Day 29 March 15th,             (150 pounds )

What the crap! I only lost 1 pound. LOL … I’m disappointed. It’s my fault though cause I didn’t stick to my exercise routine. I only lost 1 pound… Sorry I had to say it again because I can’t believe it. I was sure I had at least lost 3 to 4 pounds.

I didn’t exercise today. I decided if I’m going to exercise I’m going to have to wake up at 4:00am or I won’t be able to exercise. I was so close waking up today. I said to myself “I’d better not wake up early. I need my rest to try to lose an extra pound.” It sounds so ridiculous now when I think back. 

Anyways breakfast was another kiwi. It was better than yesterday’s. I also had a coffee. Lunch was left over chicken and mini carrots. Dinner was left over chili with cheese on top. Oh and I had a glass of wine. 

Note to self: Trying to wake up at 4:00am then snoozing it. Isn’t failure. It puts me one day closer to success. I will succeed.

Day 28 March 14,          (Weighing in 1 day)

This morning I ate a kiwi for breakfast. It was delicious! I haven’t eaten a kiwi for years. I also had a coffee. Coffee always picks me up in the morning.

Lunch was left over chili with cheese on top. It was much tastier than last night. Chili is always better the next day. Just like spaghetti and soups. Must be all the spices settling in.

Then for dinner I ate chicken and asparagus. I’m starting to like asparagus. I like it a lot more than I used. My taste buds must be maturing. LOL just like I never used to like avocados. And now I do.

I didn’t exercise today.  It’s Sunday.

Note to self: Try not to be discouraged if you don’t hit your weight goal tomorrow.

Water is water and precisely what your body requires for optimal health. You would not put olive oil in your engine in place of car oil, would you? Of course not. Even though they may both possess a few similar properties, they are different substances entirely. One will keep your car running efficiently and the other will destroy the engine. Water goes in clear and comes out clear. Coffee, brown and black tea, pop, and other liquids go in brown or some other color and come out yellow. Where does the color go?

Most of those colorings and chemicals stay in the body and can build up over time. Toxic build up over years prevents your organs and cells from functioning properly and can cause cellular mutation. This cellular mutation is how cancer gets its start. The same cells that used to keep your body healthy are what could eventually kill you over time due to toxicity from ingredients you consume in your daily diet that your body does not need or want. The more toxic the food is that you eat, the more toxic your body becomes, and the higher your risk is for developing cancer and other diseases.

In summary, water is what the body needs and anything else can be preventing your weight loss success. Even if you do not initially like drinking water, keep practicing this proactive habit. You will be surprised how after a while your body will begin to crave it.

Exerpt from Think Fit 2b Fit, by Tammy Polenz. Look for it in book stores sometime this year.

These fruit and veggie cartoons are almost too cute to eat! However, the cuteness of fresh produce is not what is hindering most people from obtaining the adequate 5 servings recommended by the United State’s Department of Agriculture. Most likely, it’s the fact that they do not taste as good as donuts or a double cheeseburger. Sigh, one day Either way, as much as I love vegetables and fruits [seriously, I have an obsession] I still see days, weeks, sometimes months where I don’t meet the 5 servings requirement.

So in true nutrition fashion, I set a goal to eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day for a month! Hopefully by then [March 28th], eating enough of these delicious superfoods will become second nature and not something I need to keep a strict eye on.  [And maybe my waistline will be slimmer and my vision will be perfect, thanks to the natural fiber found in many vegetables and the sight boosting power found in carrots!]

She probably has 20/20 vision!

What’s the best way to up your veggie and fruit intake? Well, it’s easy! Just add a piece of fruit to your breakfast, have a mixed greens and veggie salad for lunch, have a piece of fruit for a snack and have a side of veggies with dinner! Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it is, in essence, but actually adhering to that is where I find myself in trouble. For me, as much as I know I need to, eating breakfast is sometimes nearly impossible for me. I blame my sensitive stomach, but it’s really difficult for me to muster anything first thing in the morning. However, for this mini-lution, I will conquer my fickle tummy and will eat a fresh piece of fruit when I get up and will choose an apple over pretzels when my mid-afternoon hunger strikes!

