Quick Update

Just a quick update on my week of travel.  In a nutshell, I have had some really great days and other days that were not so good.... so I guess its not that different than normal life. I have tried to drink water as much as possible, especially when in the car.  I have also tried to take walks when I can and stay active with the kids in order to prevent myself from sitting around and eating for no apparent reason.  Like I said, some days have been better than others.

Weekly weight in tomorrow, but don't be surprised if I do not get a chance to post until Monday.  The next couple days of our trip are going to be very busy and with limited internet access, so we'll see what happens. 

Well, that is all for now,  back to visiting with the family.  Just wanted to quickly update you and say THANK YOU for all of the good advice and ideas.  Tomorrow will be a very challenging day, eating wise, but I hope to drink lots of water and fill up on fresh veggies instead of cake or mayonnaise-loaded salads and fatty chips.   I will update again when I can. 

On the road again...

Ok, blog-readers, I need some encouragement and advice!  This week my husband, 2 kids, dog and I are doing some major traveling.  As you know, traveling is the hardest time to eat right.  Here is our week at a glance:

Sunday - Tuesday: Binghamton, NY to visit in-laws
Wednesday night: At a Bed and Breakfast in Bloomfield, NY to celebrate our 5th anniversary
Thursday - Friday: Coudersport, PA at my parent's cabin
Friday - Sunday: Johnstown, PA to celebrate my cousin's high school graduation

So far I have not done too well.  My mother in law is Italian, and like a good Italian mother she makes food... amazing food... and feeds us constantly.  Bread, pasta, pancakes, eggs, hamburgers, meatloaf, cookies... the list goes on.  Its so hard to resist eating.  I am trying to turn it around as we speak by drinking a bottle of cold water.  I am going to try to be done eating today. 

So what is your advice for eating right while on the road?  I am in need of some good ideas to make this week a success.  Thanks in advance for your valuable input! 

Not so weekly weigh in...

I am so sorry that it has been such a long time since my last post!  This week has been one crazy ride.  I've been feeling exceptionally moody, weepy, fat, and unable to say "NO" to food lately.  At first I thought I might be pregnant, but then it happened - I got my period back.  For those of you who do not know, I just had my second child in January of this year, and my monthly period had been absent since her birth... until yesterday, that is.  So once again my hormones are a whirlwind, trying to find harmony where there has only been chaos for the last 14 months.

It is for these reason that I am making an executive decision to skip the weekly weigh in.  I apologize to those of you who have been waiting at the edge of your seats for the weekly results from my bathroom scale.  I just think that whatever the scale reads today will be an inaccurate portrayal of the previous week.  I will say, however, that I weighed myself on Thursday morning and I was happy to be back down to 200 lbs.  However, on Friday I was up to 203.6, no doubt a result of water retention and bloating brought on by my "monthly visitor."  As I said before, my body seems entirely too unstable to post an official weight today.

In the mean time, here is a list of some things I did well this past week:

1. Went to a cycle class on Tuesday.
2. Took my MOM to a cycle class on Tuesday!
3. Drank lots of water and decaf iced tea.
4. Took a long walk with the kids and my sister on Thursday.
5. Resisted eating a second (and third and fourth) piece of wedding cake at a wedding reception I attended last night.

Some things I want to do better this week:

1. Embrace being hungry as a necessary step toward weight loss.
2. Take more walks.
3. Eat primarily when I am hungry.
4. SLEEP MORE.

I feel pretty good about the previous week, and although I am skipping my weigh in today I am 92.5% confident that you will see success from the scale next week.  SO stay tuned, friends, and thanks for walking along side me during my blog hiatus brought on by a fit raging hormones. I promise to write more this week.

Weekly Weigh In

So, after a week of working out, I am still stuck at 201.  This could be the result of a few different things:

• Although I worked out a lot, I still had trouble eating the right amount of food.  There may have been some over eating this week.  

• I am nursing, which makes it easy to lose the fat gained during pregnancy, but hard to lose additional fat that was packed on before baby.  

• I am just getting older, which means my metabolism is probably slowing down, making it harder to burn off that belly fat.  (And butt fat, and back fat, and...) 

• Even though I went to the gym every day I spend the first couple of days just getting a feel for the place, not really burning significant calories.  I plan to change that this coming week.

Honestly, I am disappointed, but not discouraged.   Am I feeling let down, fat, stuck in a rut?  YES.  Am I going to give up?  NO.  Do I want to give up?  SOMETIMES.  But I press on.  Now that I am in the gym groove I will try to go frequently this week and in addition, eat less, sleep more, and drink more fluids.

