Changing My Ways

So here I sit. Stuck at this weight again. Last year it was 200. This year it's 180. So stinking frustrating. I won't lie. I know why I am stuck here. It has something to do with holiday cookies, and drive thru dinners, and turkey, pear pie, cream cheese corn... you know.

Yet I get frustrated, every year when I get stuck. So I figure I have 2 choices
1. Wallow, and gain weight OR
2. Change my ways!

I am opting for #2 this year.

Here are my weaknesses, and here is the plan for each:

Weakness: I LOVE holiday treats!
Plan: First of all, I must always remember that I have done this without dieting, just by making good choices, so I will not be cutting treats out. However, at our home, we will be limiting our baking to one treat per week through the holidays, and it will only be enough to serve our family one time... for example, only 1 batch of cookies, not 5 dozen. I will also eat only half servings of any desserts that I am offered at parties, and if it's something that I can eat anytime like M&M's or chocolate chip cookies, I will pass it up all together. Hopefully by limiting treats I will drop some pounds (or not gain them anyways!)

Weakness: We are always rushed for dinner.
Plan: I am sure we all get in the habit of eating out from time to time, but our wallets and waistlines suffer greatly for this. So we will only be eating out for lunch Saturday, dinner Saturday (if necessary), and lunch Sunday. We love to eat out, and last week did it EVERY DAY (I am ashamed to admit), so 2 lunches and a dinner is a drastic improvement. Brian and I also always talk about sharing a meal, then never do it, so I will work harder to split meals with him. I am also going to make a menu for the week, so there is a plan in place.

Weakness: During this busy season, I WANT to skip workouts.
Plan: I capitalized WANT in the sentence because it is rare to actually skip them. We are pretty consistent about doing what we need to. This is why I generally maintain my weight instead of gaining. I know I have to work hard to eat like I do sometimes. What I would like to change is adding 3 more workouts per week in. I would like to start going to the Y on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings to offset things a bit. This would be on top of the other workouts we do each week.

There you have it, this is my holiday plan to lose weight. Wouldn't it be fabulous to start 2011 10 lbs lighter instead of heavier! Do you have weaknesses during the holidays, do you have a plan, I would love to hear your thoughts!!!

An Update

So the first two weeks of the Self Discipline Challenge are over at our household, and we are still going strong. Brian's commitment to this challenge has done a world of good for me. He is so good about choosing healthy options and doing the right thing. He makes me really proud.

In fact, he won last week... if you are keeping track, that's one for him and one for me. I just had a rough week last week. I could not seem to let the birthday cake go, and this birthday just didn't end. Four celebrations... dessert, dessert, dessert, and dessert. Oh well, it only comes around once a year, and this was a big one!

So what was the weigh in last week? Brian lost a couple of pounds, and I was up half a pound from the week before (on the ranch that would be a big +1... gasp!!!!) . I FOUGHT TO THE BITTER END. I just wasn't able to put in quite enough work to redeem myself.

Finally, I have some issues I am working through weight loss wise. I feel very secure in saying I don't think I will ever be the girl I used to be, but lately I've been wondering if I'll ever be the girl I want to be? I have some things that I will discuss further this week...

A Quickie!

Dirty minds ;)

This post has nothing to do with the bedroom. I just had a couple of quick things to share...

First off, I mentioned turning, ahem, 30 this week, so AGE has been on the brain. I read this article today, and liked it. I don't think it's the end all of workouts, but worth a read. I actually do circuit training 2 times a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and really love it. I also started taking Pilate's this week and I AM IN LOVE! It's very relaxing, but I can tell it will change my body over time. If you haven't tried it, do.

Secondly, I am LOVING this fall breakfast. It tastes like warm apple pie, and if you think this is any comparison to the dried fruit pieces you get in oatmeal, well... you have to try it.


Here's what I use.

