I'm Baaaaack!

It has been an EXTREMELY busy week! Usually when I don't have time to post something on my blog, I usually relax by reading & commenting on every one's blogs, but there hasn't been time to do that either! I'm usually so tired, all I want to do is be a vegetable in front of the TV or go right to bed, which is what I do most of the time. This is my son's last week of school and there are lot of stuff that needs to be done before school is over. And the stuff that needs to be done continues even after school is over! I won't bore you with the details, but I'll be spending a lot of time on the road being a chauffeur for my son's various activities and most of them are 40 Min's away! I figure things should start winding down towards the end of July and by that time I'll need a vacation!

Despite the busyness of my life, I have miraculously been able to stick with Weight Watchers. I am on my third week of Weight Watchers. The first week was extremely hard. It was a pain having to record what I ate, there were some days that I forgot. The second week, I got better. I was able to stock up the kitchen with low cal snacks and cook meals that were lean and low cal as well. It became easier to record my food intake. And I lost two pounds this week, that's a total of 4lbs in 3 weeks! Slow and steady! I have noticed my butt getting smaller, which is a miraculous feat! Don't worry, I won't show pictures!

Last week, I exercised consistently and did better at weight training. My pace increased at the treadmill, I increased the incline and I was able to work out longer. It feels good to see my endurance level increase. And I'm at a point, where I feel the need to work out. When I can't go to the gym, I do a work out at home, even if it's only 30 minutes. I am constantly challenging myself and I owe that motivation from reading many of your blogs. I am always amazed that despite personal or physical challenges, every one is able to still find the time to work out.

My second motivation to sticking with my food plan and working out is a silly one. I have a friend who started Jenny Craig about a month ago and she's losing weigh... a lot of it! And she doesn't work out! I think of the weight that she's losing and that keeps me from eating late at night. As I said before, it's a silly reason, but it seems to be working for me. I've always been a very competitive person!


Food for Thought: "Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."

Wednesday Hump Day

Yesterday was my weigh in day & I lost half a pound. No earth shattering weight loss there, but at least I'm half a pound less than I was last week. It seems I'm averaging about a pound a week, not bad.

We had a physical trainer speak at our weight loss group. She gave some really good tips. One of the things that I got from her was to implement more weight training. Since I've been averaging about 4 days a week at the gym, my goal is to work out 6 days a week. The trainer recommended 3 days of weight training and 2 days of cardio exercise.

I thought it was interesting that she recommended that if you only had 3 to 4 hours a week to work out, she would rather a person do weight training than a cardio work out. Weight training is considered an "anaerobic exercise." When you do 30 minutes of anaerobic exercise, you are continuing to burn calories even after you finished a work out. With aerobic exercise (includes walking, jogging,) which is still great, you stop burning calories as soon as you finish working out. (To learn more about the benefits of anaerobic exercise , go here.)

I work out on the treadmill climber, which I love because it makes me sweat! I sprint uphill at a 7 incline for 3 minutes and do 3-4 sets of those with only 1-2 minute rest in between. After I sprint, I start walking for 20 minutes and increase the incline every 30 seconds. And with each incline the pace goes slower, but I still feel a great work out. By the end of the 20 minutes work out, I end at a 20 incline (equivalent to some of the steep hills in San Francisco)! I've been doing this work out for the past two weeks and each time I'm able to go farther and increase the incline, so my body never feels like it is getting used to the work out. I love being drenched with sweat afterwards!

Today I start implementing weight training into my workout. I look at how far I've come and I'm amazed! Last summer, I had a hard time walking the very slight, little tiny hills on our street. For me, those tiny hills might as well have been Mt. Everest! Since it's a busy week, it's so easy to not go to the gym, so I can spend more time to do the things that need to be done, but what I have noticed is that when I go to the gym, I find myself with more energy to do MORE things and it feels good!



Food for Thought: "Exercise: you don't have time not to."

Manic Monday

It will be one BUSY week for me. My son has to undergo aggressive physical therapy appointments this week. My husband's family may be staying with us for a few days for an upcoming wedding and lots of other stuff to do and not enough time to do it. I started to get overwhelmed again, until I read some of your blogs. I felt inspired, uplifted and rejuvenated.