Please stay with me, and don't give up on me.  I feel embarrassed for not having lost weight AGAIN, and I'm afraid that another week of disappointing news at the scale will cause people to give up on me and stop following the blog.  Please prove me wrong.  Your support, encouragement, and faithfulness is what keeps me on this path, however winding it may be.  So I urge you to stick with me, and cheer me on as I try again to lose weight next week.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Gym Week: Day 5

I have to confess that I did not go to the gym today.  It was not for lack of motivation, however, I assure you.  My schedule was JAM PACKED today and I literally did not have time.  To prove it to you, here is a brief run down of my day:

7:00am - Elizabeth up
7:30am - Noah up
8:30am - hung a load of laundry on clothes line outside
9:30am - @LifeSpring Community Church to pick up a form
10:00am - bank
10:15am - @Bible study
12:00pm - leave Bible study, drive to Waterloo Outlet Mall to get Nick Father's Day gift
12:35 - shop at outlet mall
12:45 - drive to Stefanie's house
1:15 - Arrive at Stefanie's, start planning for MOPS presentation for church
4:00 - leave Stefanie's, drive to Nick's end-of-the-yea band picnic at Onanda Park
4:45 - picnic
6:45 - leave picnic, head home
7:15 - Elizabeth in bath, PJ's, night time feeding, down to bed
8:15 - get Noah ready for bed, take clothes off the clothes line
8:45 - unload car from the day's travels

AND the gym closes at 9pm.  So I literally did not have enough time to go to the gym today.  However, I did so much running around that I barely remembered to eat, and I certainly burned a lot of calories loading the kids in and out of the car all day.  It may have been a little over ambitious of me to promise to go to the gym EVERY day withe the kids.  Oh well.  I am very content with how I spent my day.

Just a heads-up, I probably won't make it to the gym tomorrow, either, and I have another really good reason for that.  Tomorrow our church is doing a "walk for water" to raise money for a mission trip to South America.  We will be walking 3 miles to the lake, filling up buckets of water, and walking 3 miles back to the church... with the kids in the stroller, haha.  SO I think that is sufficient exercise for the day, don't you?

Weekly weigh in tomorrow... stay tuned to the fat diaries to see how I do!  

Gym Week Day 4

I was feeling pretty sore today as a result of working out yesterday without stretching, so I decided to take it easy and just walk.  It was good to have a light day.  During this time I really started to reflect on the nature of exercise.


I used to think that exercise was all about the parts of the body that you see - legs, belly, butt, thighs, biceps, etc.  However, I now understand that while it is sometimes about those parts of the body, it is REALLY about the parts that you do not see - heart, lungs, thyroid, etc.  I was watching a documentary last night about Parkinson's disease, and they talked about a lot of different treatments and research studies.  One that really caught my attention involved monkeys and exercise.

The scientists in this study basically took 2 groups of monkeys.  One group ran on the tread mill on a regular basis, while the other group merely watched the exercising monkeys.  Later in the monkeys' lives they were injected with something that basically caused them to get Parkinson's disease.  The monkeys who exercised were FAR less effected by the injection than those who did not exercise.  There is really no precise explanation as to why this is, but there is certainly no denying, how much we exercise REALLY does effect our overall, long term health.

The narrator of this documentary made the point that before cars and guns and grocery stores and other modern conveniences, we humans worked A LOT harder, physically speaking, that is.  Our bodies were intend to function best when we get regular and rigorous exercise.  It's a tall order in our modern society, but I do believe that it is perhaps the single most important thing we can do for our bodies, along with getting enough sleep and eating simple, unprocessed food.  Like I said, a pretty tall order for our culture today, but a worthy cause, for sure!!!

PBS Documentary on Parkinson's

So think about THAT next time you get bored on the tread mill. I know I will.

Gym Week: Day 3

I decided to do something different today and give the tread mill a try.  I am always really hesitant to go on the tread mill.  I had a fear as a young adult that I would fall off.  So one day in the Ithaca College gym I decided to face my fear and try the tread mill... and I fell off.  So its really hard for me to make myself get on that thing, even though I know it will give me a really good workout.  Despite my tread mill paranoia, I did go on today and had a GREAT workout.  

Thanks to everyone's great advice form my last post, I had some ideas on how to get my heart rate up and keep my feet feeling better in the process.  I did some interval training, and it was AWESOME.  I didn't really have a plan at first, I just thought I would alternate running and walking as it seemed appropriate.  I kept track of what I did and I even recorded my heart rate.  This is how it went down:

WALKED at 2.8 MPH for 5 minutes
RAN at 4.5 MPH for 15 minutes
WALKED at 3.5 MPH for 5 minutes
RAN at 5 MPH for 5 minutes
WALKED at 3.5 MPH for 5 minutes

It seemed that at the peak of my running my heart rate was around 165, if the machine was accurate that is, and when I was cooled down and walking it was about 128.  I really have no idea if that is healthy or not, but it made me feel good to see my heart rate increase and then stay elevated while running. 

