Making it Through the Holidays

This is the time of year we all love all the candies, cookies, and loads of good food everyone bakes and shares during the holidays. Myself included. I love baking things I think my family, friends and neighbors would enjoy. Just before Thanksgiving my trainer asked me what I was doing for the holiday and I explained my family would be going out to eat. I didn't mind cooking my "usual" thanksgiving spread, but I didn't want the leftovers lingering around here. That's why we decided to go out to eat. We went over the foods I could eat. She said to start with a salad, and I could put anything I wanted on it. I ate LOTS of meat - mostly baked chicken and one small piece of ham and turkey. I did eat a spoonful of green beans, I skipped all starchy foods and desserts that I dearly love. On the way home, I realized I didn't miss not eating these foods. I stuck to my food plan and I came out ahead!

Our family is already planning what we will be doing for Christmas. We usually have our Christmas meal at my house. My selections for what I will be serving will be healthy choices and not a bunch of crap we don't need. I want to get through the holidays losing weight, not putting it on!

Now I say all this but I still plan on baking some cookies and some other calorie filled goodies. I am learning self control and that it's ok to have one or two. It's not ok to sit down with the plate of goodies and eat til its gone. I'm working too hard to get this weight off. I don't want to sabotage my efforts that I will deeply regret later on. Stay on course and set limits!

No More of the 14 Day Thang



Friday night I talked to my cousin who is a dietician and I explained to her what I was doing. After a lengthy conversation with her, I decided Saturday that I would not continue on this diet, but would continue on a diet. I would watch the amounts of sodium, sugar and fat in foods and would also pay close attention to portion control. Towards the end of the first week, this diet made me sad, overwhelmed and stressed out because of having to eat the same foods (basically fish) ALL the time. I like fish, but not that much. I'm not that creative in putting meals together based on a food list. I was in a situation where I could not eat my mid-morning or mid-afternoon meals and by the time I could eat, I was beyond hungry! I ate so much fish, I had a fin growing out my ass! So its over now and I feel much better. It could be possible that I will gain a few pounds getting off this diet, but I will work extra hard to see that this doesn't happen!

I Conquered my First Big Goal!

This morning I woke up excited because I knew I was going to be under 300 (I actually woke up before the alarm clock went off because of anticipating what was to come in just a short while). I went through my morning ritual, then weighed. I was elated...299 lbs!!!! O-M-G!!! I have worked so hard to get to this point and I can now say - I HAVE LOST 40 LBS!!!!!! My husband was so excited for me. It feels wonderful to have accomplished my first goal and there's much more to do, but baby steps. Baby steps got me here. It's the only way! Yay me!!! I'm so proud of myself! Now I will go to work happy =)

I'm Seeing Results!

For the first time today I noticed changes. Instead of my belt being in the second hole, it's now in the 5th. And this morning I didn't have to stretch my shirt out after I put it on. Ok, we all know about stretching the shirt here, and at some point we all do it. But this morning, I didn't have to!!! I noticed my shirt is kinda hanging off me. My pants have just a little sag too! Keep it coming! I'm ready for more!! This is exciting!

I'm on a 14 day Thang

Ok...so my trainer told me she wants me to do this 14 day thing which consists of only green veggies, fish & chicken. I eat 6 small meals a day. And when I say small, I mean small! Or so I thought. My husband knows he is on his own for the next 2 weeks, so he is preparing himself to make his own meals (he needs to learn to cook anyway!). I don't think it will bother me watching him eat things I can't because I have the mind set that I can do this. And it's only for two weeks?? I have a feeling after this 2 weeks she will tweek it a little, but I will have to continue this in some form. Whatever it takes, is what I will do!

Day 1 : Saturday

I'm not hungry like I thought I would be. I get through eating and before I know it, it's time to eat again. This so for hasn't been as bad as I thought. But it's only the first day. I'm sure I will be tired of this soon. My weight should drop considerably, so it will be worth the sacrifice!

Day 2 : Sunday

Again I wasn't hungry and I didn't eat my afternoon snack like I was supposed to. I just didn't have room for anything else! I had a great workout and I journaled my food intake.

