My Journey to Fitness

short and not sweet...

2011-02-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

After hitting 244 lbs on Monday something went seriously wrong with my mental state which resulted in over eating...ending with a weight gain of over 7 lbs today...in a week.

I am such an incredibly stupid idiot...which aren't the words I actually said just now, but this is a public blog so wanted to be somewhat polite...I weigh myself daily so I knew I was gaining. Yet I couldn't stop myself.

So now I have to restart and lose the 7 again, when I could be losing the 4 lbs that would have brought me to the 230's. This has become a pattern recently, I lose and then gain it plus more back and have to spend 2 weeks re-losing it all...then lose a bunch and regain...and so on..

Really makes me mad and yet, I am powerless while it is happening, I try so hard to control the eating when this starts but it is like I have absolutely no will power at all during those times. At this rate I will never lose the weight but just keep losing the same 5 lbs or so over and over and over..

over 6 lbs lost..woohoo

2011-02-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

So thought it was past time to check in , haven't done a weigh in for 3 weeks, mainly because for 2 weeks I was bouncing around between 251 and 255 lbs, but for the past week I've been doing much better, eating well and getting more than enough activity in to burn off lots of calories. I noticed last week I had dropped below 250 again, but didn't want to jinx it by getting excited so stayed off the scale until this morning. Where to my delight I saw 245.6 lbs! Cool!! I haven't been below 250 in forever!
Now if I count back from 2009 when I first started this blog at 284 lbs I have lost 39 lbs...not a lot in 3 years huh? LOL
19 of those pounds were shed between Nov. 2010 and now, which averages out to a little over 1 lb a week , without counting the weight I regained and lost a couple of times.
Hopefully I won't have anymore of those regaining weeks and will continue to lose weight, and if not lose every week, at least maintain and not gain!

Fun morning :-)

2011-01-29T08:54:00.000-08:00

One of the great joys of losing weight that makes the process so worth it is when your size changes. I noticed that this morning when I tried to wear one of my favorite shirts, only to discover that it hung on me so bad that even I had to admit it looked awful!

That got me wondering, so I began pulling out shirts to try on. To my delight, as well as a small amount of sadness at losing old favorites, I have so many that are too big now that I started a "donate" bag. A part of me wants to keep these shirts, you know, just in case?

However, been there, done that. It's way to easy to gain weight and not even notice when you have a larger size laying around that you can slip into when your clothes start feeling just a little too snug! So out they go, Tony has a bag of clothes he wants to get rid of, I still have a bunch of Josh's big clothes here ( ok, I've been wearing them!!) and I will easily have a bag full..time for a call to the Big Sisters...or is it Little Sisters? I can never remember but luckily I save their card. I like calling them because they pick up the clothes and they go to FREE clothing banks ( I know this cause I saw some of Josh.s that I donated at one that I was going to) Yes, I'm sure there are folks that take advantage of that, but I know there are plenty of other folks that really need free clothes.

Of course the flip side of this is that I can now wear old favorites that I kept hoping to fit back into *someday* and there are a few more that I will be able to wear if I lose 5-10 more pounds and I pulled out the next size down in jeans too. Not to wear yet since I just went down a size in them, but as motivation :-D.

Oh and in other news..I am still smoke free! Struggling daily with this, being sick the past week helped a lot and even made me glad I wasn't smoking because my cough would have been so much worse and I probably would have ended up with bronchitis again. I've been using Altoids and all the flavors of Extra gum instead of smoking. Let's face it, a stick of Strawberry Shortcake chewing gum is much more enjoyable than a nasty cigarette!

Not a healthy weekend...

2011-01-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

not because of food exactly, although that hasn't been too great either, but 2 family members are sick and 1 is coming down with it today...the other one has been coughing but hasn't gotten the fever and all yet.
Since Friday was yet another snow day from school, and I knew it on Thurs, I made brownies for the boys and yes I admit to having a small one also. Then we started getting sick...Friday night, Saturday and most of Sunday was spent huddling under afghans and quilts, everyone stayed home Monday to finish recuperating , plus it was very cold and I made a "Mom says no school today" decision.
Of course after being fever free all day, the youngest had it return just before bed so he needed to stay home today, then the oldest started with the symptoms this morning and I have gotten a little worse.
Anyhow....all this really played havoc with the diet/exercise plan! As you can tell by the weekly weigh in photo, I gained 1 pound! Not stressin it too much though, I know most of it is probably from all the fluids I've been having and I know I won't be eating too much today because of the way I am feeling. Besides...it's only a pound! LOL
Looking forward to be well again so I can restart the walking tapes, was thinking about trying to do the 1 mile today but since I'm blowing my nose every couple of minutes maybe I won't...LOL
Hope you're all staying warm (or cool depending on where you live!) and are feeling good!

Rewarding yourself..

2011-01-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

Many people use a reward system to help them stay on track with their weight loss goals. This can be something simple for each 5-10 lbs lost or you can wait until you have lost a major amount, say 50 lbs.