Cereal with a banana

Orange glazed chicken

Fruit and yogurt parfait

Some other great tips to incorporating fruit and veggies to your diet are add them as a supplement to what you already eat. For example, add a banana or strawberries to your cereal or oatmeal in the morning. For lunch, add lettuce, tomatoes and/or peppers to your sandwiches and for dinner, make an orange glaze for your chicken to add an oriental flair or maybe add a lemon glaze to your fish. If you a person that can’t stand the taste of many fruits and vegetables, adding them to your favorite dishes as a glaze, a jelly or on top of cereal may help to hide the flavors you dislike. For a great list of fruit and vegetable recipes, visit http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnparecipe/recipesearch.aspx.

If you are interested in some more recipes, stay tuned. I am working on a new section called Eat Skinny: Be Skinny recipes, where I will feature tons of recipes that I have made and found that work to keep you full and aid your weight loss!

 So why does the US dept. of Agriculture recommend eating so many darn fruits and veggies? For starters, fruits and vegetables naturally contain very key vitamins, minerals, and fiber that help to prevent many chronic diseases. Some of the key vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables include: fiber, folate, potassium and vitamins A and C. Each of these vitamins work with our bodies to  keep skin and hair healthy, regulate blood pressure, decrease risks of coronary artery disease and helps to regulate the digestive system. Fruits are also largely made up of water, which works to keep us hydrated as well as works to fill us up faster.

So join me in my forever long battle to eat healthier and be healthier, realistically!

I have a long and torrid affair with

1. Gators
2. My clumsy body
3. Gators and my clumsy body

Let’s just say, then, that this weekend was an exception to the rule (almost).

Picasso and I have rebounded our (read mine, that guy is healthy except for all that red meat) efforts to get exercise and play outdoors. The rules of engagement:

Our Rule: Cheap

His Rule: Must be scenic, preferably outdoors (aka: “M, I am not gonna walk around our block again” followed by a big sign and a foot down)

My Rule: Must involve everyone, meaning we can’t just pack up in the car and unload leaving Tuna-fish behind, especially since she is home alone during the week

Unwritten rules: If we are gonna look extra stupid doing it we probably shouldn’t (meaning dance is out people, at least if we are going co-ed); must involve clothes; must not involve planes, guns, wild animals, fire, death, the law, poison ivy, death, Jane’s Addiction, nakedness (ie: death), and a few others that have escaped me but I know are definitely in there.

In an effort to meet all of these taxing demands, we have started hiking (hike up what you may ask?) or in Florida, trail walking. This was week two the effort, coming from the first week high of everything about nature is sublime mixed with a pinch of Thoreauian delirium.

Since I generally plan meals and this seemed liked a Picasso style excursion (researching, plotting things on maps, working with gps, national geographic, etc.) and because I really would be fine walking the neighborhood, I tasked him with taking control of this new project. He is in charge of scouting places to hike, making sure he knows what is what about safety and then teaching me, and the general planning of our Sunday ritual.

This week he found out some really awesome information about Florida Trail Walkers Program.

I have made this one of my winning outcomes and am planning to have this completed before the end of June (even after Sunday).  It is great exercise, it earns a lot of activity points without feeling like you are busting your butt to the oldies (no offense, but that guy is strange), and it is both fun and beautiful. Plus, the trails only cost $2 a visit. And, pets can come along if leashed.

This Florida Trail Walker Program meets all of our qualifications you say.

Check, check.

We nodded our heads in agreement and set off Sunday morning around 9:00 am to a state park within 15 miles.

Upon arrival, we leashed up the pup, and headed into the forest.

Doesn’t it look like I am missing my hand here? Freaky right…

The trail was a bit rough starting out as it rained again on Friday and it has been an unusually wet winter.

Our tame domesticated nap-all-day dog after she sloshed through puddles chest high like it was nothing. I, on the other hand, went well out of my way to avoid even one ounce of wet sock syndrome.

Once through the mud-walk the trial turned breath taking, making its way along the river.

We had made it a little more than half way through the trail, about an hour and a half in, when we heard trees cracking on the other side of the river bank.

Now, I need to explain a few things before I continue:

1. Picasso for all his masculinity and Renaissance- fix-stuff-manly-manness is petrified of sharks and gators.  Therefore, he fears all non-pool water in Florida (and in some cases pool water is suspect). He is miserable if he gets thrown in when we go tubing and you have never seen a man walk on water like he does when he is trying to get back on a boat.
2. Either gators or sharks are going to be in every body of water in Florida. Even retention ponds.
3. A gator over four feet can be considered a nuisance gator but generally people call them “man eating gators” when they are more than 12 feet.
4. In high school, I was chased by a gator after falling off an air-boat in the middle of the night while going “hog hunting” with some guys. I don’t want to get into any of the details. All I can say to try and regain some of your trust is that a). one of hunting boys had just asked me to prom and b). it ate my sneaker.

