This is the last week of my (first) challenge for myself – 30 pounds in 3 months. I missed my mark by only 1 pound! I’ve lost 29 pounds. I’m happy with it. I did have my daughter take some “before” pictures – I think I’ll have her take some now and compare. If I post them here it will be in a password protected post.
I hesitate to post them because I’m not done. I’m not done at all really. But I’m almost half way to where I want to be. I plan to start a new challenge as soon as I lose this last pound! That should happen later this week. I really want to lose 40 more pounds. Yes, hard to believe I was really that far (70 pounds!!!) from where I should be. But I was and still am overweight. I think I’m going to set a goal of 30 pounds by the end of the year. That gives me three and a half months to lose it.
Day 64 (Monday) Chest, Shoulders & Triceps and Ab Ripper X…..I did 209 total push-ups and 364 ab exercises. GOOD MONDAY Y’ALL!
Day 65 (Tuesday) Plyometrics, including the bonus…..I kept up with Domi. I’m sorry, but that guy bugs me!
Day 66 (Wednesday) Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper X…..79 total pull-ups and 364 ab exercises. Protein shake time, baby!
Day 67 (Thursday) Yoga X…..I have a pretty full schedule today, so I only did the first 50 (killer) minutes.
Day 68 (Friday) Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X…..134 total pull-ups and 368 ab exercises! Hulk-a-mania, for the 45 year old man!
I completed a 40-minute bicycle ride of 10.5 miles. My average speed was 16.1 MPH. The temperature was near 100 degrees at 9:00 PM! I rode to Lana’s for my birthday dinner and dessert, thanks for a great dinner and cupcakes!
Day 69 (Saturday) Plyometrics, including the bonus…..I was supposed to do Kenpo X today, but I worked out with 702FitClub and we did Plyo. I crushed Domi!
I completed a 40-minute bicycle ride of 10.5 miles.
Day 70 (Sunday) Rest…..My 1st rest day ever, I’m so disappointed with myself. Hittin’ the weights tomorrow!
So I ended up taking the entire weekend off my program. It was pretty bad…..lol
Well, I suppose it’s ok. I’m not too upset about it. It’s not like I can gain 50 pounds from one weekend. I’m just gonna hop back on it and get started again tomorrow.
I think I was long overdue for a break anyway. I didn’t want to end up burning myself out. I skipped a couple of days at the gym and went out to eat with my husband and didn’t worry about what I ate for a change. I had a couple of glasses of wine that were actually really good. I’m usually not much of a wine person.
All of that being said, I really don’t want to step on that scale tomorrow. But I have to face it. That’s where I’ve failed in the past. When I don’t go back and face my mistakes, it ends up taking over. i can’t allow that to happen again.
At any rate….it’s getting late and I have to get up early to get groceries before work in the morning. I had a lazy day and didn’t do much around the house. I only finished up the laundry and didn’t make it to the store.
I updated my photo page. I don’t know what’s up with all the spacing on the page, but I’ll worry with it tomorrow. I’m headed to bed for now.
I promise…promise…promise to start keeping up with this blog a little better……..
Today is Sunday, which makes it my official weigh day. I did my weigh in this morning as always, but them I went back to bed and dreamed about body comps! When I woke up I couldn’t remember the right one. I did another measure at 11am out of curiosity and it was 14 stone exactly (woohoo!), but being several hours late, I can’t count it. Pretty sure it was over 14 stone at 8am because I would have remembered if I’d hit that milestone.
As it happens, I have been following NROL4W for six days now, since last Monday. This involves three workouts a week and eating at maintenance calories with a 40/30/30 macro ratio. The eating is going great with an average 40/29/31 (C/P/F) in the first six days and despite the heavier lifting, both my weight and body fat have been coming down. Given that, I reckon it makes sense to switch official weigh day to Monday for a while and that will give me week by week results.
The workouts are also going well. The weights take around 20 to 25 minutes (with another 15 to 20 for the intervals), and it is nice to use some of my other equipment after doing TT and BFS for most of this year. I bought NROL4W a while back, as I was coming to the end of BFS, and that was when I upgraded my equipment to a new bench with squat rack and lat tower, and bought a bar and weight plates (and my SelectTech dumbbells). But then reading some of the posts on the NROL4W forum, I got a bit scared off because people were talking about bulking rather than fat loss. A few game women were planning on bulking first then slimming down, but I was at a point where I really wanted to cut the fat, so I did TT instead. TT is very home-workout friendly and mainly uses dumbbells and body weight exercises. So it’s nice to finally be putting my barbell and lat tower to good use, rather than having them simply cluttering up my home gym and providing additional objects for me to walk in to whilst trying to manoeuvre around the room.
Hi it’s Nancy Sustersic from Marco Island, FL and I am that incredible shrinking woman!
(for those who need a landmark-Marco Island FL is just S. of Naples FL)
Here’s a pic of me at size 18.
It all started one month ago when my girlfriends and I went on vacation and we came home and threw the scales away. Our dieting days were over.
Have you ever thought…vacations, holidays, parties, weddings…all equal weight loss? NO…it’s the opposite, but that wasn’t the case for us. We were gifted with the knowledge of how to lose weight and shed extra sizes, but here is what we really learned.. It’s not about losing weight anymore. You must first think of your perfect weight in your head and then RELEASING the weight becomes almost effortless! It’s about balance of your body and mind. That’s the secret. Anyone can do it and it is free to learn how.
Having been a yo yo dieter for years I was so excited to begin (can’t you just imagine) and as of today, just 3 weeks after getting home, I am now 2 sizes smaller. I’ve shared this with my girlfriends as we were told to go home and start a club with family and friends because it is so much more fun to offer support to one another. So we started “The Secret To Perfect Weight Club” blog. My gift to anyone who wishes to know this secret…is to share it with you on how you can achieve your perfect weight through the holidays and get a head start on your New Years resolutions now. I consider that to be a great way to “pay it forward” to anyone that is dedicated to get off the fad diet search forever!
Stay tuned and be watching for new pictures each week and subscribe to my blog as I will add new tips every couple days!!!
It’s not a secret anymore, so please share us with your friends and let’s succeed in achieving our goals together!
The first Tip arrives in tomorrow’s blog, Monday Nov. 24th, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving! Don’t get stuffed like the turkey!
Nancy Sustersic
239-394-5051 or cell 419-350-9058
So I didn’t write yesterday, and I’m sorry. I woke up yesterday morning early enough to go exercise but I just didn’t feel very well. All the work I’ve been doing through the week must have caught up with me and I was exhausted. So yesterday I didn’t work out or weigh myself.
Not only that but when I finally did leave for school I realized I forgot to eat breakfast. Yikes was I out of it all morning. Lesson learned just stick to the routine.
SO! I didn’t weigh myself yesterday but I did this morning, just before working out. Guess what? I lost 4 more pounds!!! So it’s a good week even if I did screw it all up yesterday.
Recipe for you! Honey Mustard Chicken!
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup course grain mustard
1/2 cup Dijion mustard
2 1/2 lbs chicken
spinach
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix up the mustards and the honey then coat both sides of the chicken. Place chicken into a greased 13×9 in. pan and cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Serve over spinach and there is no need for dressing!
1 chicken breast per serving (about 8 pieces)
between 185 and 200 calories a serving of chicken depending on size. 1 cup of spinach is less then 20 calories! Yummy, filling and healthy!
I like the idea of looking good while working out. Weather I achieve “looking good” or not is questionable. My favorite look is a tight athletic tank paired with yoga pants or lounge pants. I especially like wearing my pink sports bra under a yellow racer-back tank and black pants. I always feel amazing when I wear this combo. Don’t ask why.
Although I care what I look like when I work out I hate the idea of spending $50 plus for a pair of pants or just as much on a t-shirt I’m going to wear while sweating. These items I know will be washed over and over again only to die. Faded, nubby versions of their former selves. So sad.
Solution to my dilema: I LOVE the Danskin line at Wal-Mart….yes, Wal-Mart!
Prices range from $5 – $15 depending on the item.
The lounge pants are by far my favorite Danskin item. They are soft and comfortable and come in several styles including boot cut, relaxed and modern. I have put these pants up against expensive designer yoga/lounge pants and have found them to be comparable in quality, fit and style. Another selling point is that they come in sizes ranging from XS - multi-XL. Their bottoms also include pants, capris, etc. depending on the season.
The standard $5 cotton tee is nothing to write home about and the fit is not slim enough for my taste. They do have some pretty sweet racer-back tanks in the $7 – $10 range made from dry-weave fabric as well as hoodies and wind-breakers.
Although I don’t bat an eyelash when parting with large amounts of money for handbags, eye wear and designer clothes I just can’t seem to do the same when it comes to workout wear. Wal-Mart has filled the gap nicely. Check it out…I promise you won’t be disappointed!
This is been my Perplexity of the Week. As many of you are aware, I have been exercising like a madwoman these past few weeks to lose my gut and find a butt. I’m not sure if I’m finding a butt, however based on the photos, my stomach is shrinking. Yay!!
When I started working out, I knew I would soon be bidding my breasts adieu. It’s the curse of being a woman, along with PMS, menopause and bad hair days. We lose weight in our boobs first. I’m sad to say it’s an unequivocal, irrefutable, and undeniable fact.
