Well, Hello There!

Yep, I've been a blog slacker. Slack, slack, slacker. I keep telling all of you to keep blogging, even when you're not doing well, and then I go against my own counsel. Silly Tristi!

Fact is, I haven't been doing well. I've lost a lot of strength since the car accident, and it's been hard to do my daily routines, let alone exercising, etc. But, tomorrow is a new day, and tomorrow is the day I re-introduce exercise. I'm really, really hoping that these muscles in my side are now healed enough to allow some gentle aerobics, but I won't know until I give it a try.

I've also not started the sugar-counting thing yet. I've had a ton of stress come up in the last month, and I just head straight for the sugar every time. I feel like I have no other coping mechanism, and I need to get that figured out. I'm not going to wait until I've figured it out to give it a try, though. That could take forever. :)

Okay, so, wish me luck. I'll try to check in a little more frequently, and hey, if you wanna send me reminder e-mails to exercise, too, I bet I might listen to you ... :)

The Decision

I have seven more days on this HCG diet to hit the 42 days. I'm at 182 today, but I'm kind of okay with that--I've lost 20 pounds. I think I'm going to end a week early. Why? Especially when I might even be lower in a week? Well here is my reasoning.

I get out of school on June 4th. On June 8th we head to Yellowstone, then to Libby, MT. I feel if I've had a solid two weeks of maintenance AT HOME, then my body will have had more of a chance to adjust to more calories without gaining. Yes, I'll still be careful, but two weeks of being VERY careful on maintenance, then one week where things might not be so perfect should be better than one week of maintenance THEN going on vacation.

My husband has finally gotten on the bandwagon to weight loss. He hit 201 and that was it for him. So he has been trying to be careful, but since our meals have still had to differ so much it has been frustrating with dinner time. We have a fairly healthy menu plan for the month (had it a long time ago too), but now he is way more willing to follow it and be on it versus eating out. I'm excited for us to be on the same page, finally! He's even eaten cereal for dinner time a couple of times, when his calories have been higher during the day--I LOVE eating cereal for dinner! Not that it will happen much, but still.

Third reason? I'd really like to start doing a modicum of exercise. I've been exhausted on this diet. I haven't had any energy to do anything and I KNOW I've lost muscle mass, even though the HCG is supposed to prevent it. I can feel it in the way my clothes fit. And it wasn't so long ago that I was at this weight that I don't remember how my size 14's fit. And right now my 14's are still very snug, all of which means I've lost muscle. That's okay. I want to start building up my muscle and getting back to taekwondo.

Would I recommend the HCG diet? I'm not sure yet. I feel like I needed the extra motivation to get me to stick with my regular 1400 calorie diet. At 182 I feel like I will have it. If you feel like you need to lose weight quickly to get you motivated to stick to something then yes, probably. But if you are good at the 'slow and steady wins the race' then I wouldn't worry about it. And then let's wait to see the biggest thing--will I yo-yo? That's the biggest thing of the HCG. It works, but you have to maintain after. And I'm going to be seriously tempted this summer--I'm pretty much GONE for the month of July. I'll be in Boston, Phoenix, and New York City, and home all of about ten days for July. So yeah. There'll be some serious challenges.

I'll keep you guys posted!

A day in the life

Hello everyone! Man, it has been a while since I posted. I've mainly been floating along doing my thing, but I feel the pull to write today.

There is a debate on whether you should weigh yourself everyday or not. The HCG diet says you have to as part of their program and after. Mainly because you can gain and not have it show up in your hip size for a few days. Speaking from experience, I know this is true.

It's an up and down battle to maintain but the scale helps me know where I am. I gained weight (of course) on my trip to Disneyland and I've been working to get back to where I was. It can be frustrating, but I have done it.

Here are a few things that I know about myself--things that I know I can't eat without gaining. I cannot have bread on a regular basis. Bread is one of my all time favorite foods, but if I have to choose, I choose to feel good instead of eating bread. Bread makes me feel bloated. It makes me tired and sluggish, so I stay away from it.

I can't eat refined sugar. It really screws up how I feel. It is something people get addicted to and is not that hard to clean out of your system. You have to decide what you want more. A healthy body or sugar. Duh. That's an easy one for me.