Needless to say, that cracking sound on the other side of the river bank caused us both to go the bank’s edge. It was there that we saw that largest gator ever. Scouts Honor.

No kidding. And, this is coming from someone that was chased by one so you know you can trust me.

The head was huge. It was making its giant, scary, gonna eat humans body into the river.

Naturally, Picasso being my knight in shining armor, my Renaissance man, he ran. He ran and ran, leaving Luna and I to fend for ourselves.

This is feminism people: the what happens when women realize they better save themselves.

Now, Look again. I know that you can’t really see but that is because I was being pushed out of the way by a man on the run (sing as you read, it helps).

Luna.  She, ever vigilant guard dog, didn’t know anything had happened.

And me, I was the one that tripped over tree roots on my way to catch up with my husband. Twice.

While I am trying to figure out how hiking broke the cardinal unwritten possible death rule and turned into the sequel to JAWS I thought I would leave you with this:

Awesome gator recipes.

And this:

AuntieM

I am no longer obese.  My BMI is 29.88, under 30, which makes me only overweight.  I haven’t been this weight for over twelve years.  I’m feeling pretty good about my weight loss.  I have an entirely new wardrobe, albeit a small one.  One side of my closet is filled with clothes that no longer fit me, about four garbage bags full.   I think my feet have even shrunk.  Some of my shoes seem loose.

On the down side I am exercising so much it has cut into my social time.  I’ve been doing a 1500-2000 daily calorie deficit.  I don’t know how long I can keep this pace up for.

Day two of the breakfast pizza. A whole wheat pita topped with 2 scrambled eggs, a smear of marinara, red bell pepper, onion, feta cheese, and fresh basil. I heated this colorful pie in the oven for about 5 minutes at 400°. It was absolutely delicious! But I think I prefer the breakfast pizza that I made on french bread a few weeks back. There’s something about the chewy and doughy french bread that is just more pleasing to me.

I’ve been getting quite a few questions from readers regarding my weight loss. Was I always overweight? Did I binge eat? What was the process of losing weight like? So I figure it’s time to share a very personal and honest reflection on my journey. I suppose I’m hoping that even one person might learn that if I was able to achieve lasting weight loss, then they can too. And I hope to shed light on emotional eating, which I believe played the most significant role in my story. Emotional eating still has cameo appearances in my life, but recognizing that I was using food to feed emotions for 20 years has changed me.

Four years ago, I weighed 268 lbs. It was the summer after my sophomore year of college and I was standing on a scale in the local YMCA when I saw that number. I had just joined with my best friend, both of us looking to get in shape, although getting in shape for me at that moment meant a massive life overhaul. I felt lost. I felt scared. I had reached a point where I knew, I really knew, that if I did not make a change at that very moment, I would one day be 400 lbs. I had lost that ability to say to myself, “yeah I’m big, but I’m not going to ever be that big.” Just looking at charts of my weight history would prove that I was indeed on my way to half-tondom (I made that word up, don’t google it). From as far back as I can remember, I was overweight. Bigger than chubby, if you will. My weight gradually rose from birth to age 20. I wasn’t the woman who put on weight after having children, or the athlete who suffered an injury and gained weight, or even the freshman who packed on fifteen. Being fat was all I knew.

Stepping off the scale at the Y, I had to ask myself, “How did I get here?” At first, my mind went to the obvious- the food. The cakes, the cookies, the pizza, the Sprite, the Whoppers. Then my mind went to the genes- my dad, my grandmother, we’re big people. I played this game like a “Whodunit” Murder Mystery. “Somebody implanted an extra 135 lbs under my skin and no one is leaving this room until I find out who it was!” Good tactic.

