Rethinking my way of thinking....

So I did this whole weight loss thing "naturally", you know, no pills, shakes, etc. I made "sustainable lifestyle changes" to get the weight off. Right? Well....now I'm thinking...not so much. I still eat most of the same foods, just in smaller quantities. I did make some ingredient substitutions (ie., low fat, reduced calorie, etc) and cut out some really bad stuff (like almost all of our fried favorites), BUT for the most part, the foods are still the same.

And it is starting to bite me in the butt! I don't want to cut quantities any more. The food is there and I just want to eat whatever I want! That doesn't work well for weight loss (or maintenance). Yup, still struggling....

I've been thinking a lot lately about the need for me (and my family) to really change the way we eat. We need to cut the complex carbs WAY down and WAY increase the fruits, vegetables and whole grains. When I think about it, it seems simple. Trying to put it into practice is a completely different ball game!

We have a huge food storage FULL of the crappy foods that I am talking about eliminating. Not to mention the fact that those foods have a better shelf life anyway making them more practical for food storage. It also makes it easier on the budget because when that stuff goes on a really good sale, I can buy 6+ months worth of it. It is a little harder to buy 6 months worth of fresh fruits and veggies!

I know, freeze it, can it. I have issues with freezing. One problem is the space. I don't have 50 cubic feet of freezer space. In fact, my freezer space is quite limited. I also have issues with freezing because what happens if the power goes out in the middle of summer? Yeah, my aunt (who has two full sized freezers) had that happen to her and had to throw out ALL that food!

Canning....BLAH! I know, stop whining and do it.

My other major issue is the kids. I have five kids ages 2 to 9 who have become accustomed to eating like crap. That's not exactly something that can be changed overnight. "Hey kids, I know you're used to eating Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes for breakfast every morning but from now on, we'll be eating tofu and muesli. Ummmm....yeah.

I have been taking baby steps but I get frustrated with baby steps. I know that baby steps are steps and I just need to keep plugging along. I wish I could just throw everything out and start over but from a budget standpoint, that would be suicidal!

Anyway, enough with the whining.

I made a list of vegetables and put an "x" (* means we tried it since making this list) by all the ones we as a family have tried at one point or another. This list isn't comprehensive. I took off all the herbs, beans, and anything that brought up a photography website when I googled it (that really happened BTW). I was actually surprised at how many we had tried. Let me emphasize "TRIED". We don't by any means eat all of the "x"-ed ones on a regular basis.

So our new baby step is to try everything on this list! Wish us luck!

Artichokes
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocado	x
Beets	x
Beets, Yellow
Bok Choy
Broccoflower	x
Broccoli	x
Brussel Sprouts	x
Butter Beans
Cabbage, Green	x
Cabbage, Purple
Cabbage, Red
Carrots	x
Carrots, Purple
Cauliflower	x
Celery	x
Chard
Corn	x
Corn, White	x
Cucumber	x
Eggplant
Endive
Escarole
Fennel
Green Beans	x
Greens, Collard
Greens, Leafy	x
Greens, Mustard
Jerusalem Artichoke	x
Jicama
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce	x
Mushrooms	x
Okra	x
Onion	x
Onion, Green	x
Onions, Red	x
Onions, White	x
Onions, Yellow	x
Parsnips	x
Peas	x
Peas, Pod	x
Peas, Snow	x
Peas, Sugar Snap	x
Pepper, Green Bell	x
Pepper, Orange Bell	x
Peppers, Chili	x
Peppers, Hot	x
Peppers, Red Bell	x
Peppers, Sweet	x
Peppers, Yellow Bell	x
Potatoes, Purple	x
Potatoes, Red	x
Potatoes, Sweet	x
Potatoes, Yellow	x
Pumpkin	x
Radicchio
Radish	x
Rhubarb
Rutabagas
Sauerkraut
Shallots	x
Spinach	x
Squash, Acorn	x
Squash, Ambercup	x
Squash, Autumn Cup
Squash, Banana	x
Squash, Butternut	x
Squash, Carnival	x
Squash, Chayote
Squash, Crook Neck	x
Squash, Delicata
Squash, Fairytale Pumpkin
Squash, Gold Nugget
Squash, Hubbard	x
Squash, Kabocha
Squash, Pattypan	x
Squash, Spaghetti	x
Squash, Sweet Dumpling
Squash, Turban
Squash, Yellow	x
Tomatillo	x
Tomatoes	x
Tomatoes, Cherry	x
Tomatoes, Grape	x
Tomatoes, Pear	x
Turnips	x
Watercress	x
Yams	x
Zucchini	x

Well...I did it...

Can you sense the excitement oozing from me? Okay, it's probably harder on a blog to sense my sarcasm. But if I was really, truly excited, that title would have looked something more like "WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And it would have come seconds (instead of almost a full week) after my weigh in.

