Good job Leah!
Take that critical voice we all have that tries to sabotage us. You know, the one that questions your ability to succeed with your new eating plan. It'll say: "Why even try?" or "You'll just regain the weight you lose." or, or, or
You can counteract that negative voice with positive affirmations such as "I will be successful in reaching my goals one day at a time." If the voice keeps up, say "DELETE!" out loud. You'll be amazed how that one word will banish a negative thought, not to even mention that you'll feel silly and start giggling.
Have fun deleting!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Week 1 Challenge
My husband Aaron and I are doing this biggest loser and our city biggest loser and they are doing weekly challenges which gave me an idea and I talked to Dani about this. One of this things I liked about biggest loser is the weekly challenges. I would like to start posting a weekly challenge and everyone can post on how they did on the challenge that week.
This week Challenge is to drink up to 4-8 glasses a day.
Enjoy the first Challenge.
This week Challenge is to drink up to 4-8 glasses a day.
Enjoy the first Challenge.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A Good Article
Changing our eating habits can be daunting. I found a good article with some ideas in answer to the age-old question of what to do to fix ourselves through good food choices. Although it refers specifically to IC, I think it applies to anyone who's trying to change for the better.
http://www.jonniewright.com/blog/2010/01/21/meal-planning/
http://www.jonniewright.com/blog/2010/01/21/meal-planning/
Ennui reached already?
Okay, a couple of people have probably stated it best this week. The excitement and adrenaline from starting a contest with the idea you could win has worn off, and now we're down to the day to day processes of removing the excess poundage.
First, I have to say, there is no magic bullet. You just have to eat less calories than you expend to lose weight. Very simple, but not that easy. The best way to go is a combination of more (or at least some!) exercise and less food intake. For me, the food intake is generally easier than the exercise.
And one of the adages of Weight Watchers is that if you want to be healthy, this is not a "diet" with a beginning and an end. For almost every one of us, we need to change our eating habits to get to a healthy weight and stay there. So think of this as retraining your brain and your stomach to have a long and healthy life. There IS great food out there that is healthy, low fat, and filling.
Like Ginger has said, I spend most of my day sitting at a desk or in the car. That doesn't burn a lot of calories. Research has found that many, many things you don't think of does burn calories though. For those of you wanting to have immediate satisfaction from your exercise, scrubbing you floors on your hands and knees will use up lots of calories, and make you happy every time you walk in the kitchen. Particularly if it's very dirty. ROFLOL I'm sure that isn't high on any one's list. But seriously, vacuuming, scrubbing floors, walls, and tile, and gardening do use up calories.
Second, one of my favorite hints over the years is that you want to keep your blood sugar level as equal as possible so you avoid the highs and lows. You can actually speed up your metabolism by eating more frequently and smaller meals. A good way to go is to divide your daily food intake into 5 or 6 smaller meals. It has a two fold benefit. It keeps your blood sugar levels more even, so you don't get hungry, and it speeds up your metabolism because your body is "burning" calories more evenly. If you have a small meal every 2 hours during the day, you will see an amazing change. And you're only hungry the first 2 hours. After that, it's not been a problem for me.
Third... DRINK YOUR WATER. Unless you're thinking about it, most of us don't drink enough to keep hydrated. I have read on several medical sites that you need to drink HALF YOUR WEIGHT in ounces of water every day to be fully hydrated. Yes, it's a lot of water. But it does a lot of good things for you. You skin will be "dewy", and wrinkles don't show as much. It keeps you fuller. The first few days of it, you will think you spend all of your time in the bathroom, but after a few days, your body gets used to it and you will go back to a more normal schedule.
