Here's to a healthy 2013!

Well, 2012 was not my healthiest year. I let my neck injury be the biggest excuse for letting my weight loss work go down the drain. I've intermittently half-heartedly started back up, only to quickly throw in the towel again.

But, what better time to really commit to something (especially weight loss and fitness) than January 1??? Any time is good, but for me, the new year and clean slate of sorts is a great time to start over.

Today I did the biggest step in my weight loss battle...I weighed in. Oh, how I loathe stepping on that scale, because there is no lying about those numbers. So I stepped on the scale, got my current weight and body fat percentage, and updated my Body Bugg program with the information and my first weight loss goal.

I've done this before, so I know what I have to do...knowing is not the hard part. DOING what I have to do is the hard part.

1. I HAVE to log my food in, after every meal, and be as accurate as possible.
2. I HAVE to pay attention to how many calories I am burning and make sure I hit my burn target every day and burn MORE if my calorie intake is MORE than my target.
3. I HAVE to drink plenty of water.

Honestly, those 3 things are about all that I HAVE to do to succeed. There are other things that will help, but those 3 things will give me results.

Today I have logged all meals, I hit the treadmill for 30 minutes, and I walked the dogs several times. I drank some water, but not enough, so tomorrow I will start really trying to pay attention to that as well.

What are YOU doing for your fitness and health for 2013?

Lori

Banana Oat Muffins

Here's another one I found on Pinterest.  Perhaps it would just be easier from here on out to just allow any readers to assume the recipe came from Pinterest unless otherwise noted!

These are good!  Now, they're also pretty healthy, and unless I'm mistaken, gluten free, 'cause there's no flour in these babies.  Apparently some baking powder may have gluten in it, but I'm not sure if mine does or not.

I made some adjustments on this recipe, so I will list my recipe below.  However, you can find the inspirational post HERE.  If you stop by the Green Lite Bites blog, leave some comment love...us bloggers just LOVE comments!

Here's the recipe as I made it (again, slightly different than the blogger above).

3 mashed over-ripe bananas
1 cup skim milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp baking powder
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
2 packets truvia (use the sweetener you have on hand)
1 small box raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix all ingredients except raisins.  Fold raisins into batter.  Spray muffin tin with Baker's Secret.  Fill muffin cups with batter.  These will not rise a lot, so you can fill them fairly full.

Bake 20-30 minutes until muffins are firm to the touch.  Cool in the muffin pan...they are easily removed once they've cooled.

As you can see if you compare my version with the original, I substituted raisins for chocolate chips.  I think my kids would like them better if they had chocolate chips!  My 11 year old son did say (after taking a few bites), "Mom, these would be better with more cranberries".  I then explained that it was raisins and not cranberries and then told him I'd try cranberries next time 'cause that sounded like a great idea!

I entered the ingredients into the Body Bugg software and it's telling me that if you make 12 muffins with the recipe I used above the muffins are 134 calories each and 2.1 grams of fat.  Pretty good for a muffin! This would be a nice breakfast muffin.  Give them a try and let me know what you think!

If I remember to get some dried cranberries and give them another go I'll let you know how that changes things (or any other variations)!!

Lemon Chicken

This is another Pinterest inspired dinner!  I have really enjoyed going through and pinning different recipes to my "Recipes To Try" board.  This one was really flavorful.

Lemon Chicken...The original poster commented that this was a spring-time dish but I thought it was great on a cold, dreary fall night!  Actually I think it'd be good ANY time!  You can find the original post HERE.  When I made this one I followed the recipe to the letter...no diversions!  I brushed melted butter on the chicken legs and oh my...they were delish!  The chicken was crispy but moist and very flavorful.

Here's a photo of my finished product, fresh out of the oven:

Stop by the blog that I found this on for a full copy of the recipe.  Her instructions are great and very detailed.  I'm not a huge fan of dark meat chicken but I thought this recipe was a "keeper".  Hope you try it and enjoy it also!

Pumpkin Muffins

I have decided to add an occasional recipe posting to my normal weight loss updates.  I think a key to successful weight loss is to be able to eat things you really enjoy, but find ways of preparing those things in a lower fat and lower calorie way.

Once again...Pinterest to the rescue!  I have found many great recipes while browsing so today I'd like to share one.  It's fall time and I LOVE pumpkin recipes...pumpkin soup, pumpkin bars, pumpkin coffees, pumpkin cookies....you name it, if there's pumpkin in there I'm bound to love it.  Great, except for someone who is watching her caloric intake, things like pumpkin cookies can get me into trouble quickly!  So, seeing as how I'm newly back on the diet train I thought I should just avoid all things pumpkin to keep myself safe.

