Finally - back on track!

I still don't know why this happened, but about eight weeks ago I completely lost my desire to workout and eat right. I was having super fun with all my extra free time (from not working out) and ordering the fattiest thing on the restaurant menus without feeling guilty. After all, didn't I need a break? It seems like a long way from 0-50lbs. If you just said yes...that's the wrong answer, btw. :) After living it up for a couple months my clothes were mysteriously getting tighter. I got on the scale and, imagine my horror here...I was up 13lbs. Uggg!!! What a waste of time (not only the time I just spent losing the 13lbs, but the time I spent gaining it back when I could have lost 13 more). After pouting around about it for a couple weeks (and indulging in some "I'm about to go on a diet so I might as well have 1 10 more cookies") I finally got a grip. I'm getting some awesome motivation from friends and family and feel like I'm totally back on track and ready to see this through to 50! What specifically is motivating me? How sweet of you to ask...here's a list of things: 

1.) My general well-being. When I'm off my game, I get kinda cranky (ask the people mentioned in reason #5 below). I'm irritated about not losing weight, guilty about doing the wrong things, and terribly terribly affected by sugar (check out my previous posts). When I'm working out and eating well, I'm happy and - therefore - so its everyone else.

2.) New stuff! A friend recently told me about the Polar FT7 training computer. It's awesome little calorie counter/heart rate monitor that allows you to track how you're doing. It even saves the records for you to track your progress. I've had mine for two days and I love it. It's already making me compete against myself to do better and maximize my workout.

3.) iTunes. Ahhh, there's nothing that makes a workout move faster than great music. If you're having trouble getting motivated go download some music. Don't download the slow sappy songs that are going to make you fall asleep during your workout - hook up some upbeat tunes that let you get lost in your workout. Those are always great. 

4.) Yummy Stuff. I was getting bored with turkey roll-ups and cheese everyday so I did some reading about other low-sugar food and decided to add them into my weekly line-up of meals. The key is, don't get bored. I have a feeling my sudden workout/diet hiatus happened because I was bored with it. You can find ideas for some super duper eats here.

5.) Uploading the Truth. If we're FB friends, you probably see the mobile upload of my hairspray coated scale every week. I'm taking a picture of the LCD and posting it regardless of if it's good or bad. Yes...I know...this is like weighing-in to the extreme, but it is helping me because I know other people are watching. I know this because I run into random FB friends in "real life" and they tell me, haha. 

5.) Friends and Fam. Thank you, you wonderful encouraging people. Thanks for believing that I can do it. Thanks for telling me to go get a diet pop instead of the milkshake that I'm two seconds away from ordering. Thanks for not offering me cake. Thanks for sending me articles, book reviews, emails, facebook comments, workout tips and ideas and low-sugar recipes; and, thanks for snatching cinnamon rolls out of my hands. You all are soooooo helpful. 


Now that you know what's motivating me, I'd love to know what motivates you??

Not out of the Candyland forest quite yet...

So...I spoke too soon when I said I was coming out of the sugar detox with flying colors. I had an awesome lunch today - turkey salad w/vinaigrette and a cup of soup. On the way back from lunch I started feeling all anxious and started twitching out...maybe just a little (like a 2 out of 10 on the twitch out scale) By the time I was exiting the highway I was having an absolute panic attack (11/10 on the twitch scale) for no other reason than I needed a cookie, like super bad. I wasn't thinking, "oh my goodness, I want a cookie." It was more like a chemical reaction in my brain going, "you usually have a cookie by now, where the $%&@ is it?" I made a pit-stop for some Diet Mt. Dew and gum then chomped down a couple of the sugar-free cookies I had in tow and started feeling better (after feeling like I was going to spontaneously combust and/or barf for a minute or two). Ugh! In my post freak-out haze, I took a moment to Google. Do you know what Google implied about sugar? Lots of fun stuff!

Apparently, sugar is an addictive substance says http://www.holistichelp.net/sugar-addiction.html. Here's what holistichelp.net says (and though I'm not 100% crunchy, I believe it):

We can classify sugar as an addictive substance for the following five reasons:

1. Despite negative consequences or the desire to give it up, the consumer eats it compulsively
2. Neurotransmitters in the brain, like dopamine and serotonin, are impacted in the same manner as alcohol and hard drugs like cocaine.
3. With continued use, tolerance occurs and sugar consumption must be increased to achieve the same experience
4. Over time, sugar is required for normal functioning
5. Withdrawal occurs when sugar consumption ceases

Here's what I've learned about the withdrawal process: 

• The reason I've been having a headache, shaking and feeling faint periodically the last two days - sugar withdrawal
• The reason I've been cranky and anxious as all get out - sugar withdrawal
• The reason I can't stand tapping, crunching, clicking, or loudness - sugar withdrawal
• The reason I've been falling asleep three hours earlier than usual - sugar withdrawal.

