Serving size

I have always talked about calories and how many calories different foods have. However one thing that I have not talked about is serving size. Therefore as promised in an earlier post here it is…I was talking to someone a few weeks ago and they told me they had tried the Special K diet. You know the one where you eat Special K two times a day and then a sensible dinner. But she told me that she didn’t lose any weight, that in fact she had gained some ounces. At first I could not understand it but then she told me that she would make two big bowls of cereal every day. I then asked her if she knew that a serving of Special K was only about 1 cup; she said she didn’t know that. Then the other day I had a 6in sub and I buy the Special K cracker chips to eat with my sandwiches. So MH saw me counting out the chips as I put them on my plate and he said are you really counting your chips. So I said yes these chips are only 110 calories but that is per serving and a serving is like 30 chips. About that time is when he realized that his serving size for a bag of chips was how mine use to be for a pint of ice cream, he’d just eat them until they were gone. I think when I first started to try to lose this weight; serving size was the first thing I noticed on the box after calories. If you are eating something that is 90 calories per serving but you are eating more like 2 or 3 servings that may not be good. Now everyone does not have the same caloric intake requirements so some people may need to have a bigger bowl of cereal than others. Then again caloric intake is not the only reason to pay attention to the suggested serving size. There are other important factors to take into consideration also. For instance sodium, cholesterol, fat, and carbohydrate percentages are also based on serving size. This information could impact you if you have diabetes, high blood pressure and or high cholesterol. So for health and weight loss purposes you should always pay attention to what is considered to be a serving of the foods you eat. Because if you don’t you could be setting yourself up for failure if you’re not failing already.

Hay everyone,
I know I have been MIA again but today is Friday so I guess better late than never. Right now I am blogging from the backseat of the car on bthe way to a football game. Anyway to the shout out for the day. MH has lost 7lbs in the past two weeks. :-D He is doing very good and I am so happy for him. Next is Randy, he has lost 6.8lbs since the last time I gave him a shout out for a total of 41lbs:-D. Way to go guys, y'all are doing a great job. As for me I made it back from down from last week. When I got on the scale this morning it said 155.0. I am so happy to be back down and I am ready to be in the 140's within the next 3 weeks. I feel like the HIIT is really working because I can run faster and further than i could before . The only thing is that i noticed that i need running shoes. The shoes i have now were fine for the walking and light running i was doing before . But now that i am really running i had to go buy new shoes. I got them yesterday and they are cute.

Exciting Day?!

Today was a very exciting day. I am alternating my exercises now, one week I will ride the bike 3 days and run 2 days and the next week I will run 3 days and ride the bike 2 days. I hope that someone (who shall remain nameless) will send me their Zumba for the Wii that they are not using. If or when they do I will add that into my rotation as well. As I was watching Dr. Oz the other day I found out that if you change up your work out you will keep your muscles confused which will burn more fat. Anyway back to the subject, today was a bike day and because MH has been getting home from work so late I have changed my workouts to in the morning while Lil O is still sleep and before MH goes to work. However I was so tired this morning that I couldn’t get out of bed so I only got to do 30 mins but it’s better than nothing right. Now to the exciting part, as I started to ride I wanted to get a good speed going so I stood up on the bike and peddled for 1 min. I know that may not seem like a big deal to you but when I first started riding I could not stand up and peddle at all, not to mention for a whole min. When I was younger I took that for granted and today I was happy I could do it again. Every week something happens to let me know that I am getting farther away from fat and closer to fit. It’s always something small but I notice that I can do something this week that I couldn’t do the week before or even the month before. I never noticed how much my fat kept me from being able to enjoy the little things in life and now that I see what I have been missing I refuse to go back.

