This week has been insanely busy at work so I haven't had much time to blog at all. I am doing well, keeping up the weight loss spirit, my food log and the whole she-bang. I have slacked a bit on my exercising, only doing it three times a week rather than four, but I will still meet my goal that I set for myself to make at least 80% of my workouts!
Geesh, I wish I had more time to say and actually more things to tell you but right now it's very solid and steady going. Not much to report.
Don't forget to read my post below and donate (or repost on your own blogs) if you can! She only has until March 5th to meet her $500 goal and she isn't halfway there yet.
Hope you all are having healthy, successful weeks!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A little help?
See that woman there with the red hair? Well, she's about to shave it all off to make a very BOLD statement and raise money for a very good cause, Children's Cancer Research. That woman is also my sister. Our brother was the inspiration, as he will also be shaving his head for this very worthy cause, and made her start to think about her own good health, and her healthy children and just how fortunate our family really is.
When she emailed me to say "I'm doing it" I got goosebumps and I have them again just writing this message to you all. For a woman to put her own self aside and say "I WILL DO THIS", that is strentgh, courage and a beautiful example of a giving spirit! It's something that you don't see every day. I am so proud of her and want to do whatever I can to help her meet her goal.
If you can, please go to the foundations website here and support my sister's efforts by making a small donation. You don't have to give $100, $50 or even $10. Just one single solitaty dollar makes a difference. I made my small donation this morning and it took me about 2 minutes to do. If you have 2 minutes and $1, we're on our way to making a difference in some child's life.
Please feel free to pass my sister's story on, either via your own blogs, email, message board, twitter (whatever you're using) and share her link. She's only shooting to raise $500 total but I think what she's doing can raise so much more. Help her meet her goal (plus, you'll get to see what that head looks like totally 100% bald!)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Tough to workout or tough workouts? (And Happy Valentines Day!)
Last night I begrudgingly did my 30 minute aerobic workout on the Wii. No puppy dogs and rainbows there, a didn't want to do it, didn't feel like doing and had no intention of doing it. Sometimes, it's just tough to workout! I hadn't seen Marco all weekend because he worked all day long, I was tired and I just wanted to sit with him and relax, talk about stuff and not be working out.
Marco, however, gently nudged me to go ahead and do it, which initially made me want to scratch out his eyes and convinced me that he hated my guts. What a jerkface.
So I snapped on the Wii, glared at him (as he easily sat behind the computer playing poker), and began to angrily grapevine, side step, kick and whatever else that skinny beotch on the Wii made me do.
I probably switched modes and moods about 10 minutes into it though. I wasn't pouting anymore and really trying to push myself and I no longer wanted to scratchs Marco's eyes all the way out, maybe just poke 'em a little. The skinny beotch on the Wii was still irritating but I could be on a Prozac-sugar-endorphin high beyond your wildest dreams and she'd still be irritating.
I pushed through and finished a tough 30 minutes, sweat and all. I somehow managed to make that "tough to workout" monent and refocus it into a "tough workout".
As a layed sprawled out on the ground sweating and stretching Marco came over and said "good job sweetheart". I knew he nudged me because he wants to see me happy and knows I would be pissed at myself today for skipping it. That man is one brave soldier, living his life with no fear of Sarah's Wrath, which, I will say, can be pretty darned scary.
I hope you are all having healthy, successful weeks!
Marco, however, gently nudged me to go ahead and do it, which initially made me want to scratch out his eyes and convinced me that he hated my guts. What a jerkface.
So I snapped on the Wii, glared at him (as he easily sat behind the computer playing poker), and began to angrily grapevine, side step, kick and whatever else that skinny beotch on the Wii made me do.
I probably switched modes and moods about 10 minutes into it though. I wasn't pouting anymore and really trying to push myself and I no longer wanted to scratchs Marco's eyes all the way out, maybe just poke 'em a little. The skinny beotch on the Wii was still irritating but I could be on a Prozac-sugar-endorphin high beyond your wildest dreams and she'd still be irritating.
I pushed through and finished a tough 30 minutes, sweat and all. I somehow managed to make that "tough to workout" monent and refocus it into a "tough workout".
