Two Best Friends and Moms Motivating Eachother to Lose Weight

I have been eating like a fat chick (don't you just love that term gals?) and hanging out in a pony tail, paint clothes, and flip flops all weekend. I guess I must be in a funk or something, because I haven't made it to the gym for three days either.

In my defense, I am also sick. I went to my parents house to paint my Dad's bedroom for him, and afterwards, I was all achy, had a sore throat, and was desperate for a nap. I opted to pick up Chineese food on the way home, since I was in no shape for cooking. When I got home I ate most of my order of Schezuaun (sp?) beef, THREE crab rangoons, and about a cup of hot and sour soup. I'm pretty sure I consumed two days worth of calories in that meal alone, and then I threw back a couple of Tylenol and passed out on my bed for the next three hours.

When I woke up I was feeling much better, so I decided to run to the grocery store and then to Mcdonalds for my dinner; a hot fudge sundae. Should I go on? Ok, I had a chocolate long john, this morning, for breakfast, a healthy lunch (not even worth mentioning at this point) and for a snack, I ate a blueberry muffin and a iced oatmeal cookie. Yep, I am binge eating. I have a tendency to do this when I'm sick or feeling a little down. Most people lose their appetite when they are sick. I, somehow, think that I am going to heal myself through fat and sugar. I guess that is how the term comfort food came about.

But, it was such a beautiful weekend. Weather wise, I couldn't ask for anything better, and it was amazing being outside, seeing all of the colors of fall, and watching the leaves fall. It just all made me want to bake. (That's how the blueberry muffins came about.) Now I want to go make a crockpot full of chili or beef stew. I won't though. Not that you can't make healthy chili or stew, but I just don't trust myself at this point.  

So, to sum my weekend up, I have been hanging around House Springs, lookin like a homeless person, and binge eating junk food, all while enjoying the Fall weather. 2morrow I'll give myself and my diet another makeover. (Gotta love Mondays!) The last time I checked, I was down six more pounds from last month. I'm really happy about the loss and also happy to report that, as of last weekend, I am down another pants size. However, due to my poor eating this weekend and lack of exercise, I probably won't try those pants on again or step on the scale until, at least, Thursday. So anyway, I'm just going to forgive my indescretions and work towards a better week.

 

 

Everytime I start feeling kinda fat, or when I get dissapointed with my weight loss progress, I purchase another healthy recipie book, or "how to", by a diet or fitness guru. Tonight's book is "Making The Cut" by Jillian Michaels. (Twelve dollars and sixty-four cents at Wal-mart.)

I hope to find some inspiration or to maybe one day "find the key" to my own personal weight-loss success every time I purchase a new book. Although I have yet to unlock my own personal mystery, I do usually find the inspiration I need to stay the course. I have bought and read six such books cover to cover in the past 8 months, so I guess I have needed lots of inspiration.

 So many people think that it should be as easy as eating less and exercising more, and it kind of is when you first start losing weight. But the complexities of it all come into play when you hit those platuaes and are trying to figure out just how much exercise your body needs and how much and exactly what types of foods work with your body and give you enough energy for all that working out to begin with. I think one thing I have learned for sure is that there is no one "plan" that will work for everyone.  Your diet, or way of eating, has to be tailored to your lifestyle, exercise regimine, your body type, how your body processes the food you eat, how well your handling your food addiction, ect.

Yes I said, addiction, and for those of you who are still in the dark, the majority of people who are overweight, obese, chunky, or just plain fat, and there are a lot of us out there, struggle every single day, and usually every single meal with our addiction to food. We are fat, or have gotten that way by eating too much of the wrong kinds of food. Why we do it, is all wrapped up in addiction - and that subject is a whole notha blog.

I would be thrilled to exercise six hours a day if I had the time. When I do work out, I always try to work out until I and every one of my muscles are exhausted. I do as much as I can in the two hours I set aside almost everyday to work out. In fact, many times throughout the years, I have had several people come up to me and say how impressed they are with my workouts, or efforts in classes. I'm always gracious, and I thank them and smile, but I'm pretty sure people say this to me because I'm still, and always have been kind of chubby, and do not look like someone who works their ass off in the gym on a regular basis.