Friday

I know I have been MIA but this weekend we are celebrating my father in laws 18^th Pastoral anniversary. Needless to say we have all been doing our part to help out. So that is why I have not blogged since Sunday. I have been exercising though; I don’t want to fall back into that rut of not exercising. Anyway I know what today is and I do have two Shout Outs; the first is for Tiffany she has made it to 153 and we are soooo happy for her. You Go Girl. The next is for MH he has made it to 244lbs which is a big deal. As a matter of fact we had to go shopping last weekend for some new pants because all his are way too big. He is in a size 38 now and he said he doesn’t remember the last time he was in a 38, maybe freshmen year of college. OK now to my part… On Tuesday and Wednesday I was about 155.6lbs and then when I woke up on Thursday I had company, 2 pounds. I ate well all week and I didn’t go over my calories but I am having the bloat issue again. When I got up this morning I was 156.4 which is down over a pound from yesterday but not to where I was on Wednesday. Hopefully I will be back down in the right direction by Monday or Tuesday, I will keep you all posted. Congrats to Tiffany, MH, and all our other fit chicks/dudes for all your progress this week.

HIIT HIIT He!!

Ok so I tried the HIIT cardio which stands for High Intensity Interval Training, that I talked about during this past Wisdom Wednesday. All I have to say is you guys are not my friends. If any one of you were my friend you would have left a comment or in boxed me or something. This is a reminder of what all it entailed:
1.     2-3 Minutes of medium pace running
2.     1-2 minutes of high pace running (push yourself here)
3.     2-3 minutes of fast walking
4.     1 minute of sprinting
5.     2-3 minutes of medium pace running
6.     2-3 minutes of high pace running
7.     2-3 minutes of walking
So my plan was to do it nonstop twice. During the break between the afternoon and the evening games I stretched really good and asked MH to help. I had him come outside and time me so I would know when to stop and so I would not quit. Number 1 I was suppose to run for 2 mins medium pace, ok not so bad. I mean I was breathing hard and I was tired but I did it. Number 2 however, the high pace running. That was murder, I did the 1 min and then my throat started to hurt and I had to take a 2 min break just to catch my breath. At that point MH decided that maybe I should get at least a 1 min break after each running set and then I decided that we should work our way up to the recommended amount of mins. So I told MH that from then on I would do half of the shortest amount of time, ex: if it says to walk fast for 2-3 mins I would walk fast for 1 min. The fast walking was not the problem; the problem was the high pace running and the sprinting. After today I am convinced that the only sprint I want to hear about is Usain Bolt and the cell phone company. I know I said that I was going to try it for 5 days and so I will to see if there is any type of change in my belly. I know that some of you are in better shape than I am so I am going to try it for you. If it works for me than you guys can try it, but if it doesn’t than I will just have killed myself for nothing. (It better work) I also want to see how long it would take me to work my way up to the recommended amount of mins. I mean it has to get easier right? I resolve to keep trying for as long as I can because I want to reach my goal of looking good in a two piece and I also resolve to keep you posted on my progress. Pray for me!

It's Friday again and we have a lot of shout outs this week. First is Ella, she has lost 3lbs this week and is less than 15lbs from her goal. We are so proud of her. She has really been working hard and it is paying off. Next is Randy he has lost 5.4lbs as of my last update. He is very commited and we can see a big change in him. Last is MH, as of this morning he has lost 3lbs this week. He comes home from work and runs everyday. We are extreamely proud of all our shout out recipients . They have really put their heart and soul in this and they are reaping the benefits. Ella sent me this picture so that I can see her progress. Doesn't she look good! Now to may part of the day. I did it I made it to the 40lbs lost mark. This morning when I got on the scale it said I weigh 156lbs. So I not only reached that marker but I surpassed it. I am so happy I really feel like I am on my way. If you would have told me 5 months ago that I would have lost 40lbs, I wouldnt have believed it.

