Taking Stock

Well, we are over a month in to Twitloss and I have lost 2lbs. Sigh. Eye rolling. Huffing. So I think it is time to take stock of progress in other ways. Let's go to the measurements:


A lot has changed! I was actually surprised by this, since I don't see a big change on the scale. I do feel a little better, healthier, but I do not feel like I have lost much weight. Admittedly, I suck at this stuff so I am going to redouble my efforts and keep pushing. I am feeling more motivated after seeing my numbers change. So I will take this win and use it to fuel my continued good habits.

In the mean time here is a link to 5 weight loss myths that Lynette shared today on Twitter. Good stuff!

Until next week...

Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat

Tell you all about it when I've got the time....



Aladdin is, far and away, my favorite Disney flick. What's yours?

This week was a success and I'm going to say that it was because I committed to posting that info on my page. It doesn't matter if anyone looked at it, it only matters that there was some sort of accountability. I can say I actually THOUGHT about whether or not I was going to eat that brownie (today, I did) or work out (yesterday, I did not). Yes, I can hold myself to the same accountability without posting it, but it never seems to work that way. If everyone did what they were supposed to do all the time.....well, you all know the answer to that.


Food: As I've already said, I ate the brownie today. It was damn good, too. :-) In general, I find myself eating far fewer calories at home than I do at work. I bring the lunch luggage with me everyday and there are enough snacks in there to feed a small army. Most days, I don't eat them all and that is still more than I eat on the weekends. Maybe I'm busier at home, not sitting behind a desk waiting until the next "snack time." Who knows. If I could find a way to get through the work day without feeling like my insides are gnawing themselves to death from starvation, I would be much farther along than I am.

Exercise: I really hate it beforehand and love it afterwards. Thinking about doing it makes me want to go back to sleep. Or crawl into bed and read a book. Or watch tv. Or poke my eye out with staples. Or.....well, you know. Afterwards, it's awesome! I'm so glad I did it. Or, I'm so glad it's OVER that it feels like I'm glad I did it. I need to try and get that feeling BEFORE. I signed up for Salsa which starts this Thursday. I love salsa music, so at least this will be fun! If I don't appear on Friday, it's because they killed me. At least I died shaking my ass hips. :-)

So, this week I'm down almost 2lbs for a total of 10.2 since 2/23.



From January, the last time I was at the doctor, it is 14lbs! To me, it seems like that is an awfully long time with not much to show for it. We'll see if slow and steady really does win the damn race.

Happy Tuesday!

Day 29: Sigh! Back to Square One

(BTW, Blogger is acting stupid and won't let me load my images. Sorry)

I got a haircut Friday. I thought it would be a good idea for the summer, but now I'm wishing that I never did. What does this have to do with #twitloss? Not a thing, but that's the only thing I feel like talking about at the moment. It's better than saying I'm a big fat slacker who never finishes anything she starts!

Spring Break also starts Thursday. The family and I are going to be visting my sister-in-law for a couple days.

I'm a master of avoidance aren't I.

Umm, I didn't work out last week. Not a day. I was going to get up this morning but the baby woke up right before the alarm was set to go off and I feel back asleep while I was trying to settle him down. When I got back up again, I didn't have time to do 10 Minute Trainer but I did go down in the basement and get on the treadmill for twenty minutes. That hurt my shins like crazy and it makes me remember when I was in the military why I always brought insanly expensive running shoes.

It also hasn't helped that my scale broke. I've been meaning to go out and buy another one, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I used the scale here at work to weigh myself this morning.

I also stopped drinking water and eating healthy snacks. I was still good at watching what I ate, that is until last night. I made a batch of brownies and ate half the pan myself (it was a small batch).

So, I've got a lot of work to do. I've been letting myself and other's get me down. Now, it's time I take control.

I'll let you know how that goes next week.

Day 1: 155 pounds
Day 8: 150.5 pounds
Day 15: 151 pounds
Day 22: 148 pounds
Day 29: 150 pounds

The only way is up...or in our case DOWN

Starting Weight: 192 lbs

Goal Weight: 132 lbs

Last Time’s Weight: 186 lbs

This Time’s Weight: 178 lbs

This Time’s Loss: 6 lbs

Total Loss: 12 lbs

This Week’s Hours of Zumba: 2,0

Last Week’s Hours of Zumba: 0.0

Total Hours of Zumba: 4.5

This week’s post is a late and very brief one as I was occupied all day today with a road trip up north and due to failed planning I didn’t write my weekly post before I left on the trip.
As you can see in the numbers above this two-week period was a very good one, despite half the wrap I ate last week. I lost 6 lbs in these two weeks and that is a big motivation to keep up with the strict 0-calories diet. People in my environment still frown upon what I am doing.

“Why aren’t you eating?”
“Isn’t this a bit drastic?”
“What you are doing can’t be healthy, you should eat.”

Despite these questions and remarks regularly thrown at me, I know that this is something that is finally working for me. By the next weighing appointment with the acupuncturist I will be below 176 lbs and that is a weight I haven’t had in three years, despite diets, trying to eat less, trying to eat healthier, despite anything I have tried these past three years. And that alone motivates me.

Besides the motivation, I feel more energized than I’ve felt in many, many years and I know that once I reach my goal weight and I can go off the 0-calories I will NEVER again eat like I ate before. I do not need all the food, especially the junk, I used to eat to feel satisfied.

I am now going to crash into my bed for another busy day tomorrow and wish all my #twitloss buddies a week next week like the one I had this week!

Hugs,
Pearl

My name is Tiffany and I am a slacker.