But you'll notice, it didn't. Because while I did make it one full year with my Saturday weigh ins being at or under 136.6, my "celebration" was....well....pathetic! To celebrate, I went out to lunch, at over a dozen cookies, and had a milkshake...ALL IN ONE AFTERNOON! Hello! Did I learn nothing! And the rest of this week hasn't been much better! According to the scale this morning, I have gained...are you ready for this?.....THREE pounds in less than a week. Awesome. Pure. Awesomeness.

I even decided at the beginning of the week that I needed to go back into full on diet mode to get things back on track. The first day, I lasted until dinner. The second day, I lasted until lunch. The third day, I lasted until I woke up!

I think I have decided my eating on the weekends and watching it during the week is really biting me in the butt. It's kind of like someone trying to quit smoking. "I'll quit smoking, but just smoke on the weekends." Yeah, let me know how that goes for ya.

And while I have made some good strides in the eating healthier department, I know I still have TONS of room for improvement! Most of what I have done is modified ingredients to be lower calorie/fat and decreased portion size but I am still eating a lot of the same foods I did before. I won't say that was a necessarily a bad thing though. For me, it worked to get the weight off, and it worked for a year to keep it off.

But now, I need to get serious. My husband wants to lose weight. He has lost weight before but then puts it right back on. I am not feeding my kids healthy foods. I was at the grocery store the other day and as I passed through the produce section, it hit me like a ton of bricks that my kids probably couldn't tell you what even half of the produce even is! That is scary!

So we need to make some big changes. We need to eat healthier so I can teach my kids how to eat healthier, so my husband can take the weight off and keep it off, and so I can keep my weight off naturally (without relying on the scale to tell me what and when I can and cannot eat).

I'll have to keep you posted on how we do it. I know it is going to take some research and some major changes.

Step 1 (baby steps): I have signed up for a food coop in our community. Each week, I can go pick up a basket (or two, we'll see) of 6 different fruits and 6 different vegetables. Some will be familiar but some will be new. It will be fun to incorporate this into our diet! I am hoping that we enjoy it and eat it enough that soon we will be buying two baskets every week!

Here's to some major changes....a little at a time!

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.

I'm back

It has been too long since I have updated this! I couldn't remember the password!

Well, I have been doing so-so. I have gained one more pound since my last post. So I've gained 2 pounds but I haven't been watching my points or exercising. So not horrible!

This goes back to why I did things the way I did them though. Even though I haven't been "counting" what I have been eating, I made some habit changes that have helped me make better choices in the amounts and types of foods that I am eating. I know my results would have been WAY different had I used some sort of diet drink, pill, etc. I just don't really get why people use those. They are quick and easy but THEY DON'T LAST - unless you want to take them for the rest of your life! The only advantage I can see to them is if a person is WAY overweight and needs to take some weight off quickly so they can get more mobile.

I have felt TONS different though not exercising. I had a lot more energy and motivation to get other things done. You would think it would be opposite. Exercising makes you tired so you have less energy...

I'll admit, at first, that was the case. But after a couple of weeks of exercising I noticed lots more energy. Now that I haven't exercised for over a month, I am back to dragging around tired most of the time. It is hard to get back into that routine though!

Each summer, our school district does a M-Th program at the school that is free. In past years, it has been 3 or more miles away. This year, they moved it to a school that is just over a mile from our house. I am way excited. I plan to walk each day which will give me quite a workout every day (carrying one child in a backpack and pushing a stroller with two others). Plus, that will give my two oldest a good workout which I know is also important!

Happy exercising!

Finally back...I hope

We finally gave up the old hard drive and started up with a new one and a new operating system. So now I should be back. I decided I needed to continue this blog because it gives me some accountability, even if it is only to a couple of people. There is a whole world out there that can theoretically access this blog!

I had all sorts of wonderful and profound things to say. I kept telling myself that I should log my thoughts in Word or something and then copy it onto the blog but I was sure I would remember everything I wanted to say. But now I can't remember anything! I guess it really wouldn't have done me much good anyway because I wouldn't be able to access anything that I saved on the old hard drive!

Anyway, Thursday (a week ago today) was my final weigh in. I didn't eat breakfast that day so I went a little overboard when I did eat because I figured I have half a day worth of points to make up! Really though, I did pretty good. My husband and I had decided to go out to dinner. He wanted to go to a local burger joint but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I stopped at Wendy's and picked up my Chicken Ceasar salad. I was so glad that I did. When I picked up his dinner, everything seemed to be soaked in grease - yuck! I did splurge and ate the croutons and about a teaspoon of dressing.

Friday and Saturday went well. My biggest worry was not having any motivation to exercise. But I exercised both days. That was one HUGE advantage to having close competition and working at it for a full three months. I worked my butt off I didn't want all my hard work to go out the window! Another good reason not to do the "magic pill, drink, etc." diets. You don't have to work for it so where is the motivation to keep it off?