Every one is so positive even with the challenges that they face and what I love is that despite these challenges no one is giving up on trying to lose weight, and living a healthier lifestyle. I am so tired of complaining about my weight or how I look in clothes or in pictures that I don't want to waste my life complaining about the same things for the rest of my life. What a complete waste! Wouldn't it be nice to have complaints like this:

- I need to eat a little more, I'm wasting away!
- OMG! I look too skinny in this!
- I know I look good, but I'm getting WAAAY too many compliments!


This weekend my sweet indulgences was an ice cream cone and one small piece of chocolate cake and I felt sick! The dessert was too rich and sweet. I had a stomach ache and did not feel good. The past several days I've been eating low cal desserts and eating more fruit that my body didn't like the real thing and guess what? That's okay! A fat free chocolate pudding sounds so much better now than a chocolate cake! That's a big triumph for me!

It will not be easy tracking everything I eat, being honest with my calorie count & exercising 6 days a week, but then again CHANGE is HARD. No one said it would be easy. And yet at the end, it will be worth it.

Food for Thought: "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." Maria Robinson

Feeling Overwhelmed

I feel overwhelmed. Why? My son has been home a week sick and though he's getting better, I'm not sure I should send him to school on Friday and he's behind on EVERYTHING. He's behind school, scouts, seminary, and I'm scared that he's going to get hurt during football practice again. I worry about his future and I'm scared that the pressure to get all these things done will overwhelm him. Several months ago, he was out of school for nearly a month with a fractured knee and then continued to miss some classes because of physical therapy and various other doctor appointments. He's been playing catch up for nearly 4 months and I think he's tired of it.

I had a nightmare that my husband came home and told me that he was laid off of work. Yes, for me it's a nightmare since a few years ago, he was without a job and it took him a very long time to find a job. It's a nagging fear that I live with.

I worry that I'm going to fail at Weight Watchers. I wonder if I'll ever be able to shed the extra weight. It is very hard to stay on track and keep within my points range. And yet, I'm letting all these fears and anxieties get in the way of me being healthy. I cannot CHANGE the past, I cannot FORESEE the future, but I can control my actions, my thoughts and my attitude.

If I want to lose weight, I have to be honest with myself. I need to take an honest inventory of what I am doing that is blocking the way towards me losing weight. I know that I cannot do it on my own. Weight Watchers helped in the past and it's not a diet plan, it's a lifestyle plan. I used binging on foods as a distraction from my problems. I'm going to start using exercise as a distraction. I've done it before, I will do it again!

I love the serenity prayer because it is a reminder for me that I cannot control what happens outside of me, but only within me. What's holding you back? Do you think it's because you focus so much on the future that it's hard to stay present?

Stay Positive even if you don't feel like it, Smile when you feel like frowning, and Be Healthy even when you feel like eating every fatty, sugary food in sight! Have a great weekend everyone & I'll update you on Monday!


Food for Thought: "God Grant me the Serenity to ACCEPT the things I CANNOT change. The COURAGE to change the things I CAN. And the WISDOM to know the difference."

I ate that much?!

Last Thursday my son hurt his knee during football practice. It hurt to see him so heartbroken. As a mother, you just want to protect them. It seems that the older your child gets the bigger the heartbreaks. And yet, I did not over eat! I was very stressed out and I didn't go on a binging frenzy. Then Mother's Day came and it kind of went downhill from there.

I received a lot of chocolate for Mother's Day. There were a few mini candy bars, Hershey kisses, almond Rocha, and home made truffles, did I make you sick yet? My husband made a fantastic Mother's Day dinner and he likes to place the food on the plate, he's all about presentation! Unfortunately, my portions were too big, but I kept my mouth shut and dutifully cleaned up my plate. I ignored that stuffed feeling, I felt like I deserved to eat that much after having a few stressful days. And as much as the dinner was great I felt completely stuffed, not a good feeling.

And then Sunday night, my son became sick with the flu. When it rains it pours! So, here he was with an injured knee and sick with the flu. And the over eating that started on Sunday, continued onto Monday. The frenzy finally stopped on Monday night when I felt really sick from all the food that I ate. My portion control was better on Monday, but the choices that I made were not that great.