Whatever makes you happy

I have been seeing this commercial which is basically saying don't worry about the size of the jeans but rather about how you look in them. That made me start to think a little. I wanted to be 138 pounds because that is within the weight range THEY say I should be for my height. However I like the way my body is now. I have more energy, I like the way my clothes fit, I feel confident, and not to mention sexy. There are only two things I want to work on my belly and my thighs. I really want to be in a two piece for my birthday even if I am just walking around the house in one. Doing the dishes, dusting, cooking, I know it’s no Caribbean cruise but I bet MH would like it. Now if it takes me loosing 20 more pounds to reach those goals than I will be in the 130's but if it only takes 10 to 15 more pounds than I may end up in the 140's and either one of those is alright with me. I think that we should all be happy and feel good in our bodies. If you feel healthy and good about yourself it doesn’t matter the exact number that is on the scale. A wise woman always tells me “if we were all the same then some of us would not be necessary”. Could you imagine if everyone that is a certain height was the same weight? That would be boring. Especially for me because I like my man tall and filled out in all the right places, nothing against the skinny men but that is just not my type. I know that a lot of men and women out there are the same way. You like what you like and it doesn’t matter what someone says that person should weight you like them the way they are. And that is how you should feel about yourself, if you like the way you are and there is no medical reason for you to lose more weight than don’t. It’s just that simple, you should do and be whatever makes you happy.

Wisdom Wednesday

I know I have been lacking on Wisdom Wednesday but as they say in the MBC charge it to my head and not my heart. However I did want to share this info that I found about Aerobics.  I read an article that stated that Aerobic exercise is the most successful way to burn belly fat. Belly fat is associated with increased risks for heart disease, cancers and diabetes. So besides looking great in a two piece you may be able to prevent certain diseases. Apparently there was a study done for 8 month at Duke University in which they had adults participate in aerobics, weight training or a mixture of both. Aerobic activity had a better benefit in many areas that resistance training had little effect on. That is good news to me because I don’t want to be a body builder I just want to look good in a knee length skirt and a tank. The training programs were demanding but the study stated that the same results could be gotten with moderate activity. According to my research HIIT cardio which stands for High Intensity Interval Training is the best for losing belly fat. An example of HIIT that I got from BurnmybellyFat.com is to do the following:

1. 2-3 Minutes of medium pace running
2. 1-2 minutes of high pace running (push yourself here)
3. 2-3 minutes of fast walking
4. 1 minute of sprinting
5. 2-3 minutes of medium pace running
6. 2-3 minutes of high pace running
7. 2-3 minutes of walking

So just doing the above mentioned will only take at the least 12 mins so you can do it twice plus some light stretching and be done in 30mins. In addition to running; cycling, swimming, jump roping, kickboxing, and walking/hiking are also good ways to burn that belly fat. Starting Sunday I am going to try the above exercise regimen and I will let you know how I feel and if I see or feel any kind of difference in my belly on next Thursdays post. I will measure myself just so it will be accurate.

Gateway Foods

Now don’t go looking up this phrase on Google because it is one that I made up. I got it from the theory of gateway drugs which is the hypothesis that the use of less lethal drugs may lead to a future risk of using more dangerous hard drugs. Now since I am a recovering addict and food is my addiction I deemed it only fitting to equate the two. You see I think that there are some foods that once you eat them they are diet suicide. You feel like oh it’s ok for me to eat this one serving of chips (a blog about serving sizes will soon follow) because I have been good all week and I have the calories. So you eat it and then, it’s another serving of chips, a bag of popcorn, and maybe some other salty snack and before you know it you have blown your calories and your waist line. And you are left there wondering how this binge started. I’ll tell you how it started… With your Gateway Food. The one unhealthy food that if you eat it, it will open the flood gates for all the other unhealthy foods that you love. Hello My Name is Patrice and my gateway food is Snickers candy. (This is where you say Hi Patrice) For years Snickers have satisfied my hunger and I was happy to let it do so. But now that I am on this journey to fit hood I have found that even if I try to reward myself with a mini snickers at the end of a long hard week it just makes me want more and more and more. Then I find myself craving more chocolaty things. Things like cupcakes, chocolate cakes even Italian cream cakes, and then my cravings extend to anything that maybe considered a dessert. Now I know you are wondering how a self proclaimed burger lover has chocolate candy as her gateway food. All I have to say to that is YOU CANT PICK YOUR GATEWAY FOOD. This is something that I have realized after months of being on this journey and looking back at all the times I have tried to lose weight in the past and failed. Every time I failed at a diet that food was the culprit however the difference between those times and this one is that I am committed and I refused to fail. Soooo what is your gateway food?

