Sidetracked

This weekend I was talking to friend of the blog Tim, and we were talking about how easy it is to get sidetracked. (This was my first time seeing him since he has lost his weight and he looked gooooood! You go boyJ) Tim was here visiting his family for the weekend so he was away from his daily life and routine. He talked about the lack of healthy eating options as well as being unable to exercise like he does at home. I really understood where he was coming from because I am so dedicated to my routine that I am not sure how I would keep it up being in a new environment for a long period of time. That worried me a little because I am planning a trip back home to see my family and friends for two weeks in September. The first thing I thought of was all my favorite restaurants at home the second was, how am I going to stay on track. I think that when people are use to us being a certain way it is hard for them to change their perception of us. I also think that when we are around family or friends we have known for a long time it is easy to fall back into being the person they have always known. The fat me, whom I had been for over 6 years, use to go out to eat all the time and loved all things fried, smothered in cheese, frozen or on the rocks, a la mode, and with a plethora of sauce options. However the fit me really enjoys cooking and eating at home, grilled meats, fresh fruits and veggies, water, and let’s keep it real I still love stuff a la mode. Never the less I think that it is important that we remain resolute in our quest for fitness. No matter if we are faced with that friend that we have bonded with over a love for all foods Mexican, or a mother that can fry some fish with a side of spaghetti and 2 pieces of garlic Texas toast so good that you want to slap her. We must do two things, one make sure they understand the importance of this journey that we are on. Maybe they will support you, join you on this journey, or at least add something green to the menu. The second is not to revert back to the way you were before. It’s ok to go out to eat with your friends but you just can’t order the same thing you use to. Most restaurants have healthy meal options and some have special parts of the menu where all the foods are under a certain number of calories. Also something Tim said that rang true was yes it is OK to eat what you want but you cannot eat what you want at every meal. So you CAN fix yourself a plate with a piece of fried fish a bit of spaghetti and one slice of garlic toast, but you must remember that plate when you work out so you can burn those calories. Fit is a lifestyle not a destination so you can’t deprive yourself of all the things you like. But unless you LIKE being fat you better learn when to say no and when it’s ok to say yes.

Friday

I know it is late but I was out of town so I didn't get to post the Friday shout out and weight loss blog. As a matter of fact I am writing this post on my phone while I am on the go. Anyway I would like to Shout out Randy because he has past the 30lb mark. He has lost over 30lbs and is still going so congrats to him for that! I have had a long week and I know I haven't blogged since Monday and I haven't worked out since Monday either. I was able however to eat right and stay within my 1200 calories. So I got on the scale Friday morning and it said 160.6. Oh Yeah yeah yeah! That means I lost 2lbs in the past week and I only worked out once. I love that! It just goes to show you that you don't have to spend hours at the gym to drop the pounds. Just get a handle on your eating, make sure you eat right and that you take in the right amount of calories. I will however be back out on it working out today if I can find the time because I did miss it. It just makes me feel better.

My weekend

I took this weekend off from working out; I didn’t do anything Saturday or Sunday. I usually work out at least once on the weekend but I just couldn’t find the time this weekend. I think it is really important that I don’t go longer than two days without working out because I don’t want it to become easy for me to choose not to do it. Usually when I miss a day during the week for whatever reason I feel bad and I make sure I make up for it over the weekend and I like that. I just know it was so hard and it took a couple of weeks to make working out a habit so I definitely don’t want to get back to where I was before. So yesterday I got busy and it was after 7:20 pm by the time I went to work out so it was already getting dark. I could have just said no I will just do it tomorrow but I just felt like I had to get out there and do something so I rode the bike for 20 mins so I could get some kind of work out in. I had planned on doing 30 mins but we live in the country and the street lights are few and far between. After 20 mins I could barely see the house so I just decided to come in. Reflectors are useless when there is no light for them to reflect off of. Anyway I had an exciting weekend I cooked two things that I had never made before. Saturday for dinner I made some Eggplant parmesan, it came out pretty good. I was really surprised that MH liked it because he only likes what he likes. He very rarely tries new things so just the fact that he tried it was a surprise to me. Then Sunday on the way home from church he asked me to fry some fish. Since I am trying to stay away from fried food I decided that I would fry some for him and bake some for me. However I have never baked fish at home so I went on Foodnetwork.com to see how long to bake it. It was really good also, I put it over some rice with broccoli and I had a great meal with less calories. I think that this lifestyle change just might be easier than I thought.

