is to have sustainable-in-the-long-run eating habits so that I can be healthy for life. I know that by cutting calories I can lose weight, and once I have attained that weight loss I can adjust my calories up to a level to maintain my weight. I know that it can be tempting when I am not seeing the results I want to fall into one of these diet traps, but I also usually know why I'm not seeing results, whether it be because I'm not eating right or not exercising enough. Even though the bad dieting can look like a good option at times, being healthy is by far the best way to live.

Stay fit!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Wet Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, all! It has been raining all day here, so no outside exercise for me today! But I hope to cook something much better for dinner tonight because after my debaucle in the kitchen yesterday, I was told about a website that had some great recipes & she said "beginners welcome". The recipes are from Chef Devin, and they do look yummy. I haven't decided which one to try, but if anyone would like to try one, this is the site.

I read an article from Yahoo! today that had a very misleading title. It claimed to have a way to burn an extra 150 calories a day just sitting on the couch. I should have known better than to really think it could be true, just to sit on the couch and burn 150 calories. I thought that maybe it would tell me how to do some simple exercises to burn calories that I could do while sitting on the couch, but no, it did not. It said that by adding lean muscle mass, one's metabolism would kick into high gear and burn an extra 150 calories a day. This is true, but just not what I was expecting from the article. The article recommended 2 weight training sessions a week along with 3 cardio sessions for at least 40 minutes each per week. This is definitely a great way to boost your metabolism and weight loss, but since I'm already exercising at least this much, this doesn't really help me that much. But I still thought it was a good enough tip to pass on!

I have done great eating healthy today! I switched it up from my normal for breakfast today. I still had my Almond milk, but with it, I had an apple and an egg instead of cereal. It was yummy, and I stayed full almost all morning. The protein in the egg and the fiber in the apple were definitely helpful in that respect. I did have a mid/late morning snack of a FiberPlus Antioxidants bar and a peice of string cheese. I had my favorite SmartOnes mini pizzas for lunch, and a WW ice cream bar. Those were absolutely delish as well. It really is not difficult to eat healthy, and once you find a few healthy options, more and more seem to appear, and there are so many out there with new ones coming out all the time!

I haven't worked out yet today, but when I get home I plan on doing an elliptical workout as well as the p90x Yoga DVD. I might not have time to get the whole DVD in, because it's an hour and a half long(!) but I'm going to at least do some of it. I love how I feel after yoga, so refreshed and calm and energized! I would definitely recommend it as part of a weight loss plan or just as a part of a healthy lifestyle. Love it!

Quick thought to end with: I was saddened by the report released today that said obesity has risen in 28 states.

Don't contribute to America's weight gain! Stay fit!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Some pics

Here are some pics from the wedding I was in on Saturday!



I'm the second one from the left in this one





These are 2 more. I was feeling skinny that day, since I got down to 125 lbs! :-)

Stay fit!

Relationships....with food; Dinner fiaso

I have a love/hate relationship with soda. This was my starting idea for today's post. I just had to have some caffeine this morning, and a soda was my only option. It was so good, but I hated to have to drink one since I know how hard I worked to get them out of my diet. I also know how bad they are for me, but I just needed the caffeine (thank you, marketing final). So, here are a couple of foods that I love or hate.

LOVE- Almond milk. This is my absolute favorite thing to have in the morning. I can have it with cereal or by itself (or both!), and a cup is only 90 calories! I usually buy Almond Breeze (Vanilla, not unsweetened), but I know that there are a few other brands as well. This milk is lactose free, soy free, and has a great flavor that is slightly sweet and SO good.

HATE- Cottage Cheese. Ok, I have tried to eat this, but I just can't stand it! When I did the Body For Life diet/weight loss program, I really really tried to eat it, and I even added things like fruit to it, but it is just awful. I hate the smell, the look and the texture of it. I don't care too much for the taste of it, but that would be bearable if I could get past the texture of it. UGH!

LOVE- Broccoli. There are some veggies that I don't like, but broccoli is not one of them. I love broccoli; I love it raw, cooked, plain, with cheese sauce, and pretty much any other way you can think of. I really like the convenience of the microwaveable steamer packets. It's also convenient to be able to eat it raw. I don't like it when it's cooked too long and therefore all mushy, but otherwise, broccoli is hard to mess up. Which is good for people who can't cook....like me!

HATE- Hamburgers. I know, this is yet another reason why I'm weird. :-) I like to think of this as a good thing though, because it means I'm not tempted to pull in a drivethru and pick up a fatty, greasy, bad-for-me burger when I'm hungry. The one exception is homemade burgers, as in made from ground beef and grilled burger. As long as I know it came from lean ground beef, I can eat it, but if it's any other way, it practically turns my stomach. Ew!

Ok, so that's just a small sampling of what I like, especially when I'm eating healthy and trying to lose weight.

I exercised today for 20 minutes using my elliptical machine. I didn't like the workout I did though. I like to switch up the resistance and pace, but today's workout stayed at one resistance level almost the whole time, and only varied between 2 different paces. I know that doing intervals is key for weight loss, and this workout didn't include many of them. At least I still burned 240 calories.

Dinner was quite interesting tonight. I got a recipe that I tried about a week ago for a white bean soup from a friend, and I was super excited to try it. It was supposed to be really healthy and most of the ingredients were veggies. It looked complicated when I set out, but I was determined to make it. I spent FOREVER getting it ready, and then it took about 35 minutes to cook. I could tell that when it was done simmering it didn't look quite right. The next step was to put half into a blender so that the soup would be thicker and creamier. Well. That was just a disaster. Long story short-my kitchen was/is covered. in. soup. GAH! Seriously?!?!?! I just could not believe that as soon as I turned on the blender, the lid came right off. I was so mad. And at the same time I was laughing because, honestly, it was pretty funny. I'm not even sure it was worth it. The soup was awful. I must have done something wrong, because it was not like the soup that I tried last week. I think that if I could have gotten it all into the blender (without it going all over my kitchen), it would have been okay. Not great, but at least okay. All that effort, and I ended up eating a piece of soy chicken. I am so NOT a cook, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! I think I'll have to have some help to make that the right way....maybe next time!