I knew the truth, though. I didn’t become morbidly obese because I loved food or because my family was big. I became morbidly obese because I was in pain. I know there’s always a fine line in the blog world of telling just enough and telling too much, but I think maybe too much is better this time. My father was an alcoholic since the day I was born. His drinking made for instability, fear, and sadness. There were a lot of really bad times, but I’ve got to say that I just adored him. As volatile as he could be and as much as he was hurting us by drinking himself into oblivion, I loved him with every inch of me. When I was twelve years old, he died of a stroke. My heart was broken. I tell you all of this because it is why I used food as love for most of my life. I loved food and food loved me. Amidst chaos and insecurity, I could control the food- the kind and the amount. When I felt nervous, food was reassuring. When I was anxious food was soothing. When I was sad, food lifted me up. When no one was home, food was my babysitter. For every.single.emotion I could turn to food and she would love me back.

At twenty years old, though, food wasn’t loving me anymore. My dependency on it needed to come to an end. Desire to change is what brought me to the YMCA that day in June, and it’s what made me return day after day. I joined Weight Watchers eventually. I think what was most helpful was living one day at a time. With 100+ pounds to go before I reached the finish line of weight loss, it was very easy to become discouraged when I looked at the big picture. I just tried to get through the day feeling my best and knowing that I just kicked Monday in the pants. Sometimes I thought, “Oh my God, I can’t eat another egg white omelet for breakfast and not have a Reese’s McFlurry ever again.” But then I asked myself, “Can you do it today, Andrea? Just today?” And I could. That question made each day manageable.

Eventually I arrived at my goal weight. My journey to that point was all at once the most agonizing and gratifying experience of my life. But being 135lbs smaller, literally half my size, was terrifying. How do you maintain a weight you’ve never known? How do you live moderately? What is normal eating? The answers to these questions were a mystery to me. I had no frame of reference for my new body because I only knew two modes: overeating and dieting.  Learning to maintain my weight was as hard as losing it.

Alright, let’s have a short intermission here. It’s only 8:30 am and I imagine all this reading is making you feel like you’re studying for a midterm (and not a good one at that!).

Have a happy morning, everyone! See you for lunch!

I really do not enjoy going to Adventure Boot Camp.  I really can’t even fake interest – Kennith can vouch for that.

But I drag myself literally kicking and whining to boot camp at least three times a week. Okay, sometimes only twice.

I was busy driving there last night and wondered to myself how I could explain to anyone how I – the most unmotivated person with regards to exercise - stays motivated enough to go to ABC, when I really do not enjoy it.  Then it came to me – like a little high pitched voice out of the darkness. 

Georgia!

It happened like this. 

I am lying semi-asleep on my left side, with the duvet sort of pulled haphazardly over my body.  I have a nightshirt on that has ridden up a bit – as does tend to happen as one sleeps.  I am not trying to start a cheap sex blog here, I am merely trying to assist you to picture the scene from the safety of your home.

So there I am lying, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep.  I know the kids are moving around the house.  I really do not know why people think there is a pitter-patter of little feet in a house with kids, it is a more like the sound of a stampede 0f wildebeest.  Any-the-how, I digress.

So there I lie, with just the right amount of saliva dribbling out of the corner of my mouth.  <Too much and it wets the pillow and wakes you up, just enough moistens your lips so they do not go all dry and crispy when you first yawn.>

I hear the distinct whisper of Georgia standing behind me.

Georgia: “Hello mommy” <I can hear her smiling – she is such a happy little thing.>

Me – substituting until real mommy arrives: “Hello my love ….”

Georgia: “Are you sleeping mommy?”

Me: “Not so much sweetie…”

Georgia: “Mommy when I am big, will I be as big as you?”

Me: “errr, I think so sweetie, you are already such a big girl …… please go and watch tv with your brother like a big girl.”

Georgia: ” Mommy…”

Me: “Yes Georgia bear….”

Georgia: “When I am big, will I have a big bum like you?”

And  now I have a mantra forAdventure Boot Camp …

Science has discovered that a daily fitness regime for men has now become a must, the ever growing concern of sugar diabetes within men is a number that is growing year by year and has overtaken women by what the diabetes association regard as a significant number.  Putting aside diabetes the make up of a male body is one that must function on adrenalin and when adrenalin is pumped into the male body via a workout this in turn enables the metabolism to function in a more appropriate manner. Heart disease is minimized dramatically via a strong regime for men, cholesterol is also reduced and men will be less likely to suffer silent depression given that a healthy strong regime for men is guaranteed to make them not only feel good inside and outside but feel good about themselves.