Dairy. I LOVE milk, ice cream, yogurt, cheese etc... So, I seldom drink milk anymore and I don't feel clogged. It wasn't that hard to cut out. I do still eat a tiny bit of cheese. I like pepperjack sticks. I seldom buy ice cream because if I do, I WILL eat it. I have no self control there.

What do I eat? I eat a TON of food. I'm always full. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies, but veggies are hard for me. I never feel like eating veggies. They don't call to me and they don't taste that great to me. I try to get at least one big salad in a day though. I snack on blueberries, strawberries, apples, oranges and stuff like that. I try to eat plenty of protein and I am always full.

I eat hummus for a snack with those awesome whole grain corn chips from Costco. SO DANG GOOD! I hate sharing with my kids! =) They're gone too fast! I also buy sugar free jello. That's another good snack that feels like a dessert.

I do buy sugar free chocolate candy. I learned that it is the mixing of sugar with fat that makes you gain. If you just eat the fat without combining it with starch or sugar, you are okay. Put them together and just plan on gaining.

Do I feel deprived? Sometimes. Except when I'm working out and feeling great. When I check my weight, it feels good that I was able to discipline myself, only putting high quality fuel in my gas tank. THAT feels good. Better than that sugary snack that is instantly gone in two bites.

So, that is where I'm at. Also I work out every day. I never miss except for once a week. I alternate walking really fast for an hour and jogging for 20-30 min. I have to be careful because I'm dealing with keeping Achilles tendinitis at bay on my left calf. So far, so good, but it's only a slow jog I can do for now. After my walk or run, I lift weights for 15 to 20 min. Then I ALWAYS do at least 20 min of yoga. It centers me and gets me ready for my day. I'm lucky enough that I can do this with my schedule. I feel very blessed that I can take this time to focus on my body and spirit.

Anyway, this is just what I'm doing. You should know, that one of the reasons I have time for this kind of workout is because it is a super high priority for me. I let the house go, computer work go, and other things. They are pushed back so I can fill my cup. If I don't get to them . . . oh well. I have teenagers that can help! =)

Yeah, It's been a while

Okay, so it's been quite some time since I blogged about losing weight.Typically speaking I stop posting when I'm doing poorly. And yes, I was doing poorly. I got down to 194 and then stress levels went up, I stopped trying, was defeated about how slowly the weight loss was going, etc, etc. And so I started gaining it back. And gaining. So frustrating.

I decided once I was over the 200's AGAIN, that I need a swift kick to . . . well you know where. Some friends had decided to do the HCG drops and they showed me a site that seemed relatively affordable (around 80 dollars for the drops 21-day supply, a pamphlet on starting the diet, and some b-12 vitamin drops) so I decided to try HCG. I did debate about it for a while, but I'm hoping that with the weight loss getting me down far enough, then maybe I'll be motivated enough to not only maintain the weight loss, but to lose more, and to be patient with losing a half a pound to a pound on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. And not get so defeated that I stop trying.

So I started the HCG thing three weeks ago with the oral drops. I THINK the shots would probably be more effective, but they are also way more expensive (250-400 dollars). To date I've lost a little over 14 pounds. I'm at 187.6 and I'm hoping to get down to 180--the weight I was at BEFORE I started teaching and my last huge weight gain. The weight loss has helped with motivating me to stay on a very strict diet, but I WAS hoping for a little more loss than what I've had so far. But still, it's way more than what I could have lost and I'm pretty happy.

You can have discipline for 42 days or 21 days although it can be VERY, VERY hard, but there is an end in sight. There is no argument that the HCG diet WORKS. The problem is AFTER. With diets like this you often yo-yo. But I figured I did the yo-yo thing anyway, so why not go for it?

I'm also trying to get myself into the mind set that if I DO want to eat out at my favorite restaurant or eat some candy that I'd better have the calories to spend--in other words EXERCISE. Yes. I hate that word. But, I'm going to work hard on implementing some exercise after this diet is over (yeah, not going to try it on 500 calories as it is--I'm TIRED ALL THE TIME).

I'm also planning on overall better eating after this diet and the maintenance phase of this diet is over. My husband FINALLY is trying to lose weight himself and that will make things a lot easier.

So yeah. That's what's been going on so far!

You Look Mahvelous!

Hey everyone,

It was so awesome to see you at the conference! And you all looked great. Brent, you are smokin'!! Lu Ann, I'm so proud of you! Melissa, way to go! Each of you were bright and twinkly and it was great to see you.