 
I'm looking forward to trying to treadmill again tomorrow, but probably not as much as these guys. ;-)

Gym Week:Day 2

I did slightly better at the gym today, no thanks to my son, who sat on the potty chair for 15 minutes without doing any "business" right before we left, then earned himself a time out for trying to take apart said potty chair, then promptly peed all over the kitchen stairs while in time out (he was diaper -less, of course)... then on my way out of the door my daughter spit up in my gym shoe.  BUT ANYWAY, we did make it eventually. 

This time I did 33 minutes on the elliptical machine.  I increased the resistance to 5 today and kept the cross ramp at 4.  I tried to keep my stripes-per-minute right around 140.  I was glad that I did at least 30 minutes of cardio, because I feel like 30 minutes is sort of a bare minimum. 

I have to be honest, however, and say that I didn't feel like it really got  my heart rate up enough to burn significant calories.  I'm not sure if this is a result of the elliptical machine itself or how hard I am working on it.  Whatever the case, I am going to do something different tomorrow.  Either a cycle class or the tread mill.  Stay tuned to find out! 

I am also looking for some good advice on foot wear for anyone out there who is reading this post.  I am having some major foot issues when I work out.  Here is my problem - every time I work out my feet get incredibly hot, to the point of feeling that they are burning, and my toes go numb, especially in my right foot.  I know my shoes fit well, because I spent a long time trying on shoes before I bought them a few months ago, and they doesn't feel too tight at all.  This problem never happens when I am walking, but as soon as I get going on the elliptical I have an issue.  It really discourages me from working out much longer than half an hour.  HELP!  What can I do to make my feet more comfortable? 

Thanks for reading.  Tune in tomorrow for more gym week updates! 

Gym Week: Day 1

Day 1 at the gym was a good experience, but my workout was cut very short because the kids' schedules were off today, and our modified schedule just didn't allow for much of a workout.  However, I wanted to stick to my goal and make it the gym every day this week.  I decided it was better to show up and do a quick cardio exercise than to do nothing at all.  Here's what I did today:

All I had time for was 20 minutes on the elliptical machine.   I know the elliptical isn't the BEST cardio workout, but it was a good starting place for me today.  I put the resistance on 4, the cross-ramp on 4, and worked to keep my "strides per minute" greater than 140 at all times.  Like I said, it was a good starting point. 

This is exactly what I looked like today. 

I will keep you updated on Day 2, and hopefully I will be able to get to the gym much earlier tomorrow and get in a longer workout.  I'll keep you posted! 

Weekly Weigh In

 Just a quick post to report my weigh-in results...

I'm still 201 lbs., same as last week.  The only thing I am losing right now is motivation and momentum, and I need to stop it and get back on the horse, so to speak.  I have to do something different and big in order to jump start next week.  I NEED to lose some weight in order to keep my momentum going, and a serious jump start to kick my butt back into gear...  So I hereby declare next week GYM WEEK!

I vow to make it to the gym once a day for the next 6 straight days (Monday through Saturday) and I will report every day how my gym trip goes - what I did to work out, how I liked it, etc.  I know that working out can be a major obstacle for people like me who have a lot of weight to lose.  I have always lacked motivation to get my body in motion and get to the gym.  Its even harder now that I have two kids to get out of the door with me and into child care.  However, I need to do it, and I think with this blog to hold me accountable I can do it.  So here goes...

GYM WEEK!

Stonyfield Farms Organic Fat Free Yogurt

If you want a yogurt that is organic, devoid of artificial sweeteners like aspartame, AND delicious, then Stonyfield Farms organic fat free yogurts are the way to go!  More specifically, the "chocolate underground" flavor, pictured above, is a personal favorite.  I really like this chocolate yogurt because, first and foremost, it is tasty, cool, and refreshing.  However, it is also low in calories but still chemical free.  How can you go wrong, really?  

Not necessarily keen on the idea of chocolate yogurt?  No problem.  Stonyfeild farms makes a plethora of delectable yogurts in both fat free and low fat versions.  I would also like to mentions that they make a whole milk yogurt for babies and toddler that my son just loves.  

I guess its just nice for me to be able to enjoy a cool cup of sweet yogurt and not worry about the all the artificial sweeteners or colors, not mention all the calories of regular yogurt or ice cream that I might other wise indulge in. I encourage you to pick up a cup and try it out for yourself!

Flat Out Light

My husband and I have loved Flat Out Light flat bread wraps for quite a long time.  They are nearly the perfect wrap - extremely high fiber, low calories and fat, and quite delicious.  Normal wraps can be as much as 200 calories just for ONE wrap.  SO even if you stuff it with lettuce and veggies, you are already at 200 calories from the word "go."

