Hey Mama Welcome to the 60's!

So the whole only weighing yourself once a month has been pretty easy this last three weeks since the battery in my scale died. I had a kind of bad 4th of July week in which I had a Pepsi at the Real Soccer Game, a handful of Red Vines on the boat, and an Oreo cookie here and there. Needless to say I wasn't looking forward to getting a new battery after that! But I was still a lot less than I had been and I needed a new swimsuit. My cute step mother-in-law, who is not much older than me, and has divine taste in clothes told me to come over and look through her old ones as she had about 10 extra ones. So I went and found a cute tankini that I looked good in (for the first time in years I was excited to see myself in a swimsuit.
Since the swimsuit experience had gone well I decided to use their scale to check my weight, because I knew from experience it was right on par with my scale. And I had to step on three times just to make sure....I'm in the 60's for the first time in years. I weighed in tonight, fully clothed and in the late afternoon mind you, at 165 so I have lost a total of 34 pounds since February!!! I am so excited. I couldn't help but think of the Hairspray song "Hey Mama Welcome to the 60's". Sixteen more pounds to go to hit that 50 pound mark I was hoping for. Here is hoping the next month goes as well as the last!

Almost there!

The title of this post may be a little deceiving. I am still 25 pounds away from my goal, but I am only 1 pound away from my half way mark. My second month of primal went well, but there were a few more hang ups than the first month. Mainly a series of birthday parties with designer cakes that just kept begging to be tested until the last party when I finally gave in and went for it. I'll admit, it was tasty. But after the taste factor went away, eating a whole piece of chocolate cake after 2 months no sugar took its toll on my stomach. I think remembering that gut wrenching feeling will be helpful in the future to refraining from at least so much indulgence. So the big weigh in for the month put me at another five pounds gone away! 24 pounds in 4 months. If I can keep this rate up I will hit my goal by October.
I've found a lot of fun recipes for being primal. The family favorite is Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi, which thanks to Costco we can get the wild caught stuff. If you want to try it, just soak your Mahi Mahi in a dish of milk (if you are non dairy use coconut milk) then dip it in fine ground macadamia nuts (I ground mine in my 10$ Black and Decker coffee grinder that I bought at Target to grind my flax seed. Hint...Hazelnuts are too hard to do in this, but macadamia nuts are just fine.) Salt and Pepper and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes. So easy and so good.
I am still in summer school and just got a part time job, so my grand plans for a workout routine that involves more than walking up and down the stairs at school is still in the idea process, but hopefully by next month that will be a reality. Until then, I'm still feeling great. For the most part being primal has been the easiest and most fulfilling "diet" ever. I can see this being a lifestyle change for good.

Weight Loss? What's That?

Okay so here I am checking in. Not much to tell you because first off I haven't done very much. I've been kicking along this past week being good sometimes, being a little bad sometimes, and my weight hasn't changed at all. I think that 176 was a fluke because the day before and the day after I was 178 and have not changed. The one good thing I have to report is I am now on day 15 of my push up challenge. My arms are starting to feel it. I keep getting worried that I will have to split my push ups in half, because each day I feel like the last one for that day is going to kill me, but then the next day comes and I am able to do just one more. Unfortunately that is the only exercise I have been regular at. I still do squats while brushing teeth and doing the dishes, and leg lifts while I am doing homework, but no cardio. I need to get started on that so I can be in good enough shape for when I go to Germany. I don't want to be hiking and huffing and puffing at the same time. 57 days to go, guess I better get started! So here is to another week. I have a New Moon Party to go to on Saturday so that will be my treat night. I think it is easier if I know which night I am going to want to cheat so that I can be especially good the rest of the nights in the week.

Weekly Weigh In

How does life get so crazy? I finished my detox last night, if nothing else it sure made me feel better. This morning I weighed in at 177.5 so that is down 11 pounds since New Years. It is hard because on one hand I would love to just lose the weight really quick, but on the other hand, I just want to make this a lifestyle and so I find myself avoiding extreme things that I know I will never be able to stick to. I think the detox was good in helping me realize I don't drink enough water, so this week will be devoted to bringing the amount of water I drink up. Good Luck to everyone on their weight loss.