I haven't tried it yet but it seems like a good idea. After all, many of us used the reward system for our children, either for chores, or school work, with great success, didn't we?

So I'm thinking that I may give it a go to help me stay off of cigarettes and help me stay on my diet. Every time I want to buy a pack, I'm going to start putting the cigarette money away instead. The idea being that when I reach a weight loss goal of 25 lbs I am going to use the money I saved on cigarettes to buy myself something.....probably something related to photography or weight loss.

I realize this may only work until the nicotine cravings have finally gone away but it should see me through the worst part of those because I'll be looking forward to whatever new gadget I plan on buying, and should also help me stick to the diet for the same reason!

At $9 a pack, 3 or 4 times a week, this should add up pretty well in the amount of time it would take to lose 25 lbs...which at 2 lbs a week would be 13 weeks, give or take. If I do the math at $27 a week x 13 weeks I get $351...WOW can get a lot of things for that..or one really big thing!

Getting excited thinking about what I will buy already..LOL. Maybe there IS something to this reward system after all!

What would you reward yourself with when you meet a goal and what would your goal be to earn that reward? Also, do you think the anticipation of the reward would help you stay on track?

hanging in there!

2011-01-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so didn't do that great last week, managed to get below 250 for about a day and then gained back some ozs to put me back above the 250 line.

But you know what?

It's OK!

It doesn't mean that I failed and should give up, it means I keep going cause I still have my mini goal of weighing 220 lbs by May 1. 30 lbs in 15 weeks should be doable.

Anyone that's following along (waves at Robin!) and struggling (or breezing along) towards your own goals...I know we can do this! As a dear friend says, "Even an elephant can be eaten one bite at a time" may not be the exact words but it's something along those lines (thanks Vicki!)....in fact that fits here exactly..LOL

I know we aren't as big as elephants, but the concept is the same...our fat can be eaten away a little at a time...oz by oz, lb by lb, sweat drop by sweat drop :-D if we just keep at it.

And won't it be great to be able to do things we can't do now? Wear clothes we can't wear now? I for one am looking forward to being healthier, being able to tie my shoes, buy my clothes in the normal section and wear stuff that fits right, and so many other things.

What are YOU looking forward to doing when you have lost your weight?

short 'n sweet...

2011-01-12T09:06:00.000-08:00

This morning the scale tells me that I only need to lose .6 more lbs and I will be out of the 250's!
Doing a teeny happy dance in anticipation of that!

Healing the inner self..

2011-01-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

While watching The Biggest Loser tonight, seeing some of the contestants talking about WHY they had gained all the weight and kept gaining it even though they knew it was killing them, I started thinking about my own "whys". I really believe that is the first step to truly overcoming this weight issue.

I have changed so much in recent years, well not recent, it has been an ongoing process over the last 8-9 years and I don't expect all my problems to disappear overnight simply by laying them out here for the world to see,or at least the few folks who follow this blog, but putting them down will at least, I don't know, cleanse my inner self maybe, and help me begin the healing process. At least I hope that's what will happen!

I was always an outgoing person, with lots of friends, I liked to dress nice and took care of myself and my appearance.. For too long now I have hidden away in my house, shying away from social contact. I also haven't given 2 figs about the way I look. I have used my weight as a wall to hide behind and to keep folks away. When you are obese you tend to become invisible and that is what I wanted to be. Invisible.

Three failed marriages pretty much destroyed the old me, including my self confidence, my beliefs, made me afraid of letting anyone close enough to hurt me again, and taught me that I couldn't trust anybody but myself,and not even myself half the time.

So I hid, I ate, I let myself go and except for several brief (failed...mostly due to my own self doubts btw) attempts to rejoin the world, told myself that this was how I wanted to be. Alone with my kids and safe.

But you know what? I was lying to myself. Sure safe is a wonderful feeling and I do love being with my kids. But this is NOT the life I envisioned for myself or my family. It is not healthy for any of us. It is time for me to put the past where it belongs, behind me. To stop hiding behind a shield of flab and begin living, before it's too late. To pursue certain goals that I have had my whole life.

I need to begin seeing myself as a person of worth if I want to change the way my life is heading, to find ME again. In the long run this will not only benefit my emotional and physical health, but I know it will also benefit the lives of my kids and my grandson.

Will it be easy to rid myself of all the baggage I've been carrying around for years? Nope. But it sure will be worth it and I am eagerly looking forward to meeting the woman I know I can be!

Weigh in day :-)

2011-01-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Not too bad considering the week I had.
Managed to lose 4.8 lbs and I wasn't even really trying to eat healthy or exercising or anything.
Now watch, this week I will do everything right and gain weight...LOL
Of course, there ARE 2 birthdays this week, but at least only 1 cake, since I don't make one for myself and will just have a piece of my grandson's. I know there will be plenty left because our birthdays are only 4 days apart.
So goal for this week...keeping it real and saying ...a loss of 3 lbs...although if I happen to lose more I won't complain!
Three lbs will get me out of the 250's though and I haven't been in the 240's for at least 12 years!!
Besides, slow weight loss is better than no weight loss!!

nice surprise :-)

2011-01-07T04:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I was going to be lucky if I just maintained my weight this week, but decided to see how bad it was by weighing myself this morning and to my surprise and delight I've lost 5 lbs!