Okay, and the last hints I have will be spread out over several days. Many of you know that I love to read, and I mostly read mystery books. I have a ton of favorite authors, but I found a new one a few months back. The author is Kathryn Lilley, and her series is called "a fat city mystery". I read the second one first, and it's been donated to the library, but I just found the first one and read it this week. It's called "Dying to be Thin." The heroine goes to a "fat farm" because she's in the broadcasting business and needs to lose some weight so she can get a job in front of the camera instead of behind the camera. At the beginning of each chapter, there are weight loss hints supposedly given to the heroine in a "Little Book of Fat-busters" by her best friend.
So I'll throw out a couple.
1. The many benies of exercise:
Research indicates that dieters who exercise regularly lose more weight, keep it off longer, and have a greater sense of well-being than sedentary people. An added bonus, you feel more confident and enjoy the physical act of sex more.
2. Avoid Emo eating. Stress, fatigue, and strong emotions can all lead to unplanned eating episodes. Ask yourself the HALT question. Am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired? If you're not truly hungry, drop the food and back away from it -- slowly-- with your hands in the air. (Added bonus... if you do this, you'll probably start laughing and stop the negative emotions!)
3. Dealing with the Unexpected.
Life throws us curveballs. When you miss lunch and are starving by the next meal, you have a tendency to dive into whatever is there without thought about your eating plan and gain a few to several pounds overnight. It's not because there is salt in the food!
When events go awry, don't use it as an excuse to go off the deep end with food. Take a deep breath, realize that God has a great sense of humor, and eat a huge salad before your meal. That should stave off the hunger pangs until your brain is back in gear.
More in a few days!
Hope these help and get you moving in the right direction.
First, I have to say, there is no magic bullet. You just have to eat less calories than you expend to lose weight. Very simple, but not that easy. The best way to go is a combination of more (or at least some!) exercise and less food intake. For me, the food intake is generally easier than the exercise.
And one of the adages of Weight Watchers is that if you want to be healthy, this is not a "diet" with a beginning and an end. For almost every one of us, we need to change our eating habits to get to a healthy weight and stay there. So think of this as retraining your brain and your stomach to have a long and healthy life. There IS great food out there that is healthy, low fat, and filling.
Like Ginger has said, I spend most of my day sitting at a desk or in the car. That doesn't burn a lot of calories. Research has found that many, many things you don't think of does burn calories though. For those of you wanting to have immediate satisfaction from your exercise, scrubbing you floors on your hands and knees will use up lots of calories, and make you happy every time you walk in the kitchen. Particularly if it's very dirty. ROFLOL I'm sure that isn't high on any one's list. But seriously, vacuuming, scrubbing floors, walls, and tile, and gardening do use up calories.
Second, one of my favorite hints over the years is that you want to keep your blood sugar level as equal as possible so you avoid the highs and lows. You can actually speed up your metabolism by eating more frequently and smaller meals. A good way to go is to divide your daily food intake into 5 or 6 smaller meals. It has a two fold benefit. It keeps your blood sugar levels more even, so you don't get hungry, and it speeds up your metabolism because your body is "burning" calories more evenly. If you have a small meal every 2 hours during the day, you will see an amazing change. And you're only hungry the first 2 hours. After that, it's not been a problem for me.
Third... DRINK YOUR WATER. Unless you're thinking about it, most of us don't drink enough to keep hydrated. I have read on several medical sites that you need to drink HALF YOUR WEIGHT in ounces of water every day to be fully hydrated. Yes, it's a lot of water. But it does a lot of good things for you. You skin will be "dewy", and wrinkles don't show as much. It keeps you fuller. The first few days of it, you will think you spend all of your time in the bathroom, but after a few days, your body gets used to it and you will go back to a more normal schedule.
Okay, and the last hints I have will be spread out over several days. Many of you know that I love to read, and I mostly read mystery books. I have a ton of favorite authors, but I found a new one a few months back. The author is Kathryn Lilley, and her series is called "a fat city mystery". I read the second one first, and it's been donated to the library, but I just found the first one and read it this week. It's called "Dying to be Thin." The heroine goes to a "fat farm" because she's in the broadcasting business and needs to lose some weight so she can get a job in front of the camera instead of behind the camera. At the beginning of each chapter, there are weight loss hints supposedly given to the heroine in a "Little Book of Fat-busters" by her best friend.