Lastly, I created an FB fanpage! Go check it out and "Like" it!! :-)

Stay fit!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Monday Monday Monday

Yes, I said Monday 3 times. It has been quite the Monday so far. Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but it has been a little crazy. It's finals time in summer school (part 1) so I've been digging into the books today since I've been home from work. I had a 5 page paper to work on, and material to learn for a presentation, so that's mostly what I've done this afternoon/evening. I haven't been able to exercise today, but I have also done some house work to get in some calorie burn. I did laundry and dishes, and I also made dinner. Wow, looking at it in words, it seems like I accomplished a lot today! I wish I was this productive every day!

I ate very healthy today. I had my favorite breakfast of Kashi GoLean cereal with Almond Milk. I had a packet of Newton's fruit crispers (apple flavor-yum!) for a snack, and for lunch I had my new favorite, Smart Ones Pizza minis. Those things are so good, and they're only 280 calories! I made pork chops for dinner, and I ate a sweet potato with it (hubby ate baked potato and rolls). I'm not sure how many calories that is total, but I know that it is reasonable and within a healthy range of calories.

I read an article today (that would have been of great use to me in the last 2 weeks, but oh well, haha) that talks about healthy rapid weight loss. It was great to find an article that recommends fast weight loss instead of advising against it. I love it when I find professionals and researchers who back up the method that I use and that I know works. The article affirms my belief that weight loss is about calorie deficits. In it, the author (an RD) says that staying in a calorie intake range of 1050-1200 with an hour of exercise will get a weight loss of 3-5 pounds a week as opposed to the normally recommended 1-2 pounds per week. She also recommends limiting sodium and starch to reduce fluid retention. I did learn something new from this article. Dieticians sometimes recommend an average calorie intake of 7 calories per pound of body weight (1050 for a 150 pound person), but no less than 1200. With this article, the RD recommends no lower than 1050. There are also some good tips for staying focused in the article. You can read it here.

Have a great night! Stay fit!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Super Sunday

Another 2 pounds are gone! :-) Which is super!! As of this morning I weigh 125. This is a total of 5 lbs lost. I was quite surpised since the past couple of days have been REALLY busy and I haven't had much time to exericse or even think about eating as healthy as I should. Friday was crazy with work and school and getting things ready for Saturday. I spent most of Saturday doing wedding for a good friends that got married last night. But thankfully I got through the weekend and didn't do too much damage!

I want to share a website that I found that is really cool. It is set up to help subscribers form any habit they choose. It's called HabitForge and it works by sending you a daily email where you say if you were successful or not that day in forming your chosen habit. If you click no it sets you back to day 1, and if you are successful you go from day 1 - 21 and you have formed a new habit. I'm going to sign up, but I haven't decided what I want my new habit to be. Here's the link.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and looking forward to a great week! Stay fit!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Thoughtful Thursday

Today has been a very thoughtful kind of day. I have been considering reasons why I am not losing as much weight as I wanted to, and I found a few articles that may help.

This article gives 4 reasons why you may not be losing weight like you wanted/thought you would. 1) "You're not fully commited". This is one that I struggle with. If I can't find the right motivation, I lose commitment and it becomes less important in my life. I have to constantly remind myself of my motives and goals, or find new ones so that I will keep going. The temptations jump out at me more persistently if I'm not fully committed. 2) "People expect miracles". I don't think that I expect miracles, so I don't think this one is an issue for me. I know that some people, though, jump into weight loss programs expecting to lose all this weight and when they don't lose it immediately they get discouraged and give up. Weight loss is not an immediate thing, it takes hard work and time, so going into it expecting miracles will just lead to disappointment. 3) "Your plan isn't sustainable". This is why focusing more on living healthy is the most important thing, rather than weight loss alone. If you make being healthy into a lifestyle, then it is sustainable over the long-run as opposed to something short lived/extreme that will fizzle out sooner than later. 4) "You can't forgive your slip-ups". This is the other thing that I have a hard time with. If I mess up or even take a break from being so intense, I feel so guilty and like I'm letting myself and others down. I have to let myself rest without guilt, and allow myself to mess up here and there. If I don't, I will just make myself crazy and I will lose heart and quit to go back to being unhealthy. This is where I try to use the 80/20 rule that I have talked about, where you do good at least 80% of the time so that you can get over slip ups for 20% of the time. So, forgive and forget....that's the best thing to do :-) Here's the link to the full article.

Another article I found talks about reasons your diet may get off track. It lists 5 reasons why. 1)Boredom. This is SO true! I know that consistency is a good thing, but eating the same thing all the time just gets so old. 2)Getting too lax. I am guilty of this sometimes for sure. I get comfortable in whatever diet/method (a specific diet like weight watchers or a method such as just being healthy)I'm using and I get lax and don't do it 100%. This is kind of like boredom for me. If I get to comfortable in what I'm doing, I will make excuses as to why I don't have to do it totally right and that I'll make up for it later. Of course, I never make up for it and end up feeling horrible about it. This is another reason to switch it up and eat something different rather than the same old food every day. 3)Vacation. This one is tough, but at least if this is the case, it only lasts a short amount of time. Unless you get extended vacation or something of course (lucky you if you do, haha). When I'm on vacay, I just wanna chill and let loose, not watch myself and monitor what I'm eating all the time. In this case, moderation is the key. As long as I don't go overboard and stuff myself, I should be okay and not incur any damage. Also, exercising while on vacay is important too if I'm not planning on being careful with food. If I'm at the beach, that's easy because I LOVE a run on the beach. Other locales are harder, but it's not too difficult to find something to do.4)Parties. This is a really big factor in the summer (like right now) or during the holidays. There is always a reason to have a party this time of year it seems, and those throwing the party may not know or care that a guest is looking to eat healthy or lose weight. And even if they did, who wants to make 50 different things to please everyone?! I know I don't. So again, moderation is key, as well as maybe eating a little something before going so that I'm not starving when I arrive. If I'm too hungry, all healthy thoughts will be gone out of my head, and I will just be wanting to eat anything in sight. Also, making sure to exercise before I go helps me stay mindful of what I am eating. 5)Stress. This is definitely a biggie. Stress does several things to your body. First, it makes your body hold on to fat. Second, it makes you want to eat more. This is a dangerous combination for weight loss goals. Exercising is a great stress reliever, and it helps me focus and feel better. Also, yoga is fantastic for stress relief, as is meditation. I don't do meditation very well unless I'm listening to a "guide" of some sort. It is definitely relaxing, but I can't do it by myself. I know that research supports that meditation is good for mind/body harmony, so it's definitely something worth trying. Lack of sleep is also a factor in stress. I have trouble getting into bed at a decent hour, so I know I need to work on that. Also, there are herbal teas that are very helpful in calming the mind and body, like chamomile and others. The ones I have tried are very good, and they really do work. I slept great the nights that I drank them. You can look at the article here.