As a layed sprawled out on the ground sweating and stretching Marco came over and said "good job sweetheart". I knew he nudged me because he wants to see me happy and knows I would be pissed at myself today for skipping it. That man is one brave soldier, living his life with no fear of Sarah's Wrath, which, I will say, can be pretty darned scary.
I hope you are all having healthy, successful weeks!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Very interesting observation...
Last week at my appointment with Dewy (Disorderly Eating Woman YAY!) she suggested that perhaps I would want to try weighing in blind or only weighing in at my appointments with her. The reason being, I've mentioned to her that when I step on the scale it can effect how the rest of my day goes. If it's a loss, I'm obviously happy and can sometimes relax a little "too much". If it is a gain then I get a bit nervous and I become restrictive, probably overly restrictive.
The point of my getting help with all of this is not to lose a ton of weight right this very second, Biggest Loser style. The point of all of this is for me to form new habits and over a length of time the weight will gradually come off due to my new habits, not because I ate 900 calrories every day for 3 days, binged a day, went back to 900 calories, repeat repeat repeat like I have so many times in the past.
I agreed that I would only weigh at my appointment with her, weighing blindly and only knowing my weight once a month was just too over the top for me. Keep in mind that although my "official" weigh in was only once a week, on Mondays most recently, I still got on the scale almost daily. Ritualistically.
The first couple of days were pretty rough (to use the word loosely) and it was tempting, I will admit. I mean, who would know if I really did get on the scale or not... nobody but me. But what's the point of all of this if I start lying to myself (or to you all).
But by days 3 and 4, I noticed something else. I was feeling good. My clothes felt loser to me, I felt like I was standing taller. Just feeling good about myself made me, well, just happier. Happier to stick to my changes. Happier to exercise in the evening. Just all around happier, all week long. Now if I would have stepped on the scale and not seen a loss or,*gasp*, seen a gain, which let's be truthful here, it just happenes sometimes for no forseen reason, it would have totally altered my mood. I really hadn't realized what an effect those numbers, when seen on a daily basis, were having on me.
So if you're a scale junkie and you recognize some of this in yourself, maybe give it a try. Do it for a week or so and just see how you feel. See if the numbers are playing mind games with you as well.
I hope you are all having healthy, successful weeks!
The point of my getting help with all of this is not to lose a ton of weight right this very second, Biggest Loser style. The point of all of this is for me to form new habits and over a length of time the weight will gradually come off due to my new habits, not because I ate 900 calrories every day for 3 days, binged a day, went back to 900 calories, repeat repeat repeat like I have so many times in the past.
I agreed that I would only weigh at my appointment with her, weighing blindly and only knowing my weight once a month was just too over the top for me. Keep in mind that although my "official" weigh in was only once a week, on Mondays most recently, I still got on the scale almost daily. Ritualistically.
The first couple of days were pretty rough (to use the word loosely) and it was tempting, I will admit. I mean, who would know if I really did get on the scale or not... nobody but me. But what's the point of all of this if I start lying to myself (or to you all).
But by days 3 and 4, I noticed something else. I was feeling good. My clothes felt loser to me, I felt like I was standing taller. Just feeling good about myself made me, well, just happier. Happier to stick to my changes. Happier to exercise in the evening. Just all around happier, all week long. Now if I would have stepped on the scale and not seen a loss or,*gasp*, seen a gain, which let's be truthful here, it just happenes sometimes for no forseen reason, it would have totally altered my mood. I really hadn't realized what an effect those numbers, when seen on a daily basis, were having on me.
So if you're a scale junkie and you recognize some of this in yourself, maybe give it a try. Do it for a week or so and just see how you feel. See if the numbers are playing mind games with you as well.
I hope you are all having healthy, successful weeks!
Monday, February 07, 2011
What a Monday!
Mondays are my weigh in day now and I was really surprised to see that I was up 0.3 kilos or 0.6 of a pound. Not that it's a significant gain but I really feel like I've lost. My pants are looser, my coat isn't as snug around my rump when I zip it, and my tush feels smaller. Granted these are changes that everybody would notice in my bod, but I see myself naked every single day, so I do notice them. An even bigger surprise was that those numbers didn't ruin my entire day, send me into a "why bother" tailspin or even really peeve me. I was pretty okay with that, reasing being:
I've been doing AWESOME on my workouts. Seriously awesome. I have only missed one day in the past 4 weeks since setting my original goal and it's just been fantastic. They're getting mildly easier to do with each passing day and I'm remembering back to how this whole thing started... how I lost my first 30 pounds back in 2006 and this is exactly how it felt. It wasn't easy back then, just like it's not easy now, but I was determined and I feel so very determined!