I like to do all kind of things with these wraps.  Spread cheese and sauce and make a flat bread pizza, melt cheese and black olives and fold in half for a quick quesadilla, or just fill it with lettuce and veggies and salad dressing for a veggie wrap.  You will find these wraps in most grocery stores in the bread isle, or occasionally I have seen then displayed with other wraps and pita.  Inexpensive, delicious, high fiber, low calories, what more could you ask for?

Product Week: Re-blog about Powdered PB

I wrote about this wonderful product about a month ago, and this evening, as part of my "product week" I would like to re-post the wonders of powdered peanut butter...

I will admit it: I am a major peanut butter addict.  If I was banished to a desert island and had to choose only one food to nourish me for the rest of my living days I would chose peanut butter.  Now, natural, organic, non-hydrogenated peanut butter isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  However, it does have a ton of calories for a such small amount of food and LOTS of fat.  Again, not necessarily a horrible thing, unless A, you are eating an obscene amount of it in a day, and B, you are trying to lose weight. (Two things that apply to me).  I have tried “low fat” and natural peanut butters, but even those varieties still pack an enormous amount of calories and fat.  HOWEVER, thanks to a great friend, I have discovered the ULTIMATE peanut butter that is truly low in calories and fat, and tastes pretty darn great…

POWDERED PEANUT BUTTER!   

Now, before you slam your lap top shut and stop reading, hear me out.  Organic, natural, powdered peanut butter has just 3 ingredients – peanuts, coconut sugar, and sea salt.  2 tablespoons of this stuff is only 45 calories and 1.5 grams of fat!!!  Hallelujah!  Just add 1 part water to 2 parts powder, and you have a truly healthy peanut butter.  I will say that the taste, although delicious, is slightly more bitter than traditional peanut butter.  I easily remedy this by drizzling in just a small bit of honey to the mix, adding only about 15 calories per serving.  

I am so excited to make this peanut butter a part of my diet.  Last night I ate it on a rice cake, and I plan to eat it on some toast tomorrow morning.  YUM.  I would recommend this product to any peanut butter addict.

Product Plug Week, Product Number One!

Welcome to "Product Plug Week."  Every day this week I will talk about a different product that I have found very helpful and encouraging to me and my weight loss goals.  Most (ok, all) of them will be food products, because for me, the biggest struggle in losing weight is finding ways to stop myself from over eating.  Certain products, I have found, really help me cut back on calories or fat while still having a great eating experience.  So as I've said, welcome to product week!!!

Product # 1: No Pudge Brownie Mix

 

Perhaps some of you will remember about a month ago I posted a recipe on Facebook for a "brownie in a mug" recipe that uses hot chocolate mix.  It is delicious and easy... and it'll cost you about 550 calories!  Major let down for me, since I was really starting to enjoy a nice hot single-serve brownie at night.  However, I was recently reacquainted with a wonderful alternative:  No Pudge Brownie Mix.  For a chocoholic who loves to snack at night, that is truly a miracle product.  Simply mix 2 parts mix with 1 part nonfat vanilla yogurt, microwave for a minute or two and you have an instant brownie in a mug!  It is completely delicious, and get this - only 110 calories!  (For one serving. I usually make a double serving in a mug, but that's still only 220 calories, WAY less than 550.) 

 

And on top of those two great facts, I am also impressed that there are so few ingredients in the mix, and NO PRESERVATIVES.  Clearly this single serve brownie in a mug is truly superior.  Make one tonight!

Weekly Weigh In

Weighed myself today after a long week of over eating.  I did gain one pound, bringing my weight to 201 lbs.  My weight loss, it seems, will be up and down, up and down, but so far with an overall trend of downwards. 

I have been struggling lately to find the motivation to eat right.  I have not been able to say "no" as I once was, and the result is a lot of guilt and a lot of over eating to cover up the feelings of guilt... back to square one, it would seem. 

I was talking to my husband about this the other night, and I realized that there is a BIG disconnect in losing weight for me.  I have TWO very strong and overwhelming urges that in in constant conflict with each other:

1. The desire to be thin.  I want nothing more.
2. The desire to eat.  I am truly addicted to food. 

Finding a way top reconcile these two conflicting desires is when weight loss will really happen for me.  Stay tuned for a blog post about this topic, coming soon to lap top near you.

I apologize for being somewhat absent this past week.  As I said, my weight loss journey has been less than ideal, and the lack of motivation has made it difficult for me to find things to write about.  As I always say, though, tomorrow is a new day, and next week is a new week.  Here's to finding a way to do better, and NOT GIVING UP!!!!