That's all I've got for today. Stay fit!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

What a week

So far, this week has been crazy! I feel like I haven't stopped to take a breath most days! Even so, I have been really good about staying on track with my goals. I didn't set any specific goals this week because I knew it would be crazy, but I don't want to get off track either. I exercised on Sunday (yes, I know that counts as last week, but that has been since my last post so I'm including it, haha), Monday and yesterday (Tuesday). I exercised a lot yesterday, and I may have done too much. I am taking a break today to make up for overworking myself :-) I can definitely use the rest! I ran a mile at lunch yesterday, then did a 350 calorie routine on the elliptical and then went and ran some more with my sister-in-law (over a mile, not totally sure how long we went). I think that I deserve a nice day to rest after all of that, and I'm not going to let myself feel guilty for it! I struggle with feeling guilty if I don't give 190% when I'm working toward my goals, but I'm not going to let those feelings in because they will just bring me down and discourage me. If I let them in, I will get down about it and it will just send all my hard work down the drain. So, I have to let myself rest, and I am doing so today.

I am having a hard time with eating healthy this week. I am on some medicine temporarily that is making me super hungry. This is making it really hard to keep my calories under control, but I'm trying really hard. I only take to work a certain amount of food, so I have no choice but to eat the right (and right amount of) things. When I get home is when I have a hard time. I just want to eat and eat and eat, and I have to distract myself and do something else to take my mind off of it. Also, I have been CRAVING something sweet, so I went to the grocery store and got some Skinny Cow truffle bars, and they really hit the spot. They are only 160 calories so they don't ruin my calorie count and they kick that sweet craving so that I can think rationally again about what to eat or not eat! That's what eating healthy is about, finding a balance and substituting things that are better for you in the place of high calorie, fattening things. That way, you can have your cake and eat it too (ha, yeah I know, that was totally corny). A better way to put it, I can satisfy my craving for "bad" foods with good-for-me foods, or at least foods that are better for me than the bad ones.

I have not lost any more weight, but I think that if I can get some more rest, I can change that. I know that not getting enough rest is detrimental to weight loss efforts, but I am so busy that it is hard to get all the rest I need. I am going to bed early tonight for sure though, so that I can get a good nights sleep! Hopefully that will help me lose more weight, but it will at least make me feel better so that maybe I have more energy to workout or the brain power to make better food decisions.

Have a great night everyone! Stay fit!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Sore!!

I have been so sore since I did my last P90X workout! I love that feeling, it makes me feel like I worked really hard and accomplished something that will help me to reach my goals.

I didn't get to update yesterday, it was a crazy day. I continued taking my Slimmetry supplements and I really like the way they energize me and make me feel like I am burning more calories and fat without doing anything extra. Also, I tried a meal bar, the cherry & almond flavor. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! In case you missed the point (haha, like you could miss the all caps), I really liked it and will definitely be ordering some of those. Don't forget, if you can find all of these products here.

I have not done any more P90X workouts, but I have done something both today and yesterday. I ran yesterday and worked on my elliptical today. I know that this weekend will be hectic because I have a wedding to go to, so I doubt I will get any exercise in on Saturday.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay fit!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Progress

Another pound lost!! I have now lost 3 pounds total. I started this journey at 130 and as of this morning, I'm now 127. Yay! It's so encouraging to know all of this effort is paying off!

I think I'm a glutton for punishment. I will definitely be sore tomorrow! When I got home from work, I did the P90X Core Synergistics #8 DVD. I. Thought. I. Would. Die. I'm not kidding.....it was one of the hardest workouts I have ever done. Of course, that's the point, but still....it was hard! And then, after all that hard work (and almost dying) I went and ran 2 miles with my sister-in-law! I don't know how many total calories I burned, but I know it has to be high!!

I did so great with eating healthy today! When I went to the grocery store last night in search of a high protein breakfast, I found another Kashi cerial called GoLean. It has 13 grams of fiber in 3/4 cup, and 110 calories. It is not a very sweet cereal, but with a cup of almond milk it was pretty good, definitely something I could eat regularly. That combined with a scoop of protein powder mixed with a cup of water (18 grams of protein) put me easily into the 30 grams of protein range, like I talked about yesterday. I was full all morning! Then for lunch, I had a huge bowl of romaine lettuce with 2 tbsps of dressing and a pouch of tuna packed in water. I had a snack of an apple with 2 tbsp of peanut butter. Then after my workout I had a protein shake and for dinner I had 4 mini pizzas (by SmartOnes) that were delicious. All in all, I had roughly 1200-1300 calories. Considering how much I worked out, I probably should have had a little more, but I didn't know during the day that I was going to work out so much.

I tried some of the Nutrilite products today that I wrote about yesterday. Long story short-they are AWESOME! I took the Slimmetry supplement before breakfast and lunch. The directions say to take it before all 3 meals, but I didn't take it before dinner because it has caffeine in it, and I can't sleep if I have caffeine too late. So, I skipped the dinner dose. When I took both the breakfast and lunch doses, I felt so great. I felt energized (possibly a result of the caffeine) and I felt like I was burning more fat (yes, I know that is completely psychological). After my workout, I tried the vanilla protein shake, and it was really delicious. It was definitely better than some I have tried that taste very powdery and not sweet, but this one was smooth and sweet without being too sweet. I'm going to keep taking the Slimmetry tomorrow and I really want to try the meal bar, so I'll update about that tomorrow.

