Tools I use...clothing

For me, I have three essential pieces of clothing for a good workout - a good sports bra, a headband, and good shoes.

First the bra. Obviously, this one only applies if you are a woman! I have worked out with the cheap sports bras from Walmart. I don't know if I got the wrong size or if they are just crappy, but when I get jumping around, the dang thing slides off! Yeah, that makes for a fun workout! And, I never really felt like it gave me good support anyway! Just because it says sports bra, doesn't really mean it is! So, I went and tried on a few bras. I jumped around, raised my arms in the air (basically, I was doing jumping jacks in the fitting room). But it has made a HUGE difference. I can't get on here though and say, buy this particular bra because I think it varies from person to person. My recommendation would be, TRY THEM ON!!

Okay, now to the headband. This is totally a personal thing, but I HATE having to push my hair out of my face all through a workout. And when you are sweaty and jumping around, the hair has a tendency to stick to your face...yeah, not fun. So I highly recommend a good "stay in place" head band.

Finally, a good pair of shoes is a must. I should have put this one first because I really think this is the most important. When I first started working out, I had a good pair of shoes, but they were walking shoes. They weren't designed for aerobics. I got horrible shin splints at first. After those went away, I would find that my legs were completely spent about 3/4 of the way through my workout. I was given a gift card so I went and bought some GOOD shoes specifically designed for aerobics and I cannot believe the difference they made! It was amazing! I was able to get all the way through my workout with legs that were less tired than half way through my workout with the old shoes! So get good shoes! Ask the salesperson for help. Make sure you get shoes that are designed for the type of exercise you will be doing. It will take so much stress off your legs and back. You will pay a little more but it is SOOO worth it!!

Tools I Use...Ab Lounge

This little contraption was a life saver for me when I first started this journey! I could not do a crunch, sit up, superman, etc. TO SAVE MY LIFE! Seriously! I had ZERO muscles in my stomach. I had given birth 5 times in 7 years (one six months before I started and one 15 months prior to that). I felt like the biggest doof! I didn't know what to do because I knew I wasn't going to build any muscles if I wasn't using them...

So I decided to give the Ab Lounge a try. When the ab portion of the video came on, I would let it play and use my Ab Lounge while the ab part played. At first I would just leave the exercise video playing and use the Ab Lounge for the duration of the ab portion. As I progressed, I would pause the video and use the Ab Lounge a little longer. Now, I can do all the crunches, sit ups, etc. on my own but I attribute a lot of that to this little machine! I don't use it anymore but it was definitely great to give me a jumpstart!

On drawback to the Ab Lounge is that it does have a 250 pound weight limit. There are other machines out there that I assume would serve a similar purpose (for example - Ab Rocket) but I am not sure what (if any) their weight limits are.

I paid around $100 for mine but the cheapest I could find was on Walmart.com for $77.

Tools I Use...George Foreman Grill

I LOVE this thing for dieting! I have seen these advertised before but never bought one because I figured it would just be another appliance that would sit on my counter, take up space, and never get used. My husband mentioned that he would like to have one and a couple of days later, my sister called to see if I would want hers because she was getting rid of it. I said sure, thinking I probably wouldn't use it much but at least I wouldn't be spending the money on something I wouldn't use.

We literally use this a least every other day. Some days it gets used several times during the day! It makes it so easy and QUICK to cook up a chicken breast (very good for diets). I have used different types of seasoning on the chicken and everything has turned out great. When I do cook beef, it drains off all the extra fat instead of having the meat sitting in the grease as it cooks. We have found that it is VERY versatile. We have cooked fries (so no oil), squash slices (very YUMMY), burritos, breaded chicken, regular chicken, hamburgers, steaks, grilled sandwiches (which can be done without the added calories of putting butter on the bread).

I always hated cooking up a chicken breast for myself because of all the work and time. With this grill, I just throw it on the grill for five minutes and I have a nice evenly cooked chicken breast. I have even thrown them on slightly frozen and just increased the cook time and still got a perfectly cooked chicken breast.

One complaint I read online was that they are hard to clean because you can't remove the plates. We have found that this isn't necessary. All you have to do is wipe the extra food off with a dry paper towel. The temps on the grill are high enough that there is no need to use soap and water to clean it (in fact the instructions actually recommend not using soap and water). I have never had a problem getting it clean with the paper towels.

I found this one online at Walmart.com for $29 (mine is white but I think it is the same grill). It comes with a drip pan and a spatula designed specifically for this grill. If you will be cooking mostly for yourself, they do have a smaller one for $19.

Tools I use...Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers is definitely the best "diet" plan that I have found. It has taught me how to eat what I already eat but do it in moderation. I like being able to eat what my family is eating. I don't want to have a separate menu every day for me. Even when I did make up my own menus, it was food that my family was already eating. I didn't make up some weird rice paper wrap stuff that I had to choke down every night. I ate what I liked!!

There are several ways to do Weight Watchers. There are meetings that you attend once a week. There is an online version. I used the online version for a month (got a free trial) and loved it. It let me type in my own recipes (which was great for me because I cook a lot of casseroles) and then it would give me the point value per serving. As much as I liked it, I couldn't justify the expense just as I couldn't justify the time and expense of the meetings. So I just purchased the books and the calculator and have done the program on my own. I bought mine directly from Weight Watchers when I had the free trial. I don't know if you can purchase directly from them if you are not a member, BUT you can get just about any of their stuff on EBAY for about the same price.

My friend bought a starter kit on EBAY and the lady she bought it from actually sent a detailed list of instructions on how to use the program, calculate points, calculate the point value of exercise...I actually copied her instructions because I was just kind of winging it! The most basic started kit I could find on EBAY also included a recipe book and a 1 month food journal. The kit I purchased from WW also came with these two items but I have never used them. But I have found that it is cheaper to buy the starter kit than to buy the two books I actually use and the calculator.