Seriously, I am the slacker of this group and it is killing me. Yet, obviously not enough to change it... sigh. Could someone just hit me with a really large book or something? This week I have felt like this:


I have made some good progress on healthier practices... both my girls now take turns helping us cook and choosing vegetables for the day. I meal plan around veggies we get on Saturdays.... all of those things are helping, but I still can't seem to actually get my scale to move downward.

I did hit the gym twice this week... but I need to get back to Body Pump, I have been wimping it out on a treadmill.

Gah, my post is depressing, sorry ladies.

The Little Engine that Could

That's me. The little engine that could. I mean this is week four and up until today I have had nothing to report except challenges and failure. Well that all ends now! Woot! Woot! I lost 2lbs!

Okay, I know. It's not much, but hey we gotta celebrate all the victories. Even the little ones. I am happy to say that despite my utter failure at working out everyday over the weekend, I managed to not kill myself with overeating and got in 3 days of exercise leading to my loss.

I was so excited Monday (that was when I weighed in) that I came home and did 43 minutes of Tae Bo. Needless to say, I am a little sore today so Wednesday will be my next workout day.

I have learned a few things this week:

1. I suck at grammar. I am taking a self editing workshop and I couldn't tell a dangling participle from anything else that dangles. I am speaking grammatically. Get your filthy minds out of the gutters.

2. I do not like plain cottage cheese. Sadly this one of those bought it at Costco kinds of lessons. On the up side I have gotten a few interesting suggestions and ideas for recipes. I have one for a quiche I will try and if it comes out good I will post it next week. Promise!

3. Hard work and discipline pays off. Okay. I knew that, but it just never translates to weight loss for me. This week I feel like there is a direct connection. Let's hope the trend continues as I embark on the next week.

I have to say that having such an awesome group of supporters is actually helping take the sting out of the experience. It is really nice to know that for once it is not me forging ahead alone. Virtual group hug! *squeeze*

Now, I want to know...got any good cottage cheese recipes? If not got any other good diet recipes that are helping you get through this experience?

Hungry like the wolf

It's lunchtime!!!! In an effort to make this a better week, I'm eating a Cafe Steamer with shrimp and chicken (260 cal.) I've had all healthy snacks today. It's a good start to the week. Last week, I learned the hard lesson of what happens when you put off going to the grocery store. It's so easy to just zip through the drive up and order something. And, even if you try to order the healthy way (whopper jr. with cheese, no mayo = 300 cal) it's still a killer in things like sodium, etc. Healthier than what I COULD have had, certainly, but still. Snacks? Forget it. It is so much easier to go out to eat and NOT order cake (or creme brulee....or whatever...) when you have some kind of treat at home.

Someone said earlier that failing to plan is planning to fail. I think I lived that last week. Add to that the fact that I only worked out for three days.....yeah. Fail. Capital F. But that was last week. So, from Tuesday to Tuesday, I'm going to try and update my page with total calorie counts and workout times. That is the only way I'll be motivated enough to get out of bed and get it done. I haven't done much else on my page yet (and don't think I don't realize what a slacker I am compared to the rest of you! I know!!) so this could maybe work. Three days isn't bad, but it was supposed to be five days. I already gave myself two days off! Four days off just isn't in the plan.

So, this week is all about planning to NOT fail. Although, I lost two more pounds this week so maybe failure ain't so bad.....

Happy Tuesday!

Day 22: Exercise, Smexericse

Happy Monday!


This is a busy week for me so I'm not going to be around much on Twitter or in the blogs.

Not only do I have a pile of work I have to get through on my desk, I've been totally slacking when it comes to working out. I SHOULD have exercised 7 days last week. However, I only worked out twice. I've been so disorganized this week. As an example, when I went into my bag to find my work-out schedule sheet to see how many times I actually worked out, what I found was the remote control to my television. I remember putting in my bag last night to hide it from the Chunkmaster. Although he's not even two yet, apparently it's been already wired into his genetic code to grab the remote control and flip through the channels no matter what show others (i.e., me) are watching.

Although I been lazy as all get out when it comes to working out, I have been paying attention more to what I'm putting into my mouth. I did steal more of Chunkmaster's M&M's but I think he's getting used to it now and didn't complain as much.

I'm loving my juicer. I used it a couple times last week and I liked everything I've made. There was one thing I made that needed sweetening up and put a little bit of Splenda in it and it worked like a charm.

On Saturday, I went to my RWA chapter meeting. Since the members of my chapter are so spread out, we rotate the cities where we meet each month and we always meet at a restaurant. It so happens that our meeting this month was at my favorite restaurant that's on our rotation. I was wondering if I'd pig out like I used to do whenever I go there. I think the only thing that saved me is that I sat next to one my buddies who is also on Twitter and knew that I was trying to lose weight and she's on a diet too. So we consoled each other and both ordered three Taco's (it's a Mexican Restaurant) for lunch instead of the feast that we usually get. However, we both said screw it and ordered their homemade deep friend ice cream. It was hilarious, as we both mentioned that we had been saving ourselves for this ice cream all week.

Have you ever had deep fried ice cream? If you hadn't, what the heck are you missing? It's the greatest thing ever invented. And this restaurant makes it especially good.





My goal for this week is to umm . . . . not miss an exercise.



But, I guess this is what you're waiting on, huh!



Day 1: 155 pounds

Day 8: 150.5 pounds

Day 15: 151 pounds

Day 22: 148 pounds

I'm finally under 150! I’m gonna do whatever I can to keep it that way! I'm so excited!

Queen of the Slackers? Yup, that would be me!