Size 12

Since I have lost 35 pounds all of my clothes are waaayyy too big. However I have just been wearing my workout clothes instead of buying new ones. After all I can pull the drawstring tight and they fit, and what’s the point of buying clothes in a size I don’t plan on being for long. On the other hand it makes getting ready for church interesting because all my dresses are literally falling off me. Well last Sunday MH got tired of it and said that I had to go and get at least one new dress for church because it was getting ridiculous. So we decided that we would go this past Monday, I was excited but nervous because I was not sure what size I would be. The last dress I bought was a size 18 bridesmaid dress for my friend’s wedding. Needless to say I was not too sad when out trip to the store kept getting pushed back. Finally Friday came and MH, Lil O, and I were out to eat and he said that we could go look for a dress after we finished. So we get to the store (by the way did I mention that I am cheap) and they are having a huge sale plus, card holders get an extra 15% off, for this I am excited. I am looking and looking and I finally find a dress that I like the look and the price but they only have it in a size 12 or a size 18. Well I know I am not a 18, so I decide to try on the 12. I was walking to the dressing room with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach because that room has been like the depths of HELL to me for the past 4 years. I use to go in with hope and come out with lower self esteem, I never liked the way I looked and I usually left whatever I tried on with the dressing room attendant as I walked out of the store. So I went in the dressing room and close the door behind me, turn my back to the mirror and got undressed. I pulled the dress up and put my arms in and zipped it up, IT FITS YEESS!!!!!!! I was so excited and happy and not only does it fit; I liked the way I looked in it and so did MH. Then to make it even better, the discounted price for the dress was $19.99, plus the 30% off sale and the 15% off for having a store card. I got that dress for $9.09 after tax, not bad for a less than $10 dress, right.

Friday

Happy Friday to all! This week we have 3 Shouts outs. The first is Ella, for the past week she has been weight training with her new trainer.  She has lost 1 pound and gained a lot of pain, soreness, and some muscle so it’s worth it. The next Shout out is for our friend Randy, he is on a roll and has lost 3.3 more pounds. Last but definitely not least in my eyes we have our final Shout out for the day MH. I started making the cinnamon concoction for him and he has been drinking it since Sunday. He has lost a little more than 4 pounds in the past 6 days and he is only 8 pounds away from his primary goal. So I want to say congratulations to all of our Shout out recipients for all the changes they are making and their commitment to the fit cause. As for me I now weigh 162.4 pounds which means that I have lost 3.2 pound since last Friday. I am really excited about my progress and I hope to be out of the 160’s and into the 150’s in the next two weeks. Once I get to 157, I plan on taking another picture since that will bring me a total loss of 40 pounds.

Wednesday‘s Wisdom

I have decided that every Wednesday I am going to give little nuggets of wisdom that I find on weight loss. After all someone should benefit from all this seemingly useless information. While watching Dr. Oz the other day I heard that there is a correlation between obesity especially belly fat and sleep deprivation. That made me want to know more so I went online and found out more. The recommended amount of sleep that you should get every night is 7 to 8 hours. If you get 6 hours of sleep a night you are 20% more likely to be obese. With 5 hours you have a 50% chance of being obese, and with 4 hours or less you have a 70% chance. This is because of a hormone Grehlin and a protein Leptin. A reduction in sleep increases Grehlin which basically makes you want to eat more food. Leptin and Grehlin go hand in hand because Leptin suppresses you appetite. However when the levels are low it increases your appetite and creates a phony hunger which is not related to a real need for food. So when you are staying up late at night and not getting enough sleep, it can not only make you want to eat late at night while you are up but it can also make you eat more during the day as well. It is also very interesting to me the amount of calories you can burn while doing everyday things. I don’t know who all has twitter but a week or so ago I twitted something else I found out on Dr. Oz. 30 mins of sex burns 85 calories, now I know that 30 mins of kissing burns 36 calories. Sooo……. You do the math. Below are more everyday things I found.