1 packet of instant oatmeal. (Something like Maple and Brown Sugar or Plain. I use Quaker Oats Lower Sugar Maple and Brown Sugar.)
However much skim milk you like to make your oatmeal. I like mine really thick, so I only use about 1/4 of a cup. You can always add extra milk at the end if it's too dry.
1 small apple
2 tsp Splenda Brown Sugar

Directions:

• Peel your apple, then cut it into chunks. Put your apple in a microwave safe bowl, and cover with a paper towel. Heat for 3 minutes.
• Mix your instant oatmeal and milk in a separate bowl, and heat in microwave for 2 minutes.
• When both are finished, combine the apples and oatmeal. Top with splenda and mix it up.

Nutritional Info:

Calories: 255
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 52g
Protein: 6g
Fiber:4.5g
Sodium: 296mg

This yummy fall breakfast will keep you peppy and full all morning. Enjoy!

Week 2 On The Ranch is Always Rough!

Week 2 sucks. Historically on the Biggest Loser, week 2 contestants lose NO WEIGHT. Some even gain it.

LIVING IT, right here! Last week I lost almost 4 pounds. This week nada. In fact, if the bod doesn't cooperate soon, I'm going to finish with a small gain. Worried, no. Pissed, a little. Surprised, not in the least.

I need to explain... this is how my weekend went:

Was it fabulous? Absolutely. Was there food, cake, and alcohol involved. Sure... there was also lots of dancing to burn some calories!

I don't do it every weekend, and I don't feel the least bit guilty for the celebrating I partook in this year. This was a once in a lifetime celebration (literally).

So if you haven't joined the giveaway, it's not too late. If you didn't gain weight this week, you probably beat me!

** Um, just so you know, I haven't thrown the towel in though. I have 2 major workouts left this week, and I will give it all I have. If I turn the bracelet over to hubby on Friday morning, it's not because I didn't try.**

GIVEAWAY!

Yep, you heard it correctly, I am having a little giveaway. More friendly competition if you will.

First off, we finished our first week of the Self Discipline Challenge, and the winner is...

Me!

It was a close race. I ended up losing 1.85%, while Brian lost 1.32%. That may seem like a large difference, but in the end, Brian only needed to lose 1 more pound. He was a great sport and I look forward to another week competing with him. That brings me to our giveaway...

Want to win a Self Discipline Bracelet? You can! I have decided to extend our competition to all of our readers this week. Here's how it's going to work:

Competition starts now, and end next Friday, November 12th at 10:00 p.m. Each reader will have the opportunity to compete against Brian and I to be the biggest loser. Sometime during the day next Friday, you must come back to this post and tell me what percentage of weight loss you had this week. The reader with the highest percentage for the week will win a bracelet.

Here's your advantage... If you post on Facebook, Twitter, or your own blog that you are competing in this (and give a link back to this page), I will give you a .20% advantage for each one up to .60%! Just post a comment in the comments section letting me know where you left links.

How to figure your weight loss percentage: Weigh in now, no clothing. Then, next Friday morning (Nov 12) weigh in as early as possible, no food, no clothes. Take today's weigh minus next weeks weight. Divide that total over your first weight, then multiply it by 100.

Example: Start weight 200, Nov 12 weight 197
200-197=3 3/200= .015 .015x100= 1.5%

Let me know what percentage you TRULY lost was. I will add your advantages on myself. The person with the most weight lost for the week, plus advantages will win the bracelet!

GOOD LUCK!

Disclaimer: Please choose to lose your weight in a safe and sound manner. I take no liability for any injuries or illness during this challenge. If you do not need to lose weight, don't. You have already been given a better gift. All members who chose to participate will be trusted in their weight loss claims. I will not ask you to prove in any way how much weight you lost, be fair, be honest.

The Losers Had No Control

** Biggest Loser talk if you don't want any spoilers..."

Biggest Loser quote of the week, "We had no control over our food choices."

