A Comedian's Take

DH and I were doing something quire rare last night - watching live TV. It was strange, after years of only watching TiVo'd programs. But we were trying out our new Black Friday Plasma Deal. :o)

And we saw a comedian who was talking about diet and exercise. He was pretty darn funny, actually. But one thing he said was that he's decided to start out slow. So he's now sleeping with ankle weights on. 'Cuz who knows? You might roll over and burn a calorie or two.

He also said that his wife called him from the driveway because she was about to leave for the health club and forgot her purse. He said, "You're calling from the DRIVEWAY? How lazy are you?" And then proceeded to ask his kid to get his mom's purse and take it outside to her. :o)

That's how I feel lately about exercise. LOL.

Ignoring the Scale

Thursday morning, before we left for the big family get together, the scale said that I was still holding steady. No weight gain, no weight loss since last week.

Since Thanksgiving dinner, the scale and I are not on speaking terms. I have avoided making eye contact with it. I am pretending it does not exist until next week. I just don't want to hear what it has to say right now.

I would like to think that calories consumed on a major holiday during a large family gathering do not count. But, unfortunately, they do.

The Silly Cycle of Sickness

Feeling good, eating better, exercising.


Catch a bug, start to feel bad.


Get totally and completely sick.


Am so sick, can't eat much of anything, can't exercise - just drag self to couch and stare at children so they don't kill each other.


Start to feel better, still too weak to exercise.


Get strength back. Ease into it slowly. Exercising, eating well.


Back to full productivity. Life is good, feeling frisky.


Start to feel sick.


This is the cycle I've been living since August. Don't know how to forestall it, don't know how to speed it up, don't know how to make the healthy times last longer. But it's really frustrating me.

Any ideas?

And yeah, just coming out of another bout of sick.

Goals this week: Take vitamins every day, especially the ones that keep you from getting sick. Drink enough water. Get more sleep. (Yes, I'm laughing already.)

No more loose screws

I just wanted to check in.

Good news-I am holding steady with the weight.

More good news-the doctor is going to take the screw out of my foot. That should get rid of the pain when I walk or run. Or sit. Or stand Or sleep.

Bad news- I will not be able to run or jump (or dance) for 6-8 weeks. The surgery is scheduled for Dec. 4, so that means the entire month of Dec. and most of Jan. I will not be doing any rigorous exercising.

So I guess I need to really ramp up the quest for sugar free Christmas desserts.

Yes, I Am Alive

Yes, I am alive, but that is about it. I don't know why, but my second year teaching is far more stressful than my first year couple that with some major family issues and yeah . . . Stress goes up? Eating goes up. Exercise goes down. Blogging goes down. Being social goes down . . .

Now for the good news. I'm still holding steady. I haven't lost anything in what? Two months? Well, maybe less, but I haven't really gained either.

And right now I'm SOOO tempted to do the acai berry thing because taking a pill (right now) seems about the only think I can handle. If I do, I'll definitely be posting about it.

For now, my big goal is to get back to counting calories and sticking to 1400 calories a day for two weeks. Also, not eating after 5 pm. If, after that I haven't lost any weight I have some decisions to make--acai berry? HCG? Weight Watchers? I don't know, but the very first thing I'll do is go to a doctor then decide (and money definitely has an impact on what I'll decide).

Also, I'll need to finally figure out what would be the healthiest weight that I should be at, because honestly I'd like to weigh 145, but I don't know if that is reasonable for me. We'll see. Right now my goal is for 160-165. Only forty pounds, right? But if 145 is healthy for me that means I have FIFTY-FIVE pounds to lose . . . I can do that, right? RIGHT???? ; - )

Long time no see!

I know, surprise, surprise. I'm writing. It has been a while and I've been busy. I have been off the HCG for over a month and have been maintaining well. I pretty much stick around 158-160 depending on the day. I'm going to do one more short round in January and see where I am.

I have not felt like exercising at all lately. Don't know why. Just not motivated. I think it's the cold. The stupid thing is, exercise will warm you up. It helps with SAD, it helps burn calories and it makes you feel good with endorphins. So why do I resist? I don't know. Because I'd rather write in my book, or read a good book, or take long, hot baths with a good book and watch long movies.

I guess that leaves only one thing. Am I lazy? I don't think that's it because I can make myself sit at the computer and write all day if I have to! lol When I have a goal, nothing stops me. I guess I worked out so long and so hard and felt like I made no progress, that it lost its appeal.

Dang.

