Over Did IT!

I have been over doing the exercise thing!  I did my normal last minute workout and gained 2 pounds.  I was mortified!  When I weighed in at work I lost 1 pound which is all I am suppose to lose but....this has never happened before.  Funny but that is all we should lose, one or two pounds but for me it was a shock.  Worse than that I almost ended up flat out.  After my workout I was beat, I should have quit during the elliptical but I didn't.  I could hardly move but I kept doing the darn thing telling myself Author on the biggest loser can run on a treadmill I can keeping doing the elliptical.  I should have quit.  I was exhausted and just wanted to lie down but I had to work.  Work was rough and I decided not to do any form of exercising until Monday to give my body a much needed rest.  My daughter only exercises three times a week and is losing weight why did I feel the need to kill myself.  Lesson learned!  I am still very tired and I have to work tonight but it will be OK because that's all I'm doing today.  We are in first place & I can see the trophy!  Don't forget to keep eating those blueberries.  Good news, I'm down 30 pounds!

 .

My face is thinner

 
People at work are noticing that I have lost some weight.  I am told my face looks thinner.  My face was the one area that I put on the most weight.  If people just saw a head shot of me they would think I weighed 400 pounds just by looking at my face.  Finally my face looks thin; I have a jaw line that’s not enhanced by a triple chin.  It’s funny once I started to lose my weight I see all the fat areas of my body that before I just couldn’t see or admit to.  When I put on clothes I notice my big stomach where before I actually believed I was hiding in my clothes.  I guess until we are ready to lose the weight we are in denial about our bodies.  If you don’t admit to being fat then there is no fat, you know what I mean?
     I have been tired lately and maybe a bit sluggish but I am not overeating nor do I have the desire to eat.  Before if I felt this way I would sit down with a book or my laptop and have some comfort food like ice-cream.  Now I am blogging drinking 25 calorie hot chocolate!  I love breakthroughs!  Tonight is last chance work-out and I don’t know how hard I will be able to work but I will give it my all.  I have lost 2 lbs and hope to lose one more pound.  Wish me luck! 

Blueberries The Wonder Fruit

Since starting my journey on becoming healthy I began to eat blueberries everyday.  At first I really didn’t notice a difference but now let me tell you those little berries are awesome!  I have not been sick in over two months and I thank the blueberries. I began to research blueberries and indeed those berries are so good for our bodies. I didn’t realize myself how healthy blueberries were until I started researching them.  I encourage everyone to start eating blueberries everyday and discover the benefits of these super little berries. I will share some of the blueberry fats I have found:

            1. Blueberries are very low in calories; 100g fresh berries provide only 60 calories.

            2. Blueberries contain dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins and pigment anti-oxidants.

     (Taken from HealthCastle.com) Antioxidants are substances or nutrients in our foods which can     prevent or slow the oxidative damage to our body. When our body cells use oxygen, they naturally produce free radicals (by-products) which can cause damage. Antioxidants act as            "free radical scavengers" and hence prevent and repair damage done by these free radicals.  Health problems such as heart disease, macular degeneration, diabetes, cancer etc are all contributed by oxidative damage. Indeed, a recent study conducted by researchers from London found that 5 servings of fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of stroke by 25 percent. Antioxidants may also enhance immune defense and therefore lower the risk of cancer and infection. 

            3. Blueberries also protect the body from cancers, aging, degenerative diseases and infections.

            4. It has been shown that research studies suggest that chlorogenic acid found in blueberries helps to lower blood sugar levels and control blood sugars in type-II diabetes.

            5. Blueberries contain small amounts of vitamin C, A and E.  They also contain small amounts of B-complex group of vitamins such as niacin, folates and pantothenic acid.  Blueberries have good amounts of B-6 and folic acid.  These vitamins help as co-factors to metabolize carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

            6. Blueberries contain good amount of minerals like potassium, manganese, copper, iron and zinc. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure.  

Fruits are so important to our daily food consumption and every adult should be eating three servings a day.  Remember to read or look up what a serving size is for each fruit because believe it or not we can overeat on fruit.  Some fruits contain higher natural sugars so always try to eat the correct serving per fruit.

 .

Food Plan

Thursday night was my fifth weigh in and I lost another 5 lbs!!  I almost jumped off the scale with glee.  As my daughter has said to me, I’ve become obsess with losing weight.  I think I’m at the point where I want to get the weight off and go into maintaining my weight and not worrying about losing the weight.  It’s funny though when I look in the mirror before or after taking a shower I think wow I’m still really fat, I must have been really big. Until were ready to lose weight we don’t really see ourselves as we are, overweight.  What is really important when taking the weight lose journey is to eat a balance diet of food.  Make sure that your food includes carbohydrates, fats, protein, fruits, vegetables and dairy.  What has worked for me was to set up a food plan.  I need to know what I can eat for eat meal rather than wing it and make it up as I go along.  Let me share with you what my meal plan for the day is:

Morning          Snack              Lunch                          Snack              Dinner