Or so I thought.
On Monday, I wore my favorite dress to work. It’s brown with blue, black and pink weird polka dots, and an awesome V neck that is juuuuuust low enough to be considered almost too scandalous for work. I enjoy this neckline, as I work for a very formal company and apparently have been rebelling against that persona (to the point of getting a visible tattoo and drawing attention to it as much as possible). It emphasizes the bust a little bit, but not too much, y’know?
So there I was, in the bathroom for the millionth time (I drink a lot of water!). As I washed my hands, I looked into the mirror…and down at my now much rounder boobs. I was perplexed. “Where did you come from?!” I asked my reflection, and turned my head slightly to the side. One of the admins came out of a stall and gave me a weird look. “Sorry,” I told her. “I’m just talking to my breasts.”
I’m so confused. They look bigger, at least to me. Maybe they’re just firmer? My bra fits better, but so do the rest of my clothes so that’s not a real benchmark. I have been doing a lot of upper body work with the weights, so maybe my pectoral muscles are finally building up!
I’m single, and have been for a while. I’m usually ok with it. But I do have to say, this is the one time I wish I had a boyfriend to let me know for sure.
This is a good thing, I think. I was really nervous about losing my chest, and even asked Braids if she could do some personal training magic and make me lose weight, just in places not my boobs. She said no.
The fact that I’m getting bigger made me happy. I don’t have much to lose in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not flat chested, but I’m not huge either. (Please refer to the video in yesterday’s post for photographic evidence). I have to pin all my shirts, since apparently American designers believe that anyone size 14 and up automatically carries watermelons in their bras.
So that’s my Perplexity of the Week.
On another note, Braids and I have decided to reassess my goal weight.
My original goal was to get down to 150. This was fine, since I weighed in close to 250. This gave a nice round (ha! Like my belly!) 100lb weight loss. I divided this up into 20lb increments and assigned a goal to each of them. First, I’d treat myself to a massage. After I make it to 210, it’s a day trip to Amish country with a friend. 190 would see a weekend trip to visit the Yankee up New England way. When I get down to 170, Flip and I are wine touring Virginia. Once I got down to my goal weight of 150, I was going sky diving!!
But Braids and I did some talking over email. 150 would make me really, really, really lean. It’s probably not going to be sustainable since I am not an Olympic athlete. I have a life. I have a job. And friends. And a favorite bartender at an Irish pub that’s only a $10 cab ride from my apartment.
I want to be smart about my weight loss. I don’t want to be faced with making it to a perfectly healthy weight, then getting frustrated because I can’t physically get down to the lower weight. I also don’t want to reach 150, then not be able to sustain it, and freak out because I gain 20lbs. That would suck.
So…new goals. I’m gonna make it easy and just take out the massage, and shift everything up. This is convenient, because I’m vacationing at a resort with a very nice spa over Labor Day. I’ve already booked an 80 minute massage and won’t feel a damn bit bad that I haven’t reached the 20lb loss!
The goals are:
230 lbs: Day trip to Amish country with MommyWink
210 lbs: Weekend trip to visit the Yankee in New England
190 lbs: Weekend winery tour with Flip
170 lbs: Skydiving!! (Possibly switched out for awesome Caribbean beach vacation—we’ll see how the finances are.)
As you may have noticed, they’re all weekend trips. Why, you may ask? Well let me tell you.
It took me a while to come up with my rewards in the first place. I even googled ‘weight loss rewards’ in hopes I could plagiarize someone else’s idea, and came up with buttkiss. There were a few message boards with suggestions, but they were all crappy—buy new clothes, treat yourself to a pedicure, let yourself eat a brownie.
That’s all well and good, but frankly, I’m buying new clothes when I back into them. There is nothing in the world that makes me feel worse than clothes that are too big. I feel frumpy and it makes me depressed. I have to get pedicures at least once a month due to an annoyingly freakish, recurring ingrown toenail.
I’m also not going to reward myself with food. I’m allowed dessert once or twice a week, and limiting refined sugar the rest of the time. I’m not going to deprive myself—but I’m not going to make it a habit either.
So…my reward had to be something that was not new clothes, not a pedicure, and not a food item. The only other thing that I could possibly dream of would be vacations.
I love –cations. Vacations, day-cations, stay-cations—call it what you will, but if involves seeing new things with fun people, I’m there. Even if ‘fun people’ is just me. I can buy the most fabulous pair of jeans in the world, but eventually they’re wear out or pass out of style. My friends never will. I will always choose to spend time with them over material items any day of the week. Our memories will never fade. Denim will.
So there. Bigger boobs and a new reward system. Sounds like a great day to me!
Last week I met a good friend of mine after almost a year. But believe me I could not recognize her – she had put on weight. I couldn’t imagine she would ever be so healthy. When I asked her the secret – she said, “there is no secret even I am worried about my weight and want to be slim again.”
During our conversations she told me that for the last 8 months she was taking migraine pills. I knew that these migraine pills have side effects and cause weight gain. Since my friend was taking medicine for such a long time, she put on weight. I told her to see a doctor and discuss about the problem.
After so much discussion, she felt relaxed and ensured me that she would definitely meet a doctor.
There are some circumstances in life where most of people feel worried and annoyed for no obvious reason. There are times when you’d get easily annoyed with someone, even if that someone is just there sitting silently away from you. You may call it crazy, but it’s a sad reality among women.
However, science has some explanations for that. Hormonal imbalance is among the most common problems the most women face as soon as they reach the age of 35 and beyond. It’s hard to deal with this kind of problem since emotions are affected. Hot flashes, forgetfulness, pre-menopause and menopause, insomnia, mood swings, loss of libido and weight gain are positive signs for hormonal imbalances among women.
These symptoms steadily come out during the early and mid thirties. These symptoms occur when a woman have an unhealthy diet, stressful life events, stress, inheritance and environmental factors.
Human Growth Hormone is famous for women due its ability to adjust cell metabolism, brain functioning, hormones and reproduction process. For many years now, is has been highly recognized for its astonishing benefits that can contributes to the welfare of a lot of women all over the globe.
Growth hormone is a natural hormone found in the body that keeps women healthy and energetic. As women age, the level of growth hormone declines which causes hormonal imbalances. Because of this, HGH for women was developed and it has been known as a therapy for women who have growth hormone deficiencies.
HGH therapy is a single medicinal treatment for women with hormonal imbalances. Recent research indicates that physical abnormalities and metabolic changes are related to hormonal imbalances, and these can be controlled by administering HGH Hormone replacement therapy. It is a safe treatment that balances the hormones in order to correct any abnormalities.
Women who have tried using this therapy testified for its effectiveness. Through this, they have experience a much better attitude towards life in general. They are soother and obviously they feel better about themselves. They have experienced less annoyance and irritation. Also, they feel more energized and that they are more cheery because of the increased hormone levels.
Read more relevant articles from here : Hormone Imbalance Health Blog
This morning I got on the scale and I was at 191lbs. I need to lose 2 more lbs by tomorrow morning in order to reach my weekly goal. If I don’t I think I will be a little disappointed. All this laying around is getting to me more and more….I can’t wait to get back into the gym.
This morning Kim made me the usual egg sandwich and a mocha….I love her cooking. I try to help out when I can and always offer, but she seems to enjoy it. After she went to work I got a shower, went to the post office to hand in some movies from netflix, and went to Wawa for my diet iced tea. Wawa is the best store in the world.
Last night Kim and I watched the final episode of Season 3 of Dexter. It was really good like always. I can’t wait to watch Season 4. We also watched a horror movie called ‘Black Christmas’ (the original). I have seen this movie before but wanted Kim to see it. The movie is a little slow like most old horror movies, but I enjoy them. The movie freaks me out and gets me mad at the same time, because of the ending. I just wish it explained a little more at the end.
Tomorrow I am taking Kim to Atlantic City for the weekend. I got her tickets to see Black Crowes for her birthday. My aunt is setting us up with 2 free nights at Harrahs Casino….pretty damn excited about this trip. Even though I haven’t been working, I need a vacation from laying around this apartment. The weather isn’t supposed to be so great and if it isn’t we will have a good time anyways.
This weekend won’t be good for my diet I bet, but I’m really not going to worry about that….just as long as I keep on losing every week I will be happy.
Tonight is the debut of Michael Vick as a Philadelphia Eagle. It still is crazy that out of all teams who need a QB, the Eagles landed him. I’m pretty excited about the signing. I’m not a big fan about what he has done, but I can’t blame the Eagles for that. I think if Vick shows how sincere he is by helping out the community and whatever…he will be forgiven by many other people.
Well folks, this is our last week. It has been an incredible summer and I have somehow managed to resist the urge to sneak a peek at final results and see who might be in the lead! I want to be surprised next week with the rest of you! Anyone who really knows me (ahem Aaron, Adam, Jen, Mike), knows that not peeking is an incredible feat of will power for me! I like to KNOW!!
Before I get to this weeks results, let me say this. You guys have all been incredible. No matter how many pounds you lost, if you stayed in the game and didn’t give up completely, you are winners or umm losers. Goodness, knows I have lost a ridiculously small amount during this challenge and I am quick to compare myself to others and their losses. But when I go there, I am quickly reminded of where I started, where I have been, the battles that have been fought and won, and the war that is still going on. I am quickly reminded that this war is not just about pounds shed but about transforming a life. Transformation is not overnight. It takes time and patience. But more than that it takes forgiveness. Forgiveness for myself when I mess up or fail.