Until then, Stay fit!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Healthy & Happy

Today was a bit of a lazy day for me. I got home and decided I wanted today to be my day off because I definitely didn't feel like exercising. That's a little disappointing considering how motivated I was yesterday, but I know I'll get back into it tomorrow.

Also, I did really great eating healthy today, so that makes up for it a bit. For breakfast, I had cereal as well as almond milk with protein powder mixed in. I'll explain that in a minute. For lunch, I had some white bean soup that my coworker brought in, and it was DELICIOUS! I told her I definitely want the recipe! It was so light and tasty that I want to make a big batch of it so that I could eat it for lunch all week, which would make packing my lunch so easy!For dinner, I made sphaghetti using whole wheat pasta. I read yesterday that just because something is labeled "whole wheat" doesn't mean that the whole wheat is a main ingredient. In fact, some things have less than 2% whole wheat and it is one of the last ingredients listed on the nutritional label! So, when I bought this pasta, I checked the label and made sure that whole wheat was at the top of the list. Really, using whole wheat pasta makes spaghetti a very healthy choice. As long as I don't pile my plate with it, it is not loaded with calories, and neither is the tomato sauce. Plus, the sauce contains a good portion of the recommended veggie servings for the day.

Ok...to explain what I meant about my breakfast. Normally, I do not mix protein powder into my milk. However, I was recently told by a friend that if you take in around 30 grams of protein with breakfast, you will burn more fat in the next 24 hours, and if you take in less, you will actually hold on to fat for the next 48 hours! So I decided to see if I could actually take in 30 grams. No matter what I tried, I could not do it with what I currently have. I guess I will be making a trip to the grocery store tonight!

I am really excited about some new products that I got today. My friend Jordan and her husband run a business that sells Nutrilite nutritional products and supplements. I have been looking at her website, and I contacted her to see what she thought I should try, and also to get some samples. I got a protein shake and meal bar that look yummy, as well as some water flavoring that has glucosamine in it to protect joints. Also, she gave me samples of the supplements Slimmetry, which helps your body burn fat faster, as well as Carb Blocker 2, which helps to block the absorbtion of carbs when eating a high carb meal. I am super excited to try some of the products tomorrow, and I'll let you know what I think! Thanks a bunch to Jordan & JJ!!

Stay fit!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Motivated Monday

Is it already Monday again? I guess so! I feel quite motivated today, so I need to set some goals for this week to channel that motivation into something productive. Okay, so my goals are to work out for 1 hour for 6 days this week. I want to run at least 2 days of that and do P90X workouts, and incorporate weight training 3 days as well. I need to do some housework also, so I will add that on top of the workout goals for the week. As far as eating, my goal is to keep a journal this week to track what I am eating and to better keep up with my calorie intake. I will continue to stay in the 1200-1500 calorie range.

I still haven't lost any more weight, but I'm hoping that by holding my calorie intake steady and upping my workouts, that will change. I so badly want to change my body and feel better about it. I feel like I am starting to see a change in my body, even though I haven't had any more weight loss. Wanting that change and seeing a small amount of change (even if it may be imaginary) in myself has provided that motivation that I feel today. I am hoping that it lasts throughout the rest of the week, but I may need some encouragement to keep it up! It's a good thing I have great friends to support me! :-) Keeping a journal will also help me figure out where and when I am messing up so that I can correct it and move on towards losing weight.

I really would like to lose 5-6 pounds in the next 2 weeks. I know that that is not a healthy loss though. Doctors recommend that 1-2 pounds per week is a healthy range, so I will do my best to lose at least that. I have learned through much research and conversations with professionals that in order to achieve this 1-2 pound weight loss, there needs to be a 600 calorie deficit every day. I need to burn 600 more calories than I take in. To get this, I first have to know my resting metabolic rate to figure out how many calories my body burns without doing any activity (thus "resting" metabolic rate). Most any RMR calculator brought up with a Google search will work, you really need just a ballpark to get that base number. I never remember my exact number, but I know that it is roughly 1400 calories. Then I add in the calories that I take in on a particular day to see how many calories I need to burn to get my deficit of 600. That 600 can come from any activity including working out. That may seem like a daunting number, but keep in mind that anything you do during the day is going to burn calories. Even typing this post I am burning calories. Everything from walking to the car to cleaning the house to eating my lunch is burning calories. The website I posted a week or two ago is a good resource for calculating how many calories you burn doing different activities (here it is again in case you don't want to search for it!). For example: My RMR is 1400; I eat 1500 calories; I do daily activities of driving for 30 minutes (59 calories), typing for 30 minutes (44 calories), light office work for 5 hours (222 calories), and an elliptical workout for 30 minutes (400 calories). My calorie deficit will be 625 (1500-1400-59-44-222-400=-625). If I want to eat more calories, then I have to adjust my activities to match that. I hope that isn't too confusing, but if it is then let me know and I will get into more detail, or I can help you customize it for yourself.

Have a happy Monday! Stay fit!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Wacky Weekend

Well, this weekend has not been as productive towards my weight loss goals as it should have been. I didn't get much actual "workout" time in, BUT I did do a lot of work around the house and walking around to make up for it. The hubby and I did some work outside so I think I got some quality calorie burn with that. We were pretty much outside all weekend. I did really good on Saturday with eating right. I ate a decent breakfast (whole grain waffles) and then went to get a haircut (yay!) so I had no time for snacking like I usually do on the weekends. I had a really great lunch of roast beef sandwich from arbys-yum-(and low calorie if I take off one of the bun halves) and went to a cookout for dinner. I had some dessert at the cookout, but I figured that since I had been pretty good lately that it was okay to indulge a little! Actually, I have read many times that it is detrimental to your weight loss plan if you always deny yourself, so it is better to have just a little of something that you really crave than to deny and then go overboard. When I was doing the body for life diet, the author of the book, Dr. Pamela Peeke, said to always go by the 80/20 rule. That meant that if I am good for 80% of the time, I can forgive myself for getting off track for 20% of the time. I try to do better than 80%, and usually do, but I know that if I beat myself up for messing up that it will hurt more than help. So, sometimes I let myself be a little lax :-)

I tried P90X on Friday. O!M!G! I tried what seems to be a more easy workout (the cardio DVD-#11) and it was HARD! I felt so good after I finished it though! I love that feeling after a workout, the feeling that I have really worked hard and pushed myself. I felt like I had really pushed my body toward my ultimate goal of being fit and happy with my body. I will try the other DVD I have, Core Synergistics-#8, next week.