I, on the other hand ... twinkle not.

A couple of you said I looked thinner, but I do believe that was a trick of light - I chose my clothes specially to be slimming. I haven't lost anything. In fact, I'm afraid, just the opposite.

These muscles in my side are not healing very well at all. I tried to live my life normally at the conference and I was in a serious world of hurt when I got home. I was having sharp, shooting pains through my rib cage, and all kinds of delightful other things that I won't bore you with.

But ...

I am still keeping up with the nice big salads, and I'm going to try Lu Ann's awesome sugar plan. After checking out her new physique at the conference, I'd be a big blind bat if I didn't see it was working and how great she looks. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and will buy foods to support that change.

In the meantime, I'm so proud of each of you. Keep it up, and maybe by next conference, I'll be lookin' smokin' right along with the rest of you!

I've been FAILING to PLAN --

and therefore, planning to fail. :-(

Fortunately, I got kick-started again. I bought a big wall calendar and I've been trying to write my planned meals for the day on it. 3 meals. That's all I get. I'm not doing the 5-6 small meals a day thing anymore. It just doesn't work for me. This way, when I want to eat something, I have to sit down and eat it. And I have to make sure I eat everything I need until the next meal. 'Cuz there's no snacking allowed! I have allowed myself a wint-o-green mint in between (Love those things!) but they're only 15 calories each.

I just got to thinking how much better I did back when I did body-for-life, and the REASON I did so well wasn't because the plan was better than my current plan. It was because I was sitting down every day and making a specific plan for the next day. What time am I going to exercise and what am I going to do exactly? What am I going to eat for breakfast and what time am I going to eat it? Etc. etc.

Now that I'm planning again, I'm doing well again. Imagine that!

And We're Off!

I've offically lost two pounds. It's a start. All this getting my habits to be better is finally paying off. I've gotten off caffeine, reduced sugar intake (mostly just by not snacking on junk), and now am starting to move around a lot more.

Maybe I will hit my goal by the end of the year. Time to get off the computer and go dance or something. :)

Getting off Sugar

I finally did it. Now, I didn't get completely off sugar. But I did make myself as of last Wednesday to not eat cake, ice cream, candy, soda pop, etc. I didn't cut out all the sugar on sauces and such. But I have been looking a little closer to the labels to make a better decision on whether to use it or how much to use.

The first few days were tough, and now it's quite easy. My husband had some M&M's the other day and I was having a rough day, so I asked for two. I ate them slowly and enjoyed them. And I was satisfied.

Then today, I tasted one bite of a cupcake and I was good. It's like eating a lot of sugar makes you want to eat a lot of sugar. Eating a lot less makes you feel satisfied when you only have a small amount.

And I'm down a pound. Hard to tell exactly because of water weight changes, but I think I've lost a pound or two.

I've also got my pedometer on me every day checking how many steps I've taken. I've averaged about 7000-8000 steps most days. My goal is to get it to 10,000 steps or more a day.

Between the less sugar and more moving, I think I may have finally gotten the start I wanted to losing weight.

Now if I can just keep it up and not have many setbacks.

Interesting ...

I'm not sure how I did it, but I re-pulled some of my oblique muscles and so I didn't attempt the aerobics. That was sort of getting all geared up for nothing.

I did learn something rather interesting, though.

I've been doing the salad thing and I've cut way back on bread, and I've had no pasta in about three weeks. Last night I had some spaghetti, and I was up all night with gas and bloating and other things that polite ladies don't mention they have, so I'm guessing I'm not as polite of a lady as I thought I was. It was interesting to me to note the effect the pasta was having on me after so long going without. I think this is my body's way of saying it doesn't like it. And isn't that what our bodies would tell us, if they could talk - lay off the refined flour? I guess gas is just a body's way of talking ...

Sugar

by Rebecca Talley

I rarely ever watch daytime TV, but today I happened to watch The Tyra Show while I did my aerobic workout (sometimes I just get sick of my DVDs and work out to a TV program for a change of pace since I have the moves all memorized after doing them for so many years). So today's program was about overweight teenage girls. All four girls were at least 100 pounds overweight. I can imagine the kind of harrassment these girls face on a regular basis because of their weight. I felt bad for each one.