Untillllll I saw THIS post!  This my friends is a fat free pumpkin muffin.  The recipe seems so easy I had to give it a try.  Here's all you need:

1 spice cake mix (you can also use yellow or vanilla, but I used spice)
3/4 can canned pure pumpkin (15 oz. can size)
1 large egg white
1 cup water
nutmeg and cinnamon (I just shook a little in...probably about 1/2 tsp each)

Mix all of the ingredients together.  You can add more water if the batter is too thick, but I thought it was fine using 1 cup.  Spray your muffin tin with Baker's Joy (if you don't know what that is, GET SOME!  It's awesome!)  Add the batter to the muffin tin and bake at 375 for approximately 15 minutes.  Ovens vary, so test one before you shut the oven off!

After I took mine out of the oven I sprayed the tops with a little "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray (you know you just said that with a Fabio accent....) and then sprinkled the tops with a cinnamon sugar mix.  There's probably less than 1/2 tsp. on each one, but it adds a little something!

Now, I know someone's wondering (that is, if anyone reads this blog) what the nutrition is like on these babies.  Well, I plugged all of the ingredients into my BodyBugg program and here's what it told me!

1 muffin
182 calories
2.9 grams protein
36.3 grams carbohydrates
3 grams fat

The original post indicated it was a fat free recipe, but there's a little fat in the pumpkin, and I figure 3 grams of fat in a muffin is pretty good, compared to a standard blueberry muffin, which packs in (on average) 27 grams of fat and over 500 calories.

As any decent cook would, I tested one to make sure the recipe was blog-worthy and it totally passed the test!  I thought these were great, and am really looking forward to enjoying one tomorrow morning with my coffee!

Still motoring along....

I decided that I'd weigh in on the 1st, 10th, and 21st of each month to help keep me in-tune and accountable for how I'm doing.  So far, so good.  I weighed in on the 21st at 239.6.

I'm in the 230's now.  That's a good thing...the number is moving in the right direction.  Next goal...get into the 220's.

I do have to say, I REALLY like the Body Bugg SP.  I saw lots of complaining on the old message board and even on the BB Facebook page, but no complaints from me.  Well, maybe one tiny one...you can't enter a custom food from the app, but you could go to the site in your browser and do it that way.  Me...I just wait 'til I'm in front of the computer and do it then.  I like that the SP makes it really easy to either enter right after I eat or even enter some food before I eat to pre-plan.  (Yeah, that's kinda anal, but that's kinda me at times!!!)

So, nothing really big to report, I'm just happy that I'm back on the right track and seeing the scale move.  I'm walking Monday - Friday in the morning pretty faithfully (hate getting up at 6:15, but it's necessary right now) and then logging some extra miles on the treadmill.  I'm thankful to have that right here at home.

I have been experimenting with recipes quite a bit.  I love Pinterest, and have found some great recipes on there.  Yesterday I made a Taco Soup that I found there; apparently it's a Weight Watcher's recipe.  It was SO GOOD!  Wow...seriously great.  You can find the recipe HERE.  I did make a few modifications, just because it was a last minute idea and I didn't have all of the items on hand.

I used Fajita seasoning because that's what I had.  I used black beans instead of pinto beans, and I drained the black beans.  I added 4 cups of water to the soup because when I made it per the recipe I thought it was too thick.  I ate leftovers today for lunch and it was even BETTER than last night!  And I ate a ton of it for only 500 calories.  Awesome.  Try it...it's delish!

If you're working on your health and fitness, just keep reminding yourself that you're worth it and you almost ALWAYS feel better after getting some exercise, so make that time for yourself!

Lori

Trying to find the wagon I fell off of....

The sad reality is that it's really hard to lose weight, but oh so easy to gain it back!  It's just a fact for me...hard to lose, easy to gain.

And maybe for me, another fact is that I'm a little dumb and I have to learn the lesson the HARD way.  To sum it up...At 265 I felt like crap but didn't even realize how crappy I felt.  At 195 I felt freaking AWESOME and looked great, even though when I looked in the mirror I saw the 265 pound me.  Then at 205 I figured, eh, it's 10 pounds, no big deal.  But the thing I didn't understand was that at 265, 10 pounds wasn't really a big deal...at 195, 10 pounds was a huge deal.  And it needed to be dealt with.

But I didn't, and soon, 10 pounds was 20, and so on until I saw 244.

Craptastic....seriously?  244?  How the hell did I let THAT happen?

Take 20 or so reasonably good excuses, add alcohol, bad food, and laziness and you get 244....or something like that.

But now I'm back.  I plugged in my good old bugg and started back.  But, the old bugg was losing it's sound and kinda seemed like it was on the verge of dying.  Let me make this clear...it deserved to die!  It was used almost daily for almost 3 years.  It served me well.  I got on the website and saw that the buggs were on sale for $99...what a DEAL!  The sale included the SP and since I am the owner of a new iPhone 5, I figured now was the time.