Starting Weight: 192 lbs

Goal Weight: 132 lbs

Last Time’s Weight: 188 lbs

This Time’s Weight: 186 lbs

This Time’s Loss: 2 lbs

Total Loss: 6 lbs

This Week’s Hours of Zumba: 0.0

Last Week’s Hours of Zumba: 1.0

Total Hours of Zumba: 2.5

You see the hours of Zumba this week? No? Are you sure you don’t see them? That’s right…that’s because I didn’t Zumba this week.
As I said last week in my post: I forewarned you. I do not like to work out and in week three I have already fallen off the wagon where working out is concerned.
I can use the excuse of being awefully busy, busy, busy but I can also be honest and say to myself that there is ALWAYS time to squeeze in 20/30 minutes of Zumba. No I must face the fact that I am a SLACKER!
I cling to every excuse not to work out and even Zumba which is so much like dancing has fallen victim to my lazy-ass attitude towards working out.

Okay now that I have acknowledged the problem I know what to do: I need to get back on the exercise wagon and I have asked hubby to help me: He has orders to make sure I Zumba tomorrow so I can get into the groove again of my daily work-outs. I.CAN.DO.THIS!

On another matter I had a day with BFF today (which is the reason this post is so late). It was something we'd planned before I even had an inkling of starting this 0-calories diet and when she heard I was doing this she asked if it wasn't better to cancel as we had a lunch planned as a highlight in our day. I thought long and hard and then decided that I didn't want the dieting to mess up my social life or to control it. So I said to her we weren't cancelling. I would make it work and I did!
I took my broth with me and decided I'd take that and a lot of water, tea and diet coke if I didn't find a way to eat something that wouldn't interfere with my diet.
When we got to the place where we were supposed to have lunch, I looked long and hard at the menu and there was a lot of good stuff on it and I was really in doubt of what to do.
Finally I decided to break the three-week fast and order a tuna wrap. It was the most healthy I could find on the menu and I ordered it without any guilt about eating something.

Well let me tell you after three weeks of broth, curds, water, tea and diet soda, I thought I would devour the wrap and end up wanting, craving, more. You can't imagine my surprise that I was able to eat only half of the wrap, which was delicious by the way and it took me an hour...SERIOUSLY: AN HOUR! to finish that half of a wrap...When I ate half I just couldn't eat anymore and I have absolutely no craving for food, so as of tomorrow it's back to my regular diet without any problems.
And I survived a day of socializing without any problems!



Till next week!

Hugs,
Pearl

It's my day and I am late!

*pffffffft* thats me huffing and puffing. I have been running around the house today trying to get things clean and get dinner started and completely spaced about getting my blog post ready.

Ironically I thought I did ok this week, no alcohol and I got to the gym twice. Yet, the scale says otherwise and I gained back my 2 lbs from last week? blah.

Since I am lacking in good news and advice, I thought I would just share something new I am doing - I am going organic. OK mostly organic.

Just this week I got my first delivery of beef from grass fed cows. Not only is it better for the environment, its healthier in many ways. If you haven't looked into yet, I urge you to. You can check out "why grass fed" for more info. I am also trying to stick to free range chickens, but responsibly raised pork is proving to be much harder thing to find.

In addition to the beef, I am buying fruits and vegetables from a local co-op. Bountiful Baskets tries to offer baskets of organic fruit/veggies at a reasonable price by buying locally and inseason, the downside is you get whatever comes that week. This is a big step for me, I am picky about veggies and fruit. But my first week was great - I got a ton of stuff and have come up with ways to use almost all of it (all organic and only cost $25)

So far this week I made:
Eggplant Parmesan w/ homemade marinara and asparagus
Lasagna with grass fed beef, squash, and spinich
Potato & Leek soup

Lastly, I am buying all my grains/snacks in bulk from an organic/natural food supplier named Azure Standard. The first delivery is on monday and I ordered a ton of supplies to make my own granola, trail mix, and bread. Now I just need to find places to store it all!

So thats what happened for me this week, big changes.... hopefully they help!

Week 3...Oh yeah, I'm On a Diet?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

If you saw me eating last weekend, you would have been hard pressed to believe I am eating healthy much less dieting. Seriously, it was a pathetic sight from Friday through Sunday. Friday was beer, bowling, and then lunch at BJs. Saturday was McDonald's for breakfast (Sausage McMuffin with egg) and then Sunday was Red Lobster...oh yeah cheese biscuits and drawn butter. So much for seafood being healthy.

I would like to now take you back a mere three weeks to my first post, where I warned you all what my biggest challenge was going to be. Discipline. :D Hello again! You see, I knew..no I know how much of a challenge eating healthy is for me. Add to that my lazy streak that is wider than the mighty Mississippi River...and presto you get me at easily 40lbs over weight! Ta da!

Okay okay. I know dieting is not easy. (Men you will now see nothing but blah blah blah for the next few sentences, if you don't well it's not my fault. I'd skip to the next paragraph.) I am happy to report that despite my monthly visitor, who brings chocolate cravings and the #bitterhissingcrone, I have managed to be relatively well behaved this week. (I am sorry @lesliedickens, I know I am talking about your daughter you may wish to stop reading here.) I have stuck to eating healthy with the exception of the little green trolls who struck again. This time it was those lemon cookies. Not even chocolate! I swear the Girl Scouts of America are out to get me because I quit Brownies when I was a little girl. I just wasn't cut out for all that arts and craft stuff. Anywho, despite the bloating (yes, I too felt like the little blueberry girl from Willie Wonka) cramping, and general bitchy quality that comes with this monthly joy I managed to not (yet! heh.) eat all of the...well everything in sight. So I am going to call that a win and keep charging ahead.