I've also been doing great with my other mini goals, such as cooking more home made meals, trying new recipes, drinking 64 oz of water per day and eating fish three times a week. Breaking these goals down has been instrumental to my less mopy-after-gaining-attitude because now I have so many other focuses besides "did I lose or didn't I". It was such a simple trick that I learned from Dewy, my therapist, but it really does work. Granted I'm not "fixed" quite yet but I am well on my way I think!
We did decide that maybe it would be a good experiment for me to try not weighing myself every week except at my appointment with Dewy. Because I tend to be so number focused, she thinks it could help me gain a little more perspective on all of the other great things I am doing for my body. It's also a reminder that this is not only about losing weight, this is about fixing the way that I deal with food on a daily basis. It's about figuring out what makes me tick and tweaking it. It's about making changes that will last a lifetime. So this week, I am not to step on the scale once. Not even to peek. That's actually going to be pretty challenging for me because I do tend to hop on almost every morning "just to see". What that does though, is if the number isn't exactly what I want to see, then it throws me into "oh-my-god-I-have-to-work-harder" mode, making me be more restrictive than necessary with my food intake, which tends to make me food obsess, which tends to make me binge. It's that cycle there that I hope to break. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint! We'll give it a go for a couple weeks and see how I do. I do love a challenge!
I have some other "homework" that I will share with you all later on! I hope you all are having healthy, successful weeks!
I've been doing AWESOME on my workouts. Seriously awesome. I have only missed one day in the past 4 weeks since setting my original goal and it's just been fantastic. They're getting mildly easier to do with each passing day and I'm remembering back to how this whole thing started... how I lost my first 30 pounds back in 2006 and this is exactly how it felt. It wasn't easy back then, just like it's not easy now, but I was determined and I feel so very determined!
I've also been doing great with my other mini goals, such as cooking more home made meals, trying new recipes, drinking 64 oz of water per day and eating fish three times a week. Breaking these goals down has been instrumental to my less mopy-after-gaining-attitude because now I have so many other focuses besides "did I lose or didn't I". It was such a simple trick that I learned from Dewy, my therapist, but it really does work. Granted I'm not "fixed" quite yet but I am well on my way I think!
We did decide that maybe it would be a good experiment for me to try not weighing myself every week except at my appointment with Dewy. Because I tend to be so number focused, she thinks it could help me gain a little more perspective on all of the other great things I am doing for my body. It's also a reminder that this is not only about losing weight, this is about fixing the way that I deal with food on a daily basis. It's about figuring out what makes me tick and tweaking it. It's about making changes that will last a lifetime. So this week, I am not to step on the scale once. Not even to peek. That's actually going to be pretty challenging for me because I do tend to hop on almost every morning "just to see". What that does though, is if the number isn't exactly what I want to see, then it throws me into "oh-my-god-I-have-to-work-harder" mode, making me be more restrictive than necessary with my food intake, which tends to make me food obsess, which tends to make me binge. It's that cycle there that I hope to break. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint! We'll give it a go for a couple weeks and see how I do. I do love a challenge!
I have some other "homework" that I will share with you all later on! I hope you all are having healthy, successful weeks!
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Keeping it level
That's my big goal right now, is trying to keep my blood sugar as stable and level as possible. That's why at the center where I am getting help at, Dewy (Disorderly Eating Woman, Yay!) suggests that I eat every 2-3 hours and really trying never go to over that three hour threshold. Since adopting this method I can honestly say my energy level is better than it has been in a very long time and certainly since my daughter was born.
I've got that down fairly well through the week when I'm at work, as I tend to be more in a pattern then. I get up around the same time, I set my reminder on my email to tell me when I should (generally) have my snack, I have pushed my lunchtime back to fit in this schedule, I have a second reminded pop up to tell me to eat my second snack and then I have dinner. Dinner is the one that is always a tricky one. I sometimes go over my 3 hour limit before eating dinner as I'm busy paying attention to Sadie (my delightful daughter, check out her blog). The weekends, well, they take some strategic planning sometimes and I can improve on my eating during that time for sure.