Tyra's guest was some dude who's pushing a new lifestyle change that includes limiting your sugar intake. I'd read LuAnn's post on watching sugar--limiting it to 25 grams--with interest a few days ago so this program piqued my interest even more. This guy advocates only 15 grams and substituting food flavored with other types of sweetners for sugary foods. I'm still not sure if I like these other sweetners of if they're very good for you.

He said an average American ingests 130 grams of sugar per day. Since soda has about 40 grams it only take 3 sodas to do the job. These teenage girls were all ingesting twice that amount of sugar. He challenged them to not only reduce their sugar intake, but to up their carbohydrate, specifically fiber, intake. He said that sugar bonds with the food in our intestines and it makes the food sticky and leads to constipation because it's harder to get rid of it when there's a lot of sugar present. He also said that increased sugar intake promotes belly fat. (I thought I could just use the "I've had 10 babies" excuse).

This is the same basis for the South Beach Diet. Cut out processed sugar and white flour and increase fiber through beans, fruits, and vegetables.

Anyway, like LuAnn, I looked at some of the foods I thought were sugar safe. I was surprised that non-fat milk has 12 grams of sugar per serving. However, I'm still confused about how to differntiate between the sugars. I've heard that the sugar naturally produced in fruit is not the same as refined sugar. I would think the sugar in milk is more comparable to that in fruit because it's naturally part of the milk.

Today, I have not had any sugar. I've stuck to vegetables, beans, salad, nuts. But, I do have a nasty sweet tooth that in the past has lead me to eat candy, ice cream, etc. So I need a sweet option. I've never been a soda drinker and for the last several months I haven't had much refined sugar because I've been sticking to the SB Diet.

I have questions, though. Is the sugar produced in fruit actually different? Do you count that toward your sugar intake? Or, is it just the refined sugar that needs to be controlled? What about these other sweetners (like stevia) are they bad?

I'm going to the CFI author dinner on April 22nd and I want to look good--no, make that amazing--in my red dress I bought for my son's reception. I'm hoping I can take off a few pounds before then.

Dipping My Toe into Real Life ...

Well, it's been an interesting month, and that's about all I can say. I've become acquainted with muscles and bones I didn't know existed. I've taken pills for pain in said muscles and bones. I've been reminded of my mortality, and reminded that it's all in God's hands.

I'm now almost completely better. I can feel myself returning to the land of the living. Twice last week, I had to park about two blocks from my destination, and walked the remaining distance, and didn't suffer for it. I'm not forgetting as much, and I seem to be able to put sentences together better when I talk. Believe me, I'm so, so grateful.

I've been eating two nice big salads a day ever since I posted my plan, and my bread intake has gone down a lot. I've had fast food just once since then, with a few other minor diversions. I did eat some Easter candy, but not as much as I have eaten in the past. My Coke consumption has dropped, and while I know I still have a very long ways to go, I'm feeling good about the progress I have made.

Tomorrow I dip my toe even further into real life and attempt gentle aerobics. I say "attempt" because I realize it might not go well and I'm not going to push myself. But I think I can do it. In another week or so, I might even be back to full speed. The human body is amazing in its ability to heal. I have no doubt that it will be some months before I'm totally pain-free, but I'm nearly functional again, and that's fantastic.

I'll let you know how it goes with the aerobics tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying Kraft's fat-free honey dijon dressing. I think that's my favorite out of the dressings I picked up last week.

Time is wasting away!

4 weeks, 28 days, just under a month. What do all these things have in common? They each represent how long until I find myself sitting on a plane to go to Germany. They also represent the number of days I have to kick my diet and exercise plan into full gear. I did so well in January I just don't know what happened. But I need to go to that plan again. SO I am going back on Leptin, cutting out the sugar, and I need to figure out a way to add exercise to the equation this time. I don't want to spend my two weeks in Germany huffing and puffing, I need to do this, and I need to do it now! Thanks for letting me rant, sometimes it helps to just say it on the blog.

Good Reasons

So. . . I've been MIA for a while, I know. There's a good reason for that. I've been avoiding you all because I'm up almost ten pounds. But there's a good reason for that, too. I'm expecting baby #4 in October.

So now the goal is to not balloon out like I did with the other three and gain too much weight.

I would like to copy Tristi's goal of salad for lunch and dinner. I don't think I can do the dinner though. I could do the lunch, but every night I have to show my kids how to eat their food. That kind of requires me to eat the same thing they are having. My kids hate to eat--they'd much rather run around the dinner table while singing and dropping their food to the floor.