None of these things are not fun, friends.  If you know what's good for you, you'll ditch the sugar too. According to Google, there are a bazillion (well, not really a bazillion, but a lot) of reasons that sugar stinks. 

Here's two to keep you occupied. Find the other bazillion (minus 2) yourself by Googling "sugar addiction."

• How to break my sugar addiction
• Sugar addiction

Social Eating: My Survival Story

Ok, so this blog title is a little over-dramatic, but it's indicative of I feel after tonight's encounter with my arch-enemies...the party trays. Most everyone has that one friend that's guaranteed to play "drink till you puke" with him or herself (regardless of what everyone else is doing) at every single party, no question. I am THAT GIRL...but not with booze...with food. Ugh. Get me in a social situation and I loose all-regard for my diet, for what's good for me, for how full I am and...how sick I'm going to feel for the rest of the night after stacking 100 cheese cubes and a pound of buffalo chicken dip on my plate (then going back for seconds...or sevenths even).

Tonight was one of those nights that I had to deal with that kind of temptation. We went to an after-dinner gathering where everyone was asked to bring a snack. Every other thought I had today was about what food was going to be there and what I could bring to combat the urge to binge. I had fantasies of peanut butter cookies, peanut butter pie, brownies, cracker candy...see a pattern? When I finally got to the store I went directly to the bakery to get the brownies that I settled on. Wait...$3 a brownie? Maybe it was a sign. I wasn't down with buying a bunch of $3 brownies so I kept shopping. I settled with some sugar-free chocolate chip cookies made with spelt (delicious, btw) because I figured if I was going to eat a cookie, I should at leat do it with care. To be fair to others, who aren't watching their sugar, I got what I REALLY, REALLY wanted to eat myself...a big delicious pumpkin roll that I didn't so much as sniff when I took it out of the package. In case my little spelt cookies weren't doing the trick, I also picked up some of the best hummus I've had in my life and multi-grain chips. I ate a few cookies and managed not to lick the hummus container clean. I also had a few apple slices so..I feel that tonight was a success/survival story to be told. 

In other related news, this was my second day of sugar-detox. I was much more pleasant today and think things are looking up. :) Tomorrow is the weigh-in so we'll see if anything has changed. I sure hope so. I could use a motivator.

Take care everyone and happy eating! :)

Ready, set, stop eating sugar!

Getting back to a diet (or, "lifestyle," if you prefer that fancy lingo) is the hardest thing for me because I know what the first few days are like and I just dread going through them. If I had to paint you a picture of what I'm describing, I'd compare days 1-3 to smoker's detox. I think it's a logical comparison after being around my sweet friends and family when they've trying to kick the nic. It goes like this for me - moderate-severe unfriendliness coupled with extreme fidgeting and topped with obsessive thoughts about food. I've realized that I have stall tactics worse than my four year old's and just need to get to it if I'm ever going to make progress.

So, today is one of those days and it's going well so far. Yes..I've daydreamed about Oreos, longed for some candy and have been thinking about food ALL DAY, but I promise, it hasn't been atrocious. I have to think that my elliptical workout helped combat any Day 1 grouchiness that may have been trying to surface.

If you've read my past posts, you know that my biggest dietary evil is sugar. Besides making me fat, I truly believe that is messes with my overall well-being. I encourage you to try any diet that works with your life. Cutting sugar works great for me because my body doesn't process it quite right. When I cut it out, I lose weight easily and my body goes, "duhhhhhhh....that's what's up." For you, it may be cutting back on fat, calories or just boosting your workouts if you're on the good eats honor roll already.

I get asked what I eat a lot (and on a good day, I'll tell you). If you're in to the low-sugar stuff and want some food ideas, here's a run-down of what I've eaten today:

Breakfast:

• Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin Toast (1 piece) topped w/Coconut Oil
• Black Tea

Snack:

• String Cheese

Lunch:

• 1 Serving of Triscuits topped with some Gruyere Cave Aged Raw-Milk Cheese
• Raw Cauliflower dipped in Tzatziki Garlic Cucumber Dip (low cal, low fat, low sugar)
• More Black Tea

Snack:

• Mixed nut/fruit trailmix - just one serving. :)

Dinner:

• Chicken and Stir-Fry Veggies (sauteed in Coconut Oil) with rice (hopefully brown, if we have it) on the side.

Happy eating everyone!

Accountability

Have you ever really wanted to be diagnosed with a legit "problem" just so you had an excuse for doing (or not doing, in my case) something? Right now, it would make my day if someone would stop me on the street and say "Hey fatty, you're not losing weight because you're a sugar addict...I can tell by that 'I need skittles' look in your eyes. Better get some help for that'." Ugh. If only it were that easy! As I write this posting, I not only wish I knew what my problem was, I'm also kicking and screaming because I just don't want to deal with it.