In an attempt to encourage another friend to be bold and go forth in what he said he wanted, I found this quote.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”-Theodore Roosevelt
It is easy for others to sit on the sidelines and cheer or give well meaning advice or tell us the coulda/shoulda’s, but we are the ones facing the daily battles with food and whatever other crap we have in us that keeps us in the place we are in. We are the ones that know exactly what strength it takes to resist that cupcake or ice cream or that 2nd helping of deliciousness. We are also the ones who know when we have given in and maybe for a moment, given up in defeat. We are the ones doing this, and we are doing this…even when we struggle we are still doing this. No one on the sidelines is doing this for us. Coach and Aaron do not do this for me, they cannot. All others can do is try to encourage us and to help us along, but even then they do not and cannot know what this battle is like.
So as we head into this final week, do not quit now. Whatever your weight is, be sure to send it in, knowing that if it is a gain, you get to go again and at the very least, I, will celebrate with you! I will celebrate where you have come from and the great courage it has taken to get you to this point in your journey knowing from my own experience that we will all fail time and time again but eventually we will not fail anymore.
With all that said…give up for Lina for being the biggest loser of the week with a 1.35% loss and only 4 lbs to go to meet her initial goal for this summer!! Lina! You amaze me!!
My last two posts, Leptin: The Master Fat Switch and Leptin and Meal Timing, explain how I recently heard about leptin for the first time and learned that insulin-resistant Type 2 Diabetics may be able to deal directly with leptin resistance in order to restore a level of insulin sensitivity adequate for significant weight loss and normalized blood sugars.
I tried the Leptin Diet for about four weeks, eating only 3 times per day with no between-meal snacks, while trying to allow at least four or five hours of non-eating time between meals. The result was significant: my fasting blood glucose level (BGL) dropped about 50 points (from a typical range of 250-300 mg/dL to something like 200-250 mg/dL).
As I was reading about leptin sensitivity and meal timing, I got to thinking about the increased time lapse between meals. The recommendation is to allow at least 5 hours between meals if you can manage it, and 10-12 hours or more between dinner and breakfast. I had to wonder if skipping a meal or two, or even plain old fasting would offer any added benefit in terms of improving leptin sensitivity.
About a week ago, I was reading Dr. Michael Eades blog, coauthor of Protein Power, and noticed a category in the right column called Intermittent Fasting. I had no idea if this Intermittent Fasting (IF) would have anything to do with improving insulin or leptin sensitivity, but I clicked on the link.
Dr. Eades’ blog has six posts in the Intermittent Fasting category. He introduces the topic like this:
How would you like it if I told you there was a way to eat pretty much anything and everything you wanted to eat and still maintain your health? Or better yet, what if I told you that you could eat pretty much anything and everything you wanted and even improve your health? Would you be interested? I figured as much.
There is a way to reduce blood sugar, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce blood pressure, increase HDL levels, get rid of diabetes, live a lot longer, and still be able to lose a little weight. All without giving up the foods you love. And without having to eat those foods in tiny amounts. Sounds like a late-night infomercial gimmick, but it isn’t.
Before I get to the real nitty gritty of how such a thing can be done, let’s look at a method that has been proven in countless research institutions to bring about all the above-mentioned good things. It’s called caloric restriction.
Now, when he says caloric restriction he isn’t talking about a typical calorie-restricted diet that you or I might have followed before we learned about Low Carb. He means severe caloric restriction: like limiting daily caloric intake to what would normally be considered near-starvation. The benefits are great, but the practice is harsh. Exceedingly harsh.
Apparently, further studies indicate that alternating days between this severe caloric restriction and normal eating yields the same benefit to the dieter as continuous caloric restriction. It has also been observed that the total caloric intake over the alternating cycle doesn’t matter. The calorie-restricted day seems to gain the same benefits for the dieter, even if the entire calorie deficit is compensated for by overeating on the alternate unrestricted day. This practice of alternating eating days with days of fasting or severe caloric restriction is known as Intermittent Fasting.
Many people, myself included, prefer fasting to eating very limited amounts of food. When I was younger I used to practice regular fasting, primarily for religious reasons, but had stopped almost completely because I thought I couldn’t manage it with my blood sugar issues as they were. Boy was I wrong! Not only can I manage it, but it is making me healthier, faster than anything I have tried in a long time (Vitamin D also made big, huge, immediate difference in my health – I’ll have to post about that soon).
It was last Wednesday that I found Dr. Eades posts on intermittent fasting, and I gobbled them up in only a couple of hours. I googled IF and read more about it, and decided to try it right away. There seemed to be multiple options available that might yield improved leptin activity, weight loss and better overall health.
Some practice IF quite literally, planning their food schedule on alternate calendar days, taking food one day, and then fasting or eating little on the next. Some people eat as many as 700 calories on their down days and 5,000 on their up days, without any weight gain or negative health outcomes. Though I do not know how long this can be continued.
One guy has a 5/19 plan: he eats whatever he wants during a 5-hour window (I think he eats from 4-9 pm) and then fasts for the other 19 hours, taking only water and salt. Another plan is to eat breakfast and lunch one day, and then eat dinner the next. This way, you get to eat something every day, and you can plan social engagements for all the different meals on one day or another. Some people practice a more free form IF, and simply try to eat as infrequently as possible, without any restrictions when they do eat.
Dr. Eades has this to say:
Now, based on the IF research data, MD [i.e. his wife Dr. Mary Dan Eades] and I are of the opinion that a Protein Power style diet interspersed with a little fasting is probably the optimal diet. We ourselves follow this diet. We eat one meal a day sometimes, a couple of meals others, and sometimes three squares. If we’re not hungry we don’t eat. We try to fight off the culturally induced feelings of, Oh, it’s lunchtime, so we must be hungry: let’s eat.
When my blood sugar started to go wrong, the first thing I did was place myself on a regular feeding schedule that I thought would help normalize my blood sugar. I ate several times a day, whether I was hungry or not, because I was convinced I needed constant nutrition to avoid blood sugar surges. I’m sort of embarrassed now that I kept at it for so long when it was so clearly not working! Oh well! I’m not the first one to believe this apparent error, and unfortunately, I will not be the last either.
I decided to begin IF by skipping one or more meals per day, simply trying to eat as infrequently as possible, but eating at least one meal on every calendar day. I threw out the old admonition against skipping breakfast, and stopped eating breakfast. I also skipped lunch every other day or so. I had some social engagements on the weekend, so I ate when I was with others, and skipped meals that I would have eaten alone. I ended up eating breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and lunch and dinner on Sunday.
I want to eat as infrequently as I can for a while, until my blood sugar normalizes, which I truly believe it will now, and fairly quickly I think. Earlier in this blog, I told you my typical fasting BGL had dropped about 50 points over the last month. After only 7 days of IF, my fasting BGL has dropped another 50 points, falling somewhere in the range of 150-200 mg/dL. This morning it was 143 mg/dL, which is the lowest I have seen it in about 5 years. I am really starting to LOVE Intermittent Fasting!
I am off to such a great start!!! For maybe the first time in my life, I feel like I have made a significant difference in my health in only about 6 weeks. My clothes are loosening, even my three-years-ago black jeans that I have been unable to wear for, well, … a while. You know what I mean!? I expect to see some changes on the scale before too much longer as well. Oh Happy Day!!
This is the end of my series on Leptin, Meal Timing and Intermittent Fasting. I’ll post updates to let you know how my blood sugar is doing.
Lovin’ It Low Carb
Ramona Denton
Suggestions for Further Reading
The books and resources listed are suggestions. Their presence on this list is not necessarily an endorsement.
The Leptin Diet The Leptin Diet Website
Mastering Leptin: Your Guide to Permanent Weight Loss and Optimum Health (Third Edition)
by Byron J. Richards and Mary Guignon Richards
The Leptin Diet: How Fit Is Your Fat?
by Byron J. Richards
Intermittent Fasting Intermittent Fasting Archive of Dr. Michael Eades’ Blog coauthor of The Protein Power Lifeplan
Mark’s Daily Apple Blog, by Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint
Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor’s Program for Conquering Disease
by Joel Fuhrman M.D.
The Alternate-Day Diet
by James B. Johnson M.D.
The QOD Diet: Eating Well Every Other Day
by John T. Daugirdas
Fasting
This is one of my all-time favorite books about fasting: Fasting Can Save Your Life by Herbert Shelton. It seems to be out of print, but your local library may have a copy you can borrow if you’re interested. There are a few copies available at Amazon if you follow my link.
Protein Power
Coming in September: A new book by Dr. Michael R. Eades and by Dr. Mary Dan Eades, coauthors of Protein Power The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle: The Simple Plan to Flatten Your Belly Fast!
The opinions expressed on this blog are not intended to be medical advice and should not be taken as advice of any kind. Always consult your doctor or healthcare professional if you have health concerns or want to alter medications or treatments.