My SP came last week and so far I am loving it.  Like my old bugg, sometimes the reading on my phone (or digital display with the older one) is a bit higher than the reading when I actually connect to the computer.  But, no worries....I am trying to get a higher burn than my target anyway.

I have made some significant changes to hopefully ensure my success (again)...

1.  I get up every morning between 6:15 and 6:30 and take the dog for a walk.  Some days we get a mile and a half in, some days less, but at least I'm starting the day with activity.

2.  I am logging my food...that's the hard habit for me to get into, so being faithful with that is a huge step in my success (or lack thereof).

3.  I'm logging my walking mileage in daily mile again.  If I can hit 50 miles in October I'm going to treat myself to a Shellac Manicure.

I'm going to weigh on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of the month to see where I'm at.  I started at 244 and today I weighed in at 241.5.  I am happy with that.  My first short term goal is to get into the 230's.  Any of you who followed me before know that setting goals to the next set of 10 was what I did before.  Once I hit 239, my goal with be to get into the 220's, and so on.

Here we go again...wish me luck!

Keeping up...

The week is nearing an end and so far, so good.  I'm keeping up with my goals.  Yesterday I did not walk the full 2 miles per se, but I am still happy with my results from yesterday.  I spent 5 hours in the car driving to and from a meeting point.  My niece and I met for a shopping day to get the kids their summer clothing.  We spent about 5 hours shopping, which was obviously all walking.  Then after I got home I jumped on the treadmill and walked for about a mile and a half.  I could've skipped it and just gone to bed, but I got some exercise, and more importantly, got my burn target in for the day before I went to bed.

I'm logging food.  I am not measuring and weighing everything, but I'm trying to keep fairly accurate track.  Once I get back into the habit of logging food I may go back to measuring and weighing everything.  Time will tell.

I know what works.  That's the simple part.  DOING what works is really the hard thing.  But, I'm trying, and that's what I wasn't doing before.

Buggin' again...

It's been a tough winter.  I had good intentions, but I just didn't follow through.  I had an injury that really sidelined me for working out.  Now, I could have walked through that, but I didn't.  I slacked off big time and now I'm paying for it.

So, here I go again.....

I have set up a few new BB programs in the last few months, but been very unsuccessful sticking with it.  So, this time I thought, why not aim a bit LOW and then be encouraged by the success.  Hopefully this will keep me motivated.  My pants are WAY too tight and I'm NOT buying bigger ones again.

Here's where I am at.

I'm up to 235...that's bad.  Body fat is up to 48%...that's bad too.

I'm not working out at all and I'm eating poorly.  That's BAD.

New BB program is for 2050 calories IN and 2550 OUT.  That is a one pound per week loss.  I can do that.  In addition, I have set a few other goals personally.

Goals:
1.  Get into the 220's...229 counts as 220's, so that's where I'm setting my current sights.
2.  Walk 2 miles per day at a minimum.
3.  Log ALL food eaten.
4.  Drink 4 cups of water daily.  Now, by cup, I mean one of my sports bottles.  I think water consumption is really important and helpful, so I'm starting there.

I'm going to try and blog again to help keep myself accountable.  Here we go again.....

2012

Here it is...a new year.  2010 was my year of weight loss.  2011, however, was not really.  I yo-yo'ed up and down and wasn't really committed to it as I had been before.  But, one great thing happened with 2011.  See, I, like most people out there have lost weight and then gained it all back plus some so many times over my life that I kinda felt like what's the point.

What's the point of working hard and then gaining it all back?

2011 was the point.  I didn't gain it all back.  I can now understand the power of 10 pounds.  I can literally see 10 pounds being the "wiggle room".

So now, in 2012, I'm not going to beat myself up over the up and downs of 2011.  I'm getting back to what I know works, which is tracking the calories IN and OUT using my Bodybugg.  I plucked the Bugg out of a drawer and am currently charging it up.  I created a new program.  I'm going back to what works.

I renewed my subscription, using a coupon code that Apex had e-mailed me.  I am now good to 8/22/2012.  I put my first new goal at 15 pounds.  That means 1600 calories IN and 2500 calories OUT.  Both will be a struggle, but I need to remember that if I feel that I need more food, I need to off-set that food with more activity.

I want to ultimately get into the 170's.  I really think that if I get there, I will be able to maintain that 10 pound wiggle room.  When I see the scale hitting a 180 number, I will have to be diligent for a few weeks or months to get back into the safe zone of 170's.  I will not let these numbers define me, but motivate me.

Today I'm starting back, and just that in itself feels good.  I know I will have ups and downs, but I felt great at 195, and so I know that getting back there and even lower will feel even greater.  I am not looking at it as losing weight I've already lost.  I'm looking at it as getting to a comfortable spot, where I not only feel great, but look great too.

