Weigh In

Everything is the same...no gain, no loss.

I gained

I was at 154.5. Honestly, I don't have much time to think of what I am eating or of  how much. Sometimes I eat a good bit and sometimes not much at all. I will have to start keeping up somehow. I really would love to go down 18 more pounds. 137 seems like the most perfect number!

Weigh In (-.4)

I lost .4 this week. I'll take it! I am at 152.2 now.

Weigh In (-1.8)

There was another loss of 1.8 pounds this week. I ate well some days and some days I did not. I did not drink water as I should. I did not exercise. I have just taken care of hubby, children and mother. I am convinced a nursing job can keep you slim! Those nurses at the hospital are either working fast or steady. Wow.
I had my taste of it with just keeping up with Mama.

So it is 152.6. Maybe in another few weeks I'll be down below 150 again.

Weigh In (-1)

I weighed 154.4 this morning. I, once again, intentionally ate more than I normally would. I did not exercise or drink water as I should. I feel if I had drank water, I would have lost a little more.
I have  A LOT going on in my life right now and so I'll do as I can. Either way, 140s, here I come! It's always exciting when you go under each 5 pound mark. Those are always my mini-goals.

Weigh In (-2.8)

I weighed in at 155.4. It will be nice to be in the lower 150s soon. Then on to the 140s...
I am eating pretty much what I want with no exercise. I am drinking more water most days.

Weigh in (+1.6)

Nature had plans to make the scale look bad but that's okay. What I can say is that the number of 158 is not accurate. I am always 2-3 pounds heavier at this time. I *do* know that eating more calories has made a good difference in losing weight, even with just being 4 days into it. Prior to today's weigh in, I was seeing a .2 loss each day from Monday. There's next week to look forward to. :D

I have been sticking around 1500 calories. I exercised only 3 days this week. That includes skating on Friday, some walking and biking. I've kept drinking my water. I am very excited!

Another sweet thought was that I am actually only about 14 pounds off from my lowest weight and not about 16 this scale reflects. I remembered that my lowest weight was registered on our old scale, of which weighs me 2-3 pounds less than my new one.

Nervously I measured my waist and was encouraged that it was only at 33" versus my feeling that I'm much bigger. My smallest measurement is 31.5". I'd like to be 30 or less.

Have a good week in working towards better health. :D

Higher Calories?

I have encountered a lot of information within the past few days stating that I am simply not eating enough calories to lose weight. Yeah, that's right! Not ENOUGH calories. With having consumed about 1200 calories a day and with exercising, apparently it has put my body in starvation mode. So I am tweaking my calorie consumption and upping it to about 1500 calories a day. I always thought that it was good to eat about 1200 calories AND burn extra calories. Apparently this is not enough calories to run the body as it should and so the body goes into survival mode, holding onto fat. I'm interested in what this will do. Wow, what a treat it would be to know that I could actually up my calories and still lose. Looking back, there were times I dreaded getting on the scale because of what all I'd ate. Then I'd be surprised to see that I had lost a little. Could this had been why? Hmm....

Weigh In (0)

I think "nature" is coming and this is the only explaination that I have for this. I have honestly given it 95% this week, of which you would think would give some yield. I won't get discouraged until next week. If it's the same, THEN I will get concerned. :D

This dieting story is sooooo exciting! Don't you think? NOT!

Cheating? No!

A lot of times people assume just because you have food that may not be so good for you that you are cheating. This is not always so. This is an absolute lifestyle with a bonus! Once reaching your goal weight, you can have a boost in your lifestyle with a few more added calories. Nice!

So, when we go skating this Friday night and I have a slice...or two of pizza, it is a planned treat. This does not mean that I'm failing. I am preparing for it. Being on a diet does not mean deprivation. It simply means eating MOSTLY healthier foods and cutting MOSTLY back. Life goes on and it's good to live it! I'll have fun with friends and family and lose the weight because this is life.

*** Calorie Tidbit: Do you know how many calories is in one slice of Little Caesar's cheese pizza? Look below for the answer.
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If you guessed 250 then you'd be correct! There's 280 for a slice of pepperoni.