Always consult your doctor or healthcare professional before intiating a program that involves fasting or severe calorie restriction.
today is a beautiful day. for so many reasons. first, the weather is gorgeous. second, my work-storm has finally blown over. third, i had a great workout this morning. fourth, vacation is next week.
so, as for this morning. again, i have no idea what weights i’m using, but that’s fine. everything went fairly well. now that we’re starting on leg extensions, it is making the leg press just that much harder. which seems like a whole lot harder. the leg extensions went really well, even at 200lbs. i thought it was going to be too much, but i suprised myself and got out a few solid reps before i crashed. but what that tells me is that next week, there will be more weight. without a doubt.
as for the leg press, brent had to drop the weight twice before i could even lift it. i did ok on this, got out a few reps, but i didn’t make it thru the countdown. brent wanted one more rep, but i could just tell i was already past that point. i got to the low point in the cycle and just never brought it back up. but after a successful leg extension set, i wasn’t too terribly disappointed.
even the leg abduction and adduction went well. i feel good that i can finally get a few reps in on the adduction machine, complete reps, all by myself. that was a struggle to get to this point, but it’s a success to finally be here. again, i’m sure that just means more weight next time. the abduction (think i have those straight, for this i mean the one where you push outward) is getting better too. i never had as much trouble with that one, but i do get kind of cramping sometimes rather than just burning. and the funny part is when i’m about spent and brent goes for the countdown and tells me “don’t let me close your legs”…gee, that sounds a little personal. if i had the energy, i would make some sort of smart comment about it, but at that point, i can barely remember to breathe, so a comment is a little more than i’m capable of.
the upper body seems to be going well. which seems strange for some reason. i don’t know why the legs give me so much more trouble. i do like the chest flys. even though they are hard, it’s nice to get to lay down for a minute after it’s over. ha. and the lat pull down is giving me a workout. i know i’m going to feel it tomorrow…but in a good way.
i really like going to brent. he is such a good person. and naturally, i get to know him more and more each time i see him, which is cool. he makes it fun. i’m struggling, muscles burning, can’t breathe, sweating, and he keeps me laughing and enjoying it all. that is something that is essential to a good trainer, and definitely what makes him so good at what he does.
so next week is vacation for me. i’m totally looking forward to it, except that i’m nervous about being out of my routine for an entire week. it’s much harder to control what you’re eating when you are faced with eating out all the time or eating from endless buffets. not to mention that there will not be a scale for me to step on every morning to keep on track. i’m just going to have to make sure that i pace myself, focus on what i’m eating, and try not to overdo it. i’m pretty sure i can do it, since i have successfully gone to picnics and stuff this summer without totally losing it.
i also have to try to figure out what to do about exercising. we’re going on a cruise for part of the vacation, and i know there is a gym on the ship, so i’m hoping to be able to work that into my days. i was going to get brent to just give me some weights, but he said the machines could be so different that 200lbs on one machine might seem impossible on another or way too light on another. so then it dawned on me that we’re not leaving until monday night, so maybe i can get over to brent during the day on monday. then i won’t miss a week, and i don’t have to worry about what weight is right for this type/brand of machine relative to what i have been doing. i’ll still try to get to the gym on the ship, probably for cardio, maybe a little light lifting, just to offset any of the damage i might do with all the food. yikes.
i’m feeling really good these days. i feel so much better about how i look. i’m still waiting for that “wow you look great” comment from someone other than my own mom, but even though no one has said it, i certainly feel it. i suspect my mother-in-law notices a difference too, because she kind of kept trying to push food on me the other night, as if i wasn’t eating enough. i have to assume that was her way of saying she was afraid i am trying to starve myself. which i most certainly am not. i like food too much to do that!
i love the feeling that i have right now – muscles are tired, not sore yet, but definitely have that sensation of having been worked hard. i like that.
so here are my stats for the week. not much change at all in the measurements, except that i finally got 159 to stick. just a number, right, but still a cool number.
I have been working out with Nicole for two years. She is the third personal trainer I have retained and without question the best. She is not only knowledgeable but her calm demeanor, unlike the frantic, or macho “encouragement” of others, is truly motivating. She has provided me with invaluable information about nutrition and diet which has contributed to my enjoyment (I never thought I would say that) of our workouts. She is so good and I have such high regard for her skills that I brought my wife and adult son to her. I am hopeful she remains in this work for years to come so I can continue to meet my weight and health goals under her tutelage.
Norman F Boxley
Nicole has been both my boot camp instructor and my personal trainer. With her knowledge of nutrition, diet, exercises that work, and extreme patience, I was able to meet my weight goal and spend a vacation week in bathing suits without embarrassment! She is encouraging and keeps one motivated.
Pam
Nicole – after you told me your incredible weight loss story and after reading your testimony, you have inspired me. I have about 40 lbs to lose and plan to do that this year! By the way, I enjoy the boot camp class and the variety you bring to it each week. Keep it up!
Anne Blaikie
“ Great workout and support of others. ”
Shelley
Your class is the best work out. And it’s so good to have your support. I look forward to the next class. Thank you, Nicole. You are a fantastic leader.
I wonder how many people are out there that decide writing a blog will help them lose weight? Is this some sort of drive to think by writing down what we eat, how much we exercise, makes us more accountable for our actions? I am not too sure… heck I don’t know why I’m doing this other than to jump on the band wagon with a thousand other people who are on the same quest as I am.
Now like a lot of people, I haven’t been overweight all my life. At 5′4″ the most I ever weighed was 132lbs. But all that seemed to change after my first marriage. Though I did not work out as much as I was when I was single, I still remained active. I have never been one to sit down and polish off a quart of Dryers, or pig out on chocolate. So I wondered how I ballooned up to 160!!! STRESS!!!! Bad marriage, new city, away from friends leads to one unhappy person. This all started approximately 7 years ago, almost to the day. Okay, so that is the first 28 lbs!
After getting out of that horrible marriage I moved to a different state, and I was thinking a happier lifestyle. Well, partly. I ended up getting married again to a wonderful man, my match exactly. Prior to our wedding I joined Weight Watchers and was able to drop down to 149!! Yippee a size 8.
After getting married my husband and I discovered gourmet sodas. Ohhhh that was a bad idea. I’ve never been one to drink soda, I’ve always been more of a Kool-Aid or Crystal Light kinda gal. BANG!!! Can you believe I jumped up to 186!!! Oh my HECK!!! (yes I’m LDS)…lol.
So here I am… I moved back to California in June, and decided that I couldn’t be back home weighing as much as I do. When I arrived I set out to start a weight loss program, that hasn’t exactly happened. I am very busy though, and with all the activity I have managed to drop 9 lbs, weighing 177. I’ve taken up 3 notches on my belt, and overall starting to feel much better.
So here I am, ready to dedicate myself to getting back into a size 6 or 8. It sucks being fat (yes, I sad the F word) , and I refuse to hit 40 and look like this. It was bad enough going to my 20 year reunion and everyone seeing me like this, but I refuse to turn 40 and be a size 12!!!
Thank God Its Friday! Our most favorite line of the week.
A very recent study has shown that when it comes to weight loss, a lot of people take 2 steps forward during the week and 1 step or even 2 steps back during the weekend. It seems that people are very diligent with their diets and exercise the entire week but completely let loose on the weekends. And this it seems is negating all the effort being put in the entire week.
The study is entitled “Influence of Weekend Lifestyle Patterns on Body Weight” in the Journal Obesity.
The conclusion of the study was , “Alterations in lifestyle behaviors on weekends contribute to weight gain or cessation of weight loss on weekends. These results provide one explanation for the relatively slow rates of weight loss observed in many studies, and the difficulty with maintaining significant weight loss.”
This proves a hunch that I have had all along. I have seen clients who want to lose weight putting their heart and soul into their weight loss efforts from Monday morning to Friday evening. After that they seem to feel that they have earned the right to reward themselves. I have always believed that you should reward yourself if you have put in the effort but within certain rules. You should have a good cheat meal on the weekend. This is a meal where you can reward yourself for being diligent for the preceding week. But that does not give you the license to have a CHEAT WEEKEND!
Imagine if I had a magic wand and that I could wave the wand and make you lose 1 pound of weight if you can give me 400 dollars on Sunday. The catch here is that you have to work for 40 hours during the week and you get paid 10 dollar for every hour of work. Come Sunday, you give me 400 dollars and I take 1 pound of your weight. Simple. But if you are in debt on Sunday, I will proportionally add the pounds to your weight.
You work diligently and have earned 400 dollars by Friday evening. But what happens if you decide to blow 10o dollars on a Friday night out with your friends. Then its a nice big dinner on Saturday night that costs another 100 dollars. Not to forget the shopping that you did on Saturday afternoon that cost you 150 dollars. And now you are left with 50 dollars on Sunday night. You give me 50 dollars and I reduce your weight by 0.125 pounds. (Do the Math as that’s what you would get). What if you outdid yourself and overspent and had to borrow 150 dollars from your credit card to have lunch and dinner on Sunday. Now I will come on Sunday, wave my wand and add 0.25 pounds to your weight. Is this analogy clear? Are you doing this to your weight?
From my experience dealing with clients, I have realized that most people don’t remember more than 2 weeks in the past. That means if they have not been diligent for the last 2 weeks, they will remember it. Anything beyond the 2 weeks will be remembered positively! Some clients come and say things like “But I have been so diligent with my exercise and so strict with my diet!
