Monday's weigh in

Well, I lost 2 lbs when I weighed in on Monday. If I remeber correctly I have now lost about 10 lbs. That is pretty exciting, but I still get discouraged if I look in the other direction and realize how much I still have to go, and also realize that there are a lot of things that I won't be able to, or shouldn't eat (at least not very often) FOREVER if I hope to keep the weight off. It has also been hard because this past 2 weeks or so have been very stressful as Greg was called to be the bishop. I sure have become acutely aware what an emotional eater I am. I am taking suggestions on how to change that if anyone has any ideas.

I have felt better about my exercising. I still have a long ways to go, but I have loved having the treadmill. It is very convenient. Right now I feel good that I have been doing that about twice a week. In addition my Change One book suggests getting outside more and adding extra steps in your day, like parking a little farther away from the store or taking the stairs instead of the elevator; I have been trying to do those things. I mowed our huge lawn last week for the first time since we have moved here. Anyway, I know I still have a long ways to go, but I feel like I am improving at least a little bit. I hope everyone else is doing well. It sure is hard to make changes like this that last.

Link

I thought that this link was interesting:
http://health.yahoo.com/topic/weightloss/motivation/article/mayoclinic/CFD9CF34-F700-4F2F-B9572D428BA62671

(I hope I put the link in right.

Weigh in and treadmill

Well I weighed yesterday and I didn't lose anything. I guess i wasn't that surprised. I wasn't quite as careful and we went out to eat 2 or 3 times last week. I also ate 3 rice krispie treats over 2 days. It has made me want to be that much more careful, though, about every little calorie. I still feel hungry a lot, but maybe not quite as hungry. I have also found some things that are low calorie type treats. I have really enjoyed having these TCBY frozen sorbet bars and they only have 80 calories, so sometimes I will eat one of those for my snack. Anyway, I will keep on working on it.

We are excited though. We bought a used treadmill yesterday. I have been watching a bunch of auction sites for one for a couple of weeks. I bought it off of ebay from someone who just lives in Davenport. We paid $150 and are very pleased. It seems to be a pretty high quality treadmill and has some great features. Greg and I got our exercise yesterday from carrying it up the stairs :) We put it in our room in the hopes of being able to not wake the kids in the morning when we no longer have to tip toe down the stairs to exercise. It will also serve as a constant reminder that we need to get on it! I will keep you posted on if we actually use it or not!

I'm a little proud

I did pretty well today. I didn't have any snacks or real junk food until dinner time. I bought a salad from Arctic Circle and that was all. But...I did finish Allie's fries and the end of her ice cream cone. I had two small pieces of a spinach pizza for lunch and lots of water. So, the bottom line is that I could have done better but I did amazingly well for me on a bad day. Tomorrow it will be easier to do well, because I know I can get through hard days, so I can definitely make it through a good day. Thanks for caring.

report in

I am having a bit of a pity party today and that is always a danger signal for me. I eat comfort foods to feel better. So...I am blogging this morning to keep me good. I will report back to let you know if I stuck to my three meals and a snack, even on a bad day. I had Raisen Bran and a pear for breakfast and 1/4 of an avacado for a snack (yes, it was for junk food, but it is still early so I will count it as one of my snacks) so far. I will be good. I think I can, I think I can.....

Goals

I've been doing better at exercising regularly, so I decided to set some goals. My long term goal is to lose four inches off of my butt. I'm pretty sure that all of my excess fat decided to settle there. I'm going to shoot for losing one inch over the next three months. Besides that specific goal, I just want to tone up and get more muscle definition. Finally, and this goal might seem silly to you guys, but I want to be able to touch my toes without bending my knees. I have some of the tightest hamstrings out of anyone I know. I estimate that my fingertips are still about six inches from my toes when I try to touch them. I think my tight hamstrings contribute to some of my lower back problems. That and my bad posture. I think this last goal could take awhile, so I'm not going to set a time limit. I just wanted to write my goals out so that I have incentive and can track my progress.

Weigh day

Monday is my weigh day. I lost 3 1/2 more pounds. I am glad that I am finally weighing less than my husband again. Lest I get prideful, though, I saw someone I hadn't seen in a while. She kind of looked me up and down and asked if I was expecting again. Isn't that nice? NO! I am not expecting. Anyway, I feel pretty good about the diet. Exercise is still lacking. I just don't know how to fit it in. Greg and I have been getting up earlier, but the only thing that seems to accomplish is to get the kids up earlier. How do you guys do it? We go on family walks sometimes, but with only two in the stroller, I would hardly call it aerobic. I need some exercise inspiration people!