Monday Morning Weigh In

179.8

2 oz. more than when I started back in August. And I don't feel bad about that at all considering I had foot surger the beginning of Dec., have been able to do very little actual exercise because of it, ate sugar and other assorted comfort foods at my mom's and weighed 5 lbs more than that this time last week.

Goal this week: be cognizant of the amount of water I drink each day and drink at least 64 oz each and every day.

I have a paper due and a final this week. Wish me luck!

9lbs down

So I decided to post my monthly weight loss tonight since tomorrow I get that chocolate birthday cake and who knows what it will do to me? :) But as of January 1st I have lost 9 pounds and have made it back into the 170's. Okay so 179.6, but it has been awhile since I have seen that number and it was a happy dance moment. Leptin has been going good. I have not had a problem with eating just 3 meals a day. I think it helps me cut the calories back as well. I didn't do great with Leptin today because I had some of the kid's lemonade while at the mall because I was thirsty and had left my water bottle in the car. And then tonight we had a Mrs. America party for my girls and their friends with cupcakes and ice cream, and I will admit to licking both frosting and ice cream off my fingers as I served it. Not too much of a bad of a thing, but kinda going against the whole no food between meals or after dinner thing. Next week I am going to add uping my water intake into the equation, but I am going to let myself splurge a little on my birthday, so I hope that doesn't kill me too much.

My Progress

by Rebecca Talley

I started Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet a week ago. I stayed on it pretty well, though I did have a few bites of a flour tortilla on Tueday and some cereal yesterday. All in all, I did pretty well on it and plan to keep on it for another week. Then I'll move to Phase 2 which is really easy for me because it allows me to add in fruit, pasta, and cereal.

I have not snacked on sugary things, a big change from December. I do allow myself a Weight Watchers ice cream bar each night after dinner as a reward. Generally, the bars are about 130-150 calories. Enough of a sweet treat but not one that destroys my day's worth of eating. I also snack on whole almonds and drink as much water as I can manage (2-4 quarts).

I exercised M-Th for 60 minutes per day with Gilad on FitTV. I didn't exercise on Friday because I took my daughter into the oral surgeon to have her wisdom teeth removed. But, Saturday I helped my husband dig the Yukon out of the snow for an hour or so and then helped stack 60 bales of hay into our trailer so I decided I'd count that as my exercise.

Weigh-in today: I lost 3 lbs.

I'm hoping to lose another 3 lbs by the weigh-in next week.

Oh, and I love the background! Looks very Valentiney!

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!

Monday Morning Weigh In

Weight today is 176.4 for a loss of 0.4 this past week.

Not as much as I would like, but ok considering I spent 2 days driving 1.5 hours to training, 6 hours sitting at training and then driving 1.5 hours home and then spent the rest of those days either sitting in class or shutteling children from place to place. Then one more day driving the same 1.5 hours to a soccer game, sitting through said soccer game and then home. Not a lot of walking/exercising/movement this past week.

I did spend 15 minutes on the treadmill one day before kids needed mom's taxi service. And I didn't change out of the exercise clothes to drive the taxi either.

Weighing in

Scale today= 177.8 for a loss of another 0.6 oz.

Food consumption last weeks was good- I think I pretty much have that one down. It is easier when I am home all day than when I have to go to work because of the hours. I get up at 5 and am work by 7:30. Lunch has to be by 11:30 and then home by 3, then all the kid stuff and schedules and my work. That means I have to eat breakfast by 6 in order to be dressed and at work on time. I hate eating that soon after gettting up. I would prefer another hour, but it is what it is.

Exercise on the other hand, not so good. Again, no time in the morning because if I exercise for 30 minutes then hit the shower, there is no time for breakfast. And no time for the kids to use the shower before we have to leave. These past 2 weeks, after work have been spent running from one thing to another getting all the going back to school and a routine things done.

But now stuff has been bought, marching band is in session, soccer has a set schedule and piano lessons have started. I should be able to make myself a schedule so that I am sure to be on the treadmill after work.

I have a big issue with how I look when I leave the house. I never wear sweats, pajama pants, sloppy clothes. When I was a little girl we always changed to go to town if we were wearing shorts or cleaning clothes. So that has been an issue for me. I hate changing to exercise clothes just to change again to go run errands or whatever. I keep telling myself that no one is going to care if I pick my daughter up from soccer in my exercise clothes. Right?

