100 Calorie packs and 5 dollar foot longs...saving my life

LOL ok so not really saving my life, but MAN this week has been hard. I have been craving chocolate all week! I am so glad to have these 100 calorie acks, not that they are the best thing for me, but it sure helps vs. having a candy bar. I have not had time to make my lunch this week, but Subway is accross the street from work and the "$5, $5 foot looooongs" have been saving me on the calorie busting diet our cafe provides.

Anyway, I feel like I am barely on track this week, but still there. We will see next week what the results will be. I have worked out only 2 x this week, with no time to do it today as I had to run errands at lunch. Wish me luck! Another weekend out with friends is headed my way.

official weigh in #4

Thin mints do not make you thin! Thin mints do not make you thin! Thin mints do not make you thin!
I am having my monthly visitor so I do think that is why I weigh the same as last week. 247 lbs. My guess is that next week I will have lost another 2-3 pounds. I hope :) Anyway no depression, just not really feeling like heading to the gym this week, so I hope I can muster up the energy.

The Girl Scout Cookies are starring me down

Alright so previous to the BLT competition I ordered some girl scout cookies. Well they came today. The good thing is that I can have 4 thin mints and still be on track! Woo hooo! I weighed myself on Saturday at home at I was down to 245, but this morning I was at 246.5. However I also started my monthly today, which means, I am justified in wanting the girl scout cookies LOL! As long as I stay on track I should do OK. I do not think I will weigh well this week due to the monthly, but next week should be much better.

Next week I think I will post some before and afters just to keep my spirits up. I found a picture from Hawaii where I was at my highest. No, 260.5 was not my highest 275 was. So if I can keep in mind that I am 30 pounds lighter that should be reassuring. Hopefully by the end of this I can get down 30 more! That would be amazing!

Offical Weigh in take 3

Thanks to the Presidents we had a long weekend. It was a good thing because I got sick on Monday and Tuesday anyway. We had a great time with John, Kelly and Alexander in Bend this weekend and I think I managed to stay on track.

This morning I had another official weigh in and my weight is down to 247.8 (those pesky .3 just don't want to budge!) However this means I have lost a total of 12.7 pounds in three weeks! Wooo Hooo! I hope I keep it up. On to have my shake and get psyched up for my work out!

Lunch time Phew!

ok so I went down to the gym at lunch and weighed on the scale there. I am not sure the difference in the scale there and the Nurses office Scale, but it looks like i may be down another 2 pounds! I rode the bike for 45 minutes and then went to get lunch. I had a piece of fish and some sauted spinach. I still can't curb this Chocolate craving! So I went back down for a nonfat, sugarfree hazelnut mocha. I hoep those 2 pounds don't creep back.

Friday morning Grrrrr

I am not following my own advice. I am not going to bed early as planned. I can totally tell the difference. I am hungry and tired. This morning I had oatlmeal from the cafe at work. Did you know that 2 cups of oatmeal is 318 calories, that is not including rasins, or anything else. Grrrrr, you try to be good! Well I am off to work out in a bit and hopefully get something nutritious for lunch. I was so tired and running late that I left my lunch at home. Another Grrrrr!

track and trudge, track and trudge...

I forgot to edit yesterday's blog. Well I was home with my daughter who was sick, which usually I do better at home, because I am busier. Well I did a lot of snacking yesterday, and although I stayed within my calorie range, I didn't work out. Unless you call going up the stairs a gazillion times in one day a work out (I do). So today I some eggs for breakfast and I just had a snack of plain yogurt with fresh strawberries and honey. I will be working out today and hopefully through our travels this weekend I can keep on track and loose again this week.

Thank you everyone for your encouraging words. I am hearing a lot that the second week is the worst. For me it is the third week because I am dealing with the news of the second week weigh in and trying to stay motivated. I appreciate the friends and family I have that are motivating me.

2nd weigh in

I gained 0.3 pounds! WHAT! I guess it could be the traveling, or my pants are a little heavier than last time I weighed. Maybe it's that time of the month (wink wink) Whatever it is, is depressing. I have been working out every day and being VERY careful. Oh I know I am gaining muscle!

