Still hangin'....by a thread

Just wanted to report that I have still maintained my 136.6 weight! That makes 7 1/2 months now! The last couple of weeks have not been by much though! So I am back to exercising and trying to watch what I eat a little more closely! I want SOOO bad to maintain for a full year WITHOUT going over! That would be SOOOO cool!

Individual results may vary

Lately, there has been a lot of hype about diet drinks (or artificial sweeteners found in them) causing weigh gain. I was a little concerned when I heard about this because I use diet drinks and don't want to gain weight as a result! I couldn't figure out how something with no (or minimal) calories could cause weight GAIN. Then I realized that I LOST the majority of my weight while consuming them!

So I did a little research. As it turns out, the artificial sweeteners supposedly trigger cravings and thus increase other eating which results in weight gain. A friend of mine is taking a nutrition class. Her professor told her that these drinks can increase cravings for sweets by as much as 10x! My take on the whole thing? ~ "individual results may vary"! Diet drinks are literally what got me through my "diet". When I had a craving for sweets, I poured a glass of crystal light and the craving was gone (plus I got an extra glass of fluid!).

I wonder of part of this can be attributed to calorie tracking. When I was drinking the diet drinks, I was very closely monitoring my caloric intake. There wasn't the temptation to grab an extra snack (okay, maybe there was a temptation, but I knew it would take me over my daily points if I gave in).

I guess what I am saying is don't listen to all the fads and crazes. Do what works best for YOUR body!

I love this time of year!!

This time of year is the easiest for me to eat healthy. We have a pretty large garden and now is when everything is ready to eat! For lunch today, I had new red potatoes, corn on the cob, and tomatoes. I will admit, I probably ate more than I should have and potatoes and corn aren't the lowest calorie veggies on the planet, but it sure beats a bowl of ice cream for lunch! I would highly recommend planting a garden if you can! We actually can/freeze a lot of it too so it lasts longer (but nothing beats getting it right out of the garden).

How I've kept the weight off

Not much to report. Just wanted to make sure I am keeping up with this blog. I think the accountability really helps. I have continued to stay under 136.6 (on my weekly weigh ins). That is almost a full 6 months without going over! Yippee!! Still not exercising though.

I have had a lot of people ask me how I have kept the weight off. Honestly, I think it is a combination of A LOT of factors. I think I give everyone who asks a different answer! I am going to try and list as many as I can, maybe add to it later...

First, I don't keep my house stocked with treats. If they are here, I eat them. And there is nothing wrong with NOT having crap in my house. Hopefully, my kids will learn to like more healthy foods. It is hard because we have been the treat house for so long, they are very accustomed to having treats around. But it is nice to grab an apple or carrots instead of chips or a candy bar.

Next, I have not completely eliminated "treats" from what I eat. That probably seems to counter what I just said, but there is a difference. When I want a treat, I have to go buy it. It takes a lot more effort and thought than just shoving a candy bar down my throat because it is there. But if I really want a treat and don't feel like I have been eating too much, I go get a treat.

One major thing is portions. I have always had the "I have to get my fill", "I have to get my money's worth", "I can't let this go to waste (but apparently can let it go to waist)" mentality. I have learned to throw things away, eat in moderation. I don't have to eat until I am so full I can't move. When I eat less, I actually have MORE energy which in turn burns more calories than laying around because I am too sick to move.

I have modified the ingredients that I buy. We use a lot of Velveeta in our house. Now, I always buy the 2% milk variety. We also like butter. We have substituted butter spray. When I buy canned fruit, I always buy it packed in juice instead of syrup. Checking nutrition information on comparable products also helps cut calories. Tyson breaded chicken patties have almost twice as much fat and calories as Banquet patties.

I have cut out a lot of condiments. It takes a big mental change, but really, they add a lot of calories. There is no rule that says pancakes must have 500 calories worth of butter, peanut butter, syrup, and/or jam added to them. When we have pancakes, I add butter spray and call it good. I never use mayo/Miracle Whip anymore. I have found that mustard and honey mustard give sandwiches a little moisture without adding tons of fat and calories. When I have a peanut butter sandwich, instead of slathering on the condiments, I just do a thin layer.