I am not joking when I say some people have such a monstrous cheat weekend that the food consumed could end the famine on the African continent.
What can you do to overcome this? Well for one, you should realize by now that our lives need some form of order even on the weekends. We need some semblance of order that our working life enforces on us on the weekdays. Some of the tips I can give you is;
Try not to have your breakfast too late on weekends.
NEVER miss breakfast on weekends
Try to have your lunch/dinner at about the same time that you would have it on workdays
If you have messed up on one meal, be aware and try to get back on track for the next meal. If you have overspent 100 dollars on friday night, does that mean you should go out and blow another 300 dollars just because you messed up?
It may be wise to add some form of physical exercise on the weekends. Exercise seems to subconsciously alert us to be on track.
Keep a vigilant eye on the amount of alcohol consumed. Have a tally by Sunday of the number of glasses of wine or beer or other liquor that you have drank. Getting drunk and losing track is not a solution. If one is getting drunk over the weekend, don’t complain about weight gain. You can’t be borrowing from your credit card and expect to get rich!
Tags: weekend weight gain, Journal of Obesity, weight loss, cheat weekend
many things. But the most unwanted thing which some of us have gained has become not our own personal issue, but the issue it seems of many Americans…..the dreaded weight gain.
How do those movie stars keep it off?? Sometimes some of them go through many changes to do so, but the smartest ones stick to a healthy diet and many hours in the gym….But what if you do not have time to go to the gym due to children, school schedules, school activities, summer camp activities, or any activity which keeps you from doing what you want to do most in life….which again for some of you is get rid of those unwanted pounds…..I am here to hopefully give you some answers as to why this has been impossible in the past and also possibly offer you a solution……
People have devised many ways to get rid of the bulge….
Many people are prone to thyroid challenges, due to a genetic inheritence or given to themselves with an improper diet. And this is possible to do. There are natural methods to rid yourselves of thyroid challenges, but this is another hub. Most of the people who have the challenge are being led astray by not only fast food chains, which yes, produce most of the time really fast service, but they serve mostly fatty foods which have been stuck in a fryer after having added batter which contains more fatty content. And due to our fast paced way of living, some of us seemingly have no choice other than to do a quick stop at McD’s or Burger King to grab breakfast, lunch and then go grab another quick fix for dinner…..or cook with yet more fatty products in our own kitchens without stopping to realize why we are doing this.
Quick food?? Oh yes, but it puts on the pounds. I have uncovered yet another cover-up from oh yes again, the FDA. The famous people who mandate all of our drugs and food allowances, and then hand them to us like it is Bible truth, when in reality, what they have been telling us all along is again, not the correct information. You should read this report and I will guarantee that it will change your life as you know it.
Fad diets and pills are not the way to accomplish weight loss, spending thousands on food which claim if you continue to eat it; you will keep the weight off. I am sorry, but if you stop eating what they send you, the weight does return. If you have looked at the food you ordered and possibly read the labels, maybe you could see why you were keeping off the weight in the first place. For one thing, they offer smaller amounts. And they tell you not to eat for so many hours before you go to bed, which is truly sound advice, as when you eat before bed, it just goes into your body and sits there until you do the proper amount of exercise to get it gone, and gee, by the time you wake up, it has digested and gone to parts of your body you don’t want it in.
The one thing noone does enough of is drink water. Water fills you up, keeps you hydrated and makes all parts of your body work in the ways they are supposed to. This is another way to keep the weight off and is so simple, yet it remains undone by millions of people today. Cokes? Not only do they add sugar, but they have totally unwanted additives which can actually eat parts of your body and make you sick. But you like them??? Drop them for a week and drink water instead and see how you drop a little of those unwanted pounds.
FDA Coverup: Weight Gain..Must Read!
The link I am giving you in this blog is a two fold link. It contains valuable information on a coverup by the FDA concerning all of our weight gain and why…of course they don’t want us to know stuff, they would rather us go to more Drs to get rid of the weight either by pill or surgery and this is totally unnecessary. There are also links to major weight loss. The weight will stay off. The second part I told you about, is that you are able to get a site like this and create a massive amount of money for youself and promote one of five major niches….to increase your income in this never ending saga of us requiring more and more money to survive in this day and time of foreclosure, job loss, and general needing more money…
I invite you to research what is in this link and see for yourself, that this is the best information you could have found….Enjoy what I have found. Live a happy, healthy and slimmed life !!!!
Tried EVERYTHING but still cant lose weight or keep it off!
“Tried to lose several kg via exercise, controlled eating and taken diet pills & cream, guess what! None survived, lost 2 kg and just got them back, & still increasing! What to do! Will try again…”
Does this sound familiar?
HAD ENOUGH of all these …???
… Starvation Diets
… Harmful Pills & Stimulants
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… From Atkins to Hollywood and Bollywood Diets of all Diets…
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Dr Vincent, will also be launching his Controversial FREE e-book soon “7 Deadly Secrets Fat & Broke Doctors Don’t Tell You”
I heard about the contents, it’s POWERFUL, coming from an 130% Overweight… Medical Doctor who has lost weight & gained 6 packs!
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Now that I seem to have some direction related to my eating, I want to ramp up my workouts.
My goal for next month is to build into my schedule a series of workouts that target my focus areas and help me with weight loss and toning.
I already workout regularly with C. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. We usually walk 3 miles each day, with a little cycling and weights at the gym sprinkled in.
I think we have a solid habit and routine, but it isn’t as intense as I’d like and I don’t think it’s enough to get the results I want.
I will stick with the 3 day workouts with C., but I’m going to add in a few additional days as well. My goal is to get in 5-6 days a week. That’s tough with my schedule, but I’m aiming high. Based on my current schedule, I should be able to get in extra workouts every other Monday, Saturdays and Sundays
My gym has several good options for Saturdays and Sundays. I am going to check out the Spinning, Yoga, and Boot Camp options.
Sometimes, we all want to lose a little weight. Whether its 30 pounds or 5 pounds, most of us may want to lose some weight. It can be to get rid of that holiday weight or just a decision to change your fitness for the better. Whatever, it may be, this short article will tell you the basics.
1. There is no shortcuts. You may hear alot of different diet and exercise plans, beliefs, and urban legends. Truth is? It’s all about calories. Almost everything we consume has calories and everything we do spend calories. Even while you sleep. So, its basic math really. As long as you are eating more calories than your body is exerting, the extra calories will be stored as fat. When you spend more calories than you eat, you burn stored energy.
While fad diets can work, most of them are not really sustainable. Being fit is a lifestyle. Its not a project. Ask yourself this before you try a fad diet next time, can you stay on that diet for the rest of your life? If your answer is no, then its not sustainable.
2. Drink lots of water. Water is nature’s miracle drink. The benefits are plenty, I can go on about how water flushes out your toxins, makes your skin more healthy by being hydrated, etc. But for now, I will just relate how water helps weight loss:
water helps with your metabolism. Liver is in charge of converting your stored fat to energy. Liver is also in charge of backing up your kidneys if they are not working optimally. Kidneys need water. So if the kidneys are deprived of enough water, the liver is not as efficient. By making sure enough water is taken, the liver is free to work at its best in converting those stored fats.
drinking water gets rid of excess water weight. What? Drinking water gets rid of water?.. Yes. You see, our body is made up mostly of water, and there is a thing called “survival mode”. This is when our body holds on to as much nutrients (including water). This is how malnourished and starving people get to survive. By drinking more water, we are telling our body that it doesn’t have to worry about a sufficient supply. Thus it expels the water weight it has been storing all these years.
3. Exercise. Remember how I said that its all math in burning more calories than you are consuming? Well, diet alone can make you lose weight. But why not speed up the process by working out as well? Any cardiovascular activity like jogging, running, jump rope, stairs, and anything that elevates your heart rate will help you burn. It has been said that you need to elevate your heart rate to 60%-70% for at least 20 minutes, 3 times per week. Check the chart below for your target heart rate.
Image by NuYu. Thanks!
4. Build some muscles. You may ask that why are we building muscles when all you want is to lose some weight? Isn’t it about losing rather than gaining? The thing is, its all about burning more calories again. The more muscles you have, the more calories you burn. Imagine! Burning more calories while you are not working out! What a concept!
You don’t need to be hardcore like the muscle-toned weight builders. But you do need to start lifting. Start small and work your way up. The more muscles you have, the faster your weight loss.
5. You are what you eat. If you eat crap, you will look like crap. All the exercise in the world is not going to help you at all if you do not watch what you eat. Start by being more conscious of what you eat, the quantities you eat, and when you eat. Eat food with less calories and less fat, eat often but eat less each time.
Also, start counting your calories. Find out what your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is and subtract 500 calories from what you should be eating per day. Say your BMR is 2,500 calories per day. Then you should be eating 2,000 calories per day to lose weight. If you do this consistently, you will lose weight guaranteed even without exercise. Any exercise you do is a bonus. To help you keep track, you can use Calorie Count or Fitday. These are pretty good tools.
That’s it for now. If you like my posts, please share it and help me spread the word.
The categories vary each year for FEMSPORT and include such challenges as Biceps Curls, Kettlebell Lift, Box Jumps , Obstacle Course, Tire Pull and Tug-of-War.
