Monday, January 31, 2011

Less than 1000 calories/day

On this new site that I'm using to track calories, you can allow other people to view your daily food log which means I can see what other people are eating and compare it to their weight loss, mine, etc.  There are several people that are eating less than 1000 calories a day and logging 500-1000 calorie burns per day.

So far, it seems like they are still losing weight but I believe they are only into the program for about a month or 2.  Is it wrong of me to hope that they will soon fail because of the poor way they are working the program?  Not that I would wish that anyone gain weight but maybe if they would plateau and stop losing it might make them realize that what they are doing isn't right or healthy.

Lord knows they aren't listening to me when I tell them the lowest daily caloric intake is supposed to be around 1200 for people at a normal weight. Guess everyone has to learn on their own and if they want to lose weight like this, more power to them.  I just don't believe you can maintain that for a healthy life on a consistent basis.

They will all learn in the end that too few calories can be just as bad as too many.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Trigger Foods

I stole this guide from a friend on Facebook.  I'm going to try to see if I can accurately categorize my food triggers. My triggers are in orange below each category.

Green Light foods: These foods can be handled easily and generally do not trigger overeating. Make sure your fridge and pantry is stocked with these foods.
- fruits, veggies, applesauce


Yellow Light foods: These foods can be controlled in some circumstances. (I will only eat one brownie at a friend's house, but may eat them all if at home) Know what will work for you and steer clear of an abundance of yellow light foods at home.
- cookies, muffins, cupcakes, crackers

Red Light foods: Generally means "Don't go there" as they cannot be controlled. (yet!) It is best to avoid these foods until you can learn how to manage them.
- cheese, pizza, chocolate

Identifying which foods trigger you to eat inappropriately can help you manage them better.

No Tolerance For...ANYTHING!

I don't know if it's the fact that I'm unemployed with too much free time on my hands or if I'm still grumpy because I'm still not fully recovered but people are really starting to annoy me.  Seems like everywhere I turn there are people making stupid comments, asking stupid questions, etc.  I know they say there is no such thing as a stupid question but I have to disagree.  If the answer to your question is in the FAQ's or HELP section of the website...your question is stupid.

Maybe it's because I detest people that are too lazy to try and find the answer on their own.  Why spend 5 minutes looking for the answer when I could take 30 seconds to post it and hope someone will give me the right answer?  I just hate that so much and don't give me the excuse that you are NEW to the site because I don't buy it.  There are multiple places on the site where you can find the answers to your questions if you would only bother to exert a little effort.  Don't expect me to do your research for you!

Wow, that was a bit of a rant wasn't it?  I don't mind helping people but you have to at least TRY first.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Weigh In 01/29/11

This morning I stepped on the scale and was delighted because I thought I had lost weight.  When I actually logged my current weight I realized that it was the exact same as last week.  A slight let down but then I realized that maintaining for a week without working out, being in bed most of the time and failing to log everything I ate and drank has got to be a miracle.  I will gladly take a repeat of last weeks number and move on.

It's going to be really hard to get back into the habit of working out since I've been laying around for nearly 3 weeks doing nothing.  I finally made myself get up and do Leslie Sansone's 1 mile walk this afternoon.  I didn't want to do it, her people are annoying and she smiles too much but after I was done I felt much better.  Unfortunately, right now I'm limited to my lower impact work outs until this cough stops and my respiration improves.

Small steps will lead to a big loss in the end!

"Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands." - Elle Woods

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Sickness Sucks

I've been fighting what I thought was the flu for over 2 weeks.  On Monday I woke up without the ability to swallow, terrible ear pain, hideous sinus drainage and 1/2 a sore throat. Finally called the doctor and got an antibiotic that I started monday night.  As of this morning, nothing has changed.  Unfortunately, I tend to be more resistant to antibiotics than some people (not sure why) but this is getting ridiculous.  I thought you normally felt a little better within 24 hours of the antibiotic being started.  I've had 2 days of doses and nothing is better.

If there is no change for the better tomorrow morning I'm going to have to call the doctor again.  I just hate doing that because without insurance I get the privilege of finding out exactly how out of control the prices for seeing a doctor for 15 minutes are. :(

On the upside, I'm not eating as much because it hurts to swallow and nothing tastes right.  Maybe that will help me continue losing weight since I'm too darn sick to work out.  I've not even been able to stay up long enough to clean the kitchen so it's now overflowing with dirty dishes and trash.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Subway Flatbread

I don't know what is in this bread but once I tried the flatbread I can't go back to the regular bread at Subway.  Have you tried this stuff?  It's like it's laced with crack because I can't get enough of it!  I would eat this for every meal if I could...of course I want a foot long which is over 600 calories and that is too much for the day if I eat that for every meal!

