Christmas Eve & Calorie Shifting

Well, it's Christmas Eve and I wanted to get my update in before the feasting tomorrow. 

My progress continues.  Weight loss is slow but steady.  It is a challenge to enjoy parties and holidays without feeling guilty but I am working on it.

My normal daily calorie intake is anywhere from 1200 - 2000.  I noticed that several eating plans use a concept called "calorie switching/shifting."  If you do a Google search you can learn more about it.  The idea is to manipulate your fat burning hormones to burn fat more effectively.  I try to have days that I stay in my lower caloric range, then other days go closer to 2000.  This does seem to be working for me.

Then there are the days that go over that!!  On Thanksgiving I kept track of all the food I ate and it came to around 2500 calories.  Tomorrow I think my intake may go even higher.  My plan is to eat the things I really enjoy and resist the stuff that isn't my favorite.  I am going to try to eat on purpose and not snack mindlessly.  I will be enjoying foods that I would not include in my normal daily routine so I really want to savor it!

Last month I mentioned that I want to get back into my vitamin supplement habit.  Since then I have done really well and have not forgotten to take them.  It is now #2 on my plan.

Weight loss status...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today   December 24 209.0 lbs 30.86 bmi

59 lbs down!  Still "obese" but only 6 more  lbs to get to 1st goal :)

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight" by Feb 2010
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy" by Dec 2010
3rd goal - to be determined

These are my plans/guidelines...

1. Never Skip Breakfast! (usually yogurt, banana, fiber bar, hard boiled egg)
2. take good nutritional supplements every day
3. eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day

4. eat at least 25 g of fiber per day
5. continue Curves 3 times per week
6. Water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
7. Daily monitoring myself with Fitday.com
8. no eating after 7:00pm (with a few exceptions)

Getting Encouragement from Others

I have had a few days over the last month that have been mentally rough.  I am so thankful for so many of us walking through this process together.  In addition to everyone in this group, my mother-in-law has joined in on the fun and has been attending Weight Watchers and doing great!  I am so encouraged and inspired by everyone making really positive changes.  And it is wonderful to be able to share the ups and downs with people who really understand.  Thank You everyone for helping me!

Some things that I am working on...

Trying to get back into the habit of taking my vitamin supplements everyday.  I used to be really good at this but let the habit slip.   So I am working them back into my daily routine and coming up with strategies so I won't forget.

Watching my protein more carefully and looking into what my target should be.

Reading the Curves Weight Management Plan (there is more than the 30 minute workout) and deciding how to incorporate the ideas into my plan.

Weight loss progress continues...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today   November 19 215.2 lbs 31.78 bmi

52.8 lbs down!  only 12.2 lbs to get to 1st goal :)

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight" by Feb 2010
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy" by Dec 2010
3rd goal - to be determined

These are my plans/guidelines...

1. Never Skip Breakfast! (usually yogurt, banana, fiber bar, hard boiled egg)
2. eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day

3. eat at least 25 g of fiber per day
4. continue Curves 3 times per week
5. Water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
6. Daily monitoring myself with Fitday.com
7. no eating after 7:00pm (with a few exceptions)

Adding a Fiber Guideline to my Plan

It was great to connect face to face at our Oct. 11 meeting.  It is good to know we are all in this together.

I keep trying to learn more about health and nutrition.  After the Oct monthly prayer gathering I  spent some time talking with Dr. Phil O.  He shared a little about acid vs. alkaline foods.  This led me to look into it on my own.  This link is a basic intro to the topic: http://nh1.ccone.com/

I have so much to learn!

On the fiber front... after some analysis I discovered that with planning I can achieve healthy fiber intake every day so I have added a fiber guideline to my plan.  I am trying to get at least 25 g of fiber per day.  This is a fun guideline because I am finding yummy foods that are good fiber sources.

Weight loss progress continues...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today October 22 223.8 lbs 33.05 bmi

44.2 lbs down!

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight" by Feb 2010
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy" by Dec 2010

These are my plans/guidelines...

1. Never Skip Breakfast! (usually yogurt, banana, fiber bar, hard boiled egg)
2. eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day

3. eat at least 25 g of fiber per day
4. continue Curves 3 times per week
5. Water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
6. Daily monitoring myself with Fitday.com
7. no eating after 7:00pm (with a few exceptions)

Fiber Research

This is one of the websites where I learned a lot about fiber...

http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Erg-Foo/Fiber.html

20 Years to Gain it, 2 Years to Lose It?

I am looking forward to the Oct 11 "Healthy Lifestyles" group get together at church! I am learning so much by doing this in community and not as a "lone wolf"...