I will still try to exercise as often as possible, which isn't much. But now that it's warmer outside I'm going to try to incorporate walks into our days.

Goal #1: Eat a salad every day for lunch
Goal #2: Go for walks with the kids every week
Goal #3: Don't balloon out and gain 60 pounds with this pregnancy

Here a Salad, There a Salad, Everywhere a Salad Salad ...

So far the salad thing is going great. I wasn't able to have a salad for dinner last night - I was out doing a book signing and we ate on the very fast run - but I know this is something I can do most days on a regular basis.

Saturday Lunch Salad -

Dole Greener Selection bagged salad mix (I really like the blends that contain different types of lettuce and also carrots and red cabbage)

four small slices of Swiss cheese

about 2 T. croutons

tomatos

mushrooms

1 T. Kraft honey dijon fat-free dressing

This, I would consider more of a snack salad. The protein content was a little light, with that small amount of cheese, but I did well with it until late in the afternoon.


I had a salad for lunch today, a standard issue, and then for dinner, I did the following:

Dole Greener Selection lettuce

turkey (not lunch meat - real, baked turkey)

slivered almonds

pepper jack cheese (not a lot, just enough for zing)

tomatoes

mushrooms

I ate a roll alongside this, and it was a nice dinner salad. The turkey, cheese, and almonds gave it enough protien to tide me over.

Kraft's fat-free dressings are pretty good, and they come in around 3 g. sugar per serving. I find that if I don't want dressing, I can throw in some extra tomato, and that gives it moisture without fat/sugar.

See ya later ... but I'm feeling pretty good about this salad thing so far.

A New Experiment

Yeah, yeah, yeah, me and my experiments ...

I went to the doctor today. He says that these mood swings I'm having are perfectly normal for someone who has had a brain injury and to just expect them and deal with them. Lovely. See, I've been ornerier than a mama bear in the middle of the winter who was just awakened for the eighth time by her fighting cubs. My nerves have been really close to the surface and controlling my outbursts ... hasn't been going so well. So I guess I get to just plan on feeling like I have the world's worst PMS for a little while yet.

But as to the rest of me, I am better. Not enough to leap on a treadmill or go on a marathon run with Brent, but I'm able to walk around a bit better. I even went to the grocery store today without hurting myself, so progress is made.

Now, on to the experiment.

Foods in the lettuce family contain silica, and silica is excellent for helping injured tissues to heal. I firmly believe that we are all entitled to inspiration as to what our bodies need, and while pondering it today, I had the impression that I need to consume a large quantity of salad. I got to thinking about it. I have always loved going to salad bars. I like sprinkling beets and kidney beans and all sorts of fun little extras on my salad. I realized that I honestly could eat a nice big salad every day if it had some fun little veggies in it to keep it from being boring. In fact, I could eat two, and that's what my body wants.

So, for the entire month of April, here is my experiment:

Every day, I will eat a salad for lunch and another for dinner. I went to the store today and got a ton of fun little things to throw in there - cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, pepper jack cheese, croutons, beets, kidney beans, pineapple tidbits, toasted almonds, and fat free dressing. I also got some tuna and some chicken, and eggs. I can vary what goes into the salad and control the protein content, etc, by adding meat and eggs. Then I can do a grain for breakfast, or a slice of whole wheat toast with my salad, if I feel the need.

I'm actually really excited about this. Eating salads is a great way to lose weight and get nutrients, and by adding in the protein, etc, I'm not going to starve like you do on most salad diets - in fact, a nice little salad can fill me up. I have struggled for a long time with getting enough vegetables, and there are times where I go for three or four days without eating any produce at all.

The point here is:

To give my body a ton of silica so it has the ingredients it needs to mend my tissues

To give my body a ton of nutrients so I can start to heal from years of neglecting myself

To increase my appreciation for healthy foods

To eat less junk food and more high-nutrition food

I do imagine there will be an occasional treat here and there ... I'm not a saint by any means and I know that my willpower needs a shot in the arm. But this is an eating experiment I can live with. At the end of the month, I'll evaluate and see how I'm doing. Of course, during such times as the Storymaker conference, when I'm not in charge of what I'm eating, I'll need to waggle a little, but I really, really think this will help me get headed in the direction I want to head in.