Welcome to the real world! This week the Biggest Loser cast was taken off campus and dropped at Ft Pendleton for some marine boot camp. Workouts were tough, but the true test came when the cast had to learn to eat. I mean really eat. We all have to eat, but as I see it, there are 3 types of eating (this is totally made up by me, so don't google it later for more info...)

1. Comfort eating: Comfort eating is done in my home. I can take time to look at packaging, know my choices, weigh my foods, get on the Internet for more information, etc. When I comfort eat, it can take time. I take time not only to prepare my food, but I also work to prepare my mind. I work to teach myself about eating in the real world in the comfort of my home. I learn to look at my food. What does 3 oz of chicken look like for those times when I don't have a scale. How many calories does a serving of mashed potatoes have so I can figure it out when I'm out of the house. Take time to comfort eat. Enjoy the meal, and educate yourself.

2. Discretion Eating: The second type of eating is discretion eating. This eating is done usually at a restaurant. You are still in full control of this situation. The best way to head into discretion eating is with a plan. If at all possible, it is best to know where you will be eating, and pick some choices before you go. If you are one who tends to waiver towards a more unhealthy choice once the menu is presented, I recommend writing what you are going to eat on the palm of your hand. No one has to see it but you, but it is a reminder of your resolve to eat healthy. In this type of eating, you must exhibit some control. You must first make the best choice, and in some situations, you may have to even portion control your options since most restaurants make their dishes several servings.

3. Superior Eating: The last type of eating situation that I, and many of us are OFTEN put in is superior eating. That is, you must choose the most superior of the foods that are presented to you and make the most of them. This often happens at cafeterias, buffets, parties, etc. This is the time when all of your preparation of learning calorie counts and portion sizes come into play. When presented at a holiday dinner party with a cheese tray, a veggie tray, and cookies, what do you choose... I'm not trying to insult any one's intelligence here. I think the superior choice is quite clear, but it's not always that way. That is why you must be educated and confident before you go out and superior eat.

I logged on to a random campus website and here was there breakfast menu (a situation that the biggest losers were shown being put in):
eggs, bacon (2 pieces), hash browns, pancake, biscuit, sausage, muffin, burrito, cold cereal, hot cereal, orange juice, apple juice, coffee

Healthy, not necessarily, but not unbearable. The problem with most of us (me included) is not in the lack of healthy choices, it's in the lack of will power to resist the unhealthy (but often tastier choices), and the lack of knowledge to do better.

Eggs are a safe bet usually. One egg comes in at 70 calories, and is packed with protein. Eat an egg, with 2 slices of bacon on a biscuit, and you have a 340 calorie breakfast sandwich... better than that if you can get egg whites or turkey bacon.

The point is look at each food individually. Which foods are superior to the others? Which foods are just processed junk? When the contestants on BL were talking about eating french toast sticks, you just have to wonder what part of that food did they expected to meet their needs for weight loss and vigorous exercise?

So when they say they had no control, it really was not over their food, but over their choices. They had control over whether or not to put the food on their plate, or to put the food in their mouth. Some of them obviously took a week off from clean eating. They gained weight for it. Shocked? No. Concerned? Yes. I think it shows a major flaw in their weight loss journey, and it shows that some are not ready to be put into the "real world" where choices are put before them each day.

Please Don't Diet.

I can't beg you enough not to diet. It won't work, it will eat you up, and spit you out.

I hate the word "diet". Whenever someone hears it they think: restriction, weight loss, "don't touch that"! And whenever you see someone on a diet (or if you are the someone on the diet) eat something that is "restricted", then suddenly they have no self control, they are a dieting failure. The failure eats to comfort, fail again, eat again, fail again... you get it.

I know that seems kind of rambley (pretty sure that's not a word), but I wish people would stop believing that a diet is the only way to lose weight. IT IS NOT! I know that I have gone over some of this before, but again:

To lose 1 lb OF FAT, you must burn 3500 calories more than you eat, 2 lbs, 7000 calories. That means AT MOST, you should only be burning 1000 calories per day more than you eat, AND you have to work to lose the fat and not the muscle.

