A New Start...Again

Obviously I haven't been updating this blog.  Mainly because I haven't been doing anything worth updating.  Just sitting of my ever increasing butt and getting fatter.  Well, no more.  I have decided to try another weight loss program and document my trials and results, hoping that blogging/journaling will help me stay on track.  Yeah, I bet you're all waiting with baited breath for that.

Well, this time it's the Food Lover's Fat Loss program.  In the interest of full disclosure I must mention that I purchased this a long time ago.  Probably over a year or two ago and never even took it out of the package.  Obviously a good investment right?  Well, I saw a few infomercials (shocking, I know, me, the queen of infomercial purchasing) last week and decided that I'm tired of being fat.  I'm tired of my clothes not fitting anymore.  I'm tired of being tired.  As such, I busted out the program, blew off the dust (and there was a bit covering the stuff), and decided I will make an actual effort with this.  If you don't know what this is, it's based on eating the right combination of protein and carbs (fast and slow) so you're not giving up foods you like.  Too good to be true?  I say, yeah, maybe, but at least this seems to make more sense than trying a no-carb diet for 8 weeks to reset my metabolism when I didn't want to do no-carbs for 2 weeks on the South Beach Diet.  This program also starts with a 21-day metabolism makeover.  The best part that I've seen?  Only one small change a day to how you're eating.  I'm all about the baby steps.  Don't make me dump all my junk food and then expect me to like it and stick with that for the rest of my life.  I think I may be able to keep up with this plan.  No points to count, no worrying about screwing up by eating carbs, just small steps.

So Day 1 and the change today is to snack between meals.  That's right, eat more than you're probably eating now.  The explanation for why this works does seem to make sense.  The less you eat, the more your body thinks you're starving and then stores what it does get as fat.  This program says by eating more often you're telling your body that food is plentiful and there's no danger of starvation, thus no reason to store it as fat.  Plus, they don't say what you can snack on today, just eat a snack or meal every two to three hours, up to an hour before you go to bed.  We'll see how it goes.  I had a breakfast of Earnest Easts Hot & Fit Cereal - Mayan blend (bought it at SuperTarget).  I know what you're thinking, twigs and berries, but it was actually pretty good.  Kinda like oatmeal with some extra stuff.  The mayan blend is cocoa flavored with pumpkin seeds and cashews, and it has quinoa and amaranth (whatever that is).  You cook it like oatmeal with water, or milk, and toss it in the microwave for a couple of minutes.  I thought it was tasty with the addition of some Splenda and (not a good thing) coffee creamer.  I know, but it's baby steps right?  Lunch will be PB&J on whole wheat bread with a bag of chips.  My snacks are carrot sticks, cherries, yogurt, cheese stick and an apple.  I know it seems like a lot, but there's not a lot in each serving and they did say to snack on what you want. 

Tomorrow is the start of building a fat loss plate.  That means you have equal servings of a protein, a fast carb and a slow carb.  That's right folks, carbs!  I don't know about you, but that's my weakness.  I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't do drugs.  My vice is sugar and white flour.  So any program that says it's okay to eat carbs is a good one in my book.

Well, this is the start.  I hope to continue it.  Any comments, questions, drop me a note at tonia76@msn.com.  Thanks for listening.

I'm Baaaaacccckkkk

So the whole New Year's Resolution to document every day my journey to weight loss freedom fell by the wayside. Somehow I've been just too busy to write down what's going on, or just felt like it was monotonous to say, exercised, ate a Lean Cuisine four of five days. I have been pretty good and I'm down about 8 lbs. That earlier 10 lb. weight loss was an aberration thanks to my scale freaking out and telling me it needed a new battery. That's fine I guess as all the weight loss experts say you shouldn't lose more than 1-2 lbs. per week if you want long term weight loss. Well, everyone but people on that are on The Biggest Loser, but I don't count them because who can workout 8 hours a day and have their meals made by nutritionists? Just sayin.

I do let myself have a cheat day, which has been Saturdays. I don't go crazy but I do allow myself a burger or sweets. This week was bad though as we went to the Medieval Faire (yes, it had an "e" at the end of it) and I ate a few bites of my daughter's funnel cake and then had Burger King afterwards. Which would have been par for the course if I had left it at that, but had my niece's birthday party yesterday at the roller rink and ate a piece of pizza and a piece of cake. Not so good. I did exercise both Saturday and Sunday though so I'd like think it sorta counteracts what I ate. :)

New program, Turbo Fire, which is currently kicking my butt. I'll keep it up though because in 30 minutes I burned almost 400 calories. Not bad. And that was on the wussy setting (not the official title of that, but that's how I'd describe it to others). My hubby thinks the instructor is too perky but I like her. She keeps it light and interesting so who cares if she's a little on the cheesy side?

Today's lunch is good ol' Lean Cuisine and I think spaghetti tonight after exercise. Love me the carbs. This is why I could never do Atkins. :)

On a side note: I'm trying to take some inspiration from my guilty pleasure of the moment Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. The people on that show (or at least a good percentage) are pretty hot and crazy ripped. Sure, it's not Emmy award winning fare but who doesn't love some sex and violence, not necessarily in that order? Anywho, loved the previous season and feel sad the main character, Andy Whitfield, won't be back for the next season due to cancer. Hope he gets better and maybe they can bring him back for a third season, or I guess it would be a fourth as this is the second season but it's a prequel, too complicated. Oh well. I'll just have to contend myself with the hotties on this season. Main guy, while not as hot as Andy, has a nice smile and killer abs. Hope he can bring it throughout the season.