·         Pushing a cart up and down the supermarket aisles for an hour will burn 243 calories

·          Dentists recommend brushing your teeth for at least two minutes. In that time, you'll burn 5.7 calories.

·         Burn 76.5 calories with 30 minutes of ironing

·         30 minutes of folding clothes will burn 72 calories.

·         One hour of pushing the lawn mower around the yard burns 324 calories. (a riding mower doesn’t count)

·         Three hours of playing cards burns 351 calories but don't load up on high-calorie chips and dip

·         You'll burn 74 calories during the 30 minutes you spend preparing dinner.

·          Every hour of moving furniture burns 504 calories. Trust I will be using this as a pro when I ask you all to help me move

·          Moving a broom back and forth for ten minutes will burn 28 calories. 20 minutes of vacuuming will burn 56 calories. I guess I am going to have to start doing floors

·         20 minutes of washing the car will burn 102 calories.

What would do for a Steak?

If you are on My Fitness Pal you know that it gives you a certain amount of calories that you can consume a day. Well mine is 1200, plus however many I burn off by exercising that day. Well Saturday MH, Lil O and I all went to McDonalds for lunch. (It was Lil O’s idea because since I have been trying to lose weight I hate McDonalds. They never have any good food that is low in calories, you know how I feel about wraps and their salads are not good at all.) So I got a grilled chicken sandwich and fries because they don’t substitute a side salad like Wendy’s does. I ate the sandwich but I couldn’t drink the drink because I couldn’t afford the extra calories. (Yes sodas and juices do have calories)  I only ate half the fries because if I would have eaten them all I would have had less than 100 calories left for the day. To top things off I was still a little hungry after I ate because since I have been working out my metabolism has increased and it takes quite a bit just to get me satisfied. This is why I try to find foods that are low in calories, so I can eat enough to satisfy me. Another trick I have is taking my own bottle of water in my purse when we go out to eat because I don’t enjoy tap water. Some places either don’t have bottled water or they will not let you substitute bottled water for the drink that comes with your meal. Anyway back to the subject at hand, needless to say after we left there I was trying to think of what I could eat for dinner since I only had about 130 calories left for the day. I had decided that I could eat some raw spinach topped with some 90 calorie tuna and I would be fine because together that would be 110 calories. Then later that day my father in law tells us that he is going to grill some steaks and asks if we want some. I love a good steak and trust me my father in law can make a good steak. I look on my fitness pal to see how many calories are in a homemade grilled ribeye and I find out it is about 350.  So now I am scrambling trying to figure out how I am going to eat this steak with only 130 calories left for the day. Then I think, I can ride the bike 5 miles in 30 mins and that should give me enough calories. So I hopped on the bike not TD (he still has a flat) but the other one and I ride almost 6 miles in a little less than 30 mins which burns about 250 calories. I was so happy; I didn’t even take a shower after my ride because within mins of walking in the door the steaks were ready. I fixed my plate just steak no sides, I really didn’t have enough calories for them and I didn’t need them anyway. I sat down to eat and as I took the first bite of that steak I realized that it had all been worth it.

What is Attractive

 I think we all have this image of how we would like to look. Whether it is like a certain famous person or the way we looked before we gained the weight. We have this image in our minds and we think about how great our life will be if or when we look like that. We think about all the perks that come along with being that person. I know that one of those perks is being attractive to our mates and or other people. But I think we sometimes forget that how we carry ourselves and how we feel about ourselves can make us attractive or unattractive as well. The other night MH told me that he finds me more attractive now that I have lost the weight. After he said that I didn’t know how to react so I just sat there quietly as he continued. He then went on to explain why that is. I know that the slimmed down physique has something to do with it, but he said that it was because I am more confident. He also said that he can tell that I am more comfortable with my body. Also I am not always trying to hide my body by covering myself up when he comes in the room or getting dressed in the bathroom. Because of all that I respond to and interact with him differently and he likes the confident and comfortable me. The reason I would do all that was because I was afraid that he would not find me attractive if he saw how big I was and how I looked with no clothes on. Before I became that fat chick I was super flirty with my husband and I was really free with him. I teased and talked to him in a way that I could only do if I felt confident and comfortable within myself. By no longer being that person, because I was afraid of him not thinking I was attractive I made him un-attracted to me. I just felt that the only way he would find me attractive was if I looked the way I did before and that I had to get back to that person. We can’t wait until we become that person to be comfortable or happy with ourselves. We have to find a way to be happy and comfortable with the person we are right now. I said happy and comfortable not satisfied, it’s ok not to be satisfied with how you look or feel. It’s ok to want to change something, be thinner, healthier, more muscular, and even fit. Because not being satisfied can be what it takes for us to make that change to become the person we want to be. But remember becoming that person does not guarantee happiness; you have to find that for yourself.