Day 3 : Tuesday
I woke up this morning and have almost dropped 7 lbs since Saturday!! AND I'm almost at my first goal!!! O-M-G I cannot wait!! I have worked so hard and my sacrifices are paying off! Yay! That doesn't mean that I don't want to scarf my way through Taco Bell right now, because I could in a BLINK! And that day is coming VERY, VERY soon on my cheat meal. And my trainer said I had to have a cheat meal so there ya have it! Permission =)

I went to the gym after work, then to the grocery store to get more food for this diet thing. By the time I got home I was in tears! Tears! I am a good cook and eating food with little or no seasoning is really getting to me. I don't think I can look at another brussel sprout or broccoli spear. Ugh!! I need change and spices! I had a pity party where it was just me, my husband, Karen and Mom in attendance. They tried, bless their hearts, but I am the one that has to work through this. I will, but today is not the day.

Day 4 : Wednesday

I only lost .1. Not happy about that at all! I worked hard at workout last night, followed the plan and .1. UGH!!! I'm going to work extra hard at workout this afternoon and see how I weigh in tomorrow morning. Have a good day everyone! Cheers!

I Got The Biggest Loser Workout Today

I showed up for my workout today ready to go – let’s get started – I’m gonna do this! I’m pumped! Then my trainer tell me she is kicking it up and gonna work me out harder today. She had me on the treadmill for 20 minutes, and then took my measurements. We headed across the room and the owners husband comes walking up with a rope. Now I heard my trainer say something to him about a rope, but I didn’t know the damn thing was the size of a fire hose!! Sha-it! She showed me what to do and I did it while she timed me. By the time she said stop, I could barely lift the rope anymore! Next she had me lift a medicine ball over my head and slam it to the floor over and over again. She timed me. I did lunges (with and without weights), and the elliptical. After the first set I thought I was going to freakin’ die! I was sweating, wiping my face and drinking some water. And we did 3 more sets of these which totaled an hour. At one point when I was lifting the rope and it was so hard for me to lift it and she was there going “Keep going! You got 30 more seconds! Keep it up!” and then the words came out of my mouth “I can’t”. Well, my “can’t” did and I finished it! I have to say though, close to the end of my workout today, I felt like puking. To which I said to my trainer, “You need buckets around here”. She said, “It’s not our intention to make people throw up” and I said “It must have been the water I drank”. It was so hard for me to catch my breath, let alone take deep breaths. She said in time it will get better. Being overweight and out of shape is the cause. I have a lot of hard work ahead of me, but I’m going to do this. I can do this. And even as I sit here writing this post, I feel really good knowing I accomplished something today and I feel so good right now! This is probably a light workout to my trainer and I know it’s going to get much tougher, but I’m ready. I will do the best that I can. My body is not going to win this fight. I am!

My First Workout

Friday, September 30^th I had my first session with my personal trainer. She put me on the treadmill for 20 minutes, we did some strength training with weights and did stretches on the yoga mats. She didn’t want to overdo it the first session because of my knee (she wanted to see how my knee reacted to the workout), but she said it would get harder. Bring it on! Me being on the mat was probably the funniest damn thing I’ve done in a long time. When we walked over to the mats, she told me to sit down and as I went to sit down I realized on the way down it was going to be more of a tumble LOL Oh Lord how embarrassing!! I was hoping no one saw me LOL Of course I had to make a joke about it. As I'm laying on the mat doing my thing, to my left was this little girl watching me as she bounced up and down on this big ball. All I could do was laugh. I said "I wish I had her energy" and my trainer said "She's 3". So we are doing stretches and and then my worst fear was coming true…sit ups! Holy crap! But I did all of them. Even for my size, I think I surprised my trainer at everything I could do. Go me!!

I Joined a Gym!!