Beyond H20 was thrilled to be one of the sponsors for such a spectacular event. The athletes and FemSport staff got to drink our water during the day. “Your water is so good!”, said event coordinator Nancy Lockington.
Each year FEMSPORT provides a competitive but fun environment and is constantly improving this event to accommodate athletes of all types. In 2005 they introduced their first year as a “drug tested” event. This ensures a fair and level playing field for all competitors and brings an excellent reputation to all who participate.
Their goal is to provide an event which the public can enjoy along with their athletes by presenting FEMSPORT at an easily accessible venue in the Vancouver area. Their venue locations help to enhance awareness of the natural fitness industry and their local charity, “Patty’s Ladybug Cancer Fund”, to the general public in a fun and refreshing environment.
In 2007 they participated in a documentary for Global Television which profiled one of their talented athletes, Carole Paterson, preparing for and competing in their February 2007 event. They continue to expand their audience both locally and abroad from this opportunity.
Since FEMSPORT is an open viewing event (FREE admission) there is a generous flow of participating spectators. Athletes are eager to share their accomplishments to a grand audience of fellow competitors, family, friends and their community.
This is a very exciting event, and they can never say thank you enough for those agreeing to participate. Everyone has a great time and one of the greater goals is that other young women (and men, too) will be inspired to get into healthy, athletic training, because there’s everything beautiful about muscle and strength.
Thank you many times over from all of us here at Beyond H2O for the opportunity to be a sponsor for such a special event as FEMSPORT.
The good news is I have been working out regularly this week. Not every day, but 3 times. Baby steps, right? I’ve been eating okay. That’s always the hardest part with me. I love food and I love fatty foods. Foods smothered with melted cheese are my weakness. I haven’t gotten to the gym as much as I would have liked since I’m studying like crazy for the second CPA test (which is this Friday!!!). I’ve been trying to get in as many hours as possible to prepare. I’m a little freaked out.
An update on Mr. Ass – the recommendation was surgery to remove a piece of disc that is pushing against his nerve. This is what is causing the constant pain down his left leg all the time. The surgeon is also going to create some more room around another disc that is bulging. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything they can do right now to close up the burst disc or prevent the second one from rupturing. He has degenerative discs, so it’s probably only a matter of time until another one blows. He’s only 33; you’d think he was a lot older. So… surgery in mid-September.
I’ve been spending a little time in the yard now that it’s cooling off. I’m pleased that my first summer with my own garden has produced good results. Here a few samples of my bounty…
Blogging thing. 25 days since I last wrote anything!?! Well, I haven’t had anything to say, really. I’ve been sort of cranky, and I don’t really want to whine about my various annoyances here.
Here is a quick recap:
1. 25 days stressing about when I’m going on vacation, and where. I booked (half) of it yesterday. I AM GOING HOME! I’ll be staying here:
http://www.mandalaybay.com/persona/THEhotel.aspx for three days. We stayed at theHotel last year, and I really liked it… but as it is our last pre-baby vacation… we are also spending three nights here: http://www.bellagio.com/hotel/penthouse-suite.aspx
For the record, I am generally very frugal, and did not want to lay out the extra cash to do so. A, on the other hand, was insistent. NOW, I am more excited than he is!!
2. 25 days of weight loss: I have exactly 33 days to get into bathing suit condition. I was REALLY good for the first month, and have been pretty good for the past three weeks. Down 8 lbs, and would like to speed up the process for the next 33 days. Any suggestions?
3. 25 days of my bathroom STILL not completed. I think we took a break, because we were spending every weekend, in the summer, inside working on the bathroom. And what fun is that?
4. 25 days of work: Some things have sucked, but some things have been great. I’ve been really busy. That’s all I’m gonna say about that.
5. 25 days of pressure to procreate: “I’m gonna let you go and make me a grandma now.” Um, ew.
And that about covers it. I’m gonna try to be better about this. (Again).
I have moved back to college/university/whatever one wishes to call it. I am struggling with figuring out how I will begin/maintain a healthy lifestyle. The school cafeterias don’t always carry the most nutritious and tasty food, so I tend to default to fried stuff, although in less quality since I am watching.
My exercise is jumping up though because I am walking around more and also playing games with one of my groups. My goal is to lose weight, instead of most college students who gain weight.
So, as you guys and ladies all know, I am new to tofu eating. My tofu chili turned out so delicious that I decided to try tofu stir fry.
Here’s how I made it:
1 pack firm tofu, cut into little cubes
some fresh broccoli tops
some fresh asparagus spears cut up
2 bell peppers cut up
2 big chunks of garlic
1 green onion cut up
1 small squash
some teriyaki sauce ( I like Rice Road Teriyaki with sesame and Ginger)
Ok, so I took the broccoli, asparagus, garlic, squash and bell pepper and put them in a hot none stick pan that I had already heated up some olive oil in. I let them cook in there for a few minutes and then added in some of the teriyaki sauce and stirred the up and let them cook. At the same time in another hot pan I threw in the tofu cubes and green onions with some teriyaki sauce and browned the tofu. After the tofu was browned I put the tofu and the green onion mixture in with the veggie mixture and let them cook for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are done as much as you like them. I added in more teriyaki sauce once I got both mixtures together in one pan. It really turned out very good. Hope you like it:o) I ate the first bowl before I remembered to take a picture so when I have the next bowl I will add a picture for you.
About a month ago I had a dream with the words spelled out as clear as day “Fear Is Fattening”…when I woke up I said to myself “ain’t that the truth!”…I also “Googled It” and found an article posted with the same title that had been written a round the same time as my dream…interesting!
So, my feeling about “Fear is Fattening” comes from the very real fear I am feeling now in my personal & professional life because I am in “limbo”…not sure where I’m going…not sure what the future holds for me…still really haven’t found my “home”…many things are “up in the air” right now…not solidified. ..kinda floating.
I find when change is in the air and when I’m really being faced with the unknown…fear grows & grows & grows! And I FEED IT! Fear makes me eat! Out of control eating!And I’m not hungry…I’m feeding the fear!
Hence…fear is fattening!
I want to now CLEAR THE FEAR, because it’s crazy how feeling fear in my life takes me to food! That is my goal, to “clear the fear” from every square inch of my body, mind & spirit…clear the fear on a cellular level! I believe if I deal with my fear issues, mostly imagined or just negative thinking…I’ll most likely eat less! I think the key is looking at the core of overeating…what is making me scared? Over eating is a symptom of being scared…that’s what I’m going to explore!
I decided to do a “FEAR” Art Installation for starters… I started making a series of paintings…some just words like; “FEAR IS FATTENING”, “MORE FEAR!”, “FEED THE FEAR”, “I EAT FEAR FOR BREAKFAST”, “Fear is a Billion Dollar Business”, “Clear The Fear” , etc, etc. Mixed in with random paintings & characters eating or not eating, maybe vomiting as a bulimic would… I think it will be a very cathartic piece for me to get out of my system! I think the more I dive into fear – the less fear I have…so, I’m diving into this fear piece full force (fearlessly!) and hopefully I’ll show it somewhere…but I’ll try not to worry about that because I’ll just eat more!
I will post pictures of my progress with this art installation…”FEAR”
QUESTION: Do you think you eat more when feeling fear?
Please share your stories!
CLEAR THE FEAR & Lose Weight!
For More About American woman artist Bethann Shannon:
For real people! Do you know what happens when you swim all summer long????? Your swimsuit DIES! Well I guess if you have some amazing bionic (100% polyester) suit it wont, but mine did. And how does a swimsuit die you might ask? Well it becomes completely SEE THROUGH! And let me just tell you that nobody wants to see that! Ok maybe Mr. Gaunt does, but no one else!
Wanna see the dead body?…
Yeah WOAH nelly that’s my hand you can see right through the BUTT of my suit…ahhh! Anyways there are still a few weeks left of pool time that I don’t want to miss out on, so I hit up Sears today to see if I could find a nice basic one piece suit. Im picky about my swimsuits in that they need to cover as much of my body as possible! Although I pass on skirts, and tankinis are always too short and still show my belly button (ewww) I also cant do halters because my torso is a we bit long so I end up with MAJOR cleavage (ewww) so yeah that leaves a nice solid one piece. Simple enough? Nope! Sears only had ONE left so I tried it on, and although its a smidge tight I actually kind of liked it. At this point in time cuteness of a suit holds little importance to me so ignore the grandma fabric. Here she is…(no you don’t get a full body shot!)