I guess even though I have been eating kind of junky the past week I haven't been eating a LOT, so it has all evened out.

Official weigh-in isn't until Monday though, when I will change my photo also.

It would be so awesome if my weight is in the 240's by then. Going to work at it for the next 2 days and see if I can make that happen!

trying, but...

2011-01-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

Despite the best of intentions life has been putting me through the wringer this week and as a result, my eating hasn't been as healthy as I had planned. I tend to turn to comfort foods when I am overly stressed and the past 3 days has been no exception, although I have been attempting to keep it to a minimum.
Also haven't been able to work out this week. Mainly because it has been one of those "have to wait for...." weeks.... daughter, UPS, oil delivery tomorrow....haven't really wanted to get into workout duds and get started just to have the doorbell ring.
I did get quite a bit of walking in today though, which is a good thing.
Running late this morning I didn't even notice my grandson didn't have his back pack until he ran back across the playground as they were heading in to tell me that he forgot it and begged me to bring it because "everything I need is in there Nana!!"
So what's a Nana to do....walked home, grabbed it, walked to the school and then back again. So a total of 40 mins brisk walking...brisk cause it was COLD! Then I had to go to the bank and store, so another 25 mins there...add a few trips up and down the cellar stairs for laundry too. So at least I got some extra activity in today!
Tomorrow I don't have to go anywhere and one of the major sources of stress has finally been resolved so I definitely plan on being very good in the food department and with any luck the oil man will come early enough that I can grab a workout too.
Hoping I see a small change in the numbers on the scale on Monday, still a chance if I can manage to get my butt in gear!

A new year, a new start

2011-01-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Don't many of us make losing weight a goal each new year? It is a great goal, but what's sad is how many people start off with such good intentions and last...what..maybe a month? Sometimes less, sometimes more, but I wonder how many actually continue on until they reach their goal weight?

I am one of the qung ho quitters..LOL...wait, let's change that to I USED to be one. I recently got quite a bit of not so great news from the Dr so I HAVE to do this. Not just because I want to wear smaller clothes, or look nicer...but so I can stay alive!

For my boys, who will need me for a long long time, for my daughter who also needs me still and for my grandson, who is 7 and who I want to see grow up. And for myself because I have so much I still want to accomplish in this madness called life.

I did make a start in November, fell off a bit during the holidays, but did manage to keep off 5 lbs, so I am now down to 256.2..I still have a whole person to lose, but hey it's a beginning! I've begun to get accustomed to measuring food and counting calories so it's pretty routine now. It's also easier to choose healthier things to eat and I even enjoy working out 6 days a week.

I guess bad news from the Dr was actually a good thing to get...I mean it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

But it was a huge wake-up call. A call that I intend to answer.........

Good Morning!

2009-09-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Just a quickie post today to let you know how things are going. I did gain some of the sick weight back but right now am 260 so not too bad. While I haven't lost pounds I HAVE lost inches! I can tell because I am wearing a size smaller in shirts and my jeans are getting really loose. I can even wear some of my oldest son's sweatpants now that I couldn't before...which comes in handy...he has all new ones since he lost all his weight and I can just take his old ones :-) So glad I decided to hang on to them for a little while instead of putting them all on freecycle.
So basically I have been watching what I eat, walking, and more recently, lugging very heavy boxes around in the cellar and from the cellar to the 1st floor and then back down again.
Going through all the stuff down there in preparation for a big yard sale on Columbus Day weekend.
Which I have to get back to now...
Hope anyone reading this is doing good on their efforts to lose weight or live a healthier lifestyle.
Have a great day!

Hi Folks!

2009-09-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Did you miss me?
In response to a comment from Kim (btw, you HAVE to to check out her flower blog, beautiful pics!) I haven't given up on my plan to get healthier. I did however, become totally engrossed with photography for a few weeks and for about 4 days was very sick! Just starting to feel better now, in fact yesterday I was finally able to add some solids back to my diet. Of course 3 days of liquids,,and hardly any of those either added 6 pounds to my weight loss, which is nice, but now I need to try and keep those off as I slowly begin eating normally again.
Some good news on the walking, my daughter got a job with staggered shifts, which means I pick my grandson up from school each afternoon , a 20 minute walk both ways, and some days I take him too. So now whether I feel like it or not, I HAVE to walk!
Still haven't gotten the bike road ready, but am hoping to to that before snow falls and on mornings I take him in, I plan on walking the bike down and after dropping him off taking a bike ride before going home. That's the plan anyways, let's see if it works out.
Am not sticking strictly to the vegetarian meals due to a small revolt by the boys in the
family, but have only added chicken, tuna and other fish. The other *meat* we can still fool them with by using the veggie alternatives. We try to have non veggie meals no more than a couple of times a week.
I have discovered though, that by careful counting of calories I can pretty much eat anything as long as I stay within my calorie limit, or below which I prefer. I've found this works out pretty well, as we can order pizza (no more pepperoni for me though,,only veggies!) and I can have a couple of slices with no harm done, or other things of that nature. Like an ice cream cone now and then, with low fat frozen yogurt of course :-)
So I am learning to change my eating habits entirely and not by depriving myself of foods I love, but by being smarter about my choices and eating smaller portions. Much easier to live with and easier to stick too also.
So far I have lost 25 lbs. Just a drop in the bucket, I still have to lose over 100 pounds but it is enough to make a shirt that once was too small to fit again! And I can notice the difference in my face, which has resulted in my getting a hair cut, and beginning to *do* my face. By *do* I mean a smidge of blush and that's it...lol
So that's it for now, wanted to let you all know I was still here and working away at my plan. How are you doing with your goals?