Today I am in the 220's...my first goal is to be into the 2-teens.  This methodology worked for me before and I believe it will work again.  I will take this journey one step at a time and get to a place that I am comfortable and feeling great.

Best of luck to you on your journey, and hopefully my own journey can encourage someone else out there to stick with their own.

Lori

A recipe

Once again I am back at it.  I am wearing the bugg.  Now, I will admit, I am not logging my food as faithfully as I should, but I am very conscious of the burn number and have been being reasonably careful about what I eat. 
…and I’m losing weight, so I’m not messing with it for now…
But, tonight, DH was not going to be home for dinner and in some crazy moment of weakness, I apparently promised “Breakfast For Dinner” to the kids. 
…..oops…..
I CAN make a healthy breakfast, but the kids were really thinking BACON…and lots of it!  So I figured bacon was the big splurge, so bacon went into the frying pan.  The kids ate a lot of bacon.
But, the surprising thing was that I made waffles from scratch, and the kids LOVED them!  Doesn’t seem strange perhaps, but let me tell ya….I used whole wheat flour, and my kids are not big fans of whole wheat pasta or any WW substitution, so I was really happy.  Happy enough that I made a second batch and froze those for a quick breakfast before school this week or next.
So without further ado….the whole wheat waffle recipe that was a winner with my two kiddos, ages 5 and 10:

2 eggs

2 cups stone ground whole wheat flour

1 3/4 cups milk

1 applesauce snack cup (it’s almost 1/2 cup)

1 Tablespoon sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat eggs.  Add remaining ingredients and mix together.  Pour into heated waffle iron and cook until done!
Yeah, it’s that easy!  The original recipe called for regular all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup vegetable oil instead of applesauce.  I tried the applesauce and thought it was fine.  I eyeballed the salt and vanilla.
I hope you (and your kids) enjoy these if you give ‘em a try!
Lori

Forward Momentum

I lost 2 pounds last week.  Last night I figured I should charge my bugg and download all of the data that was on there.  While I was in there I decided it’s time to create a new program and get serious again.

For me, getting serious means logging my food.

Oh, and did I mention…….I HATE LOGGING MY FOOD!  Really.  I absolutely hate it, but, IT WORKS.  It keeps me honest and it makes me lose.  Then I thought,  maybe I should go really crazy for a couple of months and try to not only jump over this hurdle that I’ve been hanging around at, but kick the hurdle to the curb and keep on running!

So, I created a new program.  I did a lose 2 pounds a week program.  That is a 1000 calorie per day deficit.  I have been kinda struggling at getting 2600 calories a day burned, but I can do it if I get up in the am and get a workout in.

New program is 1700 in and 2700 out.  You may think “Girl’s gone crazy…she couldn’t hit 2600 and now she upped it to 2700???”…well, yeah.  I have gone a bit crazy, but it’s time to go crazy.  And it’s 8-10 weeks, you know. 

Last year I could do ANYTHING for 8-10 weeks, and keep on going after that.  So why now?  Why not get a bit ninja on this thing and go crazy.  I can do this for 8-10 weeks.  If I hold it steady for 10 weeks that is 20 pounds.  That gets me under 190, which would be awesome.

So today I got up, did my C25K and then after I was done with that I did another 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I logged breakfast and lunch.  I chose my food based on the fact that I had to log.  (See where logging makes a difference???)  I tend to do best when I log the meal soon after eating it so that I know where I’m at for the day.  Now I can spend my afternoon mentally planning different dinner options that won’t blow me out of the water, but keep me at or under that 1700. 

You have to keep that forward momentum, and I’m hoping that blogging often through these next 8-10 weeks will help me keep focus.  A friend pointed out to me that perhaps part of my problems so far this year are due partly to the fact that I got so defined last year by my weight loss success.  Now that I don’t have that I am floundering around wondering who I am and what I’m doing.  I think she’s very right, so I thought HOW do I fix it?  Well, for starters, I get back to what I was doing, and have that success again.  I’m NOT skinny.  I still could lose 50 pounds.  I will be comfortable at 30 pounds, but that’s a discussion for another day.  The point is, I know I need to do it and so it’s time to DO IT! 

Watch for more updates each week on how I’m doing.  I was a slave to the scale those months that I was all “crazy” so I am weighing often now to keep my focus.  I encourage you to look at what worked for you in the past and get back to what worked.  If you’re just starting out, read some of the older posts from when I first started.  You may find that you relate to many of the struggles I faced along the way.  This has been my biggest (and longest, time-wise) struggle for the thus far, but I am determined now to get past it and move onward.

Forward momentum, baby!  On to 205!

Keep chugging along…

It’s Thursday, and you know what that means…….weigh in day!

Now, first of all, let me re-state.  I HATE losing weight that I already lost.  But, hating it isn’t making it any easier to get over the hump of weight I’ve already lost, so a new attitude is required.