Juice is another biggie I have cut out. I never really had an issue with soda or other flavored drinks so it wasn't hard to completely cut them out. It is really easy to justify juice because it is "healthy". But in reality, it never did anything to curb my appetite and just added calories that I didn't need.

I don't "diet" all the time. I mentioned this in an earlier post. I eat what I want on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). I then cut back the rest of the week. I don't necessarily "diet" because I don't count my calories and I don't cut out particular foods but after a year of "dieting", I have a pretty good idea of how much I should eat in a day. And knowing I can eat all my "favorites" on the weekend helps.

This actually brings me to another point. I spent a full year getting to the point I am currently at. I didn't use "magic" diet pills or shakes. I watched what I ate and exercised. And yes, it was frustrating at times to see how slow the weight came off, but eventually, it DID come off. And knowing how long and hard I had worked makes it a lot easier to want to stick to it. And as I just mentioned, watching my intake for that long taught me what my portions really should be like.

Another thing that I can think of was reversing my daily eating habits. I used to eat very little in the morning and then a lot at night. There were two problems with this. I would be so hungry at night that I would eat everything in sight. Couple that with going to sleep on a full stomach, and the weight loss thing wasn't going well. When I switched that around, and ate the bulk of my food in the morning and early afternoon, I wasn't as hungry at night and had time during the day to burn off what I did eat.

Finally, one thing that I know has helped me keep the weight off is to continue with regular weigh ins. I actually weigh myself before breakfast every day. That may seem a bit excessive but it has really helped me to cut back on my eating before my "official" Saturday weigh in. I don't get to Saturday (or a month later for that matter) and realize I totally screwed up and have to work my butt off to take of the pounds that I added. This way, it is always under a pound when I do go over and that is much more manageable.

Well, that ended up being a lot more of a post that I had originally intended! I guess what most of this really boils down to is that during the course of the weight loss, I made a lot of lifestyle changes that have, in turn, helped me to KEEP the weight off.

Just for the health of it...

Tomorrow marks the end of the competition with hubby. I did....awesome...but sucked. How does that work? I didn't go over my goal weight once, which I am VERY proud of. That is five months of maintaining my weight. That is the awesome part. However, I have not been eating right, nor have I exercised AT ALL. That is the bad part!

I have decided that I need to get back to exercising and eating right, "just for the health of it." My body doesn't feel like it did five months ago. I feel like crap. I am definitely bigger than I was even though the scale doesn't show it. But I have gone from very toned and in shape, to very NOT toned OR in shape!

I just don't know how to get the mentality to do it for health. I want to feel better, but I literally hate to exercise. I like how my body feels when I do exercise, but I absolutely hate doing it! People say to find something you like and then you will enjoy it. I have yet to find an activity that I thoroughly enjoy. My other issue is the time thing. I feel like I don't have a minute to breathe as it is. Taking out another (minimum) 30 minutes from my day...

Okay, enough complaining for now. I need to celebrate the positives and just work on the other stuff. I'll keep you posted...

Um...just kidding?

I'm thinking my little challenge may be dead in the water before I even start! I was thinking more along the lines of giving up sweets, treats, you know, the stuff I really don't need to eat. This was initially triggered by a friend of mine who went sugar free and lost 30 pounds. She didn't change anything else, just dropped the sugar. My challenge wasn't so much for the weight loss. It was more just to be able to know that I could go a week without sugar.

I now know why she lost 30 pounds! I decided to do an inventory last night of what I can eat that is in my house. EVERYTHING has sugar in it - spaghetti sauce, chili, some soups, breads, crackers, yogurt, tortilla shells. I cannot believe how many things have sugar added! So basically, she is losing weight because she pretty much can't eat anything!

I am now categorizing this "challenge" in the fad diet category. And you know how I feel about fad diets! I may still do a day or two just so I can say I did it but it won't last a full week! I don't want to get the week over with and binge on everything in sight! I may continue with a modified version (kind of like the one I had originally envisioned) but we'll see...

A new challenge

Wow! It's been a while since I last posted! Things have been going pretty well. I still haven't gone over my "target" weight. That means that other than one week in early January, I have maintained my weight loss for 5 months now! I am shocked! I am finally getting to the point where I feel comfortable buying clothing in my size. I was too worried about putting the weight back on (like I have in the past) to invest too much. I have been doing a lot of thinking about the "why" I have been able to keep the weight off and that is a post to come!