Did you know that playing cards or board games with your kids for an hour will burn 111 calories? Time to shut off the tv and break out the Monopoly!

no theme tonight

2009-08-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

I thought I would do at least one post a week on how I have been feeling since I started changing so many things in my lifestyle.

I don't seem to have as many headaches which is a good thing. Not sure if that is due to the diet change or the smoking one, maybe both. But whatever it's from I am happy to not have them every day.

I also find it easier to walk to the store now, my step seems a little lighter and my pace is a smidge faster. Still not speed walking but I do see an improvement, even though small. Still get out of breath fairly easy, but that will take time (and many more lost pounds to get rid of)

We are still meat free here after a month and I am really enjoying experimenting with new recipes and using the meat alternatives. The boys loved the veggie meatballs and the veggie sausage we had tonight, and the pizza flavored veggie burgers were a huge hit! I tried the spicy black bean ones myself and really liked them, so I found a recipe in one of the books and am going to try making my own. That particular recipe has about 20 variations so I just might work my way through them all. I just can't see spending almost $5 for 4 burgers when I could be making them myself. Sure, maybe it won't be as convenient but sure will be cheaper, and I can always keep some of the ready made in the freezer for those nights when I just don't feel like cooking. Or better yet, making extra and freezing my own! Overall though I would rate this new style of eating a great success, especially when my very finicky older son eats the meals with no complaints.

Still doing the 30 mins of light weight workouts during my daily soap opera, but haven't yet tried to do any type of aerobic activity. Don't want to push it, I have been walking around a lot more and the past couple of times did quite a bit of furniture rearranging and moving of boxes so got a different type of workout that way. Have tried to get the bike tires inflated and no luck as of yet. Decided I will have to break down and go to a gas station to do them. When I get them taken care of I will begin taking a short ride every evening or early morning, maybe 30 mins to start.

Also struggling with the sleep issue, I am doing my best to get to bed earlier but time and time again I am still up after midnight. My goal is to be in bed before or at least no later then 11, which will give me 8 hours of sleep. I have found that I am sleeping better though. I don't wake up during the night anymore and wake up every morning before the alarm clock.

My mood has been pretty good, all things considered. Sure I have my grumpy moments but nothing like I used to experience when trying to quit smoking and I am also not having major hunger pains or breaking my diet to pig out on foods I shouldn't be having. Actually surprising myself...lol

I fell short of my step goal today, I need at least 8000 steps a day to meet the goal for the Appalachian Trail virtual hike and I thought I was doing pretty good but when I checked the days steps I had only taken 2855!! In all fairness though I did take it off around 7PM and didn't put it on first thing in the morning, but still I doubt I would have made the 8000. That's ok, I will just try harder tomorrow.

Now for the weight progress report, weight loss has slowed down a bit, only lost 2 pounds this week, which is a bit discouraging when I think of how I have been working at it. But again, the first couple of weeks on a diet you always lose a lot and that is mostly water. This just shows that my body has adjusted to the new food and 2 lbs a week is the suggested weight loss that most Drs will give you. So am not sweating that too much either...now if I start GAINING that will be a different story!

So that is my weekly update on how things are going with me. How about you? Have you been walking? Doing any type of extra activity? Eating better? Sleeping more? Doing anything different to create a healthier you? If so, please leave a comment telling what you have been doing and if you lost any weight share it with us! I for one would love to hear how anyone who is reading these nightly posts are doing. Also. I would like to remind everyone that I am very open to suggestions for subjects you may like me to do some research on for you. I know not everyone has time to look around for things and I would be happy to help if I can.

Wow, I may just make my 11PM bedtime tonight! So will close with your nightly calorie burning activity..let's see...here's a good one..it took me roughly 20 minutes to write this post,(maybe more, I meant to time it and forgot) ,during that time I burned 38 calories, not a huge amount, but I worked off the 3 cups of coffee I had today just by typing!

Early to bed, early to rise..

2009-08-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin knew what he was talking about. Sleep does the body good! I'm not sure if going to bed and getting up early will make you wealthy but it will benefit your health. The site I have linked is great. It not only tells you all the benefits of sleep, but has lots of other links to help you sleep better, find out why you can't sleep, what happens when you don't get enough sleep and so much more.