Mondays are not my friend

Monday and I am down about 9 pounds which I see as a victory. Let's see if I can carry this through to another week and some more weight loss.

I am still drinking the smoothies each morning (haven't missed one yet, knock on wood) but I think I'm sticking with week 1 smoothies as the ones listed on week 2 sound a bit questionable. Not sure if I want to venture into that territory. Papaya and cocoa powder? Yeah, not that adventurous.

Exercise yesterday was Turbo Sculpt. Lots of squats and lunges which is good I guess, but I'm a bit sore today. I think tonight will be cardio.

I did cheat on Saturday eating a Sonic burger, onion rings and a big ol' cherry limeade for lunch and then had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese for dinner. I'm sure I burned every extra point I had and then some, but didn't even bother putting it into the system. I guess that's bad and I should have documented it but didn't want to face the reality of what that would cost. I resolve to do better next time and make sure I put it in even if I don't want to see it.

My joy at the small weight loss is tempered by the sadness of the tragedy in Arizona. I hope this will cause the many overzealous politicians and political pundits to rethink what they say before they say them. For anyone that says that the violent overtones of many political campaigns were not at least a contributing factor, I say shame on you. Give peace a chance.

It Starts...

So I've already missed posting on two days. Not good. And I ate a cupcake yesterday. I used some of my weekly allowance points, but still didn't feel so good about myself after I ate it. On the plus side, I have been exercising every day (Turbo Jam on 3 of the last 4 days, Zumba the other) and been journaling all my eats so that's improvement right?

I'm still drinking the smoothies and they're not bad. I'm starting to look forward to them in the mornings and that counts for about 3 or 4 fruit and veggie servings. Good stuff. On the down side, I think my glass and straw are going to permanently smell like banana. Guess it could smell worse. Drinking many glasses of water daily which is good, but many trips to the bathroom are a result. Oh well. Drinking all of this water I would have thought my skin would be moister. Instead my hands are always super dry. Wish my face was the same.

I am seriously considering getting a slice of pizza for lunch. It would be about the same amount of points as my Lean Cuisine and somehow I think it would be infinitely more satisfying. Only half an hour until lunch. Will I cave to the temptation? We'll see.

At least it's not Monday

Day two is complete. Drank my smoothie (Blueberry Dream) which I didn't really enjoy, but I guess it's because I'm not a honeydew melon fan. Oh well. Tomorrow is a blueberry/banana/spinach one so we'll see how that goes.

I exercised using Turbo Jam and I am sore today. Guess that just shows how out of shape I really am. :) I used Zumba today and it wasn't too bad, but I also didn't burn nearly the calories I did yesterday. I use a HRM so I have a slightly more accurate idea of what I'm burning. Very good investment in my opinion. Lean Cuisine and yogurt for lunch again. Not too bad but some sadistic soul left Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the break room today and I could have killed that individual. I managed to resist, but just barely. I really wanted a doughnut. Those things are like crack, very bad for you and very addictive. Props to me.

More tomorrow...

Day 1...

So I'm well into day one of WW. Had my "Alien Smoothie" this morning and have to say it wasn't too bad. I could definitely taste spinach but wasn't so unpleasant that I wouldn't drink it again. Plus, I felt better about starting my day with some fruit and veggies, plus no points. Think I might need to amp up the breakfast though with a couple of eggs or something as I was starving by lunch time.

I've also drank a lot of water. The down side to this is the many trips to the bathroom. TMI? I thought about how I could go all day without going but now am in there every hour. Guess that's a good thing though, right?

Lean Cuisine, yogurt and a grapefruit for lunch. Wasn't too bad. It was no Five Guys Burger & Fries but can't complain. Plus, way cheaper and didn't have to drive anywhere. I will point out that on the new WW PointsPlus program, the points listed on the outside of the LC package are not the same as calculating the stats. FYI. It was a couple more but as I also had a banana for a snack without adding any points is a plus so I won't complain too much.

Tonight have to exercise. Not sure what I'm going to do. I'm leaning towards an exercise DVD. I'm having second thoughts about the C25K program as I've had problems running before and would rather not get completely discouraged and quit. Better to stay on the elliptical, pop in a DVD now and then and go that route.

And it starts...

I've already missed a post which doesn't bode well. I haven't started monitoring WW either. That starts tomorrow. I will also be trying these green smoothies for breakfast which is basically fruit and either spinach or kale blended with water, ice and some sweetener. Got this tip from my cousin who is very health oriented. They left Santa a plate of veggies and a banana for Christmas Eve while I left gingerbread cookies and milk. Yeah, they're disgustingly healthy and I need all the help I can get. She said her mom used to make them for her and her brother and called it pond scum. Mmm, appetizing. She said I should like them though so that's a plus, and if it helps me get any closer to skinnier, I'm all for it.

More junk food today. I sit here typing and eating Christmas Dots which may be the best candy ever. Last time I get to eat these for a while so I'm stocking up. I can feel my blood sugar spiking. Wooho. I did buy plenty of fruit and veggies (see smoothies above) and have Lean Cuisine and yogurt planned out for my lunches which are not too bad. As a plus, if I don't eat out a bunch it will save me money too which goes along with that whole paying off my debt goal.

Two days into the New Year. 363 to go. :)