Ok, enough about that...I just had to put that out there! :)

Getting Comfortable...To A Point

Do you ever think about events in your life that have changed you? When I think back on my life before I turned 20 I remember being an outgoing young lady that wasn't afraid to meet and talk to new people. I was heavier than I wanted to be but didn't let that get in the way of anything I wanted to do. 

When I got married, something happened that severely changed the person I was.  I don't know what it was exactly, just something that made me different than I had been. I was more reserved, less outgoing and more afraid of what other people thought of me than what I tought of myself.

The end of 2007 I began to worry more about how I felt about myself.  Not so much what other people felt, but how I felt...inside and out.  I began a fight to lose the extra weight that I had been carrying around for as long as I could remember...even though that number was alot larger than it ever had been.

After about a year, I had lost 88 pounds and gained back some of the outgoing woman that I had been before I got married.  I was comfortable with myself and who I was and didn't care about what other people thought when they saw me.  I had finally become the beautiful, independent woman I had always pretended I was.

That's when the trouble started...

Being confident in yourself is a great thing. 
Being unconcerned about how other people see you can be devastating. 

I no longer worried about what other people thought of me and my weight so I didn't care if I was fat or thin.  All I knew was I was my own person and people were not going to treat me any differently because I was overweight. Because of this, I stopped working out and paying attention to what I ate.  After 2 years, I'd gained back 98 lbs...my highest weight EVER!

My epiphany came when I found out I was being laid off after 12 years and would need to go out and find a job.  People aren't as accepting of overweight people, no matter how qualified they are and if I were running against a person with the same qualifications that was thinner, I would lose. At least that's how I see it.

I don't blame employers. If I was the hiring manager I would feel the same way.  I'm overweight yet I'm prejudiced against other overweight people.  So weird, isn't it? Maybe it's because I've lost the weight before and I think I can do it again.   I don't know their story, who am I to judge them?

The beginning of 2011 I decided that I'm going to lose this weight, get to a healthy weight and maintain it. 

There are many reasons...some personal, some vain, others financial!
- Smaller clothes are less expensive
- People look better at a healthy weight
- It'll be easier to get a job if my weight is down and my self confidence is up
- I'll be able to live longer and see my son grow older
- My arthritis will be better if there isn't so much weight bearing down on my joints
- I want to look more attractive...don't we all?

So, I'm on this journey again.  I know it will never end because I've never had a healthy relationship with food.  I eat what I crave and not just to fuel my body to survive.  Unfortunately, I'm not one of the lucky people that can eat what they want, never exercise and stay thin. 

Off I go on my quest for health, smaller clothes and a beuatiful me (inside and out).

Thanks for visiting!

Katy

Weigh In 1/22/11

This week I lost 1.8 lbs for a total loss of 5.6 pounds since 1/1/11.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Snow Day 2 - 01/21/11

The last 2 weeks have been interesting. 4 snow days, 2 sick days for Josh and I've been sick most of that time as well. Unfortunately, it's not one of those illnesses that I can work through because it's in my chest and throat so it's difficult to breath and not cough my head off when I over exert myself.  I found that the 3T Turbo Sculpt videos were ok so I did that a couple times but anything remotely cardio related was way too much and I was on the couch coughing and wheezing within 3 minutes. 

If this doesn't clear up soon I may have to call the doctor.  I've been stalling because we no longer have insurance and I don't really have the money to spend on a doctor visit.  The cough is getting better and has become more "productive" (aka gross) which hopefully means it's coming to an end.

At any rate, tomorrow I weigh in for week 3 and I'm afraid it's not going to be good.  I just need to eat really light today and drink as much black coffee and water as I can to flush out anything bad that is inside this body!

Here's a picture of our yard from the first morning of the snow.  They say we got almost 5 inches here but I didn't measure it.  It's a nasty sheet of ice now I bet but it's only about 7 degrees outside so I'm not going out to find out! :)

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Another Snow Day 01/20/11

School is closed again today because of the prediction of snow.  They cancelled at 5:30am but the snow didn't start here til after 8am. That means I'm stuck in the house with a 13 year old all day...again!  :)

Seriously considering going back to bed because the cough hasn't improved but it's now more "productive" than dry and that is making me crazy! I've been sucking down liquids like crazy trying to keep from coughing but it's not helping too much.

Just took some Rexall cough syrup and that stuff was like cherry flavored snot.  It was so think I almost gagged swallowing it!  Luckily, it didn't taste as bad as it felt.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

WI 01/15/11

Forgot to post on Saturday because my house has been full of sickness all week. Lost 1 pound this week for a total loss of 3.8 lbs in my first 2 weeks.  Only about 130+ to go! :)

Friday, January 14, 2011

Update 01/14/11

Been a rough couple of days. Watched my sick nieces this week, then my baby nephew, had 2 snow days in the middle of the week and now Josh has missed another 2 days of school because he is sick!  I'm trying really hard not to get sick but it's difficult when you have sick people in your face all day long.  The last 2 days, Josh has been sleeping alot so he hasn't been in my face too much.  He is sleeping in my bed now so that could be a problem for sure.