Friday

It’s Shout out Friday again!!! The first shout out today goes to Randy who has lost 5.4 lbs which gives him a total of 34.2lbs lost. He is doing so well, and he is very consistent with his weight loss. Next is Ella, she only has 3 more pounds to go until she reaches a big milestone in her journey. And as you all know I always save the best for last, and that is MH (I maybe a little biased). He had a setback at the end of last week but he has made up for that setback and is back on the right track. So congrats to all of our Shout out recipients for this week, now to my part of Shout out and Weight loss Friday.  As of this morning I was 159.8 lbs, I didn’t lose a pound I only lost 6 oz but I am happy that I am out of the 160’s. I knew that it was a chance that I wouldn’t lose much this week because MH and Lil O were both sick so I didn’t work out much. I did think that I would at least have lost 1 lb but I guess not since I only worked out two days this week. However now that everyone in the house is feeling better, I am setting a goal for myself. I plan to be 157lbs by next Friday and to do that I have to lose at the least 1.9lbs. I am really ready to reach the 40lbs lost level. That is all I have to say and in response to Ella’s post on Twitter. What do you call a person who loves chicken…….. A chicken chicken head. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that is still funny to me!

Accountability

I was reading an article this morning about how your friends can either help or sabotage your weight loss. The article stated that if your friends share your good intentions that they could be very beneficial to you meeting your goals. However if your friends do not they can really make it impossible for you to succeed. It also stated that if your friends are not like minded maybe you should find someone who is to go through this with. I am not saying ditch all your skinny friends and neither was the article. (Once you reach your goal you will need someone to shop with) But maybe you shouldn’t make your meetings with them centered on eating. Try to find things to do with them that have nothing to do with food. It also reminded me about a conversation I had with FTTB (friend to the blog) Tim earlier in the week about accountability. I think we all need someone who is also on this journey that can relate to us and what we are going through. It doesn’t matter if you meet an exercise buddy at the gym, join weight watchers, or elicit the support of a coworker, family member, or friend. We are all more likely to do what we need to do if someone is watching and holding us accountable. I have heard of people putting money in a pot and whoever loses the most weight by a certain date wins the pot. With Weight watchers you go to meetings and weigh yourself in front of a group.  Some people have co works that they exercise with before, during, or after work and they all make sure the others stick to it. No matter where it comes from it is important that you have support on this journey as well as someone who will say, “Get your thick self up so we can go work out”. Or that will remind you when you are on the verge of a major setback, that you can gain one pound in one meal but it takes burning 3500 calories to lose it again. Also someone who will understand and listen as you rant about  the ice cream cake you had to pitch in on for your coworkers birthday but that you couldn’t get a piece of because it is your gateway food. (Check out Saturdays post for more info on Gateway Foods) That is why I started this blog because I needed a place to express my thoughts, fears, triumphs, and failures. The times that make me laugh and those that make me want to cry. I also feel like if I don’t exercise and I end up gaining weight or not losing any weight, that I than have to go on the internet and tell the readers of my blog what I weigh and why. There have also been occasions where I had not logged my food or exercise on My Fitness Pal for a week and FTTB (friend to the blog) Ella will send me a message and ask me what is going on. That lets me know that someone out there is keeping track of what I am doing and it causes me to make sure I do whatever it is I need to do to reach my goal. This is a journey and it’s no fun travelling alone, so invite someone to go with you.