Basic Concepts

Well I did lose a little more, but once again it is starting to slow down and I'm noticing myself cheating a little more on some days.. I even got busy yesterday that I forgot to do my blog.. I did weigh in yesterday, but I just feel like I'm starting to maybe lose some motivation on the weight loss front.. but on a positive note I did just sign up for a 10k (6.2 mile) race in October.. Which I needed to do b/c I'm also starting to slip on the running (only 1 time last week).. So I need something to work towards.. I'm hoping this will help plus I need to do it anyway b/c before I know it the Shamrock race will be here again.. man I wonder why I do this to myself when I cant stand to run.. ugggg... Mia Hamm (a prof. soccer player) once said, "Success is usually the result of the old-fashioned, basic concepts like hard work, determination, good planning, and perseverance." This can be applied to just about anything I do, but especially this weight loss journey I'm on.. Without the basic concepts I would not have lost almost 35 pds in 20 weeks.. It's been hard, but well worth it and keeping it off for a lifetime will even be harder, but I have this saying to be my everyday reminder.. Let's all be weight happy together..

Nothing tastes as good

Watching what I ate was a big help this week b/c I knew I had to make up for my vacation or else it could have caught up to me this week and made me gain more weight. I only worked our 2 times this week.. One of those workouts was a 3 mile run outside, so that helped with getting rid of extra calories yesterday before today's weigh-in... I remember once when I was overweight I asked my instructor in the police academy what I could do to get over the 8 ft wall and he said. "Push yourself away from the dinner table." I was in such shock that someone could be that honest about my weight, but that didn't make me eat any less.. It just made me want to cry.. It is funny what kinds of things motivate us and how honesty is sometimes not a motivator if done in a very hurtful way... You have to be ready to change your lifestyle.. I think that is the biggest part to sticking with a diet.. To not look at it as a diet and just do it one day at a time... I love this quote.. "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels." b/c no whopper will satisfy me as looking in the mirror and being happy with how I look... Lets all be weight happy together..

Getting back on Track

Well while vacation was a blast I did gain just a little .6 Pd's.. but I know if I get serious again this week and start back running then I should be back down for next weeks weigh in.. Today I had a girlfriend say to me that she couldn't believe how hard we work to get the weight off, but it can come back on so fast.. and she is so right.. I mean it can takes me 2 weeks to lose .6 Pd's.. it will always be a roller coaster of up and down weight, and that is why I want to be weight happy, so when I do go up a little I don't get so upset and just have to work to go back down.. I did prove to myself that I still have some issues with temptation, b/c I could not keep my hand out of the Carmel popcorn bowl even though I knew in my mind how bad it was for me to eat.. errrr and I could have had a little, but I couldn't stop myself.. I even felt guilty for eating it, but then the next night I ate it again... Lesson learned and now I have to move forward and get back on track... Positive thought is that we can fall down as long as we get right back up, clean our wounds and keep on trucking... Lets all be weight happy together...

On Vacation

Well I'm vacation this week, so I was not able to weigh in, b/c there is no scale here and was not about to pack my scale that would have been a little crazy.. lol lol I'm having a great time and trying to watch what I eat, but I have to admit I have been indulging a little more than usual and have to say I'm a little worried, but if I do gain I just have to work harder when I get back home.. I'm giving myself a bye this week and just going to weigh in on next Tuesday and hoping I at least maintained... would have lost a week, but that is going to happen from time to time if this truly is a life change.. and so far it is, but we are all aloud a little fun with food as long as we can bounce back right away... Lets all be weight happy together...

Curb your cravings

I decided since I didn't do anything different last week I would give you some helpful advice to curb those cravings we all can have.. One of my daily problems while I'm watching what I eat is the cravings I get for the foods I know I can't have, so I wanted to just list a few helpful ideas in case you are having the same problem or feeling hungry all the time (this is me too)...