I found a good site today that I'm going to use to find a 5K near me. I really would like to do one soon, which will help me achieve my goal #8, which was to run a 5K by this summer. I think that my extra work on the elliptical is helping me with my endurance when I run. This is great because I am building my endurance and cutting my time without doing so much outside in the heat and without hurting my knees & shin splints any worse. I'm going to figure out which one I want to do and I will let everyone know! :-) You can find one here.

Hope everyone has a great week! Stay fit!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Fantastic Friday

I am so glad it's Friday! I am looking forward to a fun and healthy weekend. Plus I'm getting a hair cut too! I plan on not only continuing my workouts, but also increasing the intensity and length of them. I want to up my cardio and add in weight training for all areas of my body.

I have been looking into cardio exercises that are less impact, because both myself and my regular running partner are having trouble with our knees hurting. I also have a lot of trouble with shin splints. If I run on pavement too many days in a row, my shins hurt so bad I can hardly walk the next day. So, even though I love running, I need something that is not so high impact. Some days I can use my new elliptal (that I love), but in order to keep my body from plateauing, I've got to switch it up. I have found so far 3 different types of cardio that can be substituted.
1)Biking. I don't own a bike, so I can't take advantage of this one right now, but I have read that it is SO much easier on your knees (as well as hips) than running. You burn more calories running a mile than you do biking a mile. Running a mile burns about 110 calories, and biking at 15mph for a mile burns about 31 calories. However, biking a mile takes much less time than running a mile, and it is easier. Running is much more intense workout in less time, but biking stresses your joints less. If you bike for 20 miles at 15pmh, you equal the amount of calories burned in 5.6 miles of running, which is 620 calories. That's a lot of calories! I might think about investing in a bike...
2)Zumba. I don't know if any of you have taken a Zumba class (or viewed a Zumba DVD), but I took the class at my old gym, and it was AWESOME! Zumba is so much fun! It is a "dance" type of class that uses Latin-inspired music and dance moves. One hour of Zumba burns mega-calories. And the best part about it is that you don't have to be a good dancer, and you don't have to even do the moves right; all you have to do is just move! I love it! They have DVD's for those who don't go to a gym (like me), and you can buy them on their website (and probably in stores, but I haven't looked for them so I can't say for sure). If you want something fun and upbeat that doesn't feel like a workout, I would definitely go for this! Here is the official About Zumba page if you want to look for more information.
3)P90X. There is only one word that comes to mind when I think of P90X: Intense! This is apparently one of the most intense workout systems available right now. I haven't tried it yet, but I am planning to. I have looked at their website and there are 12 DVD's that contain many different workouts. I really want to try the cardio one as well as the stretch one that looks like it is centered around yoga/pilates. Also, there are different DVD's for different areas of your body such as the Ab workout one. I borrowed the cardio one yesterday and plan to try it sometime this weekend. The website for P90X claims that you will get "ripped" in 90 days. Since I don't have all the DVD's I can't try that claim for myself, but I will definitely try some of them and see how it goes. I think it is just the thing to kick my butt into gear and get this weight-loss going. And I like how it is a system you can do in your own home and is much easier on your joints than pounding the pavement outside.

That's all I've got for now. Have a great weekend and Stay Fit!!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Thankfully Thursday

It's almost the weekend...which is why I'm thankful on this Thursday! :-)

I have not lost any more weight yet, which is slightly disappointing. I have done super good this week with the goals that I set on Monday. I have stayed under 1500 calories each day so far and I have exercise every day except Monday. I ran on Tuesday and Wednesday and today I used the elliptical (and burned 520 calories!). I also did a little bit of work with weights on Tuesday, but not as much as I could/should have. Obviously, I need to work harder since I'm not losing any more weight yet. I need to get more exercise in for sure, and I will have to start doing that tomorrow.

I read an interesting article today about food commercials and weight gain. I know that personally, I can't stand most food commercials, because I think they are gross. They show greasy, fatty, calorie-heavy foods and portray them as something that people need or should want to eat. According to this article, these commercials contribute to making bad food decisions and to mindless snacking and munching. It suggests at least muting your TV during commercials, or even turning it off or fast forwarding through them. Those who watch less commercials weigh less and eat less. I didn't know it was possible to like food commercials less, but after reading this article, I never want to see one again. If you are conscious about what you put in your body, then you don't need such ads telling you what to eat. I know what I want, and I don't need someone telling me that I need or want this unhealthy food that will make me feel bad later and contribute to an unhealthy life. I will be avoiding such commercials in the future now that I've read this article. Here is the full article.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Manic Monday

It's Monday again! I can't decide if I'm happy for a new week or still pining for the weekend...I think I'll choose happy for a new week! Each Monday offers me a new start to live a healthier life than the last week. I was actually pretty successful last week, but I know I can do better.

My goal for the week is to exercise at least 6 days, and to eat around 1200-1500 calories each day. This is the key to losing weight. When your calories burned exceeds your calorie intake, that's the point at which you lose weight.

I found a good article about weight loss myths that I thought I would address. Here are the myths, and my take on them:
#1: Carbs cause you to get fat. NOT true. As I said above, calories in versus calories burned is the cause of weight loss or weight gain. Therefore carbohydrates alone are not the cause. That being said, carbs do contribute to the calorie count of any food/drink you take in. There are 4 calories in every gram of carbohydrates, so they are definitely a piece of the equation. And in carb-heavy foods, the calories can add up quickly. However, there are also 4 calories in every gram of protein and 9 calories in every gram of fat. Those are the 3 things that make up the calorie total. Since most foods have more carbs than protein and fat, carbs are the biggest contributor to the calorie total of what we eat, so they're definitely something that we need to monitor carefully.
#2: Drinking tons of water will make you lose tons of weight. NOT true. Again, water alone is not the cause. Drinking tons of water does not automatically cause weight loss, and it may even do the opposite if you easily gain water weight. It can also make you feel bloated and uncomfortable. What does water do? Several things. 1)It can help you cut down your calorie intake by replacing sodas or juices that contain calories. 2)It helps keep hunger at bay, making you less inclined to munch or overeat. This helps even more with calorie intake. 3)It helps keep you hydrated which gives you more energy. If you have more energy, you will feel better and you can do more in your workout to burn off those calories! So, water is great for weight loss, but too much is not so good. I usually try to shoot for the recommended amount (8 glasses per day), but some people need more or less, so just drink however much feel right to you.
That's all for today, but I will address some more later this week!
You can go here to see the article in full.