Well I will keep it up and see what happens next week. Yesterday I rode the bicycle inthe gym for 30 minutes at 22 MPH, and lifted weights. I was well within my calorie range and today I will do the same. ALSO remember to drink lots of water.

noon posting: My tea bag says "Whatever you are doing is the most beautiful thing" - if they only knew :)

The amazing traveling diet!

This weekend we went to visit with family. This is inevitably the HARDEST time to stick to a diet. I think I did it though. At least my iPod says I stayed within the guidelines. Thank goodness for Exercise TV. My grandparents have Comcast we were able to do out workouts after out YUMMY banana pancake excursion.

I do think a BIG part of me sticking to this diet is getting the sleep I need, because I try to eat to stay energized. If I would sleep 8 hours a night I may not need all the food for energy. I certainly am willing to put this to the test. I will touch base tomorrow as it will be the second official weigh in. I am hoping for 10 pounds...wish me luck!

Exercise TV?!

I am working from home today which totally throws me off my routine. I didn't eat breakfast until 9am, when I usually have my morning snack by then. When I realized that I do not have access tot he gym at work today I thought I would check out what was on TV for a quick workout. I have Comcast Cable and the On Demand has a section called Sports and Fitness, where there is a section called Exercises TV! WONDERFUL! It's totally FREE, and there are so many varieties of exercises in there. I chose to do a 10 minute cardio workout and I feel like my muscles are hard at work even after ending the session. What a great coffee break! You can find out more about this on http://www.exercisetv.tv/ You can even use the workouts from your computer on this website if you are traveling and don't have access to the Cable that you have at home :)

Day 10...

So I feel like I am at a standstill. I know you are not supposed to weigh yourself everyday, maybe I need Greg to hide the scale from me. I don't think I have lost any weight in the past few days. On the flip site I LOVE this new tool on my iPod! I will tell you what I had to eat today and then it is on to go home and hopefully not snack. I found myself snacking while i was making dinner last night.
Today:

• Breakfast, Cottage Cheese, Pineapple and Watermelon, Coffee with 1/4 cup of nonfat milk
• Snack, crackers and cheese
• Lunch, Chili, salad with homemade dressing and sugar free non fat pudding
• Snack, Asian Pear

My iPod says that I have eaten 919 calories, but that my workout today (Stationary Bike for 30 minutes at 20 MPH, and Elliptical for 15 minutes as well as some weight lifting and stretching) burned 853 calories, so that technically I have only had 66 calories. So it is telling me that I can still have 1,491 calories for the rest of the day. PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA! I am hoping if I can still keep my intake around the 1557 allotted to me even though I am burning a lot of calories that it will kick start something in my metabolism.

I hear that if you do something 3 times in a row it becomes habit, well for me I think it will have to be 3 years in a row. When I forgot my shake this morning I was so tempted to get a breakfast sandwich (It's my demise) but I stayed strong and felt better for it. On to dinner and day 11!

iLove my iPod

I recently purchased an iPod touch. Which is basically the iPhone without the phone. I can get online, email, and download applications, etc. Today I found a FREE application called "Lose It!" I can log my food and excercise and it will track my weighloss and calories, fat intake, it is everything in one place. If you have an iPod that you can download applications, this is awesome.

Also I wanted to mention that I spoke to my doctor about the weightloss and he said that besides Diet and Exercise I can use Alli. Then he said it may help me lose only 10 pounds more than I would with diet and exercise alone, but if I stop taking it I gain the wieght back. No good! PLUS...

• What are the side effects?:
  You may experience bowel changes when taking Alli. Ads and marketing materials refer to these changes as "treatment effects." These side effects can include:
  -Gas with an oily anal discharge
  -Loose stools or diarrhea
  -More frequent bowel movements
  -Hard-to-control bowel movements
  These bowel changes result from the undigested fat going through your digestive system. You can limit the side effects by eating a low-fat diet.

...UM hard to control bowl movements, oily anal discharge!! NO THANK YOU! I can't be wearing diapers when my baby is still in diapers!

However I have heard a lot about the Acai berry products, at least I am reading a lot about it. Check the link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acai/AN01836

Just be careful I am also finding a lot of "scams" basically what I think it comes down to is there is no magic pill. It is hard work that will get you there. So for now I will continue to track and trudge until I reach my goal. Thanks for coming with me :)

It's a new day...