I'm encouraged to eat six times a day with my first time eating being as close to when I get out of bed as possible. The reason being is that it's probably been a very long time (10-12 hour) span of time since I'd last eaten, therefore my blood sugar would be extremely low, if I would test it. A lot of people (including me) say "well I'm just not hungry in the morning", which may be true, you may not feel hungry, as in, your tummy isn't growling, BUT if you would check your blood sugar, you would see that your body is, indeed, hungry.
There is no cut off time as to when I should eat last. If I am awake and it's been 3 hours since I've last eaten I should have something, anything, to keep my levels, well, level. Some "diets" encourage you to stop eating after a certain time in the evening such as 6 or 7pm, yet most people don't go to bed until 10, 11 or even later. As you will be able to figure from the paragraph above, if you stop eating a 6 and then don't eat again until 6, 7 or even 8 the next morning, you're really asking a lot of your body!
Notice I'm not counting calories, I'm not counting points, I'm not counting anything except the hours and logging my food intake every day. Yes, I have been given a list of good foods and snacks to help me make better choices but let's face it, it's not that I don't know that an apple is a better choice than a muffin. I know (for the most part, sometimes you can really be fooled!) what is "healthy" food and what isn't and they're not tyring to teach me that. They are focused right now on getting my eating in a normal pattern with normal portion sizes.
So, that said, I wanted to share with you what my last couple of days have been like just so you can get a real idea of what I've been doing. Keep in mind I am not perfect, and you will see that. I am not trying to be perfect, I'm just trying to do a little bit better that I've been doing in the past.
This is copied and pasted from my food log:
(wwbb stands for whole wheat brown bread and I've left some other descriptions in the text below for things not everybody may know)
Feb 1st
8:00 - 2wwbb 1 w/ humus, 1 w/ butter and honey, 2 cappucinos w/ sugar
10:00 - sultanas (fruit snack bar, 2)
1:00 - 2wwb w/ light cream cheese, 2 slices ham, apple, 2 diet cokes
3:00 - banana
5:00 - 2 time out biscuits and a cappuccino w/ sugar
7:00 - Thai curry chicken and veggie w/ noodles
9:00 - sultanas
worked out for 30 minutes, was very hungry afterwards, so had my late snack even though I had eaten 6 times already that day
Feb 2nd
7:30 - 2wwb humus, cappuccino w/ sugar
10:15 - sultana
1:00 - cheese tortilini w/ meat sauce and veggies (1/2 portion), diet coke
3:00 - apple
5:00 2 mandrins, 3 pieces of chocolate
8:00 steak w/ sauteed onion, mashed potatoes, greek salad, diet coke
Feb 3rd
8:45 - oatmeal w/ raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon, 1 capuccino w/ sugar
10:45 - apple
1:00 - 2 wwbb w/ mayo, roast beef slices, salami, cheese, tomato, cuke, lettuce, 2 diet cokes
2:15 - 1/2 slice of apple tart (office party)
4:30 2 mandrins
7:00 - thai curried beef w/ veg and rice (didn't eat my usual full portion,felt full)
Feb 4th
8:30 - oatmeal w/ sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon
10:00 - 2 mandrins
12:45 - white fish w/ pesto (baked), w/ small fries (10), 4 onion rings, mushrooms and onions (sauteed), 2 diet cokes
3:30 - apple
7:00 - ceasar chicken salad, 100 ml optimel kwark (this is a Dutch yogurt type food)
in bed at 10
Feb 5th
8:15 - 2 wwbb humus
10:00 apple
2:00 - tomato soup, 2 wwbb w/ butter and one slice of old cheese
4:30 - 100 ml optimel kwark
8:00 - baked chicken breast w/ bbq sauce, roasted pumpkin
Also in my log I mention if I have had a struggle or emotional day as to later see where my destructive patterns are.
So that's what I've been up to as far as how and what I am eating for right now. Once this becomes more 2nd nature I will start focusing on other aspects of weight loss.
I hope you all are having healthy, successful weeks!