So I'll throw out a couple.
1. The many benies of exercise:
Research indicates that dieters who exercise regularly lose more weight, keep it off longer, and have a greater sense of well-being than sedentary people. An added bonus, you feel more confident and enjoy the physical act of sex more.
2. Avoid Emo eating. Stress, fatigue, and strong emotions can all lead to unplanned eating episodes. Ask yourself the HALT question. Am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired? If you're not truly hungry, drop the food and back away from it -- slowly-- with your hands in the air. (Added bonus... if you do this, you'll probably start laughing and stop the negative emotions!)
3. Dealing with the Unexpected.
Life throws us curveballs. When you miss lunch and are starving by the next meal, you have a tendency to dive into whatever is there without thought about your eating plan and gain a few to several pounds overnight. It's not because there is salt in the food!
When events go awry, don't use it as an excuse to go off the deep end with food. Take a deep breath, realize that God has a great sense of humor, and eat a huge salad before your meal. That should stave off the hunger pangs until your brain is back in gear.
More in a few days!
Hope these help and get you moving in the right direction.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Keeping it interesting
Okay... now a couple of weeks into this and everyone is realizing that four months is a long time even for a pocket full of money. If you're still starving and it is hunger, not boredom or something else, you're not eating enough. Veggies fill you up and satisfy the need to chew. Try them!
A few ideas to keep it interesting:
1. Get the family involved in finding new low fat/low whatever recipes to try. Between cookbooks, magazines, friends, newspapers, and the Internet, there are a zillion great recipes out there for people wanting to lose weight. Spend an hour at the library going through cookbooks and magazines. While a friend of mine was in the process of losing about 65 pounds, her whole family got vested in her weight loss. They made a pact to try a new recipe at least once a week. It kept it interesting, and during the process they found several new recipes that were great and have become family favorites. They decided everyone could stand to have a lifestyle that included exercise, so they alternated walking and riding bicycles after dinner. (And she's kept the majority of the weight off too!)
2. Get involved in an exercise program that is something you love and would do anyway. Whether you're into hard core marathons, biking, weight lifting, yoga, Pilate's, swimming, or belly dancing, if it's something you love, it will help keep you motivated and going back for more. Since I hate to sweat, I looked long and hard for something to do. Swimming would be great, but around here, all pools are co-ed, and outdoors. No thank you. Found Tai Chi, and a great Salsa dance tape that are fun to do. I read not too long ago that we should all be singing and dancing. It makes us happy and feel good and to heck with those that don't think you're good enough! :p}}
3. Find non-food rewards and take care of yourself. For a lot of women, this seems to be a difficult thing to do. Guys are usually better at that, but they can do the same. Whatever you sit around and say.. I wish I could... figure out how to have that wish come true. If you would like to get involved in, (or are involved in) a hobby, find something you'd like to have that you don't ever get for yourself. Set a goal, and when you reach that goal, treat yourself with those bamboo knitting needles you've had your eye on, or that book, or that notion, or that new saute pan, or new paint brushes, or the Dremel tool, or the router, or, or, or. Perhaps a professional pedicure? Go and sit and enjoy having someone massage your feet. Or a or a new baseball mitt, a CD, a DVD, or a new golf club, or, or, or.
One of my former Weight Watchers members that I remember well after 20 years wanted her little ones about 7 and 9 to get it when she lost weight. They didn't like her going to her meeting every week, but she knew it was important to her and would eventually be to them. She wanted to show them that even if they couldn't see each pound, that it was important to acknowledge it was happening as she was changing her life so she could better interact with them. They made one of those construction paper chains like all kids do in elementary school. For every pound she lost, they made a new loop. About a year or so later when she had lost 125 pounds, they were all thrilled to explain to each new visitor to their home that each one of those loops that extended through a lot of their home represented one more step in their mom's journey to being healthy, happy, and fulfilled. Still makes me tear up.