One of the things I found very interesting and that I never knew was that if you don't get enough sleep your normal hormone balances are interrupted and your appetite increases. Does this increase in appetite make you crave fruits and veggies?? NO! That would be nice, but instead you crave foods that are high in calories, fats and carbohydrates! So if you want to lose weight sleep is important. Don't sabotage all the good things you are doing for your body by eating healthier and getting more activity, by not getting enough sleep. I am guilty of this myself, it seems no matter how hard I try I always get side tracked at bedtime and end up going to bed hours later than I wanted to. Then when I do get in bed I can't sleep from being over tired and lay there for hours watching the numbers change on the clock. When morning rolls around I am still tired and usually grumpy, and before I decided to change my lifestyle, I made things even worse, by skipping breakfast and usually lunch too. I lived mainly on coffee and nerves during the daylight hours. At night it was a different story, then it was huge suppers and snacking all night long because by then I was starving! And yep, I ate mostly carbs, and sweets and big bags of salt and vinegar chips!

So, I have also been trying to get more sleep. I used to average about 4-5 hours a night, not good at all. I am now getting between 6-7 hours and I want to increase that to at least 8 hours every night. How many hours a night do you sleep? Do you have trouble falling asleep? Do you wake up often through the night? Do you wake up feeling refreshed?

I could write a lot about this subject, but instead I will ask that you follow the link I posted about SLEEP Spend some time there and learn more, including natural remedies for insomnia, about sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, even why we dream.
After doing some research of your own, you may decide to start turning in earlier at night yourself.

Ok, enough of that, I want to invite you all to join me on my hike along the Appalachian Trail which I am starting tomorrow since I finally located the step counter. If you are interested here is the link again, Step up to Better Health.

And finally, your calorie burned item for tonight...what else but sleep...getting 8 hours worth burns 544 calories.

Getting Fit on Route 66!!

2009-08-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the Route 66 part of this post I would like to share some of my day with you.

My bike has 2 flat tires and I want to start taking it for short rides in the evenings or early mornings so knowing we have tire pumps I was digging through boxes I could reach in the cellar that looked like they had tool/junk type stuff in them, Found 2 pumps, 1 was missing the hose so threw that one away. Other had all required pieces so attached it to tire and began pumping. It is one of the old kinds where you hold it with your feet and use both hands to do the pumping. Pumping, pumping,pumping. .fast so I could get it done...huff huff,,puff puff..arms getting tired...feel tire...flat. ..wth??.. .ok,,,well ...maybe it feels like some air went in...just need to do more...begin pumping like a speed demon...up,down, up,down.. .heart racing...sweat pouring off my face...whew this alone is a workout!!..finally run out of steam,,check tire...FLAT. .grrrrrr. Remove pump, put bike away,,the heck with this! This pump is no good, am getting ready to throw it away when I think...hmmm, let me check the hose....sure enough, way at the bottom next to base, the hose is SPLIT. All that work and air wasn't even going IN the tire...LOL Have since wrapped entire hose of pump with electrical tape and once my arms and heart rate have recovered will try it again!

Never did get to try and inflate the tires again today. I ended up going to the local park to walk and take pictures instead. Spent an hour walking around, mostly at the duck pond and got a lot of great shots if you would like to see some of what I saw during my time at the park just click here! This was a great way to do my walking and not even really notice.

Now about Rte 66. The AARP site has a fun way to log your exercise minutes and another to keep track of your steps for the day. Today I joined both! They are free and I don't think you need to be an AARP member to do them. Today I traveled about 40 miles on Rte 66 in my '57 red Corvette and am spending the night in Joliet, IN. This is a virtual road trip and each stop gives you a little info about where you are and a link to the website for that town. You can sign up for your own trip and get your own little cool car from a choice of 4 at GET FIT ON ROUTE 66 oh, forgot to tell you that the trip takes you from Chicago to Santa Fe.

Also available at the AARP site are hikes. As soon as I find (or buy a new) pedometer that counts steps too, I am going to begin my hike along the Appalachian Trail! Again, it is a virtual hike, you add your daily steps in and they move you along the trail. Since I haven't started yet, I am assuming they also tell you a bit about points of interest along the way. There are 4 trail options available. You can join me or choose your own trail at STEP UP TO BETTER HEALTH.
One final thing at that site, you can read all about the BENEFITS OF WALKING

From personal experience I can tell you that 9 years ago I lost 144 lbs mainly by walking. Of course I was a lot younger and in much better shape so I could walk 4 miles in 20 minutes, 7 days a week. If I tried that now it would take me all day to do 4 miles and 2 days to recuperate!
However, around the same time as I was doing all that walking, I used to see an older woman walking every day, slowly, with a cane. As time went by I noticed that she was moving a little quicker and by the end of a year she was cruising right along, no longer leaning on a cane.

So I recommend this form of exercise, you don't need any special equipment and you can go as fast or as slow as you are able too. Start off slowly and gradually increase the distance and speed of your walk. I like to listen to really upbeat music when I walk, (my preference is Latin dance music :-D ) it really does seem to help. Make sure to bring along some water and wear your comfy sneakers!