I had two gym choices in mind and I couldn’t decide which one to join. They are both good gyms but Gym A is farther away. I called a friend of mine who does body building competitions and she belongs to my 2^nd choice, Gym B.  So last week I decided to go by Gym B and check it out. Both gyms are 24 hours, they have new equipment and I spoke with the owner who also recommended at personal trainer. So I decided on Gym B and it’s a much closer drive than Gym A. I talked to my husband about it and he was onboard with me starting the membership earlier than I anticipated. As one of my Incentives, I said once I reached a 50 lb loss I would get a gym membership. So that’s ok, I made the rules, I can change them =) I signed up for a membership last Friday (September 30^th) and I’m  all official now with my little 24 hour pass key!!

The Woman Within

The woman I feel I am on the inside can do anything and wants to do it all. Maybe it’s all the years I’ve spent overweight with limited activity and not being able to do athletic type things because my body wouldn’t let me. The woman inside me has no fear, no limits on how far I will test or push myself to achieve the ultimate for myself. The woman within me is confident, has self-worth, self-esteem through the roof, is beautiful, is an achiever, and an athlete. I must have been an athlete in a past life because everything I want to achieve for myself has to do with sports or running. I have this vision of me running. And I don't mean running like Forrest Gump did. I want to run marathons. I want to jog. I hate that I have wasted so much of my life living in this body that has just weighed me down (in more ways than one!). This body has not been kind to me. This body has not been my friend and in turn I was not kind to it. That was the OLD me! The new me is turning into a wonderful person and I am on my way to achieving everything I ever wanted for myself. Nothing is going to stop me. Nothing.

The Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser starts tonight and I'm totally siked! I cannot wait for this show to start. Every Tuesday night my husband and I eat at Subway and watch the show. I am so excited to see who is on this season. It's going to be interesting to see how this season goes without Jillian Michaels. It's not going to be the same without her. I love watching as everyone transforms their bodies and life into a healthier version. Their journey is just beginning and I am so happy for each contestant that was selected! Ummm, wish it were me! Maybe next time - ya just never know!

Reward Yourself

I came up with this idea for every pound I lost, I should reward myself. This is aside from the things I have listed on My Incentives. For every pound I lose, I am going to put money in my Reward Jar. This money will only be spent on me, for whatever I want to spend it on. Or I can save it up and spend it all at once on one of my incentives. Either way, its for me. And to make it even more fun, once I'm going to increase the amount per pound as I near my goal weight. Here is how I'm going to do it. So now that I have given you an idea, how are you going to reward yourself?

                        

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

This recipe was acquired from Ali Vincent and the credit is all hers. I have eaten this several times and it's FAB-ulous! I will never eat regular spaghetti again. I am also adding my own comments to this and listing the brands I bought.

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

• 4 oz. extra-lean ground turkey (120 calories) (I used Jennie O)
• 1/2 cup chopped onions (29 calories)
• 1 cup mushrooms (42 calories)
• 2 cups marinara sauce (200 calories) (I used Hunt's Spaghetti sauce)
• 1 Spaghetti squash
• Basil
• Oregano

Directions : Spray a frying pan with non stick cooking spray and saute the ground turkey, onions, mushrooms and peppers together (I also added basil and oregano to my meat mixture as it was cooking) Drain if needed. Add this mixture to your marinara sauce (make sure you have a big enough pot). Add additional oregano and basil to taste. Let simmer.

Prepare the spaghetti squash by cutting it in half, scoop out the seeds and place one half in a steamer bag (I used Ziploc Steamer Bags). The medium size bags aren't quite long enough, so trim the ends of the squash. OR place the squash half in an 8x8 glass dish. Add a little water and cover in Suran Wrap and steam for approximately 6 minutes. Using a fork, shred the squash in a bowl so it looks like spaghetti. 

One cup of spaghetti squash is 32 calories.

Serve your "spaghetti" hot and top with your meat mixture.

This recipe will serve at least 4 people. Ali uses a measuring cup when portioning her dishes so she knows how much she is serving. An average serving is 140 calories.