Stay fit!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Slow Progress

Last year when I got healthy, it didn't take long for the weight loss to follow. This time around, it doesn't seem to be working quite so well. Granted, I haven't been very consistent with working out. I was doing so well last week; I did some form of physical activity every day almost. Then the weekend came and I slacked off to begin with, and then I hurt myself so I couldn't work out. I didn't eat right this weekend either because I was upset about not being able to exercise, so I just ate like crazy. :-( I am over my injury now, so I am getting back on track, though. I ran again today with J, we went about 2 and a quarter miles, but did a bit more walking than running this time. It was really hot out today, so it seemed extra difficult. I also did some lunges as well. We are going to do more tomorrow though! I really need to get more weight-resistance work into my workouts. Doing lunges today was a start, but I need to incorporate that more often. Doing cardio gets rid of fat and starts weight loss, but doing weights creates shape. I know that a lot of women are afraid to lift weights because they don't want to get bulky, but I have done a lot of weight work before and I never bulked up. It creates lean muscle in women that really creates that fit shape that I want.

Also, I wanted to share my newest arrival: an elliptical machine! I am really excited to use it, especially since it has been really rainy here recently. I will be able to use it if I can't exercise outside, or if I don't want to go out in the heat or cold. There are a lot of different built in workouts too, so I can switch it up whenever I get bored with it. I am still trying to find a place that it can fit into at my house, but I'm sure I will fit it in soon.

I went to the grocery store today to stock up on more healthy food. I tried to get a balance of proteins and carbs. I got several combos such as apples and string cheese, eggs and cantaloupe, almond milk and cereal, tuna and mandarin oranges, and salmon and cucumber. I also found a new product this weekend. They are Newton's Fruit Crisps, found in the snack isle. I got the apple flavored ones, and they are SO good! With all these healthy snacks, I will have no trouble eating right and making myself more healthy.

I hope everyone has a great night! Stay fit!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Working hard

I have been very consious today of what I was eating. I was really proud of myself at lunch especially. I kept in mind my goal of not overeating and I was able to eat until I was full and not stuff myself, even with a huge plate of food in front of me!! I did good for dinner too, even though I wanted a snack a little bit later. I figured that it would be better to eat less for dinner and need a small snack than to overeat and be miserable. I also am thinking of checking out a book that a friend mentioned called Women, Food, and God. She said that it would help with my overeating tendencies, so I really hope to have time to read it soon.

I also went for a run today with a friend, J. We have been running several times a week, usually about 2 - 2 1/2 miles. It was taking us about 30-35 minutes, but I timed us yesterday and we did it in 25 minutes! I am so proud of us :-) It is really great to run with somebody, because we push each other and challenge each other more than we would by ourselves. We plan to run tomorrow as well, and maybe we can get our time even better so we can start adding more distance! (She may kill me for saying that when she reads it, lol!!)

I hope everyone is having a great week! Until next time...Stay fit!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Overeating

Overeating is one of my biggest struggles. I don't know what it is that makes me continue eating even though I know I don't need it or I'm already full. It's like this compulsion. I just get so frustrated with myself for letting the compulsion win. I think that some of my problem is emotional eating, but not all of it. I definitely eat more when I'm upset or stressed, but I also eat when I'm bored or if food is there tempting me. I always feel horrible afterwards also. Like today. I went to Arby's and got a sandwich and fries. I lovelovelove Arby's. But I didn't need ALL of that food I ate. I felt so stuffed and lethargic after I ate, and I knew as I was eating that I should stop, but I didn't. I'm not sure how to conquer this struggle, but for now I think I'm going to try to just think about how bad I feel after overeating while I'm eating so that maybe that will stop me. If anybody has any ideas or suggestions, I am open to trying just about anything. I know that there are appetite suppressants out there, but most of them are expensive and possibly won't work or are even dangerous. I am trying to live healthier and keep mostly natural things in my diet, so additives like appetite suppressants are not really something I want to try. I am going to work on this issue, and I will post later on how it's going!

Friday, May 21, 2010

I Heart Running

I am having a great, healthy week this week! I don't think I have lost any wieght yet, but I have been making really good food choices, and I have exercised several times.

Making healthy food choices has come a lot easier for me this week. I am starting to really enjoy eating food that is better for me. Notice that I say "better" and not "good". This is because I have replaced foods that are bad for me with foods that are better for me. I do eat a lot of good-for-me foods, but not all of them are. I would like to eventually be eating nothing but good-for-me foods, but for now I am trying to not make HUGE changes all at once. I have found a new cereal that I really like. It is called Honey Sunshine and it is made by Kashi. That plus Almond Breeze vanilla milk makes for a great breakfast that keeps me full for most of the morning. I have cheated a few times in the morning and had a Dr. Pepper, but I got some new teas last night at the grocery store so I am set now to keep soda cut out. For lunch I have been having Lean Cuisines (which are part of the "better" category), although I need to start eating more natural foods (less processed) like veggies and such. I have done pretty good this week at dinner. Last night I made subs with fresh turkey from the deli counter at the grocery store. I discovered how much better that meat is than the prepackaged meat last year, and I can't imagine having to go back. The only other night I cooked this week, I made tacos with lean beef (can you tell we love those around here!). My nephew was born this week, so we have not been home several nights for me to cook dinner. One night we ate in the hospital cafeteria, which is surprisingly decent, and I ate part of a stromboli that came to about 450 calories. I am trying to stay within a 1200 calorie range for calorie intake. I have found that 1200 calories is a good and attainable target for me when I am trying to lose weight. This is especially easy to do when I am eating fresh and healthy foods. I feel better when I eat that way and I have more energy and I feel better about my body. So that is several incentives to eat right!