Let's see...todays calorie burner..riding a bike at 10 MPH for 30 mins burns 227 calories.

A couple of recipes

2009-08-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

Not a long post today, but thought I would give you a couple of quick and easy recipes that I have been eating quite a bit. As far as I know they both are creations of either myself or my daughter, I just tossed things together for the crepe and she did the same for the salad, but who knows?
The first one I eat for breakfast, but if you add a salad it would make a great lunch or even a light supper.

Breakfast Crepe
2 eggs, mixed with seasonings of your choice
1 scallion, white and green parts, sliced
3-4 mushrooms, sliced
2 tblsps fat free sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese to sprinkle over eggs, less than 1/4 cup
non stick cooking spray

Quickly saute scallion and mushrooms in sprayed hot pan, then spread evenly over bottom of pan and gently pour eggs over them, covering bottom of pan. Cook, lifting edges of eggs and letting uncooked eggs from top slide underneath. When cooked enough to do so, flip over the whole amount of eggs, although I can never do this and have to cut it in half! After turning, sprinkle top with cheese and continue cooking until cheese begins to look *soft* (alternately you can just add cheese at beginning and scramble the eggs) . Fold in half and put in middle of opened crepe , fold edges of crepe and place fold side down on plate. Top with 2 tblsps of sour cream and enjoy.
There are 321 calories in this meal.
*You can add 2 slices of cooked turkey bacon to this for an additional 61 calories.

Strawberry Spinach Salad
3 cups raw, washed, spinach. whole, shredded, however you like it for salad
6 washed, hulled, thinly sliced strawberries
1/4 cup reduced fat feta cheese
2 tblsps Lite Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette (or lite dressing of your choice)

Place spinach on plate, top with strawberries, then feta and dressing! An easy delicious lunch that only has 152 calories.
* You could add 4 oz of boneless, skinless chicken breast (grilled, baked or roasted) for an additional 183 calories

I hope you try these and enjoy them if you do. As we explore and come up with new recipes I will share them. Have a great Sunday!

Todays calorie burning activity..since many folks have a family meal on Sundays, preparing and cleaning up that meal will burn 394 calories (based on 2 hours and 10 mins of activity) If you have your kids clean up while you go sit and read for an hour, you will burn 189 for the cooking and 98 for the reading :-D

I Quit! Smoking that is

2009-08-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

Today I quit smoking as part of my get fit plan. I decided that I can't be healthy if I continue to suck soot into my lungs on a daily basis. So as someone on Twitter says, I am now smober! Speaking of that, the same person advocates for quitting and helps encourage folks to quit by directing them to this website: BESOCHEMPS which explains the behavioral, social chemical, emotional and psychological reasons we smoke and gives a few suggestions to help you deal with them. I also discovered that 1200 people die EVERY DAY from smoking related diseases. I don't want to be one of them...do you? The following picture shows exactly what I was inhaling every day, clicking on it will make it larger so you can see the poisons better.

I know this will not be easy, I have quit many times in the past, the last time for 3 years and still I started smoking again. This time, I plan on making it a lifetime commitment. I am ready, ready to devote more of my time and energy to taking care of ME. In the past I know what I have done to be successful at quitting, however most times it resulted in the gaining of many pounds, which is not an option this time around. So I was looking for alternate methods when I came across this site 20 QUICK TIPS TO HELP YOU QUIT SMOKING I like several of these and will use them especially the exercising one! That link has plenty of info so browse the links they have posted and this one will help you MANAGE THE NICOTINE WITHDRAWAL you will go through. Also, on the right side of my page you will see a quit smoking counter, if you want one of your own just click that link. Following that link will also show you the benefits of quitting and when they occur. For example, after 8 hours, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels are reduced by half and oxygen levels return to normal. Make sure to pop on over there to read more!

A couple of other things I have found helpful are frequent brushing of teeth, and keeping my hands busy. In my case that is easy, I do so many art related things. Many of you who might be reading this may be quilters, that is an excellent way to keep your mind off smoking! So is knitting , crocheting and other handwork. If you don't do any type of craft or needlework, maybe now is the time to begin something, maybe something you have always wanted to try. After all, you are being good to yourself, so you deserve a special treat too!