The calculator makes it so I can get the point value of any food that I have nutrition information. Unfortunately, meats and fresh fruits and vegetables don't come with preprinted nutrition information. This is where the books (or the cool food scale that I have) come in handy. I don't think I have come across a food yet that isn't listed in the books.

The books obviously don't list casseroles but I just find the point values for each of my ingredients, add them together and then divide by the number of servings. It is a pain to do this the first time around but then I write the point values (and number of servings used to calculate those points) on the recipe and then I always have the point value.

The Dining Out Companion is so-so. It has a lot of restaurants that I have never heard of and doesn't list a lot of my favorites. The restaurants it does have don't have a complete menu listing but I can use it to get an idea of what the point values of some places are. I have found that most national chains will have their nutrition information posted online so I go online before I go out and figure out the point values using my handy dandy calculator. This also helps me make better choices when ordering if I know that I will use up my daily allotment of points eating one six dollar burger!

Using this program has been a real eye opener for me. We still eat our favorite foods but some of them we have switched to only eating on special occasions now that we really know what we are eating!! I would highly recommend Weight Watchers even if you don't have the money to invest in their monthly options. If you purchase from EBAY, make sure you are getting a calculator with your kit. Some have them, some don't. I have found that most complete starter kits are around $60 right now.

Tools I use...food scale

I LOVE this scale. When I first started this whole diet thing, I was using a cheap little one pound scale . It did the job, sort of.


Then my husband did some research and found my Kitrics Digital Nutrition Scale. It comes with 999 foods programmed in (and a book to look them all up). I can program 99 of my own favorite foods. It will let me keep a running total of the nutrition information for everything I eat in a day.

One feature that I love is that I can put my plate on the scale and zero out the weight. Then I can put my meat on, weight it, and zero out the scale again and add my potatoes. With the other scale, I was having to find my lightest container (so it didn't tip the scale) and weigh one item at a time.

Another great thing about this is that I can type in my own foods and then make my own 100 calorie packs. Once the nutrition information is entered in, I just put food on until I reach 100 calories and voila - 100 calorie snack packs!

This scale actually shows calories, calories from fat, carbohydrates, protein, fat, saturated fat, fiber, sugars, cholesterol and sodium so I know the calories, fat and fiber for my Weight Watchers points. (I am starting to feel a bit like a typing infomercial).

We paid $50 on Amazon.com with free shipping but right now it is $45 with free shipping:
http://www.amazon.com/Kitrics-0120-Digital-Nutrition-Scale/dp/B000U67EI0/ref=pd_sbs_hpc_1

Tools I use...body fat scale

I use a weight/fat/water scale when I weigh in. I prefer this type of scale because it shows my weight loss AND my body fat loss. These scales have been proven to not be 100% accurate on the actual amount of body fat but as long as I weigh in at about the same time, it gives me an idea of whether my fat levels are going up or down. I have learned that body fat levels go down during the day, some days by as much as 3% by evening. So if you buy one, keep that in mind. Oh, and if you have a pacemaker, don't buy one. ;D

The scale I use is a TANITA brand. I did a lot of research before I bought one and found this one to have the best reviews and the most consistent/accurate results. TANITA does sale a scale that has the works. It will tell you your weight, body fat, body water, muscle mass, bone mass, metabolic age, calories required to maintain your current weight, visceral fat levels, and physique rating. This was the type of scale used by my hubby's work and I LOVED it but I couldn't justify the expense. So I went with the same brand with the basics.

I bought my scale from Target for $50 on sale but I can't find it on their website so I don't know if they sell them anymore. I did find what I am guessing is the newer version of what I have on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009V1YPK/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=304485901&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000094ZGG&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=101XK4Y09NJAG7NK1910

I have seen a lot of other scales that are weight/fat/water but make sure you read reviews before you purchase them. Some of them seem pretty bad based on the reviews I read before deciding on this one.

Tools I use....a buddy

Lately, I have had several people ask me how I have lost all my weight. So I thought I would do a few posts that tell what I have used (worked or not), where I got them, how much they cost, etc.

My first tool, and in my opinion, the most important one, is some sort of "buddy". I have tried and tried to lose weight on my own and it has NEVER worked. For me, the buddy had to be someone I was accountable to (ie. more than just a friend who was also dieting). I guess maybe I should say "someone to be accountable to" because that is more what I mean, but "buddy" is easier to type!

The first go round, I had my hubby's work as my "buddy". With hubby's work, I knew that I would be weighing in, it would be recorded, and people would know whether or not I lost weight.

Again, for me, it helps if the buddy comes with some sort of reward. The reward with hubby's work was $300 dollars. Yeah, GREAT motivation. If you can get a big group of people together, I would definitely recommend this strategy. Each person chipped in $20. The third place winner got their money back. Second place doubled their money ($40). And the winner gets the rest of the pool. The trick with this one is that everyone has to be willing and able to weigh in at a specific time each week on the same scale in the same location (believe it or not, the floor underneath the scale can make your weight vary by as much as a full pound).

This go round, my buddy is my neighbor. Every Monday, we weigh in at my house. It makes me be accountable. I can't just tell myself that I'll get back on track next week because no one will know because she will know. This blog has also helped with that because I am accountable to whoever may be reading it. I had to throw in a little reward though. The winner gets to go out with their hubby while the other one watches all the kids (there are nine total).

So, if internal motivation is not your thing, find something external. There is nothing wrong with that! I was worried that having the external motivation would make me less likely to keep the weight off. But now that I have lost it (and worked so hard to do it), I am DETERMINED to KEEP IT OFF!!!