My journey is a continued plod forward. Weight loss has been steady and slightly faster than my goal but somehow it still feels soooo slow. I set little five lbs goals for myself and so far it can take anywhere from 15 to 23 days to reach each 5 lb. goal. It helps to know the 15-23 day number so I don't get down on myself when 5 lbs doesn't drop in one week. (I know it isn't good to drop 5 lbs in 1 week... but whoever said that my inner thoughts were logical or healthy... isn't that the real battle?)

I am telling myself that it took almost 20 years to gain the weight. It's ok and even good if it takes 2 years to lose it.

I realize that one of my lifestyle changes is to never skip breakfast. I have been following this faithfully but it wasn't listed in my plan/guidelines... it is now #1 below.

I am starting to more closely monitor my fiber intake but I haven't defined a formal plan for it yet. I am seeing what it takes for me to achieve 100% of the fiber RDA consistently and realistically.

I have built up the courage to put dates on my goals. They are also listed below.

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today September 24 232.8 lbs 34.38 bmi

35.2 lbs down!

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Achieve "Overweight" BMI by February 2010
Achieve "Healthy" BMI by December 2010

These are my plans/guidelines...

1. Never Skip Breakfast! (usually yogurt, banana, fiber bar, hard boiled egg)
2. eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
3. continue Curves 3 times per week
4. Water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
5. Daily monitoring myself with Fitday.com
5. no eating after 7:00pm (with a few exceptions)

August Update - Staying Motivated

Well, the kids are back in school. That means establishing another daily routine. This is really important for me. I thrive on routine :)

My last update to the group was on July 30 and I have had success since then, but before I give all the stats I want to confess that there are spans of days where the scale is very discouraging. My brain likes to see a daily, steady decrease in weight (even .2 lbs would be fine). But it doesn't seem to work that way. My weight loss pattern seems to be a week of dramatic loss followed by up to 2 weeks of barely a change; maybe even a gain. Throw in a monthly cycle and WOW it seems really unpredictable. I believe the problem we might have with establishing a new healthy lifestyle is that the results are not as steady or as fast as we need them to be to stay motivated. It would be really easy during those periods of plateau and or gain to say "this isn't working, why bother, I quit."  My "self-talk" has been: "Just Keep Swimming" ~ "Stay the Course" ~ "Don't Give Up!" When I follow my plan, weight loss is inevitable... it takes time and determination but it does happen.

I monitor my daily calorie intake closely, but I do have occasional events where I allow some "splurging". When this is only occasional I find it does not have a negative effect on my goal and even seems to help.  Because of this I will actually plan in days or meals of higher than usual calories.

I am still faithfully doing my Curves workouts... 3 days a week... haven't missed since vacation. I believe this is really important for my metabolism and so that my weight loss is fat and not lean tissue. (the Curves plan monitors fat lbs lost vs. lean tissue lbs lost)

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today August 26 237.4 lbs 35.06 bmi

30.6 lbs down! (almost halfway to my first goal)

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Short term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly. Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" are my ongoing longer term goals..

These are my updated plans/guidelines...

1. eating 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. continue Curves 3 times per week
3. water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
4. monitoring myself with Fitday
5. no eating after 7:00pm (I found this to be key!)

Some have asked about my fruit & veggie goal...
here is a typical day's fruits & veggies:
(all this is usually before dinner time then more veggies with dinner)
1 banana
1 apple
1 orange
12 grape tomatoes
12 baby carrots
4 celery sticks
1 piece of fruit in season (peach/pear/nectarine/plum, etc)
4oz Mott's all natural applesauce (ingredients: apples & water... No sugar,
hfcs, or other sweeteners! check the label before you buy!)

Home from Disney!

As you all know, we are back from our 8 day Disney extravaganza!  See the tons of photos I uploaded to Facebook :)

The "bad" news is that I gained 4 lbs while we were away... but the good news is that those pounds seemed "temporary" because I was back to my pre-vacation weight by the third morning home. and a few more have shed in the following days.

I recently read an article that might explain why this happened...
"Eat More, Weigh Less - Periods of "Caloric Abundance" appear to rev up how many calories we burn"

I went back to Curves the day after we returned and I am back on my Curves schedule now. The workouts are challenging me even more since I am back... I think my body is still recovering from vacation :)

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today July 30 245.6 lbs 36.27 bmi

22.4 lbs down!

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Short term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly. Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" are my ongoing longer term goals..

These are my updated plans...

1. eating 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. continue Curves 3 times per week
3. walking with the kids 1 or 2 times per week all summer
4. water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
5. monitoring myself with Fitday

July Update - Going to Disney :)

Been to Curves 12 times and now I am on the computer system called "Curves Smart" that tracks all kinds of data each time I work out and shows me if I am doing my full potential.