A few more ideas to help, with both the dieting and quitting the smoking habit:

Make a list of at least 10 things you would like to do when you are thinner and smoke free. One of the things on my list is to be able to ride my bike everywhere again. I used to love jumping on it and taking off for hours, bringing my camera, water and lunch with me. Another is to play with my grandson, chase him, play baseball or soccer with him, or simply get down on the floor and play his castle battle game. What would you put on your list?
Either buy a new outfit, or dig out an outfit that you haven't worn in years but really love and hang it in plain sight as motivation. You have seen this if you watch Biggest Loser, they all have goal outfits. Mine is a cute little sun dress that I bought about 8 years ago and never quite fit in. Ok, so I might be too old to wear it anyplace, but I can wear it at home and feel great in it! What would your goal outfit be?
Bank your cigarette money. I have a piggy bank that is wearing a red hat and says shopping on the side. I figure I burned at least $24 a week, $96 a month, $1152 a year! Why not put the money I would have burned into Stella (pig's name..lol) and use it to reward myself occasionally instead. I have always wanted a fancy digital camera that isn't an instant type. So Stella will start holding my camera fund, the way time is flying by I will have the money in no time! What would you buy with your savings?
Sometimes people that are overweight are not big fans of themselves. They think, if I was only thinner I would be happier, prettier, more popular, more confident...etc. So starting today I want you to try and love yourself the way you are. I have a problem with this myself, but I am going to tell myself every day from now on that I am a wonderful, caring, talented person with a lot to offer, no matter how much I weigh! I am going to do something for myself today instead of waiting until I am thinner. I have been watching my hair get grayer and grayer every day and have been thinking to myself "What does it matter, I am so fat and look awful anyways." Well, it DOES matter, it effects my self image and today I am dying my hair to it's natural color, and instead of wearing the same old shirts all the time I will begin wearing the nice clothes I have in the closet that I never wear because again, "why bother, I am not going anywhere" maybe not, but I can still look nice,,,for me,,right? So I challenge all of you to do something nice for yourself today, no matter how small that something might be, and remember you are a wonderful, beautiful person!

That's it for today, not sure how many folks are even reading these, but to any that are, I hope it is helping you in some way. Comments are always welcome, feel free to post your own goals, answer questions I have posted, request info on things, your own tips on dieting or quitting smoking, whatever you feel like writing.

Today's calorie count for you...the handwork I mentioned? Sewing, knitting etc..burns 113 calories an hour.

Let's get moving!

2009-08-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

I must begin by saying that I am not an expert, all views, etc here are my own and exercises and sites posted are what I am doing or using. Having said that....

Today I am going to talk a little about the dreaded *E* word. Exercise. Yes, I know, I don't like it much myself. It is so hard to move normally, never mind jumping around trying to work out. However; I can assure you that no matter what condition you're in, you CAN do some form of exercise. I spent some time searching and have come up with a couple of sites for you to check out and also will share what I have been doing ...well, what I started doing yesterday..with you.

IMPORTANT: Before you begin any type of exercise program, please be sure to check with your Dr. first! What I am writing here are only suggestions and things that I do. None of it may be right for YOU. If you are reading this you probably want to lose weight and I encourage that, I just want you do it the correct way so as not to jeopardize your health.

Now on to the workout! A couple of days ago, I decided to do my Walk A Mile video"It only takes 15 minutes, how hard can it possibly be?" I thought. Famous last words, within what seemed like seconds I was out of breath, my legs felt like lead and I was barely able to lift them. A 20 minute walk..(read casual stroll here..lol) I can handle. Fast paced marching in place with leg kicks and knee lifts thrown in, not yet.

So once again, I turned to the Internet for help. Here is a good site for EXERCISES TO DO ANYWHERE that aren't too difficult, yet you can feel them. I have begun incorporating numbers 1,2,4, and 7 into my daily routine. I would do number 3 if I had a dog. The second one, toe raises, I do while brushing teeth, doing dishes, anytime I happen to be standing still at some task for several minutes.

I also found EXERCISES FOR THE ELDERLY Don't let the name mislead you! I clearly remember doing many of these during my normal workouts when I was in my 20's for toning, and because I am so out of shape have begun doing them again while sitting during tv time, as well as dumbbell workouts for arms and shoulders
I added this one to the previous weight workout too dumbbell bent over row
The rows can be done standing or even sitting. The ones for arms and shoulders I do sitting. About the weights, I am using 2 lb dumbbells. You can use bottles of water, cans of vegetables, even 2 books that are the same size if you don't have weights, but ONLY after checking with your Dr please!

Some people might say, you are sitting down, what good will this do? Well, normally when I am watching tv I sit there like a bump on a log, and am usually eating something. True, watching tv while sitting quietly for an hour burns 76 calories, but adding in 30 mins of light weight work adds an additional 113 calories burned. I haven't been able to find the amount burned for the other stretches, and exercises, but the way I look at it, ANY activity is better for you than plain sitting. Next week, I plan on adding WALL PUSHUPS to what I am doing already, they are much easier than regular ones! Eventually, as I lose weight and the small steps I am taking now begin to make a difference I can add things or do regular aerobics, but for now I am happy with my workout plan, and hopefully some of you will find inspiration from myself, or one of the sites I have posted here to begin your own workouts.

More on the wall pushups, here is a demo of how to do them, and this site has several VARIATIONS and more detailed instructions.

So that is the post for today on exercising. I hope this has been helpful to some of you. Please check back daily as you never know what you might find here. Maybe recipes, maybe pampering tips. If there is something you would like me to post about, please leave a comment! I will gladly search the Internet and share what I find or what I personally know about your request.