Blood pressure is another silent killer that without knowing has a tenancy to creep up on men with high demanding job’s, this is caused because of the stress and the tension that comes from their jobs. A good way to minimize this is to maintain a healthy lifestyle via a strong regime implemented on a once or twice a day basis. Working out is a way of releasing tension for a male, something that is quite often needed, allowing them to have more tolerance in the work place as well as within the home, something that is quite often needed especially when the home life can be quite hectic and chaotic when there is children involved.

It is even more important for the male to maintain such a lifestyle once he reaches his fifties, the reason for this importance is because the muscle mass reduces in a drastic manner and it takes twice as much of an effort to maintain what we come to realize is nothing more than a luxury when in the twenties and thirties.

In conclusion to all this, it is imperative that the male take fitness as part of his daily lifestyle just as serious as he would his work or home life. Something that could start out to be such a chore or burden to his life could in fact become his natural escape to life, leveling his mind body and soul while all the while complimenting his physique. Male fitness is definitely an issue that is being promoted on a world wide basis and one that should be taken seriously.

.Find more instresting mens fitness details and natural weight loss now.

This and That:

Here are some good posts I came across this week:

I L*O*V*E Dr. Oz! Did you know he has a List of 100 Weight Loss Tips on his blog?  Thank you, Dr. Oz…

Diane at Fit to the Finish has a post pointing us towards Sugar Stacks, a visual guide to the amount of sugar hiding in processed foods. Even the well-informed will be shocked at this one!

Besides falling in love with Baby Bok Choy this week I’ve also started adding spinach leaves to my morning smoothie/protein drink. I saw the idea on Dr. Oz and can’t believe that it’s not even noticeable in the drink. Later in the week I came across Angela’s Green Monster Movement!

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This Weigh or That Weigh???

Thanks to Dr. Beck’s Diet for Life I’ve been rethinking my original plan to weigh myself just once a month…  She believes weighing should be done daily – which scares me - but her reasoning seems sound and after being stuck at 217, for almost 2 weeks, I realized if I hadn’t been checking the scale daily I wouldn’t have known.  Her reasons are:

“By weighing every day, successful dieters learn how to avoid feeling disappointed, frustrated, or even overly excited when they see what the scale says.  They don’t view their weight as an indication that they are weak, inadequate, or out of control. They don’t see weight losses as reasons to loosen up or celebrate with food.  And they don’t use weight gains or smaller-than-expected weight losses as reasons to fall off their diets altogether because they are confident that they know what to do to get the number on the scale moving back down again.”

Basically by checking the scale daily:

* you’ll prove to yourself that fluctuations are normal

* you’ll learn how to use the number on the scale as information

* you’ll become desensitized to the number and reduce feelings of shame by what that number is

* you’re able to see, within a few days, if you are having a problem and should cut back on something you’ve been eating

I particularly like the idea of becoming desensitized to the number – I’d like to get to the point where I can step on the scale without apprehension and just accept the number as information and act accordingly.

So the experimenting with “what works for me” continues (as if one day it will stop?  ha, ha!).

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This Movie or That Movie???

Our family went the $1 movie to see The Blind Side – it was weird being at movies without shoveling Milk Duds, Popcorn, and Coke down my mouth.  Even though I had eaten dinner just before leaving for the show my stomach was telling my head that it was hungry – just from being in the movie environment.  I took a Powerade Zero with me and nursed it through the movie.  My cravings subsided and as my mind got into the movie the “imaginary hunger” passed.  The movie was excellent – we all (even my 8 year-old) really enjoyed it.  My 13 year-old asked how old Sandra Bullock is – we guessed 40… he said, “Wow. She looked like she was 20.”  Being a 40 year-old myself – and looking like it – I was less than thrilled to have to agree.  She’s gorgeous – I can’t even let my mind go to what I’d look like on a HUGE MOVIE SCREEN! ***** 5 out of 5 stars

District 9 (free from the library) – it was really interesting and original.  The whole movie was filmed like it was a documentary about a real human/alien situation.  There will definitely be a sequel!  ****4 out of 5 stars

Fame 2009 – cliché, boring, not worth the gas to rent it (again, free from the library) 0 out of 5 stars

Food Inc., - a must see – especially for those of us changing to a healthier life-style.  It was really interesting.  I thought it would have a lot of gross information trying to turn us off from meat and dairy but it’s really more informative than anything.  ***** 5 out of 5 stars

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~ I’m off to catch up on “24″ with the hubby – Angie

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