2010 Close out

The end of the year has come and looking back I can see areas where I've made progress and areas where I didn't.  Taking care of myself is an area I didn't do so well in 2010.  I'm determined another year will not go by like this. 

SO! In order to combat this and make myself feel good I've got a few plans.

• Lose Weight - that's a no brainer. When you're as over weight as I am, you need to do this in order to make your body work more efficiently.
• Get In Shape - Exercise makes a world of difference in a girl's outlook on life and her body! And the more in shape you are the better your metabolism is so it makes losing weight a little easier.  Again, a no brainer.
• Get organized - my house is one filled with clutter and chaos, it's no wonder I can't get my act together, I can't find anything nor do I have the room to do much of anything.  I'm changing that this year. Baby steps so I won't get over whelmed.

Lofty goals maybe but I've got a plan to make them happen.  This blog is going to help me with that.  I'm going to use it as a way to keep up with my progress.  At least weekly I'm going to post an update.  How my eating has been, how many times I've worked out, what progress I've made in the house.  No recriminations - just honesty.  Being negative does nothing to help so I'm not going to do it! Positive thinking, that's all I'm going to allow myself.

In May I'm going to run a 5K. There. I've put it out there in two different places now.  Twitter and now this Blog so the goal is there and staring me in the face.  My writing group is with me on this, there's only three of us, but hey - we're each other's face to face support, we'll support each other through this too. 

I'm starting the Couch to 5K program on Saturday. There are podcasts available through Itunes to help me keep track and train my body to work up to running and time my workouts. I'll download the first one tonight and listen through it to get familiar with it.  I'm trying to decide if I should join Planet Fitness in order to have access to the eliptical and treadmills or if I should just try going over to the mall - but I don't think they like runners, just the walkers so that may not be the best bet.  I have to make my decision by tomorrow though, planet fitness's special is over at 11:59 tomorrow night. :)

Welcome 2011, this is MY YEAR! :)

Remember me??

No, not the movie...ME! :)

It's been forever since I've been over here and since Patrick and I are back to changing our lifestyle, I thought I'd come over and share some stuff.

So far I've been on the Biggest Loser diet for one and three-fourths weeks and I've lost 5 pounds (well, 7 if you count the 2 pounds so far this week.). I know it can be much more but I'm lazy and I don't exercise...yet. I've been doing some here and there but no routine as of yet. That's always been my biggest downfall. We started following the 30 Day Jump Start book, but there is so much waste that we can't follow it day by day. Now, we're just grabbing a day and doing the food for that day. Part of what's helping me be successful...

1. Planning meals in advance - easier said than done! But we've been trying to.
2. Eating fresh fruits and veggies - expensive, it can be, but in the end it's worth it.
3. Trying different colored fruits and veggies you normally don't try - I've never once thought of trying jicama or making my own hummus. I've done both and where I LOVE Jicama, I can take or leave the hummus.
4. Eat fish - I hate the taste of fish. That icky fishy taste...gross. So instead of eating salmon or halibut, I steer towards the white fish like cod. (Same stuff they use in Mrs. Pauls, only without the breading!) It's YUMMY paired with fresh asparagus and sprinkled with a little lemon and pepper!
5. Eating snacks - I live for my snacks , actually for my yogurt parfaits. They've become my newest addiction, and before this I would ALWAYS turn my nose up at yogurt. I try to eat them as often as I can, and they also cure my craving for sweets!

I'm not viewing this as a diet, it's a lifestyle change. If I'm going to get pregnant (notice the positivity there??? HEE HEE!) I want to have a healthy place for my baby to grow. I want to make sure it's strong and healthy. I don't want to be on blood pressure medication. I'm only 41 and I want to live a long life. I'm not going to do that if I continue down the path I'm on. For once in my life, I'm doing something for ME, which I think is also a big key to the success I've had so far.

So there! I'm back!! Anybody want recipes? (I have one for a breakfast hot fudge sundae that is AMAZINGLY YUMMY...I just got done eating it! LOL!) I don't mind sharing. Just let me know and I'll post them here!

*HUGS* Love you guys!

Rae

Ouch...

It was painful to realize I gained back ALL the weight I lost 4 years ago... all 22 lbs of it. I know that seem much, but when your clothes or jeans don't fit like they used to... well, UGH. I'm not trading in my clothes... nope not going to. My cousin just recently went down 4 sizes... he went from a 40 to a 36 and he looks GREAT. He was always at the gym and it the past, that's what worked for me. I'm aiming for 3 times a week... 40 minutes of cardio, then whatever strength training. Boy did I hurt that first day back but so far so good.

I've also been cooking a lot more. Just simple fare, stuff that doesn't require so much processed junk. That's where I've gotten in trouble, too much fast food, eating out and of course my greatest weakness chocolate. I think I'll set a higher goal for myself and lose 30 . :)

Weekly update

Good morning!

I haven't written in the blog for a few days...ok, more like a week or so, but that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping track of my calories or working out. No, in fact I've worked out multiple times over the past week and I've kept up with my calories as well. In fact this past week I had what I consider to be a nearly perfect week.