Tomorrow is my weigh in day and because of the craziness going on around here I haven't been eating all that well.  Nor have I been working out like I need to.  I guess we'll see what the scale says tomorrow.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Weigh In 01/08/11 & NSV

My scale almost took a flight through the window this morning at 6am.  Not because it wouldn't work, but because it thought telling me I'd only lost 0.4 lbs this week was funny!  I knew that couldn't be right because I had eaten about 1/2 the normal calories and increased my activity as well.  In disgust, I climbed back under the covers and dreamed of a scale that wasn't out to get me.

At 8:30am I decided to give the scale one more chance to stop lying to me and give me the accurate number.  Lucky for the scale, it indicated I lost 2.8 lbs this week.

Not quite the big number you usually hear about people losing the first week of a new diet and exercise routine but a good loss, nonetheless!  I had to give myself a pep talk and remember that any loss on the scale is a gain for my health and well being...no matter how small.

On to my Non-Scale Victory (NSV). For my sons birthday party today we had pizza and cupcakes. I managed to avoid eating either one. Instead, I came home and I'm making rice and sauteed veggies for lunch.  Gonna save myself a ton of calories and heartburn later.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Day 6 - Ice Cream

This morning started with my normal coffee, english muffin and hashbrowns.  Lunch didn't happen til nearly 2pm when I went to pick up my son from school.  That ended up being a spicy chicken cool wrap from Chik Fil-A.  Unfortunately, the overwhelming urge for ice cream overtook me and we stopped at Lic's on the way home.  I had cookie dough ice cream on a sugar cone.  I think that I'm going to have to count that as dinner or I'm going to be way over my calorie goal for the day.

I'm about ready to shut my bedroom door and ignore the world.  Got a kid with an attitude, twitter that won't update to facebook and a stomach that is seriously digesting so loud I can hear it.  I think it's time to block out the world and try again tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Day 5 - Not Bad

Today I spent most of the day babysitting my nephew, at my moms house, away from the cleaning and activities that I could have done at home.  On the upside, although my moms house is full of food, it wasn't full of junk so I ate some diced fruit around lunch time and then had subway around 2pm when X's mom got home.

Been hanging out online for a bit and found the Biggest Loser Facebook app that tracks your weight loss and activity by state and team if you want to set one up.  Signed up for that to try to get some more motivation to get moving.  It's only 6pm here so I'm going to head in and get in a short workout right now before I lose the willpower!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Day 4 - Withdrawals

Apparently I'd been eating more fat and sugar than I thought and coming down off that has been a real PITH (pain in the head).  I've had a headache for the last 2-3 days with the severity wavering from annoying to obnoxious.  So far it's not been bad enough to keep me in bed but it's really annoying.  I'm pretty sure it's a combination of sinus pressure from the weather, stress of losing my job and the change in my diet.

Today, I had a foot long turkey flatbread for breakfast, prunes for lunch and just had a McDouble & small fries that I'm counting as dinner.  That put me over my calories for the day but I was under yesterday so I'm not going to stress about it too much.  I think I really needed that extra fat in there to bring me down a little more slowly from my previous intake levels.

Other than cleaning and moving furniture I've not done any real work out so I hope that doesn't come back to bite me on Saturday when I weigh in.  I''ll be babysitting tomorrow so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get in any activity or not.  It's probably too cold to take the baby out for a walk and that's probably the only option at this point, but we'll see.

Feeling pretty could about things now, even though I'm still struggling to avoid tempation.  I need to frame and display my previous before and after pictures where I can see them frequently and remember.



Left is from 2007 around Thanksgiving/Christmas.  Right is from 10/02/08 when I was down about 88 lbs.


Monday, January 3, 2011

Day 3 Eating - Day 1 Unemployed

I had such great intentions for getting things done today.  So far, all I've done is sit at the PC and search for jobs, change all my passwords since someone hacked my email and reprogram my BB.  So far, I've eaten acceptably today but I haven't gotten any activity in.  I had planned to clean house and move furniture today but it didn't happen yet.  Hopefully, tonight I can get something in...even if it's only walking around the block.

I still don't think the job thing has hit me yet.  It just feels like I'm on vacation and that I'll be going back to the office shortly.  It's so weird!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Day 1 - 01/01/11

New Year
New Focus
New Me
Just woke up for real so that means stepping on the scale to properly log the start of the new year. I haven't stepped on the scale in a couple months and had no idea what to expect.
Starting Weight = 286.0 lbs
Yikes, that is my heaviest EVER! Must get back on track immediately.
Will take measurements and post those too. Gonna be an interesting year.
Katy