Well it's a new day and that means new challenges. You don't know how hard it is to say no to the bagels in the cafe! Grrrr. But I did it. Yesterday I ended with 1491 calories, by having:

• fiber one bar on the way home (140)
• chicken breast - boneless skinless (231) with spinach 1 cup(41) and sauce made from 1 cup of nonfat milk and Parmesan cheese (about 150)
• skinny cow (140)

so far this morning:

• Shake (279)
• Coffee with 2% milk (27)

So for my new day reminder I have realized that I have been GOOD for over a week, I have worked out 4 days last week and 2 days this week so far. I have lost 7.5 pounds and I cannot go back to the way it was. This is about teaching myself to eat the right things in the right proportions. Please feel free to send me your good ideas.

I spoke to my aunt last night who suggested when I get hungry that I eat pickles, they are no calories and they have lots of flavor. My aunt also suggested canned spinach with hot sauce, however usually when I get hungry I want something sweet. So my tip would be to brush your teeth, it makes it so that nothing tastes good for a while and the toothpaste it kind of sweet. Also have a big glass of water to fill the belly.

Trivia Answered...

How many calories does typing burn?
answer found at http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-burned-typing-a604

Calories burned with TypingElectric, Manual, or Computer 102 calories per hourAssuming a body weight of: 150 lbs

This is equivalent to eating any of the lines of the following table.
Quantity Description Cals
0.4 Grande Starbucks Caffe Latte - Made with whole milk 272
0.1 McDonald's Big Mac - With cheese 704
1.3 Glasses of wine (3.5 fl oz) 79
0.4 Snickers Bar 273
0.5 Cans of Coca-Cola 207
3.4 Carrots 30

My question is the activity of eating one of these burns 102 calories or is it that if you sit ont he computer for an hour you can feel guilt free to eat a Snickers bar? Hmmmm
I just can't believe this is acurate! I walked 2 miles on the treadmill at lunch and didn't burn much more than that. It seems like everyone would be siting at the computer if that were the case.

First Official Weigh in!

So yesterday I ended the day with 1358 calories. I emailed with my friend Tracy yesterday who is on wieght watchers and asked her for some of her favorite things. I will be putting a favorite things link to the right of the screen for easy access.

Today I weighed in and I have lost 7.5 pounds, I weigh 253 and that means I have lost 2.87% of my body weight. Woooo Hooooooo! Oh man I need to keep this up I know if I can get half way to my goal I can make it the whole way. I believe my goal is 30% so I have 27.13% to go!

Today:
Shake.............. 279
Tea...................... 0
Snack..................135 (cheese and crackers)

TIP OF THE DAY:
Laugh it off.
When researchers from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, put people into a “metabolic chamber” (a small room that measures heat output in order to calculate a person’s metabolic rate) and showed them funny videos, the subjects’ metabolic rates rose by 10 to 40 calories. It’s a small increase, but every calorie counts for those seeking weight loss, says lead researcher Maciej Buchowksi, PhD.

Lunch:
1 cup of Sara's mom's Chili YUM!.... 228 cal
salad with cucumber and onion........22
newmans own spray dressing...........25 cal
yoplait light yogurt..............................100

so far today I have 789 calories. and I went to the Gym at lunch to walk on the treadmill and lift weights. Now...back to work. Trivia, how many calories does typing burn?

one size down!

I already had to get new pants yesterday! YIPEE!! I think I was on the verge of the new size anyway but I will celebrate nevertheless. So yesterday I had a shake, a subway sandwich, a non-fat sugar-free latte and Pho. I do not know how many calories Pho is, but I think I was well within my calorie range.

Today I have had a shake and a cup of coffee, with non-fat milk and an equal. will update more as the day goes on. Wish me luck!

....ok and now it's lunch time! I went to the gym and rode 11 miles on the bicycle and have had a chicken breast no bun sandwich, and a salad with vinegarete, the best I can come up with is that this is about 240 calories. Also for a snack I had 2 hard boiled eggs at 70 each. So for today I have had 707 calories. Tomorrow is the first weigh in so no slipping up today!