I am happy to report that I lost 2 pounds last week.  I weighed 210 and now I weigh 208. 

I have to be happy about those 2 pounds and keep moving the scale DOWN…so I am trying really hard to be happy about 208.  Now I have my sights set on 205.  That is the next bench-mark for me.  205…HERE I COME!

One thing that I changed up this week is that on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I am getting up early and doing a Couch to 5K workout in the morning.  I skipped over week 1 and started right at week 2.  If you’re not familiar with the C25K, check it out!  It’s a great training tool.  One of my goals for this summer is to be able to run a 5K from start to finish with no recovery walks.  I am doing this training program again so that I can get my running periods at a faster pace than I currently can run at.  This week I’ve been doing the running sections at 5.3 – 5.7 mph. 

Exercising in the morning really helps me get my burn in easier too….I end up hitting my burn target in the evening, instead of rushing around at 9 pm trying to get a few hundred calories burned so that I’ll hit the burn target before bedtime! 

So, that’s where I’m at….I lost 2 pounds last week and I’m just going to keep chugging along!

Lori

Remembering….

 

I ran in a fundraising 5K here over the weekend.  It was the first time in probably a month that I had gotten an outdoor run in early in the day.  After the race I had a busy day, so I mentally planned the day out while I was on my way to get the kiddos from my DH. 

The kids and I came home so that I could get cleaned up and then out we went…Subway for lunch and then groceries.  Back home to prep dinner for that evening, when we had friends and 3 kiddos join us for a fun night.  All day I was bopping around getting the house picked up and the food ready.

About 5 pm I sat down to just chill for about 30 minutes before the hubby got home and the evening started up again.  In those 30 minutes I thought about how great I had felt ALL day.  I had lots of energy…I got a lot accomplished.

Then I remembered the last time I had really felt great all day…it was about a month earlier when I was in California.  I had taken a 4 mile run outside on a beautiful day.  The rest of the day I was energized and happy. 

Perhaps there is something to this!  I decided that I would begin an experiment of sorts.  One of the things I want to do is get myself to the point that I can RUN a 5K.  By that I mean RUN the entire time…no walking recovery breaks.  So, I got the Couch to 5K (C25K) information out and set a plan.  I will get up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and do a C25K workout.  We will see if those early morning workouts help to keep me energized throughout the day.

It’s funny how easy we forget really.  I have forgotten how good, healthy food and exercise really make me feel so much better.  I feel strong, fit and empowered.  When I eat junk and don’t exercise enough I feel horrible and my mood takes a nose-dive. 

Today I did day 1 of week 2 for C25K.  I am skipping week 1 as I felt like I was capable of skipping that one.  I am running faster during the running times than I normally would run.  I am hopeful that I can train my mind and body to be able to run faster for a longer amount of time.

When you’re feeling down look back to the times you felt better and evaluate how you can make changes TODAY to get those great feelings back.

Lori

Struggle

Oh, where do I begin? Maybe it began around Christmas time when tempting treats were all around and I said "sure" a few too many times. Or maybe it began at my one year "anniversary" when I looked at all I had accomplished in a year and thought that the hard work was now over. Or maybe ..... oh, hell, let's face it. I don't know when it began, but I have been STRUGGLING now for a LONG time.

Thursday was a really awful day for me. I tried to run outside on Wednesday and had the most horrible run I have EVER had. AWFUL. I had to turn back and come home. Then Thursday when I worked with the trainer I struggled again....pain....aches....being totally winded at what is normally a warm up walk.

And you know what, I was so ready to throw in the towel. I was ready to say forget it...this weight loss thing is too hard and I just can't do it anymore.

But I didn't. I took some of the trainer's "maybe you should try...." and did them. I added more fresh fruit into my diet. Fruit = natural sugar = energy. I took a multi-vitamin with iron. I took a magnesium. I ate lean red meat last night and tossed a handfull of fresh spinach into my salad.

Today...well, today I honestly feel better. I feel more energized. I walked 3 miles, and I felt good. I didn't hurt....I didn't struggle. I started at 3.5 mph, which is a warm up for me and after a while I bumped it up. I didn't go higher than 3.7 because I don't want to go crazy after feeling SO badly. After the 3 miles I did some of the arm exercised on the weight machine and then some kettlebell exercises.

And while I did the walking and weight work, I watched the Biggest Loser. I saw how much those people have struggled and how they've worked SO HARD.....which made me think of how hard I have worked....and how hard I CAN work.

Now, I hate to get on here and type out another "I'm back in the game" blog post, because I've hammered out several of those since January. But I am strong and I can work hard. Food is not the reward for me....feeling strong and healthy and FIT is a much better feeling than ANY FOOD has ever given me. I have no problems with the exercise side of the weight loss equation. I can work out...that does not scare me. But the food side....oh that's the killer for me.