Anyhow, my point is that I love exercising, I'm very consistant, and I tweak and change up my routine pretty regularly, but I still haven't managed to fine tune my diet enough to keep losing weight. I feel like I have done a respectable job controlling my food addiction, but in the past two months, I have only lost a total of two pounds. Two pounds in two months is soooo frustrating when you have a goal to lose another 30 or 40 pounds and you feel like your putting forth the effort into exercising to do so.

So, I have this new book, and it boasts to help you drop the last stubborn 10 to 20 pounds. And although I have 30-40 pounds that I can rightfully call stubborn, I'm going to take Miss Micheal's plan and advice to heart and hope that I have something more impressive than 2 pounds to blog about next time.

I know this blog has nothing to do with hotdogs, but I did eat one tonight, and along with it being a bad food choice for me, it was pretty disgusting.

You read that right, this is Carie posting a blog.  I know it's been a really long time, because I had to think really hard about my log on ID.  I just finished The Firm and am feeling all healthy so I decided to update everyone.  I'm getting comfortable at my current weight (around 146)  which is a scary place to be (not the weight but comfortable).  It's been nice to hear compliments that I look great (and I do mind you), but I'm not where I want to be.  I need to be more diligant about my food intake and better about keeping my work-out routine.  For awhile I was running three times a week and doing The Firm twice.  The last few weeks I've just been running sporadically.  I'm for sure in a size 10 these days and my boobs have shrunk (I'm still stacked).  I'm going to work on running longer and entering another 5K.

 

Carie

Yes, I did lose 3.2 pounds this week, even with the holiday, and the long weekend...thank you very much! For the first time since beginning this effort to lose weight, I faithfully tracked points using the Weight Watchers flex point system, and I think I finally "get" why it works. I tried it for a few days at a time in the past, but always thought it was no different than tracking calories. I was used to tracking calories, and it was easy for me, so I always opted for that instead. While I tracked my points, I realized that I was more mindful about the variety of foods I ate, always opting for more high fiber choices verses a lower calorie snack or food that was not as nutritious. I also made sure to use my points for the suggested amounts of milk, fruits, and vegtables. At the end of the day, if I hadn't eaten all of my points, I thought it was awsome that I was able to add a bonus, but still healthy, snack to my day. And, the two days I went over my points for the day, I chalked it up to those flex points you get, and didn't even feel guilty about it!

 

I felt organized and satisfied with my eating this week. Wether I am writting down my calories, or keeping points, staying organized and faithful with tracking every bite, seems to be a must for me. I think I may prefer the points system though because it takes a little bit of stress out of things for me, and keeps me more focused. I know this is new and exciting for me, and I will need to stay really focused to keep seeing results, but I am so glad to have a new program, that I have faith in, to follow. I have never been to a meeting, and I am not a member, but Carie is. The past year she has given me WW program info to follow three times, and I think everything kind of sunk in for me this go round and actually worked! So thanks again Carie!

  

My hubby and I stayed at a hotel on Saturday to celebrate our 7th anniversary. We have a two year old and a four year old, so uninterrupted time alone is almost non-existant for us. Our night out was great, and I really felt like we got a chance to be Vicky and Binoy again, instead of Mom and Dad.   

 

In fact, I was having such a great and carefree time, that I overindulged at dinner and had a blondie walnut sundae at midnight. It has been months since I have actually ordered a dessert off of a menu, and I have to admit that it was pretty good. But you know, it wasn't really all that good, and I had that dreadful full-bellied guilty feeling afterwards. On Sunday, I followed up my night of unhealty eating with two biscuts with gravy, scrambled eggs and an apple. I actually didn't even want the apple, but I thought eating it would somehow react against the biscuts.  

 

I guess I was coming down off of the emotional high from Saturday, because the rest of Sunday didn't go so well either. I was grateful that the next day was Monday because there is something strangely magical about that day of the week. It signifies a new beginning for those of us who fall off track. And thank god for new beginnings because I have needed lots of them!