I am really pumped about my exercise this week. I have run 3 times this week. On Tuesday, I ran and walked for 2 miles on my lunch break with a coworker (I'll refer to her as L). That felt really great and energized me for the rest of the day. L told me I am a fast runner, which surprised me. I had been able to run an 8 minute mile before I slacked off but now I can barely run a 12 min mile. I didn't think I was that fast, but it made me feel good that she said that. Then on Wednesday I went for a run by myself after work. I had to cut that one short, but I think I went about a mile and a half. Then my best run was on Thursday. I went about two and a half miles, but that wasn't the best part. The best part was that running finally clicked for me again. Before I slacked off, I LOVED to run. It was a great feeling, and I wanted to run, instead of feeling like I had to. When I started back again a few weeks ago, I had lost that love and I felt like it was soooooooo hard and I really didn't even want to do it. But it came back yesterday!! I don't know what made it click again, but while I was running, I got this feeling that it just felt so great to be running! If you don't run, I know that sounds silly, but if you love running, you know what I'm talking about. I've heard it called runner's high, but I'm not sure if that's what it is or not, I just know that I am so happy I finally have that feeling back and I actually want to exercise instead of just doing it because I feel like I have to. Also, exercising in general (not just running) is making me feel better and feel like I look better. It gives me confidence and energy that I didn't have when I wasn't exercising regularly enough. So that makes me want to continue also.

So, like I said, I haven't lost any weight yet, but the combo of these 2 things, eating right and exercising, will put me on that road and hopefully it will start showing soon :-)

TGIF! Hope everybody has a great weekend!!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Time for Truth

Happy Monday!

I have something I want to share today. I started this blog to be completely honest and open about my journey to a healthier me. In my last post, I said that I didn't want to tell my weight because I was upset about it. That is contrary to the point of my blog, so I will have to tell, no matter how upset I am about it. I will tell you first about my weight loss from last year. In April of 2009, I decided to lose 15 pounds. I had hit a high of 140 earlier in 2009 and had gotten down to about 135 last April. My goal weight was 120. Long story short, I worked really hard and finally hit a low of 118 about last September/October. Over the holiday and winter months, I slacked off and didn't watch myself and realized I was slowly but surely gaining it back. That was my motivation to start this blog. So, since I have been consciously working on being healthy, I have started weighing myself again. Last week when I was so upset about my weight, I clocked in at 129. I am very disappointed in myself for letting myself gain back 11 of the 17 pounds that I lost. Being under the weather and out of town like I have been lately hasn't helped, but I have also been just plain lazy. I think also that at a certain point, I got to where I felt like I had already gained back some weight so what would another pound hurt. I would go ahead and eat those unhealthy things or skip exercising for a week at a time, and I would think, oh I'll get back into it next week. But I never did. So like I said in my last post, that is all changed now. I want to get back to my "happy weight" and be able to feel good about my body and want to keep it that way. I have a renewed committment to eating healthy and exercising and I am really looking forward to gettting back into being a healthier me. So, that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Finally Friday!

I have not posted in way too long! There are various reasons for this, the main one being that I was in Boston for 6 days. My attempts at being healthy while there = FAIL! I took my workout clothes/shoes, but the hotel charged to use the cardio machines (which I was not about to pay for) and I didn't want to run outside when I wasn't familiar with the area. Also, the food we were fed was terrible. Half the time it was just hors d'ouevres or something that I had no idea what it was. So needless to say, I didn't eat very healthy from scavenging whatever else I could find. Other reasons for my being lax the last few weeks would be a combination of laziness and no time. I am paying for it now though, I have really put on the pounds in the last couple of months. I don't even want to post the number, I am so unhappy about it.
This week, however, I am getting back on the wagon. On Wednesday I went for a run with a friend. I find it so much easier to exercise with someone else. I particularly like doing so with this friend because we always challenge each other and we push each other to work harder than we would individually. I have even got her hooked on running! :-)
I have been eating much better this week as well. I have been eating a high fiber and high protein cereal with almond milk for breakfast. For snacks I have been eating carrots, string cheese, cantaloupe, honeydew melon,and rice cakes. I've had salad, grilled chicken, and shrimp for lunches. I also made whole wheat spaghetti one night, and tacos with lean meat another night.
Ok, I have to go get ready now to go out to eat for our anniversary, yay! I will try to eat something healthy, and I will update on how I do!
TGIF!! Have a great night <3

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Wednesday (aka-only 2 more days till Friday!)

Good morning! I am on day 5 of no soda and I am so LOVING it!! I have had to find a source of caffeine to get me through my day, but I found a much healthier source than Dr. Pepper. I have been drinking black tea, which has about 30mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz serving. Plus, since tea is made with water (duh!), I am also upping my water intake. That is helping me reach goal #3 (Increase water intake)! I feel so much better without soda in my diet. Also important, I am getting less sugar now. I feel much less jittery and I don't have the "slump" when it gets out of my system late morning/early afternoon. I also don't crave sweets as much without that sugar to rev up my sweet tooth. I'm not sure why that is, but I'll take it! :-) I do know, however, that increasing the amount of water I drink helps to cleanse my body and aids my metabolism and weight loss. Also, I thought it would be hard to start drinking more water, but it seems that the more water I drink, the thirstier I am. So that makes it easy to drink more water, because I am more thirsty! Of course, all the extra water makes me have to run to the little girls room more often, but I think I can handle that! (Lol)

I have been doing fairly well as far as eating right. I slip up a bit in the afternoons, and I am going to have to find a way get a hold of that. All the rest of the time, I do really good, though. For breakfast, I have been eating the cereal called "Optimum Slim" that is really good. It has 9 grams of both fiber and protein! I've been having lactose-free milk with it (Almond Breeze-Vanilla), which is super yummy. Today I have actually not been hungry at all yet, and it's been 4 1/2 hours. So I would say that the cereal is really filling! For lunch, I usually end up with a sandwich of some sort. Yesterday I had crunchy peanut butter (yay :-)) on Arnold's sandwich thins (wheat). The sandwich thins are fantastic! I love that they don't taste really course and grain-y, but they are really smooth and tasty. I also bought some carrots at the store that I have been munching on, as well as some cantaloupe and HONEYDEW MELON!! Can you tell that honeydew is my favorite fruit? Well, it is. I am really proud of myself for cooking dinner both nights so far this week. I made a beef-and-vegetable-skillet on Monday that had lots of veggies, and last night I made tacos with lean meat and went light on cheese (which is hard for me, because I love cheese). I have been watching my portion sizes too, because even healthy food can be bad if you eat too much of it.