Thing to work on this week-
* actually exercising
* picking up child even if I am in exercise clothes
(* look into the soccer carpool)

-3.5

This morning's scale weigh in said I've lost 3.5 lbs. I hope it's true. My eating habits have been going ok, but not great. I've been working really hard not to eat to the point that my body feels full. Usually I eat and eat and eat until I know I'm full. I know this is bad, but I hate eating and then twenty minutes later being hungry again. So I'm trying to watch this and if I do get hungry again, I try to eat a small healthy snack (like watermelon).

My exercising still hasn't really taken off, although I did hike the Hill Cumorah yesterday instead of driving up it. I'm trying to find a definite time to exercise each day and I don't think that will work. I think I'm just going to have to squeeze it in whenever I can.

Weighing in

This morning the scale said- 177.4. Another 0.6 lbs lost.

I can live with that since last week I didn't do very well. Exercise consisted of only the walking that I did at the school. I didn't make it up and down the stairs everyday like I wanted to. One day I wore the cute shoes and they hurt my feet if I did too much walking, so I spent the time at my desk instead. But I did park in the far parking slots so I had to walk further to the store or wherever. And I had to walk across a couple of fields to get to my daughter's soccer practice. But when the treadmill was turned on,it wasn't me on it.

I also didn't eat as well as I knew I should. Friday I had school lunch instead of the soup and orange I had taken. I try to eat my lunch before I have lunch duty, but on Friday it didn't happen and the chicken quesadilla just smelled so much better than the chicken soup. But I didn't eat the roll or the cookie and I did have the broccoli, carrots and cauliflower with lunch. But then Saturday after Brandi's soccer practice she wanted an ice cream cone. Her nose had gotten broken at practice so I gave in. I bought one for me too and forgot to ask for the teeny cone. Instead I was handed the standard "small" cone which is huge. And I ate it all. I did pay for it in pain on Sunday, but as I always tell my students- You choose the behavior, you choose the consequence. But it was a good treat at the moment.

Total lost since starting-2.2 lbs about 1 lb/week. So far, good and steady. Easy for me to do while the weather is nice, but when it gets cold and yucky and I want cocoa and a good book and my comfy chair...

Fluctuation and Determination

That's what I do. Fluctuation. I am always somewhere between the it-isn't-as-bad-as-it-could-be and the uh-oh. That's where I am today--the uh-oh. Lunch was one pork chop and one glass of milk. Nothing else until dinner. I am determined.

Now that winter is coming (because I've discovered Cleveland doesn't get a fall, it just skips straight to winter) I need a good pair of jeans that I can actually get over my hips and button. I've been able to get away with a couple pairs of shorts and a few skirts during the summer, but no more. I must now buckle down or I'll be wearing shorts and skirts all winter long because I am NOT buying a pair of jeans until I am back in my old size.

Weigh-in

Actually, I weigh-in on Saturday morning, but I'll post how much on Sundays--most likely. I started my diet full force (the food part anyway) on Sunday-one week ago. Well, more likely it was Monday, but let's just say Sunday.

Last week, on Saturday morning I weighed, according to my scales, 210.6. I just rounded down when I posted my weight. Yes, I do things like that to make myself feel better! Yesterday I weighed in at 207.4 for a grand weight loss total of 3.2 pounds.

OOPS. Really, you should not lose more than 2 pounds a week--three pounds is pushing it. HOWEVER . . . sometimes when you begin a weigh loss program you lose more initially than when you get into the swing of things. If I'm still losing that much in two to three weeks then I'll increase my caloric intake by 100 calories a day and go from there. Of course, the idea of losing three pounds a week is a very tempting to hold onto. VERY TEMPTING. If I stayed at losing three pounds a week I could weigh 160 by the middle of December (no I did not calculate this, fitday did). But, I know that is not the way to do it . . . sigh. Also, if I tried to do this, then I'll hit a plateau pretty quickly.

I'm not sure if I ever said what my goal was--right now it is 160. In high-school I weighed 145 (I am 5'10''). While it is tempting to want to go back to that weight I've decided to see how I feel about myself and the way I look at 160. My picture on this site is what I weighed at 180 and I don't feel like I look fat in that picture. If I want to lose more weight WHEN (see how positive I'm being?) I hit 160 then I'll go to a doctor and increase things like muscle mass etc . . . well, maybe. I'll see what the doctor says and see how I feel about things.