Today was weigh in day and I lost 1.5 pound. Not that bad, since I went over my points for two days! But, today is a new day and I tracked EVERYTHING. It's amazing how much food I would have put in my mouth, if I wasn't tracking! I had no idea that one small serving of chocolate souffle was 16 points! That's right, only half of the souffle has 23 grams of fat! And all this time I thought I was doing good by just having one.

It is NOT EASY meausuring my portions, tracking the calories, and planning my meals. But, in the end I know it will be worth it. This is not a trend, this is a lifestyle that I want to have.

Also, THANK YOU to Chubby Chick and Wendy for this awesome award! You guys Rock!!!!

Food for Thought: “The key to change....is to let go of fear." Rosanne Cash

Day 22 - TIme to step it up

I've gone 22 days without binging, yippee! I have not done any mindless eating, which is a very big thing for me, but now it's time to get some results and I can't do it on my own. I need more help. So, I'm joining Weight Watchers. I've been writing down all my foods and doing the best that I can to portion control, but I need to know how many calories I'm putting in my mouth.

Knowledge is power and that is the only way I'm going to see results on the weight scale because right now I haven't seen any significant weight loss this month. My main focus the past few weeks was to get out of the habit of binging and late night snacking. Now it's time to step it up!

I went to my weight loss group today & got some helpful tips. There were a lot of great things discussed, but these were the tips that really stood out for me.

- Buy new workout clothes. Who gets motivated to go to the gym, when you have old frumpy sweats? Lots of great sales at Walmart.

- Work out with music. I don't have an Ipod or MP3 player, so now I need to get one. In the past when I've worked out with music, I worked out longer. Without music, I keep looking at the clock, counting the minutes until it's over.

- Chew lots of sugar free gum. When I feel like I need something in my mouth, chew gum, especially when I feel like eating late night munchies.

For now those are the tips that will get me motivated. I want to look forward to the summer and not dread it because I can't hide behind layers of clothes. It's all about baby steps, taking it one day at a time and being accountable.



Food for Thought: "Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history." ~Joan Wallach Scott

Feeling Good - Day 18 (Big, big Big Giveaways)

Want a chance to win these 3 fabuous prizes? Here they are:

1- Eddie Tapps Photoshop Actions (value $75)

2- Photovision DVD: learning about urban photography with kids, plus more! (value $50)

3- A basket of victoria secrets latest spring collection of lotions (value $50)

You can either read this post or go to this fabulous photography website where the giveaway is sponsored, hurry giveaway ends Monday at midnight. Even if you don't want to enter the contest, just check out the pictures she takes. She is an incredible photographer and she also happens to be a cousin of mine!

Back to weight loss news:

My energy is back and my period has finally ended! Seriously, this has been the worst and one of the longest period ever! Today is the first day that I have been able to go work out and I feel really good. I'm kind of mad at myself for not doing better, but I'm going to beat myself up and I'm glad I worked out.

I still did not overeat or binge. My food choices haven't been great & it was hard not to eat late, since my schedule has been off. But, I'm back and it's nice to feel energetic. I think I will be better prepared when next month rolls around. I got some helpful tips from everyone, so I will be prepared!

On another note: There's this REALLY irritating guy at the gym. The man likes to talk! No, he's not hitting on me, he talks to ANYONE who is on the treadmill next to him. I started working out on the treadmill climber at the gym, so there are only a handful of them. And I always tend to get stuck being next to him. It's hard to concentrate on working out hard when you have someone yapping your ears off!

I know it's silly, but it was starting to stress me out. I would be in a rhythm & he breaks my concentration by talking!!!! I was going to work out on other machines just to avoid him, but my husband told me that I shouldn't avoid a workout that I LOVED, just because of a man that couldn't SHUT UP.

I knew it was mean, but this work out is for me so when he tried talking to me, I had to put my hand up and say, "I'm sorry, I can't talk when I'm trying to work out." Another few more minutes passed and he tried talking to me again! I stopped the treadmill looked at him and said, "Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but I cannot talk when I'm trying to concentrate on my workouts. I need to focus." He looked kind of hurt, apologized and then preceded to talk to the other poor lady on his other side. She looked irritated as well!

The moral of the story is I have to put me first. I have to put my well being, my health first in order for me to be a happy, healthy person. For so long, I have put other people's well being first before mine and I end up getting burnt. No more. My husband tells other newly married husbands, "A Happy wife, makes a Happy Life."




Food for Thought: “Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself." Robert Collier