Negative Calorie Foods

Here is a list of negative calorie foods. What this means is that when eaten raw, or lightly cooked with no additives, it actually takes more calories to digest the food than the food actually contains. This is contraversial and so use at your own discretion. If you feel it applies then for healthy weight loss and a little boost add some of these foods to your diet each day. Isn't that cool? So when you're hungry and it's not time for a scheduled eating, grab something off the list with a glass of water. I think that it's good to still count the calories and then if it is truly a negetive calorie food, then good. If it truly is not, then you're not hurting yourself in eating it.

Fruits apple
cranberries
grapefruit
lemon
mango
orange
pineapple
raspberries
strawberries
tangerine

Vegetables asparagus
beet
broccoli
cabbage (green)
carrot
cauliflower
celery
Chile peppers (hot)
cucumber
dandelion
endive
garden cress
garlic
green beans
lettuce
onion
papaya
radishes
spinach
turnip

Sample Menu

Here is what I plan on having today. I am debating on exercise as I am quite sore from yesterday's exercise-extravaganza! I don't know, it was pretty fun so I might take some Ibuprofin and try some more....maybe just not as intense. Ha!

7amBreakfast:
sauted onion, bell pepper and tomato with 1 medium egg scrambled in (cooking spray used)  100 calories
 6 ounces fat free milk        60 calories     

9:30am Snack: watermelon, 12 almonds, popcorn  180 calories

12pm Lunch: 2 cups steamed veggies (California blend, zapped in microwave) 70 calories
pickle strip wrapped with 1 slice deli ham, wrapped in lettuce leaf with 1 teaspoon blue cheese dressing X2 180 calories

2:30pm Snack: 12 almonds 90 calories
           watermelon 100  calories

6pm Supper: tuna salad  and cucumbers in 1 pita pocket, carrots 250 calories

9:30pm watermelon, celery 50 calories
Total: 1080 calories
                                                       
Here's to hopefully having a very good day!

                      

"Small daily improvement over time leads to stunning success" Robin Sharma

Weigh In (-.8)

156.4!!! Aaahhhh! I had to weigh myself all over again just to be sure. I am down .8 of a pound. Just that little bit is enough to keep me going. :D :D :D

Yesterday, I followed my "rules" of eating every few hours, kept my sodium lower, and really did not eat a lot of carbs...but some. I did feel pretty well stuffed at supper last night and thought that I must have goofed.
I like  having a bunch of small meals and I don't feel starved as much...and maybe doing that really does make a huge difference in one's metabolism?

I can't believe it! I have to say that I weighed the morning before (Thursday morning) and it was NOT a good number. I don't remember how much it was as it wasn't official weigh in day.

Okay, I am ready for another day!

Starting Over

I have good and bad news. The bad news is, I fell off the wagon. The main reason being that I just didn't have much in the house that was healthy for me. The good news is, I bought some goodies today! Let's just hope that tomorrow morning isn't too bad. I do think I will be up a bit but with dedication I do hope that I will go down, down, down beginning next week.
Here's some items that I hope will help me out a lot.

almonds
frozen stir fry vegetables
various frozen vegetables
popcorn
cooking spray
cabbage
lettuce
spinach
bell pepper
oranges
bananas
watermelon
tomatoes
plantain (I hope to make my own plantain chips)
cilantro (mmm...homemade salsa)
celery
carrots
yogurt
fat free milk (gag. I have to chug a cold glass of milk. Now, if I had cookies to go with.... I know, I know!)
licorice Twizzlers
sugar free gum
light ranch dressing
raisin bran
coconut oil
home canned green beans
light cream cheese
sugar free drink mix
sugar free gelatin
canned fruit (in light syrup)
tuna
chicken
turkey



Some of this list I did have and some I bought. Hopefully what I bought will last a few week or it's back to the same old, same old. It is hard to buy diet treats for you and then buy other things to compensate to the children. I won't buy things for me if the children can't have it- or an alternative. I know that I will eat some normal food but maybe there can be more of a balance now.

Beginning today I am really trying to space out mini meals. I really wanted to get on the treadmill this morning but I was dragging this morning. Normally I get up by 5am and I got up and fell back to sleep on the couch until 6am. I was bummed to have lost at least an hour of precious time...