2 starch           1 fruit              2 starch                       1 starch           2 starch

2 fruits                                    3 meats                                               3 meats

1 milk                                      free vegetables                                  1 vegetable

1 fat                                         2 fruits                                                1 fruit

                                                1 milk                                                  1 milk

                                                1 fat                                                     1 fat

When I list starch that refers to grains and free vegetables would be anything without calories.  The fat is 5% or under per serving.  I also weigh out all my food unless I eat out and then I usually cut the food in half and eat only the half serving.  I need to have everything mapped out or I will overeat thinking I didn’t eat that much.  It’s a really eye opener to measure out your food and see how much food your eating.  Remember try to do 30 minutes five days a week of exercising.  Once you have the mind set to lose the weight everything starts to fall into place.

SALT

One of the major changes I made was to cut out all extra salt from my food.  I am a salt alcoholic!  It’s funny though once I made the decision to cut out my salt I went cold turkey and only miss salt when I eat popcorn.  I think my biggest challenge with the salt will come when I eat popcorn at the movies and have no salt or butter on it.  We don’t need the extra salt in our food and I think we crave salt when we are not eating right.  If we eat a balance diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and plenty of water we actual get enough salt.  In fact when my daughter & I read the food labels we check on the sodium level in the foods.  Soups are really bad and process foods have way too much sodium listed.  The good news is most soups now come in reduce sodium.  When you are grocery shopping read labels!

 The heart association states as follows:

Limiting sodium is one of the most important things that people with heart failure can do.

• Sodium makes the body hold on to fluid. To pump the added fluid, the heart has to work harder. People with heart failure shouldn't put this extra strain on their hearts.

• Excess fluid can also cause weight gain. Your heart has to work harder when you put on extra weight.

• Too much sodium in the diet can worsen symptoms like swelling and shortness of breath. If those symptoms become severe, the person may need to be admitted to the hospital.

• Sodium increases blood pressure. High blood pressure constricts the arterioles, making them resistant to blood flow. This makes the heart work progressively harder to pump enough blood to the body's tissues and organs.

When I read this from the heart association I realized that not only do people with heart problems have extra ricks but anyone who is overweight will experience the same problems.  My weight is mostly carried around the waist; this is the worst place to carry your weight because all the fat surrounds the organs.  I almost think the more salt we eat the more salt we crave.  Once you cut out the salt from your food plan you don’t really miss it.

Tonight is weigh-in night and I think I lost 3 to 4 lbs.  I am pumped to see how much I lost.  So I’m off to my last night work out!!

More Progress

I have made progress today.  I was by my parents and I told them how much I weighed!  I am no longer tied to a number!!  This is really big for me.  I don’t tell my weight, I don’t know why I always felt this way but it is only a number.  I had my weigh in the other night and I lost 2 more pounds.  At first I was really upset because I wanted to lose more weight but after I thought about it 2 lbs is not bad at all.  So far this week the wii said I lost 1.3 lbs and today is Sunday.  I have a whole week to lose more weight. 

     I don’t think I will ever go back to eating tons of food.  I went out to Perkins with my husband today and I eat only half of a wrap and a side salad.  The wrap came with deep fried chicken and I asked for grilled instead.  I am learning to think when I’m ordering and make sure the waitress gets the changes correct.  I am pretty sure I will be able to return food if it’s made right.  I am always afraid if I send food back the cook or waitress will do something to my food.  I am now over those thoughts. 

     I can’t wait the weather is getting warmer so I have the urge to walk outside! 

Why Why Why

I can’t believe it has now been five weeks since I started on the Biggest Loser and I notice that some of my friends don’t really talk to me anymore.  In the beginning of our weight journey everyone was talking and happy, now not so much.  People who are having some challenges are crawling into holes instead of talking about what they are struggling with.  Its funny one of the people on my team would talk to me every day about losing weight and how we were doing.  This individual this week first came up to me last night.  I told my daughter on Tuesday I bet he/she gained weight and that’s why they have not been talking to me.  Sure enough, last night we talked and they told me they gained four pounds over the weekend.  Good news is they took off three of the pounds so far.  All I said is look how much time you wasted having to take off weight you previously lost.  Do you want to keep doing this I ask?  Of course the respond was no.  It is really hard to change our old eating habits.  It is so easy to slip back into the eating frenzy when watching everyone else eat.  I know more than anyone how hard it is from overeating.  I believe we need each other to get through this journey of not letting food consume our lives.  I did get a little upset that people avoid me when they do bad.  I am here to help and support everyone not judge!

     I ran seven laps tonight on the treadmill and finish the last mile by walking a half lap and running the other half.  Wish me luck tonight at the weigh in.

PS. My daughter said her green bean pile on her plate was bigger than any other food she was eating.  We have made progress!