I wish my body would work for me. I'm tired of a daily aching neck, sore low back and feet that kill me if I run. (and that began long before I started writing) What is wrong with this picture? I'm tempted to say that life's not fair, but then I did get a book deal and that is pretty dang fair! lol

Exercising with FitTV

by Rebecca Talley

I've been trying to stay on South Beach. I'm on Phase 2 which allows me to add in fruits, cereal, and popcorn while still losing 1-2 lbs a week. I don't feel deprived. I actually fell off the dieting wagon last week and this week when we celebrated birthdays. I had cake last week and a brownie with ice cream this week. I weighed myself the day after I ate the brownie and was happy that I'd actually lost a pound.

I really think that the most important part of losing weight is finding a diet and exercise system that works for us. I've seen women who've done Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, and the liquid diets and while they initially lose weight, it comes right back on as soon as they start eating normal food again. I didn't want to do that and had to find something I could stick with forever. South Beach may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

I'm happy to report that I've been exercising again. I changed satellite providers (read about it here) and am thrilled that I now have FitTV which provides workouts around the clock. I even found Gilad who hosts Bodies in Motion. I worked out to this show 15 years ago, but then lost it when we moved and I'm so happy I found it again. Each segment is only 30 minutes which is completely doable for me. And I love his Iraeli accent. It's set in Hawaii so the scenery is beautiful. Sometimes, his mother even works out with him.

So my new favorite channel is FitTV and it's getting me up and exercising again. Yay!

Hi!

So, it's been a long time since I visited. The reason for that has nothing to do with my dieting, but with my aversion to longterm blogging. I get bored, and then I stop. Sorry. (Tristi: You knew what I was when you picked me up!)

I have not been terribly excellent at continuing to lose weight, but I've remained steady and even dipped a bit. I'm currently at 228 (so, a grand total of eight pounds down from the starting point). Not great, but not bad, considering everything I eat is dripping in butter.

My diet technique continues to be: eat less, move around more. I'm not awesome at either one, but I'm better than I was three months ago.

Good News, Bad News

The good news is, my weight is down another 1.5 pounds.

The bad news is, my word count for NaNoWriMo is anemic.

The good news is, I'm going to be doing more walking in the next week or so.

The bad news is, I'm walking because one of our two cars is comatose. It requires a solenoid transplant.

The good news is, all the important things, like the post office, the grocery store, and the library, are within easy walking distance.

The bad news is, IT'S COLD!

My New November 17th Resolution

I say you don't have to wait until January 1st to make a resolution. Just make it now!

So, here's mine. I decided yesterday that I just had to get off my lazy caboose and get some more exercise in. So I made a resolution that I wouldn't sit down to read books anymore. If I'm going to read, I can walk on the treadmill while I do it.

Before, I could never do that because I thought I was wasting my exercise time if I wasn't pushing myself really hard. And you can't push yourself really hard while you're reading a book. It's just too jiggly. :o)

But then I realized that if I'm going to be sitting reading a book anyway, I may as well be walking and reading a book. So I set the treadmill nice and slow and walked 2 miles. It took me 40 minutes.

Today, I read some more - and walked another mile in 20 minutes.

I think this will accomplish more than one thing. I'll be sitting less, walking more, and possibly even reading less. You know those times you just can't put the book down because it's just too compelling. That'll push me to exercise more. And it'll also push me to put the book down and get something productive done, already.

Okay, so I've only been sticking to this new goal for about 30 hours now, but it's working so far. Wish me luck!!

Tristi's Friday Update

When you turn on the Wii Fit, one of the first options you see is to weigh yourself. It becomes nearly second nature to click the little button and see if you've lost anything, but there's a danger in this - you can go for a whole week eating chicken breasts and carrot sticks and lose one ounce, then eat a slice of pizza and go up two pounds. This makes you think, "I can never, ever cheat, even a tiny bit, or I'll stay fat forever." And, as we all know, this kind of thinking makes us head straight for the fridge. You can't tell someone they can never, ever again eat something they would like to eat ... it's a recipe (pardon the pun) for disaster.

I've decided to weigh on Fridays, before breakfast. If I watch my weight inch up and sneak down and inch up and sneak down by mere ounces all week long, I go stark raving bonkers. It's better for me if I see the results of an entire week's work at once.

I did pretty well this week. I exercised every day but Wednesday - Wednesday was a really odd day. It's like my world got turned upside down and a great many things didn't happen that should have. I'm still trying to increase my vegetable intake and decrease my sugar intake, but that will be my goal for this next week.

Now, I'm ready to make an announcement.