I haven't stepped on the scale in about a week, so I'm not sure if any of this is making a difference in my weight. I do think that I look a (little) bit thinner, but that could just be wishful thinking! I will try to remember to weigh tomorrow morning and I'll post it then. I'm not too worried about weight right now though; I am focusing on just becoming more healthy overall. I think that if I start eating right and exercising regularly, weight loss will follow. Maybe taking the focus off losing weight in the beginning will be the key for me, and it will happen because I am focusing on being healthier. I know that I feel better, so that is one step in the right direction!

I would also like to talk about an article I found this morning. It is about how kids being overweight from (supposedly) school lunches is keeping them from enlisting in the military as they become old enough to. I think that childhood obesity is tragic, and can be avoided more often than not . I do agree that school lunches are, for the most part, extremely unhealthy. However, it is my opinion that the solution starts at home for most of these children (and adults, for that matter). Parents need to step up and teach their children to eat better and to get out of the house and exercise. Also, others in our society, such as teachers and other leaders, need to help get the point across. If parents made lunches for their children, they wouldn't have to complain about the school-offered meals. As caretakers though, schools should take the initiative and start offering healthier things to eat, as well as smaller portion sizes. Parents and leaders also need to set the example for children. If children are told to eat right, but they don't see an example set before them, it won't be effective. "Do as I say and not as I do" is never the right way to teach a lesson. Okay, I will get off my soapbox about that now. Here's the link to the article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_school_lunches_threat .

Wow, this one is pretty long, hopefully not too long.

Do something healthy for you today!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Hello, Monday!

Good morning on this lovely Monday! I'm not really sure why I'm so chipper this morning, but I am :-)
I have achieved a goal today!! I have officially cut out sodas, starting today! We will see if I continue this, but I am not feeling too bad yet, so I think I will be able to keep it up. I can tell I haven't had my caffeine, but it's not all that bad. So I can check off Goal # 4!!
On another note, I found a great article that I wanted to share. It is on the Real Age site, and it is about motivating yourself to achieve your healthy goals. Here it is: CLICK HERE . Hope it is helpful for others, I know it is for me! I am making a list of reasons for #1 (Create a compelling reason to change). I think that #2 (Don't associate pain with the desired action) is a good point, because if I go into a workout thinking "Oh, I'm gonna be sooooo sore" then I will be less likely to put my best effort into it. If I think "This is gonna make me feel so great afterwards" then I will have a much better workout. I like #3 (Disrupt the routine). The way she explains it is quite funny. It's true though, if I am thinking of drinking a soda and I think of something completely random to replace that thought, not only do I lose the desire for soda, but I have a little laugh as well to cheer up my day! Love it! #4 (Change the story) is interesting and I have never thought of it that way. But it is a great way to break control of a negative thought over your brain. I will have to think of what my negative thought process is that keeps me from being my best, and break it's hold over my thoughts. And for #5 (Don't wait until you feel like changing), well that is SO true. If I waited until I felt like changing, I would never do it. It's so hard to change your routine, who wants to do that? I know I get comfortable in whatever rut I am in and find it really hard to get out of it. If I waited until I WANTED to change, I would never do it, or I would be so far away from reaching my goals that I would just give up on trying to change.
Well, those are my thoughts for today, hope you have a great Monday!

Again check out these great new tips!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

First Day

Today was my first day of workinng on living a healthier life. I am a bit disappointed in myself, but all in all I think I made improvements. I still had my soda this morning (that I KNOW I shouldn't have) and I didn't make the smartest choices at lunch. However, I had a healthy breakfast of a banana and soy milk and a healthy dinner of a chicken sandwich. I used sandwich thins and added a slice of provolone cheese, a few slices of chicken breast and some pickles. It was very yummy :)
Also, I walked with a friend for about a mile and a half this evening, and it was really nice. The pollen of course didn't help but it was so invigorating to get some exercise outside! I know that as soon as I get some exercise, I always feel better, but I still can't seem to get myself moving some days. I'm glad that I did today. I think that having someone to do it with was helpful. I got some new running shoes too, so I think that helps as well!! They are Nike Lunar Glides, and they are bright blue (which is fantastic!!). I haven't gotten to use them for running yet, but they are pretty comfy for walking.
Well, it's getting late so I must go to bed. I will do my best to do better tomorrow, and I'll update on how I do!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Goals

My first post!! Yay! Ok, now that I'm over that excitement, I want to use this first post to set up my goals. Goals are the first step in getting to where you want to be in life. Personally, I have no motivation without having a goal to work toward. If I don't have something to work for, I just won't do it at all. There are many steps in achieving goals, so none of these goals are going to be attained immediately. The feeling of reaching a goal is a very satisfying feeling, and it helps keep me motivated to reach the next goal. That is why some of the goals are short-term and easier to reach than others that are more long-term and take longer to finish. So, without further ado, I present my goals:
1. Eat 5-6 smaller meals a day consisting of carb and protein combinations.
2. Include more fruits and veggies daily.
3. Drink more water daily, try to get to 8 glasses a day.
4. Cut out sugary drinks and sodas.
5. Go to the farmer's market to get fruits and veggies, to get fresher food and to support local business.
6. Make more dinners at home, and therefore eat out less often.
7. Exercise at least 5 days a week, even if it's only a short walk with the dogs, but preferably more intense exercise.
8. Run a 5k by this summer (2010).
9. Run a half-marathon (long-term).
10. Run a marathon (very long-term).
11. Lose 10 lbs to attain my happy weight.
12. Get a flat belly and toned arms.
13. Have a healthy and fit pregnancy (whenever that time comes).

Ok, so those are my goals. Some of them are more long-term than others, and #13 is unknown as to when it will happen :).

That's it for now, have a happy day!