Life is Good

I feel great taking this life journey to better health but not everyone out there wants to hear about my changes I’ve made.  I remember how I felt myself when people would talk to me about losing weight and exercising.  I would think ok that’s great, good for you, now please shut up about it I’m happy being overweight.  Until that person makes up their mind about getting healthy the information just falls on deaf ears.  The problem is I feel great and want to share with everyone how I’ve done it and how far I’ve come.  I think maybe I want people to say wow you’re looking good how much weight have you lost and how did you do it.  Personally I don’t really think overweight people want to see someone who loses all that weight because then the overweight person feels guilt about their weight.  I know I felt that way.  When someone you personally know loses a lot of pounds it puts pressure on you to try to lose weight.  But if you’re not ready to lose the weight will go back on.  I was trying to help out a family member but my information was falling on deaf ears.  Then the excuses started to flow like running water that must have been how I sounded!  I will keep trying to help people out because weight loss is a journey about why we over eat and finding a solution to change our life style.  Control the food not the food controlling us!

     I ran the other day on my treadmill for a mile & half and sped walked the other mile & half.  OMG my legs were screaming the next day!  I said to my daughter why do my legs hurt and we both remembered I do squats on my boxing tape.  I was going to run today but I need a TV hooked up in the room with the treadmill or I’m looking at the distance continuously.  I did the elliptical for 45 minutes instead.  My heart rate stayed under 135 when I’m booking along not the over 150 when I first started.  I ate a small piece of ice-cream birthday cake on Sunday and never got the urge to eat anymore.  Life is good!    

The Weigh In

Last night was week 3 weigh in and I lost 4 more pounds.  As a team we lost 10 total!  We are doing so well.  Jim had a bad week but is pumped again to lose 8 or more this week to make up for this week's 2 lb lost.  We told Jim we are a family & if he every needs to talk to give any one of us a call, we are there for him.  Total so far for me at work is 17 lbs but at home it is 20 lbs because I don't weigh in my work clothes & shoes.  Almost half way to my goal.  Thank God I have been working on what I eat because Rachel is not home right now and I am all alone in the house.  Every time I feel like eating when I'm not hungry I work or read my book and get a glass of water.  I can do this.  I always do a last minute workout like on the Biggest Loser and that screws up my water & food for about a half day.  We do what we have to do.  We had our Packer party at work and I ate a sub & veggies.  They had no fruit so it's a good thing I brought mine along.  On my last break I didn't go in the lunch room so the food wouldn't tempt me and it worked.  I did have my rice cakes & pretzels along for a quick snack.  It is becoming much easier.  Today Rachel & I wanted to go out to eat but couldn't find a restaurant with food that didn't have a shit load of calories or salt so we ate at home.  You should see us on our laptops looking at what each sandwich would cost us in calories, not good out there.  It most likely will be a salad and we split a half of sandwich.  Restaurants need to have more healthy food choices.  I can see this was a source of weight gain for us.  Unless that is your only meal for the day we need to be so careful on our choices when eating out.  Rachel read somewhere that when your food comes and you are not sharing a dinner with someone get a box and put half the meal away right on the spot.  If we don't practice this behavior we do over eat because the food is in front of us calling out eat me eat me! 
Packers play Sunday and I am going to have a beer to celebrate.  I can't wait it's been three weeks!

Week 3 is Hard

I have found so far week 3 to be the hardest week for me!  I craved foods that didn't bother me at all on week 1 or 2.  I wonder why?  I am happy to say I so far I have sailed  through week 3.  Tomorrow is the big weigh in and I am pumped because my home scale showed a 4lb loss.  Last night was a snow day and I didn't have to work!!  I felt just like a little kid, I want a snow day.  Getting up today and seeing all that snow though I didn't get the urge to go outside to make a snow angel.  The snow looks so pretty from inside the house.  I did offer to help my husband and he turned me down oh well I offered. 
     I changed my mind and decided to eat at the Packer party at work.  We are having subs that I can control on what I want on the sub, fruit and veggies.  I really don't believe the other foods will bother me.  When I get the chip craving I eat my reduce pringles so I'm good to go.  I have to be able to be around bad foods to conquer them or I might fall again.  I am up to the challenge!
     Last night my favorite show was on The Biggest Loser.  I really get motivated watching this show.  You can tell who is really into weight loss and they get so pumped working out and losing weigh.  I will miss Jillian because she gets to the core with why people are big.  We all know it's other issues that are causing the weight gain not the food.  The problem is we eat our problems and never get to the core of why are we eating.  This is why my daughter & I are taking a journey into losing the weight, figuring out why we eat and solving each issue as it comes up.  Since I have started the journey I haven't had any alcoholic drinks.  Maybe I will have a glass of wine during the Packer game.  I must say I don't miss it all that much not like I thought I would, go figure! 
     I am missing my stationary bike and am thinking of getting a new one.  One that has the arms that move with the big wind wheel.  Then on the days I don't feel like the elliptical I can bike.  I must say since doing my boxing with Gold's Gym & losing weight my shoulder and back pain is not as bad at all.  I guess I was just an overweight non moving person and really needed to take this journey.