I must stop looking at food as a REWARD, or something that I deserve. I deserve to feel and look great a lot more than I deserve the quick high and lower low that comes from eating unhealthy. Yes, I can have things occasionally that might not be the best choice. They are not gone from my life forever, but I OWE IT TO MYSELF to make healthy choices for myself most of the time.

From where I'm sitting right now (mentally and physically) it seems like the hardest part of struggle (for me) is getting out of that pattern. I need the scale to start moving DOWN on a consistent basis. One week of downward movement is not sufficient. I need to see a pound loss (OR MORE) each week. I cannot keep see-sawing up and down. I need to stop struggling and start thriving again.

If you're in a bad spot with your weight loss, don't give up. It's hard...it honestly is, but remember all of the hard work that you've put in thus far and know that YOU are stronger than any urge to eat unhealthy or skip a workout. Look at yourself and recognize that you DESERVE a healthy life!

Good luck....

Update…back on the wagon

 

Well, I have been back to using my Body Bugg to not only track calories OUT (that’s the easy part for me), but also to track calories IN.  Oh, how I hate those calories IN!

The eating is my nemesis.  I can exercise ‘til the cows come home, but the bad eating is so very hard of a habit to break. 

Now, having said that, let me just say that I have NOT been 100% “good” since starting my new Body Bugg program.  Here’s the low down of where I am.  I started the new program with a weight of 210.  My calories IN target is 1950 and my calorie BURN target is 2600.  I have been pretty good about hitting the burn (and a few hundred over a couple of days per week). 

I haven’t logged everything I eat, which was my goal.  I logged MOST but did skip a few days. 

I am going back to a Thursday weigh in.  I did that all along my journey in 2010 and I think it worked for me because I was “starting over” on Thursday, which made me psychologically less likely to blow it on the weekend.  Strange, but it worked for me, whereas a Monday weekend would find me behaving really badly on the weekend.

Today I weighed in at 207.  Now, let me say that even though that is GOOD, I’m not really super happy about it because I lost those 3 pounds before.  BUT…I cannot beat myself up over it.  I need to think “woo-hoo….3 pounds….keep it up” and move on.  I’m trying.

My jeans are tight.  I have a fat roll around my waist that plops over my waistband and I really hate it.  But, I’m putting on those jeans for a few hours every day to remind myself what I’m working towards.  I felt so much better even at a few pounds under 200.  I need to get back to “one-derland” and then keep going.  I need to get some distance between myself and 200 pounds.  But for now, my focus is to get to 205.  At 205, I’m so much closer to under 200. 

In 2010 I had small, manageable goals, and I kept my focus.  I am having a really hard time doing that this year, and I’m not sure why.  But, I have had a decent 10 days or so, and so I am going to keep trying to get that full focus back and keep moving on.  I know that I can do this.  I know that I owe it to myself to feel better.  I want to do this and so I must remain focused.

I would be interested to hear from anyone out there how you stay away from bad food.  I have stopped before eating and thought “I am going to feel so bad, physically and mentally after I do this” and yet I still do it.  It’s like I have two little versions of myself dueling it out on my shoulder.  Sadly, the bad, who-cares version wins out more often that I’d like.

So that’s my week in a nutshell.  Hopefully your diet and exercise goals are going easier than mine, but just keep in mind that YOU can do it and you have to make that choice.  I will keep telling myself this as well!

Accountability

 

Yesterday I professed my day of change.  And so yesterday decided to toss me a nice curveball that may be a great excuse to delay that change.  My son came home sick from school…the school is seeing a flu epidemic of sorts.  LOVELY.

Well, I did not let that curveball deter me.  Oh, no…I strapped that body bugg back on my arm before falling into bed last night.  I measure out my multi grain cheerios and skim milk this morning.  I snuck off to Kroger while DH held down the sick fort and stocked up on Motrin, Tylenol, fresh fruit and veggies, and all of those healthier things that became a “staple” in our house in 2010.

Then I toyed with the idea of running through to grab an easy lunch, but holding true to my goals….I came home.  Oh yes, I came home, put those groceries away, and then made myself a filling low calorie lunch. 

And that felt like a small victory!

So then I walked/jogged on the treadmill while watching last week’s BLoser episode.  One of the things Rulan said really hit home with me.  To paraphrase it, basically he said that when we lose weight we gain back part of our life that we didn’t even realize we had lost.

When you lose weight you gain back a part of your life that you didn’t even realize you had lost.

Oh, how true is THAT!?!? 

And, in keeping with the whole accountability thing, I want you all to know that I logged in my breakfast, lunch, and post workout snack.  I have about 1100 calories left for today’s intake.  Not to shabby!  This easily allows me a reasonable snack between now and dinner and maybe even some fresh veggies after dinner. 