I start my first working day tomorrow (Thursday I had orientation) and I guess Im a little nervous, not too bad though Im not doing a crazy hard job so it should be fine. It is going to be pretty physical, a lot of bending lifting that sort of thing. I had a small breakdown yesterday when thinking about how much will change with me going back to work, I mean I basically haven’t worked a traditional job since January and the schedule change is going to take some getting use to. Im going to be working anywhere from 24-40 hours a week with shift lengths and times all over the board, including weekends. For those of you who don’t know Mr. Guant works Monday-Friday 6-2:30 so not having to work weekends has been so nice for us! But that will all be changing now, i will no longer have the free schedule to spend time with Mr. Gaunt and friends and plan meals and cook and grocery shop. Sigh…its gonna be tough. Besides my loved ones my weight loss is the MOST important thing in my life, and to totally wonky up my schedule is freaking me out a little. I mean its not like I just want to sit around all day and do nothing, Im actually looking forward to having something to do, its more that I have no idea when that time will be or for how long. Like tomorrow I have to work from 1-9:30 which if it wasn’t Friday Mr. Gaunt would already be in bed when I got home so I wouldn’t see him for the entire day….booo! And who wants to cook at 10pm??? I don’t, which means Ill probably just snack until I pass out and then get up Saturday and do the same thing again. I wont get to hang out with Mr. Gaunt all weekend. Its hard, it makes me want to cry. But Im trying to have a good attitude and make the most of it, hopefully make friends, get a little more fit! So I probably wont have as much time to blog (sad sad) or cook (sad sad) but I’m going to do my best to maintain my lifestyle and this blog. I’m not a millionaire, I have to work and I had my fun, things will get easier.
We are a nation of Instant-Gradification-ers. We want it now. We want what feels good now. We want what looks good now. And we want it NOW! But the cliques, “good things come to those who wait” and “anything worth having is worth waiting for” are frustratingly true. True and lasting change comes with time and patience. Americans seem to give up too easily when things don’t workout quickly and neatly and then wonder why they’re tired and frustrated. hmmmm?
So here it is..and we’re talking health and fitness here.. You are going to have to change the way you view your health, your muscles, your movement AND most importantly, your nutrition. And in order to do that you are going to have to have different conversations with that inner you. You are going to have to tell him/her, to be quiet, sit down, because you’ve had enough misbehavior and you’re NOT going to put up with it anymore! (Ok. the Mom in me is coming out.) But it’s the truth. The only way to have the fit and healthy you that you’ve always wanted is to STAND UP TO YOU.
Beware of the easy-to-munch-on bar snacks that can sabotage your diet – Heading out for a night on the town can mean lots of drinking and snacking, but if you’re trying to get fit, watch for dangerous bar snacks that are “oh so easy” to munch on.
Calories in M&M's
Snack: M&M Chocolate Candies, Peanut
Serving Size: 10 candies
Calories: 103
Fat: 5g
Protein:2g
Carbohydrates:12g
Sodium: 10 mg
If you ate 1 cup of M&M candies you would consume 876 calories and 44 grams of fat.
Calories in Pretzels
Snack: Pretzel Classic Style, Sticks
Serving Size: 1 oz
Calories: 100
Fat: Under 0g
Protein: 2g
Carbohydrates: 23g
Sodium: 580 mg
If you ate five servings of pretzels you would consume 500 calories and 0 grams of fat.
Calories in Pickles
Snack: Pickles
Serving Size: 1 small pickle
Calories: 4
Fat: under 1g
Protein: under 1g
Carbohydrates: 1g
Sodium:324 mg
If you ate four pickles you would consume 16 calories and under 1 gram of fat.
To see three more popualr bar snacks and their calories, take a look at smart snacking ideas from TheRingBearer.ca … find out which snack and 786 calories in ONE CUP!
Beware of hidden calories in bar snacks that can ruin your diet! For more wedding planning ideas, tips and trends – visit TheRingBearer.ca!
Counting calories may seem old-fashioned today, given the proliferation of low-carb and high protein diets. However, a number of dieticians maintain that the low calorie approach is actually the best approach to weight loss. While it may seem trite, lowering the number of calories we consume can have a marked effect on our waistlines.
The majority of diets offer dieters 1,000 to 1,500 calories each day. Still, it would be wrong to assume that everyone who needs to lose weight should be on a 1,000 calorie diet. In fact, the amount of calories you need is a function of your current weight, your metabolism, and the amount of exercise you do. Diets recommended by doctors, as well as many of the meal programs found in diet books, are based upon a low-calorie model.
When dieting, you should assume that you will lose only about a pound a week. However, during the initial stages of your diet, you may find that you are actually losing more weight than that because you are losing water. While you can use a standardized diet, it is perhaps best to work with a dietician in order to fine-tune the diet to meet your individual needs.
Still, even if you are curbing your calorie count, you’ll need to make sure that what you eat is nutritious. By paying close attention to nutrition labels, you can determine the vitamin and mineral count of much of what you consume. There are certain general requirements for a healthy diet. For instance, you’ll need to make sure that you are getting enough protein. For the typical woman, this would amount to 50 grams per day; for the typical man, 63 grams per day. Protein is vitally important for strengthening your muscles and teeth and maintaining good skin tone. Protein sources can include lean meat, fish, chicken, eggs, beans, and nuts. Experts recommend that you have at least two servings of protein a day.
While low carb diets may be all the rage, a number of dieticians say you need as many as 100 grams of carbohydrates a day. This means consuming as many as eleven servings of pasta, cereal, and bread in order to maintain a healthy energy level. You should also eat at least 20 grams of fiber each day to aid your digestion. Less than a third of your calories should come from fat in order to enable you to keep the pounds off. Only about one-tenth of your calories should be derived from saturated fat. Also, keep your cholesterol count under control in order to keep heart disease at bay.
An important aspect of good nutrition that many individuals forget is water. This might be surprising, however, given the fact that most of our body is made up of H20. Medical experts by and large agree that you should drink at least eight glasses of water everyday. Exercise, however, could make you yearn for additional water. Water is often considered the secret weapon of weight loss, enabling people to shed pounds more easily.
Although it may be tempting, you should not skip meals. This only serves to decrease your metabolism, causing you to burn fat more slowly. Even a small meal is better than no meal at all. Weight loss experts, however, differ about the number of meals you should eat each day. Some recommend the standard three meals with a couple of snacks, while others recommend five or six small meals each day. You should probably check with your physician to see which approach is appropriate for you.
Losing weight can be a difficult challenge, no matter what your age. There are so many temptations around, so many opportunities to boost your calorie count. Also, you might try to follow one diet, only to find that it is difficult to sustain. As a result, the low-calorie diet may be the best method around for consistent weight loss. While you might not be able to lose weight quickly, you can shed pounds eventually. By being patient and committed to your weight loss program, you can ultimately lose the weight you need to.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am pleased (I think) to report that I have loosening of the pants. No, they’re not going to fall off me anytime soon, but they are definitely looser in the waist/hip area. How do I know for sure? Well, I own three or four pairs of cropped pants and one pair of long pants sans elastic in the waist. All but one pair I could put on and off without zipping and unzipping. One pair, however, just would not go over my hips if I didn’t unbutton/zip said fasteners. Today I wore them. I was able to pull them on without undoing them and continued to do that all day. Now, honestly, some of my pants must be zipped/unzipped in the morning, but by night just pull off fine. These never did. Today, however, they do.
I call that success. I am so tempted to measure myself, but I want to wait another week before I do it. Must. Wait. Week.
There are still days where I wake up late and don’t get out to exercise in the morning or at any other time of the day, planned or unplanned. There are still days where I would like to eat anything that doesn’t try to run away from me and the more sugar the better. There are still days, after more than a year of eating healthier and exercising regularly, where I’d like to throw in the towel and go back to my old ways. There are still days where the threat of gaining the weight back doesn’t have nearly as much of an impact as eating cake would. Today is one of those days. Maybe it’s hormonal or the time of the year or lack of sleep/stress. Who knows?
I would have hoped that after more than a year of a healthier lifestyle, the lure of empty calories and laziness would have gone away completely. But they haven’t. My old behaviors still lurk in the back of my consciousness just waiting for a weak moment to spring to the forefront and sabotage all of my hard work. I’ve learned to resist for the most part, but resisting doesn’t make the day any easier, and it doesn’t make the desire go away.
This morning I did not get out to exercise. And tonight I have a fundraiser to attend so there will be little or no exercise there either. I’m ok with that. It can be a rest day.
I have a doctor’s appointment at lunch today, so I can’t do too much damage foodwise. I’ll be at work all day and I only brought good food with me to work. I’ll make it through the day; I’ll work hard to be strong tonight too. And hopefully, the evil urges will go away by tomorrow. They usually do.
And that’s the difference between then and now. Then, I would just cave. Now, I cope.
This morning, I tracked all of the food I plan to eat today. I find that that helps me to stay on track.
I decided to sleep in this morning. Sometimes, I find if I’m really tired, it’s harder to resist temptation.
I’m drinking lots of water. I do this anyway, but on days like this, I drink more because it helps to keep me feeling fuller.
I keep peppermint tic-tacs on hand. Nothing tastes very good after a mint (except for water) and for a little while they kill the cravings.
I will remind myself how much better I feel now than I did then.
I will blog about how I feel and count on the support of my online friends to pull me back.
And if I’m still feeling like I really need something off plan tonight, I will allow myself a small indulgence. I will not have lost the whole day and sometimes it’s ok to take a little break.
Tomorrow will be a better day. I find that my resolve is usually back after a day like this. And having managed this day makes me that much stronger going forward.
When you’ve lived a sedentary life of overeating for a long time, like I have, staying the fitness course is awfully fragile. But each day like this where I win the battle over the evil urges, the fitness side gains a little strength. It’s a long road, and it’s worth every step.
Day 57 (Monday) Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X…..So glad to be off Recovery Week and back to the business of my fitness! I did 310 total push-ups, 62 total pull-ups and 364 ab exercises today. I really feel like I brought it!