I haven't started measuring myself yet. This is an important thing to do, especially if your weight tends to fluctuate wildly. Or, it can be a good indication that you are gaining muscle which you REALLY REALLY WANT. For example, say you weigh yourself for three weeks straight doing things you know are good for you, watching what you eat, reducing calories, exercising etc but you haven't lost anything or, horror of horrors, you actually GAINED. . . you may have lost in actual size.

Overall, this week I did fairly decently on my caloric intake and SLEEP. Yesterday, I didn't do so well on food. Partly because I'm fasting today (for religious reasons, not dieting reasons), and I knew I'd be at zero today. So going a little high yesterday didn't bother me so much. And yes, I really enjoyed that snickers candy bar and the handful of peanut M&M's. Yummm.

My caloric intake was pretty good overall--exercise, not at all. I did make it to taekwondo on Tuesday, but that is IT for the exercising. Well, other than doing stuff at school. I bet I could count some of that. On Thursday I tried to go to taekwondo, but there was an accident and the road was closed for a solid hour or more. We left after 20 minutes to go back home. I haven't started biking yet because that durn road hasn't opened yet. And I haven't done my rowing machine at home or any muscle building kind of stuff. I'll get there. I hope.

I'm a little worried about this coming up week. I'm going to be really busy--we have a back to school night on Monday from 5-8--I doubt if I'll even make it home on Monday until after 8. Then taekwondo on Tuesday and Thursday, which is good, but I hate being gone from home too much, it increases my stress . . . on Wednesday book club (at least it is at my house, but then I have to make sure my house looks good! and I fix the dessert which makes it harder to resist) and on Friday I think I actually have an evening free.

Hopefully I can stay strong and not eat too many calories. Wish me luck!

Weighing in

This morning the scale said 178. That is 1.6 lbs lost.

I went out to eat twice this week end while moving one of my sons, but I was very picky about what I chose to eat:

Cheeseburger happy meal with milk at the McDonalds stop. Not because it was what I wanted, I wanted to go to subway or somewhere healthier. No, I choose the happymeal because of the amount of calories contained.
550 in the cheese burger happy meal. That is with fries and a soft drink. You can choose apple slices and milk instead. Much better than a supersized Big Mac with fries- 1,230.

Salad with grilled chicken and a mango salsa and water to drink at the ribs place for dinner.

I even broke down and bought a candy bar in the middle of the day. It was 105*, I was hot, tired and cranky so I gave in at the checkstand. It was a Heath- one of my favorites, chocolate covered toffee. It was not as good as I remember candy being. I have a sugar free toffee recipe that I use and I like it so much better. In fact, after eating the candy, I felt sick. I don't think I will be doing that again.

For exercise this weekend, I carried boxes up 4 flights of stairs instead of using the elevator. I also pulled weeds.

I have found at work that when I am out in the halls making sure that students are in class and not wandering, that if when I pass a flight of stairs I take it, I can do the whole school in 15 minutes and get a decent walk in. Repeat 4 times a day. I could take one flight and do the upstairs and then go downstairs and do the downstairs, but I find that this is one way to get in unintentional exercise and I cover just as much ground in the same amount of time.

Weigh-in

I knew that I was way high again on my weight. The most I've ever weighed was 225. I knew I was getting back up to that weight when I started getting heartburn again. Something struck me as different though. Before, when I got to around 190-200 pounds I was solidly in size 18. When I started getting to 215-225 my 18's were becoming very tight and I almost needed to go into size 20.

This time it's a bit different. I'm barely moving into size 18's at 210 pounds. Yes. I weigh 210. Sigh. But, my sizes are very different. Maybe I've gained some muscle along with this weight gain? I hope so. That will make losing weight a little bit easier--just a little bit, though.

Tomorrow is the big day. I start school and I officially start my diet. I'm planning on measuring myself sometime today so I can also track my actual measurements. You CAN lose size, but not weight--sometimes.

I'm not riding my bike yet. That road still hasn't opened. As soon as it does? I'm on the bike. But even if I'm not on my bike I still need to do the other things I planned on doing. Taekwondo, pushups and situps, and the rowing machine. It is very easy to miss taekwondo during the school year--way too easy. So I need to step up my commitment to taekwondo along with everything else!