Sarah has been coming to Curves with me. They have a summer program called "Camp Curves" where your daughter can attend for free.

Still using Fitday.com to track my calories/nutrition. It is helping me make smarter choices, especially at restaurants. Most places have their nutrition info online. If I know where I am going I try to research their menu before hand.

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today July 9 250.6 lbs 37.01 bmi

17.4 lbs down!

1st goal 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Short term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly. Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" are my ongoing longer term goals..

These are my updated plans...

1. eating 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. continue Curves 3 times per week
3. walking with the kids 1 or 2 times per week all summer
4. water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
5. monitoring myself with Fitday

Going to Disney 17th-24th :) ... will miss 4 Curves sessions but will be getting in LOTS of walking :)

Weekend!

Been to Curves 3 times this week. After 2 visits with a trainer guiding me through I am now "on my own" and can go anytime without an appointment. They recommend 3 times a week.

Walked a total of 3.6 miles with the kids this week.

As of this morning's weigh in, I am down a total of 10 lbs since June 3!

Weekends are the hardest for me when it comes to watching what I eat... lots more temptations on the weekends. So I am preparing myself. The weekend begins NOW.

See most of you on Sunday!

Curves

I was at curves for an hour this morning. They are very nice! Bonnie was my trainer. She had me fill out a health history then they took all my measurements. Nothing was a surprise since I have been doing them at home as well.

Bonnie showed me around... where to put my stuff, where to find water, changing room, etc.

Then Bonnie took me through the circuit slowly and taught me how to use all the machines. I think it is a good variety of equipment. Then we did the circuit again following the recorded voice to move to the next station (every 30 seconds). Between each machine there is a square "pad" to do cardio and remind yourself how to work the next machine :) It will take 30 minutes to do the entire circuit two times.

After completing the double circuit, Bonnie took me to the stretching area where there are 12 (i think) different stretches to do. She taught me to hold each one for a least 15 seconds.

At the end she programmed my id card and showed me how to check in next time.

I go back Wednesday at 8:30 AM  for another guided workout to make sure I don't have any questions about the process.
 
I will continue to keep this group posted on my Curves experience... Marcie is making me :) ha ha! But seriously, I know this is a good way to be accountable!

BTW... I am typing this at the Mt. Lebo Library where the kids and I walked to!  .9 miles in 20 minutes. Still have to go home though!

Brave Enough to Share my Numbers

I started using fitday.com on June 3. I track my daily weight, my daily calorie/nutrition, and I sometimes enter activities to the baseline daily calories burned.

my starting weight was 268 and bmi 39.58 "obese"

I am now at 261 and bmi 38.51

so... 7 pounds down

at 203 lbs my bmi would be less than 30 and "overweight"

at 169 lbs my bmi would be less than 25 and "healthy"

Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" status is my ongoing long term goal.
Shorter term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly.

These are my updated plans...

1. eating 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. trying Curves for the next 2 months and maybe longer after I see how it goes
3. walking with the kids 1 or 2 times per week all summer
4. monitoring myself with fitday

My first visit to Curves is Monday morning at 9:00am. I'll post afterward to let everyone how it went.

Using Fitday.com

I tried out the http://www.fitday.com/ site that Jane mentioned. I really like it. I've been playing with it and it has some interesting features... food log, exercise log, mood log, journal and more. I'm not using all the features but if you like using the computer it looks like there is something for everyone.

I've been using the food log because it has been so long since I paid attention to my food habits that I have lost perspective on the reality of what the calorie/nutrition values of everything really is :0 Yikes!

I might post my weight (or at least share it with a select few of you in person) but I can't find my bathroom scale!! I really have not focused on that number for years. I have just been going on the fact that all my clothes have fit me since Sarah was born.

I Need to Find Balance...

As I begin to emerge from a grieving process (that has actually been going on longer than I knew) I see that I need more balance in my life that includes looking out for my physical well being.

One of my issues is "unplanned" fasts because life just gets too busy to stop and eat. Then I end up eating too much when food becomes "available." Long term changes involve eating at closer intervals and learning better portion control. This actually sounds really hard to me... small, more frequent meals?... not how I think about food at all.

I don't want to "crash and burn" so I am starting slow and plan to add more changes to my habits as we progress...

1. eliminate beverages at restaurants... water only. and more water through out the day.

2. Long walk (2-3 times a week). Plan on starting this with my kids when school lets out (June 15).

3. 5 servings of fruits/veggies each day (replacing other choices). Using this discipline to begin to change the way I think about frequency and portions.