Weigh in 3 (0)

Well what can you expect after having Chinese Pepper Steak for supper...and then again, and then again before going to bed? Bad, bad me. No change. Nothing will change unless I make myself quite uncomfortable, you know?

Weigh in 3 (-.4)

I weighed 157.2 this morning for a loss of .4. I'll take it! I had doughnuts and cake this week and it's the time when I'd normally be a few pounds heavier than normal. ;D I only worked out once this week. I did tell myself, "no" a few times this week. I did think of having that extra doughnut and pizza but resisted. I know that I stayed below my maintained calorie limit so knew I shouldn't have at least gained. So, here's to next week. Wow, wouldn't it be grand to lose 2 whole pounds in one week? :D

7/2/12 1050 calories

I did not track calories this weekend. I made a joke with James that you don't lose what you want and get depressed. Then you go and overeat to soothe your feelings. :D
small piece of cake        200
chili mac                        350
beef enchilada               350
cabbage                           50
tea                                 100

Total                     1050  calories

No exercise. Not a lot of water.

Weigh in Friday 2 (-1.8)

Well, today's the day. I weighed in at 157.6. This is hardly the weight I was hoping for. So that's a loss of 1.8.

Tomorrow is weigh in day and I am kind of nervous. I tried to work really hard as this being a day of exercise. I guess since Fridays are weigh in days, I'll have Thursdays as a big workout day if I can. I suppose I should talk of goals some more? Here goes then.

~ 96 ounces water a day
~hit under 1200 NET calories at least 4 days a week
~ Count calories at least 5 days a week
~ exercise at least 4 days a week


With this I hope to lose 10 pounds a month. Is that possible? I've never lost weight so fast. We'll see if this will work with this plan and if not I'll tweak it. It would be nice to be under 150 again by the end of July! That will be my first goal. If I can make this then I will set another goal. I am really excited about this. Please join in with me if you'd like!

Okay, so I weigh in tomorrow morning. YIKES! :D

6/28/12 875 net calories

*Food

pb&j          350
taco rolls   450
salad          320
1/2 ice cream sandwich  75
coffee                 0
water                  0

Total  1195

Exercise

treadmill, bike, floor exercises        - 320 calories

*water  64 ounces

Wednesday net calories 1113

cereal          300
ham sand.    215
ham/pickle roll-up 50
croutons  70
Italian sausage soup with croutons  650
fruit flavored water                  0

Total 1285

treadmill  11:28time    .61 mile   -82calories
swimming                                   -40? calories

I did good with my water consumption... 96 ounces

6/26/12 950 Net calories

oatmeal w/ stevia and butter spray     150
chips                                                   75
ham sandwich                                    175
pixy sticks   (7sticks)                           60
chicken                                                90
broccoli casserole                               250
rice and gravy I1c.rice, 1/4c. gravy)    130
sliced tomato and cucumber                  50
roll                                                        60
watermelon (1cup)                                50
sweet tea                                             100
TOTAL: 1190

bike 13 minutes                         - 40 calories
treadmill 32 minutes, 1.53 mile, - 200 calories

Monday, 6/25/12 1459 calories

Breakfast casserole   350
cereal                         250
spaghetti                    400
beef patties in gravy  344
rice                             120
greens                           40
tomatoes, cucumber     30
iced tea                         75
Total                     1609

swam, bike, treadmill  I have no idea how many calories I burned with it all but it was a total of 1 1/2 hours of movement. I will be conservative and say 150 calories burned.

I am hoping that tomorrow will be even better.... maybe consume 1300 and burn at least 100?

The Weekend

I did not count calories this weekend. Nor was I really eating what I should.
So hopefully I can make all this up before weigh in day on Friday!

Friday 1565 calories

Today was such a bad eating day. :(

cereal             170
hot dog           240
cake                250
chips                  70
nachos and dip  220
pizza (2)            500
tomatoes             15
tea                      100
pickles                   0

Total: 1565
Do you see what all I ate? Was there anything healthy ate today? Nope. Well, maybe the tomatoes and pickles? Mama said there'd be days like this!

There was no exercise today. I didn't do well with my water either. Tomorrow's a new day!