Today's final thought...remember that casual stroll I mentioned at the start of this post? Well taking one for 20 minutes burns 88 calories.

sharing info and a great site

2009-08-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

First the site FITDAY is a wonderful place! It is free to join and there you can keep a log of each days food intake. They have a great calorie finder for foods or you can create custom foods. They also have activities listed so you can keep a log of how many calories you burn each day. I recommend this site to anyone trying to lose weight or even those who just like to keep track of these things. There are many more things you can do there. My daughter told me about it and I use it daily now.

Besides keeping daily logs of my food and activities, I have also begun doing several things I never did before. Like making a weekly menu and a list for shopping based on that menu. It has been fun looking through cookbooks for new things to try. My very favorite cookbook is one of hers. 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes. It is available on Amazon for a very reasonable price and again, if you want to change your eating habits I recommend this cookbook. Now I'm not saying you should all become vegetarians, but if you substitue a few vegetarian meals a week to your usual menus it would surely benefit you.

Anyone that is interested in becoming a vegetarian may want to check out this site TRYVEG
It is full of great stuff, including How to transition in 3 steps, and you can get a free vegetarian starter guide there too.

I have also become a label reader when shopping. I hunt up the low or non fat versions of what I need, and always compare calories, fat, sodium etc on the brands I find and buy the lowest ones.

Because at this time I am not able to walk well or do aerobics, which I loved to do when I was healthier, I plan on beginning to do some very light toning work with TONING CORDS, and am going to try out Richard Simmon's SIT TIGHT workout, which is specifically for people who are ether in wheelchairs or who can't work out the traditional way. Both of these items are available for reasonable prices on Amazon . BTW, I am NOT affiliated with Amazon! I just shop there often lol. I am determined to begin working out so will use these until I get a bit more in shape.

Until you can eyeball amounts, measure and weigh food! Very important! What you THINK might be a cup of rice could be THREE!
Get creative with salads and have one with supper every night. Not only will it fill you up but it is good for you too!
If you feel hungry, have a drink and wait awhile before eating. You may find the hunger has gone away because you were actually thirsty.
Use a smaller plate, it will *fool* you into thinking you are eating the same amount of food as usual because it will still be full. If you don't have one, consider buying a special plate just for your use. You are doing something good for yourself so you deserve to enjoy the whole eating experience. In fact, why not have your drink in a wine glass? Make every meal special!
Get rid of the TV tray, don't eat standing in the kitchen, put the book away until you're done eating. In other words, sit and concentrate on your meal. Chew slowly and savor every bite. I used to read during every meal, my plate would be empty and I didn't even realize what I was eating because I was so engrossed in my book, this often led to a second helping because I ate so fast I just didn't know I was full. BIG mistake.
Don't avoid your favorite foods! For instance, my son's birthday was yesterday, he always gets a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. (can you tell he loves chocolate? LOL) This is one of MY weaknesses. So I decided to change it up a bit so I could indulge, reduced sugar frosting and non fat frozen yogurt helped reduce the calories a LOT. So did my serving size, instead of a huge slice with a pile of ice cream, I had a slice that was about 1/2" thick and 1/2 cup of frozen yogurt, which I ate slowly and thoroughly enjoyed. I'm sure you can find recipes or low fat versions of just about every thing now. If you try to avoid foods you love, you will give up on your diet quickly. Just remember, smaller, healthier versions :-) and NOT every day! Make it a special treat.
Have 6 small meals a day instead of 3, this will help you because you will be eating all day and won't have that starving feeling. Now by meals, I mean the 3 regular meals and 3 snacks, maybe a piece of cheese and some grapes? A non fat yogurt and fruit? Just watch the calories and plan it ahead of time. No impulse eating!

That's it for today, but would like to add that if you are just starting the weight loss journey yourself, remember that you didn't get to the weight you are at overnight, and it won't go away overnight either. It will take time and effort on your part, but it doesn't have to be painful! I hope some of what I have shared here today helps you get started, if you haven't already, or helps you if you have.

I would love to have folks leave comments and maybe join me in this effort to get healthy. If enough folks are interested maybe we could start a support group of sorts. It might make this kind of fun!

As a final thought...did you know that if you get 8 hours of sleep a night, not only will you wake up refreshed but you will burn 545 calories. That is at least one whole meal gone!

my journey begins

2009-08-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Actually it began quite unintentionally about 3 weeks ago when my daughter and grandson moved back home with me and my 2 boys. Since we decided to share all food and meal prep/cooking etc we needed to choose a way to eat. Either the way we have been eating, not healthy at all..or they way they eat. Vegetarian.
Well, despite a bit of uncertainty, I mean we like our chicken, beef etc I decided to go with their way of eating.
Imagine my joy when I stepped on a scale a week later to discover 6 pounds had vanished! Without any starving on my part. In fact, I have been eating more food, just healthier choices.
I am now joining in the vegetarian lifestyle with gusto! Searching out new recipes etc. This has been the push I needed to get myself on track to a new, healthier me.
So I thought I would start this blog to inspire and encourage others like myself. And also, just to have a record of this journey I am on.