Where has the summer gone!

Wow, it is already fall, where has the summer gone?!?!?! As of today I am down 34 pounds. It has taken 9 months, but I will take it.

I haven't been able to work as hard to get this weight off the past month, and actually went up 4 pounds. But that would be thanks to in-laws that decided to take over my house for a month. Which has helped me learn even more about what I need to do to keep dropping weight. While they where here, my stress level went up, and I wasn't able to spend the time needed in my kitchen to make my usual healthy meals. So I ate "healthier" meals that I made for my daughter. (Home made mac n' cheese, home made biscuits with turkey bacon and eggs, etc.) But I am happy to say I still am keeping my diet very low on processed junk food. And I did try to portion control as best as I could, but the past months meals were just so calorie dense, that I had to eat more than I normally would have so I wasn't hungry. Hence the stalled weight loss, which turned into a weight gain in the end.

But I am happy to say that my house is now back to normal, and my in-law stress level is low again. So starting today, I am back to walking again, and eating my healthy, vitamin rich, low calorie, filling meals. And I have cracked open my calorie log book, and started back calorie counting.

Till next time.

Rose

Never Give Up

Losing a significant amount of weight may be one of the hardest things I have ever done, and am still working on doing. And being notorious for stopping in the middle of most of my projects, I always need to remember that giving up will never be an answer. Any time I feel like I want to throw in the hat, I remember that giving up will not get me to my goal.

It is amazing that I am working on month six of my weight loss journey. And I have only bent my rules only a few times, but after a few days, I always got back on my horse, and continued. I am very proud that I have been so strong minded this time around. And after I see my goal, I will be happy that I stood my ground, and never gave up.

So if you had a bad eating day, and think you ruined your entire plan, and am thinking you should give up. Think again, tomorrow is a new day, keep going. NEVER give up, you will thank yourself later!

Ups and Downs

One thing that is so hard to deal with when trying to drop pounds is seeing the scale move up and down. I always get a little rush when I see the scale drop as little as 1/2 a pound. But when the scale reads 1/2 a pound up, I use to get very upset. But one thing everyone trying to shed weight has to learn is to take the ups and downs in strides.

I have been doing very good this time with not letting the scales cause me to start up my bad eating habits. I even just went through a month long plateau, and am still sticking to my new way of eating. I will admit, the plateau was causing me to rethink. But I wasn't rethinking of going back to being unhealthy. I was rethinking what I was doing right, and what I may be doing wrong. And with all my research, one thing I added to my plan was to cycle my calories. I eat 1600 calories on weekend, 1400 calories Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Then I have 1800 calories on Tuesday and Thursdays. It may sound strange, but I am no longer on my plateau. Is is the calorie cycling that worked? I can not say for sure. But I am going to continue cycling and see what happens!

So for all you out there that is frustrated that your scales went up today. Please remember that going back to old unhealthy habits will not help you get to your healthy lifestyle. And one day very soon you will see the scales drop down lower than you have in years and you will be very proud of yourself that you kept going!

Until next time!

Strength Training

Since January I have dropped 27 pounds. It seems like the weight loss is starting to come to a crawl! So instead of getting mad, and giving up, it is time to shake things up.

I have been planning on starting strength training, but I keep putting it off. It looks like now is a great time to start adding some muscle tone. Adding muscle will help to kick up my metabolism, which in turn will help me to burn more calories. It will also give me the benefit of looking leaner and I will have more strength to do some gardening heavy lifting this summer!

So I researched today and found a great workout YouTube video that matches exactly what I have been looking for in a strength training workout video. I wanted something I can do from home, which only needed some small hand weights. If you want to give it a try, the link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0bhE67HuDY&index=8&list=PLm7JvRbK90TduI27_YUb0jyAXsRF5nAyd

May the strength be with you!

Rose

Slow and Steady

When it comes to losing weight, everyone wants to get the weight off ASAP. But I have learned that even though it is possible to lose weight fast, it is better to hit the breaks, and lose it slowly.  Fast weight lost can lead to disappointment down the road. If you can average a 1 to 2 pound weight lose a week, your chances of keeping that weight off goes up. I have been on to many diets that I will lose a bunch of weight fast, just to gain it all back plus some. I am tired of losing the same weight over and over again. This time I am working to slowly get to the weight I want, while getting more comfortable with my new healthy way of living. 

Until next time!

Calories and Fat

Calories...... Everyone hates to think about calories. I would agree that I hate to count calories.