Here's the important reason not to diet (other than burnout, failure, and restriction)... diets often cause you to lose weight FAST. Fast is not good. Your body can only keep up with a 1% per week FAT loss, so any weight you lose above that is muscle loss. Fat cells don't go away, but muscle will, so if you lose too much weight, you lose muscle, and when the weight comes back, the fat cells refill...

Now you have less muscle and more fat. Get it, dieting can actually make you fatter!

For example, if I were to go on a crash DIET this week, and lost 10 pounds by starving, and working my butt off, based upon my current weight of 181, I would have lost 8.2 pounds more than my body can reasonably keep up with, and most of that extra weight loss will be lean tissue and muscle. Since the weight won't stay off, it won't, go ahead, try it if you don't believe me, when I gain that 10 pounds back, I will actually be gaining more fat than I had in the first place because I lost all of that muscle.

Here are the key points:
1. Know your weight. Know that each weeks you should only lose 1% of that (in fat loss) to be truly healthy. Today I weigh 181 pounds. I should lose no more than 1.8 pounds to ensure good weight loss.

2. This can be done by creating a deficit. Losing weight is like balancing a budget. If I eat 1800 calories per day (which I do), I have to burn 2800 calories per day to lose 2 lbs per week. That's all. Yep, that simple.

3. Realize that some weight loss is water weight, and the only way to truly know if you are losing fat or muscle is by using body composition testing (those machines that check your BMI). You will see some dips in the scale, and there may be weeks when you lose over 2 lbs. Especially when getting started, your body will get rid of some water weight.

4. Make small changes. Eat a LITTLE less, find lower calorie alternatives, stand up more, go on walks that make you slightly uncomfortable (instead of leisurely), drink water, don't drink your calories, eat small snacks to stave off hunger. Cutting some calories here and there, and adding a little more movement to your life can create that 1000 calorie deficit you are needing quite easily without having to eat like a rabbit or workout like an athlete.

5. Most of all, don't deprive yourself. The only way you can make this change permanent is to know that you can live this way forever.

In an instant gratification society, I know that we all want to look perfect now, or as fast as possible, but what is wrong with losing it slowly? If you lost 2 pounds per week for 52 weeks, that is 104 pounds lost in a year. Not bad. Transformation, I think so. Permanent? More likely.

Self Discipline Challenge

I have had such a blah summer and fall weight loss wise. I have done a great job learning how to maintain my weight, but as for losing the last 30 I have to lose, I suck! I just can't seem to get into it. I've tried this and this. I've done this and accomplished this, but through it all, the 30 pounds are sticking around.

Then on Friday I ordered this:

I didn't think much of the bracelet at the time. I thought seeing the words may occasionally remind me to try harder, do better, etc., but I had no solid plans for it. Then, Friday evening Brian and I had a date night, and I had an "aha moment"! I can't really remember what caused the moment, but by the end of our discussion, we had formed the Self Discipline Challenge.

Here's how it works:

It is just the two of us competing against each other, a little friendly competition. For the next 13 weeks (because first we chose 12, then realized it would work better with an odd number of weeks), Brian and I are going head to head to lose weight. Each Friday morning we will weigh in. The person who loses the highest percentage of weight for the week will get the bracelet. The person who wins the bracelet the most over the 13 weeks gets $200, gas money, and the weekend away! LOVE IT!

I am so pumped for this. Brian and I are both pretty competitive people, and if you tell me I can't do something, it is only fuel to prove you wrong, so this challenge is just what I need. And I realized today that I am thrilled that he is back in the game with me! Brian works out, and eats well, but he's not out to lose much weight. I thought back today to the weeks when we first started at the Y, and we would get on the scales for each other to see the progress. I am so glad he will step on that white box with me again. I have to be honest that I would love to win a weekend off, but this final push of weight loss would mean so much more to me. So good luck honey, now I'm going to kick your ass!