FRIDAY

We are blessed to see another Friday! This Friday I have an extra special shout out, TIM! This morning follower Randy sent me a message telling me that I should do a Shout Out about our friend Tim.  He went on to tell me that Tim has been putting up some amazing weight loss numbers. So I contacted Tim and he said that he would be honored to be today’s Shout out. The reason Tim decided to start out on this journey was so he could set an example for his family. He also told me that he wanted to lose weight so that he could feel better about himself. So far he has lost 60lbs which blows me away, that is GREAT. His goal is to lose 100lbs by the end of the year, but he has a stretch goal of 120lbs. So we are optimistically cheering for that 120! He is working very hard to get in shape and as we all know it is a war between who we are and who we want to be. But everyday he chooses to work out and/or eat right he has won that battle. I love what he is doing and I am very proud of him. Hopefully he will become a follower of the blog but I told him to keep me posted and I promise that I will keep all of you posted with his progress. I appreciate every single one of my followers because we all keep each other motivated. Weigh In: As you all know last week I had gained 2lbs and I didn’t have a good week. As I said on Monday, the fat chick won that battle. However I am happy to say that this morning when I got on the scale I was 165.6, so now I am back on the right track. This fit chick is back on top! I also want to thank Ella for calling me out on My Fitness Pal about not logging my food and my work outs. It really helps me to know that I am being held accountable. So this week I have been logging my food and my work outs and as you can see it makes a difference. When I log I am aware of the amount of calories I take in and I am more likely to eat the right quantity. So I am going to keep making the right choices so that I can get the best outcome. GO TEAM FIT CHICK/DUDE!

The BFH strikes again

I have been riding the BFH for a while now, so I decided maybe it’s not as bad as I had thought, maybe we just got off on the wrong peddle. I have ridden it 10 miles once or twice and 6 to 8 miles many times. So I was really considering giving it a new nick name because it seemed to no longer be evil. However I now know that this was just a malicious ploy set up by this despicable bicycle to lull me into a false sense of security. I have been trying to change up my exercise routine, so I decided that some days I would run/walk and other days I would ride the BFH. It had been going fine until … I got on the BFH and I decided that I would do 10 miles again because I felt so good after the last time I did it. So I start peddling and I am listening to Pandora, singing along with some song on my Donald Lawrence station, and tracking my workout on Noom. Then I hear my update from Noom, one mile 6 mins, I am feeling good. The next updates 2 miles 12 mins, 3 miles 18 mins and I am waving to the people as I pass them by. Four miles 24 mins, it’s getting a little harder but I know I can do this because I have done it before. But man why is it so hard to peddle, this is crazy I have never had this hard of a time. Something must be wrong. So I get off the bike to see what is going on and I see that this BFH has gotten a Flat on the back tire and I know I didn’t run over anything. I am now on some back road with no shoulder and I have to walk that bike all the way home. Needless to say I was not happy. As I am walking I try not to get too mad at the bike and just leave it on the side of the road, but it is tough. Then I hear on Noom 5 miles 40 mins, I took  my phone out and I wanted to throw it but cooler heads prevailed and I just turned Noom off and walked the rest of the way home in silence. For this reason I have decided to stick with the idea about giving the bike a new nick name. Not because it is so wonderful, but rather because it is more evil than I ever knew possible. So from now on that bike will now be known as The Devil. (TD for short)

