Monday, January 5, 2009

I'm Laying it ALL Out There

Like everyone else around, I'm going to start eating better and getting exercise this year. Why do we ALWAYS do this at the 1st of a new year?!?! Why not March 16th or July 29th? Anyhow, last night I was talking to my friend Jennifer telling her that I have GOT TO GET WITH IT and really meant it this time. She's heard me say that I know, umpteen millions of times, but this time, it's serious.

As you may be aware, I had a complete life changing experience that happened this past March. I have been placed on some medications that unfortunately vamp up my desire to eat. I was born with this natural desire to devour everything in sight and now, oh my stars! It's out of control! Seriously! But back in the summer, I did try Weight Watchers, on my own. The first week, I did lose 4 pounds. And I continued to do well, until Hudson's birthday in August and for some strange reason, me and the Sissom's and my husband all tried to see who could eat the MOST points that day. Yeah, well... I think that I won that day and every day since then. Fast forward to today. This morning, I thought.... I really need someone to hold me accountable. Then that way, I KNOW that I have to report my "results". Last night, Jennifer did say that I should start WW's with her and Richie, but she doesn't scold me enough! Shes not MEAN about it! :) (love you Jenn!) So a little while ago, my friend "Marie" whom I have known since 6th grade, the most fabulous friend in the world, started a new accountability thingy. She has started a new blog page, http://operationbikini2009.blogspot.com/ . And then, the ball started rolling for me! I guess that I am messing with the idea of posting my "results" weekly and letting you (whomever you are!) know whats working, not working, great food ideas, etc. Unfortunately, I'm not one that likes to get eat out alot and eat frozen stuff. I like my stuff cooked.... IN FAT BACK! ;)

Wish me luck! I want to hear from you and how you are doing and please share your ideas with me as well! I need help! There, I admitted it! I NEED HELP!
I NEED HELP!

Happy Weight Loss 2009!

4 comments:

Marie said...

I love your blog. Its fantastic. I promise you will do well with your weight loss (although I'm still trying to figure out what it is you need to lose!!). I will support you, you know I can be mean.. hee hee!! Do you know your daily points allowance? I can help you..call, email, blog, complain do whatever! We can do this and look just as hot as we did in high school! xoxoxo

Kelly Ford said...

I'm not even gonna comment cause i'm preggo and was SERIOUSLY out of shape long before getting preggo. So we'll talk in May after the baby comes and I try to get skinny. But i'm all about holding you accountable :-) Cant wait for the results!

The Pitts' Boys said...

Ok--as I said on FB, I am happy to help hold you accountable with this. I KNOW how hard it is!! I was diagnosed with borderline diabetes a year ago this month, which completely shocked me. I had never been overweight in my life--I had always been very skinny. The mirror didn't lie. The scale didn't lie. And my bloodwork, taken 3 times, did not lie. I needed to take action.

As you know, I have other health issues that affect me, and for which I take medication. I did find that one of my meds was notorious for causing excessive weight gain, so we stopped that med, and my weight gain (that had crept up on me) stopped. The next step was to lose.

I have tried WW before, but to no avail. So...I created my own lifestyle change. I refuse to call it a diet, because it is truly a lifestyle change if you want to be healthy. I looked at my Benjamin and the new brown eyes of Michael, and knew that I wanted to be healthy for them and for Steve as much as for myself. With my age creeping up there, my metabolism most certainly is not!

So...

Here's what I did/have done to lose weight and keep it off:

1. I took myself to 1200-1400 calories a day, and only 120 carbs. I LITERALLY went through withdrawal, but once that was over, I felt much better.

2. I removed white pasta, bread, cake, ice cream (my LOVE!!), white potatoes...basically anything WHITE out of my diet. I replaced it all with whole wheat, but I severely monitor how much I eat. I portion it out so it is truly the portion on the package if I am going to eat, pasta, for example. I have not had ice cream in a year, because it would set me back. That is my downfall. I have had cake on special occasions, as well as very small amounts of bread. I refuse pasta for the same reason I refuse ice cream. I love pasta.

3. I logged EVERY BITE I TOOK for 6 months. I have the spreadsheet if you want it. After 6 months, I found I did not have to log my food anymore, because I knew pretty much what I needed to eat in a given day.

4. I was not eating fried foods or other high fat foods regularly b/c I have high cholesterol, but if you eat those (french fries, cream sauces, high fat beef, etc), then you might want to cut those back.

5. I started riding my bike when Steve got home from work, and took Benjamin swimming as often as I could so I could do laps during "adult swim". When Michael came home in August, I started taking him for 1 hour walks after I dropped Benjamin off at school 3 days each week. I also did some weight lifting at home, which I have done off and on for years. And, I just renewed my membership to Bodyplex so I can use their weight machines to build muscle, which will ultimately take over the fat once I get myself to that point. This is the next step for me--strength training.

6. I literally threw out everything that tempted me. The ice cream? We had just bought the "Girl Scout Cookie" Ice Cream Series when this happened. I was so sad. But I took it all down to my mother's and my stepfather ate it all. I had to throw out some Christmas cookies the other day, because they were screaming at me!!! They wanted me to eat them...every one of them. So...into the trash they went. I don't hear them now. Brownies are also a huge favorite of mine. My very kind neighbor baked some from scratch the other day for us to thank us for taking care of their dog over Christmas. So...I had one. Steve ate several. Benjamin had one. The rest were given away, except there are 2 left on the counter. They are not yelling very loudly yet. If Steve doesn't eat them, I will have to remove them.

7. You can learn to cook healthy food and season it so you love it. Here's an example of how I ate today (although we did go out to eat tonight):

1. Apple with peanut butter for lunch. (Approx 350 cal/15g fat (good fat from nuts)/30 carbs/7g protein).
2. South Beach diet peanut butter bar (140 cal/5g fat/18 carbs/10g protein) for a snack.
3. 3 small pieces of ham lunchmeat for a snack (50 cal/0g fat/0 carbs/5g protein).
4. Caesar salad w/chicken--dressing on the side (Approx 300 cal/12g fat (dressing)/0 carbs/15g protein (chicken)).

Nacho chips/cheese (very small amount)--(Approx 200 cal/7g fat/19 carbs/??? protein)

CALORIES: 1040
FAT: 39 (allowed 65 on 2000 cal diet)
CARBS: 67
PROTEIN: 37+

This is not enough...I will likely be hungry again...so I will eat a banana with frozen cool whip. Cool whip is the best--low calories, almost no carbs, low fat. Bananas are a little higher in carbs, but are high in fiber.

So--there's a sample of what I ate today. Every day is different, except I literally eat an apple with PB every day. I have found that the fiber and protein combined with the good carbs from the apples sustain me well through the day.

The good news is that I do not crave the junk as much as I used to. Sure, if it is here, and it is the holidays, I do. Someone's bday kills me. We just came back from my mother-in-law's, who cooks everything with high fat, high starch, high sugar content. Even her corn has sugar in it!!! (ugh) I have been training her on how to cook things like broccoli and cabbage and other things that do not have sugar in them.

Ok--I have gone on long enough. I am here to help you in any way I can. I love you and I hope you know you can count on me. Let me know how I can help...

Julie

Ida B. Goddard said...

okay, so I am SOOO GAME!! I'll talk to you about it tomorrow at MOPS!!

Followers