 

It is Tuesday evening, and so far so good. I know it is going to be a great week!

Today I am lacking inspiration. I haven't heard from any teams for awhile, and it has me a little bummed. Carie and I are still working towards our goals and we both have greatly improved our lifestyle when it comes to diet and exercise. I don't want to speak for Carie, but I think she would agree that we both need a little more help in the diet area. For example, I was over today for a playdate, and we ate a semi-healthy, half-way decent lunch, but we also both dug into our kids leftover chicken nuggets and french fries.

Eating two nuggets and a few fries is not so bad considering that I have, in the past, eaten a nine-piece with a large fries and a large regular coke. However, it was definatley an indulgence that I should have and could have skipped if I want to continue to lose weight. Since I really believe that I am consistant and on the right path in the exercise department, most of my weight loss now has to come from me eating the right foods, in the right amount, at the right time. The problem for me now, is that my emotions are still getting in the way on occassion, and I still feel like I haven't figured out exactly what works for and with my body in the food department.

I have plenty of books. I have studied and experimented with different food combinations and numbers of calories, but I am getting a little discouraged. I had a rough time over Memorial Day weekend, and had a hard time getting back on track with healthy eating again. Although I feel like I have been doing well with my diet for the past two weeks, I am still not seeing the best results on the scale.

I picked up Bob Greene's newest book, and I am hoping to get some new inspiration and ideas from that. One thing that I read that I thought was pretty profound was that losing weight will not make you happy, but being happy will make you lose weight. I had two fabulous weeks where I lost a total of seven pounds, and I am not sure how it happened. I followed the same eating plan and exercise regimine after that, even challanging up some, and nothing happened. I was really positive and happy during those weeks though, so maybe there is something to that. I guess I need to dig deep, stay positive, and make and stay foused and organized with my diet. Now I'm off to clean my house!  

I took it easy this week because I was still recovering from the flu or pnemonia, or whatever I had. I took my two-year-old to the doctor on Wednesday, and her doctor said that she had pnemonia. I had similar symptoms, so I am pretty sure that's what I had as well. Either way, we were both on antibiotics and coughing our lungs up all week.

 

I am happy to report that we are both doing much better today. I did my first really challenging work out, since getting sick, this morning. There is an instructor at the gym who means business, and she does a Cardio Abs class from 9:00-10:00, and a Body Pump class from 10:00-11:00. Now when I say she means business, her classes are tougher than the boot camp I signed up for, you have to get there 30 minutes early to get a spot, and most of the women that take her class are RIPPED. This is the second time I've signed up for her classes, and I think they are going to be a regular part of my week. She teaches two consecutive classes Thursday evenings, and two on Sunday mornings. I really think that if I want to continue to lose, I need to be challenged, and her classes are certainly that.

 

On a similar note, my Boot Camp trainer really made me suffer on Friday. Friday was my first attempt at strength training this week, and I swear I was on my hands and toes in push up position for most of the hour. And then, just for fun, he had me do a bilzzillion walking lunges while he applied FORCE (he calls it resisitance) to my shoulders. My thighs were singing after that workout. I planned to stay for another hour, but I had nothing left when I was done.

 

So tommorrow I have another Boot Camp session scheduled for 9:00AM, and I am going to do and hour of cardio on the machines after that. I'm pretty thrilled with my 3.6 pound loss over the past two weeks, and I am looking forward to working out while not being so sick. I planned a challenging week of exercise for this week, so burn baby burn!

So, yes I lied on my driver’s license.  Go ahead arrest me!  I think at the time I was pregnant, or maybe just hopeful that one day I would once again see 140.  And here I am so close.  I really am so excited to be this close. I’ve really focused on my weight loss the last month.  I’m taking it very seriously.  I’m following the Weight Watchers points and logging everything I eat.  No free days but I do use my flex points (all of you WW will know what I’m talking about).  I’m jogging approximately three miles three times a week, and I do The Firm on two days.  So, I’m working out five times a week and have had consistent weight losses for the last month.  It’s working and I don’t feel like I’m struggling.  It’s a life style change and not a diet anymore.  I like it this way.