Sunday was bad. We had a lot of treats around the house and I went nuts! But I have done very well since then.

I have been experimenting with my points. I didn't want to mess with it during the competition because I was worried about gaining weight. But I think there really is something to not eating enough when you add exercise to your weight loss routine. I upped myself by three points a day and didn't do well Thursday AND choked on Sunday. I only gained .4 pounds (I think, I can't actually check my spreadsheet - it's on the old hard drive). I did gain a percent of body fat but not we have found that not eating breakfast (which I did on the final weigh in) can lower your body fat.

I guess that's all for now. I am trying to catch up on tons of online stuff right now so my time is a little limited!

Weight loss

I have heard it said...or read it written...or something like that - "An unwritten goal is merely a wish. So I have decided to "write" down my goals and keep a log of how I am doing on them. I am not doing this for anyone to read. It is just for me. But having it written and public will hopefully motivate me to take myself seriously for once.

This is my year to get ME back. I used to be a very organized, clean, detail oriented person who spent some time (not a lot, but enough) making herself look decent each day. That was ten years ago.

Now I have five children who are my life but that has come at the expense of me. They come first and foremost. That is something that I do not plan to change. But, I do plan to put a little more time into me instead of putting myself DEAD LAST.

So that is what this blog is for. This year, I plan to get my body back. I weighed in on a super deluxe scale at my husband's work and I was mortified at what I saw!

180 pounds
40 % body fat
metabolic age of at least 50 (that is as high as it goes and I am only 34)
overfat body type

I can't remember all of the figures but those are the ones that stood out to me. That has GOT TO CHANGE!! I joined The Biggest Loser competition at his work with them. I am very grateful that they were gracious enough to let me join despite the fact that I am not employed there. Before I joined, I was gung ho ready to go. I was going to exercise all day, eat right and in very small amounts. I went out and bought "The Biggest Loser" workout video and I was going to push myself to make every move that they did on that video no matter how hard it hurt or how tired I was.

AND I refuse to take diet supplements, metabolic enhancers, diet shakes, etc. because in the long run THEY DON'T WORK. What happens when I stop taking those? Unfortunately, I know from experience that all the weight plus some comes right back!

Then I weighed in and the time came to actually put all of my goals and aspirations into practice. I wasn't as excited anymore. I think the reality of it just hit me. Dang! Now I really have to do this! I think I am too afraid to do it because I have failed too many times in the past. What if I work so hard and starve myself and nothing changes? If I don't try, then I can't fail, right?

So, in comes the hard work.

Day 1. I couldn't do the eating thing. It was too hard. I have eaten too much for too long to just quit. I decided I would start tomorrow. I ate all morning to bulk up for the weigh in anyway. Might as well enjoy the rest of my day. And since I am starting the eating thing tomorrow, I will just start exercising tomorrow. Maybe a dietary supplement wouldn't be so bad afterall...NO I CAN'T DO IT!

Day 2. Did the low impact cardio workout. It dang near kicked my but!! But I did it! I thought I would be way sore the next day. I wasn't. Just tired. I broke down and tried a slimfast shake. It was NASTY. Good thing! Now I won't be tempted to go back down that road.

Day 3. Did the strength and sculpt workout. Okay, I mean I TRIED to do the strength and sculpt workout. I think I only actually did about half of it. Went to a baby shower and ate everything in sight. But I worked out so it's okay, right...

Day 4. Sunday. Can't work out on Sunday right? Did okay with the eating until we went to my aunt's house which is completely stocked with chips, soda, candy bars, candy, etc...

Day 5. Today. I have actually done pretty good today but I feel like I am starving. I am doing Weight Watchers. I am supposed to have 24 points a day based on my weight with 35 weekly points. I decided to split the extra points up and give myself 29 points a day so I don't feel so restricted on a daily basis. And then I gave myself one more extra point for exercising so it's a nice round 30 points per day. I know I won't lose weight as fast that way but if I try to quit eating cold turkey, there is no way on this earth I will stick to it. So today, I have had 9 points and it is almost 2:00! Not bad! I have already exercised. I got both babies down for a nap before my kindergartner came home. So I just had the preschooler and he loves to sit and watch. I think I did a little better today on the workout (I did the cardio today). My coordination was definitely better.

If I win this competition, I have decided to take the money and do a mini make-over.

1. Get a professionally hair style. I have been to a salon once in my entire life because I have had an ugly mole on the back of my head that I was too embarrassed to have anyone see. I had it removed last year so now, I can do this for me!

2. Get back to wearing a little make-up. I'm not big on the cake it on style but a little never hurts.

3. Get some cute clothes! All I have are drab sweats and t-shirts because I feel too fat to wear anything else.