A couple of years ago, I went chocolate free. I went for nine whole months without any chocolate whatsoever ... and then this happened (click here for link). Easily, one of the worst days in my writing life. I headed for Baskin Robbins and got two scoops of the most chocolatey chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks they had. From there, I sort of went back to my old chocolate consuming ways.

But, the announcement! I am now chocolate free again. One day so far. :) I did it once, I can do it again.

Today chocolate, tomorrow - the world!

Remember Me?

Wow, I haven't posted in a while. My life has been crazy. I thought after my son's wedding everything would calm down. Wrong-o. After the wedding and the open house and lots of visitors, I had to catch up with homeschooling and laundry and getting organized with my YW calling and doing Halloween (I was divine as Winifred Sanderson from "Hocus Pocus") and there was one other thing, oh yeah, my work-in-progress. Yeah, that thing. Not having it done when I'd planned (September 1) has really thrown me for a loop and even made me question writing at all (after all, if I were really a writer I'd have it all done, right?).

As far as my dieting, I haven't gained any weight nor have I lost any. I still want to lose 6-10 more lbs. I am convinced that exercising alone does not help me lose weight. I have to control what I eat. I'm still doing South Beach, but I've modified it in that I don't do the sugar-free ice cream bars anymore because I'm thinking the sweeteners just aren't that good for me. I've been eating Special-K with strawberries or bran flakes with a sliced banana for breakfast, a salad and celery with natural peanut butter for lunch, and then chicken or fish or beans or lean meat or whatever I fix for the family for dinner if it's not too far off the SB recommendations. I also try to drink almost a gallon of water every day.

I'm thrilled I haven't gained back what I lost, but I still need to lose more weight. It's a little harder now because I'm able to fit into clothes I haven't worn for a long, long time (my kids tell me they're all out of style now but I don't care because it's been such a feat to fit back into them) and since I can fit into them I'm not as motivated to lose more weight even though I need to.

So I'm not doing great, as in I'm not taking more weight off, but I'm not doing terrible, as in I haven't gained it back. I need to get back on track. I did exercise 3 times this week for 45 minutes each time. That felt good.

And my work-in-progress? I'm deep into revisions and still hope to finish it soon. It's a very important book to me so I want it to be perfect--yeah, I know that's not realistic, but it doesn't stop me from wanting it to be.

Goals:
Lose 6-10 more lbs.
Exercise 4-5 times per week for 45 minutes
Finish my work-in-progress

Yummy Recipe

I came across this recipe in my low fat Mexican cookbook. It is delicious! And with the weather turning colder, I thought I'd share.

Now I'm normally not a soup person. I hate soup usually. But this soup is so GOOD!

Chicken Lime Soup (I heart lime)

Ingredients

• 4 corn tortillas, in strips, toasted
  
• 2 chicken breasts, grilled, boned and cut in bite-sized pieces (I bought boneless and just boiled it)
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped (I don't like celery, so I didn't use it)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 4 tablespoons white rice
• 3 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth (or about two cups, I think)
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
  
• avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• scallions, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste ( I omitted this, it wasn't needed)
• fresh lime wedges
  

Directions

Prepare the tortilla strips and set aside for garnish. Season the chicken and moisten with 2-3 tbsp chicken broth. (Yeah, I forgot to read the directions just before this step and poured all the chicken broth into the chicken. It got moistened all right.) Set aside.

Generously coat a 2-quart saucepan with a vegetable spray. Add celery, onion, and carrots and saute 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add white rice, chicken broth, garlic salt, cloves, thyme, and oregano. simmer, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes.

When you are ready to serve the soup, add the lime juice, tomatoes, avocado, scallions, and reserved chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup with tortilla strips and fresh lime wedges.

Advance Preparation: The soup base may be prepared a day or two in advance. Add lime juice, tomatoes, avocado, and scallions before serving.


Hope you enjoy it!

An Interesting Observation

I've done the Wii Fit the last two days, my feet finally well enough to resume exercising. It turns out, I didn't have gout after all - just a whole lot of painful swelling. I was put on a really nice anti-inflammatory and I've only had to take a few doses, and life is good again. But I digress.