I completed a little 10+ mile bicycle ride to visit Lana. The ride was half uphill and half downhill, with a nice average speed of 16.0.
Day 58 (Tuesday) Plyometrics…..Including the bonus round. Tried to keep up with “Domi.” and did pretty well.
Day 59 (Wednesday) Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X…..Including the bonus. I did 74 total chair dips, 152 total side tri-rises and 364 ab exercises.
So while I’m tending to my supervisor duties at work today… an astonishing revelation hit me. I haven’t eaten in 6 hours! SIX!!!! Shortly following this revelation came forth a series of questions:
1. Why am I not dead?
2. Why have I not dropped to the floor from dizziness in a pool of cold, shaky, sweats?
3. Why do I have energy?
4. What is wrong with me?
I have struggled and boggled my inquisitive brain all day seeking answers to these undeniable questions… and here is what I’ve got:
1. Why am I not dead?
Because a Meat Breakfast supplied my body with the sufficient amount of calories, aminos, fats, and proteins to thrive.
2. Why have I not dropped to the floor from dizziness in a pool of cold, shaky, sweats?
Because a Meat Breakfast nourished my body and has provided a slow-release of sugars into the bloodstream. Keeping my blood sugar levels up.
3. Why do I have energy?
Because…. well…. you see it’s all from the…. aw heck. I’ve no clue on this one. Everything I’ve ever known completely contradicts this concept!
4. What is wrong with me?
Nothing is wrong with me. I’m simply experiencing what our ancestors experienced… a sense of NOT BEING HUNGRY EVERY TWO GOD DAMN HOURS!! Pardon the language
Today’s menu was also very satisfying. I’ve started to ensure not consuming anything passed sunset or no later than 8pm. In order to leave enough time for digestion before bed, at least 4-5 hours beforehand. (eating before bed is the number one way sumo wrestlers get fat, even on veggies alone!)
Today’s Menu:
Breakfast: Mini Paleo-Loaf w/Sassy Catsup
Snack: 1 Apple
Lunch: 1/2 cup Red Seedless Grapes
Snack: 6 Sugar Pears
Dinner: Mini Paleo-Loaf w/Sassy Catsup and 4 baby Carrots
*I made three mini-loafs
Snack: N/A
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Nutritional Analysis:
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Physical and Emotional Changes:
1. I have noticed caloric intake is naturally high on some days and low on others… when listening to my body. This is very interesting.
If you follow health and fitness news, you’ve probably seen the cover story in the current issue of TIME magazine: Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.
Unfortunately, this article is riddled with headlines and statements that seem more designed to attract attention and readers than to provide useful information—a common problem in this age of declining readership. But if you can get past the sensational headlines and faulty logic (a connection between two things doesn’t mean one causes the other), the actual information in the article is nothing new or surprising.
We’ve known for a long time that, while exercise is clearly one of the foundations of good physical and mental health, it is not by itself enough to produce substantial weight loss. That takes a healthy diet with fewer calories in it than you need to maintain your current weight at your current activity level, whatever that activity level may be. You can exercise ‘til the cows come home, but if you still eat more than you need, you’re not going to lose any of that extra fat you’d like to get rid of. This may be news to Mr. Cloud, but not to the rest of us.
Cloud’s article does go one step further by speculating that exercise may actually be one of the reasons people overeat, and that’s where he starts getting into trouble. This speculation is based on the results of several recent studies, described in the article, which indicate that exercise may have three common “side effects” that could, in theory, make weight loss more difficult for many people:
Side Effect No. 1: Exercise increases appetite, often leading people to eat more than they would otherwise, offsetting the calorie burning benefits of their exercise, or even leading to a calorie surplus.
Side Effect No. 2: Exercise weakens your “self-control muscle.” If you use up your limited capacity for self-control by forcing yourself to stay on the treadmill for 60 minutes, it’s going to be much harder for you to resist treats and snacks, and stick to your diet plan for the rest of the day.
Side Effect No. 3: Exercise (especially vigorous, challenging exercise) can lead to tiredness, muscle soreness and other problems which actually reduce the amount of normal physical activity the individual engages in during the day, reducing overall calorie expenditure.
There’s not much doubt that these problems can happen, or even that they do happen for lots of people. But are they inevitable or unavoidable? Do they inevitably have to interfere with your weight loss efforts as much as this article seems to suggest? I suppose they could—IF you were a slave to your appetites, and incapable of figuring out how to feed yourself what you actually need.
But is that what you are? Not according to the tons of scientific evidence and personal testimony from successful weight losers that Mr. Cloud left out of his article.
The real question here, in the end, is whether any of this scientific evidence means you should change your approach to exercise in order to meet your weight loss goals.
Part One: Exercise, Appetite & Fat Loss
Pretty much everything we know about human metabolism indicates that exercise should increase your appetite. The basic function of appetite is to generate a balance between energy in and energy out, and to ensure that you get the right “nutritional stuff” for your particular needs. It couldn’t do either job for you if you could go out and burn an extra 500-1000 calories or more without experiencing an increase in your hunger.
This may not be obvious to us as individuals, though, for several reasons. One is that exercise can temporarily suppress appetite. Some people don’t feel hungry until sometime later on, which means they may not make the connection between the exercise and the extra appetite. And being the kind of creatures we are, it’s pretty easy to feel the hunger without knowing what, exactly, our body really needs or when we’ve gotten enough of it. (For a quick introduction to these issues, check these articles on High Performance Nutrition.
Another important source of difficulty here is due to the way our bodies use energy during exercise and then replace that energy. The bottom line, in terms of weight loss, is that fat doesn’t play a big role on either end of this process.
Whenever you’re doing some physical activity that is more vigorous than a moderate walk, most of the fuel for that activity is not going to come from your most recent meal, or from the extra body fat you have on board. It’s going to come from specialized fuel sources already stored in your muscle cells, or elsewhere in your body. It would be great if, every time we need some extra energy, our bodies would take some body fat out of our fat cells and use it to fuel whatever we are doing. Sadly, though, that’s not how it works. The more vigorous your activity is (which corresponds roughly to how high your heart rate gets), the smaller the role that fat plays in fueling that activity. The primary energy source your body uses to fuel higher intensity activity is glucose—which it gets by breaking down the carbohydrates (mainly) and protein (to a much lesser degree if your diet is balanced) you eat. Your body actually stores glucose in your muscle cells (it’s called glycogen in this form), and draws on this stored glycogen to fuel your muscles during exercise.
Once you’re done exercising and back in your recliner again, your body needs to replace this used up glycogen so that you’ll be ready for your next bout of exercise or activity. Naturally enough, it revs up your appetite so you’ll eat enough to accomplish this objective. This is necessary because your body can’t turn body fat into the glycogen your muscle cells need. It has to come from the carbs and protein you eat (or from the protein stored in your muscle and organ tissues).
The bottom line here is that the relationship between exercise and fat loss is very indirect. Exercise doesn’t burn very much fat as fuel, and it doesn’t cause your body to use stored body fat to replace all the calories your exercise burned up. Basically, what does happen is that exercise gives your body something to do (ie, making new glycogen) with some of the carbs and protein you eat so that you don’t turn a lot of those calories into new body fat. While all that’s going on, your body is then free to use your body fat to fuel a large percentage of the low intensity activity you’re doing when you’re not exercising—assuming that you have an overall calorie deficit and the kind of diet that keeps your fat-burning hormones and enzymes working right.
Unfortunately, you don’t burn all that many calories while not exercising, which explains why you can’t lose fat at a very rapid rate, even if you exercise like a fiend and diet like you love starvation. There’s only so much fat you can burn in a day, and this is determined more by your BMR and your non-exercise activity than by the amount of vigorous exercise you do, or the size of your calorie deficit. An overly large calorie deficit will mainly increase the rate of muscle and organ tissue loss, not the amount of fat burned. It may look good on the scale, but it’s not healthy and it’s one of the big reasons why so many people regain lost weight.
Practical Implications: If your main goal is losing body fat, there’s no reason to run yourself into the ground with hours of high intensity exercise, and some good reasons not to do this. You do need about 30 minutes, at least 3-5 times per week, with your heart rate up in the 70-85% of max range to get the basic health and functional fitness benefits of cardiovascular exercise. And you need a good, basic strength training routine that works all your muscle groups, at least twice per week. If you have athletic aspirations that require more training than this, you’ll need to do more, of course.
Beyond that, you’ll actually burn more fat if you use any extra time you have to increase your lower intensity activity as much as possible with things like moderate walking, taking the steps when you can, and generally moving around as much as possible. The more time you spend sitting still, the more you turn off your fat burning enzymes and make fat loss harder than it needs to be.
And of course, you will still need to keep your eating under control enough to maintain a moderate calorie deficit overall.
I just couldn’t imagine not exercising..I disagree with Time magazine article..Exercising has so many benefits..Not to mention how you feel about yourself..I am avid exercise nut..I do feel hungrier since I work out so much, but I am opting for more foods that are low cal..I try to limit my carbs and stay up with the right amount of protein..I have never felt better or healthier in my life now at 42 than when I was 22..
So take what you want from the Time magazine article..I much prefer Spark Peopl’s philosphy..
Exercising is very important and we all should be fitting it in to our day…