First of all, I've dropped two pounds since I started paying attention again. I've made sure to get in at least four to six glasses of water a day and usually I get even more than that. I've cut back and over the past week I drank nothing but coffee, water, and coke zero except for two indulgences with Hot Chocolate as a treat when I had the calories to afford it. I worked out every day last week except Wednesday or over the weekend but for me, 4 out of seven days is fantastic!

I found a new Yoga work out that I absolutely love. It's called Yoga: Just My Size with Megan Garcia. And yes, I think I've raved about this in multiple places but it's that good! It's an easy work out, meaning I don't feel like I'm straining with every single movement but I am really working my muscles! The workout runs you through a simple, but effective series of Yoga postures that are already altered to accommodate a larger body. I haven't had to use any special props other than my yoga mat and a rolled up towel to rest my neck on during deep relaxation at the end of the workout. And yet my limbs feel looser already. I'm going to enjoy watching and feeling the improvements over the next few weeks as I make this workout part of my daily routine. Yes - it's gentle enough to do every day and not overwork your muscles. I think once I've established this workout I'll need to add in an additional bit of cardio or I'll hit a plateau but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. :)

In any case I've been at this for two weeks now and in all honesty I haven't found it to be that difficult to alter things. It helps that Brian's being super supportive and we're seeing positive changes in his eating habits as well. Fried foods are no longer our friends and we want to keep it that way. And upon reflection I realized when I was at my smallest back in college I was like that. I couldn't eat fast food because the grease would make me sick to my stomach. I still ate a lot of junk - processed foods and the like but it wasn't fried and that made a huge difference. When I started eating fast food so much that I just sort of made my body get used to the grease again that's when I started putting on pounds. So now I'm reverting back to that mentality. Fast food is too greasy and will upset my tummy so I won't eat it. When I want potatoes (and lord knows that happens regularly) I'll do oven baked fries or a baked potato. When I want a burger, we've got a fantastic grill on the back porch and Brian does a great job with it (so long as he can figure out how not to singe his arm every time he grills). I can eat pretty much anything I want so long as I account for it. And I'm making better choices now so it seems like all the talk, all the advice, and all the books are starting to pay off.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my progress and wish you guys luck on this journey also! We can do it - we can make ourselves healthier and in return feel so much better! :)

June 27th Food Journal

I didn't get around to posting this last night. Whoops!

Breakfast
Tall Iced Nonfat Hazelnut Latte 90cals
Reduced Fat Turkey Bacon, Egg White, Reduced Fat White Chedder on Whole Wheat English Muffin 350cal

Lunch
PB&J Sandwich w/ reduced sugar strawberry preserves 345cal
Harvest Cheddar Sunchips 140cal
Healthy Harvest Applesauce 50cal

Dinner
3 Thai Spring Rolls 260cal
3/4C Jasmine Rice 160cal
Grilled Thai Beef 209cal
Moo Ping (Thai Grilled Pork) 278cal

Total calories: 1882

Not enough veggies, but I'll do better today!

Beginning Anew...

I went to the doctor a week ago for my yearly physical and I am at my highest weight ever. According to my BMI I'm dangerously obese. That's a sobering thought when you're only 32. Naturally they took blood for tests and I got the results of those tests in the mail earlier this week. Surprisingly I'm very healthy. Normal in everything except for Cholesterol. I have way too much of the bad cholesterol and not enough good cholesterol. I was told the same thing when I was 22 but I ignored it because honestly - cholesterol problems that young? Not possible said I. If I'd listened then I might not have the weight problem I have now, but hind sight is 20/20.

I haven't eaten well since I got my test results back. But that's changing today. I don't like how I feel, I don't care for the distortions in my figure (I'm still curvy, just have extra curves in the wrong places), and I don't want to risk my health anymore by letting this cholesterol problem get worse. SO, I'm recommitting to getting healthy!

We have a grill now and last weekend we used it in abundance, it's wonderful. B is already getting very good at grilling and I'm taking up the mantel of side dishes and such without much difficulty. Tonight after work we'll go to the grocery store and get more stuff to cook on the grill and hopefully make that a staple of our diet during the week. That should help not only with eating out too much but also eating better at home.

I'm also going to start exercising. My doctor told me to start out small, short walks to build up endurance, maybe in fifteen minute increments. I'll go for a walk when I get home before we go to the store.

I brought my lunch today and made a smart choice for breakfast as well. Yes, I will be keeping a food diary once more. The Daily Plate is wonderful for that. I'll post my daily entries here also. I'm feeling good about this decision and I'm excited to get started and take my health into my own hands. :)

Bummed

*sigh*

So, I have been eating ok... not great, but not bad- which is good.

I'd also been getting up in the morning (I'm awake anyway, right?) and walking on the treadmill... which I was proud of, and also had everything set up so I could go to the gym at work on lunch break (paid for membership, talked jason into going with me, had a bag all packed)...

Then Sunday, I twist my knee. Like, I prolly won't get a workout in this week at all. Seems like something stupid like this always pops up- injury, work, illness, work, or other obligations...

So, my question is-- How do YOU keep things like this from demotivating and derailing you completely? Share your tactics!