Weigh in Friday 1

I weighed 159.4. So let's see what comes this coming week~!

Happy dieting!

Comments

With the help of my oldest, I found the setting to choose for anyone to comment on this blog. It was set for only members to comment. So, feel free to comment and share if you like. I am sorry for the trouble!

Blessings!

Thursday 1390

Naked Juice   140
grits, eggs       400
tuna casserole 350
croutons           50
tuna casserole  100
chili and cornbread 450
Diet Cola            0

Total: 1490



swimming     -100 calories


I drank about 32 ounces of water. It's not what I was wanting. :(

Blah! What's Happening to Me?

Okay, so jumped on the scale this morning. I was going to before now but I have digestive issues that can mess with my weight. So I thought this morning was an alright morning.... I weighed 160~!!!!!!!! Boo me.
With being on the diet for the past two days I really wanted to start keeping track of the progress. I can't do that without knowing my weight, right? So from here on out, this is my starting weight. 160. That's a sad number for me.  I will conquer this though!

I still want Fridays as my official weigh in day so I will weigh in the morning and report that weight as well.
Yeah, weighing higher than last week makes me sad, especially after 2 days of diet. It is what it is though.
Losing the right way is never easy.

Wednesday 1305 calories

This was a strange day of eating, to say the least
                                
2 bites oatmeal        25 calories
2 PB&J sand.         550 calories
cup of ramen          290 calories
5 mints                      25  calories
slice boneless pork loin,
2 small red potatoes
1 tomato                    415 calories
pickles                           0

Total 1305


I drank only 32 ounces of water today.

I didn't exercise either. Good thing that I kept the calories low, even if it weren't with healthy foods.

Learned Something New

It's funny as I have read a lot on calorie dieting and watched a lot of videos as well. Yesterday I watched a few videos via YouTube and, boom, on two videos in a row this was stated.
If you want to weigh, say, 150 pounds just ad a 0 to the 150 and that tells you how many calories to eat to be a 150 pound person. Thus, you eat 1500 calories a day....or eat more but burn enough in exercise to equal 1500 calories. If you want to be 120 pounds, then you'd make sure your calorie budget would be 1200 calories.

I am not sure of the validity of this equation but I did hear two people who lost a hundred pounds or more state that this is what they did.

Tuesday (1200 calories)

Diet (+1375 calories)

Tuesday went very well. As I said, I did not have breakfast. I had a sandwich built with lots of pickles. I also opened a jar of pickles I had canned and ate a few. They were tasty and are 0 calories!
In the afternoon I was really craving a cup of spicey chicken ramen noodles.Okay, so I had one in place of the calories for breakfast. For supper I had a taco/pasta dish with corn. Instead of a traditional dinner plate, I used a dessert plate. I am thinking the calorie count on this was 600-700 calories. I used a child's cup to have some sweet tea. I'll count that as 75. I am sure it's less but it's good to count against yourself.  I ate more pickles later in the evening when I was hungry.

Exercise: (-175 calories)

I was on the bike for 15 minutes. I have no idea of how many calories this burned. I walked a mile on the treadmill of which burned about 100 calories. I swam in the pool about 30 minutes. I did some stomache crunches and leg lifts on the floor.  This was over an hour of exercise and I am guessing it burned 175 calories.

Water

I drank a lot of water. I have this huge plastic water cup that holds 32 ounces. I believe in total I drank 70 ounces.

A Calorie Day, Broken Down

Now, this is when planning comes into play! This can vary in many ways. Here is what my plan is and what has worked in the past.

Breakfast: 300 calories

Snack:   100 calories

Lunch: 300 calories

Snack: 100 calories

Supper: 600 calories


Of course, according to what is ate earlier in the day will determine what I can eat later. So if I want to save the calories for supper then fine. Like today for instance, I didn't feel like eating breakfast. If I'm not hungry, I feel I shouldn't eat. Those calories can be reserved for later today....or hey... for later in the week if I so chose. It's a wonderful thing!

A Diet Breakfast

Oatmeal! Yummy! It is a fact that oatmeal is so  healthy for you. It's high in fiber and very heart healthy. It will help clear out your arteries that causes heart disease/ strokes.