(Men it is safe to return now!) I am proud to say that out of 2 days this week, I have worked out 2 times! Hooray! It's a start. Now let's talk about today's dilemma. St Patrick's day! (Are you wearing green? If not pinch yourself for me.) I am not Irish...but I damn well celebrate this fantastic holiday. I love beer! I love dark beer. I love Newcastle Brown Ale, Killian's Irish Red, Smithwick's Irish Red, really the list goes on and on. So, I am pretty sure the Irish don't make a diet beer. None of that 64 calorie crap we Americans have dreamt up. So I guess I am going to make a pledge:

I will drink my beer and enjoy it. Guilt free. However, I will have to work out every day this weekend to make up for my holiday splurge.

There it is. I will work out Thursday through Sunday to make up for however many calories I will ingest on Wednesday night. May you all have a happy St. Patrick's day and remember (at least for today)...

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Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches

Why that was a hit song, I still don't know! But, it's damn catchy, and will not be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. You're welcome!


This week was......well, it was a challenge. Everything was going relatively well. Sparkpeople has me eating between 1200-1550 calories a day. Great. Normally, I'd eat about....oh.....lots more than that, so this is kind of a lesson in measuring and counting. I thought I'd hate it, but I really don't mind it. I'm kind of a geek that way, though. I like to know things, even things as stupid as how many calories are in that banana (105). So, I've been mostly cruising along. Last Wednesday I went over my cal count by 66 calories
(Thank you, Cherry Garcia!) A transgression, but not a horrible one. I was below count the day before and the day after, right? It all evens out.
Well....then there was Friday. Johnny Rockets. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if I had planned for JR earlier in the day. But, after an 8hr meeting, I was in no mood for planning. I was ready to eat! And I was so good during the day! I said NO to the donuts someone brought to our meeting. I said NO when the Jimmy Johns lunch menu was passed around. I ate the lunch I had brought. But boy did I make up for it.

The burger wouldn't have been so bad by itself. Cheese, yes, but no mayo. It might have put me over my count for the day, but not by much.

The fries were reasonable. Did you know Johnny Rockets has unlimited fries. I only had one serving, LOL, but my tablemate got seconds.

I even had diet coke!

Please, follow me below for food porn
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THIS was terrible. Honestly. I don't even know what made the order come out of my mouth!



NSFW Food porn.....



Before you get all excited there, ladies and gents, that right there is 1,180 calories. Nearly a FULL DAY of calories. Now, I didn't know exactly how many calories was in it (and I had to search the web for a minute or two before I found reliable JR nutritional info) but I knew it wasn't calorie free. LOL. I ordered it and ate nearly all of it by myself. (and I will not lie, it was damn tasty!) Did I have buyer's remorse? Yeah.....I guess..... I've been under my cal count for the rest of the weekend and today! Go me! (yeah, but not enough to make up that huge gap on Friday.)

The workouts:

I think my knee is officially healed now, provided I don't do anything stupid to it. I did my normal 40 minute treadmill workout on Sunday and it was fine. Last week, I took it pretty easy. Treadmill for 15 minutes on Tuesday, 25 minutes on Thursday, swimming lessons on Thursday afternoon, and treadmill on Sunday. This week, I hope to be back to normal 5 day workouts.

So, the results? Well, mixed. It was a gain either way, but my choices were .1lbs and .6lbs. I'm gonna go with .4 and call it an average. And, I suppose, if that is all I had after eating 8 days worth of calories in 7 days, I'm okay with that.

But this week WILL be better.

Happy Tuesday!

Day Fifteen: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Sorry, I'm not very eloquent today. I ache and I'm pissed with my progress. Here's my week in review:











Monday, March 8th: I did three tracks of 10 Minute Trainer. I actually did good with food and ate a little under 1300 calories for the day. I was even able to eat a scoop of ice cream.

Tuesday, March 9th. I overslept and did not work out. I went to the grocery store around the corner from my work and saw some sushi samplers on sale and pigged out. I made salmon, baked potatoes and asparagus for dinner but when I was cleaning up the kitchen I ended up eating the kid's leftovers. I know at ate a least 1,350 calories for the day.

Wednesday, March 10th. I did three tracks of 10 Minute Trainer. I actually ate pretty good at work and when I came home hubby went to Taco Bell for dinner. I carefully researched what I could eat at Taco Bell and sent him to Taco Bell with a list. He didn't come back with anything I had told him to get me. So instead of the fast food friendly dinner I was anticipating I had 2 Steak Supreme Chalupa's which amounted to 700 calories just by itself. To drown my sorrows I also ate half of the bag of M&M's that hubby had brought home for the Chunkmaster. Chunkmaster got fed up with me eating all his M&M's grabbed the rest in his hand and scooted over to the other side of the sofa to eat his M&M's in peace. Not even eighteen months old and the boy feels like he can't trust me. The shame!

Yes, this one is mine. Don't ask.

Thursday, March 11. I overslept. No work out for me. I also couldn't stop eating. Though it was sorta healthy eating, like the no sugar pudding, animal crackers (do you realize how much calories are in those suckers), granola bars, and cheese bites. In the end I ate nearly 1500 calories for the day.

Friday, March 12th. My birthday. Who wants to work out on their birthday? Are you sensing a theme here? I am. I made Chicken and Dumplings for dinner using fat free cream of chicken and cream of celery soup. However, I ate two big bowls of it and the kids leftovers. Are you sensing another theme here? I probably ate about 1,400 calories for the day.

Saturday, March 13th. To make up for slacking instead of doing three tracks of 10 Minute Trainer, I did four. I didn't log in what I ate on Saturday and I can't remember what I ate for dinner. Wait, I think hubby went to Subway and I had a six-inch sub. I do know that hubby totally redeemed himself for the Taco Bell incident and brought home 100 calorie pack Twinkies. I had two of those Saturday as my snack. I don't think I did too bad wise calorie wise this day.