I've done the Wii Fit the last two days, like I said, and each time, I weighed myself right before and right after. What's interesting to me is that I generally lose weight while I'm exercising, to the tune of about a pound. I don't know if that's water I'm sweating off, or what, but regardless of what's causing it, it's actually a pretty good incentive to exercise. Get on at one weight, and get off at another! Yeah, sometimes the simplest things make me happy. :)

I'm still working on finding ways to cheer myself up without food. There are some days to where I just feel this amazingly strong need to grab a treat because of how things are going in my life. Once I can figure out what to do instead, I'll be able to make a lot more progress. I've tried turning on the radio or calling someone - those things that are supposed to help for emotional needs - but it's the physical kick in the pants sugar gives me that I'm trying to replace in a healthy way. I'm going to try taking a vitamin C instead. That's a really nice kick in the pants.

Anyway, things are going pretty well so far. Still having issues with remembering to eat, but yesterday I made some good food choices (I ate breakfast, Marta!!) and while I wasn't perfect, I do feel satisfied that I'm putting forth some good effort.

Effective?

One thing about having a huge boat load of homework, mom work, life work and then getting sick- the scale drops numbers really fast. Today it said 172 lbs. But I am afraid that once I get out of bed for real and start putting something besides chicken broth in my body, that same scale is going to start adding those numbers back.

Tristi Rambles

I'm sorry - it's time for another rambling Tristi blog. I don't set out to ramble - it just all sort of happens when I open my mouth - or in this case, sit down to blog. But that's why this blog was created - to give us all a place to vent.

First of all, I'm starting over again. I'm setting some new goals. I'm firming up my decisions. I am going to create a new me.

I've spent the last three months battling sinus infections, foot problems, headaches - you name it, I've probably had it. (Except morning sickness. For once in my life, I'm not pregnant. :) I have watched my body grow weaker with each illness. I have wondered if I even had what it takes to get healthy, or if I was just meant to be big my whole life.

My four-year-old son told me he wanted to go to the zoo. "I want to see the giraffes and the lions and the hippos. The hippos look just like you, Mommy." Oh, sweet innocence - he had no idea that he was saying something hurtful. He was calling it like he saw it, no malice intended, yet the hurt was still there.

Last week was a huge event for Valor Publishing - we released Mark Shurtleff's new novel, "Am I Not a Man: The Dred Scott Story." I got a new blouse for the occasion and thought I looked pretty cute, until I saw some of the pictures from the event.

I don't even know who that person is. I feel like my spirit and my body are completely unconnected, like my spirit is driving around in some old clunker car that keeps breaking down.

I want my outsides to match my insides. I want to look like the professional I am. (Well, sometimes I'm a professional - other times, I'm a goofball.) I want to feel like I'm being taken seriously. I want to be healthy, and the only person stopping me from doing that is me.

So, expect to hear a lot from me. I'll probably whine and complain a lot. Please leave me nice, friendly comments cheering me on. Something has got to give. I can't continue on this way. I just can't do it.

Holding Steady

Just a quick check in. When I weighed this morning, my weight was the same as last week. This is a miracle, considering I am participating in NaNoWriMo this year and that is taking precedence over the whole diet and exercise thing. However, I have found in the past that I am less inclined to get the munchies when I am writing than when I am working my day job or doing housework. It is tempting to ignore the scale for the month of November, but I am determined not to yo-yo back up again. Once was plenty.

And where is everybody?

Halloween: FAIL

Scary music should accompany this post, and it's not because of ghosts and ghouls . . . it's because of candy. Delicious, sinful, addictive, fat-producing candy!

See, I never give out candy at Halloween. Well, I can't say never, because I only started giving out other kinds of prizes and such for the last 5 or 6 years. However, this year because of bad planning and procrastination, I didn't buy anything in time and ended up running out for a huge bag of that awful fattening stuff I have such a love/hate relationship with.

I'm weak, that's what it comes down to. I can't have it around or I just eat it.

So, I went out today and bought some cool non-edible goodies at 50% off to give out for Halloween next year. Now, the trick is going to be keeping track of the box I'm putting them in for an entire year. Can she do it? Stay tuned and find out. :o)

I feel like I'm not going to be able to get back on track as long as all this candy is around. Not only do we have the leftovers from Halloween night (which is one of the big reasons I don't give out candy) but my kids all came home with large bags of the stuff, too. I wish I could have just taken the candy they were given and given it out to the people who came to our house. It'd be a win/win/win! ;o)

But who am I kidding? I wasn't on track before Halloween, either. I did go on a bike ride this weekend, though. It was glorious! The fall leaves along the trail are gorgeous this time of year. I can't believe we have biking weather in November, especially after that blizzard we had in October. The weather is a funny thing, isn't it? Hopefully I'll get some more bike rides in before it becomes unbearable again.

Enough rambling. What I need now is to get some sleep so I have the energy to work out tomorrow. ;o)