But calories to me is a very important step in how to lose weight. I have also learned how important it it so get the healthiest calories into my body every day. I make sure I get calories from fruit, vegetables, grains and fats. 

Let me take you back when I was 17 years old. I had just graduated high school, and was spending my summer on the look out for a job. During my day I got hooked on watching a show about how this lady lost all this weight by watching her calories to fat ratio. I was hooked on this show. I started to look at fat as my enemy, not knowing how important it is for your body to consume healthy fats. So I started reading labels and removing all fats from my diet, pushed myself to eat 1000 to 1200 calories, along with including a 5 mile walk every day. I thought I was doing great. I had lost 50 pounds in a matter of a few months! Thinks were looking great on the scales, but my body had other ideas of how great this new life style was. To spare you the details, lets just say that I had a bucket with me at least 5 days a week, along with a lack of sleep, due to the pains in my stomach, back and side. Even with my body throwing me warning sign after warning sign that I needed to stop what I was doing, I kept chugging along with this new so called diet. Until my body couldn't take it any longer. I went through a horrible night of the normal body pains, and frequent bathroom visits, when things took a turn for the worse in the morning. I was having a hard time breathing, my body pains turned into stabbing debilitating pains, and I had nothing left inside me so I was dry heaving. My mom brought me to the ER, to learn my body was in the process of shutting down. My body was filled with infection, I was low on oxygen, my liver enzymes were out of wack. I was rushed by ambulance to a larger hospital for more test. I learned I had pancreatitis and needed to stay in the hospital on IV's for a week. After I was released from the hospital I had to work to get my strength back to go in for surgery to remove my gallbladder. Needless to say, I had a long road a head of me, just because I was going about this weight loss thing the wrong way.

So I have learned my lesson on calories, fat and losing weight the wrong way. But one thing I have learned about my body is, I do have to count calories to lose weight. I make sure I get enough calories every day, but not too many. One of my new tools I have been using since January is a calorie journal. I do love my new journal, because it keeps some of the most basic calories included in the front of the book. So I am getting my calories wrote down faster and easier. There is much less searching for how many calories is in fruit and veggies. If you are interested to see what book I am talking about, I left a link on the right side bar of this blog for you to check out.

I may have had many weight loss knocks in life, but this time I am doing things the right way. No short cuts for me!  Until next time!

Rose

Tid Bit #2

The number one tid bit I wish I had learned years ago is the importance of being able to turn your diet into a way of life. In my lifetime I have lost weight on diets, but was never able to keep losing weight, or keep the weight off, because I was eating things that I didn't like. I remember one diet I had to eat beets every day. I did it, but I HATE beets! So needless to say, I never stuck to that weight loss plan.

So this time around. I have incorporated foods I love, and have been trying out new foods, so I can keep adding to my menu. I have been keeping my calories around 1600. Some days are a little more, and some days are a little less. But since I do like to eat, I have been working lots of  fruits and vegetables into my meals to give me more calorie bang for my buck. So my current staple meals are taco salad made with lots of veggies, a plain baked sweet potato with some olives and cheese, Hong Kong stir fry with whole wheat egg noodles, and home made tortillas served with a big serving of Indian curried veggies. What ever you decide to eat, just make sure you like it, not that you HAVE to eat it to lose weight. In the end, to keep with your new way of eating, you have to be happy!

I hope my tid bit number two gets you thinking of non processed foods that you enjoy, that you can start adding to your dinner plate tonight!

Tid Bit #1

Want to learn how to lose over 100 pounds?

 I have been working almost me entire life to learning how to lose weight. I have been over weight since I was in the second grade. Considering I am almost 40 years old, that is a pretty long time. I remember being a child and being bribed by my parents to try to lose weight. I did succeed at losing as much as they wanted me to, but I didn't learn the right way to do it, so I gained that weight back, and then some. I have been on a weight lose roller coaster for years!

But after all my ups and downs with weight loss, I have taken what has worked and not worked for me, and have been losing weight the healthy way. No more fad or just down right unhealthy diets for me! I have been on my new healthy way of eating for almost 4 months, and am down 25 pounds. I may not have lost over my one hundred pounds yet, but feel free to hop on my new roller coaster ride with me, and learn along side me, how to lose over 100 pounds!

My first tid bit of information is, no processed junk. I have ate in the past low fat, sugar free, processed junk. I have learned the best thing to do for your body is to break the processed food addiction, and start feeding your body real foods.

So cheers to apples and bananas. And I will meet you back here later to give you more information on how I will be working my way to losing over 100 pounds!