Sunday, March 14th. I did three tracks of 10 Minute Trainer and I think I might've eaten about 1300 calories yesterday. I made steak, baked potatoes (red), and corn for dinner.

So overall . . . I ate like a pig and didn't work out every day like I'm supposed to.

I'm not used to watching what I eat, so any tips, guidance would be much appreciated. On the good side, hubby brought me this for my birthday!

It was something I actually had been talking about wanting for a long time. Now, all I have to do is finally find time to go grocery shopping.

My stats:
Day 1: 155 lbs
Day 8: 150.5 lbs
Day 15: 151 lbs

Overall pounds lost since Day One: 5
Overall pounds gained: 1

I really need to get under 150 pounds and stay there. I would be totally happy when I finally manage to do that. Hopefully, I will have some better news next week.

Bye, bye. And I was serious about any advice, books, whatever you might have on healthy eating. Though I suppose it would help if I actually took my lazy self to the grocery store!

Being a woman sometimes really sucks

Starting Weight: 192 lbs

Goal Weight: 132 lbs

Last Time’s Weight: 188 lbs

This Time’s Weight: 186 lbs

This Time’s Loss: 2 lbs

Total Loss: 6 lbs

This Week’s Hours of Zumba: 1.0

Last Week’s Hours of Zumba: 1.5

Total Hours of Zumba: 2.5

First off I want to offer some my #twitloss buddies some mental support and apologize for not being there for them as much as I wanted this week. Reading and reviewing obligations and off line life just sucked me up this week and I expect it to stay that way for a few weeks. But remember: I may not be here or on Twitter that much but in spirit I am rooting for you all and sending positive, healthy, weight-reducing vibes to all of you. Reading the other #twitloss posts this week made me realize mine was pretty uneventful besides being very busy.

The not eating part is still going very well and I did lose weight but just not as much as I was expecting and that’s partly because I slacked in the work-out department. I forewarned everyone: I detest working out. So every opportunity I have to not work out, I seize with both hands. This week it was one day of cramps (Tuesday but I’ll get back to that later) and one day of killer headache (Wednesday) that led me to just not work out yesterday…But I had a serious talk with myself and tonight before bed I will do my Zumba work-out and it will be the Sculpt and Tone torture one, just to show myself what will happen if I fall of the wagon again…

So Tuesday I had a day of cramps and this leads me to my second reason I did not lose as many lbs as I was expecting. As my title states: It sucks being a woman and being all women here (at least that’s what I think, if there are any men following this blog I think this is the moment to stop reading my post now) I think you all know what I mean. It started in the weekend. I started craving foods, bad foods, really, really bad foods. Monday same story: I was going crazy with wanting to eat and I just didn’t understand why. And then Tuesday I discovered why: Aunt Flo paid me a visit and she brought me cramps. Aunt Flo tried to sabotage me, just 2 weeks into my diet. First with the food craving, mind you, I did not give in and stuck to my water, diet coke, broth and curds but still, every time I smelled food (either cooking for hubby or he eating his food) I would get that craving. Then with the cramps so I couldn’t work out and to finish me off, when I went for my weighing on Thursday (yesterday) I was feeling so bloated I felt like that girl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…Can’t remember her name, but you all know who I mean, the one who swelled up like a blueberry. And when I got on the scale I was so afraid, but I still lost 2 lbs.

Sometimes I really wish I were a man, because men don’t get visits from Aunt Flo. But only sometimes because other times being a woman really ain’t that bad!

Hugs,
Pearl

Help! I am being killed by stress!

I will just get to the point, I totally sucked this week. Seriously. How many times did I get to the gym out of my goal of 5? Zero. How many days did I actually track the entire day? Zero. *sigh* I mentioned previously that for me this is all about balance and I failed at it this week. My kids were a challenge. The preschool I am president of had a huge fundraiser this week. I had an enormous amount of homework due this week, including a final I still have to take today. I feel like I am not getting enough sleep and don't have enough hours in the day to manage all the things on my plate. But the truth is, those are all excuses and I have had excuses for all of my life. I can sit here and talk about the excuses some more or I can pull myself back together and make this next week better.

I am choosing to make next week better, but I am also realistic.... If I don't change something I am going to have another bad week. So, I asked myself last night... Tiffany, what is your plan? (talking to yourself, thats not a sign of impending craziness right?). My answer-
~Spring Break for my classes next week, I will use it to get ahead on homework and get caught up on my book reading/blogging
~Every night before I go to bed I will write down on a notepad my intended plan/schedule for the next day.
~I will get more than 4 hours of a sleep at night

Somehow even with my dismal failure of a week I managed to lose 2 pounds this week. I would jump for joy but I guess I am waiting for the shoe to drop and find out I gained 5 next week LOL ;)

Created by MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Oh, and as a side note... how many of us watch the Biggest Loser?? I pledged to lose my 25lbs through their pound for pound challenge last night, will you join me? :)

Welcome to the Crazy Train!

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

All aboard! Welcome to the Yockman Crazy Train. I will be your conductor today.

Let me start by saying that last week I started feeling like crap. I think it was sinusitis, and I only started feeling human again yesterday. So keep in your head that I have felt like crap for 7 days. I am not a good decision maker when I feel like crap. I become incredibly bitchy (heh) and very short of temper...the one I don't always keep a leash on anyway.

So, I canceled on @nettagyrl Saturday for our writing date to stay home and feel better, and I got some writing done anyway. I did go meet DH at Wings-n-Things for lunch because I was hungry and did not feel good enough to cook. (Bad Decision #1). That's my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Afterward we went home where I managed to pour hot tea on my right hand by juggling the cat and the overfilled mug (Bad Decision #2). That shit hurt people! Then Saturday night we went to a friend's house (I know I had no business going out, but DH made the plans without consulting me.) and stayed out way too late. I also sat at their house playing dominoes and stuffing my fat little face with wavy lays and dip. (Bad Decision #3).