For now, I have decided to give myself a challenge. I am going to go sugar free for one week. I have read a lot about how removing sugar from the diet can make a huge difference in the way you feel. I should probably do it longer but we'll see how a week goes!

My timing probably isn't the best. One of my boys has a birthday this week which means cake and ice cream galore. Then again, maybe this is perfect timing! I just decided that if I am going to do it, I need to just do it! So June 2 through June 8 = no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, nada. (I will still eat fruit even though it does have natural sugars). This should be interesting!

My body sucks!

I am really irritated with my body right now. Okay, really, I am irritated with the choices I am making right now but it is easier to blame on my body! I just wish I could be one of those people who can eat whatever they want, whenever they want and not gain weight. I really don't like people like that right now!

I am finally STARTING to come to grips with the FACT that for me watching what I eat is going to have to be a lifelong project. I can't just skim by and hope to stay the same size I am now. My last post talked about how I had been eating. That was working...sort of. I was maintaining, but not by much. So I decided to go back to full diet mode for a couple of weeks just to get things back on track. I did really well and lost 2 1/2 pounds. I was very excited and decided it would be okay to "drift" for a while. As of today (6 days after the 2.5 pound loss weigh in) I have gained 4 pounds!

How is that even possible?! It takes two weeks of watching every piece of food that goes into my mouth to lose 2.5 pounds, but 6 days of not watching to double it back? UGH!!

Can you tell I am frustrated right now? I just want to eat! BUT I AM REFUSE TO GO BACK TO WHERE I WAS!! IT WON'T HAPPEN!

Alterations

We just went and had family pictures done. I am a freak about family pictures and had to make sure everyone's outfits coordinated. I used an old skirt for myself and bought a new shirt to match. I bought my hubby a shirt and tie (yes we did formal pics) to match my skirt. The kids were all coordinated. One problem! The skirt literally fell off of me! So I decided to pull out the trusty old sewing machine and a do a little altering. I never measured my waist before I started this journey (or even now for that matter) so I really had no clue how many inches I had lost around my waist. Well, I measured what I took off the skirt and it was 7 inches! I was pretty excited! I don't know if that is a lot but it seemed like a lot to me.

I have also made some alterations to my diet. I am not, by any means, advocating this method of eating, BUT, it seems to be working for me (though this weekend might tell a different tale, we'll have to see). After all the dieting, I just couldn't count calories/points anymore. But I knew that doing nothing wasn't the answer because I saw the weight coming right back. I tried intuitive eating, but I think that I need to read the book and know what I am doing before I really get into that one.

So, here is what I HAVE been doing. I actually started doing this accidentally, but it worked, so I have stuck with it for about 6 weeks now. Saturday through Tuesday are "free" days. I don't watch what I eat. I usually put on a couple of pounds. Then Wednesday and Thursday, I cut back a bit on my free eating. And Friday is full on diet mode. I have a "threshold" weight of 136.6 that I want to stay under (that was my second to last weigh in on my last weight loss competition). Saturday is my weigh in day and so far, I haven't gone over that weight once!

Again, I AM NOT advocating this lifestyle. What I would advocate is finding something that works. Experiment. Try different things. But track yourself. That has been the key for me. When I don't track my weight, I balloon. When I do, I see myself getting out of control, and I reign it back in. I have also heard that when you have more muscle vs. fat, your body is able to more effectively utilize calories that you do consume. I really don't think this method would have worked 50 pounds ago. But it has been working to maintain my current weight so I am going to roll with it for a while!

Advice from a Chinese Doctor

I got this in an email and had to repost it!


Gotta love this Doctor. He is truly a medical wizard!

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it... Don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speed up heart not make live longer; that like say you can extend life of car by driving faster. Want live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies.. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. What are these? Vegetables. So, steak nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop can give 100% recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine.. That means they take water out of fruity bit; get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: If you have body and you have fat, ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Cannot think of single one, sorry. My philosophy: No Pain... Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only do sit-ups if want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: You crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Vegetable!!! Cocoa beans best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

AND.....

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health.

It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills You !