Weigh-in Wednesday, Week 1

It's been one week since I weighed/measured in.

And I don't want to talk about it.

Here's hoping for an ounce of success on your part!

Please share if you were successful, and what you did to help yourself.

Sugar cookies and cake? They don't help.

Weigh-in Wednesday

Weigh in today. Don't share your info... but do write it down. I find the most effective way is actually a random paper that I fold in half and make columns on: date, weight, body fat %, waist, hips, thighs. I measure all of this, using the same scale and tape measure, and I measure in the same way. I hold the tape measure taut, but not tight. Since I'm not sewing anything for myself, if I were to measure tightly it wouldn't matter, as long as I do it the same way every time. I like using a tape measure, because sometimes (especially when you are weight training) you don't lose scale weight. You have gained muscle and lost fat, and when that happens, the scale doesn't move much, but your measurements will. I am going to do a full weigh-in every Wednesday morning, and then just a scale weigh-in on Sunday mornings. Remember: same time, in the same way for consistent results. Oh ya- on your record sheet, write down the numbers you'd like to see. Pick a date (for example, Christmas Day) and set a goal. What a great gift to yourself- a healthier body (and maybe some cute new clothes from Santa)!

Small Meals for the "I Hate Being Squishy Club"

We are going to fight getting squishier for the holidays. Fun, eh?

Here is one tactic: eat 5 or 6 small meals spread throughout the day.

That's it!

Here's how mine break up: Say I wanted to eat 2000 calories a day. Divide 2000 by 5 and you get 400. So, each of my five meals would need to be about 400 calories. Divide 2000 by 6 and you get around 330.

Doing this prevents you from feeling hungry. It also forces you to think about what you are eating. If you want to maintain your weight and you eat 5-6 small meals at 1000 calories each, you're gonna be bigger and squishier in no time. This also helps you to eat enough calories, because if you don't feed your body enough, your body will think you are starving and will hold on to your fat cells. So, feed your body regularly to keep your metabolism revved.

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Wanna join the anti-squishy club? Leave a comment. The club will.... well, I'm not sure what it'll do, except maybe give ya a place to see other people's squishy attack plans and their motivation and whatnot.

Tis the Season... for not gaining winter weight

For the last two months or so, I've been eating horribly. It's showing... on my body (just a little) and on the scale (just two-three pounds) and in my attitude and mental stability (a ton). I'm a huge believer of the mind-body connection. What I eat and how much sunlight and movement I get a day seems to greatly influence how I feel. So, in order to head off the slums of holiday eating, which for me starts with Candy Corn and those fun little pumpkins, I am reviving this poor blog. Three things to start this off. (It's the first Monday of the month, a great day to start!)
1- My favorite no-nonsense podcast- Fat2Fit radio. You don't need an iPod to listen, but I believe you do need iTunes (a free download). They also have a website Fat2Fitradio.com (click to go there). I like it for a few reasons. One, they promote my theories! Isn't it nice when that happens? They haven't said a thing I disagree with! Basically, they talk about having a healthy lifestyle for life so you don't have to "diet." They promote exercising, and also track their own progress and goal setting. Even though I "know" a lot of what they say already, these two guys educate and motivate me to keep it up and keep it going. If you are new to the health scene, they are a great place to start!
2-I'm sugar detoxing today. No carbs for today. I ate my weight yesterday in Candy Corn, ice-cream, and these really great cinnamon rolls with icing. I don't think it helped that I made a concerted effort to soak up the icing on my cinnamon rolls... adding more. I've been avoiding fruits and veggies and reaching for prepackaged cookies, cereal, and crackers instead. couple that with a lack of movement- I've been feeling squishy. My sugar detox is consisting of a celery/Italian tomato/chicken stock soup, hard boiled eggs, any other veggie, and lots of water. After today, and possibly tomorrow, I will eat normally, but more healthfully. Seems extreme, but I am addicted to sugar and need to quit. After this period of detox, I will incorporate healthy carbs into my diet because I'm not a fan of no-carb eating.
3- A change a week. To help myself, and anyone reading this, I am going to institute a change a week, until I get back to my healthy self I usually am. I was thinking back to college when nary a fried food passed my lips and I was moving a lot. I'm going to get back there. (Not college-glad that's over, but the healthy thing.) First change for the week- drinking more water. I have a water bottle to fill, and re-fill. Going for the 64 ounces a day. I am quitting soda, too. I don't drink tons, but still, it seems to set me back, and really, it's just not good for you. That's the only change I'm committing to right now. I will try and move more, but for now, I'm concentrating on the water thing.

Did you know that a lot of times when you feel hungry, it's just really your thirst talking? And that by the time you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated? And that caffeine makes you dehydrated so that if you drink more soda than water (or flavored water) that your skin looks gross and you feel hungrier than necessary and your insides are drying out? Water bottle, here I come!