The Power of Willpower

I use to think willpower came from a magic, faraway place that was guarded by fairies in pink tutu’s. These fairies lived in the land of Pot of Gold that no one has seen or been to either. This isn’t my first rodeo at trying to lose weight. But it is my first time to really search deep within myself for truth and understanding. I started diets many times and they all ended after a short time because I had food dangling in my face that I just couldn’t withstand and I would eat it. Then the snowball effect took place.

My husband and I started watching the TV show Ruby. We cheered with her, cried with her and listened to her. She said “food is an addition”. When you eat food in the matter of not eating to live, but rather living to eat, it becomes an addiction. Most overweight people have an addition to food. I realized I had an addiction to food when we went to Subway and on the counter near the cookies, were sweet rolls. OMG! I had to have a sweet roll! But I didn’t get that sweet roll. All the way home, all I could think about was that sweet roll. I could smell it. I felt like someone who craves a cigarette or drink. I was “jonesing” for that sweet roll. Damn. That just sounds crazy even as I write it. That’s when I realized, I’m addicted to food. That revelation has helped me in my journey to know I have to set boundaries for myself. There must be portion control. Always.

I always wondered how people could lose weight and not give in to the temptations around them. I searched deep inside me for the answer. Mind over matter. When you make your mind up to do something and you are passionate about it, nothing will bring that down. Nothing can come in between that. I made my mind up to lose weight and that’s what I’m doing. Why do I want to sabotage myself? I sabotaged myself all those years by putting all that crap in my mouth. Where did it get me? What did it get me? A fat ass with high blood pressure and cholesterol medicine.

 The first day of my diet, I was at work and someone brought us 2 huge bags of assorted McDonald’s breakfast. Thirty minutes later, someone else brought in donuts. Later that afternoon, another wanted to buy us all something from Sonic. Did Michele eat anything? No. Did Michele miss out on anything? Umm…No. Did Michele even go to the break room to look through the bags to see what all was there? No. I didn’t care. There was nothing in that break room that was going to do me any good or help me to progress in my journey. I kept the promise I made to myself. Besides, why would I want to eat that then feel bad about it afterwards? Yay me!

So what I want to say is this. We all have the power within us. You just have to find it and fine tune it. And your mind must be made up that this is what you are ready to do. We all know if we aren’t ready to quit something or we are doing it for someone else, it will never work and we are setting ourselves up for failure. I always thought I was missing that magical piece, but it was inside me all along.

Believe by Suzie McNeil

I Believe in You ~ Video

The First Month is Behind Me

On August 1, 2011, my BFF and I started a diet together. It’s not just a diet – it’s a lifestyle. I have failed at so many diets and I blamed it all on no willpower. How quickly I learned that we all have willpower, we just have to search within ourselves to find it. There is no magical formula, no book to read to get it. It’s there waiting to be used and we know it works when we are faced with our first obstacle. Thr very temptation we are trying to avoid. I have willpower!!! We have changed absolutely everything about our way of cooking, eating, and shopping for food. We have really made healthy decisions about our food choices, how often and how much we eat. I’m so proud of us!! I was really shocked when I weighed in after the first week. I lost 14.3 pounds! I have a new found respect for veggies. I have eaten so many veggies and have found many different ways to prepare them. I just can’t seem to get enough! Love ‘em!!! What I love is, I don’t have to be hungry. I watch what I eat, I carry healthy snacks for in between meals, and I drink LOTS of water. I can eat more of the healthier foods than I can of the junk food and still lose weight! A few times I have gone out for lunch/dinner. I “research” the nutritional value of all the food on the menu before I even get there, and I base what I eat on that. I make a list of the foods I can have and order from my list. This has worked so well! I am really learning my way through this. I must admit, I really miss my pizzas and cheese. Oh man, I have felt like I’ve had withdrawals from these two. So I’ve been looking for alternatives to pizza and I’m working on that right now. Before I give a product suggestion I’ve got to try it first. If I like it, I will blog about it.  During the month of August, I lost a total of 25.4 lbs!!!!! Ahhhh, how wonderful it feels! I’m doing it – I’m changing my life!! I can actually visualize the skinny me. And I can’t wait to see her!!