Then, on Sunday...oh wait, that was a quiet day, except I got up and we went grocery shopping. A necessary evil. I promise I am sharing all this for a reason...I am getting to it very soon I promise.

Monday. I wake up and push to get out of bed and go to work. I still feel like crap. Apparently I looked like crap too, my client told me so. I like her and it was true, so I didn't take offense. Now keep in mind I am pushing to get out of the house and make it to work. The cats are out and I am ready to go. DH is in bed and asks me to put the green yard waste can out to the curb. This is where the bitchy kicks in. I do it but we argue about it first cause I was super jealous he was still in bed.

On my way out the door (FINALLY! I am thinking to myself. LOL!) I notice a stray dog running in the street. Yes I am one of those collectors of stray animals. I can't help it. I'm compulsive about it. No collar? No tags? Sure you can come live with me! So I call DH make him get up and track the dog down. Our two cats (both rescues) are already out for the day so he brings the dog in the backyard.


DH hears a ruckus and checks on the dog. He sees he (yes it was obvious you pervs!) has a cat's claw in his forehead. DH gets nervous and starts looking for our cats to see if they are ok. the dog then falls into the pool and takes a swim. Nice. DH calls the kitties. Only Buster (left) appears. This is about an hour after I left for work.

DH starts to freak out. He is VERY attached to the fur. Like irrationally emotionally attached. He immediately assumes the dog attacked Flash and the cat is dying under a bush somewhere. He calls me very upset. I finally give in around 10:30am and tell him I am coming home. Between feeling like crap and now Flash is missing I realize work is not going to happen.

I get home and find DH in a panic and the stray Sharpe (sp?) in the back yard. He has been looking for Flash for nearly 3 hours by now, fell in the street scraping his knee and tearing his pajama pants (I am not going o discuss this unfortunate behavior I cannot modify). I should note our cats come when they are called. So his not coming was troublesome. This happened once with Buster, over night, and we gathered that he got caught in a garage from the musty smell when he came home the next day.


So Flash (right) is MIA and the dog is crying. Buster refuses to be anywhere near the dog and generally looks pissed about the whole situation. I finally get the dog scanned by the vet, he has a chip, and am able to return him (his name was Mickey) to his owners. Still no Flash. DH and I are thinking Karma's a bitch to not give us our cat back after the good deed with the dog (which we would have done anyway). This was one crazy coincidence happening here.

We finally assume we have another locked in the garage incident and think we won't see him until after 5pm. We go run an errand that had to get done and get home to no cat. We call again for another hour and then finally he comes beelining up the street to the house. Well, DH nearly collapses in relief.

Ecstatic that our newest baby is back, we decide to celebrate. We are going to the kitchen. The kitchen is Chilis. We know the bartenders there. They know us. It's not good. (Bad Decision #4) I of course promptly justify fried food and beer with the celebratory sentiment of a crappy day ended happily.

So. As you can see, Monday was INSANE! I was already depressed (as evidenced by the pathetic blog post on my website), and then I had to deal with all of that crap. Despite all of this, I woke up Tuesday feeling good health-wise and mentally. So sometimes shit happens to remind you that life isn't so bad. On the other hand that reminder can be a bit of a #twitloss derailment.

The bad news is the 2lbs I tweeted about loosing on Monday are back and that means I am exactly where I started. Sigh. But I am rededicating myself to the cause and will push forward with a good diet and exercise. I swear!

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Everybody's got a hungry heart!

Sorry I'm late! It has been a craaaazy day. (I did warn you about the organization thing last week, right?)

So, what has been going on? As I mentioned on Sunday, two rather significant things happened over the weekend.


I bought a food scale. It is a nifty thing, I've been having a good time playing with it. More importantly, I finally feel like I'm doing something constructive. A few times I have been surprised at just how much MORE I could be eating. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but I had no idea, for instance, what a serving of shredded cheese was. I would just sprinkle. When I measured it, I was surprised at how much was on the plate. (I was using it for tacos.) I didn't even use all that I had measured out. I've used it to measure fruit and vegetables to try and get the right amount of calories for those things. I don't know if I will always be this consistent, but it certainly has been a big help so far.

Edy's and Skinny Cow both have single serve ice cream containers. I think these are the best thing in the world! I have like six of them in my freezer right now. Portion control taken out of my hands and I can eat the WHOLE THING. Yes! But, I have the food scale for when I run out of single serve containers. I still have two things of Ben and Jerrys in my freezer. A better person would throw them out......I am not a better person.


I made my knee cranky. I haven't exercised at home, or at the gym, since Friday. Friday night on the treadmill, it started hurting. Saturday it was iffy. Sunday it was flat out pissed off at me, and I sat at work all afternoon with an ice pack on it. Monday, I bought an ace bandage type thing for it, and decided to heed the advice of those who said wait 48-72 hours before getting jiggy. Today, I may try it out. Just a little bit of treadmilling. Not too fast. Not too much incline. What is a surprise to me is how much I miss it. I never thought I would say that! Maybe this activity thing is becoming a (good) habit.

Despite these setbacks (and it seems like every day is full of potential pitfalls) I have lost a total of 7.4 lbs! Good riddance!

Happy Tuesday!

Day 8: This Is Hard Work

Sorry that I'm posting late. Last week had been a busy week, and it's looking like this week will be the same.

FITNESS:

I've worked out every day this week with the exception of Saturday. I'm still following Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer program. I'm feeling really annoyed that I missed Saturday, but Queen had a friend over Friday night for a sleep over. Believe me, after chasing after two six-year-olds Friday night and all day Saturday, I overslept Saturday morning and had no energy to get up and work out. I do think I deserve something for getting up Sunday morning and working out. Those girls really wore me out!