BAD

The fat and fit sides of me are fighting a continuous war. The battle from this past week was definitely won by that Fat chick. I didn't want to exercise or blog for that matter and all the food I was craving were the worse foods for me. All I wanted to do was lie around all day. I have just been in a bad place for the past week and I have really been feeling guilty, but I just wasn't doing anything about it. I knew that I should be tracking my food on my fitness pal and that I should be outside running/walking/riding the BFH,  but I just wasn't. It really reminded me of all those years when I was 197lbs and I knew I wanted to lose weight and I was unhappy being fat but for years I never did anything about it. That is exactly where I was this past week. I let the three days we had of the extreme heat warning not only keep me from working out outside but just keep me from working out at all. My mind was just not in the right place, because of the excuses I had for not working out I gained another pound, I was 167.2 this morning. Nevertheless like I said this is a war and one battle lost is not going to make me give up. I prayed this morning and asked God to give me the desire I had before and the strength to get up and do what I know needs to be done. Then I rallied that fit chick and let her know that I will not be content with 30 lbs when I have 30 more to go. We will not lose this war, we are the champions and that Fat chick better pack her saddlebags because she has been given notice. She is no longer on my lease and she is not invited to my 30's so she has got to go. Viva la FIT Chick!

Friday!

I need to give a BIG shout out to Randy. He has lost an additional 4.3 lbs which gives him a total of 26.2 lbs lost. WAY TO GO Randy!!!! Also our friend LaToya has lost 3lbs this week; I guess that elliptical machine is really working. Keep up the GREAT work you guys and to all of you who are seeing and feeling progress Congratulations. I know that this journey is a choice that you have to make every day you get up, to work out or choose a salad over a burger and I want you to know that I am so proud of each and every one of you guys. You don’t know how often I think about the people that read this blog when I don’t feel like getting out there or I am tired and it keeps me going so thanks for your support. Now because of my visitor this week I am a little bloated. When I weighed myself Monday I was 169lbs and this morning I had gone back down but not all the way, this morning I was 166.2 lbs. Hopefully the rest of the bloat will go away tomorrow or Sunday and I will let you know where I stand then. If I missed you on Shout outs this week, email me or facebook or twitter me and I will make sure I get your shout out on the blog. Thanks everyone and enjoy your weekend.

Wiggle, Jiggle, and ride-up

No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth nor did I give up on my journey. I did however have a cohort accompanying me for the past few days which made it impossible for me to have the desire to get up and do anything. I still found the strength to do a little Hip Hop Abs on Saturday and as usual I took Sunday as my day of rest. Tuesday I just did some resistance training, upper and lower body because we are under an extreme heat warning, and they advised against working and exercising outdoors until today at 7pm. Yesterday coming back from Kroger at 4:50 it was still over 100 degrees outside and at almost 8pm it was still about 95 degrees. Monday was a nice day so I decided to make that my first day to really do 4 miles for my walk/run. It was going well, however when I started to run I felt some drag behind me. That is when I realized that in spite of the fact that I have lost 30 lbs my butt still wiggles when I run. I don’t think I noticed it before because so much other stuff was wiggling as well.  Running with a wiggly butt is like running dragging someone behind you that is holding on to both of your cheeks. I usually walk after I run and as I walk I try to keep up a good pace, like marathon power walking, arms pumping, stomach sucked in, and legs moving as fast as I can. I don’t know if it was because I had just started to notice the wiggle but all of a sudden the jiggle of my thighs became very evident to me. I normally ware yoga pants when I work out and maybe I get better support in those pants, but I wore some basketball shorts instead on Monday. (I needed to wash) Well anyone who has thick thighs know that certain types of shorts are not for us. I was power walking along listening to my Donald Lawrence Pandora station when my shorts started dancing to the music also but instead of moving side to side they were riding up the center of my thighs. I hate having to pull my shorts down every ½ mile or so, I felt like that guy on the commercial, “I’m tired of my thighs rubbing together” So from now until I get to 138 I will be sticking to my yoga pants, hopefully that will cut down on the wiggle, the jiggle, and the riding up.