Pick the day, make the change.  You might find that in losing the weight you will gain back a piece of your life you hadn’t even realized you lost.

And here we go again….

 

On January 24th I blogged that I was starting over and ready to kick ass and take names.  Well, that didn’t work out so hot for me…once again….I failed.

Ugh….I hate that.  Really…I do.  But now here I am again, getting back on the horse.  February is a hard month for me but I’m sticking my chin up and moving forward.  Really…I am.  This time I really am.

So here’s where I sit…I have gained some weight.  I re-did my Body Bugg program today.  My new targets are in there and I’m not trying to go insane.  One pound a week is really manageable.  I think I’ll have weeks with more, but I’m going to look for one a week and go from there.  I need to hit one a week. 

Right now, I just need the scale to go DOWN instead of up, so I’m starting with one a week. 

Before when I started I preached about small, manageable goals.  I lost sight of that for myself, and I know that was kinda stupid of me.  But I’m back…I am going to set small, manageable goals for myself starting right now.

Goals:

1.  Eat at home more.  Fast food (even the healthier choices) are a fast way for me to start spinning out of control.  I need to reel it in a bit, so I will limit eating out to no more than 2 meals per week.

2.  Log everything that I eat.  Everything. 

3.  Hit my burn, step, and activity target every day.  Every Day.

4.  Drink 64 ounces of water daily.

5.  Get my weight back to the 20?’s.  That’s right….two hundred and some number less than 9.  (told ya I had been bad)

OK…there ya have it…there ya are.  I’m going to write those goals down and tape them to my monitor.  I’m also going to try and blog twice per week.  The blogging is an accountability for me and I need that right now.  Hold me accountable…ask me how I’m doing on my goals…call me out if I don’t come through!

I hate how I feel right now….seriously.  I hate that my jeans are tight and I hate that my gut is blobbing over the waistband of my jeans.  I feel ugh and I’m ready to get the ugh out and move forward.  I’m ready to feel feisty and thinner again and feel accomplished that I lost weight and kept it off…I’m ready to see the scale moving downward instead of creeping up.

So……with that…..Here I Go Again…..

When it’s just not working….

Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with me. I mean, I know that the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. So when my current Body Bugg program isn’t working so well for me after 20-some days, WHY did it take me until NOW to change it?

Simply, I don’t know, but the important thing is, I have changed it now.

Here’s where I was. I started things back up on January 2. I would go back to logging food and staying as close to that target as I can. I would also make darned sure that I hit my burn target every day. Well, the sad thing with weight loss is that 60 pounds ago, it was a lot easier to hit 3000 calories per day burned. As you lose weight it’s harder and harder to consistently maintain those high burns. Logic would tell me that as I lose and find it harder to hit the burn I would need to reduce my caloric intake to offset the lower burn.

Logic and I don’t always see eye to eye.

So I have been struggling. Now, I must throw in here that I’ve also had some hormonal issues. Not wanting to get too graphic on you, but I have been having problems and the weight loss was assumed to be a culprit in those problems. Apparently fat produces testosterone. So my body now has much less testosterone than it did before, so my hormones are all outta whack. That struggle plus the whole lower burn (even when I work my ass off) has made for a tough 20-something days.

But no more…today I finally pulled my head out of my behind and thought “OK….I have a hard time hitting the burn, which makes me mad, so I eat because I’m just pissed. Maybe I need to REDUCE the burn target and focus on the calories IN target to take some of the stress off”.

So I did….I re-did my program. I went down to 1.5 pounds a week loss. My calories in target is still 1800 but now instead of a burn target of 2800, my burn target is 2550. I KNOW I can hit 2550 in a day, even without a huge workout. So now I can focus on the real problem for me…the calories IN. I am no longer beating myself up on not hitting the burn….I should be able to hit that fairly easily. I am focusing on what’s going IN…that is my weakness.

Here’s another big revelation I had. I was struggling for the 1000 calorie a day deficit to lose 2 pounds a week. I didn’t want to lose less than that. Well, honey, it’s sure better to consistently lose 1.5 pounds per week than to lose 2, gain 3, lose 1, etc. So, I am shifting my thinking. I am focusing on controlling the difficult thing, which for me is the calories in. I will hit the burn target every day and be vigilant about logging after each meal so that I have a good grasp on where I’m at, calorie wise.

The lesson for all of us in this is that YOU have to know when something is NOT working for YOUR body. And when it’s not working, don’t be afraid to make the changes necessary for your success. I’m not sure why it took me 20-something days, but I’m here now, and I am confident that these new targets will help me get back on track and lose the 30 pounds that I so desperately want to lose to finish this journey.

~Lori~

A Year in Inches

One year ago today I walked into the gym with huge hopes and dreams.