Long Time, No Blog

It's been awhile. A long while. Instead of writing about being healthier, I went out and started running. Just a few miles, with a decent 5k being the goal. To update, I will be running (and walking) a 5k at the beginning of October, and then RUNNING a 5k (and if I get really ambitious, a 10k) on Halloween. The darkness of morning and the heat of the afternoon have all but squashed my running time. I live in the middle of nowhere, and when it's dark, it's D-A-R-K. No streets or street lights. Just the stars, and that's not enough for this scaredy cat. I keep threatening to get up and go out in the dark, but have yet to do so. I could run in the afternoons when the kids are napping, on my track out back, but it's been 100*... no thank-you. I have tried it, and I ended up walking and getting a tan. I will try to get back into this blog, as I do have some healthy ideas to share. They do not include eating two cheeseburgers for lunch (like I did today).

Here is what we had for dinner tonight. Easy!
Hawaiian styled grilled chicken breasts (marinated in a mixture of ginger, soy, worcestershire, veggie oil, plum sauce, garlic)
white rice
grilled pineapple
steamed carrots

To make mine more healthy for ME, I mixed half the rice I would usually eat with the steamed carrots. The kids liked the rice tons, and ate that much!

Help Wanted! and a few other things

I am just not good enough to keep this blog up with any regularity. I"ll be honest- it's not my first priority. I think it's more like my ninth, right after clean undies for the family. Are any of you interested in being able to post to this blog? Let me know. The only "rules" are 1) No swearing/cussing. ("Curse those Sweet N Salty peanut granola bars!" is okay.) 2) It HAS to be health related. That's it, I think. Leave me a comment if you want to participate.

I started Weight Watchers today. Kind of. Sort of. After almost a whole week of a low-carb diet. I like low-carb because I have a wicked sweet tooth. I love cookies. So I "slipped" after being SO GOOD (trying to detox from sugar) and then just felt like a failure all together. I don't need to lose weight. However, my body fat percentage is higher than I want it to be. AND, I'm not fast enough/in shape enough when I run. Hence, the trying to be healthier. Weight Watchers looks like how I used to eat when I was in shape. I'm estimating how many points I need, and I am borrowing my sister's books (she's pregnant right now) and am going to try it out for awhile. I was inspired to try it out after buying a WW magazine. They had some good sounding recipes, and after researching, I'll give it a whirl. If I like it, I'm going to buy the books myself. Should be fun. Fun? Maybe, "it should be interesting." (I'm trying to eat like a diabetic SHOULD. I've heard that phrase many times, and will try to implement it.)

I love soup. Pretty soon it'll be too hot for soup (for my liking), but here is an EASY tomato soup.
Put the following into a crock-pot:

• 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, any style (I like Italian)- normal can size (what, 14oz? I'm not good at this!)
• 2 cans chicken stock (or veggie stock. Or just use some water, but it's not as great.)

That's it. I like to add things like: more water/stock if needed, my almost-ready-to-rot cherry tomatoes because I bought a huge box at Costco, celery, carrots. After it's cooked in the slow cooker and I'm serving over the course of the next few days, I'll add chopped cooked chicken, sprinkle parm. cheese, or put real cheese on top. I find this soup to be a great beginning to lunch or dinner.

A Healthy Lifestyle Remembered

That's not me. Just so there is no confusion.
I happened across some old pictures of me before I had kids. In a swimsuit. At a sprint triathlon (that kicked my bootie) in triathlon clothes. And I started to reminisce. What did I do differently THEN than I do NOW? Taking out the biggest factor- KIDS- I started analyzing my lifestyle THEN. The picture of me shows me in my friend Amy's two piece mini-tank/board shorts suit (NOT a bikini- I could have run in this comfortably- but my belly was still very visable) and I had very little fat on me. I suppose I was thin, although I didn't really think so then because I've never been "small". But that weekend at the beach house went like this: I woke up and put my running shoes on. I ran 2 miles on the beach. When I came back I ate my protien bar while everyone else had Costco muffins. When we went out later that night to a restaurant to eat I ordered some chicken based pasta with red sauce. I drank lots of water. And I was fit. A LIFESTYLE of these little habits added up. Just as my new lifestyle of a love of mayonaise and no running time is adding up to a squishy middle. I am slowing trying to get back into a LIFESTYLE of health. And to be patient. That's the hardest part for me- being patient with getting in shape. When I go to run 2 miles after not running for nearly two years, I expect to be able to run the whole way in 15 minutes. I get discouraged when I can't. And I need to kick myslef for being so lame. (It's the same for wrinkle cream- WHY DIDN'T IT WORK LAST NIGHT?) Gotta go- hubby just woke up and I'm going to try to get away to run for 30 minutes.