I'm still hoping that I'll make up that day some day this week. Maybe on the night before I only have the one work out to do in the morning, do the work out before that the night before? I'm not sure. I hate not being on schedule where I'm supposed to be, some part of me NEEDS to be on the day that I'm supposed to. Its Day 8 since I started working on this and by dog on it, I should be on Day 8 of my workout. Yes, I'm aware that I have issues. Sue me!

I still can't get through every exercise on the work-out without pausing and huffing and puffing, but at least I know most of the moves (especially the cardio ones). From looking at the schedule there is heavy influence of cardio during the first two weeks and then it gets into the harder stuff, to sculpt you, I suppose. I don't really see a difference in my body as of yet. But I hope I'll notice something at the end of next week.

(PAUSE IN BLOG WRITING TO ADD THAT I'M GONNA KILL MY BOSS AS HE JUST POPPED SOME POPCORN AND MY STOMACH IS GROWLING! GRRRR, GRRR, GRRRR)

Back to my regularly scheduled program.

NUTRITION:

Tuesday sucked for me. Inside my desk I had a bag of Pistachio nuts. I had carefully counted out how much I could have. Then the next thing you knew, the whole darn bag was gone. Not sure what happened there, but I have knocked Pistachio nuts off of my approved snack list. I've determined that they're my potato chips. I have to make another run to the store soon and stock up on some new snacks and some fruits and veggies for snacks.

Portion control is also a biggie for me. I make something healthy but then I keep eating and eating it. Sigh. I'm so used to eating two or three helpings. Though I'm doing better than I anticipated. Nine days ago, I would come to work without eating breakfast, then get hungry and troll people's desk for candy. Then I'd either go out to lunch or order a big lunch from a restaurant that delivers. I didn't do that all week. Well, I did go to Bob Evans on Friday but I ordered from their Fit Menu and just had some scrambled eggs, toast, and a parfait. I didn't even eat all the parfait because I felt full. My biggest downfall is boredom at home and eating off Queen's (Chunkmaster doesn't leave left over's) plates or dishing myself up another bowl of something.

Another big issue for me this week was Queen's sixth birthday. I did succumb and eat one pepperoni pizza, a piece of cake, and a scoop of ice-cream. I should feel guilty about that but it was very good!

My birthday is Friday! I'm not ordering cake and since I spent all my money on Queen's birthday, I doubt I'll do anything for mine. Basically, I think I'm screwed on my birthday until the Queen turns eighteen. At least Chunkmaster and hubby's birthday are close together too, so I'm not suffering alone.

Results. I know that's what you're looking for, huh? Well, to be honest I'm confused about that. I stepped on my scale this morning and it said 150.5. Which means I lost 4.5 lbs, but then I get to work and step on the little scale that we have here, and it says 153 something, so who knows. I'm gonna go with my home scale because, well the numbers are better.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

To be honest, I don't feel like I lost weight yet. And my weight usually fluctuates between 150 and 155, I really believe the real test will be the end of next week. I'll be doing the happy dance if I manage to get under 150 lbs. I hope that happens.

Until next time. Have an awesome week!

Random Weekend Thoughts

Here it is, Sunday morning, and I'm sitting in front of the tv. No one had signed up for Sunday, so I thought I would throw something out here. Here it is: the weekend in twitloss.

Friday evening I went to the gym. Did 47 minutes on the treadmill. Why 47? Because the gym treadmills automatically add a 2 minute cool down at the end of a timed workout. Very weird. Anyway, so about minute 39, I get this pain in my leg. I normally don't get cramps so I figure it was because I was going too fast, or walked to long on an incline (I was mixing it up) or something like that. I take the incline off and finish up. Saturday morning, my knee is killing me. I skip the gym. Sunday morning, my knee is killing me but not as bad. I probably just pulled a muscle. I iced it and it is resting on a pillow but, unless I feel better after work, it will be another day without a workout.


On the plus side, I bought a food scale! I love it already, but that is no surprise. I have a long-standing, bank breaking relationship with electronic things. If it has a digital display, there is a greater than 50% chance that I will fall madly in love. :) Anyway, I used it for breakfast this morning, measuring omelet ingredients.

Other than that, a dull and uneventful weekend. What about you?

TGIF - I survived the first week

Starting Weight: 192 lbs

Goal Weight: 132 lbs

Last Time’s Weight: 192 lbs

This Time’s Weight*: 188 lbs

This Time’s Loss*: 4 lbs

Total Loss: 4 lbs

This Week’s Hours of Zumba: 1.5

Total Hours of Zumba: 1.5

*These numbers will be my bi-weekly numbers as I go to the doctor to weigh every 2 weeks and my scale at home always says something other than the doctor's.

So how did my first week of #twitloss go?
Well with ups and downs but I am happy to say it ended high! As I wrote on my page I am starting the battle against overweight with a 0-calorie diet, acupuncture and Zumba.

The 0-calorie diet means I can only have:
Minimum of 2 liters of fluids (this can be coffee, tea, water and diet sodas, NO juice)
Vitamin/mineral supplement pills (3 a day)
3 cups of broth (NO soup)
1 spoon of vegetable oil
300 grams of yogurt or 150 grams of curds

And that’s it folks!

The acupuncture is to keep the feelings of hunger/obsession with food away and I must say it helps. I had one tough day this week and almost grabbed food to comfort me but then took a step back and kept my eye on the end prize (losing this damn overweight) and took a glass of water and a cup of broth instead. I felt like I won a war after that moment. In the past I have never been able to overcome the need to comfort myself with food.