I've got that down fairly well through the week when I'm at work, as I tend to be more in a pattern then. I get up around the same time, I set my reminder on my email to tell me when I should (generally) have my snack, I have pushed my lunchtime back to fit in this schedule, I have a second reminded pop up to tell me to eat my second snack and then I have dinner. Dinner is the one that is always a tricky one. I sometimes go over my 3 hour limit before eating dinner as I'm busy paying attention to Sadie (my delightful daughter, check out her blog). The weekends, well, they take some strategic planning sometimes and I can improve on my eating during that time for sure.
I'm encouraged to eat six times a day with my first time eating being as close to when I get out of bed as possible. The reason being is that it's probably been a very long time (10-12 hour) span of time since I'd last eaten, therefore my blood sugar would be extremely low, if I would test it. A lot of people (including me) say "well I'm just not hungry in the morning", which may be true, you may not feel hungry, as in, your tummy isn't growling, BUT if you would check your blood sugar, you would see that your body is, indeed, hungry.
There is no cut off time as to when I should eat last. If I am awake and it's been 3 hours since I've last eaten I should have something, anything, to keep my levels, well, level. Some "diets" encourage you to stop eating after a certain time in the evening such as 6 or 7pm, yet most people don't go to bed until 10, 11 or even later. As you will be able to figure from the paragraph above, if you stop eating a 6 and then don't eat again until 6, 7 or even 8 the next morning, you're really asking a lot of your body!
Notice I'm not counting calories, I'm not counting points, I'm not counting anything except the hours and logging my food intake every day. Yes, I have been given a list of good foods and snacks to help me make better choices but let's face it, it's not that I don't know that an apple is a better choice than a muffin. I know (for the most part, sometimes you can really be fooled!) what is "healthy" food and what isn't and they're not tyring to teach me that. They are focused right now on getting my eating in a normal pattern with normal portion sizes.
So, that said, I wanted to share with you what my last couple of days have been like just so you can get a real idea of what I've been doing. Keep in mind I am not perfect, and you will see that. I am not trying to be perfect, I'm just trying to do a little bit better that I've been doing in the past.
This is copied and pasted from my food log:
(wwbb stands for whole wheat brown bread and I've left some other descriptions in the text below for things not everybody may know)
Feb 1st
8:00 - 2wwbb 1 w/ humus, 1 w/ butter and honey, 2 cappucinos w/ sugar
10:00 - sultanas (fruit snack bar, 2)
1:00 - 2wwb w/ light cream cheese, 2 slices ham, apple, 2 diet cokes
3:00 - banana
5:00 - 2 time out biscuits and a cappuccino w/ sugar
7:00 - Thai curry chicken and veggie w/ noodles
9:00 - sultanas
worked out for 30 minutes, was very hungry afterwards, so had my late snack even though I had eaten 6 times already that day
Feb 2nd
7:30 - 2wwb humus, cappuccino w/ sugar
10:15 - sultana
1:00 - cheese tortilini w/ meat sauce and veggies (1/2 portion), diet coke
3:00 - apple
5:00 2 mandrins, 3 pieces of chocolate
8:00 steak w/ sauteed onion, mashed potatoes, greek salad, diet coke
Feb 3rd
8:45 - oatmeal w/ raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon, 1 capuccino w/ sugar
10:45 - apple
1:00 - 2 wwbb w/ mayo, roast beef slices, salami, cheese, tomato, cuke, lettuce, 2 diet cokes
2:15 - 1/2 slice of apple tart (office party)
4:30 2 mandrins
7:00 - thai curried beef w/ veg and rice (didn't eat my usual full portion,felt full)
Feb 4th
8:30 - oatmeal w/ sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon
10:00 - 2 mandrins
12:45 - white fish w/ pesto (baked), w/ small fries (10), 4 onion rings, mushrooms and onions (sauteed), 2 diet cokes
3:30 - apple
7:00 - ceasar chicken salad, 100 ml optimel kwark (this is a Dutch yogurt type food)
in bed at 10
Feb 5th
8:15 - 2 wwbb humus
10:00 apple
2:00 - tomato soup, 2 wwbb w/ butter and one slice of old cheese
4:30 - 100 ml optimel kwark
8:00 - baked chicken breast w/ bbq sauce, roasted pumpkin
Also in my log I mention if I have had a struggle or emotional day as to later see where my destructive patterns are.
So that's what I've been up to as far as how and what I am eating for right now. Once this becomes more 2nd nature I will start focusing on other aspects of weight loss.
I hope you all are having healthy, successful weeks!
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