Figure out what will keep you motivated. What will keep you happy, fulfilled, and wanting to continue on your journey to health and a FABULOUS BOD!
A few ideas to keep it interesting:
1. Get the family involved in finding new low fat/low whatever recipes to try. Between cookbooks, magazines, friends, newspapers, and the Internet, there are a zillion great recipes out there for people wanting to lose weight. Spend an hour at the library going through cookbooks and magazines. While a friend of mine was in the process of losing about 65 pounds, her whole family got vested in her weight loss. They made a pact to try a new recipe at least once a week. It kept it interesting, and during the process they found several new recipes that were great and have become family favorites. They decided everyone could stand to have a lifestyle that included exercise, so they alternated walking and riding bicycles after dinner. (And she's kept the majority of the weight off too!)
2. Get involved in an exercise program that is something you love and would do anyway. Whether you're into hard core marathons, biking, weight lifting, yoga, Pilate's, swimming, or belly dancing, if it's something you love, it will help keep you motivated and going back for more. Since I hate to sweat, I looked long and hard for something to do. Swimming would be great, but around here, all pools are co-ed, and outdoors. No thank you. Found Tai Chi, and a great Salsa dance tape that are fun to do. I read not too long ago that we should all be singing and dancing. It makes us happy and feel good and to heck with those that don't think you're good enough! :p}}
3. Find non-food rewards and take care of yourself. For a lot of women, this seems to be a difficult thing to do. Guys are usually better at that, but they can do the same. Whatever you sit around and say.. I wish I could... figure out how to have that wish come true. If you would like to get involved in, (or are involved in) a hobby, find something you'd like to have that you don't ever get for yourself. Set a goal, and when you reach that goal, treat yourself with those bamboo knitting needles you've had your eye on, or that book, or that notion, or that new saute pan, or new paint brushes, or the Dremel tool, or the router, or, or, or. Perhaps a professional pedicure? Go and sit and enjoy having someone massage your feet. Or a or a new baseball mitt, a CD, a DVD, or a new golf club, or, or, or.
One of my former Weight Watchers members that I remember well after 20 years wanted her little ones about 7 and 9 to get it when she lost weight. They didn't like her going to her meeting every week, but she knew it was important to her and would eventually be to them. She wanted to show them that even if they couldn't see each pound, that it was important to acknowledge it was happening as she was changing her life so she could better interact with them. They made one of those construction paper chains like all kids do in elementary school. For every pound she lost, they made a new loop. About a year or so later when she had lost 125 pounds, they were all thrilled to explain to each new visitor to their home that each one of those loops that extended through a lot of their home represented one more step in their mom's journey to being healthy, happy, and fulfilled. Still makes me tear up.
Figure out what will keep you motivated. What will keep you happy, fulfilled, and wanting to continue on your journey to health and a FABULOUS BOD!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Hints
If you're craving sweets, 1/4 of a fresh pineapple, 1/2 a fresh papaya, or 1/2 a fresh mango help.
If you're hungry, the more veggies you eat, the less hungry you will be. Just be careful of the starchy veggies... corn, winter squash, etc.
Having 2 to 3 servings fruit every day seems to help. Actual fruit, not juice. Again, just be cautious about the starchy fruits... bananas, etc.
If you're hungry, the more veggies you eat, the less hungry you will be. Just be careful of the starchy veggies... corn, winter squash, etc.
Having 2 to 3 servings fruit every day seems to help. Actual fruit, not juice. Again, just be cautious about the starchy fruits... bananas, etc.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A Question
If you're calorie counting, how do you determine the right amount of calories you should be consuming? I know you can sabotage your efforts if you go too low -- your body thinks it's starving, so it hoards fat. Any ideas?
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