I must say the not eating part is going well for me. I already suspected not eating is easier for me than eating just healthy stuff of little amounts of food but it’s going better than I thought, save for that one tough day I had. I feel great, I have energy, I don’t feel hungry or faint. I can be around food, handle food (I cook for my hubby) and not have the inclination to eat it. If it stays like this, keeping this diet up for a few months will be less of a chore than I thought it would be.

Another shocker for me is finding out I am looking forward to doing my daily exercise, Zumba. Okay, I’ve just been doing it for 3 days…so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
I abhor sports, I loathe exercise but I love to dance and in Zumba I have found a combination of dance and sports that is working for me. Still this is the hardest part for me, every morning I get up and have to motivate and force myself to put the dvd in and start excercising. Once I'm at it I really enjoy myself but it's taking that step to start that I hope will be easier the course of time.

In closing this week I want to thank all the ladies of the #twitloss group (whether on the blog or just on twitter). Knowing there are more people battling their weight is all the support I could ask for and it’s helping keep me motivated to see it through to the end this time! Couldn't do it without you guys!

Hugs,
Pearl

Oh and got a little something especially for Danielle, on her request:

Dear Iphone Gods - please keep me on track.

Happy Thursday twitlossers. I was going to do a great big blog post on me and how I got to the point I am now, but honestly... the short versions is up on my page. Being a mom is about balance and over the last 10 years I lost it. I am working on that, so instead I am going to talk about my tools of the trade.

First and foremost...... to lose weight you have to track. I have to track. Maybe I should say that again to really get it in my head. When I don't track, I cheat and cheaters never win. Well except maybe in board games and only if you don't get caught. The truth is I have tried a lot of different tracking systems - ranging from Weight Watchers to the free sites like Daily Plate and Sparkpeople. Lots of people adore these sites, and they are hugely helpful. Yet I get bored easily and lose focus - I don't want to sit at my computer and enter in food when I could be doing something else. Enter..... my iphone.

Just like my kindle, I wonder how I ever lived without my iphone. So many useful apps, so many features that simply my life. First, Tweetdeck.... I can sync my twitter on my laptop to my iphone and never miss a #twitloss conversation. But most importantly? The iPhone Daily Burn apps. Yes, I said, apps.... because there is more than one.

First, to use them you need a FREE account from their website : Daily Burn. It is much like the Daily Plate and Sparkpeople... just a simple site to track calories, exercise, and more. Once you have an account you can use the free Daily Burn iphone app to track your food, as well as workouts and more, wherever you are and it will sync to your online account.

Now comes the really cool app... The Daily Burn Food Scanner. This super cool tool uses the iphone camera to scan the UPC symbol on products, then uses the UPC to find nutrition data. Once it pulls up the nutrition data you can add it to your daily food journal as something you ate. You can also favorite things so you don't have to rescan things you eat every day. If it doesnt find your food in the UPC database, you can do a keyword search and then link that UPC to the correct food in the database. So easy to use and it syncs with your online account, so it also syncs with the regular Daily Burn tracker app.

Since my iphone is superglued to my hand, theory is that these apps should keep me interested and on track. I am aiming to lose 25lbs during these first 90 days of the the #twitloss challenge. Get out your pom poms and cheer me (ehhh us!) on, we need it!

What are you tracking tips and tricks? Or check, any favorite iphone apps? I can always use more ;) 

Hump Day!

Well, it's hump day! That means we are half way through the work week and half way through our first week of Twitloss. First, thank you to everyone who has come out here and on Twitter to follow, gripe, groan, praise, and bottom line support us and each other!

Two days in to this challenge I have to shout it out: LOOSING WEIGHT SUCKS! Let me say that while I wouldn't consider myself spoiled, I have never been big on self denial either. It goes against the grain for me. I have always hung out with people I like, worn what I like, gone where I liked to go. You're seeing the pattern here, right? So naturally, I have always eaten what I like. And up until about 10 years ago that did not matter. Suddenly...or not so suddenly it mattered.

Discipline. (Get your mind out of the gutter!) Discipline has also never been my strong suit. I was a dancer for years, and that brings a certain level of discipline because of the nature of the art. But since i loved it and wanted to be good at it, it never felt like work. I loved being a dancer. I loved long days of class and then rehearsal. I really loved performing. I loved my metabolism. I could eat most anything and not gain weight. Sigh. Those were the days!

Needless to say, you can see now how dieting...even a healthy lifestyle change....might be difficult for me. Tuesday provided a painfully clear reminder of what I lack. Discipline. So, here is the scenario:

It is about 10:30am and I hit the office kitchen for a coffee (decaf) refill and my mid morning snack of 1% cottage cheese and an apple. Tres healthy. I cross the threshold transitioning from industrial grade carpet to the white linoleum floor in the small kitchen. Tap. Tap. I stop dead. There on the counter teasing me...tormenting me is a ruthless, soul-sucking, fat laden box of Girl Scout cookies. Do-si-do's to be exact. I take a breath, I can do this. Be strong. I encourage myself. I set my coffee mug down and pull out my healthy snack. I set it down and literally without thinking I open the cookies and eat one. Just like that. No thought, just action. I ate it. Crap. Clearly this is going to be much harder than I had hoped.

So there it is. My biggest challenge in this effort is not the working out...okay that's another issue for another day...but discipline. Discipline and Girl Scout cookie season. Discipline and whatever excuse I can dream up, and let's face it as an aspiring writer I think I am pretty creative. :) The next question is, what am I going to do about it? I don't know yet, honestly. I am going to start by taking this thing one day at a time and hoping I can baby step it to my goal weight.

If you are working toward weight loss right now, what is your biggest challenge? How are you dealing with it?