I was doing very well dieting and exercising. I had 15 more pounds of baby weight left to lose and then I'd be back where I started trying to skim off the final pounds. However, a month-long series of binge eating sessions and plain and simple laziness for skipping my workouts has left me with some unfortunate fatty consequences.

In an effort to get back on my diet, I posted my weight (via mobile upload of my scale) on FB. I requested cyber-harassment from my FB friends as a motivator if I don't post another update ths week. I fully intend to post another scale reading, but I have a feeling it's not going to be pretty.

I'd love to know your secrets for jumping back on the diet wagon? I have a feeling it's just going to be that "I'm tired of being fat; let's fix this now" feeling, but I'm always open to pointers and new suggestions for getting back into the diet and workout mentality. Please help, people! :)

Trim your servings and trim your figure. :)

Earlier today I was in the kitchen and, sadly, found that we were out of turkey :(. I hoped to have it on a sandwich at lunch today because it's low-cal and filling. Once I realized my plan was foiled, I had to think quickly before binging on a calorie laden substitute. I shuffled around the kitchen and found pepperonis. Now, I'm sure you're thinking what I was thinking...pepperoni isn't the healthiest of meats. However, I started looking into the serving size, calories, etc. and found that I could have half a serving of pepperoni on my sandwich (7 pepperonis approx. if you're wondering) and only take in 60 calories! That's better than turkey AND I get the awesome flavor of pepperoni.  In addition to my pepperoni, I spread on fat-free cream cheese (30 calories, btw) and some hot pepper relish (about 40 calories) on two slices of whole wheat (no high fructose corn syrup here) bread. That's 200 calories for the two slices. My sandwich ended up being 330 calories + a cup of applesauce (100 calories). That's a delicious no-guilt lunch for fewer calories than just about anything that comes from a drive-through line. Mmm!!!! I could have saved myself even more by using one slice of bread - but the lunch was filling and delicious.

Next time you're making a meal ask yourself - do I really need all of that that? I bet you'll find that you can live on 1T of Peanut Butter instead of 2 (cutting the calories and fat by half!). You can probably also be satisfied with a 100 calorie pack of popped corn instead of wolfing down a whole regular sized bag. You migh also add a splash of juice to your water instead of having a whole glass (lots of calories and sugar in those juices!) Try it and see what happens! :)

Bye Bye Baby Weight!!

Have you ever said to yourself "I'm just sick of food"? By the end of my pregnancy, that's where I was. I was so uncomfortable and exhausted that we ate out (a lot) and I was turning to comfort food all too often to help me through the last month or two. My eating and exercise habits were better during this pregnancy than throughout the other two, but they were by no means superb. I still over-ate, indulged in sweet, carbs, and other comfort food too often and didn't exercise nearly enough - my 60lb+ weight gain is evidence of this. At the end of the pregnancy I was getting candy bars here and there saying "well, I'll only be pregnant another couple weeks - I might as well do this now before I have to diet..." I made those kinds of excuses a lot. I also broke one of my cardinal rules of weight loss....I stopped looking at the scale. When I saw my weight jump up 5, 10, or 13 lbs between each appointment (that's not normal, by the way) I got scared and started avoiding the situation all together. Avoiding the situation just got me in trouble further - I started eating more since I knew I would just deal with the consequences later. Sound familiar?  In one of my previous posts I promised to look at the scale before having the baby so I could at least assess the damage and plan from there. During my last OB appointment I saw 212 lbs staring back on me from the scale's display....sigh...it's been worse. If I would have gained the recommended amount of weight for my height, age, and stature in pregnancy (25-30 lbs) I wouldn't even be writing this post; I lost 30 lbs during the first week postpartum. I'm thankful for the jump-start, but I still have 30 to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 150(ish).

One of the things I'm thankful for is all of the yo-yo diets I've tried in the past. I'm thankful that I know how to safely lose weight now and can't wait to return to healthy eating! I have started tracking calories today and plan to lose weight via the following ways:

1.) Eliminate most all sugar from my diet (including white rice, potatoes, flour, etc).

2.) Exercise regularly (once I'm able that is ...my muscles and joints are still recovering from pregnancy, labor, and delivery). I'm going to start slowly - with walking and stretching until I am fully recovered.

3.) Eat smaller meals more frequently instead of binging on large meals once I've reached the point of starvation.

4.) Avoid processed and pre-packaged foods.

5.) Indulge in fruits and veggies

6.) Keep track of my calories and weight (not obsessively, but often enough to be aware of what's going on).

I'm looking forward to taking the weight off just as I did before becoming pregnant and I can't wait to blog on my trials and successes along the way. :) I would love to hear your weight loss tips and successes in the comments section of this blog. :)

Enjoy the weekend!
Tess