Oatmeal:

1/2 cup oats 150 calories
stevia extract  0 calories
salt                  0 calories
butter spray     0 calories

total : 150 calories

Pair this with a piece of fruit and you have a very healthy breakfast.

Fruit can vary on how many calories within. Orange, apples and bananas can vary anywhere between 40 calories up to 130 calories. I usually count each piece as 100 calories.

If you wanted more protein some mornings, throw in a few pieces of bacon at 80 calories.

So a good breakfast, with bacon,  could consist of 330 calories

A Diet Sandwich

So for lunch today I made a sandwich. Oh, it wasn't any normal sandwich! It was yummy.
Here's what the sandwich is dissected:

2 slices bread (Nature's Own Whitewheat)    120 calories
2 slices ham lunch meat                                    60 calories
lettuce                                                                  0 calories
tomato    (small)                                                  18calories
pickles (lots and lots)                                            0 calories
mustard                                                                 0 calories

Total: 198 calories


So basically, this was a 200 calorie sandwich. I conciously did not add cheese or mayonnaise, of which would significantly up the calorie count. I may do this sometimes but since I am starting out, I thought it wise not to.


Have this with perhaps some sauted vegetables or a piece of fruit would be an excellent lunch. This is my usual type of lunch to go to if nothing else is planned. All this, with fruit or sauteed vegetables at about 300 calories.

My Current Plan

1. Drink at least 64 ounces of water, preferably 96 ounces.

2. Try to stay at 1400 calories during the week and 1600 calories on the weekends.

3. Try to exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week.



This is a starting point. This may need to be tweaked. If I see results, then I will stay with this. If not, I will adjust calories. This simple plan has always been what has helped me before.

So today starts day one. I have ate a sandwich so far today and that was for lunch. I feel as if I could eat something else but if I do, then hopefully it will be fresh veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers) from the garden and pickles. I did not have breakfast this morning. I made pancakes for brunch today and I resisted temptation. If I can resist temptations even half the time, it's better than none.

The Beginning

Hello! I titled this first post as The Beginning. It really isn't the beginning of my journey but a beginning to this blog. I have been dealing with weight loss ever since our third child was born, 13 years ago. I have had four children since (plus a missed miscarriage at 18 weeks) and each time I'd keep it under control, but not neccessarily conquered. Our youngest will be four years old the end of this summer. Unless the Lord has further plans, we are done with having children.

Last year I was down to 139 pounds. Here I am now, almost 20 pounds heavier. I had started started talking of this process on my regular blog but I really wanted to get more into what I am wanting to do here. I wanted this to be a place dedicated just to weight loss and keep my other blog less cluttered with so many topics.

The last time I weighed, I was 157. I have digestive problems that I battle in which makes true weight sometimes hard to register. This is where I am now. Still, I hope to have weigh ins on Fridays. I chose Friday because, if truth be told, usually my worst days for eating and exercise is on the weekends. So, Mondays usually look pretty bad and Fridays not so much. Of course, in the end, it's how it comes full circle. I am really glad of that because bouncing up and down is part of the plan...a few pounds down, a pound up. This is how it works. This is true life.

I know I will not always be good but, you know, this is life. I don't like  to do anything that I just cannot maintain.. Yes, life is full of details and hard work that makes it hard to take care of one's self properly. Still it does need to be priority. Not having health as a priority can carry over to other parts of my life and this is when the true problem begins.


So, beginning today I hope to share things such as I what I hope to do to lose of which sometimes changes with gained knowledge and mood. Please do no look to me to be a mentor because as you will see, that won't work, as I am a slllloooowwww loser. I have NEVER lost weight fast. Never.
While I have admire those that do, it's not me. I had thought that if I joined Weight Watchers, perhaps I could lose it faster. Still, anyone that knows me also knows that I am too frugal for that. I am stubborn and would rather do this on my own.

Oh, and that comes to something else. When I lose, it is always on a low budget. Yes, you can lose weight on a low budget. There are some healthy foods out there that are good for you and not that expensive.

Okay, so that's that! I'll post again soon to explain what I usually do to drop a pound or so, here and there. :D