Finally

I have been pretty diligent for the last couple of weeks. I can do a lot better and will keep trying to get better and better, but it has been frustrating to try so hard and still stay the same. Finally, the scales showed a loss! 5 pounds! I don't know why my body seems to hold on to the weight and then drop it all at once. Whatever the reason, it does give me hope that more work will result in more success (what a concept.) Thanks for all your help along the way. It does help to read about your successes and struggles and to know I am not in this alone.

Aspartame

Aspartame is in Crystal Light and most diet sodas. Here's an article from USA Today about it citing two large studies showing it's safety. When baking at home, I also really like to use Splenda.

Too much pink

Can you tell that I got sick of that bright pink? I don't know that this is the greatest background but it is better for now. I am on day three of really trying to eat right. I have been sticking to three meals a day with snacks limited to baby carrots. This morning I didn't even finish the cottage cheese and fruit that I fixed because I am not as hungry usual. That may be because I ate earlier than usual. Thanks for the thoughts and encouragements. It does help to remind me that dieting can be done. Rick is a constant reminder that exercise can be done.

A question for the doctor

Hey Todd, I have a question. I was wondering about diet drinks and sugar free drinks like Crystal Light. I am tired of water all the time. I used to drink milk quite a bit, but now drink it minimally because it is 100 calories per cup. Anyway, I was wondering what you know about diet drinks. I have heard some people say they are fine, that because there are no calories it doesn't matter. On the other hand I have heard that the artificial sweeteners sort of trick your body, and make you hungrier. Also, how bad are artificial sweeteners for you. I am just getting tired of water all the time, wondering what good alternatives I have, if any. Thanks. It sure is nice to have another doctor in the family.

Link

Here is a link to an article I read today. It will make you glad for your own weight. http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-05-03T142611Z_01_L0381917_RTRUKOC_0_US-SCIENCE-OBESITY.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13

The Math of Weight Loss

I am not sure if everyone knows this, so I thought I would share with you the mathematics of weight loss/gain.

Each day, you expend energy just because you exist. This is called your basal metabolic rate. You can actually calculate how many calories you would consume if you did nothing all day just based on your age, sex, weight and height. Here is one calculator. Of course, we all move throughout the day, so we add some calories for that, but it's not a ton. Exercise with an elevated heart rate is where you really get your calorie boost.

Now that you know your basal metabolic rate, you can add in the information that approximately 3500 calories equals one pound. So, to lose one pound in one week, you need to eat 500 calories less each day than your body consumes. No wonder it's so hard to lose weight! Conversely, to gain a pound, you need to eat 500 extra calories per day. That's about two cookies, maybe three!

Of course, there's more to it than just math, like nutrition, vitamins, fiber, etc. But, it's interesting to me to just see plain numbers.

Where I'm at

Hey everyone. I weighed yesterday (ChangeOne suggests weighing on Mondays, so you don't mess up too much on the weekends). I have lost 2 1/2 pounds. It is a start. It's enough to make me a little more motivated. Although I am still very hungry much of the time. I have been trying to look at labels and calories more too. Boy is that sobering. Change One encourages a 1300 calorie diet until you are at the weight that you want, then you can slightly increase your calories. 300 for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 500 for dinner and two 100 calorie snacks. I have been able to do breakfast pretty well. I am working on lunch. I am having trouble calculating calories for dinner because often we eat things that are all mixed up like lasagne or enchiladas. I do know though that one flour tortilla has 130 calories! We ate frozen pizza for dinner the other day. A serving was 1/6 of the pizza and it had 340 calories! Compare that to the pickles we eat. They are pretty big Vlasic pickles. 1 pickle is 5 calories! The broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix of frozen veggies is like 25 calories per cup. It is just unbelievable the difference. It has really opened my eyes. I used to think I ate pretty moderately, but am realizing that I was probably getting 2500 or more calories a day, and didn't even know.

On a more philisophical level, I taught a primary lesson on Sunday about Jacob and Esau. You all know the story. Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of pottage (yum!:)). The lesson emphasized how Esau chose something temporary over what was eternally important. It just struck me as having a very clear application to my own situation with food. It is so easy to choose bad food. It tastes good! It is an immediate reward, but I almost never think about what that food, will do to my body in the long run (I know a treat once in a while isn't too bad), especially if I often take that path, choosing the immediate, yummy high over the taking care of this great gift the Lord has given to me, for myself and my family. Anyway, it helps me to think of things in more of an eternal perspective. I was glad to have taught this lesson on Sunday.

Also, if you go to the church website, currently they had right on the front page a link to ProvidentLiving.org to learn more about physical health. I have read some of the articles before. They are worth reading. I especially enjoyed one about set point. Anyway, blah, blah, blah, blah. Hope you are doing well.