OK...not really. My hope was actually quite small, but that just doesn't sound as good for a opening sentence! But, one year ago today I did walk into that gym for my first "fitness assessment" with the personal trainer, Becky.

During this "fitness assessment" (in where, I'm fairly certain it was discovered that I had NO fitness whatsoever...) my measurements were taken.

I am a 5' 6" female.

That has not changed in the year since I walked into the gym. However, the rest of the measurements have changed.....oh, how they have changed!

First of all, in this year I have lost a total of 70 pounds, getting to 195 at my lowest. Unfortunately, the past 6 weeks have not been good for me (eating-wise) so I have gained and lost and gained and lost. Today's measurement puts me at 205, which is still nothing to be unhappy about.

I have lost 60 pounds in those 12 months. If I take my (very tall) 4-year old daughter and a Kettle bell, that shows me what 60 pounds is. For Thanksgiving I usually cook a 20 pound turkey. If I tossed 3 of those into a laundry basket and carried it around, that is what I lost. Wow....that's heavy.

Today Becky was here for our weekly butt-kicking so I asked her to measure me again. This is the big news....this is pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

A year ago, my arms measured 15.5" inches around. That is the part of my upper arm that sits 5" above my elbow.

Today that measured 12.5". Three inches gone from my arm. Wow...that's pretty cool.

A year ago, my chest measured 47.5". Today that measured 40". That's a loss of 7.5". Not bad!

My waist, a year ago today was a shameful 46" around. That's just shy of 4 FEET around. Well, today, I am so happy to report that my waist is a wonderful 10" less, measuring at 36". WOW...36"! I am very happy about that!

And, finally, a year ago my hips were 46.5" around...baby got BACK! Well, today, I have less "back" measuring in at 39.5" for a loss of 7 inches.

That, folks, is a lot of inches.

3 left arm
3 right arm
7.5 chest
10 waist
7 hips
30.5

Thirty and a half inches.

Thirty and a half inches, adding up to 60 pounds of fat and flab gone from my body.

Twelve months ago I went into the gym wearing a 22/24 pant and a XXL shirt. Today I wear a size 14 pant and a Large shirt. I have even bought a few 12's and fit into them!

Today I am leaner, healthier, and more active. A year ago today I was embarrassed to walk into that gym, let alone let someone assess my fitness and take my measurements. Today I reminded Becky to bring a tape so she COULD do measurements!

A year ago I thought if I could just drop 10 or maybe even 15 pounds then I wouldn't be edging uncomfortably close to 300 pounds. Today I am focusing (once again) on getting below 200 and then getting a nice, comfortable distance from 200 so that if I bounce around 10 pounds, that bounce won't put me over that dreaded 200 mark!

Today I am not going to focus on the disappointment that I have in those 10 pounds I gained over the holidays, but I am going to focus on the 60 pounds that I did lose and the 30.5 inches that left on the same bus outta Lori-ville.

Weight loss is not going to be a temporary thing for me; the last 6 weeks taught me that so clearly. Old habits are easy to fall back into, so I will spend the rest of my life being vigilant and being mindful of what I am eating. I often razz my good friend, who on a "bad" day probably wears a 6. To me, she is TINY. But, to hear her complain about gaining 10 pounds and struggling to get those off so that her pants aren't' tight was just downright irritating. Being in that very spot right now is kinda humorous. And, I can see that for me, I need to get to that comfortable place. Maybe my comfortable place will be in the 170's....and if I get up into the 180's, I know that I've hit those dreaded 10 pounds and it's time to be very careful. Time to be very vigilant. Time to be very mindful. But that is OK, because 2010 was the really tough part for me....2010 was the year that I went from being out of control to grabbing the wheel of my own destiny again. I am now in charge, the weight is NOT. I am no longer looking down the barrel of "almost 300 pounds", which is exactly what 265 felt like to me. At that point I thought it's got to be 35 pounds DOWN instead of 35 pounds up because if not, there will be no turning back....I will feel totally lost.

So, here I am...205, and I'm OK with that. I could probably stay this weight forever and be OK with myself, but for ME, I need to get a comfortable distance from 200. For now I am going to celebrate what I accomplished over the last 12 months and focus on doing more great things in the next 12.

I hope that if even one person out there reads this and identifies with it they will KNOW that they too can make big changes in their life. So for that person, whomever you may be out there reading, you CAN do it. You CAN lose the weight. You CAN get your body to a healthier state. You are stronger and more dedicated than anyone when it comes to YOU. And above all, YOU are totally worth it and YOU deserve it! Good luck!

Stay Tuned.....

Today is a big day, with big things to celebrate.

Stay tuned for more! I hate to toss out a "teaser", but I didn't want y'all to think I had abandoned you. I'm still here and today's post will (hopefully) be a good one!

Lori