Tips on how to curb cravings:

Eat more fiber (I do this and it works) - fills you up and stops sugar cravings
Drink whey protein - this releases appetite suppressant hormones that curb cravings
Don't skip breakfast (I eat breakfast) - when you skip breakfast you lower your blood sugar even more and that will make you crave food all day long
Have an egg for breakfast (I eat 1 egg & 1 egg white omelet mixed with mushrooms and fat free cheese) - eggs make you fill fuller throughout the day and they only raise your HDL cholesterol which is the good cholesterol in your body
Relax when stressed - when you stress your body releases a hormone called, Cortisol that makes you feel hungry
Sleep 7 hrs or more - when you sleep for 7 hrs you release a hormone called, Leptin which is a fat burning hormone
Wait 20 minutes - your cravings usually pass after 20 minutes (chew gum to help pass time)
Take Vitamin B-3 - this vitamin will lower sugar and alcohol cravings
Eat on blue plates - may sound weird but the color blue makes you want to eat less
Take a whiff of Vanilla scent - the smell of vanilla tricks you into thinking you just craved your need for sugar
Drink water before you eat meals - this fills up your belly, which makes you feel satisfied quicker
Drink green tea - this is an appetite suppressant and it's an all natural fat burner

I do some of these already, but now there are a couple more I'm going to try now... I hope this was helpful.. Let's all be weight happy together..

But not you...

So I have to say I'm kinda really glad we got our pool, b/c I really think that getting into it with the kids and swimming around is helping to keep losing weight.. I'm not only running still ( 3 times last week), but now I have added a little swimming into it through out the week, which is helping with the summer food I'm eating (cookout stuff)... Nothing else has really changed, so I wanted to post a poem that I like..

Let others lead small lives,
But not you.
Let others argue over small things,
But not you.
Let others cry over small hurts,
But not you.
Let others leave their future in someones else's hands,
But not you.

Embrace your own future and let us all be weight happy together..

Getting There

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.. This last week I knew I had to do something to finally get me over the hump of staying at 150, so I did my four times of running this week (still only 2 miles each time) and I drank more water this week to see if that would help.. My eating was still the same, and we only had one night out to eat this week.. Mexican for my son's graduation from preschool. We did go to a pool party/cookout this week too, but I watched my portions really closely... I can tell this summer is going to be hard with losing weight.. My goal is to at least lose something each week if only .2 Pd's, so I keep up the desire to be weight happy.. which I have to admit I'm starting to feel it.. I feel better about how my clothes look on me and I feel good about being in a bathing suit in front of people.. At the pool party I witnessed my former self through another mom.. I asked her why she wasn't in her bathing suit and she said, "I will let the skinny moms do the swimming." Now I have to say this mom herself is not overweight, but I remember feeling the way she does about myself.. It is so funny how as women we always see ourselves much bigger then others see us... I'm not sure if I ever let my weight stop me from doing anything, but I can say I remember not always being comfortable in every situation when I was bigger... My mom asked me last week to say the first thing I thought of when she asked me, "What was my first reason for wanting to lose weight," and I said (which surprised me) "I don't want to be the fat mom." so after I thought about it, I told her that growing up with a skinny mom (she has always been 110 Pd's) always made me feel good about having friends over to swim or go to the beach with her.. I felt she was healthy, happy and so much fun.. I want my kids to feel that way with me.. I know I would have probably felt this way about my mother even if she was a bigger women, but I only know about having the pretty, skinny mom that everyone liked growing up.. My mom did say to me that there was never a option to her not being skinny and that her being happy was a combo of being weight happy, my father and having good kids.. I knew as I got older that my mom had a fear of being overweight, but she never once let on this feeling when I was growing up.. Now I have to say I never had weight issues until after HS.. we are a big family of sports players, so being in shape was something we always were in my house growing up.. Then I got skinny again while on the police force then I had kids and my weight down spiraled again and that is where I am today.. I could so write a book (tee heee).. Positive thought is to just try to stay on track this summer and not lose site of the goal to have a lifetime of being weight happy.. Lets all be weight happy together...